Weekend Conversations: Itzhak Perlman

Meritocracy in the USA

America’s meritocratic, watchdog news media.  Baby Bush's daughter joins an NBC show, Bill Clinton's daughter joins NBC's as a full-time special correspondent and John McCain's daughter joins MSNBC.  As Greenwald puts it:

I really don’t understand what those angry, lazy losers in the Occupy movement are so upset about. America is a meritocracy; if you work hard and prove your skills, you get ahead. The winners deserve what they have because they have earned it. And when all else fails, we have a media filled with insurgent outsiders who will be relentless watchdogs over those in power because that’s what our media outlets are: true outsiders there to check the most powerful factions.

OWS Full of Lazy Unemployed People?

Nope.  Most “Occupy Wall Street” Protesters HAVE Jobs.
Cool.

Airline Woes

Airlines hit turbulence:

The ATF prices are very high in India because states levy sales tax or VAT on ATF between 23 to 35 per cent. Being a state subject for tax, the Centre cannot control ATF prices or make them uniform. Airlines complain that ATF prices in India are almost double than that of global rates and account for 40 to 45 per cent of operational expenses compared to 18 to 20 per cent abroad. In fact, compared to a country like Singapore, ATF prices in some states in India is almost 70 per cent higher, they say. Another factor that drives costs up is high salaries for pilots and crew members. Though, after the recession in 2009, salaries did not move up rapidly, wage cost for airlines is still very high.

How about salaries?  Do these airlines pay as much as airlines in other countries?  I think not.  And what about all those sweet loans from obliging PSU banks?  SBI for instance has the highest exposure to Kingfisher - about Rs 1,400 crores (SBI asks Kingfisher to raise fresh equity before debt recast).

Or maybe the problem is elsewhere?

Yet another reason cited for the losses is the overcapacity in the sky. In the last one year or so, airlines leased more aircraft, added many more seats, opened new routes and increased frequency in the metro routes. The net result was that with more seats on offer and dynamic online pricing system, yield per seat nosedived. Points out SpiceJet spokesperson: “The pricing environment continued to be weak, resulting in a decline in the average passenger yields in the September quarter by 5 per cent to Rs 3,317.” He says that with increased capacities getting inducted, load factor during the quarter was also down to 67 per cent from 74 per cent during the same period last year. With the creation of large capacity, airlines are finding it difficult to reach a breakeven load factor which itself has moved up because of higher fuel cost.

Too crowded

It is also true that the herd mentality of Indian business has made many to join the fashionable high flying club without much planning. As everyone thought that by driving volume one can make money, they kept on adding new planes. Though all airlines are flying more flights with the low cost carriers (LCCs) configuration to cut costs, it did not help much as the fixed costs for fuel, interest payments, depreciation and maintenance and so on, constitute 90 per cent of the total cost.

More from Business Line: The rise and fall of a castle in the air.  Glamour.  Huh.

After Trade Unions, NGOs

From the corporate paper: NGOs vs India Inc: How are companies gearing up for the face off?.  Some nuggets:

"With trade union leaders, one could at least talk," says Gulabchand. "They stood for the interest of the workers and their cause was always clear. Medha Patkar, on the other hand, refuses to sit down at the table and talk. She wants to destroy Lavasa and every other such project. She's an anarchist." 

That is the CMD of Hindustan Construction Company saying that.  The job of trade union leaders is to talk with management.  Otherwise how could they solve problems?  But  why would Medha Patkar sit down at the table to talk with him if she is taking up the issue of violation of environmental laws? Or is it something else he is implying?  

"The corporate sector needs to press for more transparency in the NGO sector. They should publish their accounts and state their sources of funding. Secondly, Indian NGOs need to have more focus. Right now they are rent-a-cause activists, with no deep knowledge or experience in any one issue." 

Well, well, well.  Shoot the messengers.  Next up, it is Monsanto's turn:

"From NGOs, our interactions have widened to universities, academia, media and end-user industry, like poultry feed, starch industry and ginning mills. Relationships are built on creating awareness and we realise that Vandana Shiva was successful because she had an ignorant audience. We are building an ecosystem of knowledge to counter the next tirade, if any," says Bhatnagar. 

Italics mine.  In other words, she was just exploiting ignorant people for her own nefarious reasons and Monsanto whose very existence depends on selling GM seeds is doing the righteous thing.  Then, this story whose point escapes me from Vedanta:

When Felix Padel, English anthropologist-activist and great grandson of Charles Darwin touched down to espouse the cause of East Indian tribals in 2003, Jitu Jakasika, then all of 15, joined the chorus. A Dongria-Kondh tribal from Lanjigarh in the Kalahandi district of Orissa, Jakasika was entranced by Padel's vision of a denuded community if Vedanta were to be given a free run to mine bauxite from the nearby Niyamgiri Hills. The only school-goer from his village, Jakasika became a conduit convincing his villagers and community about the pitfalls of bauxite mining and even set out to gather support across the political spectrum. Gradually, global non-profits such as Amnesty International and Survival International made a beeline to him, as did Action Aid and the local NGOs.  

But innocence also has its intransigent heroes. All along, Jakasika had a burning desire to be a civil servant. He had friends from his community serving Vedanta and in 2006-07, and on their request, he went to the nearby NALCO bauxite mines, for a demo. He subsequently took his villagers to the NALCO mines and got so convinced about the 'misguided path' he had taken, that he met up with Sanjay Kumar Pattnaik, a senior vice-president in Vedanta. When he asked Jakasika what he wanted to do for his people, the reply was: "I want education so that I can work for my people; so that there will be 100 people in the community like me." Vedanta executives immediately took Jakasika to Bhubaneshwar, where he's now pursuing a Bachelors' in Business Administration sponsored by the same company he once loathed. 

 Corporates should learn that they can't do as they please rather than blame the NGOs.

On The Trail Of Black Money

Black money: India starts getting banking information from Switzerland
Black money: I-T department to probe 2,000 Indian accounts in Denmark, Finland
I-T crackdown on undisclosed Swiss account holders

Yella OK, Airline Yaake?

Why did he have to start an airline?  

As a consequence of Thursday’s flight cancellations, including 40 from Bangalore, hundreds of passengers were left in the lurch. There was chaos in several airports all over the country as Kingfisher passengers were told of their flights’ cancellation on reaching the airport. With their fares not refunded, the passengers had to book tickets with other airlines at exhorbitant rates to reach their destinations. 

He had to take out Deccan too.  All for this?

There were also reports that the airline, which has been struggling to stay afloat for long, had defaulted in payments to international aircraft lessors and some of them have sought to impound the planes. However, the airline has denied such a move. 

Kingfisher has suffered a loss of Rs 1,027 crore in 2010-11 and has a debt of around Rs 7,050 crore. 

His pilots are having fun. Those that left at least.  Training pilots with a planeload of people:

On September 18, a KFA flight from Delhi made a rough landing in Bangalore giving a jolt to the passengers late evening.  

And its (Airbus 8321) Captain, Salaluddin had announced: “Sorry for the harsh landing ladies and gentlemen, I was training my under-officer (Gaurav), he will get the hang of it soon.”

I hope for the sake of the passengers that he does.  

Gender Inequality Lower In Pakistan

Compared to India.  Link.

What is most surprising is that as regards the gender inequality index — which is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between men and women in three dimensions, namely reproductive health, empowerment and labour markets — India turns out to be the worst with an index of 0.617 (higher the ratio, higher is the inequality). This compares unfavourably with Pakistan (0.573), Bangladesh (0.550), Nepal (0.558) Sri Lanka (0.419) and China (0.209).

But the BJP supporters some people keep pointing out how women are ill-treated by ...er..hrrmph....

Deloitte Does A PwC On Jagan's Media Empire

That is the correct headline for this story: Deloitte does a Satyam with Jagan's media empire.  

Deloitte manipulated the valuation of Jagati Publications up to Rs 3,500 crore instead of an actual valuation of Rs 2,500 crore and even predated the valuation to enable Jagan’s company sell equity stakes at high premiums of over Rs 350 per scrip. P N Sudarshan, senior director of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited, on Wednesday made a startling confession to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that Jagan’s clout and political pressure drove the company to compromise on credibility and concede to their demands.

"Startling confession" indeed.

Creating Vast Net Wealth

Link.

India continues its rise as an economic superpower, creating vast net wealth along the way. After analyzing data from a wide range of government and banking sources, alongside conducting detailed explorations of proprietary research and media reports, Wealth-X estimated the presence of at least 8,200 individuals or families in India worth more than US$30 million. The collective net worth of India’s ultra high net worth category is at least US$945 billion when accounting for shares in public and private companies, residential and investment properties, art collections, planes, cash and other invertible assets.

Party With A Difference

Reddy PA’s laptop opens can of mining, political worms:

What has startled CBI officials is a corpus of details on Reddy’s political manoeuvrings and other tactics he adopted when Yeddyurappa was faced with a mini revolt within the BJP earlier this year. The laptop also contains details on how money was handled and election arrangements made during the Bellary bye-poll contested by senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj. There are files in the laptop which indicate that large sums of money was given to senior leaders in the central BJP for fighting the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

The gateway to the South is crawling with all kinds of worms.

Licence to Fleece?

Link. 

Today, nobody can buy grain or vegetables directly from farmers without having an APMC licence. That, in turn, is difficult to obtain, even if one were prepared to pay the applicable market fee on the produce procured from the designated area falling under the particular APMC's jurisdiction. State Governments can, of course, be gratuitous in granting APMC licences to enable a Walmart or Tesco to operate. But that does not still address the basic issue of laws protecting entrenched trade cartels while restricting the universe of buyers for farmers.

Why the man-in-the-middle?  Isn't he the one fleecing the farmers on one side and the consumers on the other?

Thousands march in student protest over university fees: BBC

Link.

Some 4,000 officers are on duty, as demonstrators march peacefully in a protest against higher tuition fees and "privatisation" in universities.
...
The student protest, organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, is against the government's plans for a market-driven higher education system and the rising tuition fees. 

"We are being told by a cabinet of millionaires that we will have to pay triple tuition fees," said campaign leader Michael Chessum.
...
Protesters carried placards which read "Scrap Tuition Fees" and "Free Education" and chanted "No ifs, no buts, no education cuts" and slogans criticising the police over rubber bullets.
..
Paul Clark, director of policy at Universities UK, which represents higher education institutions, says universities will not be damaged by increased competition. 

"I think that the level of private involvement in higher education at the moment is relatively small and is likely to remain that way for the forseeable future although we know there are plans to, to change this," he said.

So, where do we go with privatisation in India? 

US against local content requirements in renewables

US against local content requirements in renewables

The company's President, Mr James Brown, said that the solar industry was “in a bit of a turmoil”. In an obvious reference to the Chinese, he said that some players, “desperate to find a market for their products”, were bringing down prices aggressively.

Other players, equally desperate to find a market, bring Daddy along with them for help. to arm-twist the client. 

Here Comes the Sun

Paul Krugman on solar energy.

The song is here.

Greg Chappell Has A Nigerian Investment Opportunity

Just for you if you think that only Pakistani players are involved in fixing.  Link.

And what's up with this: Goa skipper sacked for calling draw?  I mean, why not just play out 12 overs?  

Et Tu Tarun Tejpal?

An open letter to Tarun Tejpal: Hartman de Souza.

As a lapsed Tehelka subscriber, I'm not too surprised.

And it keeps on giving: A crusader turns collector.

Why Not A Blue-eyed 7 Billion'th Kid?

One wonders why, on October 31^st – Halloween, to be precise – the UN did not name a blue-eyed baby boy from Washington, Bonn, Sydney or Toronto as our uncertain world’s symbolic seven billionth?

Why indeed?

Where Did It Go?

One more investment firm in trouble, another hole in 'customer accounts'.   Link.

Putting Growth In Its Place

Link.  Amartya Sen &  Jean Dreze take on the growth vs human development argument.

Low turnout at Kotla, but Tendulkar star attraction

Low turnout at Kotla, but Tendulkar star attraction.  Way to go Delhi'ites.  When will the rest of the country tune out?

The Devil IS In The Details

Devil found in detail of Giotto fresco in Italy's Assisi.

OK, I couldn't spot the devil.

Privatise Profits, Socialise Losses

It goes on.  Tepco to get $11bn government aid after plan approval.

India Finally A Superpower

Warming gases saw biggest jump on record in 2010

The world pumped about 564 million more tons of carbon into the air in 2010 than it did in 2009. That's an increase of 6 percent. That amount of extra pollution eclipses the individual emissions of all but three countries — China, the United States and India, the world's top producers of greenhouse gases.

We're right up there.  Gives a really nice warm feeling.

Tax Avoidance - The US Corporate Way

Tax Avoidance on The Rise.

It's All In The Brain

Your Brain on Politics: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Liberals and Conservatives.  

Soaring Student Loans in the USA

As the calls for for-profit private education institutions get louder, here is one data point to take heed of: A 511% rise in student loans 1999 in the USA.

Obviously the number of students didn't grow by 511%. So why are education loans growing so rapidly? One reason could be availability. The government's backing lets credit to students flow very freely. And as the article from yesterday noted, universities are raising tuition aggressively since students are willing to pay more through those loans.

And the state of for-profit colleges over there is uncovered here: For-Profit Colleges: Undercover Testing Finds Colleges Encouraged Fraud and Engaged in Deceptive and Questionable Marketing Practices.

"What's going on here, unfortunately, is murder"

US drones in Pakistan.

The UN Predicts The World's Population

Visualized.

Why Not A Mostly Underground Metro?

Since the 'increase in cost' argument seems to be not quite correct?

The cost of construction came down to Rs 153 crore (Rs 1.53 billion) per km in phase-II, as compared to Rs 162 crore (Rs 1.62 billion) in phase-I, despite an increase in the share of the underground component from 20 per cent in the first phase to 27 per cent in the second.

Also, why are the per km estimates higher for Phase III? Shouldn't they factor in the fact that the cost has actually come down?

Rs 250 crore per year, or 45% of annual income of the Delhi Metro, go towards loan repayment to JICA. Good for the Japanese. They're getting more than they will in Japan.

Global Wealth Distribution

Very interesting.

‘Media is diverting attention & dividing people’

Former Supreme Court judge and now chairman of the Press Council of India (via churumuri):

Indian media is very often playing an anti-people role. One, it diverts the attention of the people from the real problems, which are basically economic. 80% people are living in horrible poverty, unemployment, facing price rise, healthcare. You divert attention from those problems and instead you parade parade film stars, fashion parades, cricketers, as if they are the problems.

Two, very often the media (deliberately) divides the people (on religious lines). This is a country of great diversity because it is a country broadly of immigrants. We must respect each other and remain united. After every bomb blast, almost every channel report that Indian Mujahidin or Jaish-e-Mohammed or Harkatul-jihad-e-islam have sent e-mails or SMS claiming responsibility. Now an e-mail can be sent by any mischievous person, but by showing this on TV channels and next day in the newspapers the tendency is to demonise all Muslims in the country as terrorists and bomb throwers.

Third, the media must promote scientific ideas to help the country move forward, like the European media did. Here the media promotes superstition, astrology. You know, 90% of the people in the country are mentally very backward, steeped in casteism, communalism, superstition and so on. Should the media help uplift them and bring them up to a higher mental level and make them part of enlightened India, or should it go down to their level and perpetuate their backwardness? Many channels show astrology, which is pure humbug, total superstition.

B..but the competition, invisible hand, free markets?

PS: The full interview here: http://ibnlive.in.com/shows/Devil%27s+Advocate/197593.html. Lots of good ones like 'Cricket is the opium of the masses'.

On Founding the Indian School of Business

Rajaratnam (via churumuri):

Kumar had introduced him to Rajat Gupta. The two of them wanted to start an Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. “I gave them [the school] a million dollars. I later found out they never contributed any of their money, and are listed as the school’s founders. And I’m not even a fucking Indian.”

Airplane Boarding Woes

Most Annoying Airline Delays Might Just Be in the Boarding:

It now takes 30 to 40 minutes to board about 140 passengers on a domestic flight, up from around 15 minutes in the 1970s.

The invisible hand! Competition! Progress!

Most Tablet Users Are Educated, Employed, Not Young

Found this a bit surprising (the 'Not Young' part). Most Tablet Users Are Educated, Employed, Not Young.

Two-tiered Justice

I thought this is what we have only in India. But no. The two-tiered justice system.

Bought Politicians

Rick Perry: The Best Little Whore In Texas. Strong.

In fact, Texas is run much like a Soviet protectorate, with a party boss (Perry) and a Politburo of super-connected advisers to the governor who shuffle back and forth between the public and private spheres (Perry's chief of staff, Mike "The Knife" Toomey, for instance, jumped from the governor's office to a job lobbying for Merck prior to the HPV vaccination order), all backed by a somewhat larger Central Committee of big financial donors who are the real "representative" power in the state, much more than the actual state legislature.

...

The system of uncapped donations means that Perry's superinsiders effectively operate as mobsters who hold a chit on the state's government. "These are obscenely huge amounts," says McDonald. "You can give a politician $100 or $1,000 because you like his ideology. But when you start giving him $250,000 or $500,000, you gotta think you are getting something in return."

The Rajat Gupta Way

Gupta to Face Criminal Charges.

Cloyingly Sentimental Mining Bill

But nothing in it for the tribal people. Nothing for tribals in Mining Bill.

Wily Captains Of Industry

Black-money returning as export receipts.

Fishy Definitely

On the menu, but not on your plate.

It happens for a range of reasons, from outright fraud to a chef’s ignorance to the sometimes real difficulty of discerning one fillet from another. But industry specialists say money is commonly the motivator: It’s a way to increase profits - a cheaper fish sold as something more pricey - on the assumption that customers will not detect the difference.

Discoms in More Trouble

More trouble brewing for power distribution firms. The two Reliance discoms in Delhi, along with other discoms in other states, seem to have defaulted on payments to the generation utilities.

Why Are NPAs Rising?

When loans turn sour. And good luck with recovering sour loans.

Banks As Public Utilities

What We Can Learn from Germany: How Countries With Publicly Owned Banks Do Better Than America

Climate Skeptics Take Another Hit

Climate Skeptics Take Another Hit

Low HDI, High Growth

Nutrition, sanitation halt India's human development index climb

But apparently, according to The Economic Times: Growth, reforms lift living standards in India: Human development Index. They just can't stop pushing for 'growth' and 'reforms'. Talk about wearing hearts ideologies on one's sleeves.

Indian Occupations

The Politics of Prizes and Silencing of Adivasi Voice: Nandini Sundar

US Senator: ‘Let’s Get In On The Ground. There’s A Lot Of Money To Be Made In The Future Of Libya’

Link:

Sixty-thousand Libyans have been wounded, 3,000 maimed, 25,000 killed. Let’s get in on the ground. There is a lot of money to be made in the future in Libya. Lot of oil to be produced. Let’s get on the ground and help the Libyan people establish a democracy and a functioning economy based on free market principles.

Democracy. It is always about democracy.

Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About...

How The Other Half Lives

Fraudclosure Errors Destroying Americans’ Property Rights

Drug Money Saved Banks In Global Crisis

Says the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said he has seen evidence that the proceeds of organised crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year. He said that a majority of the $352bn (£216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result.

That money has been now effectively laundered, according to him.

Flood-hit Farmers: Who Cares!

Not Mr Yeddyurappa for sure: Those who want to shift will go, says Yeddyurappa. Those who don't want to, won't.

This is about the houses constructed for the last year's flood-affected farmers in North Karnataka. They are reluctant to move in since the construction is substandard and the houses are not exactly as per their requirements. If one looks at the images of houses built under the Asare scheme, indeed, they look like cubby holes more than anything else.

For a guy who cries at the drop of a hat or the sight of a mike/TV camera, Yeddyurappa sure has a steely heart.

Nuclear Deal/Bill And Our Natural Partnership

Brahma Chellaney in The Hindu:

Creating an artificial market with no-strings subsidies and electricity supply at state-supported rates is no prudent way to meet energy needs. The proposed arrangements actually seek to create a win-win situation for foreign vendors by ensuring there is no downside to their business. By rigging commercial terms in favour of select foreign suppliers, the arrangements, in effect, promote unfair business practices and cartelisation.

Manmohan Singh's dogged persistence in this whole nuclear deal/liability bill matter is mystifying. And the BJP support bought by opaque behind-the-scenes dealings: "Narendra Modi let off in barter for Bill".

And what is our natural partner and the object of Manmohan Singh's devotion up to? Making thinly-veiled threats: U.S. tries to armtwist India on Dow issue. From the email sent by the Deputy National Security Advisor to Montek Ahluwalia:

“We are aware of this issue and we will look into it. While I've got you, we are hearing a lot of noise about the Dow Chemical issue. I trust that you are monitoring it carefully. I am not familiar with all the details, but I think we want to avoid developments which put a chilling effect on our investment relationship.”

Natural partners in crime.

More Incredible India

From the Hindu: Those who society forgot live in horrendous conditions. Horrendous is exactly right. Why does the government run the rehabilitation centre if they can't provide even a clean place?

Yeddyurappa had visited the centre in 2009 and was so moved by their plight that he wanted to shift them to a faraway location. He had given a month's time for things to be improved and promised to monitor the situation there after that visit. Wonder what he will do now? 159 acres of prime land worth Rs 1000-crore. How many have their eye on that land?

In a gruesome juxtaposition, the Hindu carries the following headline just below the above article in the paper version: Ashok: trial run of Mercedes buses in Bangalore soon.

Update: Govt to grab beggars’ land. The CM visits the colony in May 2009. In July 2009 the government tries to take over the entire 161 acres. The State Law Ministry objects since the land was originally given solely for destitute rehabilitation it can't be now diverted to other uses. And now, it turns out that around the time of the recent tragic deaths, the government was busy issuing an order to acquire 123 acres of the 161 acres for 'development'. This single-minded devotion to land-deals is sickening. Are these democratically elected representatives of the people, or blood-sucking vampires?

PPP: Road To Nowhere?

It is mystifying to me where the advocates of PPP expect the private players to come up with money. S Balakrishnan in Business Line is a bit skeptical too:

Even a cursory analysis of every private sector power project financing would prove most of the debt funding is from public sector banks and equity is from the market. What we seem to be paying for is the ‘managerial' expertise of a businessmen with the right connections who is ‘packaging' a project that can be done more cheaply in the public sector.

So why not pay only for that expertise instead of setting up the private players with concessions and such things which work out costlier?

Foresight In Land Acquisition For The Mittals

KIADB put out the notification for acquiring land fully four months before signing the MoU with the ArcelorMittal. Was everything fixed much before the GIM?

BJP: Virtual Opposition

There is really no difference between the BJP & the Congress as far as some things are concerned. And kow-towing to the US is one of them, as the deal on the nuclear liability bill shows:

A smooth passage in Parliament of the proposed nuclear civil liability Bill was ensured by the Union government on Tuesday after it took on board most of the suggestions made by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Among the changes agreed upon are trebling of the operator liability cap from Rs. 500 crore to Rs. 1,500 crore and specific exclusion of private operators in the nuclear sector.

Rs 1500 crore as compared to Rs 500 crore earlier? They must be joking. It is left to the Left to raise a dissenting voice:

The Left had raised four issues: India should not be part of any international convention, which, it felt, would limit the options to hold the suppliers liable; expand the scope of the proposed legislation to include non-civilian nuclear installations since in the case of an accident it might impact civilian population too; raise compensation cap to Rs.10,000 crore; and bring the supplier within the ambit of liability against the provision that mentions of such a clause in case of wilful problem in design.

Farming: The Unasked Questions

Harsh Mander writing about a friend who took up a life of farming late in life:

In their new life in the village, Naren and Uma learnt about the plight of farmers in the most authentic way possible: by becoming farmers themselves. The questions for which they sought answers were: why are farmers continuing to commit suicide, even while our country is poised to record growth of nearly 10 per cent annually? And is it a historical inevitability that as we ‘ develop', our farming population will have to be reduced from 60 per cent to 15 to 2 per cent, as it has happened in ‘developed' countries? If so, where will they go, what will they do? What is the future of 600 million people engaged in farming?

Indeed. Where will the 600 million people go and what will they do?

Growth Of 'Agricultural' Credit

Has been good from 2000 onwards. Only, it is not agricultural in the sense that one would recognise.

Targeting PDS

Another nice turn of phrase, this time from P Sainath: The NREGS is restricted. The PDS is targeted. Only exploitation is universal.

FDI In Retail: Who Will Do The Back-end?

Not Carrefour definitely. All they want is the front-end part.

The company, that is keen to enter India in front-end retailing, has pointed out that the clause seeking investments into agriculture infrastructure, if made into law, would limit foreign investments.

Government sources told Business Line that the world's second largest retailer was willing to comply with regulation on local hiring and sourcing out of the country. It had, however, raised its reservations on the proposal asking foreign investors to invest in agriculture infrastructure.

It may be recalled that the DIPP had sought stakeholders' views on foreign direct investments in multi-brand retail trading.

In the paper it had detailed mandatory investments in “improving post-harvest management, cold storage and improving crop processing, among others.”

Though Carrefour's Executive Director Growth Markets, Mr Thierry Garnier, had met Indian Government officials recently and welcomed the DIPP's discussion paper on opening the sector, the company does not seem keen on the mandatory clauses.

Investment in the back-end is one of the big reasons given by supporters of FDI in multi-brand retail. Carrefour, one of the big retailers who is interested, says it is reluctant.

India: US' Natural Partner

That's right. India is the US' natural partner. No one else. The US loves India whom it has chosen from among the more than hundred fifty odd nations on earth in order to bestow on it this great primeval relationship! Of course, there is the teenie-weenie wish list that they expect us to fulfill. But the wish list is not related to the relationship in any way, no siree! We are naturals.

Maintaining that the U.S. viewed India as a “natural partner,” the Pentagon official indicated Washington's wish list. It includes purchasing more American-origin defence equipment, “realistic” joint exercises and stepped up visits by Indian armed forces officers.

Billionaires Giving Half Of Their Wealth

Is good, but they could do better things, according to this piece in Guardian. Of course, giving half of their immense wealth, would still leave them much richer than most people on earth.

Looting The Common Wealth

Mohan Murti writes another impassioned article against corruption.

I think it is the crisis of values that denotes the Indian condition. Moral values of all kinds seem to have rapidly and irrevocably declined. The second, of course, is external control, which the Government can exercise to take care of law and order and make corruption a very dangerous exercise. As an Indian, I am concerned with the second part.

The fact that a lot of our citizens intentionally disobey the laws of the land — which if enforced, as they should be in a typical society, will give us a better and more organised country — is a reflection of the insanity and breakdown of law and order.

By this I mean in its totality — not just motorists, highway and railway dacoits, armed robbers and militants, Naxalites and extremists but also corrupt officials in Government, industry and specially the arrogance in those bestowed with sudden affluence.

...

Looking at our systems in India today, corruption is encouraged by the following reasons: There continues to be immense red tape and bureaucratic delay. There is a lack of transparency from the governments.

Our judicial system cannot guarantee justice, fairness and equality. The police cannot protect. The lawmakers break the laws. Casteism and nepotism thrive among the corrupt to protect each other, as with the idiom “thick as thieves”.

Most kleptomaniac cream of the crop, bureaucrats and politicians lack empathy and are psychopaths, therefore they rarely feel compunction, regret, or fear the consequences of their misdeeds. This only makes them more culpable and perilous.

Again, examples abound currently with those indicted or arrested pulling strings to get rid of evidence, getting anti-corruption chiefs removed or even resorting to “eliminating” witnesses.

I think he has covered most of it. B S Raghavan notes that we have got used to the big numbers associated with corruption scandals. Bofors was Rs 64 crores. Nowadays, no self-respecting person would want to be associated with a scam involving anything less than a few hundred crores. I mean, what would people think of him?

Transparency On Bank NPAs

The Finance Minister seems to believe that disclosing the names of corporate borrowers who have defaulted on their loans is not desirable. His reasoning:

The disclosure of their names in a public forum (such as Parliament) will make the banking industry more sick, Mr Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha on Friday. He also highlighted the aspect of confidentiality clauses (in loan agreements) coming in the way of releasing the names of defaulters.

“If this (disclosing names) is done, a person will be declared insolvent even before the Court declares them (defaulters) as insolvent. And whatever possibility of recovering money from them will go. It will be depositors' money that will be lost (if we disclose)”, he said.

There must be some stage in the default process when the bank writes off a loan. Why not disclose the names along with the defaulted amount at that point? As for the confidentiality agreement - why is it there in the first place?

The gross NPA numbers are quite large: NPA write-off by new private banks up four-fold. Approximately Rs 75,000 crores, private and public banks taken together.

Diplomacy - Why Even Bother?

According to the Hindu, Zardari, Cameron speak of unbreakable bond. According to the report, they even vowed to 'deepen strategic partnership in fighting terror'. But, just a week or so ago, we read this headline: Cameron angers Pakistan with terror comments. Cameron was accusing Pakistan of 'exporting terror' in then. This is par for the course. The Americans do it much more blatantly.

So, why do newspapers even bother printing the routine blah-speak that erupts during high-profile visits to our neighborhood? The visiting dignitaries/leaders/smooth-talkers are only trying to be good guests and good salesmen for their businesses/establishments. Why waste paper on their statements?

Paid News: Press Council Ducks

P Sainath writes a powerful piece on how the Press Council of India hid the inconvenient report of the sub-committee that looked into the paid news scam. First the background:

No scandal has rocked the Indian media more in recent decades than that of paid news. Most of all when it emerged during the last Lok Sabha and subsequent Maharashtra polls that hundreds of crores of rupees had been spent to buy “news” in large dailies and television channels. Major parties and candidates overshot poll spending limits many times over on this one expense alone. It was and remains a nauseating form of corruption.

Outrage grew over the idea of the media acting as extortionists — the very term that many a candidate used to describe the practice of “paid news” during the last Lok Sabha polls. Indeed, a few top politicians complained of it in those terms. The political class did not, as some imagine, go out and “seduce” the media. The media went out and sought “package deals” with them whereby they forked out huge sums of money — or were simply blanked out of the coverage of the paper or channel. The “selling” points were: this way, you can spend as much as you like and not get caught by the Election Commission of India for mocking the spending limit. This way, you are able to take your campaign to millions of voters — for millions of rupees. You can also have your opponent blanked out — or trashed, if you pay that little extra. And neither you nor we attract the taxman's knock on this all-cash transaction.

So the Press Council of India set up a sub-committee to look into the matter.

Acting promptly at the time, the Press Council of India suo moto set up a sub-committee to probe the phenomenon of paid news. The two-member sub-committee of Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and K. Sreenivas Reddy produced a devastating report (see The Hindu April 22, 2010). One that observed all the norms and ethics you could demand of such an exercise. It did not carry a single allegation without full attribution. It took no recourse to “sting” journalism, going for a thorough inquiry instead. It spared no effort to obtain the responses of the groups accused of playing the paid news game. Laying the charges squarely before them, it gave them ample right of — and space to — reply. It recorded depositions from scores of individuals. In one instance, a media organisation apologised for what it had done. In another, a candidate from Andhra Pradesh placed on record the results of his own “sting” operation against a major media group. Some of these depositions were in the form of affidavits.

What did they do with the sub-committee's report? They made it disappear completely!

The sub-committee finds passing mention in the “final” report. Its outstanding effort stands reduced to a footnote (yes, a footnote) in that report. The footnote says the sub-committee's report “may remain on the record of the Council as a reference document.” That's right. It goes to the archive. There is no sign of this “reference document” on the website of the Press Council. This is the standard the PCI sets for the Indian media?

Why did they do that?

Over the months since the scandal hit the fan, some members of the PCI — mainly those representing media owners — worked to scuttle the explosive original report. They had two basic issues with it. First: Why name names? Why get into the ugliness of that? Fascinating, at a time when the media are baying for names and blood on the corruption in the Commonwealth Games scam. So firstly, we now have a double standard: exposure for corruption in the Games, privacy for it within the media. Secondly, they fiercely opposed any reference to the Working Journalists Act. In this, they acted as owners and employers. Not as members of the PCI guarding the integrity of the press and its standards.

That's the kind of fourth estate our country needs, indeed.

Update: The draft report of the sub-commitee is here.

Exclusive Growth

From The Hindu: The banking woes of an “excluded” community.  

Banks have designated red zones where the vast majority of Muslim clusters fall. This fact is confirmed by the rash of banking-related complaints received by the National Commission for Minorities.

A little over a year ago, Ali Arshad, a resident of Okhla in Delhi, went to a well-known private sector bank to open a bank account. He thought his case would be fast-tracked because he had a banking background, he worked with a well-known investment and brokerage company and he had the necessary documents: A passport, a pan card and a house rent agreement notorised on stamp paper.

He still has not heard from the bank...

...The sense of “exclusion” among Mr. Shuja and others has only heightened with recent reports that in Andhra Pradesh alone as many as 90,000 Muslims students were unable to open bank accounts to deposit their scholarship cheques.

Well done banks.  

Relatedly, this piece from B S Raghavan in Business Line.  I'm not sure why he brings it up at all and why he thinks the trends he notes bear watching.  If he was trying to shoot down the Kerala CM's claim that in 20 years, India and Kerala would become Muslim dominated region, then he could have just noted that the facts don't support the CM's claim and left it at that.  

Is Anyone Normal?

That's the question that pops into the mind while going through this article from Reuters: 

Leading mental health experts gave a briefing on Tuesday to warn that a new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is being revised now for publication in 2013, could devalue the seriousness of mental illness and label almost everyone as having some kind of disorder.

Citing examples of new additions like "mild anxiety depression," "psychosis risk syndrome," and "temper dysregulation disorder," they said many people previously seen as perfectly healthy could in future be told they are ill.

"It's leaking into normality. It is shrinking the pool of what is normal to a puddle," said Til Wykes of the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College London.

The new DSM has it right.  Who on earth is normal?  No one I know is.  I have so many neuroses, it is pointless to list them all.  Road rage, extreme holier-than-thou attitude, a deep dislike for TV anchors and TV programs, allergy to Times of India, fetish for fitness, the list can go on and on.  And these are just the mild ones.  

I would say, give the puddle a name - say, So Normal that It Looks Fishy Syndrome - and be done with it. 

But should all the disorders have medicines prescribed for them?  I don't think so.

Private Schools: Pigheaded On RTE

These schools have got it all wrong:

Taking a strong stand against the RTE provision reserving 25 per cent of admissions for children from the neighbourhood, the schools now try to garner support from parents saying admitting such children could dilute the discipline and finesse with which privileged kids are being groomed.

In a circular to parents, the schools said: “Once this Act is enforced, a child could beat up your child, smoke on the campus, misbehave with a girl or a teacher and the school will have to watch helplessly.”

Crap.  I remember a neighbourhood doctor pointing out a teenager sitting outside in the waiting area.  The girl was from one of the 'elite' schools.  Apparently she was sitting there to get away from her peers waiting outside who wanted her to come to a party where there would be drugs.  The girl had confided in the family doctor and the pressure on her was evident in her face.  And we all know the various MMS scams that happened not too long ago - all from 'elite' schools.  And all kids have the tendency to hit out, not just 'neighbourhood' kids.

The schools are overreacting.  Maybe they are worried about losing the premium they charge parents.  They should know that a exposure to a wider set of kids will only help their students.  Variety is, after all, the spice of life.

Wikileaks Remembered

Wikileaks is in the news big time and I remembered that I'd posted on it in 2008.  This is what I wrote:

Another story which I saw on cnet.com reinforces that the Internet has made so many things possible. And a lot of them are a force for the good. Like exposing Swiss Banks that apparently help launder money among other shady activities.

I definitely got that one right.  Wikileaks is a force for the good, exposing Swiss Banks or exposing hubristic war-mongers.

Singing Police Officers And The BJP

Rasheeda Bhagat turns a nice phrase:

As the BJP continued its attacks on the CBI and its acts of commission and omission, the investigating agency got a respite on Monday with the Gujarat police officer Mr N.K. Amin, one of the main accused in the encounter, offering to turn approver. This should worry the BJP, because when a police officer sings, one never knows what his refrain will be.

Well done!

Broadband To The Villages

Not sure what to make of this: Special purpose vehicle planned for broadband push.  

Nothing's Trickling Down

Alok Ray, former professor of economics at IIM, Calcutta, writes in DH: Where is inclusiveness?.  He notes India's growth is not all that inclusive.  We lag behind in adult literacy, life expectancy, malnutrition, number of people below the international poverty line, to take just a few indicators.  Job growth seems to have slowed down post-liberalisation:  

One area of major concern is that post-liberalisation, job creation which is a major mechanism of inclusion of more people in economic prosperity, has been slowing down. Employment growth fell sharply in the post-reform years, from 2.6 per cent per annum over 1983-1993 to 1.2 per cent over 1993-2000.

The fall in employment growth rate was specially concentrated in organised sectors (particularly in the public sector). This trend has been reversed to some extent as the latest available National Sample Survey (NSS) data show employment growth during the period 2000-05 was 2.7 per cent per annum. But, then again, the growth in jobs has been mostly concentrated (about 87 per cent) in the unorganised sector.

In terms of equality we seem to be doing well, which is quite surprising.  It does look like inequality is rising (see the graph in this wikipedia article).  And then there is this factoid: The total value of the assets of the country's five billionaires equalled those of the bottom 300 million people (link).  C P Chandrasekhar sums it up concisely, as he writes about a well-ignored recent study of Indian poverty, in The Hindu:

Finally, it has been known that once we went beyond pure income measures of poverty and looked at other indicators of deprivation, not only was the incidence of deprivation substantial in terms of indicators varying from literacy to child malnutrition, but the progress in alleviating certain forms of deprivation had slowed during the high growth years. The problem is not just that India has significantly underperformed when addressing poverty and deprivation over 60-plus years of post-Independence development, but that progress has slowed in precisely those years when the surpluses available to tackle this problem has increased substantially. The problem is not inadequate growth, but one of institutional inadequacy. It is also one of an increasing reluctance of the elite to address those inadequacies and, therefore, of the failure of what is undisputedly one of the most remarkable experiments with parliamentary democracy.

Relatedly : Inclusive Growth, Lip Service Only

No Such Thing As Free Advice?

I posted How Rigged Is The Indian Stock Market? back in June.  Relatedly, though not on insider trading/front-running as that post was, is this bit of advice from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs: 'Beware of investment advice on TV'.  An excerpt:

"Beware of the media, especially the stock-specific advice on electronic media. Too many saints in the capital market offering free advice!.. In reality, many of these advisors have vested interests," the guide said....

Do not blindly take decisions based on accounts just because these are audited, the guide cautions, "high incidence of fraudulent accounts and mis-advertising of financial results. Satyam case is a wake-up call."

Not giving too much of credence to 'free' advice is ok, even though that is what our 'business' channels are filled with the entire day.  But we can't even trust the company accounts?!  On what basis does one actually make investment decisions?  Is this one more way to drive money to mutual funds etc?

On the same day comes this from Business Line: Media toys around with markets.

“They” provide us a running commentary from morning till late evening. “The morning session is crucial,” they say. And if you thought that was a cricket commentator talking about the first hour of play, you are mistaken.

These are market commentators. “The middle session is crucial” and subsequently “the final hour of trade is crucial.” Repeated use of the word “crucial” is aimed at turning on the viewer and making him believe that something big is happening.

This live relay is further followed by expert analysis till late into the night. If you thought “they” were merely commentators, you are possibly wrong. “They” have a deeper and a far more complex agenda — of influencing the minds of the viewers.

Talking up share prices or talking them down is part of the strategy of these “anchor investors”. Thanks to the silence of the market regulator, SEBI, all these have now come to be characterised as acceptable.

Inflation: Fixing The Base

Still talking about inflation, in today's papers Pranab Mukherjee predicts inflation will moderate by end-August:

Addressing a press conference here after a meeting of the Southern Chief Ministers, the Finance Minister said the assessment of inflation is dependent on what is taken as a base. The inflation during the year is about 5.5 per cent. While the food inflation was coming down, the recent fuel price hike has added to this.

Does Pranabda have an ace up his sleeve?  Looks like it, for close to the above article, we have this: New inflation index likely next month: DIPP Secretary.  

The Government is set to introduce a new inflation index, which would add around 250 more items, from next month.

“We are ready with the new index now. Most probably from next month we will start,” said Mr R P. Singh, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

The present monthly inflation measurement based on the wholesale price index has 435 commodities but this figure would go up to 670 under the new index. The base year of the new index would also be changed from 1993-94 to 2004-05. The new index is expected to give a more realistic picture of the price rise and its impact on people.

By far the best way to fix inflation!  Will we see that inflation after all is not so high and that the impact on the people is minimal by August then? Can't wait to find out.

No Will, No Way

Devinder Sharma in DH today:

There can be nothing more disappointing. After 63 years of Independence, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has also expressed its helplessness in feeding the country’s hungry.

The hungry must live in hunger. That’s the clear verdict.  For a country which has the largest population of hungry in the world, and given that half of all children in India is under-nourished according to the National Family Health Survey III (2005-06), I was expecting Sonia Gandhi to spell out a time-bound programme to make hunger history. But from what we read in newspapers, the NAC recommendations will not make any significant difference to the life of millions of hungry and malnourished.

What about China, they aren't doing too well are they?

Let us look at China. Its population is approximately 200 million more than that of India. Against India’s foodgrain production of 230 million tonnes, China produces 500 million tonnes of foodgrains. Even with more than double food production, it imports huge quantities every year to meet the domestic needs. Unlike India, which exports foodgrains and other agricultural commodities by keeping its own people hungry, China has emerged as a major importer of food and agricultural products primarily to feed its teeming millions.

In India, the average per capita availability of food grains is less than 500 gm a day. On the other hand, China provides six times more at 3 kg per day.

Sad.

Where Is The Shine Here?

From DH: Protesting Dalits smear themselves with human excreta.

For the past 70 years, four families of the Bhangi community, who work as night soil workers, have been living in huts built on land belonging to the Savanur Town Municipal Council (TMC).

At a meeting some time ago, the TMC decided to evict the families and build a commercial complex in its place. Ever since, the TMC has employed various devious ways to force the families out of their homes.

Starting with an oral directive, the TMC has resorted to cutting water connection to the families, dumping waste in front of their homes, barging into their homes, insulting their women and threatening them.

Instead of these devious ways, why not use the most straightfoward way to evict them: give them an alternative place to stay?  As the article asks: 

What can be said of a system that forces a community to inflict upon themselves the lowest form of humiliation, just so they are allowed to live in their own homes?

And the other question is: Why, when manual scavenging is constitutionally illegal in India, are people still being employed to do it?  Don't they deserve better?

Talking Down Inflation!

Interesting timeline of pronouncements on inflation, from Business Line:

We can safely say that it is completely under control.  Nothing to worry!

Shining India, New Labour

Both superficial.  Collen Todhunter in DH : A shining India can’t mask its poverty worse than Africa’s

From a land of elephants, poverty and beggars, a shiny new image of India emerged in the West. Farmers drinking pesticide, 800 million or so on less than two dollars a day, increasing food prices and state-corporate grabs for land and minerals — that was all conveniently brushed aside. It didn’t fit the agenda of India as the new chic.

A similar process was also occurring in the UK. The spit and polish was applied in an attempt to gloss over those parts that were not shining. It started a little earlier there — in 1997 to be precise, when Tony Blair and New Labour came to power.

Tony was hip, Tony was cool. He was tuned in and turned on to the meaningless ‘cool Britannia’ soundbite manufactured by the media at that time. Brits were told that it was cool to be British and to bask in their achievements in music, industry and youthful endeavour.

Suddenly, from a country still reeling from the destruction of manufacturing industry, coupled with rising crime and community erosion, the UK was transformed overnight to a ‘can-do’ place of individual endeavour. Whatever happened to the permanent class of wageless labour and the legacy of 11years of Thatcherite rule?

Children growing up in the UK were on the road to suffering greater deprivation, worse relationships with their parents and exposure to more risks from alcohol, drugs and unsafe sex than those in any other wealthy country in the world. That too was neatly brushed aside by the spin doctors and a compliant mainstream media.

In both the UK and India, it was the creamy layer that was shining. Millionaires and billionaires were on the increase. Even over the last year, in a period of crisis and recession, the richest portion of UK society increased its wealth by around $120 billion — that’s almost half the public debt that ordinary working people are having to pay for via public sector cutbacks.

So when prime minister Cameron and the rich bankers and financiers who hold the key positions in his government tell us in the UK that we are all in it (the hardships) together, some of us are a heck of a lot more ‘in it’ than others.

A new index for poverty now indicates that eight Indian states account for more poor people than in the 26 poorest African countries combined. According to this measure, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have 421 million poor people. This is more than the 410 million poor in the poorest African countries.

There's a bit more at the link.  

Bihar: Scams Redux

HC orders CBI probe into scam involving Bihar CM:

The Patna High Court on Thursday asked the CBI to investigate the ‘fraudulent withdrawal’ of Rs 11,412 crore from the State exchequer, in which Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Health Minister Nand Kishore Yadav and 44 others have been named accused....The CBI probe ordered today by the High Court is a grim reminder of the Rs 950-cr fodder scam in which the Patna High Court had asked the CBI in 1996 to investigate the case involving the then chief minister Lalu Prasad and others.

Politics or is it for real?

Cashless Medical Treatment Bleeds Insurers

Medical insurers stop cashless facility.  What took them so long to wake up?

These 18 insurance companies had so far been providing cashless services at over 3,000 hospitals pan-India. But a recent study carried out by the TPAs found that only 350 of them or roughly 11% were consuming more than 80% of the total claims. 

It was also found that customers were overcharged for each hospitalization, irrespective of the treatment, and were left with very little funds for their next treatment.

Revolving Door Between BSNL, Private Telcoms

I asked last month if the aim of the people in charge was to ruin BSNL to the advantage of private telcoms.  That post was about how BSNL was being made to pay hiked spectrum charges as well as higher licence fees too, while the private players were exempted.  Last week, DoT rejected BSNL's plea to level the playing field: Licence fee: DoT rejects BSNL plea for level field.

Related is this : Union fears nexus between BSNL officers, telcos; seeks probe.  The famous revolving-door problem.  

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd's employees' union has sought a probe into the possibility of a nexus between some officers with private telecom operators to stall the PSU's roll-out plans. This comes after the Government last month hauled up two former BSNL officers for taking up a job with a private telecom company post-retirement without taking approvals.

In a letter to the Cabinet Secretary, the Sanchar Nigam Executive Association (SNEA) said that one of the main reasons for the present state of serious crisis in BSNL is that a good number of officers belonging to top level management and closely involved in taking strategic and critical policy decisions have been on the pay rolls of service providers and vendors. “The modus operandi of such an unholy and unscrupulous nexus is carefully calibrated and the mechanism of its detection is so feeble that hardly anyone is brought to book. But, the fact of the matter remains that a large numbers of officers of top management of BSNL, particularly at the board/CGM level, develop a very close nexus with service providers, while in active job, and, immediately, after their retirement, joins them as consultants,” said Mr G.L. Jogi, General Secretary, SNEA.

Recently, the Government issued an order against Mr Satya Pal Kalsi, former Chief General Manager, BSNL (UP east) and Mr Shabbir Ahmed, former Director BSNL, for undertaking commercial employment with Reliance post their retirement in 2003 without obtaining permission.

Searching For The One

A clinical psychologist writes on Relationships: mistaking love for lust.  Why do people keep looking for someone who will make them happy?  One is mistaking love for lust.  The other two are the advertising mantras of 'you deserve better' and 'there's a whole world out there, just waiting for you'.  Of course yes. Beautiful faces, carefree smiles, spotless skin, shining cars,  cherubic infants, wide open spaces, dream homes...   

She ends up with some advise:

A better way to live, I believe, is to stop searching outside of the self for someone who can “make” you happy. Happiness, satisfaction, contentment — call it what you will — isn't something you'll find “out there.” Instead, it's something that you'll create when you decide to work with what you already have. Of course, there will be circumstances in which you will have tried everything you can think of, and you've done so repeatedly, and still things aren't working out. But in the vast majority of cases, a change of attitude is all that would be necessary to alleviate the great weight of dissatisfaction so many of us feel. The key to contentment has nothing to do with what you do or don't have. It's all about what you decide to do with what is already yours.

Karnataka: Left Hand, Meet Mr. Right Hand

On Thursday: BBMP to take stern action against building bylaw violators :

Bangalore: The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) plans to get tough with building owners who have violated the building bylaws and constructed their structures.

Following a directive from the High Court of Karnataka on June 24, BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah recently issued circular warning officials who have failed to check unauthorised construction and bylaw violations of stringent action.

On Friday: Bills passed sans debate:

Bangalore, July 15, DHNS:  The State’s lawmakers passed as many as nine pieces of legislation, including the Sakrama Bill, which would facilitate regularising unauthorised construction and sites, and the controversial bill on banning cow slaughter, in the two Houses of the Legislature here on Thursday.

The ball now is in the Governor's court.  He's returned the Akrama-Sakrama bill thrice before this. Let's see what he does now. As for the implications of the bill, they are clear: 

“It sends a wrong message to the people that you can violate law with impunity as there is no punishment. It is a reward to the law-breakers and punishes those who rely on the system and build their houses as per law,” he said.

People are already losing faith in the system and law and such a step would further discourage them, Santosh Hedge felt.

He opined that there should have been a meaningful discussion in the House.An office bearer of Civic Bangalore, Kathyayini Chamaraj said, “We are opposed to any kind of regularisation. It penalises law-abiding people and rewards the people who broke the law. You happily violate law and get it regularised. The whole ethics of governance is turned on its head. Its a sign of the time, evil triumph over truth.”

On the topic of breaking the law with impunity, the second councillor to be caught taking bribes is unfazed: Trapped corporator refuses to resign:

“Why should I resign? Have the ‘gani dhanis’ (mining lords) and Sampangi resigned from the Assembly? Ask them first to resign, I will surely follow them,” Govindaraju remarked.

Sampangi was the first councillor to be caught.

Government For Sale!

And it is not in the 3rd World.  This is the US we're talking about.  Time's July 12th Edition's headlines say it all.  Government for Sale: How Lobbyists Shaped the Financial Reform Bill.  The online edition doesn't have the full article, just the teaser. 

Metro Alone May Not Be Enough

From today's The Hindu (link) :

Traffic engineering expert M.N. Sreehari points out that Namma Metro can decongest city roads only by just 25 per cent, and that too along its corridor. Only when this corridor is networked with other modes of public transport can visible change occur on Bangalore's roads, Prof. Sreehari said.

Prof. Sreehari pointed out that Namma Metro Phase 1 and Phase 2 will not be sufficient to cater to the growing demand for public transport in Bangalore. Along with other modes, more Metro lines should criss-cross the city as early as possible to reduce the pressure on roads.

25% of traffic along its corridor.  And the corridor is pretty narrow.

So those London dreams won't come true it appears (from Times Of India 2003 - Will Metro solve city's transport woes):

Bangalore city is looking for a mass transportation system that can claim to be swift, ease pollution and congestion. The best answer to the city's various traffic woes appears to be the Metro Rail.

The London Metro, which spans the entire city, connects all important spots and even the airport. But travel is comfortable and takes just a few minutes, enhancing the quality of life. A majority live in the suburbs,where housing is inexpensive. For them, the Metro is the lifeline. Driving through London takes hours, which is also true of Paris, New York, Washington and other major cities, point out experts. 

ToI omitted the fact that the London Metro is actually called 'London Underground'.

We were sold a defective good.  And now there will be a clamour for more - mono rail, high speed rail etc... - feeder services for a stupid metro system.

'Facilitators' To 'Help' Ministries

From DH:

The department of performance management has created a pool of about 30 experts drawn from different fields and recently conducted a workshop for them on their functions. These experts are available for the ministries, depending on their area of work, for consultation. The facilitators include eminent professors from the Indian Institutes of Management, Ahmedabad and Bangalore and other reputable Indian consultants working abroad.

The pool was drawn up by Prajapati Trivedi, secretary, department of performance evaluation, cabinet secretariat and Arun Meira, member, Planning Commission.Amongst the facilitators include A Arindam Bhattacharya, managing director of Boston Consulting Group, business strategy advisor Ramesh C Jain, strategy expert Shankar Venkateshan and Jagdeep Chhokar, former dean and director-in charge of IIM, Ahm-edabad.

More here.

Update:  The main worry I have about this development is this: the revolving door phenomenon.  It has caused considerable problems of governance in the US where it is prevalent.  Will it do the same here?  Would the Boston Consulting Group MD be a impartial dispenser of advice?  Or will his day-job influence his government recommendations? 

Rs 1 Lakh Crores Spent on Urban Areas

In the last four years. JnNURM has contributed half of that. The infrastructure companies should be happy. Link.

Inclusive Growth, Lip Service Only

A commission setup to 'review the status of the unorganised/informal sector in India' submits its report.  The report paints a bleak picture of the current situation - "77% of the population in 2004-05 had to make do, on an average, with no more than Rs 20 perday per capita" -  and makes some recommendations.  And the commission winds up after submitting the report.  In April 2009.  End of story.  

Inclusive growth indeed.  Link to EPW article on it: India's Social Question in a State of Denial (PDF).  The actual report is here (PDF).

Yeddyurappa Explains How They Done It

The CM admits what everyone already knew: CM admits illegal mining in State. But why does he retain some of the responsible mining kingpins in his cabinet? That is the question that he should be answering.  While we wait for that, he also explains how the looting happened: How 30 million tonnes of iron ore was looted from State.  Yawn.  I think we knew that too:

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on Friday told the Legislative Assembly that illegal iron ore export had been going on for the last seven years and a whopping 30 million tonnes of ore had been illegally exported from the State.

In his 21-page reply to a weeklong debate on the resignation of the Karnataka Lokayukta and illegal mining in the State, Mr. Yeddyurappa said political parties that formed governments had given mining permits to their party men and relatives and were allowed to “loot” the ore illegally.

He also provides details on the amount of illegal ore exported:

He said illegal export of iron ore was 20,49,961 tonnes in 2003-04; 52,39,528 tonnes in 2004-05; 21,71,492 tonnes in 2005-06; 47,44,645 tonnes in 2006-07; 57,61,048 tonnes in 2007-08; 33,96,126 tonnes in 2008-09 and 71,27,937 tonnes in 2009-10.

Interesting that the all time high was achieved under the BJP government.  Yet, only the small fry will get caught and the bigshots will be protected:  I got only half of what I wanted: Santosh Hegde.  

Speaking of getting something, here is one more big fish that will get away: Nagaraj accuses Mantri Developers of fraud.

Universalise PDS

Persuasive argument for it by Jean Dreze. About the cost which will be the objection, he writes:

This is not likely to come cheap. Tentative calculations suggest that a comprehensive Food Security Act may cost something like one lakh crore rupees a year. This may sound like a mind-boggling price tag, but it is not. For one thing, in a country where half the children are undernourished, there is no quick fix — any serious attempt to deal with mass undernourishment is bound to be expensive. For another, one lakh crore rupees is just about 1.5 per cent of India's Gross Domestic Product. Is that an excessive price to pay to protect everyone from hunger?

Incidentally, India already spends more than that sum on things that are rather trivial compared with the right to food. I am not just thinking of military expenditure, which could do with some pruning, especially when it is being used also for internal repression. The fertilizer subsidy is in the range of one lakh crore rupees a year, with doubtful social benefits, not to speak of the environmental damage. And the annual “revenue foregone” on account of tax exemptions is more than five lakh crore rupees, according to the Finance Minister's own “Foregone Revenue Statement.” This includes about Rs. 80,000 crore of corporate income tax foregone (some of it “on account of contributions to political parties”) and nearly Rs. 40,000 crore of foregone customs duties on “vegetables, fruits, cereals and edible oils.”