Why I Killed Gandhi by Nathuram Vinayak Godse- must read

this may be a repeat but read on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti

 

Subject: WHY I KILLED GANDHI by NATHURAM VINAYAK GODSE Gandhiji’s assassin, Nathuram Godse’s Final Address to the Court. WHY I KILLED GANDHI – Nathuram Godse’s Final Address to the Court. Nathuram Godse was arrested immediately after he assassinated Gandhiji, based on a F. I. R. filed by Nandlal Mehta at the Tughlak Road Police staton at Delhi . The trial, which was held in camera, began on May 27, 1948 and concluded on February 10, 1949. He was sentenced to death. An appeal to the Punjab High Court, then in session at Simla, did not find favour and the sentence was upheld. The statement that you are about to read is the last made by Godse before the Court on the May 5, 1949. Such was the power and eloquence of this statement that one of the judges, G. D. Khosla, later wrote, “I have, however, no doubt that had the audience of that day been constituted into a jury and entrusted with the task of deciding Godse’s appeal, they would have brought a verdict of ‘not Guilty’ by an overwhelming majority” WHY I KILLED GANDHI Born in a devotional Brahmin family, I instinctively came to revere Hindu religion, Hindu history and Hindu culture. I had, therefore, been intensely proud of Hinduism as a whole. As I grew up I developed a tendency to free thinking unfettered by any superstitious allegiance to any isms, political or religious. That is why I worked actively for the eradication of untouchability and the caste system based on birth alone. I openly joined RSS wing of anti-caste movements and maintained that all Hindus were of equal status as to rights, social and religious and should be considered high or low on merit alone and not through the accident of birth in a particular caste or profession. I used publicly to take part in organized anti-caste dinners in which thousands of Hindus, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Chamars and Bhangis participated. We broke the caste rules and dined in the company of each other. I have read the speeches and writings of Ravana, Chanakiya, Dadabhai Naoroji, Vivekanand, Gokhale, Tilak, along with the books of ancient and modern history of India and some prominent countries like England , France , America and Russia . Moreover I studied the tenets of Socialism and Marxism. But above all I studied very closely whatever Veer Savarkar and Gandhiji had written and spoken, as to my mind these two ideologies have contributed more to the moulding of the thought and action of the Indian people during the last thirty years or so, than any other single factor has done. All this reading and thinking led me to believe it was my first duty to serve Hindudom and Hindus both as a patriot and as a world citizen. To secure the freedom and to safeguard the just interests of some thirty crores (300 million) of Hindus would automatically constitute the freedom and the well-being of all India , one fifth of human race. This conviction led me naturally to devote myself to the Hindu Sanghtanist ideology and programme, which alone, I came to believe, could win and preserve the national independence of Hindustan , my Motherland, and enable her to render true service to humanity as well. Since the year 1920, that is, after the demise of Lokamanya Tilak, Gandhiji’s influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogan of truth and non-violence which he paraded ostentatiously before the country. No sensible or enlightened person could object to those slogans. In fact there is nothing new or original in them.. They are implicit in every constitutional public movement. But it is nothing but a mere dream if you imagine that the bulk of mankind is, or can ever become, capable of scrupulous adherence to these lofty principles in its normal life from day to day. In fact, honour, duty and love of one’s own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence and to use force. I could never conceive that an armed resistance to an aggression is unjust. I would consider it a religious and moral duty to resist and, if possible, to overpower such an enemy by use of force. [In the Ramayana] Rama killed Ravana in a tumultuous fight and relieved Sita.. [In the Mahabharata], Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness; and Arjuna had to fight and slay quite a number of his friends and relationsincluding the revered Bhishma because the latter was on the side of the aggressor. It is my firm belief that in dubbing Rama, Krishna and Arjuna as guilty of violence, the Mahatma betrayed a total ignorance of the springs of human action. In more recent history, it was the heroic fight put up by Chhatrapati Shivaji that first checked and eventually destroyed the Muslim tyranny in India . It was absolutely essentially for Shivaji to overpower and kill an aggressive Afzal Khan, failing which he would have lost his own life. In condemning history’s towering warriors like Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Gobind Singh as misguided patriots, Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit. He was, paradoxical as it may appear, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and non-violence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen for ever for the freedom they brought to them. The accumulating provocation of thirty-two years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhi should be brought to an end immediately. Gandhi had done very good in South Africa to uphold the rights and well-being of the Indian community there. But when he finally returned to India he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was to be the final judge of what was right or wrong. If the country wanted his leadership, it had to accept his infallibility; if it did not, he would stand aloof from the Congress and carry on his own way. Against such an attitude there can be no halfway house. Either Congress had to surrender its will to his and had to be content with playing second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality, metaphysics and primitive vision, or it had to carry on without him. He alone was the Judge of everyone and every thing; he was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement; no other could know the technique of that movement. He alone knew when to begin and when to withdraw it. The movement might succeed or fail, it might bring untold disaster and political reverses but that could make no difference to the Mahatma’s infallibility. ‘A Satyagrahi can never fail’ was his formula for declaring his own infallibility and nobody except himself knew what a Satyagrahi is. Thus, the Mahatma became the judge and jury in his own cause. These childish insanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character made Gandhi formidable and irresistible. Many people thought that his politics were irrational but they had either to withdraw from the Congress or place their intelligence at his feet to do with as he liked. In a position of such absolute irresponsibility Gandhi was guilty of blunder after blunder, failure after failure, disaster after disaster. Gandhi’s pro-Muslim policy is blatantly in his perverse attitude on the question of the national language of India . It is quite obvious that Hindi has the most prior claim to be accepted as the premier language. In the beginning of his career in India , Gandhi gave a great impetus to Hindi but as he found that the Muslims did not like it, he became a champion of what is called Hindustani.. Everybody in India knows that there is no language called Hindustani; it has no grammar; it has no vocabulary. It is a mere dialect, it is spoken, but not written. It is a bastard tongue and cross-breed between Hindi and Urdu, and not even the Mahatma’s sophistry could make it popular. But in his desire to please the Muslims he insisted that Hindustani alone should be the national language of India . His blind followers, of course, supported him and the so-called hybrid language began to be used. The charm and purity of the Hindi language was to be prostituted to please the Muslims. All his experiments were at the expense of the Hindus. From August 1946 onwards the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus. The then Viceroy, Lord Wavell, though distressed at what was happening, would not use his powers under the Government of India Act of 1935 to prevent the rape, murder and arson. The Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with some retaliation by the Hindus. The Interim Government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members right from its inception, but the more they became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part, the greater was Gandhi’s infatuation for them. Lord Wavell had to resign as he could not bring about a settlement and he was succeeded by Lord Mountbatten. King Log was followed by King Stork. The Congress which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism secretly accepted Pakistan literally at the point of the bayonet and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to us from August 15, 1947. Lord Mountbatten came to be described in Congress circles as the greatest Viceroy and Governor-General this country ever had. The official date for handing over power was fixed for June 30, 1948, but Mountbatten with his ruthless surgery gave us a gift of vivisected India ten months in advance. This is what Gandhi had achieved after thirty years of undisputed dictatorship and this is what Congress party calls ‘freedom’ and ‘peaceful transfer of power’. The Hindu-Muslim unity bubble was finally burst and a theocratic state was established with the consent of Nehru and his crowd and they have called ‘freedom won by them with sacrifice’ – whose sacrifice? When top leaders of Congress, with the consent of Gandhi, divided and tore the country – which we consider a deity of worship – my mind was filled with direful anger. One of the conditions imposed by Gandhi for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by the Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan Government or the Muslims concerned. Gandhi was shrewd enough to know that while undertaking a fast unto death, had he imposed for its break some condition on the Muslims in Pakistan , there would have been found hardly any Muslims who could have shown some grief if the fast had ended in his death. It was for this reason that he purposely avoided imposing any condition on the Muslims. He was fully aware of from the experience that Jinnah was not at all perturbed or influenced by his fast and the Muslim League hardly attached any value to the inner voice of Gandhi. Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it. I stoutly maintain that Gandhi has failed in his duty. He has proved to be the Father of Pakistan. His inner-voice, his spiritual power and his doctrine of non-violence of which so much is made of, all crumbled before Jinnah’s iron will and proved to be powerless. Briefly speaking, I thought to myself and foresaw I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred and that I shall have lost all my honour, even more valuable than my life, if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time I felt that the Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and would be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan . People may even call me and dub me as devoid of any sense or foolish, but the nation would be free to follow the course founded on the reason which I consider to be necessary for sound nation-building. After having fully considered the question, I took the final decision in the matter, but I did not speak about it to anyone whatsoever. I took courage in both my hands and I did fire the shots at Gandhiji on 30th January 1948, on the prayer-grounds of Birla House. I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus. There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book and for this reason I fired those fatal shots. I bear no ill will towards anyone individually but I do say that I had no respect for the present government owing to their policy which was unfairly favourable towards the Muslims. But at the same time I could clearly see that the policy was entirely due to the presence of Gandhi. I have to say with great regret that Prime Minister Nehru quite forgets that his preachings and deeds are at times at variances with each other when he talks about India as a secular state in season and out of season, because it is significant to note that Nehru has played a leading role in the establishment of the theocratic state of Pakistan, and his job was made easier by Gandhi’s persistent policy of appeasement towards the Muslims. I now stand before the court to accept the full share of my responsibility for what I have done and the judge would, of course, pass against me such orders of sentence as may be considered proper. But I would like to add that I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me, nor do I wish that anyone else should beg for mercy on my behalf. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled against it on all sides. I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future.

ஒளவையார் அருளிய விநாயகர் அகவல் (மூலமும் உரையும்)

Kumar Ramanathan

விநாயகர் அகவலும் பொதுவான பொருளும்:-

விநாயகர் அகவல் என்னும் நூல் ஔவைப் பிராட்டியாரால்அருளிச் செய்யப்பட்டது. இது தமிழ்ச் சைவர்களின் நித்திய பாராயண நூல்களில் ஒன்றாக விளங்குகின்றது. தமிழர்கள் கைக்கொண்டொழுகிய வழிபாட்டுநெறியோடு யோகநெறியையும் விளக்கியருளும் சிறப்பு வாய்ந்தது.

இக்கருத்துக்கள் சைவசித்தாந்தப் பேராசிரியர் திரு இரா.வையாபுரியார் அவர்கள் விநாயகர் அகவலுக்கு எழுதியுள்ள பேருரையினின்றும் திரட்டப் பட்டது.

‘சொல்லிய பாட்டின் பொருளுணர்ந்து சொல்லுவார் செல்வர், சிவபுரத்திலுள்ளார்’. விநாயகர் அகவலைப் பாராயணம் செய்யும்போது இப்பொருள்கள் நினைவுக்கு வந்து பாராயணத்தைப் பயனுடையதாக்கும்.

இந்நூல் 15ஆவது வரி ‘அற்புதம் நின்ற கற்பகக் களிறே’ என்று கூறுவதால் இந்நூலில் கூறப்படும் விநாயகப் பெருமானின் திரு நாமம் ‘கற்பக விநாயகர்’ என்பது.

அவர் தன் நிலையில்,

• சொல்லுக்கும் நினைவுக்கும் எட்டாதவர்.
• துரியநிலையில் இருப்பவர்.
• ஞானமே சொரூபமாக இருப்பவர்.

இது அவருடைய சொரூப நிலை அல்லது உண்மை நிலை எனப்படும். இது பரசிவமாக இருக்கும் நிலை.

ஞானமே சொரூபமாக உடைய பரசிவம் தன்னை அடியவர்கள் வழிபட்டு உய்வதற்காகவும் அடியவர்களுக்கு அருள் செய்வதற்காகவும் அற்புதமான வடிவம் கொண்டு காட்சிக்கும் நினைப்புக்கும் சொல்லுக்கும் எட்டுபவராக எளிவந்து அருளும். அத்தகைய அற்புதக் கோலங்களில் ஒன்று விநாயக வடிவம். ( அற்புதம் – அற்புதம் என்பது உலகில் எங்கும் காணப்படாது இயற்கைக்கு மாறாக நிகழ்வது. இது திருவருளால் மட்டுமே நிகழ்வது.)

அவ்வற்புத வடிவமானது:

• தாமரை மலர்போன்ற மென்மையும் அழகும் மலர்ச்சியும் உடைய திருவடிகள்.
• அத்திருவடிகளில் இனிய ஒலியெழுப்பும் சிலம்பு.
• பொன்னரைஞாண்.
• அழகிய பட்டாடை அணிந்த இடுப்பு
• பேழை (பெட்டி) போன்ற வயிறு.
• பெரிய வலிமை மிக்க தந்தம்.
• யானைமுகம்.
• முகத்தில் அணிந்த சிந்தூரம்.
• ஐந்துகைகள்.
• அங்குசம், பாசம் என்னும் ஆயுதங்கள்.
• நீலமேனி (நீலம் – கருமை)
• தொங்குகின்ற வாய்.
• நான்கு தோள்.
• மூன்று கண்.
• கன்னத்தில் மதநீர் வடிந்த சுவடு.
• இருபெரிய செவிகள்.
• பொற்கிரீடம்
• பூணூல் புரள்கின்ற மார்பு.

இது குணங்குறி அற்ற பரசிவம் உயிர்களுக்கு அருளும் பொருட்டு மேற்கொள்ளும் வடிவங்களுள் ஒன்று. அதனால் தடத்த வடிவம் அல்லது தடத்த நிலை எனப்படும். இறைவடிவங்களைத் தரிசித்துத் தொழும்போது திருவடியிலிருந்து தொடங்கி உச்சிவரைக் கண்டு திருமேனியில் விழியைப் பதித்தல் முறை. திருவடி என்பது திருவருள். திருவருளால் இக்காட்சி நடைபெறுகின்றது என்பது பொருள்.

• அவருக்கு நிவேதனப் பொருள்கள் முப்பழம்.
• ஊர்தி மூஷிகம்
• அவர் தன்னை வழிபடும் அடியவர்களுக்குத் தாய்போன்ற அன்புடையவர்.
• எப்பொழுதும் அடியவர்களைப் பிரியாமல், அவர்களுடைய அறிவுக்கு அறிவாய், அறிவினுள்ளே இருந்து அவர்களுக்கு வாழ்வில் வழிகாட்டுவார்.
• அடியவர்களுக்குப் பக்குவம் வந்த காலத்தில் குருவடிவாக வெளிப்பட்டு வந்து, முன் நின்று தீக்கை செய்து உண்மை ஞானம் புகட்டுவார்.
• அடியவர்களை யோகநெறியிலும் ஞானநெறியிலும் நிற்கச் செய்வார்.
• ஆணவம், கன்மம், மாயை என்னும் மும்மலப் பிணிப்பிலிருந்து விடுபடச் செய்வார்
• நின்மல அவத்தை (அருளுடன் கூடிநிற்கும் நிலை) யில் நிற்கச் செய்வார்.
• அளவில்லாத ஆனந்த அனுபவம் விரியச் செய்வார்.
• இறுதியில் தன்னைப்போலத் தன் அடியவர்களையும் என்றும் மாறாத அழியாத நிலையில் (தத்துவநிலை) நிற்கச் செய்வார்.

விநாயகப் பெருமான் உணர்த்தும் ஞானநெறி

• குருவாக வந்து தீக்கை அருளுகின்றார்

• இதுவரையிலும் அவ்வுயிர் செத்துப் பிறந்து உழல்வதற்குக் காரணமான மயக்க அறிவைப் போக்குகின்றார்.

• திருவைந்தெழுத்தை (‚ பஞ்சாக்கரம்) நெஞ்சில் பதிவிக்கின்றார்.

• உள்ளத்தில் வெளிப்பட்டு விளங்கி நிற்கின்றார்.

• பதி, பசு, பாசம் எனும் அனாதியான முப்பொருள்களின் இயல்பினை விளக்கி உரைக்கின்றார். சஞ்சிதம் எனும் பழவினையைப் போக்குகின்றார். ஞானோபதேசம் செய்கின்றார்.

• உபதேசித்த ஞானப்பொருளில் ஐயம், திரிபு ஆகியன நேரிடாமல் தெளிந்த உணர்வு உண்டாமாறு அருளுகின்றார்.

• ஐம்புலன்கள் விடயங்களை நோக்கி ஓடி விருப்பு வெறுப்புக் கொண்டு துன்புறாதபடி புலனடக்கம் உண்டாவதற்குரிய வழியினைக் காட்டியருளுகின்றார்.

• உடம்பில் உள்ள தத்துவக் கருவிகள் எவ்வாறு ஒடுங்குகின்றன என்பதை அறிவிக்கின்றார்.

• பிராரத்த வினை தாக்காதவாறு காப்பாற்றுகின்றார்.

• ஆணவம லத்தால் வரும் துன்பத்தைப் போக்குகின்றார்.

• ஆன்மாவை நின்மல நிலைக்கு உயர்த்தி நின்மலதுரியம் நின்மலதுரியாதீதம் என்னும் நிலைகளில் திருவருளுடனும் சிவத்துடனும் கலந்து நிற்கச் செய்கின்றார்.

குருவாக வந்த விநாயகப் பெருமான் இவ்வாறு ஞானநெறியை அருளி, இந்த ஞானநெறியில் நெகிழ்ந்து விடாது உறுதியாய் நிற்பதற்குரிய யோகநெறியினையும் அறிவித்தருளுகின்றார்.

• ஒன்பது வாயில்களை உடைய உடம்பில் உள்ள ஐம்புலன்கள் ஆகிய கதவுகளை அடைத்து மனம் உள்ளே (அகமுகப்பட்டு) நிற்கச் செய்கிறார்.

• இதனால் ஆதாரயோகம் மேற்கொள்ளும் முறையினைத் தெளிவிக்கின்றார்.

• மவுனசமாதி நிலையினை அடையச் செய்கின்றார்.

• இடநாடி, வலநாடி, சுழுமுனா நாடி என்னும் நாடிகளின் வழியாய் மூச்சுக்காற்று இயங்கும் முறையினைத் தெரிவிக்கின்றார்.

• சுழுமுனா நாடி மூலாதாரத்திலிருந்து கபாலம் வரையிலும் (தலையுச்சி) சென்று நிற்கும் நிலையினைத் தெரிவிக்கின்றார்.

• அவ்வாறு செல்லும் வழியில் உள்ள அக்கினி மண்டலம், சூரிய மண்டலம், சந்திர மண்டலம் என்னும் பகுதிகளின் இயல்பைத் தெரிவிக்கின்றார்.

• மூலாதாரத்தில் உள்ள ஹம்ச மந்திரம், குண்டலினி சத்தி, பிரணவ மந்திரம் என்பனவற்றின் இயல்பினைத் தெரிவிக்கின்றார்.

• இடகலை, பிங்கலை என்னும் மூச்சுக்காற்ரினால் குண்டலினி என்னும் சத்தியை எழுப்பிச் சுழுமுனைநாடி வழியாக மேலே கபாலம் வரையிலும் பிரணவமந்திரத்துடன் ஏற்றும் முறையினையும் தெரிவிக்கின்றார்.

• இவ்வகையில் பிரணவமந்திரம் பலகலைக்களாகப் பிரிக்கப்பட்டு, (மூன்று, ஐந்து, பன்னிரண்டு, பதினாறு) உடம்பில் அங்கங்கே நிறுத்தித் தியானிக்கப்படுவதாகிய பிராசாத யோகம் என்னும் நெறியினையும் கற்பிக்கின்றார்.

• இப்பிராசாத யோகத்தினால் ஆன்மா பிரமரந்திரம் (தலையுச்சி) என்னும் இடத்தையும் கடந்து மேலே துவாதசாந்தப் பெருவெளி என்னும் இடம்வரையிலும் சென்று சிவத்துடன் கலந்து நின்று சிவானந்தம் அனுபவிக்கச் செய்கின்றார்.

• இவ்வாறு ஆறாதார யோகம், அட்டாங்க யோகம், பிராசாத யோகம் என்னும் முறைகளில் நிற்கச் செய்து மனோலயம் அடையச் செய்கின்றார்.

• இதனால் உண்டாகும் அகக் காட்சியினால் ஆன்மாவின் இயல்பு, உடம்பின் இயல்பு, மாயாமலம் கன்மமலம் ஆணவமலம் என்பனவற்றின் உண்மையியல்பு ஆகியவற்றை அறிய வைக்கின்றார்.

• சப்தப்பிரபஞ்சம் (ஒலியுலகம்) அர்த்தப்பிரபஞ்சம்(பொருளுலகம்) என்பனவற்றினியல்பையும் அவற்றில் பரம்பொருள் சிவலிங்கரூபமாகக் கலந்திருக்கும் முறையினையும் அறியச் செய்கிறார்.

• இத்தகைய பரம்பொருள் மிகச் சிறிய பொருள்களுக்கெல்லாம் மிகச் சிறியதாகவும், மிகப் பெரிய பொருள்களுக்கெல்லாம் மிகப் பெரிய பொருளாகவும் இருக்கும் நிலையை உணரச் செய்கின்றார்.

• இத்தகைய பரம்பொருள்சை உலகவாழ்வில் இருந்துகொண்டே அறிவதும் அப்பொருளுடன் கலந்து ஆனந்தம் அனுபவிப்பதும் கரும்பினைக் கணுக்கணுவாகச் சுவைத்துச் செல்லும் அனுபவம் போன்றது.

• இந்த அனுபவம் நீடித்திருக்கத் திருநீறு உருத்திராக்கம் முதலிய சிவசின்னங்களை அணிய வேண்டும்.
• அவற்றையும் அவற்றை அணிந்துள்ள அடியார்களையும் சிவமெனவே கண்டு வழிபடுதல் வேண்டும்.

• எப்பொழுதும் அடியார் கூட்டத்துடன் கலந்திருத்தல் வேண்டும்.

• திருவைந்தெழுத்து மந்திர செபத்தைக் கைவிடலாகாது.

இவ்வாறு விநாயகப் பெருமான் பக்குவமுடைய ஆன்மாவுக்கு ஞானோபதேசம் செய்து ஞானநெறியிலும் யோகநெறியிலும் நிற்கச் செய்து இவ்வுலகிலேயே சீவன்முத்தனாக இருந்து சிவானந்தம் அனுபவிக்கும் நிலையினையும் தந்து, அவ்வான்மா சிவத்தைப் போலென்றும் ஒரேதன்மையுடையதாய் இருக்கும் நிலையினை அடையச் செய்கிறார். அந்நிலையிலிருந்து அவ்வான்மா தன்னைவிட்டு நீங்காமல் தனக்கே அடிமையாய் இருக்கும் நிலைமையினையும் விநாயப் பெருமான் அருளுகின்றார் என்னும் அரிய செய்திகளை விநாயகர் அகவல் என்னும் இந்த நூல் கூறுகின்றார்.

ஒளவையார் அருளிய விநாயகர் அகவல் (மூலமும் உரையும்): அட்டாங்கயோகம், பிராசாத யோகம்.

 

Why MODIfied India will give jitters to alienated Bharatwasis?

Subject: Why MODIfied India will give jitters to alienated Bharatwasis?

Modi: Enemy at the Gates

Modi has arrived and arrived in style, notwithstanding the bombastic resistance from the Congress and their paid agents in the BJP and Media. Delhi is finally on NaMo’s radar and his troops can see the domes of South Block, which he will hopefully occupy by May 2014, if not earlier.

The political career of the senior BJP leadership is over. They did not see the writing on the wall and have now been removed by their cadres. The BJP President, Rajnath Singh, handled it well, but in hindsight, his efforts were completely unnecessary. The lesson for the future is to let the leadership come out through open internal elections where the village, district and the state level leaders vote. Had there been a contest to choose the PM candidate, it is evident that Modi would have easily vanquished the rest. Unanimity is not required. This is true democracy.

The Congress is notably jittery. During Modi’s recent visit to Jaipur, the Rajasthan CM had the electric supplies shut so that the village folk did not see the live telecast. Their impending doom will now translate into incoherent actions. Where in the world has anyone ever heard of an opposition leader, who is only a state CM, being discussed thoroughly be it TV, print media, cocktail circuits, vegetable vendors, taxi drivers etc. NaMo is taking away 80% of their time. Nobody wastes time on the ruling dispensation. Does anybody even discuss MMS, PC, SG, RG etc? The discussions on them are generally negative and the junta only wants to know if they are likely to go to jail.

From the Aam Admi’s point of view, NaMo had made an important statement on a Zee TV program “Kahiye Janab”. He stated: “*Na mein kahta hoon, na kisi ko kahne deta hoon*”. No wonder, the levels of corruption in Gujarat is comparable to that of Singapore.

Modi at the gates of Delhi augurs well for the Indian State.
a) Sycophancy and nepotism will soon be an era of the past.
b) Good bye to vote bank politics.
c) Bureaucrats will fall in line.
d) NGOs who operate from garages of Lutyens Delhi will have to move to safe havens in Congress ruled states.
e) Many newspapers will die. The advertising budget in Gujarat was reduced by 80%.
Expect the same by the Modi Government.
f) The Armed Forces will get their much cherished “Political Control”. Issues will be solved pronto before
any soldier can say “Jack Robinson”.
g) Along with Swamy and Jethmalani, most of the black money stowed abroad will be brought back. The Rupee will challenge the Dollar.
h) NO Income Tax as per Swamy’s statement.
i) Terrorists will now have a “maut ka saudagar”. The Congress has made India the most dangerous country after Iraq and Afghanistan.
j) The Pakis and Chinese may have already gone into a huddle.
k) Modi has a good memory. The Americans had better watch out.
l) J&K will finally be Indian Territory. Enough of Article 70.

An eminent General recently wrote an article “Death of Politics”. I disagree. Modi will bring in clean politics. He has no dependents or damaad to speak of. A bright future awaits a *Modi*fied India.

Author/ Source not known
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Lets us work and make our…
Government – Proactive
Media – Reactive
Political Parties – Elective
Voters – Selective
Crowds – Constructive
Youth – Creative

MMS, the closet spiritualist

The widely respected economist and scholar has been credited with heralding a new era of economic liberalisation in India with his laissez-faire policy. Yet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been at the receiving end of late. Criticisms include use of adjectives like “ineffective”, “pusillanimous” and “understated” to “spineless” and “puppet PM.”

“It astonishes me that Manmohan Singh should talk so little and be so barely visible that we might be forgiven for thinking thatIndia has an imaginary Prime Minister,” wrote a celebrity-journalist in his blog a few months ago.

It is difficult to believe that the architect of India’s laissez-faire could be all that vulnerable, naive or “imaginary”. The non-committal, non-controversial and understated disposition that characterises the gentleman could be a veneer that conceals a far more evolved and enlightened approach towards his duties and responsibilities – in the current situation, as prime minister – that enables him to navigate life without much ado.

In a speech he gave at a public conclave held in the Capital, Manmohan Singh said: “I do not want India to be a super power; I just want India to stand in the comity of nations.” So he doesn’t seem to display any signs of being power-needy.

Perhaps he has no dark side, then. Manmohan Singh could, in all likelihood, be an advanced spiritualist who perceives himself as having absolutely no stake – neither in the country, in the species nor in the planet! He also shows great resilience in adverse situations, whether in a political, social or economic exigency. To be detached like a yogi even while living among fellow beings in the rough and tumble of politics and economics is no easy task. Guru Nanak described such a one as ‘raj mein jog’ – that is, the one who can achieve enlightenment in civic life. He also said: “The lotus in the water is not wet / Nor the water-fowl in the stream. / If a man would live, but by the world untouched, / Meditate and repeat the name of the Lord Supreme.”

Extolling the attributes of the one who has cultivated studied non-attachment to highs and lows, Guru Tegh Bahadur sang thus: “…He who has neither gluttony in his heart / Nor vanity nor attachment with worldly things, / He whom nothing moves, / Neither good fortune nor ill, / Who cares not for the world’s applause, / Nor its censure, / Who ignores every wishful fantasy / And accepts what comes his way as it comes… / He knows the righteous path…”

Some might conclude that Manmohan Singh’s proclivity for remaining a ‘Nirlep Narayan’ makes him out to be one without a stake and therefore he has nothing to win or lose. If he makes promises, they’re bound to be ones that concern issues that would get resolved if not now, later and if not later, even later, perhaps… or not.

It might not be in order to compare Manmohan Singh with King Janaka, who is the only one Krishna praises in the Bhagwad Gita for having transcended everything even while administering a kingdom. However, there are tantalizing similarities between the PM’s studied ‘indifference’ and the non-attachment and transcendence of someone like Janaka, that leads one to conclude that Manmohan Singh is laissez-faire by nature, in the spiritual sense.

How will all this pan out if Manmohan Singh and his party lose the next round of elections? He might just quote from the Ashtavakra Gita: “From one lifetime to another, kingdoms, sons, wives, appearances and pleasures to which you were attached have been lost… For innumerable births have you undertaken work, painful and exacting, with your body, mind and speech. Hence find rest at least now.”

 

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Narayani Ganesh is a senior editor with The Times of India. She writes on issues concerning the environment, science and technology, travel and tourism, heritage, philosophy, and health. She edits The Speaking Tree Sunday newspaper and daily column of that name, and is a leader writer with the Times of India opinion pages.

 

“An History of India as it Happened (not as it was written)”:

 “An History of India as it Happened (not as it was written)”:

CHAPTER 6 : NEGATIONISM AND THE MUSLIM CONQUESTS (Part II)
It is not only Indian historians, who are negationists, but also western historians and India-specialists. We know that the first historians of Indian – the Britishers – twisted India’s history to suit their theory that they had come to civilize a race which was not only inferior to them, but also was supposed to have been heavily influenced in its philosophies or arts by European invaders – read the Aryans or Alexander the Great. But what is less known is that today many western historians not only still cling to these old outdated theories, but also actually more or less will fully mislead the general European public, who is generally totally ignorant and takes these “knowledgeable” comments about India as the absolute truth. One example is France, which has a long tradition of Indianists, who devote their time and life to the study of India. The main school of historic research in France is called the CNRS (National Center of Social Research), which has a very important South Asia section, of which India, of course, is the main component. Unfortunately, many of these India-specialists are not only Left-leaning, that is they are very close to the ideas of the JNU historians, with whom they are anyway in constant contact, but are also specialists of the Mogul period of India history, which is to say that they are sympathetic to Islam’s point of view on India, while they often consider Hindus as fanatics…

Take for instance one of the recent Indian History books published in France “Histoire de l’Inde moderne” (1994 Fayard / Paris), the authors (there are seven of, all famous Indianists), having subscribed to the usual Aryan invasion theory, accuse Shiva “to incarnate obscure forces” (Introduction III) and of course use the word “fanatics” to describe the Hindus who brought down the Ayodhya mosque. Basically, the book does an apology of he moghol period in India; while keeping quiet about all their crimes. In the chapter dealing for instance with Vijaynagar, the last great empire of free India, which symbolized a Hindu Renaissance after nine centuries of savage Muslim conquests, one cannot but perceive the enmity of the authors for Hinduism. The two young princes, founder of Vijaynagar who were converted by force to Islam when in captivity, are accused of “duplicity”, because they reverted back to Hinduism as soon as they were free; then the French historians highlight the “ambition of Brahmins, who used these two young princes to reconquer the power that at been lost at the hands of the conquering Muslims” (page 54); the book then mentions “the unquenchable exigencies of the (Hindu) central power in Vijaynagar”, forgetting to say that that for the first time in centuries, Hindus could practice freely their faith, that they were not killed, their women raped, their children taken as slaves and converted to Islam. And all this to finally sum up in seven words the terrible end of Vijaynagar, which has left a wound in the Hindu psyche even up to today: “looting and massacres lasted for three days”…

But the authors of “Histoire de l’Inde moderne” do not only run down Hindus, they also glorify Muslims, particularly the Moghols. Babur for instance, this monster who killed hundreds of thousands of Hindus and razed thousands of temples becomes at their hands a gentle hero: “ Babur did not like India and preferred to isolate himself in the exquisite gardens he had devised, with their geometrical design, their crossed canals, which evoked to him the rivers of paradise”. Oh, God what a sensitive poet! And to make it sound even more glorious, the author adds: “there he translated a manual of Koranic law and a Sufi treaty of morals”. Oh, what a saint and lover of humanity… Aurangzeb, the cruelest of the Moghul emperors, has also the full sympathies of the authors: “Aurangzeb seems to have concentrated on himself the hatred of militant Hindus, who attribute to him systematic destruction of temples and massive conversion drives. But this Manichean impression has to be seriously countered (page 126)”… Unfortunately for the authors, as we have seen earlier, Aurangzeb was not only proud of what he was doing to the Hindus, but he had his scribes note each deed down for posterity… In 2006 the same authors published “L’Inde contemporaine”, with the same prejudices and bias against Hindus and their political parties.

These French Indianists have also a tradition of speaking against the BJP, which they have always labeled as “fundamentalist” and dangerous for the “secular” fabric of India, although the BJP has been in power for quite a few years and nothing dramatic has happened to the secular fabric of India. The problem is that these Indianists not only write lengthy and pompous articles in France’s main newspapers, such as Left-leaning Le Monde, explaining to the ignorant reader why is India on the point of exploding because of fanatic Hindus, or how the Harijans in India are still the most downtrodden people on earth (this is why when President Narayanan visited France in April 2000, all the French newspapers chose to only highlight that he was an untouchable and that religious minorities in India were persecuted, nearly provoking a diplomatic incident between France and India), but unfortunately they also advise the French government, who like his citizens, is often shamefully ignorant and uninterested by India. This is why, although there has been a lot of sympathy for the French in India because of their tolerant response to the Indian nuclear tests of 1998 (whereas the whole western world reacted hysterically by imposing absurd sanctions), France has not yet bothered to capitalize on this sympathy and has not managed to realize that India is the ideal economic alternative to a very volatile China.

It would be nice to say that Indian journalists are not blind to this influence of French Indianists and the adverse impact it has on Indo-French relations, but when Christophe Jaffrelot, for instance who wrote many a nasty books on Hindu fundamentalism and is most responsible for the bad image the BJP in France, comes to India to release the English translation of his book, he is feted by the Press corps and all kind of laudatory reviews are printed in the Indian Press. So much for secularism in India.

And, ultimately, it is a miracle that Hinduism survived the onslaught of Muslim savagery; it shows how deep was her faith, how profound her karma, how deeply ingrained her soul in the hearts of her faithfuls. We do not want to point a finger at Muslim atrocities, yet they should not be denied and their mistakes should not be repeated today. But the real question is: Can Islam ever accept Hinduism? We shall turn towards the Sage, the yogi, who fought for India’s independence, accepting the Gita’s message of karma of violence when necessary, yet who had a broad vision that softened his words: “You can live with a religion whose principle is toleration. But how is it possible to live peacefully with a religion whose principle is “I will not tolerate you? How are you going to have unity with these people?…The Hindu is ready to tolerate; he is open to new ideas and his culture and has got a wonderful capacity for assimilation, but always provided India’s central truth is recognised.. (Sri Aurobindo India’s Rebirth 161,173)
Or behold this, written on September 1909: “Every action for instance which may be objectionable to a number of Mahomedans, is now liable to be forbidden because it is likely to lead to a breach of peace. And one is dimly beginning to wonder whether worship in Hindu temples may be forbidden on that valid ground (India’s Rebirth p. 55). How prophetic! Sri Aurobindo could not have foreseen that so many Muslim countries would ban Rushdie’s book and that Hindu processions would often be forbidden in cities, for fear of offending the Muslims. Sri Aurobindo felt that sooner or later Hindus would have to assert again the greatness of Hinduism.

And here we must say a word about monotheism, for it is the key to the understanding of Islam. Christians and Muslims (and Jews) have always harped on the fact that their religions sprang-up as a reaction against the pagan polytheist creeds, which adored many Gods. « There is only one real God they said (ours), all the rest are just worthless idols ». This « monotheism versus polytheism business » has fuelled since then the deep, fanatic, violent and murderous zeal of Islam against polytheist religions, particularly against Hinduism, which is the most comprehensive, most widely practiced of all them. It even cemented an alliance of sorts between the two great monotheist religions of the world, Christianity and Islam, witness the Britishers’ attitude in India, who favoured Indian Muslims and Sikhs against the Hindus; or the King of Morocco who, even though he is one of the most moderate Muslim leaders in the world, recently said in an interview: « we have no fight with Christianity, our battle is against the Infidel who adores many gods ».
But as we have seen earlier, Hinduism is without any doubt the most monotheist religion in the World, for it recognises divine unity in multiplicity. It does not say: « there is only one God, which is Mohammed. If you do not believe in Him I will kill you ». It says instead: « Yes Mohammed is a manifestation of God, but so is Christ, or Buddha, or Krishna, or Confucius ». This philosophy, this way of seeing, which the Christians and Muslims call « impious », is actually the foundation for a true monotheist understanding of the world. It is because of this « If you do not recognize Allah (or Christ), I will kill you », that tens of millions of Hindus were slaughtered by Arabs and other millions of South Americans annihilated by the Christians. And ultimately the question is: Are the Muslims of today ready to accept Hinduism ? Unfortunately no. For Muslims all over the world, Hinduism is still the Infidel religion « par excellence ». This what their religion tell them, at every moment, at every verse, at the beginning of each prayer : « Only Allah is great ». And their mollahs still enjoin them to go on fight « jihad » to deliver the world of the infidels. And if the armies of Babar are not there any longer; and if it is not done any more to kill a 100.000 Hindus in a day, there is still the possibility of planting a few bombs in Coimbatore, Mumbai or Varanasi, of fuelling separatisms in the hated land and eventually to drop a nuclear device, which will settle the problem once and for all. As to the Indian Muslim, he might relate to his Hindu brother, for whatever he says, he remains an Indian, nay a Indu; but his religion will make sure that he does not forget that his duty is to hate the Infidel. This is the crux of the problem today and the riddle if Islam has to solved, if it wants to survive in the long run.

We will never be able to assess the immense physical harm done to India by the Muslim invasions. Even more difficult is to estimate the moral and the spiritual damage done to Hindu India. But once again, the question is not of vengeance, or of reawakening old ghosts, but of not repeating the same mistakes. Unfortunately, the harm done by the Muslims conquest is not over. The seeds planted by the Moghols, by Babar, Mahmud, or Aurangzeb, have matured: the 125 million Indian Muslims of today have forgotten that they were once peaceful, loving Hindus, forcibly converted to a religion they hated. And they sometimes take-up as theirs a cry of fanaticism which is totally alien to their culture. Indeed, as Sri Aurobindo once said: “More than 90% of the Indian Muslims are descendants of converted Hindus and belong as much to the Indian nation as the Hindu themselves”…(Rebirth of India, p.237) The embryo of secession planted by the Mahomedans, has also matured into a poisonous tree which has been called Pakistan and comes back to haunt India through three wars and the shadow of a nuclear conflict embracing South Asia. And in India, Kashmir and Kargil are reminders that the Moghol cry for the house of Islam in India is not yet over.

One of the main reasons I have decided to build in Pune a Museum of Indian History, dedicated to the great Shivaji Maharaj (who is depicted in Indian History books as a petty chieftain and a plunderer), is that it will not be enough to rewrite Indian History in books, it will also have to be done in STONE. Please see our website fact-india.com and contribute financially, if you can, to the making of that Museum (we have US, UK and Indian tax exemption). We are also looking for IT persons to donate time to do presentations, animations & GAMES based on the lives of India’s Hindu heroes: Shivaji Maharaj, Maharana Pratap, Rani of Jhansi, Ahilyabhai, the Vijaynagar empire, etc. You can contact me at fgautier@rediffmail.com

courtesy  Francois Gautier, a french author and journalist, who has been covering India and South Asia for the last 35 years. All throughout his reporting years, he noticed that most western correspondents were projecting the problems, warts and shortcomings of India. Hence when Francois Gautier got a journalism prize (Natchiketa Award of excellence in journalism) from the Prime Minister of India, he used the prize money to mount a series of conferences & exhibitions highlighting the magnificence of India and the threats to its sovereignty.

Govt hikes dearness allowance by 10 per cent, to benefit 80 lakh govt employees – Business Today

Govt hikes dearness allowance by 10 per cent, to benefit 80 lakh govt employees – Business Today.

யோசனைகள் … யோசனைகள் … யோசனைகள் …

யோசனைகள் … யோசனைகள் … யோசனைகள் …
By – சீதாலக்ஷ்மி, கொச்சி
(நண்பர்களே காபி செய்து கொள்ளுங்கள்)

குளியலறையில் பற்பசை, சோப்பு போன்றவை திறந்திருந்தால் கிருமித் தொற்று ஏற்படும். எலி, பல்லியின் சிறுநீர் அதில் பட்டு நோய்கள் பரவும் ஆபத்து உள்ளது. எனவே அவற்றை சோம்பல்படாமல் மூடி வைக்க வேண்டும்.

மார்க்கெட்டில் வெட்டுப்பட்ட பழங்களோ, காய்கறிகளோ வாங்கக் கூடாது. அதன் வழியாக கிருமிகள் உட்புகுந்திருக்கும் என்பதால் நோய்கள் வர வாய்ப்புண்டு.

பள்ளிக்குழந்தைகளின் லஞ்ச் பாக்ஸில் வைக்கும் அயிட்டங்களை ருசி பார்த்துவிட்டு பேக் செய்வது நல்லது. அவசரத்தில் உப்பு, காரம் கூடுதலாகவோ, குறைவாகவோ இருக்கலாம். அதைச் சரி செய்து அனுப்பினால் குழந்தைகள் வயிறாரச் சாப்பிடுவார்கள். நமக்கும் திருப்தி.

டிவி ரிமோட், கடிகாரம், கேமராவுக்கு அடிக்கடி பாட்டரி வாங்குகிறோம். அப்படி வாங்கி மாற்றும்போது பழைய பாட்டரிகளைக் கவனக் குறைவாக புதிய பாட்டரிகளுடன் கலந்து வைத்துவிட்டு சிறிது நேரம் குழம்புவோம். இதைத் தவிர்க்க ஒவ்வொரு முறை வாங்கும் போதும், பேட்டரியின் கம்பெனியை மாற்றி விட்டால் குழப்பம் வராது.

வேலைக்குச் செல்லும் இல்லத்தரசிகள் விடுமுறை நாட்களில் மிளகு, சீரகம், சோம்பு, கறிவேப்பிலை ஆகியவற்றை மிக்ஸியில் பொடியாக அரைத்து வைத்துக் கொண்டால், காய்கறி பொரியல், கலந்த சாதம், முட்டை ஆம்லெட் போன்றவற்றுக்கு அவசரத்துக்கு உதவும்.

வெளியூர் பயணத்துக்குச் செல்லும்போது தோசை, ஊத்தப்பம் போன்றவற்றின் மீது லேசாகத் தண்ணீர் தடவி பிறகு பேக் செய்தால் அந்தப் பலகாரங்கள் வறண்டு போகாமலும் மிருதுவாகவும் இருக்கும்.

மாதாந்திர மளிகைச் சாமான்கள் வாங்கியதும், டப்பாவில் அடைப்பதற்கு முன்பு, சென்ற முறை மீந்துபோன சாமான்களை சிறு பாலிதீன் பைகளில் போட்டுவிடுங்கள். புதிதாக வாங்கியவற்றை டப்பாவில் நிரப்பியதும் அதன் மேலாக அந்தந்த சாமானுக்குரிய பாலிதீன் பைகளை வைத்துவிட்டால் முதலில் பழையனவற்றைப் பயன்படுத்தலாம். அவை தீர்ந்த பிறகு புதியனவற்றைப் பயன்படுத்தலாம்.

தோசைக் கல்லில் வெடிப்புகள், ஓட்டைகள் ஏற்படுவதைத் தவிர்க்க தோசை வார்த்து முடிந்ததும்,கல்லை எண்ணெய்த் துணியால் துடைத்துவிடுங்கள்.

எண்ணெய்ப் பசை படிந்த பாத்திரங்களை பளிச்சென்று ஆக்க கோதுமை சலித்த தவிட்டை நீர் சேர்க்காமல் பாத்திரத்தில் தேய்த்துப் பாருங்கள். பாத்திரங்கள் பளபளப்பாகிவிடும்.

குக்கர்,மிக்ஸி போன்றவற்றின் கேஸ்கட்டுகளைப் பயன்படுத்திய பிறகு, ஒரு மணி நேரம் குளிர்ந்த நீரில் ஊறவிட்டால் அவை நீண்ட நாட்கள் உழைக்கும்.

சமையலறை ஜன்னல், மேடை டைல்ஸ் மற்றும் சமையலைறையில் உள்ள எக்ஸôஸ்ட் பேன் எண்ணெய்ப் பிசுக்கைப் போக்க, மண்ணெண்ணெய் அல்லது பெயின்ட் கடைகளில் கிடைக்கும் தின்னர் கொண்டு துடைத்தால், பளிச்சென்று ஆகிவிடும்.

சமையலறையில் பாத்திரம் கழுவும் ஸ்டெயின்லஸ் ஸ்டீல் சிங்கைச் சுத்தப்படுத்த பழைய செய்தித்தாள்களைக் கொண்டு தேய்த்துக் கழுவினால் போதும். அழுக்கு நீங்கி சுத்தமாகிவிடும்.

சமையலறையில் நீண்ட நாட்களுக்கு நல்லெண்ணெய் ஸ்டாக் வைத்தால், சிக்குவாடை வீசும். இதைத் தவிர்க்க நல்லெண்ணெய் வாங்கி வந்தவுடன் அதில் சிறு துண்டு கருப்பட்டி அல்லது வெல்லத்தைப் போட்டுவிடுங்கள். சிக்குவாடை வீசாது.

சமையலறையில் பயன்படுத்தும் கை துடைக்கும் துணி, பிடி துணி போன்றவற்றைத் தண்ணீரில் சிறிது ஷாம்பு கலந்து ஊறவைத்து, அலசினால் பளிச்சென்று இருப்பதுடன் வாசனையாகவும்

இருக்கும்.

சமையலறையில் உபயோகிக்கும் குக்கர் சூடாக இருக்கும்போதே கைப்பிடிகளிலுள்ள ஸ்க்ரூக்களை நன்றாக முறுக்கி வைத்துக் கொண்டால் பிடிகள் அடிக்கடி லூஸôகாது.

முளைக்கீரையை உப்புப் போட்டு, வேக வைத்து தேங்காய், பச்சை மிளகாய் அரைத்துக் கலந்து இரண்டு கரண்டி புளிக்காத தயிர் விட்டு கடுகு தாளித்தால், கீரைப் பச்சடி சுவையாக இருக்கும்.

பாகற்காய் பொரியல் செய்யும்போது முளைக்கீரை அல்லது அரைக் கீரையைப் பொடியாக நறுக்கிச் சேர்த்து வதக்கினால் கசக்காது. நல்ல மணமாகவும் இருக்கும்.

முருங்கைக் கீரையைச் சமைக்கும்போது சிறிது சர்க்கரை சேர்த்தால், ஒன்றோடு ஒன்று ஒட்டிக் கொள்ளாமல் உதிரியாக இருக்கும்.

முள்ளங்கி இலையைத் தூக்கி எறிந்துவிடாமல் அதை நறுக்கி, சிறிது எண்ணெய் விட்டு வதக்கி, மிளகாய் வற்றல், எலுமிச்சம் பழம், பெருங்காயம் ஆகியவற்றைச் சேர்த்து வறுத்து, அதைக் கீரையுடன் அரைத்து துவையல் செய்யலாம். சாதத்தில் கலந்து, நெய் ஊற்றிச் சாப்பிட சுவையாகவும் இருக்கும். ஆரோக்கியமும் கூட.

எந்த வகையான கீரைகளையும் எப்படிச் சமைத்தாலும் அதோடு கூட இரண்டு வேக வைத்த உருளைக் கிழங்குகளை மசித்துக் கலந்துவிட்டால் மிகவும் சுவையாக இருக்கும்.

முருங்கைக் கீரை, அகத்திக் கீரையை வதக்கும்போது, கரண்டியின் அடிப்பகுதியை வைத்துக் கிளறவும். அப்படிக் கிளறினால் கட்டி விழாமல் கீரை உதிரி உதிரியாக இருக்கும்.

கீரை கடையும்போது சிறிது வெங்காயம்,வடகம், இரண்டு காய்ந்த மிளகாய், சிறிது சீரகம் தாளித்துக் கொட்டி கீரை கடைந்தால் கமகம வாசனையுடன் கீரை

மணக்கும்.

பசலைக் கீரை உடலுக்குக் குளிர்ச்சி தரக் கூடியது. இதை அடிக்கடி உணவில் சேர்த்துக் கொள்ளலாம். உடல் சூடு, சிறுநீரகக் குறைபாடுகள் நீங்கும்

ஆசிரியரும் புத்திசாலி மாணவரும்

ஆசிரியரும் புத்திசாலி மாணவரும்

அகத்திய முனிவர் தென்பாண்டி நாட்டில் தங்கியிருந்த சமயம் அது. பாண்டிய மன்னன் ஒருவன் அவரை வணங்க வந்தான். அவனுக்கு முதுகில் கூன் இருந்தது. தனது பரம்பரையே இப்படி கூன் விழுவதாக அவன் அகத்தியரிடம் சொல்லி வருத்தப்பட்டான். அகத்தியர் அவனுக்கு ஆறுதல் சொல்லி, பிறவிக்கூனை குணப்படுத்த தன்னிடம் மூலிகைகள் உள்ளதாகவும், சில நாட்கள் கழித்து ஆஸ்ரமத்திற்கு வரும்படியும் சொல்லி அனுப்பினார்.மன்னன் நம்பிக்கையுடன் சென்றான்.

தேரையரை அழைத்த அகத்தியர், சீடனே! கூனை நிமிர்த்தும் மூலிகை வகைகளின் பெயர்களைச் சொல்கிறேன் கேள். அவற்றை காட்டிற்குள் சென்று பறித்து வா, எனச்சொல்லி, மூலிகைகளின் அடையாளம் மற்றும் குணத்தையும் எடுத்துச் சொன்னார். தேரையரும், அகத்தியர் கூறியபடியே அவற்றை அடையாளம் கண்டு ஒரு பை நிறைய பறித்து வந்து விட்டார். அகத்தியர் அந்த மூலிகைகளைச் சாறெடுத்து, ஒரு பாத்திரத்தில் ஊற்றி கொதிக்க வைத்தார். தேரையரிடம், தேரையா! நீ இந்தக் கரைசல் பக்குவமாக வரும் வரை கிளறிக்கொண்டிரு. எனக்கு காட்டிற்குள் சிறிது வேலையிருக் கிறது. நான் வந்ததும் இறக்கி வைத்துக் கொள்ளலாம், என சொல்லிவிட்டு சென்று விட்டார். தேரையரும் பக்குவமாக காய்ச்சிக் கொண்டிருந்தார். அப்போது, அவர் அமர்ந்திருந்த இடத்திற்கு மேலுள்ள மேற்கூரையில் இருந்து டக் என சப்தம் வந்தது. இது கேட்டு நிமிர்ந்தார் தேரையர். என்ன ஆச்சரியம்! வளைந்திருந்த அந்த மூங்கில் நிமிர்ந்து நேராகி இருந்தது. தேரையரின் மூளையில் பளிச்சென ஒரு மின்னல் வெட்டியது. குரு என்னவோ, தான் வந்த பிறகு கரைசலை இறக்கி வைத்துக் கொள்ளலாம் என்று தான் சொல்லியிருக்கிறார்.

ஒருவேளை அவர் வர தாமதமானால், கரைசல் மேலும் சூடாகி, இந்த அற்புதமான மருத்துவக் குணத்தை இழந்து போகலாம். மூலிகையின் புகைபட்டே வளைந்த மூங்கில் நிமிர்கிறது என்றால், மூலிகை கரைசலைத் தடவினால் கூன் நிச்சயமாக குணமாகத்தானே செய்யும்! இது தான் சரியான பக்குவம். கரைசலை இறக்கி வைத்து விட வேண்டியது தான், என நினைத்தவர், அடுப்பில் இருந்து பாத்திரத்தை இறக்கி வைத்துவிட்டார். களைப்பாக இருந்ததால், சற்று படுத்திருந்தார். வெளியே சென்றிருந்த அகத்தியர் வந்தார்.

அடேய்! உன்னை நம்பி எவ்வளவு முக்கியமான பொறுப்பை ஒப்படைத்து விட்டுப் போனேன். நீ என்னடாவென்றால், உறங்கிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறாயே! மூலிகை குழம்பு என்னாயிற்றோ! என்று கோபமாகப் பேசியவரிடம், மிகுந்த பணிவுடன் சென்ற தேரையர், நடந்ததைச் சொன்னார்.அகத்தியர் மிகுந்த மகிழ்ச்சியடைந்தார். சீடனே! எனக்கு கிடைத்தவர்களில் நீ மிகவும் உயர்ந்தவன். ஒவ்வொரு ஆசிரியருக்கும் இப்படி புத்திசாலி மாணவர்கள் கிடைக்கவும் கூட கொடுத்து வைக்க வேண்டும்! அன்றொரு நாள் ஒரு உயிரைக் காப்பாற்ற மூளையில் இருந்த தேரையையே குதிக்கச் செய்தாய்.இன்று, கூன் நிமிரும் பக்குவத்திற்கு கரைசலை தயார் செய்துள்ளாய். பெரியவர்கள் சொன்னதைக் கேட்க வேண்டும் தான்! அதே நேரம், சமயத்திற்கு தக்க முடிவுகளையும் எடுப்பதன் மூலம் அவர்களின் அபிமானத்தை மேலும் பெறலாம். மகனே! இனி நீ என்னுடன் இருக்கக் கூடாது. வெளியே செல், என்றார். தேரையர் அதிர்ச்சியானார். நல்லதைச் செய்ததாகச் சொல்லிவிட்டு, இப்போது வெளியே போகச் சொல்கிறாரே! என குழம்பி நின்றார்.ஒருவேளை நாம் செய்தது முட்டாள்தனமோ.. குரு நம்மைப் புகழ்வது போல பழிக்கிறாரோ, என கலங்கி நின்றார்.

“குருதேவா! நான் ஏதும் தவறு செய்து விட்டேனா? தாங்கள் என்னை வெளியே போகச் சொல்லுமளவுக்கு நான் தங்கள் கவுரவத்துக்கு பங்கம் இழைத்து விட்டேனா? அவ்வாறு செய்திருந்தால், நான் உயிர் தரிக்க மாட்டேன்…” என்று கூறிய தேரையர் கிட்டத் தட்ட அழும் நிலைக்கு வந்துவிட்டார்.அடடா… தவறாகப் புரிந்து கொண்டாயே! திறமையுள்ள இருவர் ஒரே இடத்தில் இருப்பதால் மக்களுக்கு லாபம் குறைகிறது. அவர்கள் வெவ்வேறு இடங்களில் இருந்தால் பயன்பெறும் மக்களின் அளவு கூடும். நீ தனித்தே வைத்தியம் செய் என்று அனுப்பிவைத்தார்.

 

why Congress and all other parties blame Gujarat and Narendra Modi ??? read on

To:

  This is a very good and thought-provoking article. I would like to give a few more incidents to enable  Ashok  Malik  to refer in his future writings. Most of the  cases occurred in Congress- ruled states and  Congress was ruling at the Center.   

1) P. Rajan’s  case-  It  took place in Kerala  during  the Emergency.  You may read P. Rajan’s case  on Wikipedia and “Stripped Law- Rajan : A revisit”. At that time  Chief Minister was Achutha Menon ( A communist).  The Home Minister was K.Karunakaran (Congress)The CM never  resigned at that time.

2)Bhagalpur  blinding:-  Took place in Bihar. Police blinded 31 under- trial prisoners by pouring acid in their eye. At that time Jagannath Mishra was CM  of  Bihar. He had  not resigned at that time.

“The Bhagalpur blindings refers to a series of incidents in 1979 and 1980 in Bhagalpur in the state of Bihar, India,  when police blinded 31 under trials (or convicted criminals, according to some versions), by pouring acid into their eyes. The incident became infamous as Bhagalpur blindings. The incident was widely discussed, debated and acutely criticized by several human rights organizations. The Bhagalpur blinding case had made criminal jurisprudence history by becoming the first in which the Supreme Court had ordered compensation for violation of basic human rights.^[1]“

3) Bhagalpur  riot

The Bhagalpur riots of 1989 refers to the violence between the Hindus and theMuslims in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar, India. The riots started on 24 October 1989, and the violent incidents continued to happen for 2 months. The violence affected the Bhagalpur city and 250 villages around it. Over 1,000 people (around 900 of which were Muslims^[2]), were killed, and another 50,000 were displaced as a result of the violence.^[3] It was the worst Hindu-Muslim violence in independent India at the time,^[1] surpassing the 1969 Gujarat riots.

Satyendra Narayan Sinha was CM at that time.

In his autobiography Meri Yaadein, Meri Bhoolein, released by the then Bihar Governor Buta Singh in the presence of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee {now President of India}, Satyendra Narayan Sinha  accused his Congress colleagues of “fanning” the 1989 Bhagalpur violence to malign him, specifically mentioning his predecessor and former chief minister Bhagwat Jha Azad and the former speaker Shivchandra Jha. He also accused the Prime Minister of overruling his order to transfer the then superintendent of police K S Dwivedi who had failed miserably to discharge his duties. The decision was not only an encroachment of the Constitutional right of the state government but also a step detrimental to ongoing efforts to ease tensions.^[25] When he stepped down from the post of Chief Minister of Bihar, Jagannath Mishra succeeded him. He recalled when he met Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi later on, he informed him about the “role of some Congress leaders” in the riots. The Prime Minister expressed surprise and said “so, the riots were motivated!^[26]

 

4) Naxal Uprising in West Bengal

 

Siddhartha Shankar Ray

After the Congress won the General Election of 1972, he became the Chief Minister of West Bengal from March 19, 1972 to June 21, 1977. He took office shortly after the Bangladesh Liberation War, and his administration was faced with the massive problem of resettling over a million refugees in various parts of the state. The civic services of Calcutta in particular found rehabilitation of the Bangladeshi refugees to be an uphill task, and failed in this aspect. The crackdown on Naxalites also took place under his watch.^[9]

Ray is often misunderstood for his role during the heydays of the Naxal uprising in the state. The Left have always blamed him for unleashing a reign of terror, which he didn’t deserve. But Ray took all the criticism without a murmur. At his time, the district magistrates and superintendents of police had enough independence. They treated the Naxals under criminal procedures. Ray didn’t prevent them from doing that. But he didn’t encourage them, either. He was deeply disturbed when the government had to call in the Army in Birbhum to tackle Naxals. “I have no child. But the Naxals, as I see them, are like my children. It pains me when I have to send in the Army to tackle them,” Ray had said. He introduced a unique method to tackle Naxals. Jail break and shoot out encounters were done to eliminate  large number of under- trial  Naxals. 

Tcg

It’s always Gujarat

Ashok Malik

 

8 Sep 2013 

 

Vijay Salaskar was killed on the evening of November 26, 2008. An inspector in the Mumbai police, he was driving the vehicle that was also carrying senior officers Hemant Karkare and Ashok Kamte when it was ambushed by Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorists.

 

This was a dramatic incident that made clear the intensity of the attack on Mumbai on the dark night of 26/11.

 

Following his martyrdom, the government of Maharashtra recommended Salaskar for a gallantry award. On January 26, 2009, three months after his death, the Union government named Salaskar for the Ashok Chakra. India was grateful to him.

 

P. Chidambaram, then home minister, took personal interest in ensuring Salaskar’s young daughter was given a government job. No doubt in the years to come Salaskar will go down as an authentic Indian hero and school textbooks will carry chapters on him and his colleagues.

 

What was the trajectory of Salaskar’s career before he was killed?

 

For 20 years he had been a doughty warrior for the Mumbai police, part of a band of officers responsible for cleaning up the city underworld.Criminal syndicates in Mumbai — some but not all of them later merging into terrorism — established themselves as a force by the 1980s. The state government decided to adopt a proactive policy of neutralising these groups and safeguarding Mumbai.

 

Salaskar was instrumental in this, killing his first criminal in 1983. Subsequently, he was responsible for removing some 70-80 people who, depending on how you saw them, could have been gangsters, petty criminals, terrorist auxiliaries or just plain suspects.

 

How did Salaskar do this? Presumably not by feeding his victims lollipops.

 

Salaskar was an encounter specialist. His methods were his own. The government followed a “don’t ask-don’t tell” approach. There was nobody to leak letters or even ghost-write these for him. There was no gaggle of activists out to challenge the Mumbai police or any politician who was backing it. There was no Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct lengthy investigations into Salaskar’s career record and attempt to finish him. He was lucky.

 

Sitting in his cell, D.G. Vanzara, former chief of the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad, may well be pondering Salaskar’s luck and fate. Today, Salaskar is held up as a model, no-nonsense police officer. For doing pretty much the same thing, Mr Vanzara is painted as a villain. If we get over the trite cliché that all fake encounters are bad — of course they are; though it must be said not one of
Mr Vanzara’s encounters, or Salaskar’s for that matter, have been legally proven to be fake — it is worth asking why Mr Vanzara does not deserve sympathy.

 

He has been in prison for six years now, implicated in three high-profile cases, without the trial having even begun. He is not alone; 32 officers of the Gujarat police, and virtually the entire ATS squad, find themselves behind bars and out of action. The anti-terror network set up in the state in the early years of this century has been crippled.

 

The CBI and a politician-activist cabal in Gujarat have no interest in quickly taking Mr Vanzara’s cases to resolution. A delay and a battle by innuendo suit them best because they are targeting Narendra Modi’s political future, not “seeking justice” as is claimed. If nothing else, Mr Vanzara deserves to have somebody pay for a good lawyer. If at the end of all this he is acquitted, who will give him back his lost years? Even if there are convictions, it is a fair guess that many of the 32 Gujarat policemen who are currently remand prisoners (undertrials) have probably already spent more time in custody than they may be sentenced for.

 

Thundering voices on television insist Gujarat cannot be compared to Punjab in the 1980s or Kashmir in the 1990s. True, it can’t; but that doesn’t mean it faced no threat from terrorism. In the 1990s its coastline was used by terror groups to bring in munitions, including for the 1993 Mumbai bombings. After 2002, Mr Modi began to carry the highest threat perception, greater than any other chief minister at least. This has been borne out by successive Intelligence Bureau inputs. In 2010, the WikiLeaks cables revealed Western intelligence agencies believed that the Lashkar threat to Mr Modi was clear and present and had not died out with the elimination of Ishrat Jehan and her accomplices in 2004.

 

For anybody in public life — politician, civil servant, even activist and journalist — a fundamental test of integrity is in according different subjects equal treatment under conditions of equality.

 

Has this happened with Gujarat? Why are terror threats to Gujarat and its chief minister ridiculed and the anti-terror operations of Gujarat police sabotaged? Why does this happen to no other state?

 

Take two other examples.

 

Recently, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), headed by a Congress member of Parliament, demanded a CBI inquiry into alleged manipulation in the Tulsiram Prajapati case.

 

Prajapati, a criminal who happened to be a dalit, was killed by the Gujarat ATS. The basis of the commission’s move was a “sting operation” carried out by a conman at the periphery of the media — and previously accused of and arrested for blackmailing public servants using fake “sting op” videos — who found support from Congress Party spokespersons.

 

The NCSC’s promptness was remarkable. In Uttar Pradesh, dalit writer Kanwal Bharti was arrested for a Facebook post that criticised the state government and backed Durga Shakti Nagpal, the civil servant who took on the sand mafia in Greater Noida. Why has the commission not found Mr Bharti worthy of support?

 

Second, Mr Vanzara’s long spell in prison, without trial, is seen as justified by those who blame him for the killing of Ishrat Jehan.

 

Gopal Kanda, a former Congress minister in Haryana, has been charged with harassing, stalking and driving to suicide a woman called Geetika Sharma. This past week, he was given bail and allowed to attend the state Assembly.

 

There was no clamour in the media.

 

All women are equal but is (or was) Ishrat Jehan more equal than Geetika Sharma?

 

Now if only Geetika Sharma had lived in Gujarat and Kanda been a minister in the Modi government…

 

 

The writer can be contacted at :malikashok@gmail.com

Copyright © 2011 The Asian Age. All rights reserved.

 

How to be unproductive in life……????

Inline images 1
You probably already tried everything you can to become more productive. Some things worked and some did not. Now it is time to try to be completely unproductive. It’s much simpler than you think! What are the guaranteed 12 ways to quickly become unproductive?

You may also like:You’ll Hate Yourself Later If You Don’t Get Rid Of These Habits

1. Keep everything in your head

Your brain counts the tasks like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, lots. If you don’t store information outside of your head in any visual form, you will quickly get lost. I once talked to a highly stressed person who stated she had “a lot to do”. When we wrote down this “a lot”, it turned out that she could perform most of the tasks within one evening! It is a great surprise to many when they write down their tasks, events, meetings and thoughts on a sheet of paper.

You may also want to read: How to Organize Your Life to Find More Time

2. Keep everything equally important

Avoiding prioritization is a great handy hint for being completely unproductive. With every phone call, email, talk, task within multiple projects, or meeting request, you simply task switch and completely lose focus because you can’t decide. When you are aware of your priorities you can immediately postpone some things for later. And you really should!

3. Use distractions

Another great way to become unproductive is to open Twitter, a few Facebook and Google+ tabs, your email account, put your phone in front of you, use Outlook desktop alert – any blinking thing you can think of and any other way of distracting you that is possible. You need several minutes to focus completely on your task, get into the “flow” and be really efficient, and this way you will be distracted every few seconds and you will never reach that state.

4. Get rid of emotions

Fun and emotions are what keep you engaged in an activity much longer than you think. You have greater energy, passion, and think more creatively. If you get rid of emotions from your activities, you simply have a boring list of tasks to accomplish. Just look what fun can bring to your life:

5. Use only one brain hemisphere

There is some great art coming out of the Mercedes Benz “Left Brain – Right Brain” advertising campaign, which (according to researchers) isn’t completely relevant, but shows a great truth: if you don’t use colors, sounds and everything is flat and black and white, it’s like you are using only half of your brain. If you don’t want to be unproductive, turn on colors in your email inbox, calendar and task list. Make it fun!

6. Never say “no”

This is great way to become unproductive when used together with previous hints. With every email and request coming from your boss, colleagues and family, you simply say “yes” and take it on. This way you never know your limits, your task list is ever growing, you become unreliable, and put yourself into a victim mindset. The most surprising moment for many people is when they say “no” and it doesn’t break the relationship (as it shouldn’t!), in many cases they also find they become perceived as more reliable. Assertiveness is hard, but it is key.

7. Focus on your weaknesses

You know what is different about the people that excel from the rest? The greatest people focus on their strengths and they build on top of them. That gives them energy to fight their weaknesses. You simply can’t do the opposite. Think about Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods – they would get better and better at things they were already great at! If you want to be unproductive, focus on your weaknesses all the time, it will drain all your energy, put you in a bad mood and take your eyes away from your vision for your life.

8. Do everything yourself

So, you are the smartest person on the whole planet and you shouldn’t delegate anything because you do things best. Another great way to be completely unproductive! You can be really effective in doing some things, but not all. When you do things alone, you are losing the spirit of teamwork, great ideas, and different perspectives.

9. Make things complex

Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Another great way to become unproductive is to make things more and more complex. Then build complex processes around those complex activities. Then spend hours trying to explain all that to others and handle misunderstandings. Beauty lies in simplicity. Think for a moment about the “I have a dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. It was so simple and powerful that it touched people’s hearts and spurred thousands of them to act.

10. Get rid of vision

Living and working without any vision is a great way to be completely unproductive. Vision is a fuel for your mind and body. Martin Luther King’s speech mentioned above put so much passion in people that many of them were willing to die fighting for this vision. Vision brings order to your activities, refreshes your emotions, reminds you about the real goals. Without it you can be just one more effective task executor.

11. Stop doing retrospectives

Experience without reflection on that experience is just data. A great way to be unproductive is to make the same errors over and over again. Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” And Bill Gates said, “It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” The most effective people do not rely purely on luck or coincidence. Every day and every week they reflect on past experiences and take conscious decisions to get closer to reaching their goals.

12. Try multitasking

The final and the quickest way to be unproductive is to try to do two things at the same time. Some people say, “Multitasking is a great way to screw up multiple things at the same time,” and it is very true. We need to multitask in the same way as our old CPUs used to do it – a single CPU with single core was able to run a multitasking operating system, which performed very smoothly by just switching the tasks in the right way.
source: LifeHack

Titanic Fall of Indian Rupee

 

So what if the economy is as bad as Shraddha Kapoor’s acting, there is always hope… for the economy—not for Shraddha though, sorry doll. But right now it’s all going downhill, Rupee has fallen farther than SRK’s movie scripts, Rupee has fallen further than Akshay Kumar’s comedy, Rupee has fallen to the point where it has all of us worried whether the ‘Idli Wada Sambar’ will get more expensive and we’ll have to eat cheaper items like ‘Mice and worms’.

Although I did hear that last week the Rupee had some fluctuations. The rise and fall of rupee last week could be compared to Pamela Anderson’s…err…career.

As usual the government is doing all it can to stop this snow ball from rolling down hill. In fact just the other day they did something unimaginable! They made Dr. Manmohan Singh….Speak!!!! (gasp!). You know these are drastic times, when our PM actually gets to speak about something. He mentioned to the country that the economy is bad, which is like saying that a volcano eruption is just Mother Nature sneezing. The speech had an unusual ending though, because it didn’t end it with the usual “thik hai?”

  This rupee problem has us middle class people worried, the beggars however are very happy. I bet they all sit in the night together huddled over a warm fire made by burning newspapers and middle-class people tax money, and discuss, “saala, chaar rupaye aur milte toh ek Ameriki dollar ban jata”.

 It turns out that even the rich have a problem with the dollar price increase, they are not pleased with the way government is handling the issue. Now thanks to the difference between Rupee and Dollar, the rich class has to pay an extra two-three hundred rupees to get a diamond studded; platinum plated, sapphire glass covered IPhone 5! And don’t even get me started on the price of accessories for the phone!This drastic fall of the rupee can only be classified as a catastrophe.  And of course as it is with all natural disasters and calamities there are always these random “experts” spawning like Frogs in rainy season, and coincidentally they also make the same amount of noise.

    Apparently there are  12 year old kids on Facebook who have more knowledge than our Finance Minister. They post information of how the economy can be saved and force us to share the post like it’s a mandir ka prasad. I fail to comprehend how a boy, who thinks Manforce is a company that creates vehicles, decides he’s smart enough to post about the economy of India. But it turns out that this issue is not limited to this, there are people who have no freaking clue about the issue but are out there writing full length articles about it, just like I am right now.

    The economy is slow, the government is about to keep all the gold as mortgage, Poonam Pandey has signed a new film…yes, I know things seem bad. But, I think, I have a solution. If we send enough Indians abroad to get jobs they could earn in dollars and send them back here, thus increasing foreign currency in India and in turn closing the gap between Rupee and Dollar. But this is only my expert opinion, you guys can think of anything ranging from Credit Card Fraud to Email scams to earn money for the country.

   Let’s face it; we are desperate crew members trapped on the Titanic! We all know the ship is sinking, we all know that we don’t have much hope, we all know that our Lux Cozi Wool sweaters will not save us from the cold icy water. So save it, all your expert advice isn’t worth crap unless you are Superman or Bill Gates. You are not experts; you are just people on Social Media who have no life, no friends, and no other way to pass the time.

    The government must be doing all it can to change the situation, because eventually all their scams will start to pay very little. Ten thousand rupees would transfer as ten dollars, and it would be a huge loss for those hard working termites gnawing away at the nation’s financial condition, popularly known as ‘politicians’. So don’t worry, they will get their act together and the country’s situation will be proper once again, because if there is no Batman, who will the Joker play with?

    In the mean time, all you people on Facebook should probably start to save up your Farmville Cash! Because if rupee falls any further, who knows, they just might decide to make it our local currency. But this is only my expert opinion, because knowing the government, they’d even settle for Monopoly money since its plastic and fake—just like them!

See you fellow crew members; we’ll probably meet in the cold abyss as we freeze to death near this sinking Titanic! But excuse me, in the mean time, I must find myself a ‘Rose’.

– See more at: http://www.jammag.com/the-titanic-disaster-of-indian-rupee/#sthash.JcxmJtuE.dpuf

Enter the Dragon- Chinese Economic growth

 

This article, though aimed at a US audience, gives a scary insight into China’s growing economic power.

 

A Little Known Reality.

June 8, 2013. Source: Michael Snyder, Guest Post

In future China will employ millions of American workers and dominate thousands of small communities all over the United States. Chinese acquisition of U.S. businesses set a new all-time record last year, and it is on pace to shatter that record this year.

The Smithfield Foods acquisition is an example.  Smithfield Foods is the largest pork producer and processor in the world.  It has facilities in 26 U.S. states and it employs tens of thousands of Americans.  It directly owns  460 farms and has contracts with approximately 2,100 others.  But now a Chinese company has bought it for $ 4.7 billion, and that means that the Chinese will now be the most important employer in dozens of rural communities all over America.  

Thanks in part to our massively bloated trade deficit with China, the Chinese have trillions of dollars to spend. They are only just starting to exercise their economic muscle.

It is important to keep in mind that there is often not much of a difference between “the Chinese government” and “Chinese corporations”.  In 2011, 43 percent of all profits in China were produced by companies where the Chinese government had a controlling interest in.  

Last year a Chinese company spent $2.6 billion to purchase AMC entertainment – one of the largest movie theater chains in the United States.  Now that Chinese company controls more movie ticket sales than anyone else in the world.  

But China is not just relying on acquisitions to expand its economic power.  “Economic beachheads” are being established all over America.  For example, Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, Inc. recently broke ground on a $100 million plant in Thomasville, Alabama.  Many of the residents of Thomasville, Alabama will be glad to have jobs, but it will also become yet another community that will now be heavily dependent on communist China.

And guess where else Chinese companies are putting down roots? Detroit. Chinese-owned companies are investing in American businesses and new vehicle technology, selling everything from seat belts to shock absorbers in retail stores, and hiring experienced engineers and designers in an effort to soak up the talent and expertise of domestic automakers and their suppliers. If you recently purchased an “American-made” vehicle, there is a really good chance that it has a number of Chinese parts in it. Industry analysts are hard-pressed to put a number on the Chinese suppliers operating in the United States.

China seems particularly interested in acquiring energy resources in the United States.  For example,  China is actually mining for coal in the mountains of Tennessee.  Guizhou Gouchuang Energy Holdings Group spent 616 million dollars to acquire Triple H Coal Co. in Jacksboro, Tennessee.  At the time, that acquisition really didn’t make much news, but now a group of conservatives in Tennessee is trying to stop the Chinese from blowing up their mountains and taking their coal.  

And pretty soon China may want to build entire cities in the United States just like they have been doing in other countries. Right now China is actually building a city larger than Manhattan just outside Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

Are you starting to get the picture? China is on the rise. If you doubt this, just read the following:

# When you total up all imports and exports, China is now the number one trading nation on the entire planet.

# Overall, the U.S. has run a trade deficit with China over the past decade that comes to more than 2.3 trillion dollars.

# China has more foreign currency reserves than anyone else on the planet.

# China now has the largest new car market in the entire world.

# China now produces more than twice as many automobiles as the United States does. After being bailed out by U.S. taxpayers, GM is involved in 11 joint ventures with Chinese companies.

# China is the number one gold producer in the world.

# The uniforms for the U.S. Olympic team were made in China.

# 85% of all artificial Christmas trees the world over are made in China.

# The new World Trade Center tower in New York is going to include glass imported from China.

# China now consumes more energy than the United States does.

# China is now in aggregate the leading manufacturer of goods in the entire world.

# China uses more cement than the rest of the world combined.

# China is now the number one producer of wind and solar power on the entire globe.

# China produces 3 times as much coal and 11 times as much steel as the United States does.

# China produces more than 90 percent of the global supply of rare earth elements.

# China is now the number one supplier of components that are critical to the operation of any national defense system.

# In published scientific research articles China is expected to become number one in the world very shortly.

 

And what we have seen so far may just be the tip of the iceberg. For now, I will just leave you with one piece of advice – learn to speak Chinese.  You are going to need it 

 

 

 

INDIA TODAY IN CARTOON

 INDIA TODAY

HOW TO REVIVE INDIAN ECONOMY WITHIN 3 MONTHS?????

 

How to lift the Rupee from its dumps..

Every news channel, every newspaper, every economist worth his/her salt has a panacea to stop the rupee tailspin and bring back some sanity. All, either shooting in the dark or vague, wishy-washy solutions – the TOI, the “world’s largest paper”, so the high priest of journalism grandly recently wrote the country needs ‘structural changes” without pinpointing what they are.

Amidst all these cacophony, only HT’s Chanakya (Sunday, 25/8/13) gives concrete steps that, to one, seem to work…

“This situation calls for a change in script. What we need are big bang measure that take effect immediately – as opposed to stpes that will begin to bear fruit six months later – to lift sentiment. Traditional monetary measures have failed and incremental steps to stop dollar outflows have proved counter-productive.

First, ban gold and silver imports (for, say, six to nine months). This will tell the world that India is serious about addressing its current account deficit problem. (Me: Gold import now attracts custom duty at about 30%. This won’t work, given an average Indian’s appetite for gold regardless of its price. By banning imports, the price in the country may further escalate.So what? Let the Indians be ready pay for it)

Raise petrol and diesel prices by Rs.4-5 per litre to help the government to pare its deficit.

Set aside $25-30 billion from India’s foreign exchange reserves to defend the rupee against speculators. (Me: This is a suggestion put forward by Montek Ahluwalia, the Dy. Planning Commission Chairman).

Settle the Vodafone tax case to signal to the world that their investments here will not be subject to whimsical and politically-motivated policy changes. (Me: absolutely spot-on. The proposal to tax Vodafone billions of dollars on their acquisition of the then cellphone brand, Hutch, from the Hongkong-based company was the single most important factor that stopped MNCs in their tracks from making further investments in the country. Our policy makers and/or the tax sleuths are singularly myopic)

Force real estate companies to cut prices to make housing affordable. This sector has linkages with more than 200 industries. And if it revives, it will set off a virtuous cycle by generating demand in hundreds of feeder industries. (Me: the real-estate companies have been exceedingly greedy and been jacking up prices every two months so much so flats have become unaffordable to middle-class buyers.)

Forget all above suggestions:

Now read few suggestions from me

 

1. Declare Economic Emergency

2. close all virtual markets trading in commodities, currencies. forex markets with immediate effect. No trading to be allowed for at least six months. Forex to be released to only genuine requirements.

3. Seal all foreign accounts of all the politicians and businessmen and declare the same as National property.

4. Declare death penalty for economic offences.
 

it would be much simpler than that if India brings back all the money stashed outside by politicians and businessman from foreign countries making Indian Rupee dearer and hard for them to save their own currencies. Will Mr PC or our great economist PM Shri MMS do it?

 

WHY YOU SHOULD SUPPORT NARENDRA MODI AS PM IN 2014 ? PL. READ

 

Why I shall support Modi in 2014. By .By Avay Shukla – Retired IAS o

Whatever your political inclination , this article is worth a read ..
>>
>>TODAY as we are poised to look ahead, and forward, with HOPE to a better INDIA …
>>
>>Why I shall Support Modi in 2014…
>>By Avay Shukla – Retired IAS officer
>>
>>
>>I have been getting more and more worried over the last year or so at the direction( or lack of it) in which our country is headed. It is
>> like a runaway plane falling from the skies and we are plummeting past one alarming indicator after another– inflation,economic slowdown, falling rupee,complete break-down of law and order, ever emboldened Naxalites, total internalization of corruption, an administration that answers to no one,complete lack of governance, cronyism on a scale never seen before, a brazen lack of accountability, public  intimi-dation of constitutional authorities, a judicial system that has all but collapsed, environmental disasters that no one knows how to cope with, complete paraplegia of decision-making at all levels in government, appeasement of †minorities†and Other sections that are reachingridiculous and dangerous levels, dynastic politics at the Centre and the states reminiscent of the Mughal era…….
>>
>>I could go on and on but after some time the mind becomes numb and registers only one emotion – IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE. Another five years of this and we would be well on our way to becoming a failed state and joining the ranks of Pakistan, Haiti and Somalia.
>>
>>The general elections of 2014 offers us one last chance to redeem ourselves. I have been on this mortal coil for 62 years and have never voted for the BJP but have, after much thought, decided to support MODI in 2014. This is considered a heresy in most neo-liberal circles in India today but we have to go beyond mere labelling and stereotypingto understand my decision.
>>
>>But before I go on to Mr. Modi himself, let us review the context in which this decision has been taken. The state of the country is self evident in para one above.
>>
>>
>>The next question then
is: What are the alternatives or choices that we as voters have?
>>
>>The Congress will only perpetuate the present mess-even more worrying and dangerous is the fact that, were the Congress to return to power, it would consider it to have a renewed mandate to carry on as before.
>>
>>In any case, who in the country would lead the Congress- a reluctant dynastic or an ageing economist who has discovered his true skills lie in politics, or a backroom puppeteer? Or, God forbid, all three? ( Seriously, this is a possibility- after all not one of these three want to shoulder sole accountability, and they may reason that if a dual power center can ensure two terms, a triple may be good for even more!) No, to my mind the Congress is not an option.
>>
>>Who else, then?
>>
>>Well, if we scrape the bottom of the barrel assiduously we will come up with Mamta Banerjee[ TMC], Mulayam Yadav[ SP], Nitish Kumar[JDU], Naveen Patnaik[ BJD], Jayalalitha[ AIADMK], Sharad Pawar[ NCP] and Mayawati(BSP). There is no need to discuss their achievements or ideologies at a national level (incidentally, not even one of them has a remotely national outlook or ideology since they cannot see beyond pandering shamelessly to the vote banks in their respective states) because they are state (not even regional) leaders and none of them can hope to be Prime Minister on the strength of their own Parties.
>>
>>They all realize this, of course, hence the idea which periodically emerges like a skin rash, of a Third or Federal Front. This didn’t work even when a Third Front could agree on a leader (as in the case of I.K. Gujral or Deve Gowda). How on earth will it work when every one of the state leaders mentioned above feels that he or she has been reincarnated precisely to become the Prime Minister of India?
>>
>>The negotiations for choosing a PM (if the Front comes up with the numbers, that is) will resemble one of those WWF fights where about six hunks are put into the ring to beat the daylights out of each other till one of them is left standing to claim the crown. I cannot see all of them agreeing on even one policy issue, whether it is reservations, industrial stimulus, foreign policy, dis-investtment, environmental protection, center-state relations etc. If they come to power at the Center, the paraplegia of today will become quadriplegia tomorrow.
>>Fortunately, in any case, they can never muster the 274 seats required-it will be difficult for them to reach even hundred even if they do very well in their states.
>>
>>So a Third Front is a
non-starter, and voting for any of these parties will only help the Congress by dividing the anti-congress vote. [You will have noticed that I have not mentioned Mr. Karat of the CPM. That’s because he’s become like a flat bottle of Coca-Cola – earlier he was all fizz and no substance: now even the fizz has gone].
>>
>>That leaves only the BJP, with its historical baggage of the RSS, Hindutva, Ramjanmbhoomi (by the way, this baggage also includes five years of exemplary governance under Vajpayee from 1999 to 2004) – perhaps enough baggage to dissuade me from voting for the party. Except that this time the BJP has an add-on: Narendra Modi. And that, to my mind, adds value to the party and makes the crucial difference.
>>
>>Modi has been reviled ad-nausea m by the “secular†parties and sections of the elite media for many years for the 2002 riots in Gujarat, by the former not because of any love for the Muslims (as I hope to show later) but simply in order to appropriate the Muslim vote, and by the latter because they have to keep whipping somebody in order to get their TRPs – in India only extremes succeed. Modi has been tried and condemned by them not on the basis of facts but by an opportunistic mixture of innuendo, presumption, speculation, half-truths, hear say. Look at the facts. There was a horrendous orgy of killing of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 where about 2000 of them were massacred. Some of Modi’s ministers and many BJP/ VHP workers were involved: quite a few of them have also been convicted, the trials of many still go on.
>>
>>The Supreme Court set up at least three SITs and is itself monitoring the investigations. Many PILs have been filed in the SC and the High Court accusing Modi of master-minding these massacres. In not a single case has either the Supreme Court, the High Court or the SITs found any evidence of Modi’s personal complicity.
>>
>>Yes, they have held that he could have controlled the situation better- but nothing beyond that in-spite of ten years of frenetic drum beating and sustained vilification.
>>
>>Now look at the other set
of facts. Under Modi’s current watch, perhaps for the first time in India, people have been actually convicted for communal rioting and murder- more than 200 convictions, with about 130 of them sentenced to life imprison-ment. All the communal massacres in India since Independence have not
resulted in even one tenth of these convictions.
>>
>>Modi’s government has to be given some credit for this: yes, the investigations were carried out by the SIT and not by Modi’s police; yet Modi could, if he was so inclined, have interfered covertly in the whole process by asking his officials not to cooperate, by intimidating witnesses, influencing judges, conveying hints to prosecutors- something which, as we all know too well, governments of all political hues in India have mastered.
>>
>>Modi could have done what the Congress has done so successfully in Delhi in three other high-profile cases being monitored by the Supreme Court- the Commonwealth Games Scam, the 2G case, and Coalgate ( not to mention also the Sikh massacres of 1984): have these cases made any headway? has wrong-doing been proved in a single instance? has anyone been convicted?
>>
>>No, Sir, these investigations will drag on and on till they are lost in the mists of time. Supreme Court monitoring cannot ensure justice unless the govt. of the day allows its agencies to function – it is to Modi’s credit that he did so allow them.
>>
>>Compare this with the manner in which the police in Delhi have been emas- culated to protect some senior Congress leaders in the 1984 Sikh carnage – everyone in Delhi knows, even after 27 long years, that their hands are dipped in blood, but the evidence will never reach the courts; the recent acquittal of Sajjan Kumar only confirms this.
>>
>>The biggest stigmata on Modi is the charge that he is †communal†and not  secular†.
>>
>>All (non-NDA) political parties never tire of tom-tomming this from the roof-tops and consider this their trump card to ensure that he will never achieve his Grand-slam at the centre. But after eleven years this is beginning to wear thin and people are beginning to question the assumptions behind this charge and even the definition of what constitutes †communal†and “secular.â€
>>
>>Nirad Choudhry had long ago given his opinion that India is the Continent of Circe where humans are turned into beasts-it is also the graveyard of the Oxford Dictionary where the meanings of words are turned on their heads to suit political exigencies! So †communal† today means a Hindu who is not ashamed of saying he is a Hindu, and † secular†means a Hindu who panders to other religions in order to get their votes at the next elections!
>>
>>By this inverse definition Modi is considered communal- notwithstanding that not a single Hindu- Muslim riot has taken place in Gujarat under his watch since 2002, notwithstanding that the BJP got 17% of the Muslim vote in the Assembly elections in the state earlier this year, notwithstanding that the party won five of the eight seats which had a dominant Muslim voter base, notwith-standing that the average Muslim in Gujarat is much better off economically  than his counterpart in Assam, UP or Bihar (headed by †secular† parties).
>>
>>Compare this with the record of the Samajwadi party in UP where more than a hundred communal riots have taken place in less than two years, with the Congress in Assam where hundreds of Muslims were butchered last year and at least three hundred thousand of them are still languishing in relief camps with no hope of ever returning to their villages, with the Congress ruled Maharashtra where hundreds of Muslims were killed with the active help of the police after the Bombay blasts. ( Needless to say there do not appear to have been any convictions in any of these pogroms). And MODI is communal?
>>
>>I am a Hindu but I stopped going into any temple twenty years ago because I was sickened by the rapacious behavior of their pundits. I am no longer a practicing Hindu in a public, ritualistic sense and frankly I don’t know how many of the religious beliefs I retain, but I still consider myself a Hindu because Hinduism is more than just a religion- it is a culture, a civilisation, a way of life.
>>
>>
>>But in the Kafkaesque India of today if you were to proclaim that you are a Hindu ( even though you have equal respect and regard for all other religions) you would be branded †communal†– this is what political discourse has been reduced to by our politicians. And being †secular†no longer means treating all religions equally: it means splintering society into a myriad †minorities†( another perversion of the Oxford Dictionary) and then pandering to such of them as suit you in your naked pursuit of power.
>>
>>In the process India has been converted into a complex jigsaw of minorities, castes, tribes, classes, sections and what have you. The British could have learnt plenty from us about Divide and Rule! But more and more right thinking people are beginning to question this recipe for disaster, and I am one of them.
>>
>>India is 80% Hindu- why should one then have to be apologetic about proclaiming that one is a Hindu ? We have been ruled and exploited and vandalized for eight hundred years by Muslims and for another two hundred years by Christians, and yet we have accorded these two religions a special status as †minorities†with privileges that the Hindus don’t have. Has any other country in the world ever displayed such a spirit of accommodation and egalitarianism? Is there a more secular civilisation in the world? And yet, a Hindu who says he is a Hindu is considered communal!
>>
>>Does a Hindu have to prove his secular credentials time and again by greater levels( or depths) of appeasement of other religions simply so that they can continue to be vote bank fodder for political parties? Modi has had the courage to raise these questions and is therefore being reviled by those political parties whose apple carts he is threatening to upset. But people are beginning to pay attention. Modi is not considered secular because he is proud to be a Hindu and refuses to give doles or concessions to any religious group( including Hindus, but that is conveniently glossed over) beyond what is provided in the constitution and the laws of the land. He believes this weakens the social fabric of the country and that even handed development is the best guarantee for equitable prosperity for all. He is not considered secular ( and instead is branded as communal) because he says publicly that he is proud to be a Hindu. And
has he done anything blatantly or provocatively pro-Hindu in the last ten years? There is not a single instance of this and yet he is vilified as communal and anti-minorities by the same party that presided over more than two hundred anti-Muslim riots in the seventies and eighties in Gujarat, that massacred 6000 Sikhs in 1984, that lit the fuse in Ayodhya by installing an icon of Ram in the mosque there, that failed to take any action when the Babri masjid was being razed to the ground! Modi has carefully distanced himself from any public support of Hindutva, has kept the VHP and the Bajrang Dal on a tight leash in Gujarat ever since he came to power there, and has even incurred the wrath of the RSS for not toeing the line on their purely religious agenda. It takes time, and some mistakes, to attain maturity; the Modi of today is not the Modi of 2002: then he was still in the pracharak mould of the RSS, inexperienced in
the exercise of power, lacking administrative experience. He has now developed into a politician with a vision, an administrator who has delivered to his people and caught the fancy of the entire corporate world in India and abroad. Rahul Gandhi has been around in politics for almost the same length of time but has still not progressed beyond his epiphanic perception that India is a bee-hive.
>>
>>Pause a while to honestly compare Modi’s qualities with his peers in the political firmament. His integrity is impeccable, both personal and vicarious. Even Mr. Manish Tewari has not been able to charge him on this score, and that’s saying something! I am not aware of a single major scam unearthed during his term( compare this with the Congress either in Maharashtra or at the Centre: the Congress has more skeletons in its cupboard than a graveyard does).
>>
>>Modi has no family to promote or to insure against inflation for the next hundred years( compare this with any other party leader, all of whom have given an entirely new meaning to the term †joint family†– brothers, uncles, wives, sons, sons-in-law, nephews-all happily and jointly looting the nation’s resources). Modi has a vision and a road map for the future and he has demonstrated in Gujarat that he can implement his vision.
>>
>>No other major leader of
the parties that are vilifying him comes even close to comparing with him in this respect – Manmohan Singh once had a vision but his unique concept of †coalition dharma†has ensured that he now cannot see, or hear, or talk; Rahul Gandhi cannot see beyond bee-hives and boats that rise with the tide, Sharad Pawar cannot see the woods for the sugar-cane stalks, Mulayam Singh has been fixated on the Prime Minister’s chair for so long that he has now started hallucinating; Nitish Kumar’s vision is a peculiar bi-focal  which  enables him to see only Muslims and OBCs; Navin Patnaik, being erudite and sophisticated must be having a vision but he has not deigned to share it with anyone yet; Mayawati cannot see beyond statues of herself and of elephants; and as for Mamta Banerjee, she is colour blind – she can only see red. Modi’s track record as an administrator inspires confidence in his ability to play a role at the
national level.
>>
>>He sets specific goals, provides the resources and then gives his bureaucrats a free hand to operate. He has ensured water availability to towns and to greater number of farmers, Gujarat now has 24X7 power and has even offered to sell power to other states.
>>Modi has realised long before his peers that future growth can only come from the manu-facturing sector since the past stimulus provided by the service sector is now bottoming out, and has prepared his state to attract capital: perennial road-blocks which have bedevilled other states – land acquisition, labour issues, law and order, lack of decision making, cronyism – have all been sorted out. It is no surprise then that Gujarat has been receiving the second highest amount of investment funds after Maharashtra.
>>His opponents, looking for anything to denigrate his achievements, cavil that Gujarat has always been a progressive state and no credit goes to Modi for all this. True, Gujarat (and Gujaratis) have always been entrepreneurial and progressive, but any economist can tell them that the higher you are on the performance scale, the more difficult it is to make incremental gains – and these gains Modi has been making year after year.
>>Gujarat has consistently been among the top five states in just about all economic, social and human development indicators, and far above the national figures.
>>Here are some figures I picked up in the Hindustan Times of June 12, 2013:
>>
>>[a] Infant Mortality Rate
>>                                     2005        2010
>>     Gujarat                      54              44
>>     Haryana                    60              48
>>     Orissa                         5               60
>>     INDIA                        58               47
>>
>>[b]  Access to Safe Drinking Water( in %)
>>                                      2002           2011
>>      Gujarat                    84.1            90.3
>>      Maharashtra           79.8             83.4
>>      Andhra                    80.1             90.5
>>      INDIA                      77.9             85.5
>>
>>[c]  Poverty Reduction ( in %)
>>                                     2004-5         2009-10
>>     Gujarat                    31.6               23
>>     Karnataka               33.3               23.6
>>     MP                          48.6               36.7
>>     Orissa                     57.2               37
>>     INDIA                      37.2               29.8
>>
>>[d]  Annual GDP increase( in %) from 2005-6 to 2012-13
>>     Gujarat                       10.3
>>     Uttarakhand               12.36
>>     MP                               8.82
>>     Maharashtra                9.97
>>     Delhi                          11.39
>>
>>Modi is no paragon of virtue. He is arrogant, does not allow a second rung of leadership to emerge, brooks no opposition, is impatient and authoritative, is not a consensus builder. But then we are not seeking to canonize a saint but looking for a political leader who can get this country out of the morass that its present stock of politicians has got us into. We are looking for someone who can be decisive rather than justify inaction under the garb of seeking an elusive † consensus†. We are looking for someone who has the courage to have a vision and the skills to translate it into reality. We are looking for someone who will work for the country and not for his †joint family†.
>>
>>We are looking for someone who can restore our identities as INDIANS and not merely as Brahmins or Scheduled castes or Muslims or Backward castes.
>>
>>We are looking for someone who will not pander to religions and be truly secular.
>>
>>And we are looking for someone who will not be ashamed to say that he is a Hindu in the land that gave birth to the most tolerant and enlightened religion this world has seen.
>>
>>Modi may fail- in fact, there are good chances that he will. But he at least promises change, whereas the others promise only more of the same.
>>
>>He offers us Hope. Shouldn’t he be given a chance?
>>===========================================================
>>** The author retired from the Indian Administrative Service in December 2010. He is a keen environmentalist and loves the mountains – he has made them his home._
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>–
>>  ZINDAGI DA KEE BHAROSA, KADDON PATAKA BOL JAYEE, so let us ENJOY
>>
>>”To fight the darkness do not draw your sword, light a candle”
>”You can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets”
>
>Note:
>If you  would like to forward this request to others, please do     Thank you.

 

Appeal to all Hindus to Vote, if you want to be free

Why Congress may win yet again ?  Tragically it may become true this time too !

Read carefully again and again, and understand!

Reasons why Congress is winning for the past 65 years and why it will win in the future:

(A view Point)

Currently, on an average (over states) there are:

15% Muslims, 8% Christians, 7% Others and 70% Hindus.

That means: out of 100 people, there are 70 Hindus, 8 Christians, 15 Muslims and 7 others.

Voter registration is as follows:

90% of Muslims, 90% Christians and 60% Hindus and 90% Others.

This means: out of 100 people, 42 Hindus, 14 Muslims, 7 Christians and 6 ‘Others’ will

register for vote.

Now, interesting point

Out of the registered voters having voter ID or at least having interest in selecting their

representative.

Have a look at the number of turnouts:

50% Hindus will vote, 90% Muslims will vote, 90% Christians will vote and 90% others

will vote.

This means: Ultimately 21 Hindus will vote, 13 Muslims will vote, 6 Christians and 5

‘Others’ will vote during election and these 45 (45%) people are responsible for selecting

the representative and deciding the future of our dear Great mother land (India!!!)

Now see

Out of these 45 people of total population who votes for whom!

It is highly likely that out of 13 Muslims, 10 will vote for Congress,Out of 6 Christians,

5 will vote for Congress and out of 5 others, 3 will vote for congress.

it means:

Congress will get 18 non Hindu votes, BJP may get 1 Muslim or Christian and 1 others

vote.  So what BJP has got? BJP has got 2 non Hindu votes!

Other parties, that are third front, may get 2 Muslim or Christian and1 vote from others.

That is, ‘Others’ may get 3 non Hindu votes.

VERY IMPORTANT

Coming to Hindu votes:

Out of 21 Hindus. If 5 vote for Congress, 10 vote for BJP and 6 vote for other parties

Final result will be: Congress 23 votes, BJP 12 votes, other parties will get 9 votes.

This has been the trend since 1990, therefore, Congress do not bother for Hindu votes!!!!

Congress loses in States where the Muslims do not vote for them.If Congress scares minority

from majority, which is easy in the name of burka “secularism”,their 90% work is done……..

and they have been doing so religiously………

It is highly likely that the trend will continue and may vary by few percent and the Congress

will remain in Power, as minority population increases, for the next 100 years..

So what is the Mantra to thrash congress and defeat Islamic Terrorism?

1. Register yourself for Voter ID;

2. Get the Voter ID as soon as possible;

3. Do not go for picnic and picture during Election Day;

4. Vote for nationalist and patriotic leader like Narendra Modi on Election Day;

5. Islamic terrorism is growing rapidly and soon enter into India with a bang!

if we will celebrate the picnic and go for picture on election day, our children will not be alive

to celebrate all these nice moments!

Our dear mother land is calling us, vote this time, and save it from Jihad!

Share it with as many as people you can!

veegopalji

We are not Responsible

 

 

We are not responsible!

EQUITYMASTER HOMEPAGE 24th Aug 2013

The UPA Government has earned itself the dubious distinction of involvement in several large corruption scandals. Each time various Government functionaries absolve themselves of all responsibility. Perhaps it should admit being anirresponsible Government, which it is. 

The latest is the scam at the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL). When a group of investors, with an aggregateRs 5,500 crores stuck in the exchange, complained to Arvind Mayaram in the Ministry of Finance, the expected answer was that his Ministry was not responsible. It was the Ministry of Consumer Affairs that was, under whose jurisdiction the regulator, Forward Markets Commission (FMC) was supposed to be responsible for regulating the exchange. But FMC Chairman claims he is not responsible, as he was appointed regulator but without power! The question, raised by these columns earlier, and unanswered is, who permitted the NSEL to start operations, without first authorising a regulator to regulate its operations?
Imagine the chaos that would ensue if each regulator took a similar stance. What if the RBI shirked responsibility of a banking fraud and claimed it was not responsible? What if SEBI maintained that it was powerless against a company who, e.g. had raised money through an IPO and misused it? Is it any wonder, then, that individuals repose their faith in gold and not in paper assets? If the Government is genuine, it has to protect investors, else it will incur their wrath prior to a general election. 
Echoing the sentiment, the NSEL says it is not responsible. The top management has been sacked, which is a gesture by the promoters of the Exchange to shirk responsibility for the actions of a management they appointed.
Let’s look at other examples of shirking of responsibility.
The Finance Minister says that it is not responsible for the state of the economy, which is in dire straits. It is not responsible for the high fiscal deficit or for the unsustainably high current account deficit. For the latter, it is the citizen, with his penchant for gold, explained above, who is responsible! For the poor GDP growth it is the companies who are responsible, for going slow on investment, and not the Government, which has blocked several permissions required for the investment. The National Highways Authority of India has had to cancel 6 road projects because of not being able to get land acquisition clearance. But, of course, the Government is never responsible.

Consider the depreciating rupee. In 1947, when India became independent, the Rupee was equal to the US $. It is now Rs 65/$. So in 66 years, the currency has depreciated 65 times. The value of the currency is related to productivity of the country. This means that India has, since independence, sharply declined in productivity. The Congress partyhas been in power for over 75% of the time during these 65 years. But, of course, it is not responsible! 

The falling rupee will, obviously, lead to inflation. Crude oil, as well as gas, translated to INR, would be more expensive. This would mean that all petro products, petrol, diesel, LPG, kerosene, would cost more, and so will power from gas based plants. So the subsidies on the petro products and power will shoot up, and, in a bid to contain them, the Government will raise prices, with the velvet glove admonition to ‘kindly bear with us’. Corporate profits will be hit by the hike in costs, combined with the higher interest rates which are the consequence of a badly managed economy. Of course, the Government is not responsible. 
This is a criminal misallocation of resources. The national productivity rises when children are given a proper education and training and when laws and regulation are conducive to economic acitivity and growth. Not when subsidies are given for people to drive cars in. Annual sale of cars is under 4 m., or 0.08% of our population. The Government subsidises them instead of spending money on better education.
Only a few countries are teaching their children how to think. These include Finland, Poland, Japan, South Korea and Canada, who consistently score high on the PISA test. India scores poorly. Children become smart, and, later, productive, when they are challenged to think for themselves. In India the Government has cleared the way for all to be promoted. This does not challenge them to think. They are not as productive as they can be. Without productivity, the nation slips.The currency weakens. Other countries race ahead. But the Government is not responsible. 
So tyrannical are the rules and laws in India, and so subjective, that we destroy our own industries and encourage the brightest to go abroad. 
The sugar industry, one of the most controlled industries, is being killed. Prices for sugar cane are fixed by both the Centre and the States, both competing with each other to increase prices, never mind the viability of the sugar factories. They set high prices to get farmer votes; the cost is borne by the mills. The mills are going bankrupt. Bad politics drives away good economics. But the Governments are not responsible. 
Another example is that of iron ore exports. These were banned after cases of illegal iron ore mining (corruption, again, in various states like Karnataka and AP) were discovered. It is easy to ban, or destroy. It is not easy to rebuild. The drop in iron ore exports is a contributory factor to the Current Account Deficit. It has led to a loss of jobs. And to a fall in production of steel. Is anybody reviewing the export ban? Or is nobody responsible?
Well, companies like Tata Steel have, in partnership with a Canadian company, set up an iron ore project in Canada, and has already got permission. (South Korean Posco, after an 8 year wait in Odisha, has not). If a large FDI proposal such as Posco comes in it eases pressure on the rupee. But there is no thinking in Government. As this article in the Economist points out, economic activity is being shifted out of India.
America is anticipating an economic boom, predicated largely on a boom in output of shale gas, using a technology called hydraulic fracking. Now it is not the availability of technology that is preventing the search for shale gas in India. Technologies can be bought, or obtained, or developed. Rather, it is ownership rights. In the US, the land owner has the right to everything on, or under, his land. In India it is the Government. As a result, the prospectors for oil and gas, can deal with land owners and sign contracts for exploiting the gas below their lands. And finds a lot of it, lowering gas prices and incentivizing producers of energy dependent steel, fertilisers, metals, etc, to relocate to the US and create jobs and growth.
In India, the Government claims right to any resource under the ground of property belonging to any individual. It auctions the right to hunt for oil/gas, creates a huge mess in the pricing of it. Production drops and prices rise. The fall in production leads to higher imports, a higher current account deficit and a falling currency.
So, what is important to the Government? Is it the ownership of resources under individual land or is it the possibility of larger oil/gas finds and an easing of economic problems? A responsible Government would know the right answer.
There is something strange happening in the gold market, as per this blog. Export of gold from London (where it is not mined, but, rather, held as a backing for gold ETFs) has zoomed, to Switzerland. In 2012 exports were a mere 92 tonnes. In the first half of 2013 it is 797 tonnes. It appears that this gold is being melted to smaller sizes for export to Asia. Presumably most of it is smuggled into India, as import duties have been myopically hiked.
There is another interesting article titled ‘Hawala Logic’ by Anand Ranganathan, which points to the sharp fall in the rupee versus the US $ in the months preceding a general election, presumable to fetch more rupees when the $s stashed abroad are brought back. The only exception was when the BJP was in power in 2004 and the rupee appreciated.
It is possible that the Government may announce another amnesty scheme, in which those with funds stashed in Swiss banks and other offshore centres (which the Supreme Court is insisting on taking action against) can be brought back with a smallish penalty. The fall in the rupee more than pays for the penalty. Then the Government will take credit for the strengthening of the rupee. The stock market, where the money will be invested after the recent fall, could bounce back, and everyone will sing happy days are here again. This is just a hypothesis.
Last week the BSE-Sensex lost 79 points to close at 18,519, and the NSE-Nifty dropped 36 to end at 5,471.
International factors are ominous. As per this blog ‘What Happened in 1987’ the current rally since 2012 in US markets is driven entirely by valuations, and not by earnings. The US Fed is likely to taper off its bond buying programme from September, and is to have a new boss who may be more hawkish. On the flip side, should PC come out with a disclosure scheme that would lead to funds stashed abroad coming back, it could lead to a rally. If not for that, the economy, the currency and the stock market would continue to slide. Of course, the Government is not responsible.

Comments on this edition of Straight From The Hip: Post a comment! | Read comments

J Mulraj is a stock market columnist and observer of long-standing. His weekly column on stock markets has run for over 25 years. An MBA from IIM Calcutta, he has been a member of the BSE. He is now India Representative for Institutional Investor. A keen observer of events and trends, he writes in a lucid yet readable style and takes up issues on behalf of the individual investor. Nothing pleases him more than a reader who confesses having no interest in stock markets yet being a reader of his columns. His other interests include reading, both fiction and non fiction, bridge, snooker and chess.

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Restore our faith, Mr. Prime Minister

this article is recd from a friend and is reproduced here. I am not claiming anything but just sharing this with you all. Special attention to my reader friends who have been guiding me on this. looking forward to your comments and suggestions

A WONDERFUL STRONG-WORDED ARTICLE FROM AJIT DAYAL OF EQUITY MASTER ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ECONOMY , AND THE CAUSE FOR IT- LOSS OF FAITH IN THE GOVERNMENT-. HE GOES ON TO SAY THAT THIS RESTORATION OF FAITH IS A MUST FOR A GOOD SOLUTION  (AS SUGGESTED BY SRI. GURUMURTHY ji )OF USING OUR ‘LATENT GOLD’ (GOLD HELD BY THE GENERAL INDIAN PUBLIC) TO PLEDGE WITH THE GOVT IN EXCHANGE FOR A GOLD BOND, BUY US DOLLAR WITH THE GOLD , TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF BOP  AND THEREBY RESTORE HEALTH OF THE ECONOMY.  A VERY GOOD THOUGHT-PROVOKING ARTICLE. 

Restore our faith, Mr. Prime Minister

FROM The Honest Truth-BY AJIT DAYAL, EQUITY MASTER.

Dear Prime Minister:

In July 1991, as the Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao government, you gave a long interview to the Economic Times justifying on why India needed to reform from the “license raj” days to a more open economy. That interview was, in many ways, a sort of admission of failure – without you or anyone in the Congress actually saying so – of the wealth destructive policies followed by successive Congress governments particularly under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. You and your colleagues in the then Dream Team were part of the “Cream Team” which had set India back by a few decades with myopic policies and acceptance of corruption. But, as the reforms of 1991 gripped our imagination, we were willing to forgive you for those past errors, even if they were unspoken. The one statement from you in those thousands of lines of rationale for a new way forward in the Economic Times interview which stuck in my head was “Investment is an act of faith”. The reforms of 1991 unleashed a huge outpouring of “faith” in you and in your party to lead us forward. 

Much has happened since July 1991.
From the great India Shining stories of your rivals in the BJP, to the Resurgent India and Incredible India battle cries of your own party, to the innumerable scams that have plagued India at the district, municipal, state, and federal level of government – across party lines.

India has grown from being a closed economy to one where its citizens can travel anywhere in the world and undertake an enterprise anywhere in the world.

The world, itself, has changed a lot and the monetary systems in the more open global financial markets have shown the immoral connectivity between big government and big financial firms.

Your personal life has changed, too: you have found yourself in the seat of the Prime Minister of two consecutive governments. In a seat of leadership. In a position to convert the faith we had in you – an apolitical and intelligent person – into dreams of a better India.

And, yet, as your handling of various scams and episodes over the past decade have shown you have fumbled and remained silent. You have taken the unabashed faith we had in you and converted it into a cynical distrust of you and your senior colleagues in the Administration. From being a symbol of honesty you are now seen as an

incompetent and, possibly, dishonest man. It is

possible that you may not have made any personal

money in all the incidents of grand theft. However,

an honest man retains his honesty not by being a

silent spectator to a theft but, rather, by actively

trying to catch the thieves he has witnessed perform

a theft. So far we have seen you look the other way and not use the full power of the government machinery to bring the suspects to justice. In fact, to add insult to our intelligence, we see your cabinet colleagues tossing counter-allegations on the talk shows that thrive on this absurd situation. Under your leadership, the movement by Anna Hazare to cleanse the corruption in India (a movement of the kind that Mahatma Gandhi, whose endorsement of Nehru gave the Congress Party its power, would be proud of) was converted into a convoluted discussion on irrelevant subtleties. 

The harshest proof that any leader can have is when a nation’s people no longer believe in their own currency. Having being the Governor of the respected Reserve Bank of India you will understand this. As a dream merchant, living off our faith, the key monetary indicators of your success (or failure) should be:

1. Are Indians investing in IPOs and in the stock markets – an IPO is a great indicator of faith in the future and, at its extreme, borders on insanity; politely called “irrational exuberance” this unabashed faith in the ability to create something in the future out of nothing;
2. Are Indians burying their cash in mattresses or putting it in safe bank deposits – if Indians are stashing their cash, it means they have no faith in the future and they are scared; their fear of “risk” is because their past experience has shown that they get no rewards for the risk they have taken. In fact, they have probably been slaughtered. Their rational reaction: have no faith and stay safe in bank deposits;
3. Are Indians buying gold – a global currency – or the currency of our own nation, the Indian Rupee? Here, I will give you the benefit of a partial doubt. People buy gold either because they have no faith in their own currency or no faith in the world. The reason why Indians are buying gold is, therefore, difficult to pinpoint as a loss of faith only in you, your leadership, and your government. The hijacking of the global financial system and the ownership of policies of many central banks by a few large financial firms has resulted in a desire to own something besides a “fiat” or paper currency: gold and silver are seen as these alternatives. As an Indian, I am sure you have bought some gold for your family. As the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, you must have been party to discussions and decisions on keeping gold as part of the RBI’s global reserve currencies. So, you know that gold is not just a “useless metal”, as branded by your Finance Minister.

The timing of this letter to you – when the Indian Rupee is taking a whack – is part of the delusional process of governments. Governments listen when hit by crises – they rarely plan.

Of the 3 indicators above, the data on the first two points (a dead IPO market and a surge in bank deposits) were apparent for any student of economics and finance looking for the first signs of trouble. For the first signs of a deflation of your historic “Investment is an act of faith” statement made in 1991. 

But your cabinet colleagues, your spokespersons on media, and the various “yes-men” in important positions of the administration were probably too busy trying to figure out the next “personal cash-extraction” scheme or “quick fix” to pretend all is fine in your kingdom. 

As long as the suited bankers of Wall Street firms kept the moolah flowing in for various equity portfolio products, bond funds, and infrastructure funds – and as long as the invites to speak at Davos and other hallowed destinations were alive – the local “lack of faith” indicators were ignored. Elections may be held in India, but lucrative post-retirement jobs are a function of visibility at these global conferences. After all, what can the poor Indian voter do? Even though the Supreme Court has recently ruled that a convicted person cannot stand for election, your party – along with the other political parties – is already finding ways to fight this absurd birth right that politicians seem to have to rape and plunder at will – and be elected to do it again. So, ignore the locals and let the foreigners cuddle you and make you feel good about India.

Well, the foreign financial firms are, well, foreign with (rightfully) no loyalty to any country. They need to earn their next commission. They earned commissions from making their clients “buy India”, now they will earn it from making their clients “sell India”. Don’t count on an invitation to be a key speaker at the next Davos. Discard your delusions. And now find a way to win back the “faith”. 

With an annual savings pool of about USD 400 billion (at today’s whacked rate of the Indian Rupee) and a gold hoard of an estimated USD 1 trillion sunk somewhere in the mattresses of most Indian homes, there is no shortage of money to get India back to its Resurgent or Shining days. 

Yes, we will shed the useless metal and we will be happy to take risks again and fund the dream merchants who launch IPOs.

If you launch a “gold-for-gold” or “gold for INR equivalent of future gold price” Gold Bond scheme with a 6.5% per annum interest as your government did in November 1962 (and collected 16.3 tonnes of gold, valued at Rs 5 crore today), just after India lost a war with China, it will fail.  In 1962 patriotism ran high and faith in the Congress government and politicians was at a peak. Today, patriotism is still strong – which is why any gold-for-gold scheme will fail: Indians love their country too much to entrust their hard earned wealth to a bunch of questionable, low-character hoodlums who hold positions of power. 

But, using the latent gold to actively drive the future growth of India – and stop this slide in the INR and loss of faith in India – is important.

So, when your Finance Minister comes to you to

sign off on a “gold-for-gold” scheme like the one

you had in November 1962, March 1965, and October

1965 which he is probably designing as I write, tell

him this: 

“Our citizens have lost the faith in us. We need to win it back. And we will do so by impounding the passports of every legislator and every political party officer and their extended family. Furthermore, we will impound the wealth of every legislator and their extended family and keep all these assets as collateral in this new gold-for-gold scheme. Their passports and their wealth will only be released when we have made good on our promise to the Indian citizen to return all their gold by the year 2020. And if we fail to return the gold, the assets of the legislators held in custody will be disposed off and – given that the average legislator has a lot of wealth – we will always have sizeable collateral to pay off the obligations to the Indian citizens. Only under such an act of faith from our side will the Indian citizen come forward to deposit their latent gold for us to convert it into USD, then sell that USD and buy INR to stem the slide of the INR.

Oh, yes, that Anna fellow: tell him we have placed the CBI under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and they are free to work as they see fit to root out corruption. Furthermore, here is a list of investment banks and scoundrels who have duped investors in questionable IPOs – make sure they are blacklisted from any future IPO. And add their names to the list of people whose passports and wealth is being impounded. And, finally, tell the organisers at Davos that our passports are impounded so we will restrict our travel to Indian villages. And, no, we will not eat food at a villager’s home to prove we qualify to be a Prime Minister.”

So, Mr. Prime Minister, if you still stand by your statement that “investment is an act of faith”, win back the faith and India will respond with the investment.

Otherwise, pray hard that your next visit to Washington, D.C. does not end up as an “Indian Super Power with a begging bowl in hand” cartoon in the western press.

FINAL INTERVIEW WITH GOD

THE FINAL INTERVIEW WITH GOD

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The soldier stood and faced The Ultimate,
which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.’Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
Have you been true and going to the Temple?’The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
‘No, Sir, I guess I isn’t.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can’t always be divine.

I’ve had to work most 365 days,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I’ve been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn’t mine to keep…
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, forgive me,
I’ve wept unmanly tears.

I know I don’t deserve a place,
Among the people here who are with You.
They never wanted me around any way,
Except to calm their fears.

If you’ve a place for me here,
It needn’t be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don’t have a place for me, I’ll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where all the Devas had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his Almighty.

‘Step forward now, you soldier,
You’ve borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on to the streets of Bliss,
You’ve done your time to deserve it.’

(Author Unknown and edited too my taste.)

Thinking of all the soldiers of the free world.

It’s the Military, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It’s the Military, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It’s theMilitary, not the politicians that ensures our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s the Military who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag.If you care to offer the smallest token of recognition and appreciation for themilitary, please pass this on and pray for our men and women who have served and are currently serving our country and pray for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

 

 

—

PRISONERS VS EMPLOYEES

 

 

Prisoners v/s Employees… !!

		IN PRISON				AT WORK
		you spend the majority of your time in an 8’X10′ cell .				you spend most of your time in a 6’X8′ cubicle ..
	IN PRISON				AT WORK
	you get three meals a day (free).				you only get a break for one meal and probably have to pay for it yourself .

 

	IN PRISON		AT WORK
	you get time off for good behavior.		you get rewarded for good behavior with more WORK.

 

	IN PRISON		AT WORK
	a guard locks and unlocks the doors for you ..		you must carry around a security card and unlock open all the doors yourself .

 

	IN PRISON		AT WORK
	you can watch TV and play games.		you get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON  they allow your family and friends to visit.

AT WORK  you can not even speak to your family and friends.

IN PRISON

AT WORK

all expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work at all.

You get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for the prisoners.

Humm?

Which Sounds Better?

So what are you waiting for………???

Kill your Boss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INDIAN ECONOMY FOOLS PARADISE

 

With Amartya Sen, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Man Mohan Singh, P Chidambaram all at the helm, Indian Government is literally living in fools Paradise

 

Indian economy comes to a fullstop

 MR Venkatesh

A fairly large South-Indian group with varied business interests had invited me to a strategy session to turn it around. It was the first meeting and was to be preceded by breakfast. As we waited to be served, I perused their latest balance sheet.

 

Noticing that it was a profitable, tax and dividend paying company, where was the question of turnaround I wondered? Nevertheless, I instantly zeroed in on the balance sheet. I observed that the company had invested approximately Rs 700 crore on its subsidiaries and lent another Rs 300 crore — in the aggregate Rs 1,000 crore. Flipping across the accounts, I asked a simple question – what is the return from this investment of Rs 1,000 crore?(Amounts changed for obvious reasons.)

 

The CFO was silent. The executive director hummed and hawed. The body language of the rest was a dead giveaway of their uneasiness to discuss this matter further.

 

The junior-most amongst them blurted out, perhaps unwittingly, that it was virtually nil. His answer got a cold stare from his superiors. “Nil!” I exclaimed to the horror of my hosts. “You must be paying approximately Rs 150 crore as interest annually on this sum.” I commented, probably rubbing salt into their wounds. I went on to probe further, “Why, what happened to this money?

 

This time my question was followed by thundering silence. Even the junior one was quiet this time around. May be he had already got the message. As I helped myself to the breakfast I noticed radio silence at the table. Was I at a funeral?

 

Between mouthfuls, I attempted to be at my persuasive best. Probably my training as a chartered accountant helped me. Unable to bear my repeated questioning, the CFO finally broke down. “Sir, as you are aware we are in infrastructure. That requires tremendous pay-offs to politicians and bureaucrats. We have used approximately 150 subsidiaries, some of which are foreign ones, to route these payments.”

 

I was stunned. My jaw dropped. “Sir, we expected you to know all these practicalities of our business. The turnaround strategy needs to factor these ground realities.” Obviously, this time around I was at the receiving end. The breakfast meeting concluded abruptly.

 

Importantly, I understood that India’s outbound investment policy was not a liberalisation process, but a facilitation one – one that ensured smooth pay-offs! Importantly in this mess, businessmen, politicians, professionals, bureaucracy, judiciary and even the media are involved. No one can blame the other.

 

The economics of kickbacks and payoffs

 

Instantly my thoughts raced to the Nira Radia tapes. Fifteen per cent was the kickbacks payable to the Minister concerned for approving every road contract. Add another fifteen to the bureaucracy and local politicians. Add another five to seven to bankers, lawyers, consultants and agents to procure funds.

 

What we have is a staggering 35-40 per cent additional cost to every infrastructure project.

 

That implies a road project costing Rs 100 crore would in effect be a Rs 140-150 crores project. Naturally, the toll for the stretch would not be Rs 100 but Rs 150. This has profound implications for the Indian economy. This extra Rs 50 in toll levy for every 100 km has a cumulative effect on the manufacturing cost.

 

The net result – imports from most of our neighbors of several items [despite cost of transportation and customs duty] are competitive than manufacturing the same in India. Forget competing abroad, Indian manufacturing has become uncompetitive in India!

 

There is another dimension to this issue. Somewhere down the line these “costs” were funded, mostly by our banks. Corporates altered their top-line as well as bottom-line to keep their banks in good humor. The Banks in turn suspended their sense of disbelief. As chartered accountants we too played ball in creating a mini-Satyam in most of India’s corporates.

 

The impact of gold plating

 

But this gold platting of balance sheets cannot be done beyond a point. Everything has a breaking point isn’t it, especially as the economy tanked?

 

These developments were brilliantly captured by a Report by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)

 

“As the topline growth continued to slow down, the manufacturing sector as well as the non-financial services sector saw profits fall in the March 2013 quarter compared to the year-ago levels. Operating profits of the manufacturing sector excluding the petroleum sector fell by close to four per cent while the net profit fell by a sharp 23.2 per cent.”

 

The report goes on add

“The non-financial services sector managed to improve its sales growth from 3.2 per cent in the March 2012 quarter to 6.5 per cent in the March 2013 quarter on account of sectors like transport services and software. However, at the net level the sector saw a sharp 28.3 per cent decline in profits.”

 

Well, both the manufacturing and services sector are going bust.

 

Simultaneously the CMIE points out that the

 

“Commissioning of projects dropped sharply to Rs 337 billion during the quarter ended June 2013 from Rs 827 billion in the June 2012 quarter. This was lowest since quarter ended December 2006.”

 

Macro-economic data too corroborate these numbers. From a growth rate of 7.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2011-12 growth rate has witnessed a steady fall in the next seven quarters to less than 4.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012-13.

 

If data released by the Finance Ministry for the first two months of this fiscal is any indication, manufacturing has recorded a negative – yes negative growth of two percent, mining a negative of 5.7 per cent, capital goods a negative of 2.7 per cent, consumer goods a negative of 4 per cent and consumer durables a negative of 10 per cent.

 

In short, when it comes to manufacturing, forget growth, we are in negative zone.

 

The net result – twenty per cent of lending by Indian Banks is stressed.Obviously, when banks end up funding pay-offs and kickbacks, this is the end result. And that is a whopping Rs 11 lakh crores – approximately $200 billion – a sum that even the banks in USA cannot afford.

 

Added to this is the stress on account of our external accounts.The foreign debt has risen to $390 billion. This was a mere $225 billion in 2008. What is galling is that the foreign exchange reserve has remained at a constant $300 billion during this period. Needless to emphasise, the ratio of foreign exchange reserves to foreign debt has deteriorated from 138 per cent then to less than 75 per cent now.

 

What is adding to the consternation is that in the short term – by March 2014 – we need to pay approximately $172bn of our foreign debts. This works out to approximately 44 per cent of the external debtand a staggering 60 per cent of the total foreign exchange reserves of the country.

 

The short-term external borrowings are surely the villain of the piece.Remember in 1991 the short-term external debt was a mere 10 percent of the total external debt. Now it is one-fourth.

 

Another important parameter – India’s net international investment position [the net claims of non-residents against external claims of residents] stood at a negative $225 billion as at 30th June 2012. This deteriorated to a negative of $307 billion by March 31, 2013. That implies an addition of $82 billion in a matter of mere nine months.

 

Simply put, Indian manufacturing by and large is uncompetitive at current exchange rates. And if Rupee is devalued, prices of imports, especially crude oil, would increase leading to an inflationary spiral. Either way, that means increased unemployment. The services sector too as pointed out above is spluttering. And remember agriculture has been historically recording sub-three percent growth in the best of times.

 

As we witness large-scale unemployment, purchasing power in the hands of the people is rapidly decreasing. That implies demand compression which in turns puts the economy once again on the downward spiral.

 

Add to this the absolute lack of governance, indecision and Governmental apathy – you would know what it means to do business in India. Whatever be the reason – political or otherwise — bureaucracy in Delhi has simply refused to function. Likewise every assessment with our revenue departments ends up as extortion.

 

Unfortunately the Government’s response has been pathetic. Surely, increasing FDI limits is not reforms. On this the UPA Government is completely off-target. What makes the set of reforms scandalous is that the Government is indirectly bribing foreigners to invest in India. The Jet-Etihad deal is a case in point.

 

Put pithily, we are witnessing a repeat of the 1991 crisis.

 

This time around, it is threatening to make the previous one look like a walk in the park. Well what makes the crisis different this time around?

 

Contrary to the popular belief this is not an economic crisis, this is a crisis of national character.

 

Forget fiscal, revenue and current account deficits –let us first talk about morality deficits.

 

(MR Venkatesh is a Chennai based chartered accountant.)

 

HRD Human Relations Development

May be it is a Lesson for those who Live in a Fools paradise.

————————————–
TODAY’S RELATIONSHIPS
By
Saman

I was right about the turban again! The Sardar sitting next to me was most definitely a fauji! Not for me the Montek Singh turban or the yuppee turbans worn by Vancouver Sardars. No Siree!

The turban standard that I subscribed to was the one and only Bajwa standards. I being a southie and a fauji, Bajwa had, years ago, initiated me into the art of turban wearing. Having helped him set up his turbans on many occasions, sometimes when our ship was rolling and pitching like hell, I was almost a connoisseur on turbans! Also, my vanity prevented me from appreciating any other way a turban is worn.
This was Bajwa Standards, well almost.

‘Hi’, says the Sardar, red turban, red fifty, about sixty years of age, or so I think.

‘Hello’- me

‘I am Vikram Singh’ – Sardar

Now this is where I typically stop. I don’t like too much conversation on flights. I am the quiet, reading, sleeping type. I generally mumble something and pretend to look at a magazine. But this was a fauji after all! This long business class flight from JFK to Dubai could turn out different.

Me-‘Samani, 48 NDA (just on a whim!)’

‘Well, well, well’ says the Sardar, ‘I am from the 22nd course’-Spot on Samani!  And the flight starts!

After an unusual bumpy take off, we all get settled down. When the hostess asks for a drink, I choose my usual Jim Beam , soda hoping that the Sardar will also have a drink. But he is different. He chooses orange juice. My first thoughts were ‘This one has turned religious!’ ‘So what do you do in the US?’ asks the Sardar, if just to start a conversation

‘Came for a Board meet’ – me

‘ I came on a holiday to the US’ says the Sardar, looking at me from the corner of his eyes, weighing me. I could almost hear his thoughts. This guy should address me as ‘sir’ is what he is thinking !

‘Good to hear that Sir!’-me.

After leaving the navy 14 years ago, I don’t like to call any one ‘sir’ and also do not like to be called ‘sir’ by any one. But 22nd course is miles senior! After that it is a pretty much one sided conversation, with him talking and I listening.

What a story this turns out to be! ‘ Had an excellent twenty two years in the Army, with Command appointments and the occasional tiff with the bosses initially’ starts the Sardar. ‘ Tiffs got more frequent as I went up in service’. ‘Got married like anyone else, two kids, both sons’ . ‘Left the army as it was strangling me. Couldn’t stand the hierarchy and especially those bureaucrats in Delhi’ ‘liked my old monk soda-too much of it in fact’-Sardar giving me his life story in tweets!

‘Started a small textile business based in Ludhiana initially’ continues the Sardar.’ Slowly grew and established my business first in Delhi and then in Mumbai’. ‘That’s when tragedy stuck’ says he, hoping that I would break my silence at least now.

‘What happened sir’ I dutifully ask, getting slightly muzzled with my second Jim Beam. I might as well confess, I am a two Jim Beam (small) man. Anything more than that, I get high and go to sleep.

‘Well the wife dies on me suddenly’ says the Sardar fully accusing her as if it was her fault.‘So sorry to hear that sir’ I mumble.

‘Blood cancer they said. One minute she was there and another minute she was gone’ continues the Sardar. ‘Tried to give her the best medical attention-no luck’. ‘Worst part was that she was the bridge between me andmy sons or their wives’. ‘You know with these field appointments, you hardly know your sons, especially when they grow up’. ‘Worse still when they get married’. ‘’Their wives were so, well, different’. ‘I think I have two grand sons and three grand daughters’ . ‘Or is it the other way around?’ ‘Not sure’ says the Sardar almost asking me to help him remember.‘But the business went on extremely well’ he continues.

‘Bought a large plot near Gurgaon’ and built a three story house’. ‘Ground floor for me, first floor for the elder son ‘s family and top floor for the younger son’s family’. Elder son to look after the business in Delhi and younger one  for Mumbai. I retained overall control and also business expansion into other metros. 33 crores  turn over in four years, can you believe that?’ asks the Sardar

‘Wife died in the ground floor. At least she could take part a bit in my success’.  ‘Three cars’. Bought the second Sonata in whole of Delhi, would you believe this?’ he continues. Having stayed in Dubai for long, I know for a fact that Hyundai Sonata is a lousy car but I let him bask in his glory. “That was great Sir, I mumbled’   ‘Yes, Sonata for me, Esteem for my sons’ says the Sardar and the meal arrives. I see the Sardar having Asian Jain Vegetarian meal. “This is surely going to end religious ‘ I think ‘See how life changes’ the sardar asks philosophically between mouths full of yucky pasty main course.

‘This happens one day, after my wife’s death, when I was about sixty one years old’ he says

‘My elder daughter in law comes to me and says, “Papa why don’t you spend more time with the grand kids?”

‘Now this is the first time she has spoken to me in months’ continues the Sardar, ‘I thought she was being extremely nice and cares about me’   ‘Sure Beta, what do you want me to do?’ I asked.

‘Why don’t you drop them to school daily in the Sonata?’ says Rupali, ‘well that’s her name’

‘Sure Beta’ I say, wholeheartedly thinking that I should spend more time with the grandkids;  especially since I did not spend time with my kids

‘This routine starts and actually I started enjoying  it myself. The kids like the Sonata. Well they were spoiling it a bit but that was OK’

‘After a few months’ continues the Sardar, it was the younger daughter in law’s turn. She comes and asks ‘Papa, can you get us some grocery?’

‘What do you need Beta’ I ask and she gives me a long list. ‘So I dutifully get it, using my credit card for god’s sake!’

This goes on for a while and slowly but steadily I start doing a lot of house hold work. Of course we had maids etc but I am soon helping with kids’ homework.

On my sixty third birthday, my younger son comes to me and says ’ papa, I have a surprise gift for you!’. He takes me outside and shows me a brand new Alto all 800 cc of it. Couldn’t make out whether it is a second hand car. I mumbled ‘thanks’

‘Suddenly from next day, the driver drops me and the kids to school in the Alto. Elder son has gone on a visit to his in laws in the Sonata.

I still did not feel anything amiss’. The sardar stops to see if I am listening or have I dozed off. He doesn’t know that I am all ears now and in fact my heart is palpitating.

Then one day during holi, we have a family dinner. Now this is one tradition which the wife has established, god bless her soul. Come hell or high water, holi dinner was taboo. That’s when I make an announcement

“Beta logon, I have a surprise gift for you!”

“What’s it papa, asks the elder son’

‘I have arranged a family holiday for all you for 45 days to the US during the summer!’. ‘I think you all looked after me so well that I felt you needed the break’ “all business class, five star stay in both west and east coast’

‘But papa, how about the business?’-younger son

‘All taken care of. Shyam Gupta ( our manager for a long time) and I will handle this in your absence. As such business is dull during summer and I so want you to go and enjoy!’.

“The wives were pleased whilst the sons, I was not so sure’. “Grand kids yell-whoopie’

‘That was a great gesture’ I say, munching a sandwich

‘But what was greater was yet to come’ says the sardar. ‘Just like the appreciation exercises we did in staff college, I had’ appreciated the situation and situated the appreciation’ he continues, the only hint of humour during our entire conversation during the long flight.

Then comes a burst of gunfire from the Sardar

Just after Holi

‘1. I place an ad in the Times of India Matrimony asking for a soul mate

2. I place another ad for selling my house

3. Yet another ad for selling my business

4. last ad for selling my cars, except the Sonata

‘When the family duly went on the holiday, I sold the house, my business and cars. And do you know, also found a soul mate in a Bengali professor, teaching in JNU!’. I shifted to DSOI and here I am back from my holiday! My wife had some business in New York and she is coming back after a week. She doesn’t like meat eaters or drinkers and that’s why I decided to give up both.

In the bargain my weight has come down and my medical test reports have all come to near normal.

‘A success story wouldn’t you say?’ asks the Sardar when the flight is about to land in Dubai. ’ And you know what, ‘ he continues,’ when I land in Delhi, the Sonata will pick me up to take me to DSOI!’

I am not a hugging person. But this was one occasion I almost got up,
(screw the seat belt sign) and hugged the man!

—
With best wishes

 

Tale of two Democracies

  True Democracy in Action

                                                   JOGISHWAR SINGH

As a Swiss citizen born in India, I am many times brought to think about my 

experiences of the democratic systems prevalent in the two countries.

Before Indian ‘patriots’ start screaming murder at what I am going to say, I 

should point out that I am fully aware that I am talking about two different 

historical realities.

Switzerland has been independent for over 800 years while India is a newly 

created entity, now a mere 66 years old.

Switzerland has a population of only 8 million while India has the second 

highest population of any country in the world at over 1.2 billion (give or 

take a few million). And expected, in the near future, to even outstrip 

China, and become the world’s most populous. 

The trigger for this set of reflections was what I saw on the 7.30 pm eve. 

news on Swiss TV a couple of weeks ago.

The Swiss President, Mr Ueli Maurer,  was leaving on a five day state visit to 

China. The news showed him arriving  at Zürich airport in an ordinary private 

vehicle. The President got out of the  car by opening the car door himself. 

He walked to the nearby baggage trolley stand outside the airport entrance. 

He took a baggage trolley out, rolled it  towards the car, lifted his suitcase and 

travel bag himself, put these on the trolley which he then rolled towards the 

entrance like any passenger lambda like you or me. He walked up to the check 

in counter with just two other persons  walking behind him. He checked his 

luggage in for a commercial flight without  any special treatment being meted 

out to him.

For any Indians (or others) who might  find it difficult to believe what I have 

described above, you can CLICK on  the link provided hereunder, at the 

end of this article, to view a TV news  clip from the evening prime time 

news for July 16, 2013..

This clip is really worth watching.

Conditioned by my personal experiences of dealing with politicians and 

government ministers in India while serving as an IAS (Indian Administrative

Service) officer, I was so struck by the contrast between what I had experienced

in India and what I was seeing on the TV screen that I told my wife that this

represented one of the finest examples of democracy for me, certainly of the

Swiss variety. It made me proud to be the citizen of a country where the serving

President behaves like an ordinary citizen and does not feel the need to consider

special privileged treatment as his divine birthright. 

I remembered the countless times when I had seen the fury of Indian politicians, 

much below the level of the President of a country, at what they considered as

a slight because they had not been treated as demi-gods.

I am not a psychologist. I do not know whether centuries of slavery have 

generated this distorted VIP culture in India but I remember that we all did curse

the politicians there for causing so much inconvenience to the general public

by expecting, demanding and getting privileged treatment. 

Who in India, except maybe some politicians or bureaucrats, has not been 

inconvenienced by VIP visits for which miles of roads and highways, even entire neighbourhoods, are blocked off to traffic, and flights are delayed, awaiting the 

arrival of some VIP or even his/her flunkies/family members? 

Any such inconvenience would cause an uproar in Switzerland. 

In India, it does not generate even a whimper.

In this context, an incident from the not very distant past strongly lingers in my 

memory. A few years ago, a former IAS batch-mate of mine (1976 batch) had

visited Switzerland. 

I have noticed that Switzerland becomes a prize destination of choice for a lot 

of Indian ministers and bureaucrats during their hot summer for attending all

kinds of useless conferences which are essentially talking shops organised

by the United Nations, an organisation which is a hotbed of nepotism and

inefficiency.

This IAS officer wanted to see Switzerland, so I acted as his local tourist 

guide. 

While we were going around the Swiss federal capital, Bern, it was lunch 

time so we decided to have lunch at a restaurant very close to the Swiss

parliament building. 

As we took our seats at a table, a Swiss gentleman sitting at the next table, 

reading his newspaper while sipping his coffee, greeted us in English.

While we ordered our meal and waited, he finished reading his newspaper,

drank his coffee and called for his bill which he paid before leaving. While

going out, he again politely wished us goodbye, even saying, “I hope you

enjoy your stay in Switzerland” in English.

After he had left, I asked my visitor if he knew who the man had been. 

Obviously, my visitor did not know the answer. I informed him that we had 

just been greeted by the then serving Swiss President, Mr René Felber. 

My guest thought I was making fun of him. He would not believe me so I 

called the restaurant manager to confirm the veracity of what I had told him.

The manager duly confirmed what I had said. 

My Indian visitor was flabbergasted. He said, “How can this be possible? 

He actually paid his bill before leaving”. 

So, what struck my visitor the most had been the fact that a VIP had 

actually paid his bill! I wonder what he would say if he saw our current

President, Mr Ueli Maurer, personally loading his bags on to a baggage

trolley and wheeling it to a check-in counter just like any ordinary citizen.

His disbelief could only be countered by visual evidence on the TV!

My visitor’s reaction brought back memories of when, as a serving sub-

divisional or district level official, I had been called upon to organise lunches

and dinners for numerous collections of freeloaders travelling with ministers

or bureaucrats in India. 

I seldom remember any politician or bureaucrat actually paying or even 

offering to pay for the bonanza laid out for them. Those who did offer to pay, 

did so at the ridiculously low official daily fare of eleven rupees (today, a

mere 20 cents US) per person or something like that. 

Nobody ever asked how it had been possible to lay out a lavish meal 

comprising several dishes, accompanied by expensive alcoholic beverages,

for such a petty sum. I never found out myself who used to pay for all this

extravaganza at the end of the line. 

Like a good Indian bureaucrat, I just used to pass the buck down the line to 

my junior magistrates and revenue officials. To this day, I am unable to clarify

which poor victim — read, citizen! — who got stuck with paying for all the

freebies on offer.

While working as chief of staff to the President of the Swiss Commission for 

the Presence of Switzerland in Foreign Countries many years ago, I had the

chance of accompanying him to Strasbourg for meetings of the Council of

Europe. I also had the privilege of close interaction with several Swiss

members of parliament over an extended period of 12 to 14 months. 

The contrast to the behavioural pattern of what I had experienced in India 

with politicians was so stark that it has stayed seared in my mind even 

till today. 

I am by no means suggesting that Swiss politicians are angels, but the 

kind of behaviour that Indian politicians or bureaucrats get away with as

a matter of routine in India would torpedo their careers in Switzerland

in a jiffy.

Each such incident deepens my gratitude to Waheguru Almighty for having 

made me settle down in a country like Switzerland where the President

carries his own bags to the check-in counter. 

Where no roads are blocked for hours so that some VIP can, in the name 

of security, be whisked around in convoys of official vehicles. 

Where politicians and bureaucrats pay their bills in restaurants. 

Where grossly sycophantic behaviour is not the general and accepted 

norm. 

Where no red-light beacons or screaming sirens signal the passage of 

VIP vehicles. Indeed, the red-light-beacon culture of officialdom in India

merits a full story in itself.

I might accept India as a true democracy the day I see its President or 

Prime Minister behaving like the Swiss President before his departure

on an official visit abroad.

I don’t think I will ever see such a sight in India during my lifetime. 

You think, maybe, my grandchildren will?

To view the TV news-clip, please CLICK here.

August 15, 2013

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