China on the rise - 

Road to riches since 1962! 

It has economically progressed to becoming a world super power! as rightly and effectively portrayed by Prasenjit K.Basu (based in Singapore) in his book "Asia Reborn"

Well China is indeed worth watching. I remember, it used to be a iron curtain till sixties and seventies till Mao Tse Dong was the chief of Communist Party of China. His successors including the present leader Xi Jinping have opened up the economy in such a way that the economic growth has maintained its speed and vigour continuously for about 3-4 decades. It is only next to USA in economic prowess and progress right now.

India, a colony of the British, suffering from the bad legacy in terms of administrative structure and political setup is still a developing economy. It is afflicted with all the drawbacks of ill-equipped systems with lack of real patriotism from top to bottom. It is so much politicised at every level that no scheme or programme escapes the eyes of selfish politicians with the result the outcome is a big zero. 

Mr Xi, 64, has emerged as the most powerful Chinese leader in the recent times who was conferred a second five year term by the ruling Communist Party of China. Millions of officials across China have been asked to study President Xi Jinping's book on governance which contains his speeches, ideological thoughts and instructions.

China, the equivalent of India in size and population, history and culture, is far ahead because of its disciplined political setup. The central leadership is able to execute things the way they plan both in the short term and long run with less wastage of time and money which is next to impossible in India in the given political scenario at the moment. Even the countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Japan have done a wonderful job in economic development.

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Political funding in India.

I agree with Zoya Hasan, Prof. Emeritus JNU that when party funds are raised and controlled centrally, this weakens the State units and rank and file vis-a-vis the central leadership on a range of issues including leadership selection and nominations for elections. It also discourages democratisation that would otherwise limit their power to accumulate wealth or promote personal power at the expense of public interest.

Political parties - with the exception of Left parties - still refuse to lay down settled and predictable procedures for almost everything they do from the selection of candidates to the framing of a manifesto.

God help this country!

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South Africa

Nelson Mandela led ANC party to power in the euphoric 1994 election that marked the end of white-minority rule.

Things turned worse after Mandela retired from politics just after one term of five-year in office as the President of South Africa. Great leader to be emulated by other politicians in other countries!

Soaring unemployment and government corruption have fuelled frustration among millions of poor black South Africans who face dire housing, inadequate education and continuing racial inequality. It is a curse for many a nation in African and Asian continents to be ruled by third rate and hopeless leaders. What will the citizens of these countries do for transparent and efficient administration at the end of the day?

President Jacob Zuma whose reign has been marred by graft scandals, will step down as ANC chief but remain as head of state ahead of general elections in 2019.

Hell with such politicians found wanting badly in their life and working style!

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Xi Jinping & Narendra Modi

Two stalwarts - Mr Xi Jinping and Mr Modi - are heading currently two super powers, namely, China and India. Both richly deserve to rule their respective countries for more than a decade initially.

Both are strong-headed nationalists in their own style and action. China is a communist country ruled by a single party for more than 6-7 decades while India got independence from the British in 1947.  India is a democratic country practising parliamentary system of governance by duly electing public representatives to both the Lok Sabha and state assemblies once in five years.

Governing China by a single party with minor differences in terms of religion, culture, language, food habits, living style among its citizens is comparatively easier whereas India is having several languages, umpteen number of political parties at the national level and regional levels vying with each other and competing during and after the elections.

Ruling a nation like India is not a joke. After a long time the country has given a massive mandate to Modiji to take this country forward on the path of "development" 

As an economist-cum-administrator my only wish is that Modiji gets a good and competent team to advise him correctly and carry forward his programmes in right earnest.

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Means and mode of conveyance

I learnt cycling at the age of 11 by hiring a bi-cycle from the market. It was indeed a pleasure to drive for an hour or two and cover a distance at a speed. My uncle Dhanasingh Raja, my father's younger brother got me one second-hand cycle to commute between Dalavoipuram village and the Higher Secondary School in Sankaran Kovil while studying Tenth and Eleventh grades. It was certainly a luxury compared to walking a distance of 3 Kms one-way to the town.

College education was totally residential staying in the hostels. So no means of conveyance until I became the Sub Divisional Officer at Jashpur Nagar in Raigarh district of Madhya Pradesh State and enjoyed an old jeep provided by the Jashpur  Janpad Panchayat for two years. As Additional Collector of RAIPUR and Collector of Betul I had a new and well-maintained jeep and of course as Collector Sagar I had for the first time a lucky ambassador car to drive around in the district. 

Till my retirement in 2007 I had the fortune of using the official vehicles only & mostly the Royal ambassador car. At the time of marriage  I bought a scooter after taking a loan.  Four years later my father-in-law bought a second-hand ambassador car for my family use between 1976 and 1985.

After retirement I bought a new car for the first time - a Chevrolet U-va model for a price of ₹3.75 lakh in 2007 with the money returned by Ram Mohan, my son.

Although the car was submerged in flood waters of chennai during November-December, 2015 it was repaired at a cost of Rs 45,000/- and being used now at the age of 70!

My spouse - the grand lady-  still prefers to travel by train in the 3-tier sleeper coach (Non-AC) while travelling alone. With a lot of persuasion she manages to travel with me in 2-tier AC coach at times. Between the home town and Chennai we currently travel by omni-bus from safety and convenience points of view.

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Life worth living?

Russian dictator Joseph Stalin's family too suffered at his hands - wife committed suicide, daughter Svetlana Alliluveya's boy friend in love with her at 17 sent to a concentration camp, Two aunts of Svetlana were arrested - one for marrying a Jew, her mother's sister went mad in prison. Jacob her brother and Stalin's son died by throwing himself on an electrified barbed wire. Svetlana herself defected and took asylum in USA on her return from India after visiting her husband's home.

Friends and close relatives including his party colleagues were tortured and eliminated by this dictator to satisfy his own ego and devilish principles!

Human beings in Russia lived an animal life during his reign, it seems - no freedom of thought and action!! Compare and contrast this with the contemporary situation now in India! - we seem to live in heaven despite several hardships, economically and socially!!!

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Democracy V/s Bureaucracy in India

Our administrators rarely take initiative at higher levels, act smart and prove their efficiency but whenever they venture to effect changes, the elected public representatives never allow them to work hard and deliver good results in public interest.

Telling example:

The Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu in School Education Department Mr. Udaya Chandran has been divested of his main charge because he was instrumental for certain reforms in the department with the cooperation of his minister Mr. Chengottian to the dislike of government school teachers and state MLAs ---like, he got the ranking system in public examinations removed, introduced compulsory public examination to the XI Standard students, effected transparency in transfer policy for school teachers etc. And a pliable officer has been put in his place.

What does it indicate? The system requires ordinary and inefficient officials serving the interest of political representatives and departmental vested interests.

Hail Indian Democracy!

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Aavin's procurement reaching full processing capacity.

The Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation whose brand was Aavin had procured an all time high of 31.84 lakh litres on Tuesday August 22, 2017 while its total capacity of processing stood at 32 lakh litres of milk per day in its 22 big and small dairies to which over 4.40 lakh farmers brought milk daily.  A massive operation indeed!

Milk production is a sure and strong source of income to the producers/ farmers everywhere. There was a time when Aavin refused to procure the excess milk quoting inadequate processing facility with the result the producers protested in many parts of Tamil Nadu by throwing the milk on the main roads. I was cursing the system for want of intelligence and hard work on the part of concerned authorities. 

Luckily the MD of Aavin C .Kamaraj declares that the capacity now exists to convert the excess quantity of milk beyond the consumption limit into skimmed milk powder and butter.

Milk producers should not be discouraged for want of marketing at any cost.

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Landmark Judgment

One of the pathbreaking pronouncements proclaimed by Apex Court of India on "Triple Talaq" issue yesterday the August 22, 2017 will decide once for all that a practice permitted for centuries in the name of personal law cannot continue forever  after it is tested and evaluated in terms of modern day thinking for ensuring gender equality in 21st Century. Change for the better should be welcome not only for the present generation but for the decades and centuries to come.

On a broader scale we can afford to think of only two castes or communities in our country in the long run i.e only male and female and similarly we may have to recognise only one religion that acquires sanctity and sanction from the humanity is the one that declares and implements equality between male and female in all respects.

In the light of above reasoning I too salute and admire the judgment (by a majority of 3:2 in the Constitutional Bench) of the Supreme Court of India for the permanent settlement of fundamental right vis-a-vis the rigours of certain unacceptable practice in the name of religion.

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Floods continue to cause havoc

The North India in addition to Nepal and Assam continue to battle with heavy rains and floods for the last few days. The administrations in those places are busy as usual in relief and rehabilitation to those affected in the disaster. Kaziranga National Park is in deep trouble losing the lives of several animals including rhinos.

Rightly or wrongly we don't seem to use these opportunities to study and collect the data for future plans and programmes to benefit the community in the long run. We tend to forget the sufferings for the present and get along with the routine. It appears to be nobody's business to think on those lines in any part of the country

ONGC & Farmers of Kadiramangalam Village in Thanjavur District

Officers of ONGC claim that the Kadiramangalam villagers have been cooperating with them since the establishment of oil wells in 2008. They are trying to reach out to them and dispel their doubts. They fear that external vested interests are stoking tension in the village. One should hope that they mean business and remove the wrong misunderstanding prevalent among the villagers. Sooner the better to both.

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Initiative to promote collective farming

State government of Tamil Nadu has become wiser and started advising farmers to join together and engage in collective farming given the situation wherein 92% of farmers in the state happen to be small and marginal farmers. On their own these farmers can hardly undertake economical farming. Hence the advice!

Way back in 1990s I too advocated, on the basis of research on the "Economics of Small & Marginal Farmers in Madhya Pradesh", a legislation whereby the size of each holding can be kept not less than five acres by acquisitions from within the families or among the neighbours to be assisted by the bankers.

In view of hardships faced by the farmers in drought-hit or flood-prone areas such a drastic move alone can save them from poverty and indebtedness.

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Vatican turns off 100 fountains as Rome goes dry

I remember to have visited Rome twice in the last two decades. One special feature of this historical city was that water used to flow freely all the time in the year with no tap to close its flow. It was a wonder for me as a person coming from a country where no safe drinking water was available to majority of its citizens despite the self rule by Indians since independence in 1947.

The same city of Rome is facing acute shortage of drinking water forcing its famous fountains to remain dry - an astonishing and shocking development in the Western world like in the case water-deficit countries like India.

Nature seems to have been highly disturbed by human actions in the last one century and more so in the past five decades or so, that regular monsoon and rainfall have become so erratic and unreliable - likely to lead to miserable conditions for human life on this planet. May be a few millions and millions of human beings will start dying for want of water regularly in the days to come unless some miraculous measures are found and corrective measures are put in place.

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Alarming bell on state's granary

Thanks to the research undertaken by a retired professor of the Madras Institute of Development Studies S. Janakrajan covering a period of four decades since 1971 on the Cauvery delta region, regarded as the granary of Tamil Nadu with the assistance of Indian Council of Social Science Research, the following findings are shockingly revealed as expected by some of us for quite sometime :

1)The delta region has shrunk by 20% due to anthropogenic factors such as diversion of land for non-agricultural purposes as well as factors linked to climate change.

2)The drastic reduction in crop cover and a 13-fold increase in wastelands between  1971 and 2014 indicate a worrisome phenomenon.

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TN got just 10% of 2.42L crore promised in GIM, admits minister:

The state of Tamil Nadu received just ₹29,615 crore  in investments of the ₹2.42 lakh crore promised by various industrialists at the global investors' meet (GIM) in September 2015 that was inaugurated by the chief minister J.Jayalalithaa, the government disclosed on Friday, June 23, 2017.

Many state governments have had, in the last two decades, tried their best by spending crores of rupees to attract the industrialists to come to their respective states, invest heavy sums and create employment potential to the local populations. Despite tall promises made in the presence of popular chief ministers, the investing industrialists have shied away from or delayed the establishment of their manufacturing units on account of practical difficulties faced by them on the ground .

It is worth investigating as to how much of an effort by different state governments have borne fruits and how much of funds have gone the drain due to unintelligent planning and worthless preparations by different departments in the governments. Ease of doing business mostly remains on paper, it appears.

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Supreme Court, Police Station & F I R

Spot: Kalashetra Colony, Chennai

Date: May 20, 2017 

Incident: a pregnant woman with her husband were on a stroll after dinner when the suspect passed by on his bike. He took a 'U' turn, rode close, molested her and sped off. Despite the chase by husband the suspect disappeared safely. The couple went straight to Thiruvanmiyur Police Station for filing a complaint and registering an FIR, but the same could not be done due to non-cooperation of the police. Only on the intervention of a woman police officer in the City Police Commissioner's office, the FIR was registered and a copy was issued after 20 days of the incident. God knows when the suspect would be caught. 

The policeman seems to have persuaded the woman not to register a case because she would be on a television channel tarnishing her own image. He further informed her that in a similar situation a woman journalist  working in an English Daily had the same fate on the same spot a few weeks ago. 

Registering an FIR is next to impossibility in this country despite strict ruling by the Supreme Court of India and strict orders and directions of senior police officials (DGPs and Police Commissioners) from IPS. Who is there to ensure implementation of this job by the officers in charge of police stations in this country?

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Mother of Parliaments

U.K House of Commons - 2017 Elections

51 Non-whites, 208 women out of 650 members in the house

a good and progressive development - the best example for other democracies to emulate in the days to come!

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Farmers Revolt

One has to lament like TOI editorial (June 8, 2017) that about five protesting farmers  were shot dead in Mandsaur district - ironically in the state of Madhys Pradesh often upheld by BJP as a model of agricultural progress. In states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Tamil Nadu also farmers are up in arms against the state governments and the Centre. It should be treated like a wake up call and the governments should seek to remove the structural bottlenecks in India's farm economy. Loan waiver can't be a permanent remedy to ease the situation in the countryside.

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Farmer start-ups gain strength - the most satisfying solution found at last!

The age of middlemen in the life of farmers should find its exit  as early as possible . Sooner the better for the farming community in India, as I had been advocating for decades after studying and researching the economics of small and marginal farmers.

Example: About 1000 goat herders from 10 neighbouring villages floated Theni District Goat Producer Company Ltd (TNiGPCL), a company in 2015 that markets the goats of of all its shareholders in bulk. 

Farmers Producer Organisations (FPO) are farming startups which are being incubated by the Centre through Small Farmer Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) , rural development bank NABARD, agriculture and horticulture departments of state governments and NGOs. There are around 200 such companies in Tamil Nadu.

A good initiative and strategy in the interest of farmers!

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Golden Rule in Tamil Nadu!

District Virudhunagar: Vacancy in the posts of Anganwadi workers & Helpers - 190

Office bearers of AIADMK, the ruling party had collected commissions @ 2-3 lakh rupees for each vacancy in advance.

Collector Sivagnanam had selected candidates on merit and released the list of successful candidates. Those who found their names in the list were happy thinking that their agents had worked hard and got them selected. Those who didn't succeed  got back their money luckily. When the successful candidates learnt the truth later on that they were selected on their own merit, they started chasing the agents for the return of their money but the latter quietly washed off their hands saying that the money had reached the minister's hands and hence their inability to oblige their request.

Similarly in Madurai district out of 47 vacant posts of Helpers in Animal Husbandry Department, the local minister (famously known as 'Thermacol minister') demanded the quota of 25 seats in selection to fill his coffers. In the meanwhile the ruling party functionaries including MLAs had collected lakh of rupees as commissions for all the 47 seats. If the minister fails to oblige them they seem to have threatened to leave the ruling party as already bargained and decided in Koovatoor resort in Chennai during their captivity before proving his majority in the State Assembly by the C.M Edapadi Palanichamy. The aspiring candidates and their parents are waiting for the list till date.

Hey Ram! 

Where is transparency and honesty for appointments in Government Service? Do we expect a verdict from the High Court on this episode too sooner or later?

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Administration wanting?

Civil and Military Administrations sailing on similar Boats in India

Examples: 1) Civil Admin during rains and floods in Chennai

         2) Military Admin during the terrorist attack in                Pathankot in Punjab

Noteworthy developments:

lack of proper and timely intelligence 

Lack of appreciation of inputs available for emergency action

Lack of coordination between different wings of administration 

Lack of common sense even after the bungling in Mumbai Attack during 2008

If concerned governments fail, who will succeed in future? Difficult to answer!

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Where is water?

The people of Tamil Nadu and its political leaders including farmers have to work hard, store rain water and ensure recharge of ground water without depending  on  Cauvery water always from Karnataka. Former Chief Minister K.Kamaraj, though unlettered, had the vision and vigour in building dams for irrigation and drinking water. No such attempts were seen in the last five decades.

It is high time the people gird up loins themselves and store every inch of rain water, raise such less duration crops - mostly vegetables and fruits wherever possible, as keenly advocated by Rajendra Kumar, the Water Man of India in a speech at Chennai  on May 27, 2017 - "Stop rain water and build your own reserve bank of water with it"

The same stress was laid in detail and emphasised in my thesis "Economics of Small and Marginal Farmers in Madhya Pradesh" (1992) and in the book on "Small Farmers in Central India" (1995).

Let the state government, political leaders and the farmers do the needful collectively and sincerely from the current monsoon days at least on a war footing.

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Astrology - no obstacle for an Achiever!

On May 29, 1953 Tenzig Norgay and New Zealand's Edmund Hillary stood atop the Everest Peak - contrary to the prediction of the head priest of Pasupatinath Shrine in Khatmandu that the expedition would not be successful and one of them would die in the process!

The first Battle of Panipat in 1526 was won by Zahiruddin Babar to establish the Mughal Kingdom in India - against the warning of a soothsayer that Babar would lose the battle and might even die. The Empire lasted till 1857 when Bahadur Shah  Zafar was defeated by the British.

West Indian greatest cricketer Garfield Sobers, now 81 years old, was declared a Devil's son on his birth and would die before the age of 10 by the village clergyman in a poor family near Barbados.

Astrology is great but not greater than a man who makes his own destiny!

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India dives deep on way to mining gold from sea!

Scientists start exploring seabed in Indian Ocean for precious minerals in 15-year

project - set stage to enhance India's presence in Indian Ocean. 

India stands in competition with Germany, Russia and China in this regard - a good attempt by Union Government. 

To me as a former mining administrator who discovered a precious stone named 'alexandrite' in Deobog block of erstwhile Raipur District in Madhya Pradesh State during May 1993, this is a welcome development in the national interest.

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"Biz environment in India still inefficient, cumbersome" (Times Business, Dt May 30, 2017). Economist Michael Porter

One doesn't know the basis on which the above statement was made by the economist. This is a normal assessment of every government in India since decades. A serious thinking is needed and a drastic remedy should be put in place for a better India.

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System leading to conviction of an honest bureaucrat!

Context: Former Coal Secretary to Government of India H.C.Gupta has been convicted along with two of his juniors for two years imprisonment with a fine of Rs one lakh each and the MD of the company for three years with Rs 30 lakh fine by the CBI court in New Delhi. 

An honest bureaucrat, unlike a crook in the hierarchy, always does things with an assumption that people around him - subordinate officers & the staff below him and the political bosses above him - are sincere and straightforward like him with no exchange of bribes. He doesn't delay things but derives pleasure in disposal of the work entrusted to him on time. May be he commits little procedural mistakes with no deliberate motive. But anyone who looks at it later on happens to locate the loophole and finds fault with such a procedure adopted and decision taken by him without looking at his total background and handling of public affairs in the past. A crook in such a system first of all would have avoided the whole issue of allocation of coal blocks under some pretext or the other or involved others on his behalf after collecting commissions from the company.

Strangely the GOI officials alone have been taken to task. What about state government officials who should have recommended the allocation on the basis of facts placed before them by the company in the normal course. The main allegation against the convicted officials of GOI is that they failed to verify the facts and figures quoted by the company in the Screening Committee as per the guidelines - quoted by the judge in his order on the basis of which the court seemed to have exonerated the coal minister, none other than the PM Manmohan Singh himself. Another moot point is whether a senior official posted in PMO in charge of coal ministry too had failed to properly scrutinise the file before the PM put his signature on the file. So the lacuna on the part of PMO is also intriguing a little. 

One doesn't know if the convicted officials had cared to put up a such a defence before the court of law.

Lesson:  Honest decision makers in the Government need to remember the possible repercussions of their actions in view of rascals and rogues - (babus and politicians) - taking advantage of the loopholes in the system and making money in the process.

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Corrupt Behaviour

"India is a land of corrupt, for the corrupt and by the corrupt"

The above observation should hold good in view of the following:

• Looking to the behaviour of an average citizen in India in every field of activity.
• Looking to the majority of individuals working in public and private sectors.
• Looking to the behaviour and service of officials and the staff working in any government office.
• Looking to the behaviour of the majority of leaders and the followers in any political party.

People in general tend to be corrupt morally and / or monetarily. Difference between one individual and another is only a question of degree and not of a kind!

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Nehru & Modi

"A rewriting of Nehru?"

 By Shaikh Mujibar Rehman (The Hindu, Saturday, May 27, 2017)

It is a very interesting account of Nehru's contributions to India's growth as the first PM of this country. He is little unhappy the way he is being ignored or sidelined by the present PM. Both Nehru and Modi represent two different backgrounds and ideologies.

It is in the nature's scheme of things to allow two extreme and opposite views and works to emerge and experiment after a reasonable time-gap. India had Nehru's rule during 1947-1964. Modi's rule had started in 2014 after a gap of exactly 50 years in between.

Nehru believed in Fabian Socialism and created 'Planning Commission' taking a leaf from Soviet model of centralised planning but Modi ensured its demise and a different replacement in the form of 'Niti Aayog'. Nehru's planning apparatus had its merits and demerits. It is too early to comment on the efficacy of its successor.

Nehru with rich family background was a giant after Gandhi in freedom struggle and sacrifices. Now Modi with a humble background and no family liabilities vows for a better and stronger India in the international arena in the near future. Let us see and wait for a better India. This is the right and opportune moment for India's destiny!

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Prime Ministers in Scandinavian cpountries:

A few years ago I learnt the news of Swedish Prime Minister walking on the platform with his wife to a cinema theatre like a common citizen for viewing a feature film. He was done to death on one such occasion with no commotion towards the security of the VIP unlike in India where battalions are deployed towards  the security of our leaders at a colossal expense to the state exchequer.

Here is another PM of Finland, Juha Sipila, 55, a soft spoken engineer who earned millions as an IT entrepreneur before joining politics took office of prime minister in 2015 and who continues to fly private jets for his official business outside Finland at his own expense by spending hundreds of thousands of euros. 

Once he had travel for an hour sitting on the toilet seat due to non availability of passenger seat in ambulance flight in November 2015 after coalition negotiations!

Can we expect a similar behaviour from our leaders by 2050 at least!

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Loan waiver

UP government would need about Rs 36,000 crore to implement the loan waiver scheme,  promised to small and marginal farmers, in BJP 's election manifesto. Total countrywide agricultural loan (outstanding as on September 30, 2016) stands at 12.60 lakh crore.

A mega loan waiver scheme in the country was implemented in 2008 when the then UPA government had initially announced a waiver of Rs 60,000 crore loan for small and marginal farmers in the Budget. It was later extended to large farmers as well and the amount increased to Rs 71,600 crore.

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12-year-old Rape survivor seeks justice for daughter

A 12-year-old survivor of rape, who recently gave birth to a child , had to move a Howrah court near Kolkata on Monday March 20, 2017 to get the police to register an FIR to investigate the alleged rape.

The girl was allegedly raped by her karate teacher and five others. Her family has accused the Jagatpallavpur police of inaction as the suspects allegedly have political connection. The victim and her family are currently homeless and need police protection to return home, the girl's lawyer MD Farrukh said.

When TOI got in touch with Howrah SP Sumit Kumar, he said, "We have received the certified copy of the FIR. I will look into the plight of the victim and ensure justice is done."

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A rare show of unity for a common cause For " Jallikattu"

A sea of humanity gathered on Marina sands facing Bay of Bengal for a week seeking the revival of Jallikattu, a part of annual Pongal (harvest) festival in Tamil Nadu which stands banned by the orders of the Supreme Court of India since 2014 looking to the objection raised by an NGO called PETA on the ground of cruelty to the Bulls. 

The people of Tamil Nadu feel that have been wrongly prevented from pursuing the bull-taming sport linked to their way of living and Tamil culture and customs . The ordinance promulgated by the Governor of Tamil Badu on January 22 has allowed the sport but the agitating young crowd is insisting on a permanent remedy only. The state police is now engaged in clearing the marina grounds with an argument that the people have already enjoyed freedom in demonstration of their grievance and succeeded in their demand with the timely action of the state government. 

Right now (8.00AM on January 23, 2017) a crowd of about 1000 youths are standing near the sea waves and the police is trying to evacuate them.

As a former civil servant I would urge the people to respect the moves of the state government and its machinery and call off their agitation for a few weeks. They may wait and watch the activities of executive and judiciary for sometime and take further follow up action in the near future if necessary.

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Jallikattu

A bull-taming game/ exercise of the teens during Pongal Festival in Tamil Nadu has become a talk of the millions in the state right now - everyone from elderly to children, students from schools and colleges, politicians from all political parties, cine  celebrities and artists, traders and businessmen - all have come on the streets supporting the cause of Jallikattu and demanding the ban on PETA. 

The problem is, a traditional and cultural event associated with the annual harvest festival of Tamils has not been properly understood by a section of the PETA and not properly presented to the highest court of the land.

The agitation is not likely to be suppressed like any law and order problem. It has now touched the hearts of every Tamil citizen. It is for the Central government and Supreme Court to find a solution as early as possible and honour the sentiments of the local people.

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57 debtors account for Rs. 85000 crore loan default, says S.C

The Supreme Court finally got a secret cover containing the names of big defaulters of bank loans from Reserve Bank of India. The rich class surviving on borrowed public money through banks, enjoying a royal life in a poor country like India has succeeded in hiding their heinous crime of usurping public money in concrete jungles scattered all over India like dreaded dacoits in a jungle of yesteryears. There is hardly a difference between the two classes. White collar thieves and green collared dacoits!

What a security, safety and financial secret to protect their honour and name! Basically it is to save their skins and sins. Let the Apex Court come heavily on them and expose their deeds in the name of growth in the capitalistic economy! Contrast this to a hapless defaulters/ farmer committing suicide unable to bear the torture of bankers under the garb of loan recovery!

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NITI AAYOG with a new work plan

According to Union Finance Secretary Ratan P. Watal, NITI Aayog, the government's policy think tank, is working on a sector-based medium term planning framework.

The new framework would replace five-year plans, the last (the 12th five year plan) of which is set to end in 2016-17.

As indicated in the Budget Speech of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, from the next financial year, the plan and non-plan distinction will be done away with for expenditure classification. A good step indeed!

One would wish to emphasise here that some economist take up an analytical study of the former Planning Commission and its utility since its inception vis a vis the expenses incurred in terms of money and time (manpower) resources till date.

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'Backlog can be cleared only with more judges' said the former Chief Justice of India Mr Tirath Singh Thakur.

I would go a step further and plead before the higher judiciary that the pendency can be brought down both by the existing judges and the advocates ( both the Bench and the Bar)  if they are willing to take the following measures: 

Release all the under trials forthwith the moment they have stayed in prison for a period more than the maximum punishment provided for the crime they have allegedly committed.

2) Dismiss all the appeals and special leave petitions filed after the time limit prescribed under the law unless satisfactorily justified with convincing reasons - whether by the State or others at the motion hearing stage itself.

3) No early hearing of petitions unless any emergency situation warrants it.

4) A time limit to be prescribed for hearing the final arguments and the number of hearings per case to be fixed in a practical way.

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Double Standards at the top?

"When (former coal secretary) HC Gupta can be prosecuted for being the boss, then why can't the then PM (Manmohan Singh) the super boss, be prosecuted?" 

-  JLD YAVATMAL ENERGY PVT LTD (accused in coal block case)

Presumptions:

Manmohan Singh was honest coal minister/ prime minister.

HC Gupta was dead-honest bureaucrat/ coal secretary.

Indian judiciary and law enforcement agency have charge -sheeted Gupta and not Manmohan Singh for the same decision at the top level. Sheer double standard in action!

In every decision taken at the government or other levels there would be beneficiaries - direct or indirect although the top men may be honest. Crooks (actual beneficiaries) get away with no punishments. That is Indian system of governance. Who and how to set right such a rotten system? - is the moot point at the moment.(August 30, 2016)

Growth Story

FDIs 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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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 Ministry of Policy Promotion 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. 

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

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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State Poll funding

The Election Commission maintains the full state funding of polls would make sense only in tandem with reforms to decriminalise politics, inner party democracy, electoral finance reform, audit mechanisms and stricter implementation of anti-graft laws.

The Law Commission too has reservations on the efficacy of state funding at this juncture,

It is only a strong leader like Narendra Modi who can bring about changes in this regard. One is sure he would do something in this regard sooner or later. We wish him good luck

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All India Services

Indian Administrative Service- the members of this service at the state level are good and efficient in conducting elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies only.

Indian Police Service-  the members are mostly deployed in VIP duties and rarely take initiative to gain the faith of the common man.

Indian Forest Service- the members have totally failed to protect the forest cover in this country.

They are called All India Services for name sake only because they are not constantly monitored, guided and protected by the Union Government. About 90-95 percent of their strength are being controlled and effectively made pliable by the heads of governments in each state. They are puppets in the hands of state politicians. They have lost their independence for acting in public interest. Almost the entire crowd are in the service of the ruling parties with some of their members working very closely with chief ministers as their glorified personal staff/servants serving  their personal interests with those of their own. 

These services can either be wound up and state services streamlined and strengthened for public service. Alternatively one can think of creating a Superior Civil service who can gain confidence of the people like the higher judiciary and not kept under the control of chief ministers so that they can execute the work fearlessly and effectively in the interest of the nation. Their recruitment, training, promotion and deployment can be ensured by an independent agency like UPSC.

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SC backs Madras HC order quashing TN appointments

January 31, 2016:  --- 11 TNPSC. (Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission) members were appointed.

December 22, 2016: -- Madras High Court quashed their appointment alleging that some of them were unqualified and proper procedure was not followed.

January 9, 2017:  -- Supreme Court of India upheld the order of Madras High Court and observed that the manner in which the state used its prerogative to make the appointments was "nothing but arbitrary, with no due deliberation". 

Such an arbitrary act was a normal phenomenon of state government working under the leadership of former chief minister J.Jayalalithaa. No official or non official had the guts to 

point out the correct procedure before the CM.

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Drought-hit Tamil Nadu

The state received 168.4 mm since October 1, a deficit of 62 percent compared to the season's average of 441 mm. The situation this year is even worse than 1974 (60 percent). Weather experts noted the the state had experienced a drought in 1974 and 1938. But a drought has not been officially declared this year so far.

As per the report the state has recorded the worst rainfall this year after 1876. 40 farmers have died in a district in Cauvery delta region so far. Daily 5-6 farmers are dying as reported in the media. Farmers Associations are up in arms seeking intervention both from Central and state governments.

Drinking water scarcity in an acute form is a certainty in the ensuing months unless rain gods change their routine formula and bring rains for the state.

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India

India

& its

Constitutional Constituents

The Legislative

The Executive &

The Judiciary

The legislature utilises less of it time on creative works but wastes much of its energy and resource for animal behaviour.

The executive looks after its own interests at the cost of public expense and forgets its commitment to the common man.

The judiciary expresses its inability to control litigations and dispenses a costly justice to the citizens of this country.

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