The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Reading the future in Mexico’s malls

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Reading the future in Mexico’s malls

Arvind Kejriwal Before India Against Corruption

Before India Against Corruption and Jan Lokpal Bill movement happened Mr Arvind Kejriwal was an RTI activist of some renown. It was for this contribution to Right To Information Act implementation that he received the Ramon Magsaysay award in 2006. The citation of his award for Emergent Leaderships talks about this anti corruption work and his use of the Delhi Right to Information Act 2001 for exposing corruption and also his successful campaign against water privatization in Delhi.

The very first time I heard Mr Kejriwal speak was in 2008 when I saw a Youtube video recording of his speech in Google India in July of the same year. He spoke about the RTI act and how it empowers individuals in fighting corruption. In light of all the criticism that Mr Kejriwal has been facing recently from some people regarding his methods of attacking politicians and industrialists for personal political gain I would like to share with my readers this video which is an informal but very informative presentation by Mr Kejriwal. When I heard it for the first time I also found it inspiring. His credentials as an anti-corruption crusader cannot as yet be questioned. He may be a novice politician but he is a seasoned social activist with leadership skills.

"We have a right to information because every citizen in this country pays tax. Even a beggar pays tax."
- Arvind Kejriwal

PS: In the post I had mentioned about Arvind's activism against water privatization in Delhi. Unfortunately the Delhi government in July 2012 has approved a pilot project for water privatization in consultation with the Planning Commissions whose deputy chairman is Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia. This should come as a reminder to us that the menace of corruption and crony capitalism has deep roots and one victory against it is never enough. Here's a link to an excellent article arguing why water privatization is not a good Idea.

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : The original sin of November 1984

The collusion of the administration with rioters for political gain is another example of why we need a professional police service which is free from politics. How can police officers sworn to "serve and protect" the citizens of the country allow themselves to be involved in such crime? A scathing editorial on Hindu appeared today which minced no words in blaming the politicians and police for 1984 riots and ever pogrom since then.

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : The original sin of November 1984

General Speak

Retired Army Chief General V K Singh has invited another controversy with his statement on Monday in a public stage he shared with social activist Anna Hazare. General Singh as we are aware was involved in a very public row over his age with the government when he was heading the Army. The age controversy as per General Singh was raised by none other than the dismissed officer Lt. General Awdhesh Prakash who was found guilty in the Sukhna land scam by an Army court of inquiry.

The statement made by him blames the current government of being silent to corruption issues, of bending to corporate interests, of being anti people. He also blamed the Prime Minister of pushing though FDI in retail when the government as per him was a minority in parliament. He mentioned that the farmers land was being taken from them by the government and 'gifted' to private companies and policies are being made under foreign pressure especially American. None of the issues he has raised are new. They have been alleged by many in past and are not without substance. 

There is a lot that has happened in the last few years that has upset many in India. But when these words come from a retired Army chief some people cry foul. General V K Singh is being accused of bringing the morale of the Army down, of setting an unwanted precedent, of mixing politics with Army service. I do not agree with that assessment. He may be accused of saying these things only because he was asked to leave office prematurely because of the controversy of his true age, but there is no doubt that he has fought corruption within the Army head on when he was the Army Chief. Three particular incidents that come to mind are the Sukhna land scam with Lt General Awdhesh Prakash and Lt-Gen P. K. Rath being dismissed, the TATRA-BEML corruption scam with Lt General Tejinder Singh being currently investigated and the issue around Lt. General Dalbir Suhag.

Apart from being named in TATRA scam Lt General Tenjinder Singh was also the general officers commanding Maharashtra, Gujarat and  Goa region during the Adarsh Scam.General Suhag was served a notice by the then Army Chief General V K Singh for alleged indiscipline in the Army intelligence unit under him. After General Bikram Singh took over as the current Army chief the censure against Lt. General Suhag was lifter by him and his was given a promotion to command the Eastern Army Command. Lt. General Prakash was of course dismissed. It should also be recalled at this stage that the predecessor of General V K Singh, General Deepak Kapoor was one of the allottees in the Adarsh building. So the players involved in slighting Gerneral V K Singh on the age issue are many including his predecessor who made him accept an incorrect age for the sake of a promotion which otherwise may have been denied to him. It needs to be recalled that the year of birth 1950 which he was made to accept was mentioned as such in only one document which was his NDA form and his matriculation certification, his passport, his Army ID card etc were also carrying the year which he claimed 1951. So if General Deepak Kapoor had to be fair he should have got the correct date 1951 accepted in the records but he did not do so. Later on the government and Supreme court on account of his previous acceptance denied him any reprieve. 

But that story is past now. Not only is Retd. General V K Singh now a free citizen of this country with every right that we enjoy, he also has a duty to speak on issue of corruption in the Army and the government because he has held the top post in the Army. We should welcome every voice against corruption specially that of retired bureaucrats, retired senior Army officers and retired judges because they are aware of exactly what happens in the institutions they are part of. I don't see any merit in his critics argument that he has brought dishonour to the service or that his statements affect the moral of the forces. He is merely raising his voice against corruption which he as a responsible citizen of this country has an obligation to do.

The Jaipal Reddy Craze

Media has been going crazy about Mr Jaipal Reddy's shift from oil ministry all day today. A story first appeared in The Hindu yesterday about a possible shift of Mr Reddy out of the ministry because of his possible opposition to Reliance Industries to its demand of increase in the Natural Gas prices even before their existing contract with the government expires.  They had also demanded that the CAG audit which was required by the ministry of their operations in the Krishna Godavari basin should be limited to audit of financial books and not be extended to performance audit. The second point about performance audit is significant because there has been a decline in production of gas compared to the estimated levels of a Directorate General of Hydrocarbon's report in march 2011.

In my post yesterday I had briefly mentioned about this move. Mr Reddy's removal from the government has to be seen in the context of all what has happened in UPA II starting with the CWG scam and the complete lack of confidence people today have in the functioning of the government. There is a worry about the crony capitalism being promoted but what can really be expected after all it is the ministry headed by the Prime Minister himself which has come under the coal scam. I don't think may of us have witnessed a similar lack of confidence in the government of the day that only a day after a major cabinet reshuffle so many questions are being asked about the motives behind an exercise which is in the end the Prime Minister's prerogative. So there is no denying that this decision is squarely his responsibility and only he would be able to answer this question.

Salman beats Anand to the post

My post yesterday turned out to be a bit of a foot in mouth situation for me. I jumped the gun but then in my defence it was based on the talk of the town at the time of my publishing that article. I also stand by my assessment of Industry's influence on the government which was seen in this rejig.

So we know now that Mr Anand Sharma stays in his post as the commerce minister while the surprise elevation of Mr Salman Khurshid to the post of external affairs minister is the confirmed news now. This means that the Rs 71 lakh scam was too  small to be of any bearing on the decision of his elevation after all. More interesting news doing rounds was about the possible exit of Mr Jaipal Reddy from the oil and gas ministry after his showdown with Reliance Industries. The influence of big business on the decisions of the central government looks quite ominous. All this does send a bad signal to those who perform honest discharge of their duties but never the less this is just the fact of the day.

It was interesting to note the oath that the cabinet ministers take during the swearing in ceremony which President Pranab Mukharjee presided on. It remains to be seen how well they keep the oath to perform their duty faithfully and conscientiously, without favour or fear, affection or ill will, in accordance with law, upholding the constitution of India, without revealing the secrets of their office to any person with exception for the due discharge of their duty. An oath they have taken in the name of God hopefully with full knowledge of the responsibility of the posts they are going to hold. Except for the shaky hands of Mr Harish Rawat signing the oath I did not see anyone else being overwhelmed by the occasion at least. But then a lot goes on behind the scenes.

The Performer gets a Promotion?

Mr SM Krishna's exit from the cabinet today, and the news that Mr Anand Sharma's name was going to figure in the latest cabinet changes expected to be announced tomorrow had made it amply clear to me that he was likely to be the next foreign minister of India. Even though it hadn't been reported until yesterday that he was likely to take over the foreign affairs portfolio, I was suspecting that this might be the case. After all he had been the primary character behind the multibrand retail FDI 'reforms' and deserved a 'reward' for having 'delivered'.

As I had written in a previous post there had been considerable corporate and US government lobbying to get a fovourable result in mulitbrand retail FDI policy. Earlier The Hindu had  published a news story based on certain Wikileaks exposed diplomatic cables where Mrs Hilary Clinton was  very interested in knowing what was the position of Commerce Minister Anand Sharma on Multi-brand retail. I had also quoted Mr P Sainath's article which was critical of the decision making process in the present government and it susceptibility to foreign influence. I had also written  how Mr Pranab Mukharjee's presidency had the effect of paving the path to the FDI reforms, and also helped in stalling GAAR, and reversing the retrospective amendments to Income Tax act which had been brought about by him in his capacity as finance minister, to remove a loophole in the tax code which was being used by foreign companies to avoid paying capital gains tax in India.

Please be reminded that I had also written about mainstream Indian media's partisan role in this affair. It is evident that particularly the media company which owns the The Times Of India and Economic Times also has investment via 'private treaties' in the Future group companies which will benefit from the policy changes of allowing 51% foreign investment in multibrand retail.

The affair gets even murkier when a reader is reminded about another event which has occurred parallel to all this which was about  a possible breach of the previous FDI policy by Wal-Mart and the Bharti group. Ms Vandana Shiva had filed a PIL in Delhi high court questioning how Wal-Mart had used a circuitous route to invest in Multi-brand retail when the policy at that time did not allow foreign investment. Delhi High Court had asked the government to respond but alas before the date of response the policy itself  was changed to allow FDI in retail. When the time to appear in court came the government responded that in the light of recent policy changes this PIL should not be entertained any more and Ms Siva also obliged by withdrawing the case. Recently CNN-IBN reported a story on this. Later PM Manmohan Singh asked Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to investigate any possible wrong doing by Wal-Mart. This is very curious and very murky indeed. I have written extensively about this in a previous post tiled 'Wal-Mart something's not right'.

But the end result never the less is that Mr Anand Sharma has delivered to the benefit of the lobby which wanted FDI in multibrand retail and Mrs Hilary Clinton would have been delighted, as is also evident from the the visit by Mr Ben Bernanke and Mr Geithner. Promotion is due and what better role to play than that of Foreign Minister. We have to wait until tomorrow when it is formally announced but Mr Sharma is the right man who can surely deliver and  is an appropriate person to lead the New Order. A 'reform' in the foreign policy is perhaps long over due. Iran anyone?

Ravana and his many heads

India slays the ten headed Ravana tomorrow, in the culmination of the annual recital of the story which has been told in the subcontinent for millennia. Tomorrow India and Hindus the world over celebrate 'Dussehra'

The story of victory of good over evil is the greatest story ever told in human history. Every culture has its own version of this story. The plot varies, the struggle of the protagonists varies, the strength and character of the evil varies but what is common amongst these stories  is the determination of the protagonist to achieve the eventual glorious victory over 'Evil'. This is a story of hope, a story of justice. It is also the most appealing story of all because fight against injustice comes instinctively to every human. A hero has to emerge, evil has to be slayed and justice has to be delivered.

The annual recital of this story is also a reminder to us that evil always resurfaces. It is ever present among us, and so should determination to slay it always exist. The slaying of Ravana may only be symbolic, but it is the most important symbolism of all Hindu religious symbols.  Because if religion is not about good then what is religion about, and if evil cannot be slayed then how can good survive? It has to be slayed every year and the slaying has to be celebrated every year. The continuum of evil will exist as long as humans exist, there is no escaping from it. Yet the determination of human society to fight it must not cease, for when it ceases, so will everything worth caring for.

On this day it cannot be escaped to draw a link between this millennia old story and the present human condition. Surely we have to be able to identify the Ravana and his many heads in our lives. Which is the greatest evil of them all that needs to be slayed?

For me the greatest evil of them all is 'Human Greed'. It has many heads and slaying it requires a determination and courage only the best amongst us can muster. Some may argue that greed has been the driving force for human progress. Isn't it true that without want for more we would not have created more? When the desire for better life ends so does better life.  But it is difficult to tell, where urge for progress ends and the evil of unhindered greed begins.

All the challenges that threaten our very existence on this planet today are man made. They are a result of our greed. In one form it shows up as the ever present evil of 'public corruption'. The stealing of common wealth by individuals entrusted to use that wealth justly for common good; that is the definition of public corruption, and the cause of it is greed. In other forms it shows up as the threat of environmental degradation, of extinction of life forms, of global warming, of threat of our own extinction in the long run. All are a result of human greed. The problem of cyclic repetition of economic crisis in human history, of famines, of human genocides, of ethnic strife, of economic crimes, of human suffering, of poverty and hunger all are a result of human greed. What could be a greater evil than human greed?

The Oracle Speaks on Reforms and GDP - Mr Joseph Stiglitz

Mr Joseph Stiglitz was in India to speak in the 4th OECD world forum. It provided an opportunity to the Indian media to seek his views on Indian economy. I was pleasantly surprisingly when I found that ET reporter Ms Shobhana Saxena in an interview with Mr Stiglitz asked him the kind of questions which I would have wanted to be asked from him. When I read this interview I was delighted.

Two questions in particular about our focus on GDP growth and on the September 14th 'reforms' were the best in my opinion and the answer was well what you would expect from Mr Stiglitz. This is what Mr Stiglitz replied in that interview:-

• On GDP growth he said that when counting growth you need to look at environment degradation and resource depletion. We have per capita highest number of billionaires but at the same time many in poverty. essentially he is saying that our GDP growth is adding more wealth to the rich than it is to the poor.
• On Retail FDI and Walmart he was quite critical and does not believe that jobs will be created. He believes that Walmart will use its power to bring in Chinese good and adversely affect Indian production. He also does not believe that Walmart's of the world are good employers in terms of quality of jobs.

If you read the interview which I am sharing here then do spend some time reading the comments and you will realize how some people have seen through the 'reform' bogey.

Of Cotton Shirts and Canvas Shoes

October marks the 50th anniversary of the 1962 Indo-China war. This was a war in which the Indian army suffered a complete defeat in the erstwhile NEFA region and the extent to which the Chinese Army was able to invade in the Indian territory can be gauged from the fact that the city of Tezpur in Assam was ordered to be evacuated. The accounts of the events leading to the war, the dispatches from the war as it happened have all been extensively written about. Many commentators complain about the Handerson-Brooks report which was the Army's own official account of the war not being declassified by the defense ministry.

When I read these accounts what I see are the glaring similarities between the high altitude war of 1962 with China and the Kargil conflict of 1999. While the build up to 1962 and the actual war was for a longer duration than the Kargil war and with completely different outcomes, in both cases India was left unaware of extent of enemy incursions, enemy's strengths and was completely unprepared to fight the war. A reader may not agree with me on this and might say that we were not as unprepared for the Kargil war as we were for the 1962 war, but the fact is that in both these wars the soldiers on the ground were woefully ill equipped for the kind of conditions in which they had to fight and that is what is revealed in the repeated citing of the kind of clothes and equipment that the solders were supplied with during both these conflicts. In 1962 while the enemy infantry units were acclimatized to the harsh Himalayan conditions and were equipped with state of the art AK-47 assault weapons, the Indian soldiers were recently deployed in the region and the standard issue equipment they had was the Lee-Enfield .303 rifle which had already become obsolete after the second world war. They were sent to guard posts in difficult terrain with no road infrastructure to support their deployment and when the enemy attacked they were left to fight them off with only limited supply of ammunition with them.

The accounts of both the Kargil war and the 1962 war cite the bravery of the soldiers who fought against great odds but the fact remains that if bravery was the the only criterion for winning a war then why spend so much in training the top brass of the military in war strategy and why even have an elite top brass in the services with all the privileges it enjoys. Neville Maxwell's book 'India's China War' paints a very negative picture about the leadership of the Army and the civilian Indian government of the time. Although he has been criticized in India of being 'biased' against India, I find it completely plausible for the kind of disregard for sound military strategy, the nepotism in appointing the Army leadership of the time and the failure of diplomacy with China as has been cited in the book to have occurred. Please also be reminded that before Kargil came the Lahore bus diplomacy just as before 1962 came the Panchsheel accord. The Indian military and civilian leadership was lulled into a false sense of security on both occasions and were caught sleeping when the road in Aksai Chin or the Sanghads in Kargil built by the enemy were discovered.

I frankly do not want to write too much about the war preparedness or war strategy of the leadership of that time. I do not have the credentials to write about it either. It is best left to the experts, but what I want to mention is that condition of the Indian solders comes out as appalling in every account of both these wars which one reads. They were fighting a high altitude war in canvass shoes and cotton shirts. Half the Indian casualties in the Sino-India war were weather related. The soldiers who went up the hills of Kargil were also not prepared for the mountain warfare.The condition was poor 50 years ago and it remained poor 13 years ago. The question is whether it is acceptable today or will we continue to demand bravery from our solders against all odds to get us out of the situations which are a creation of our failure of leadership in the first place, while at the same time giving them barely sufficient in return.

The Hindu : Business / Economy : Reforms pushed through by stealth rather than design: Govinda Rao

The Hindu : Business / Economy : Reforms pushed through by stealth rather than design: Govinda Rao

Justice, Laws and The Normal

In any society there is a common understanding of what is just. That definition may not always be written down in law. But it is understood to be the way it is. That common understanding of delivering justice, the way things have been accepted to be is what I am calling The Normal. The normal is different for different societies. What is acceptable in one society is not acceptable in another. The same society also evolves (or devolves?) and then establishes a new normal.

What is written down in law may have been debated and discussed and with application of mind and what is called jurisprudence may have been incorporated in the law. But the society will change. Depending on how well the law is honoured or how well it is implemented the law will have an effect on the society or it will loose its effect on the society and become irrelevant. But the society will always have a normal, it will establish a new normal. This is what is explained in the scriptures when the scripture define the Yugs,  Sat-Yug, Treta Yug, Dwapar-Yug, and the Kal-Yug. Every Yug had its own normal. What is acceptable in one Yug was not acceptable in a previous Yug. The Sat-Yug was supposed to be an ideal, something that is always aspired but can never be achieved again, every subsequent Yug is a result of devolution of values.

In modern society, law is supposed to have evolved and got better with time. The murderous society of a war torn African country with people living in an environment of ethnic strife, or the country of Afghanistan, has a different normal from the normal of a peaceful society. To an outsider it does not have a rule of law. But is always has a normal of how to get justice in the day to day life of the people. Because justice is separate from law. Law is supposed to deliver justice but law is not justice. Law comes from outside from deliberation, from application of mind, from conventions, from an understanding of justice which people writing the law have. Justice comes from within. Each one of us is born with inherent sense of what is just and a sense of victim hood comes from being denied that justice. Individual seeks justice despite what is the rule of law. 

Even a child has a sense of just and unjust what changes is his acceptance of just and unjust and that acceptance comes from the understanding of the normal. The child as he grows comes to know the normal. What is the normal is taught to the child. The society teaches it. Many a times the child sees a contradiction between what is being taught and what he sees really exists as the normal. The child also has his sense of justice within. That inherent sense evolves as the child grows.That leads to conflict and confusion. The child chooses his convictions as the child discovers the world. To progress like a river the child chooses his contours. But the child always has to work within the normal. Child grows into a man with a full understanding of what is the normal in the society he is part of.

The written law is separate, its effect on society is varied, the normal is the reality, justice is separate. When man faces injustice then man will seek justice within the normal. If the normal follows the written law the man will follow the written law if normal is different from written law man will still follow the normal. Justice is sought within the normal. It is a separate matter that justice may not be achieved by someone because seeking justice within the normal is beyond his means and so the person lives with injustice. But if justice has to be sought in that society then it has to be sought within the normal else there will be no justice received because the laws if they exist may be separate from the normal. So in Afghanistan if normal is to use gun violence and justice has to be sought then gun violence has to be used there is no rule of another law.

Question arises what is the normal in our country? What is the effect of written law on the country's normal? If the normal is to pay bribes as a matter of convention to get things done then the normal will have to be followed. Justice here involves exploitation as bribes. This is the normal and this normal will be followed. It is not deniable that the limit of justice served is defined by the limit of the justice that exists in the normal. A person's possession is stolen the normal is to pay some bribe to get the possession back then justice here within the normal is the stolen possession minus the bribe. That justice may not be perfect but that is the justice as best it can be. Let me remind again normal is separate from law.

Is the normal just is a question for individual, because let me repeat justice is separate from the normal which is separate from the law. How can normal change? Society can evolve or society can devolve. Devolving is easy, if simply let be it will weather and devolve. When power accumulates within sections and individuals the society devolves because the justice is denied to the weak and a new normal is formed. Or when unjust convention replaces law and widespread agencies implementing law fail then societies devolve and form a new normal. How do societies evolve? When laws are written and improved and the improved laws are delivered and implemented then the normal evolves. The normal also changes when there is disruption. The disruption by definition is abrupt, evolution by definition is gradual. The disruption can be peaceful or the disruption can be violent. But when to change the normal evolution is not working may be disruption is required. 

What is our current normal in India? How just is it? Justice will be sought by an individual, because sense of justice is inherent to an individual. Justice will be sought, either within the normal or if normal is still unjust then the normal will be disrupted. In order to achieve a better normal the process of evolution should deliver. That process is the legislature. The effectiveness of the implementation by the law enforcement (police and judiciary) is how best the normal emulates the written law. Improvement in enforcement evolves the new normal, corrosion in enforcement devolves the normal. Openness in a society raises red flags when the normal is devolving. Openness in society shows the gap that exists between the normal and the written laws. 

If the usual process of evolution fails then disruption of the normal has to be achieved through a different path. Peaceful we hope in the Indian context because, justice comes from within, and every person seeks justice.

AK 47 and His Guerrilla Tactics

A post that starts with such a wacky title should have some justification for it. But this is not my own invention I have merely borrowed what I have heard being spoken about one Mr Arvind Kejriwal. Today India Against Corruption came out all guns blazing against the BJP. It must be remembered that Ms Kiran Bedi separated from Mr Kejriwal on his decision to target all parties not just the ruling Congress on their corruption record. Ms Bedi's difference may have been that of tactics rather than any particular favouritism but that just proves the fact that while Ms Bedi wanted to snipe at the ruling Congress for the time being Mr Kejriwal had made the decision to assault everyone who was suspect across the political spectrum.

The assault has so far been successful in hitting anyone who hasn't been adequately protected. But then who could possibly be adequately protected? The only protection that existed was the unwritten rule that goes "you scratch my back and I will scratch yours". Mr Kejriwal is an outsider who perhaps did not receive favours from anyone in particular and so can shoot whoever he wishes whenever he wishes and  at whatever pace he wishes. The pace can be fast because the targets are many and the evidence is probably ready pickings with so many disgruntled individuals willing to provide them. This makes him as deadly as the famous 'Avtomat Kalashnikova' assault weapon.

Now with the question of his lethality settled lets visit the aspect of his tactics. He has been employing what has been widely described as a 'shoot and scoot' or 'hit and run' tactics. With the limited resources he has at his possession he cannot be expected to organize large rallies in the hinterland of the country. He cannot fly his members cross country in helicopters, distribute printed material or use any of the traditional means of spreading political message that the political parties use. He had to reinvent his tactics to suit the size of the problem he is facing and keeping in mind the limited resources he has at his disposal. IAC is incapable of getting hold of one issue and taking it to its logical conclusion. Conventional methods did not work for them. They tried to get lokpal bill implemented but they failed at that. Now he need not take anything to its logical conclusion. He simply has to fight a war of attrition with the established players by using the guerrilla tactics which are at the least cost to him and IAC, and cause discomfort to his political opponents which are in fact, the entire political establishment.

The medium of his attacks is the news media. Sensational exposures are the bullet he fires. His target of choice are the public figures with questionable records of probity and that explains the title of this post.

PS: Here is an interesting cartoon that appeared in the Hindu on 18th/Oct just a day after I wrote this post. It is very much on the lines of what some people are saying about Mr Kejriwal: AK-47

The Hindu : News / National : Senior official probing Vadra-DLF land deal shunted out

The Hindu : News / National : Senior official probing Vadra-DLF land deal shunted out

I was of the opinion that raising issue of corruption in the media or by political parties alone would not solve the problem. What was needed was for our administrative institutions to act. Here is an example of what happens when some upright officer does what is essentially his duty. When an officer starts a suo motu inquiry into a wrong doing he is transferred out.

Felix Baumgartner - It's a touch down from the Edge of Space

Felix Baumgartner the Austrian dare devil thanks to his sky diving jump from the altitude of  128,097 feet became the first man to break the sound barrier in free fall and new world record holder of the highest altitude sky jump from what is literally the edge of space and hence aptly called a space jump. In this mission called Redbull Stratos he also created a new world record of the highest balloon flight.

The time it took for him to jump from the edge of the universe to touch down back to mother earth were undoubtedly the most exiting and also the most challenging 10 minutes of his life. An experienced sky diver that he is he managed to accomplish it perfectly. He is a holder of many records in past and rest assured this is not his last record attempt at a world record in sky diving and base jumping either.

He managed to reach the super sonic speed which was his most important mission but no I am wrong his most important mission was to complete his touch down successfully to the delight of his waiting family and he was successful in that. I saw this entire telecast live on the BBC and I was extremely worried for him when I saw him tumbling down the sky. But I was also very relieved to see him regain the control of his fall and achieve the delta position once again.

I salute his courage and skydiving skills and also the technical and project management skills of his team which made this mission a success. He has managed to register his name in history. It is quite unfortunate that the Indian media has not covered this story. Hopefully someone will wake up and file a story on him tomorrow.

Salman Khurshid's Saviour Rangi Mistry

Law Minister Mr Salman Khurshid on his return from his trip to London held a close to 100 minute press conference to explain his side of the story on the allegations of impropriety in the business conducted by an NGO run by him and his wife Mrs Louise Khurshid. The NGO named after Mr Khurshid's grand father and former president of India Mr Zakir Husaain gets grants from the government and distributes aids to poor handicaps in several districts of Uttar Pradesh including his home district.

During the press conference in his defence Mr Khurshid tried to prove that the aid distribution camps which were supposed to have taken place and were being suggested did not take place, indeed did take place. He gave some photographic evidence that camps were held. Some other documents were shared with the media like the utilization certificate and certain bills of the equipment purchased by the trust. Regarding the CAG inspection report he mentioned that since the auditor never reached him or his wife he had not been able to share the accounts of the trust with the auditor, but will do so now. He ignored all attempts to get him to make a statement against India Against Corruption or to reply to the questions raised by group. One was also witness to the repeated annoyance Mr Khurshid had with his aids since the most important participants of the press conference had not yet arrived. They were part of Mr Khurshid's 'Counter Sting' on the India Today group.

When the press conference was opened for questions it was essentially reduced to a slanging match between Mr Khurshid and the India Today Editor Mr Deepak Sharma who had conducted the investigative news story named 'Operation Dhritarashtra' by Aaj Tak and other reporters of the same group. At a point in the conference Mr Salman Khurshid even lost his temper with the journalist Mr Deepak Sharma and asked him to leave. He later resumed the press conference repeatedly asking the other journalist present that he would speak if the India Today journalist shuts up. For anyone who has witnessed the press conference it is quite clear that most of the other journalist present in the press conference were either not ready with questions to ask to the law minister or never got chance.

But the 'Hero' of Mr Khurshid's press conference made a dramatic entry at the very end of the press conference and seemingly left some in the media quite speechless with his one liner that came after repeated probing by Khurshid and his workers. This was Mr Rangi Mistry a seemingly destitute old man who was wearing a white hearing aid and looked overwhelmed by the occasion initially. It was clear that he could not hear very well. When he was asked by Mr Khurshid that 'these people are saying that you never got any thing', he replied 'I had got, two years back I had got, but it was not working properly so I said I had not got, hoping that I will get another. ' The statement was greeted with clapping from Mr Khurshid's supporters and Mr Khurshid himself while Ms Louise Khurshid held her hand to her head.

Whether or not Mr Khurshid has managed to prove his innocence or the guilt of India Today group in trying to 'frame' him as he claims is another matter, what he has indeed managed to do is that like an accomplished lawyer in the court of the media he has managed to turn at least one witness hostile and that witness his saviour is Mr Rangi Mistry whose credibility now is in question thanks to his own contradictory statements, one in front of the Aaj tak camera and the other in front of many more TV camera's. Whether the two statements made by Mr Mistry was under some influence or his own independent display of somersault we will perhaps never know. But we all know now that the star of Mr Khurshid press conference Mr Rangi Mistry is now a spent bullet, although strangely a bullet that has been fired twice once at Mr Khurshid and then again by Mr Khurshid at the India Today Media Group.

Joseph Stiglitz Interview about his book "The Price Of Inequality"

I saw this interview of renowned economist Joseph Stiglitz. He was interviewed by Charlie Rose discussing the aspects covered in his new book "The Price Of Inequality". These are the kind of people we should be listening to. We need people like him advising the Indian government on how to have sustainable economic growth rather than adopt the failed American models of the past.

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12589

Mr Stiglitz makes an argument about raising capital gains tax. Contrast it to Shome committee which argues in favour of abolishing capital gains tax.

Mr Stiglitz sees growing inequality in the USA, our policy experts argue on television channels that the poor in our country do not care if Mr Ambani is getting very rich, they care that they are themselves doing better in absolute terms.

Mr Stiglitz mentions that the USA had an unsustainable model of development of zero savings, high consumption and real estate bubble. We in India hear about reviving the real estate market by reducing interest rate on home loans and providing lending to real estate companies, at time when real
estate companies are not selling their stockpile and keeping prices artificially low thanks to their 'holding capacity'.

Mr Stiglitz feels that America has a third world infrastructure. Where does that leave Indian infrastructure? In an alternate world!!

He believes that America should spend more on education.

He says in the interview that the Federal Reserve in the US did not do enough to check predatory, abusive credit card practices, excessive risk taking of bank's lending and deflating the housing bubble.

He says that if you spend too much time talking to bankers then you start to think like them. He is hinting at keeping an arms length relationship between government and private industry. Is our government getting too much influenced by industry bodies? Are they keeping arms length relationship.

He says the America should follow the European  health care model. In India we are moving towards the American model of more private sector participation and dependence on private Indian and Foreign medical insurance companies.

Another talk by Mr Joseph Stiglitz in which he speaks about the issues covered in his latest book is below:

Luxury Market - Follow up to Single Brand FDI Retail

I don't have the time to follow this story much, there are bigger issues I want to write about but since this story appeared on Mint and these issues were being covered by news channels I cannot help but draw a connection between the recent policy changes to allow 100% FDI in single brand retail and the media stories covering luxury retailers coupled with publicizing their demand for lower taxes to make luxury affordable.

It is interesting how the media machinery kicks in for what is essentially publicity for Luxury Brand retailers.
The story as it appeared on MINT is "India to overtake China on luxury market growth".

"Driven by an explosion in number of rich people" India will overtake China in luxury market growth. After getting the FDI approval and the local sourcing norms changed the 'Luxury Industry' now wants the tariffs to be reduced. I heard a luxury retailer say in a panel discussion on a news channel that they need more "government support". Even a secretary to a banker or corporations in China wears brands from  'head to toe'.

Another point of note in this story is that for the foreign retailers in India it is all about the middle class. How to get them to consume all they have to offer. Of course the government can always make us believe that all the reforms will benefit the poor in the long run. After all luxury goods producers employ the poor, don't they deserve lower taxes?

WAL-MART - Something's Not Right

The day following Thanksgiving Day which is popularly called Black Friday is the day on which retailers in USA log there biggest single day sales. Huge discounts are customary, shops open in the wee hours of the day and shopper queue up all night in front of the stores for them to open in order to be the first to take advantage of the limited stock available on discounts.

Having witnessed the craze first hand myself, I know how packed the stores can be on this day and how difficult it becomes for the staff to cope up with the rush of customers. Living in India I would have never imagined that people could queue up all night simply to shop but then USA is not India. But guess what who is potentially likely to be a big looser on this shopping festival come November 23rd this year. It is the biggest retail of the world of our times and human history. WAL-MART has been threatened with a nation wide strike on November 23rd by its workers protesting low wages and questionable labour practices.


Labour unrest against WAL-MART has been brewing in the USA for a long time now. I had earlier written on my post about the public protests that WAL-MART's business practices have invited even in the developed countries where WAL-MART has a big presence. The latest episode of unrest has the potential to cutoff WAL-MART from the years biggest single day shopping festival in the USA. 

Both The Hindu and The Economic times carried stories on this threat issued by the workers of WAL-MART. The story was released by PTI but guess what caught my eye. The same PTI story had also appeared else where ad verbatim on NDTV website but the economic times article which never appeared on the print version at least I could not find it. My apologies if it appeared but I missed it. It may have been an honest mistake but let me reproduce the portion missing from ET report.

"Hector Sanchez, executive director of the Labour Council for Latin American Advancement alleged that as the largest employer of African Americans, women and Latinos, Walmart, through its low wages, lack of benefits, and discriminatory employment policies, is eroding the foundation that the middle class was built upon.

In another statement, “Our Walmart” said that workers from stores throughout the Dallas area, went on strike on Tuesday in the first-ever Walmart Associate walk-out in Dallas, protesting attempts to silence, and retaliate against workers for speaking out for improvements in the job.

Walmart workers from stores in Miami, the DC-area, Sacramento, Southern California and the Bay-area are also walking off the job, it added."

So the report is saying that a labour council head is alleging discrimination against the economically weaker sections of the society by employing them on such low wages that it denies them economic progress. WAL-MART does not recognize labour unions of its employees in the USA and has been accused of using hard tactics to prevent unionization of its labour force. There is also a statement from "Our Walmart" a Walmart workers group not recognized by WAL-MART that worker had already gone on strike in Dallas area against attempts to block them from raising working condition issues.

So that's the story of note about WAL-MART as it is unfolding in the USA. In India meanwhile a different story is emerging, one which potentially involves the government. Let me give you some back ground on it. I had written in a previous post about the Delhi High court notice to the government in July this year in response to a PIL filed by Ms Vandana Shiva a noted environmental activist alleging FDI norm violations by WAL-MART. FDI in multi-brand retail was allowed only subsequently in September this year. After the union government's decision to allow FDI Ms Vandana Shiva withdrew the PIL on 3rd October. Recently CNN IBN has reported on the same story on 10th October raising a question whether WAL-MART and Bharti violated the FDI norms as they existed then.

The alleged violation is that Cedar Support Services(earlier known as Bharti Holding Ltd) which operates multibrand retail for Bharti under Easy Day brand changed its charter of operation in 2009 to enable it to provide real estate consultancy services. Since consultancy services businesses are allowed foreign investment up to 100% via the automatic route the CNN IBN report alleges that roughly USD 100 million were invested by WAL-MART in Ceder Support Services in the form of debenture convertible to equity. The conversion date was earlier Sep 2011 and it was extended to Sep 2012 i.e. the same month and year when multi-brand retail FDI policy was changed by the government. On conversion WAL-MART will as per the report own 49% stake in the company. Figures of interest to note here as per the CNN report USD 100 million which is about same as the GOI policy on Multi brand FDI, it may be a mere coincidence but WAL-MART looks like got the figures just right . Ceder is also reported to have invested the entire proceeds in Bharti Retail.

CNN report raises suspicion that WAL-MART and Bharti have used circuitous route to get around the policy as it existed then and only ex post facto policy changes have made it legal for them to have done so. That begs the question whether companies can use questionable business practices to get an edge on their competition by flouting legal norms in anticipation of a subsequent change in law which will allow their business competitors to enter the market. 

Yesterday I raised an email query to Ms Vandana Shiva as to what prompted here to withdraw the PIL I got a reply from her stating "Our case was based on FDI in retail not being allowed. Now it is allowed. And we need to reframe the case for the new policy context.". As a concerned citizen I hope she is able to 're frame' her PIL and submit it, although I doubt it will happen. Today ET reported that PMO has asked DIPP under the commerce ministry to probe into the alleged violations. This appears like a clear case of passing the buck by the Prime Minister; if he was really serious of a probe then he should have ordered it when the PIL was filed and the issue was brought to his attention by his parliament colleague M P Achuthan, not after the FDI norms were already changed in favor of WAL-MART. The same commerce ministry which is probably involved in the murky affair will now probe its own dealings. 

In the same article ET mentions "According to its balance sheet for the year ended December 2011, Cedar Support had a capital of Rs 899.15 crore that included share capital of Rs 443.15 crore from Bharti Ventures and a Rs 455.80-crore CCD investment by Walmart. Almost the entire amount (approx Rs 862 crore) had been invested in the Bharti Retail through investments and loans, the documents show."

The same company has been recently caught red handed trying to hush up a bribery scandal involving its officials in Mexico. Something is really very fishy here and I doubt if we will have any closure on this. WAL-MART it appears has successfully managed to impose itself on the people of this country when there was no popular support to Retail FDI and by manipulating the system it appears to have beaten its competition in the race to enter the country. This whole affair gives me another reason why I don't support Retail FDI.

Naya Kayda - New Order

Presidential duty keeping Mukharjee busy

Mamta Ji ki dosti was never very easy

Mehnga Roti Kapda Makaan
Petrol Diesel ke bhi Badhe daam

Mamta Utri Train Se

Stock Uchla Prem Se

Mulayam ho ya Maya

CBI ka dar barsaya

Montek ho ya Raghu

Shome ho ya Basu

IMF ki coteri

Ne bhardi desi kothri

GAAR ki maar se bach gaye hazaar

Montek ke iraadon se uchla fir baazaar

Geithner aur Bernanke

Ne Chidabaram se yaari ki

Media ki Rai 

Sabse Accha FDI

Nahin chahiye choti dukan
Wall-mart ki saji dukan

Bade Business ka fayda

Yeh hai Naya Kayda

-- That was my attempt on a political poetry.