UPA VERSION 2

The euphoria of Election ‘09 stands converted into a Ministerial Team whose average age still remains 60? A few youngsters have found some berths which it is hoped will be a trend setter for the future.
The cabinet team is as large as is permitted under the existing rules. The spirit of the rule was not intended to be abused in this manner. The idea was to set an ‘upper limit’ to the number of Ministers, which is conveniently interpreted as the maximum number of Ministers that can be employed at the tax payer’s cost to accommodate the aspiration of certain ‘greedy’ leaders (whose greed extends to having multiple wives and dozens of mostly unworthy off springs!) to overcome the pit falls of coalition politics.
Certain Ministers and their dummy Ministries will merely dilute the focus from deliverables and are likely to restrict the high expectations from this government.
PM Manmohan will have to be agile and ruthless in managing the parasites to ensure that the faith and trust entrusted by the electorate is justified. Performance parameters must be constantly monitored.
Indian elections have repeatedly thrown up surprises. The electorate is usually unpredictable and votes to send clear and strong message to the manipulative politicians.
The message this time is loud for ‘DEVELOPMENT+GOVERNANCE’ without any petty excuses and a ‘BIG NO’ to religion/caste/creed/region/wealth etc. The burden on the government to perform and deliver is magnified more than ever by the impatient youth factor inherent in India’s existing demographic profile.
Let us hope that we as a Nation are able to make the turn around we all deserve and our elected team fulfills their duty with responsible behaviour.

AILA'S MESSAGE

The intensity of Cyclone AILA that caused massive devastation in and around Kolkata could not be predicted by the weather man although the occurrence was expected.
Animals, birds, vegetation, humans and cars were tossed around like tooth pick. Tidal waves larger than any one can recollect destroyed miles of forest land along with tigers and other wildlife.
The extent and ferocity of damage is yet to be assessed, but the fact that we are face to face with many more such ravages of nature around the world is certain.
KATRINA was the wake up call which we ignored at our peril.
We are all destined to experience expected and unexpected incidents of similar destruction more often, unless we become aware of the man made environmental degradation we continue to cause of our only habitat.

HUMBLE REQUEST

Just completed reading HOT, FLAT and CROWDED - by Thomas Friedman.
A revealing and well researched 412 pages that we must all try to make an honest attempt to read.
It will enlarge your horizon and increase our collective awareness about the the crucial point we have reached in our journey as human beings and the critical need to save OUR EARTH.
WARNING - please try to go through it asap because we are already running late!

CRESCENDO

After the protracted foreplay enacted by politicians and five actual acts performed by a half hearted electorate, the day of reckoning has delivered a surprisingly healthy number of seats to one of the two National parties to form a stable government without having to indulge in illicit activities to woo unscrupulous bed mates. The supremacy of ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES (EVMs) has been resounding. No Exit Poll or other statistical methods predicted this outcome. The winner also has been taken by surprise!
Penetration achieved by the two National Parties is satisfying. The allies and petty immoral politicians who decided to flirt have been given a very firm warning and a loud message that the voter should not be taken for granted. Bastards will no more be tolerated.
The results appear to be a trend setter for the future of Indian governance, where we can look forward to healthy and competitive fights between truly national parties capable of providing real leadership for the country’s progress.
It is heartening to note that despite the accumulated rubbish in our political harem some of the dirt has been decisively removed. The silent voter has validated the increasing maturity of our democracy by forcing the political class to introspect and avoid arrogance of power.
The biggest winner in this massive presentation is the VOTER. They have supported ‘issue based’ politics that affect them and the country. A ‘red card’ has been shown to all self appointed power mongers of one man/woman parties that pursue personal agendas based on caste, creed, religion and other manipulative tactics. The voter has effectively and intelligently separated local and national issues by rejecting politicians/political parties that are perceived to be spoilers and made a smart choice.
The Election Commission deserves a pat (not withstanding the systemic flaws) for being an able conductor of this political crescendo in the theatre of Indian Democracy.
THREE CHEERS TO ALL THOSE WHO VOTED. LONG LIVE INDIAN DEMOCRACY.

SECULAR ORGY

In the next 24 hours the fate of the recently concluded (13th May) National elections captured in the Electronic Voting Machines will be announced by the Election Commission for the formation of the next Government of India, which involved organizing facilities for 714 million registered voters of which 405 million exercised their duty - rightly or wrongly influenced by political parties and politicians.
The tragedy of this massive and unique DEMOCRATIC show is that Indians have once again failed to make game changing contribution to cleanse the rubbish, which is obvious from the shameless back room maneuvers and open immoral tactics being resorted to by candidates and their parties.
The most abused word in the dictionary behind which every politician is taking refuge is ‘SECULAR’. (In India it means bagging the Muslim Vote Bank and playing the religion card.)
There are no national issues which bother any of this peculiar breed of existing and aspiring leaders who want to control the fate of a Billion plus Indians.
‘SEX-(C)-ULAR ORGY’ more aptly describes the politician’s party-hopping and jumping onto any bedfellow as seducer and/or seducee!!
The players in this big farcical drama are making statements to justify their tricks based on negative logic of “I/We are against/for Secular forces” to oppose/support the two National Parties in the hope of sharing the spoils of power for the next 5 years.
Repulsive behavior and absolute lack of respect for moral values in this time’s orgy is worse than in the past. Participants are involved in playing ‘Musical Chairs’ with the next friend/foe with benefits and making/breaking alliances at the drop of their hats (Pants will be more appropriate!!).
If any one is red-faced in all this, it is the common citizen who is stuck with the prospect of debauched politicians making vows as unorthodox alliances are negotiated to rape our country in the name of Secular Democracy.
THAT THE SYSTEM HAS FINALLY FAILED IS MORE THAN OBVIOUS BECAUSE EVEN PARTIES WITH SINGLE DIGIT MEMBERS (OF PARLIAMENT) WILL BE ABLE TO INFLUENCE THE MAJORITY TO STRIKE UNHOLY BARGAINS DETRIMENTAL TO THE POLITICAL HEALTH AND ECONOMIC WELL BEING OF INDIA?

STARTERS @ INDIAN POLITICAL EATERY

Some headlines in today’s papers reflect the lowest of low levels that our politicians are capable of achieving.
The saddest dilemma is that the common citizens are forced to endure such debauched individuals as leaders of political outfits who hold positions of power charting the future of India. God save the country!!
Highlights of the items that will rile you:
1) Mulayam Singh Yadav – founder and Head of SP (a.k.a. Samajwadi Party) based out of UP (sadly some high profile celebrities are part of this party) has the audacity to state that he and his party MPs will support the formation of any Government in New Delhi that promises to dismiss the Constitutionally elected State Government headed by his political opponent. In any other decent society governed by law, such a demand will be treated as treason and punished severely.
The story does not end here. Our ‘Mr. Leader’ went to exercise his right to vote and displayed abusive behavior at the polling station by demanding removal of security personnel guarding the venue so that he could enter the designated booth along with his Z-Class (Tax payer paid) commandos deputed for protecting this National treasure, and in the process insulting an IAS Officer on Election Duty.
2) The Octogenarian Chief Minister of Tamilnadu who is bedridden, senile and presumably incapable of seeing because his eyes are always hidden behind dark glasses decides to tickle Tamil sentiment to garner votes in the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections by stating that he will ensure that a Tamil Nation is carved out of Sri Lankan territory for the Terrorists known as LTTE (whose Leader was earlier called a personal friend by the same old bufoon for similar ulterior motives during election season) whom the Sri Lankan Government as nearly managed to eliminate in a highly successful mission after suffering two decades of killings and destruction. Meddling in the internal affairs of another sovereign country is universally condemned, but our Mr. Chief Minister (Head of a Regional Party) has no qualms about ignoring such decorum, as long as it can get votes used as bargaining chips for participating in government.
3) Lalu Prasad Yadav – another Head of a Regional Political Party and the one time infamous Chief Minister of Bihar for installing his home maker spouse as Bihar’s Chief Minister when sent to jail for a massive scam, man handles news men at the polling booth where he went to cast his vote without any provocation – because he fears that adequate numbers will not become available to strike bargains for positions of power in the forthcoming government after having ditched the coalition in a pre-poll turn coat calculation that trusted him as Cabinet Minister for five years. He was merely displaying a "foul mood swing" in public!!
4) Prakash Karat – Head of CPM (last bastion of universally failed dogmatic Leftist ideology) a party famous for perfecting an unique model of enjoying all the powers of Governance without any responsibly and duties, loudly declares of not supporting any Congress/BJP Government formation in a pre-poll moral high ground stance, makes soft noises through his deputy about a change of heart for a possible Congress led government, triggered by 75% voter turnout in the First Phase of elections in West Bengal which is likely to topple the Party's apple cart.
5) Raj Thackeray – Leader of a rag tag new born Regional Party formed out of spite for an uncle and cousin, infamous for rowdies and goons beating up/killing North Indian citizens of the country, calls the Prime Minister names (in not printable abusive disrespectful words) in public forums to obtain votes from more goons in the hope of becoming part of any coalition that forms a government after the polls. He proclaims himself to be a 'king maker' hence such uncivilized behavior which we have to accept as silent spectators.
The above are the Starters on the Menu of Political Immorality. Wait for the Post Poll Main Course items with murkier recipes to be served on the 16th of May 2009.
All the Regional Parties are essentially ONE MAN road shows that manage to dictate terms with a few MPs in their kitty to cobble up a grouping that governs the billion plus Indian population. No wonder we are seeing such stray dogs mentality in our politics.

BANGLORED

Once more - Politics triumphs over commerce, economics and business sense, and we can safely draw some comfort from the fact that it is not restricted to our brand of Politicians but shamelessly played by others around the world including the US.
The U. S. President Barack ( CHANGE? ) Obama’s recent ranting at a White House event to announce tax reforms by lashing out at U.S. multinationals who indulged in ‘tax avoidance’ by setting up business activities around the world, which is a perfectly legitimate tax planning route exercised by intelligent managements, as opposed to ‘tax evasion’ appears to be misguided and untimely.
To indulge in misplaced rhetoric and bash Bangalore as a metaphor to describe all things from job loss to globalization, merely to score political points for a protectionist agenda is a leadership failure based on half truths not expected from USA.
The warped logic of the Obama argument wherein he states that “American Corporations under the current tax regime pay lower taxes by creating jobs in Bangalore than in Buffalo, New York” has nothing to do with the outsourcing phenomenon which the ‘Politician’ in the President has wrongly targeted at his and US of A’s peril.
That the tax code has got nothing to do with outsourcing and off shoring should be more than obvious to any rational mind with common sense. Private enterprise and business without boundaries is all about globalization and adding wealth for humanity based upon best use of economic resources.
Whether Obama and his limited mission for USA and other world leaders like it or not, India is an attractive wealth creation destination by virtue of its English speaking educated human resources and other economic inputs which attracts commerce to generate profits and wealth. Knowledge available at attractive costs cannot be ignored, hence corporate America and business houses will have to remain engaged with Indians and accept to be Banglored rather than remain Buffaloed (pun intended). Incidentally, if Mr. President succeeds in this stupid policy, it is good news for Indian multinationals for obvious reasons, and may be, India will run past the current global economic slowdown flag post faster than expected. Thanks Mr. Obama!!
Politics and economics don’t mix and it is hoped that Americans do not attempt to achieve it. Bush disturbed the world by unjustified wars on terror in search of fictitious WMD now Obama seems to get involved in another type of fight chasing imaginary shadows based on conjectures and confused thinking.