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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