A Roadmap for the CBI

It is a timely suggestion by a former CBI Director contained under the above caption is certainly a thought provoking article dealing with the present condition of the Agency, its credibility currently in the eyes of the commander man, it's competency vis-a-vis it's dishonesty in handling sensitive cases pending for long, it's inadequate jurisdiction in starting an investigation on its own leading to prosecution, it's requisite expansion in terms of adequate as well as own staff in the near future etc. (by R.K.Raghavan, The Hindu December 5, 2016)

The present incumbent in the post of Director, whoever he or she may be, will have to be honest to the core financially and impartial to the hilt in decision making despite political and bureaucratic  pressures. Only then the Agency would be worth its salt. A perfect understanding between the Prime Minister and the Director in its day to day functioning would certainly lead to its ultimate utility in Indian democracy!

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Leaders (politicians) are made in India but great leaders are born elsewhere!

Cuba honours Castro's wishes, passes law to ban naming of places after the leader.

Hats off to such heroes on this planet. Now there wouldn't be any place named after Fidel Castro or any other leader in that country. What an initiative in the right direction! 

On the contrary in India the politicians are keen to name a few places, roads and other public assts after their names and statues erected in their own lifetime!! We the citizens of this country expect Modi Government to pass a similar law sooner or later.

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Sarkari India

"To further its own well-being, the government is forever in an expansionist mode, launching a variety of schemes, be it Jan Dhan or Swachh Bharat, which will create more and more jobs for itself. And ensure that the government of the Sarkar, by the Sarkar and for the Sarkar does not perish from this earth" - Jug Suraiya (TOI dated December 28, 2016)

One should agree with the above observation with no reservation or doubt because most of the government budgets are spent on the government establishment itself with less funds left for development of the country.

Salvation lies in reducing the government force by nearly half by 2030, if the governments have guts and will power.

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One can rebuild ageing muscles

Marcas Bamman, a professor of integrative biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has found in his studies that men and women in their 60s and 70s who began supervised weight training developed muscles that were as large and strong as those of your average 40-year old!

Skeletal muscles are composed of various types of fibres. If one doesn't exercise and follow sedentary work style he is bound to lose 30 to 40 percent fibres in their muscles by the time he reaches 55.

So better be clever and ensure regular exercise and keep the muscles in tact to reduce the  ageing process.

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Health Care in a Casualty Mode?

In Krisnagiri (Tamil Nadu State) 75 percent say, they don't approach government hospitals when fell sick! A study covering 26 clusters in the state has found that majority of the patients do not trust government medical facilities citing poor treatment, lack of resources and corruption.

It must be true of government facilities in the health sector all over the state. Indeed a sad development and bad reflection on government functioning! Government doctors to take note of and ensure a better image to their employer in public interest! In some government hospitals things are certainly better depending on the attitude and working style of the head of the institutions.

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Beware of Asthma Attack

Melbourne City in Australia is suffering from thunderstorm asthma (spread by tiny pollen particles triggering this rare condition) with five people on life support and three in a critical condition. The world's first recorded thunderstorm asthma event occurred in Melbourne in 1987.

Asthmatic patients alone realise the extent of suffering one is forced to live with.

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STA (TOI) STICS.   (Times of India, Saturday 29, 2016)

China's journey from being poorer than India to 5 times richer

China's economic reforms have worked much better than india's. That is perhaps because before starting its reforms China ensured three things : land reforms, better access to education and slower population growth.

1978 when China started reforms, average Chinese was 26 percent poorer than an average Indian.

GDP per capita (current U.S. Dollar)

India : 210

China: 155

1991 when India started reforms 

India: 309

China: 331

2015 Chinese five times richer than Indian

India: 1582

China: 7925

In the running race for development India has failed miserably. Any particular reason for such a poor performance?

The reasons quoted by TOI group are relevant for discussion. Had India followed the same in 2-3 decades soon after independence, the situation would have been totally different. Our so called five year plans had not paid any serious attention to these issues despite the first prime minister of India following the soviet pattern of centralised planning. The politicians, the babus (including the entire government machinery) and the business community (including the industrialists) have been responsible for such a sorry state affairs. We the Indians seem to be good at talking but found to be bad in execution of plans and projects.

Let us reverse this trend and show our strength in the days to come

Earth or the species on its path to extinction?

Humans have wiped out 58 percent of wildlife in 42 years

Human appetites & activity have driven to extinction over half of all animals with a backbone - fish, amphibia, birds, reptiles and mammals, says the Living Planet Report by WWF- Zoological Society of London.

India

Around 70 percent of surface water is polluted.

About 60 percent groundwater will reach critical stage - where it cannot be replenished in the next decade.

About 25 percent of India's land faces desertification

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Old age

Preetu Nair (TOI October 28, 2016) says that the elderly is a fast growing demographic in Kerala, but the quality of life they enjoy is dismal.

Globally the population of elderly is growing by 2 percent each year faster than the population as a whole. 3 percent are in old age homes. Rest live with their spouses or children or alone.

One has to fend for oneself for old age. Else be at the mercy of others and live in a hell!

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Most unclean loos

A survey conducted by travel site HolidayIQ indicates that 25 percent of travellers voted for clean toilets at every 25 km on highways and 15 percent voted for hygiene around beaches.

The survey also mentions that Kolkata has the smelliest public toilets followed by Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.

This news reflects the bad performance of people in charge of tourism and highways in India in contrast to the situation prevailing in other countries.

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Prominent Poets for a Committed Cause

Thiruloga Seetharam was a school drop out but highly admired, - by C.N.Annadurai, the founder of DMK party and its first chief minister of Tamil Nadu - as a poet, editor and Bharati scholar as well as a wonder man of Agraharam, a Brahmin street in a temple town of Tamil Nadu.

The documentary on Thiruloga Seetharam by writer  Ravi Subramaniyam throws light on this legendary figure.

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Jallikattu

S C 's ban on jallikattu (taming of bulls) imperils future of indigenous breeds. Naturalists also deny that violence is inflicted on Bulls during the sport.

(The Hindu, November 17, 2016)

The tug of war between PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the Tamils supported by the Government of Tamil Nadu before the Apex Court of India is little disturbing and shocking for want of clarity of thought on concepts and practices in human life, a superior species on this planet. Animals and humans are supposed to supplement each other's existence. An interaction between these species needs to be analysed and interpreted to their mutual advantage.

Finally let us hope for a better resolution of this sensitive issue with the intervention of apex judiciary.

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World Bank Study - a report titled "South Asia's Turn: Policies to Boost Competitiveness and Create the Next Export Powerhouse" and suggested a set of policy actions in four sectors. -- agribusiness, apparel, electronics and automotive. It expects India , in other words, to frame policies to reduce farm subsidies and cut import tariffs on cars and take steps to improve ports and logistics as an export powerhouse.

Reduction of farm subsidy is a major issue which needs thorough analysis before effecting it inasmuch as even the developed economies in the world find it difficult to resort to it despite pressure from global trade organisations including World Bank. Cutting of import tariffs on cars is easier said than done in view of the limitations expected in car population for some more time.

Well the improvement of ports and logistics is the need of the hour and lot of attention is required at the earliest in this direction.

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Promise V/s Performance

I agree with Michael D. Shear (The Hindu, November 9, 2016) that Obama's agenda remains incomplete. Look at his speech eight years ago in Chicago's Grant Park declaring "a new dawn" in U.S. history and promising the enthusiastic crowd of a quarter-million people that "we as a people will get there". It is easier said and claimed for performance than done in practice. Obama is no exception and Trump too will no doubt follow suit very soon.

All over the globe the leaders who capture power had awe-inspiring dreams but realised soon after capturing power that they had not done their home work sincerely or bluffed before the electorate knowingly. 

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Biggest and Boldest Decision by BJP Govt.

Demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee currency notes by midnight on Tuesday with the announcement of Mr Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India was indeed a historical decision to tackle the menace of black money and counterfeit currency in the country.

Such a decision must have been taken by taking into consideration all the implications both in the short term and long term with the least inconveniences to the common man, small vendors and small business men. There is no doubt that big sharks must have found ways and means by this time to escape from such a draconian measure to the extent possible. But that doesn't mean that the step taken was not right or done arbitrarily in a democracy. A disciplined democracy with bold decisions is the need of the hour. 

Her body on a pushcart, Telengana man takes wife to final abode"

Clueless System & Foolish People!

One should admire "the Hindu" for publishing this pathetic news of an Indian citizen on the first page of its edition dated November 7, 2016 instead of covering the childhood and adulthood love of a retired judge of the Apex Court openly expressing his deep love and passion towards an actress turned politician and now the head of a state government or than that of an actor couple divorcing within one year of their marriage.

This episode exposes the hollow nature of a governmental system and the foolish action of the individuals involved in it:

Hyderabad, the capital city of a progressive state (as commended by the World Bank and the Department  of  Promotion and Policy of the Government of India for its number-one position in the country for ease of doing business and investor friendly atmosphere) and its neighbourhood has been a witness to this episode. 

1) It appears the Telengana State has been very unsuccessful in looking after the leprosy couples in the state so far.

2) The husband Ramulu or the people collecting money for the ambulance and the last rites in her native village as also the police involved could have easily buried or cremated the body in a place near the site where they found him with his deceased wife's body instead of transporting it to the village only for the sake of burying. In all probability the villagers would have even opposed the burial in the allotted burial ground looking to the nature of disease they were suffering from.

System sometime or individuals many a time forget to follow a practical solution to an issue at hand!

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Big people commit biggest mistakes at times.

The biggest example was the decision of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Indian nation and my childhood-adulthood hero ( I have been the staunch follower of Gandhiji all my life) had failed to follow the verdict/decision of a democratically elected Congress Party Committee to allow Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to function as the Congress President and similarly allow Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel to be the first Prime Minister of this country.

This trend of decision making at the apex level perceived during the freedom struggle and thereafter in 1947 at the time of independence continues till date in the working of this national level political party.

Eight SIMI undertrials killed in a police encounter at Bhopal

As usual many doubts have arisen, many interpretations, many protests from opposition leaders have become the order of the day. Youths are weaned away under little or more brainwashing for the creation of an Islamic State through violence. 

It seems a particular thought and the believers of such a thought want to usurp the rights and lives of others just like that. Modern governments are expected to tackle such a menace at any cost. Let us all understand the event in all its ramifications, conclude and then pass judgments over it. It would finally help the governments and the people of this country.

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Is London losing its global hub status?

A definite fall out of Brexit in UK after a national referendum is the scope for intense competition among cities like Madrid, Paris and Bavaria(Germany) to attract businesses away from London sooner or later. Let us await and see what happens in the coming decade.

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Modern Mao Zedong or Daring Deng Xiaoping? - 

Xi Jinping is that modern but beneficial dictator in Communist China. I wish him long life and strength to continue with an incorruptible image! 

China was lucky to have had the first two leaders for the initial 5-6 decades after 1946. China is second only to USA in terms of economic strength and development with more practical and dedicated policies in the last 2-3 decades for the betterment of Chinese society. Nobody can stop China being the next super power going to rule the globe in just two decades. Credit goes to Xi Jinping and his team for the current situation.

When economy grows, its rulers and the government machinery tend to become corrupt and amass wealth. China too (like India) was no exception to this phenomenon. Mr. Xi has tried his level best to control corruption with a heavy hand but it is no doubt a Herculean task. Wish him good luck in his crusade.

The party plenum, by appointing Mr.Xi as the "core leader" has of late sent a clear message to the public that it stands by him and his policies.

India needs a similar core leader to revamp its economy and forge ahead with practical solutions to high sounding slogans and dreams!

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Deepavali, the Indian Festival of Lights atop the UN Headquarters in New York!

For the first time in its history, the facade of UN Headquarters  was found illuminated in bright hues and the words 'Happy Diwali' along with the image of a traditional Diya were projected on the building.

Great for the national pride!

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Growth Story

FDIs (foreign direct investments)have grown as per the expectation. Liberalisation in ceiling-caps in sectoral investments too has been ensured. Subsidies have been properly estimated in terms of requirements in different fields of economic and social activities and accordingly regulated for delivery mechanism through Aadhaar cards. GST has been attempted and implemented with Herculean efforts. 

But ease of doing business is still a far cry in the scheme of things obtaining at the moment in the country. As a former civil servant who had closely watched and participated in the delivery mechanism at the state level and the levels below than that I can vouchsafe for the fact that things are still not smooth and satisfactory for the people to get anything from the state authorities. There is a lot of leakage of revenue and expenditure during implementation of schemes and projects by the government machinery. 

Ease of doing business is as tough or tortuous in Indian states as one could imagine. This experience of mine is being duly endorsed by an expert called Richard Rossow,  a senior fellow in U.S. India Policy Studies Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) (Times of India, September 7, 2016).

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IITs lose ground in global ranking

The World University rankings confirmed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in U.S. as the best for the fifth consecutive year . Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, remained india's highest-ranked institution. Of all the IITs in India the IIT Delhi stood at 185.

Is there no individual from top to bottom in the Government of India to take a vow and improve the status by 2019 before the next General Elections?

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China bags fastest supercomputer title

Not once but 7th time in a row!! And for the first time the winner uses only Chinese designed processors instead of US technology . The announcement on Monday June 20, 2016 is a new milestone for Chinese supercomputer development and a further erosion of of past US dominance of the field.

China is on the way to become the super power of 21st century!

STA (TOI) STICS.   (Times of India, Saturday 29, 2016)

China's journey from being poorer than India to 5 times richer

China's economic reforms have worked much better than india's. That is perhaps because before starting its reforms China ensured three things : land reforms, better access to education and slower population growth.

1978 when China started reforms, average Chinese was 26 percent poorer than an average Indian.

GDP per capita (current U.S. Dollar)

India : 210

China: 155

1991 when India started reforms 

India: 309

China: 331

2015 Chinese five times richer than Indian

India: 1582

China: 7925

In the running race for development India has failed miserably. Any particular reason for such a poor performance?

The reasons quoted by TOI group are relevant for discussion. Had India followed the same in 2-3 decades soon after independence, the situation would have been totally different. Our so called five year plans had not paid any serious attention to these issues despite the first prime minister of India following the soviet pattern of centralised planning. The politicians, the babus (including the entire government machinery) and the business community (including the industrialists) have been responsible for such a sorry state affairs even after 69 years of independence. We the Indians seem to be good at talking but found to be bad in execution of plans and projects.

Let us reverse this trend and show our strength in the days to come!

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Bad loans and Rajan's exit

Bankers are feeling shy of relief with the news that Rajan's exit From RBI is certain on September 4, 2016. Banana Republic is decisively on the saddle at the moment ensuring safe retirement to the leaders in banking industry for whatever sin they committed in the recent past. Depositors are the grand losers in the process. Big players and big money are always safe in our country at the end of the day. 

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Rajan in RBI

(Written in August, 2016)

Raghuram Rajan, an engineer-cum-banking manager has served well as the Governor of RBI for nearly three years and likely to get back to academia in the University of Chicago and be there for a while or longer till he gets his next assignment. Comparatively young and competent in his job he has indeed created a little more heat on Indian soil and Indian banking system during his brief tenure of three years. With a few reforms at the central bank level he had focused more on inflation control and currency stabilisation. Inflation the hydra-headed monster hasn't been totally controlled the way the common man in the street would have wanted although from the bankers' point of view he has saved the economy from it's  going out of control totally. Money supply in the economy - both legally accounted for and illegally stashed both within and outside the shores in the form of black money would need much more pragmatic and bold initiatives in the days to come.

One would certainly remember Rajan for having been in the limelight and headlines for his speeches and statements and actions like T.N.Seshan in the Election Commission of India two decades ago.

Wish him good luck for future contributions.

"Studying agriculture was an idealistic pursuit" - the title of an interview with Dr M. S Swaminathan, an eminent agro-scientist by Sashi Nair on the occasion of World Food Day ( October 21, 2016)

The crux of the interview was on 'sustainable agriculture / development' vis-a-vis 'environmental degradation'. It is a million dollar question for which a ready-made and foolproof remedy is as elusive and excruciating as possible. The scientist's personal concern on the dichotomy between surplus grains and the chronic hunger in certain sections of india's population is well placed although the scientists are not to be blamed for it. The ball is in the court of policy makers and the executives in charge of implementation of such policies. The Food Security Act is a good move in such a direction with its own merits and demerits in execution.

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My heroes in government service:

Shri K.D Saksena, the collector of Durg (1972)
He was a man of utmost simplicity and straightforward in personal behaviour and dead honest in official dealings and transactions. As an Assistant Collector under training (a probationer in I.A.S) he kept me in his residence as a member of his family and allowed me to undergo training as per the schedule given by the Mussouri National Academy of Administration, General Administration Department of Government of Madhya Pradesh and the Collector's Calendar of Training. Very rarely collectors used to follow this example in those days. I was lucky to enjoy the hospitality of my mentor, trainer and boss in the district training. I imbibed his good qualities in a good measure. Minute examination of the files and documents that are put up before the collector for taking a fair and bold decision and the habit of hardworking in office assignments were the precious gifts handed out to me as a trainee. To a great extent my daily interaction with the collector and his family enabled me to pick up Hindi-speaking in a few months time,

The lady of the house, Mrs Saksena, with a smile on her face all the time gave me a motherly treatment throughout my stay in the bungalow. She and her husband, the collector looked after me very well when I was down with chickenpox for a fortnight. I can never forget their caring and magnanimity showered on me for more than six months before I got married and settled in a separate house with my young wife in July 1972.

2) Shri Ram Bihari Lal, the Commissioner of Bilaspur Division (1973-74)

The cadre of deputy collectors in a state is a sine quo non for an inter mediators role in the governmental setup. The state of Madhya Pradesh was lucky to have a good team of dedicated deputy collectors who rose to the ranks of collector and commissioner. Shri Ram Bihari Lal was one of those rare specimen in terms of efficiency and integrity in office. I was lucky to have this gentleman as my Divisional Commissioner at Bilaspur while I was the Sub Divisional Officer at Jashpur Nagar and Officiating Collector at Raigarh on two occasions (1973-75).

The amount of experience, the level of maturity and the rare quality of real leadership exhibited by him as my second-level senior in hierarchy can hardly be forgotten and brushed aside even now. I had occasions to interact with this official indirectly mostly but directly only once. Once I had insisted and succeeded in shifting of the government agriculture market from the busy market area to the newly created premises in the municipal town of Kharsia town despite resistance from the business community with someone making a complaint against me to the commissioner. He never questioned my conduct on this account, probably he knew the value of my bold action and contribution in public interest. On a second occasion when a complaint was filed against me in connection with the withdrawal of Rs 1.5 lakh from the district treasury as the officiating collector in anticipation of formal sanction and allotment of funds from the state government for the purchase of gunny bags to facilitate the procurement of paddy from the farmers according to the targets fixed by the government. He supported my timely action taken in public interest again. Technically speaking he could have initiated disciplinary action against me for drawing money from the treasury by an executive order. Such was the bold and supportive leadership that I enjoyed at the beginning of my career.

I am forced to compare and contrast this action on the part of this divisional commissioner with those of later-day powerful and supposedly-successful politicians, ministers and chief ministers (Who miserably failed in my estimation) who gladly adopted double standards and doubted the good motives behind my actions at the fag end of my career in Central India. 

Revival

Nice to resume my blog activity after a long gap of time.

Telengana , the land of contrasts (10-09-15)

Telengana registered 1694 cases of crimes against Dalits in 2014.

Dalits face social boycott by the upper caste villagers denying daily manual labour to some 100 families of Dalit community in Yellaram village of Medak district in Telengana. Their crime: some persons of their community had recently been in the vicinity of two temples in the village.

Where is district administration headed by an IAS officer and what is it doing towards this issue?

Manoharabad, a village of Jakranpally mandal in Nizamabad district is a perfect example of a model village in the same state of Telengana. With a population of 1100 it has 98% literacy, safe drinking water supply to every household, no child labour and no school dropouts with street lights with automatic on and off switches. This tiny panchayat gives top priority to sanitation and cleanliness. So it looks spick and span. Every eligible person gets social security pension and there is absolutely no crime reported. The villagers are happy with 1000 acres of cultivation. About 76 persons from this village are in the Gulf and one in USA.  The credit goes to the young Sarpanch Patakuri Tirupathi Reddy. If I were the CM of the state I would have appointed him straightaway as the Hon. Director of Panchayat Department in the state.

(Source: The Hindu August 29, 2015)

Medals for commission of thefts?

The uniformed forces in State Police, Fire Protection and the Prison departments of the Government of Tamil Nadu are blessed with 1686 medals for their excellence in performance of their duties, thanks to the benevolence of the Chief Minister who announced on the occasion of Tamil Festival Pongal on January 15, 2016. 

We congratulate all those individuals who were found worthy of such medals.

As a common citizen of this state I am disappointed with the police force because they are unable to stop the daring thefts of jewellery from the hapless homes in different centres of the state by unidentified thieves almost on daily basis. People have lost faith and confidence in such a force!

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Judge secures future of orphaned boys after sentencing father to life

• Place: Mahila Court, Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. (Friday, January 8, 2016
• Case: Murder of his wife by an alcoholic husband being sentenced to life imprisonment 
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• Effect: Three sons (aged between 11& 7) of the couple being orphaned with no relatives prepared to take care.
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• Action of the judge Ms J.Flora: 
• She talked to the kids, learnt their helplessness, summoned the maternal uncle of the children with lot of difficulty, convinced him for a few days of custody and left the court room only after ensuring their protection in a home run by Roman Catholic Missionaries. She left the office only at 7.30 PM to reach her house where  her son was waiting for the mother.
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• Hats off to such a judge in our midst. India is in safe hands. I wrote a letter and thanked her for such a gesture.
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• I also salute the Christian Missionaries for their selfless and silent service to humanity in India where I find Hindu Mutts having no inclination to engage in such humanitarian work.
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Is it a sin to be born a woman?

- and be the wife of a male who couldn't protect the honour of the family ? 

A 30 year-old Syrian mother of four fled the war with her family early last year . When her husband ran out of money to pay their smuggler in Bulgaria, he offered his wife as payment instead. For three months she was raped almost daily to earn her family's onward journey. Soon her own husband was abusing her too. Susanne Hohne, the lead psychotherapist at a centre in West Berlin said, "A twisted logic, what her husband made her do ended up tainting his honour. She became the guilty party" ( The Hindu: dt January 4, 2016)

What a pity! I think females are being treated as slaves, animals or commodities!!

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Heavy Sums of Public Money Gone Down the drain

"Govt. opacity leaves Rs. 8000 crore expenditure unaccounted for" (the Hindu December 28, 2015 by TCA Sharad Raghavan) 

With a view to simplifying and streamlining the heads of accounts the government might have resorted to merging of different minor heads of accounts and it is not that the entire money would have been spent illegally or misappropriated for self gains as allegedly unaccounted for by the departments in the analysis of Union Government Finance Accounts for the year 2014-15 by the Hindu. On a closer scrutiny the lazy and inefficient babus might have failed to give full details in the in the first place in appropriate columns. However, it is true, a portion of this amount would have been possibly  misused like in the case of "Cattle Feed Scandal" indulged by Lalu Prasad Yadav & his officials in Bihar a decade or two ago.

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Politics & Bureaucracy

"Politics says we should waste public exchequer, distribute it and receive public praise. This politics has destroyed this country" - Narendra Modi [ they said it - Times of India, Monday, April 20, 2015]

I would like to supplement the above statement with : "Indian bureaucracy - esp. at the apex level - has mortgaged its conscience, compromised its principles, downgraded its position vis a vis its political executives and failed in its commitment to the Constitution of India due to its selfishness and sheer self interest"

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