Put The RBI Cash Into Productive Use

After RBI handed over its surplus of whopping 1.76 lakh crore to Modi govt. I was expecting a terse response from ex-prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. After all, he is also an authority on country's monetary policy. Not only prime minister. as finance minister in P. V. Narasimha Rao's cabinet. he was the chief architect of the reforms and heralded liberalization, still religiously being pursued by Modi govt. Moreover, as governor of RBI. Dr. Singh, made comprehensive legal reforms. A new chapter was introduced in the Reserve Bank of India Act and the Urban Banks Department was set up.

I strongly believe, nation has not fully utilized the 'academic par excellence of Dr. Singh'. Despite being prime minister of the country for ten long years, he still conducts himself more of an academician than a politician. He is the best person to conduct the post-mortem of RBI lifeline to the cash crisis ridden govt. It is for the first time that such a whopping surplus has been soaked from central bank reserve. It may have far-reaching consequences unless it is used to productive use. Dr. Singh can guide the nation over this.

Apparently, the surplus was transferred on the recommendations of ex-RBI Governor Bimal Jalan -led expert committee.The panel was constituted to decide the size of capital reserves the central bank should hold. The panel suggested that RBI should retain the cash surplus in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 per cent. Before surplus transfer, RBI had 6.8 percent surplus. And after transfer. it has come down to a little less than safe limit of 5.5 percent.

The government was desperately hunting for this cash surplus since Urjit Patel was at the helm of the affairs. Patel was PM Modi personal choice and was picked up to replace Raghuram Rajan. Dr. Rajan was an authority in public finance. He was the winner of inaugural Fischer Black Prize, given every two years by the American Finance Association to the economist younger than 40 of age for making most significant contribution to the theory and practice of finance. He was named by Time in its list of the '100 Most Influential People in the World'in 2016. He was doing a god job in arresting the inflation and curbing wasteful expenditure, Despite this, he wasn't retained and was succeeded by Urhit Patel. But Patel had to leave sooner than later. It is said Patel had to quit as he was against transferring RBI surplus to govt kitty.

It has to be noted that most of RBI reserves consists of gold and foreign exchange assets, which collectively forms the 'Currency and Gold Revaluation Reserve Account. Besides, RBI also stores a 'Contingency Fund' (CF),for tackling unexpected emergencies. The surplus funds, the amount RBI transfers to the government after meeting its own expenses, is basically RBI's income which it earns through interest on securities it holds. In reality, it is RBI hard-earned money and needs to be retained at all cost.

However, it is to to seen how this cash is used by the govt as it will be critical. Govt can tke a comfort that its overall revenue has been boosted and fiscal deficit targets will met. But there is a word of caution. As the the bulk of government spending is targeted towards boosting conspicuous consumption rather than investments,this time govt will have to ensure that RBI’s surplus funds are put to productive use so that it can have a sustainable multiplier impact on overall growth of the economy. Its needed to ward off the slowdown.

Read More

Ransomware Attack And India

What A tragedy? The world most powerful country-America or United States- is scared of cyber attackers and fears that there could a ransomware attack during 2020 Election. As such , government plans to launch precautionary measures which focuses on protecting voter registration databases and systems.

US officials are still frightened of Russian hackers' attack in 2016 elections when important data were hijacked to influence the election outcome . Strong allegations had surfaced after Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton though almost all opinion polls were forecasting democratic party victory. The row gripped the Washington and kicked off multiple investigations into the campaign of President Trump. At the root of these inquiries are concerns about the security of the U.S. electoral process and fears that a rival power could influence an election’s results.

Now intelligence officials are concerned that 2016 can be repeated and foreign hackers in 2020 not only can target the databases but attempt to manipulate, disrupt or destroy the data. There are strong fears that databases could be targeted by ransomware, a type of virus that has crippled city computer networks recently across the United States, including in Texas, Baltimore and Atlanta.”

A ransomware attack locks an infected computer system until payment, usually in the form of cryptocurrency, is made to the hacker. Malware or ransomeware has been there world over around for years.The first ever ransomware was reported in 1991, when a biologist spread PC Cybor was sent by floppy disks via surface mail . In the mid of 2000, Archiveus was the first ransomware to use encryption, . Later in 2010. a series of "police" ransomware packages appeared. They began to exploit the new generation of anonymous payment services without getting caught.

Ransomware attacks rose in every country except India and the Britain, showed the findings based on an analysis 3.9 trillion malicious events in over 215 countries. The study detected threats in over 47,000 PDFs and almost 51,000 Office files in 2018. While ransomware attacks were down 49 per cent in India in 2018, the country experienced 53 per cent rise in malware attacks last year, according to a new report from cyber security firm SonicWall.Mar 28, 2019

Ransomware attacks were up in every geography except India and the UK, showed the findings based on an analysis 3.9 trillion malicious events in over 215 countries.

In 2017, A major global cyber attack disrupted computers at Russia's biggest oil company, Ukrainian banks and multinational firms infecting more than 300,000 computers. India largest port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai had to shut down the operations at one of its three terminals as a fallout of the global ransomware attack The attack also crippled some central banks and many large corporations in Europe.

Year 2017 also saw the MCA21 system was subjected to WannaCry ransomware attack including India. The attack was first noticed on May 7. It was a fiest attack on a central government portal. Urgent measures were taken to contain it. In the same year, the WannaCry paralyzed computer systems and networks in more than 150 countries, including India, the third worst hit by the attack. However, there were less attacks in 2018 and till July, 2019.

Like US, India also run high risk of ransomeware attack. Hackers like ransomware because it is simple to create and use, it doesn’t need much in terms of skills or expertise to carry out. Desperation is a big reason for increasing ransomware attacks. India is the world’s most targeted country for ransomware according to Sophos. More than 67 percent of Indian organizations were victims of ransomware in 2017, with 38 percent hit twice causing US $1.17 million financial payments.

If US elections can be subjected to ransomeware. World largest democratic country, India can also be targeted. India like United States need to prepare itself smartly to meet the challenge of ransomware attackers.

Read More

Are You Telling Truth,.Jai Ram Jee?

 Like me, you might not be convinced to learn that  Himachal chief minister, Jai Ram Thakur was kept in dark over State Tourism Development Board disinvestment move. Its really shocking that he came to know of the move after the story was broken by Tribune. It was reported by the this newspaper that HPTDC (Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board) has offered as money as 14 prime properties, including Chail Palace and Golf Glade at Naldehra for private sector on lease.

Chief Minister is the supreme boss (chairman) of the HPTDC and nothing can be done without his knowledge. Normally. chairman consent is taken even in  an ordinary  matter or he is apprised of.   All policy decisions ae taken after Chairman approval. So, its hard to believe that chief minister was not apprised of the move , especially at a time when  serious efforts are being made to attract investors.  And if the move has been initiated without chairman knowledge, its serious matter amid chief minister's global trotting for attracting investors to the state.

Anyway, the Chail Palace is well known for its architecture. It was built as summer retreat by the Maharaja of Patiala during the British Raj, on the land allotted to him by the British for helping them in the Anglo-Nepalese War. The Palace Hotel in  it was purchased in 1972 by the Himachal govt and converted into a heritage hotel. Its a pity that govt owned tourism board couldn't run this prime heritage site profitably. 

 The Golf Glade at Naldehra is a fascinating site perched on the edge of the Golf Course at Naldehra. It was once a rest house but later handed over to HPTDC and converted into a hotel with some log huts. Last month. in happened to stay there for two days. Some works were going on and  it wasn't humming with tourists. Even, its internal communication network wasn't working. Room services were poor. It was almost empty. As I noticed  some loud voices during the dead night, inquired about and was told that siblings of some VVIP had come, stayed for the night and gone early in the morning.I bet they would have not paid for the services as is the VVIP's wont.  Waiter kept silent on being asked.

One of the main reasons for HPTDC units runing into losses is the " mufatkhor VIPs". Most of them don't pay for the services and food. HPTDC-run "Ashiana" restruant and Holiday Home in Shimla, regularly serve " Murgh Musallam" and other cuisines to VVIPs free of cost. Milk, butter and "ghee"
are supplied free by state run Milk Federation to VVIPs and Juices, Jam-Jellies and other fruit based drinks by HPMC. 

All in all, its not a bad move. Running commercial business with "profit motive' is none of the govt business in a welfare state.  Its more murkier in a country where political interference, corruption, policy paralysis and favoritism are order of the day. Figures  speaks for themselves. Out of total 23 public sector enterprises,  15 are running into losses year-by-year. As per available data, till March, 2018, the cumulative losses was more than 5000 crore. Out of these 15,the  total accumulated losses of ten PSUs sttod at Rs 3,630 crore till March 31, 2018. HRTC and State Power Board (HPSEB) are the biggest loss-making PSUs but it is beyond anybody comprehension how come that HP Financial Corporation- primarily a lender- is in loss. It was having a net loss of Rs 166.35 crore till 2018. Apparently,, political interference for lending without viability  has landed this PSU into a loss making unit.

Sadly. No government hasn't been able to wind these loss making PSUs due to pressure from the employees. Its the vote bank politics weakening the state financial health. So, the only way to come out of this messy affairs is to lease them out to private players so that govt can recover its money. Let the HPTDC take initiative and chief minister should back it.  State poor financial position doesn't allow to sustain more and more losses. Why should common man pay for political expediency?

Read More

Salute To Kannan Gopinath

A nation grows and prospers when its people are in the state of righteousness- think independently and listen to voice of conscience, remain enlightened,  no matter what the circumstances are. " 

Suppressed" or even "fostered" thinking can do no good to a  nation. Unfortunately, lately India is passing through a critical period of " nervous maturational" wherein majority of people think, speak and judge in "fostered' way. In the final analysis, its not good for a matured nation. Vut exceptions are always there.  One must salute the daring IAS officer, Kannan Gopinath for respecting his conscience ad qtting the elite Indian Administrative Service.He was upset over the denial of "fundamental rights" to people in disturbed Jammu and Kashmir for weeks after state special status was scrapped earlier this month, 

A 33-year-old Indian Administrative Service officer  admitted in his resignation letter "...Not that my resignation will cause anything even worth a flutter. But one has one's own conscience to answer to, I guess". Brave man, indeed. It takes a lot of courage to swim against the mainstream.

The young  Kannan Gopinath is not a Kashmiri  and he never worked in the state but he is an Indian and like other enlightened citizens shares his concern for fellow citizens. To him. Kashmiris are as Indians as those living in other parts of the country and they deserve the same treatment as others. Suspending  fundamental rights is the worst thing citizens can expect from a responsible govt. 

The officer sain "In (Jammu and) Kashmir, fundamental rights of lakhs of people have been suspended for 20 days. And many in India seem to be okay with it. This is happening in India in 2019' and it  "disturbed" him so much that he decided  to quit.

It is said history doesn’t repeat itself by recreating each moment from the past but It takes newer forms. As was in 1975, the turbulence this time also didn't come come from foreign invasion or conquest. It has been generated from within. The wound was self-inflicted. Its the inadequacies of old civilization and lacks of intellectual means.Lets us think independently and help nation to grow.   

Read More

Another Gem Of Saffron Party Gone

Good souls leave for heavenly abode early than the others because they are needed there, so goes the old saying. After Sushma Swaraj, the passing away of  Arun Jaitley at 66  is, indeed. a great loss to Indian  politics.  Like Sushma, Jaitley  was a gem  and  as versatile and rock solid pillars of the  BJP.   After admitted in AIIMS on Aug 9 last he was battling the death.   In fact, he battled all through his life. He battled his adversaries and ailments as bravely he could. 

I met him first time when he was DUSU president in 1974 at a meeting of student leaders. Was greatly impressed with his oratory skills and reasoning power.  The way he put forth the student cause, it was most convincing.   Jaitley was a Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) student leader  and I was on not inclined to saffron thinking. Still, I always followed his speeches. As finance minister, he did better than many of his predecessors. Dr Subramanian Swamy unrelenting  bashing notwithstanding.    

Its worth noting that Jaitely  was a prominent leader of a movement against corruption launched in the year 1973 by Raj Narain and Jayaprakash Narayan. He was the convener of the National Committee for Students and Youth organization appointed by Jai Prakash Narayan. He was also active in civil rights movement and helped found PUCL Bulletin. He was jailed during emergency.

 Jaitley held the important cabinet portfolios of Finance, Defence, Corporate Affairs, Commerce and Industry and Law and Justice in the Vajpayee government and Narendra Modi government. From 2009 to 2014 he served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. He was a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India.

As finance minoster he oversaw the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax which brought the country under one GST regime, demonetization, merger of Railway budget with general budget. changing presentation of budget from Feb 28 to Feb 1  and introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. All these steps earned him a niche in history. He will be remembered for long time to come. 

Read More

Lord Krishna And Saffron People

Today is Janmashtami- the birthday of Lord Krishna. Its celebrated with gusto across India. A famous sportive event, Dahi Handi is usually celebrated across Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa.

Krishna is seen as the incarnation of Lord Rama. Both the mythological icons dominate Indian theological virtues. Lord Ram is seen by his followers more perfect than other mythological icons including Shiva. There is a strong belief that chanting "Ram" once equates to chanting Lord Vishnu’s name thousand times.

In India the ruling saffron party BJP is more obsessed with "Ram" than the "Krishna", for the obvious reasons. It is more cash-able in politics because of its political value. Ram was born in Ayodhya and there was an ancient temple but it was destroyed by a Mugahl (Babar) to built a Masjid (mosque) over there. And so "Ram Lalla" is living in a makeshift accommodation since than. How can a Hindu party tolerate this. As such. it vows to restore the Ram temple to its original place. And by doing this, BJP will rule the "Ram bhagat" Indian mindset for long.

It is said in Indian mythology that Rama is Vishnu, Vishnu is Rama and Krishna is Vishnu and vice versa There is No difference between them. Lord Rama is another form of Lord Krishna. But, I have never heard saffron people chanting "Hare Krishna,,, Krishna" as vociferously as " Hare Rama, Hare Rama".

But there is a sharp difference between the two mythological icons. Lord Krishna is shown in a bluish color. In ancient paintings Krishna is depicted in light blue. In fact Lord Krishna was not blue but bluish back in color. And in Sanskrit ‘’Krishna’’ means person with dark complexion. Medical science sees it a rare hereditary disorder of hemoglobin called methhemoglobinemia where ones skin remain blue right from birth. It is rarest of rare type of disorder.

There is an mythological explanation for Krishna's blue skin as well. When Demon Putna tries to kill child Krishna by his poisoned milk, Krishna didn’t die but his skin became blue. So Krishna’s power in killing demon was seen in blue color, he is often seen in blue color. Blue is the Nature's color. Sky (air) is blue and so is water. Both are essentials for life. The blue color also encompasses the whole cosmos. Millions of glowing stars twinkle in the sky, universe or galaxy and they appear blue in day due to sun rays but in fact it is black and infinite. For Krishna supporters, blue color embodies the vastness of his character and the unfailing timeliness of his deeds. Krishna is supreme and most powerful of all mythological icons.

Krishna gave the doctrine of Bhagavad-Gita- the self explanatory narrative framework scripture-to mankind. So what more can we expect from the one born an ordinary mortal yet, manifesting the powers of cosmos that be. I find Krishna, more relevant to contemporary world. But why saffron people don't adore Krishna as devotionally as Rama is intriguing?

(Chander Sharma)

Read More

Misuse Of CBI Continues

There is no love on earth greater than that of a father for his son. But the love for son has cost the former finance minister P. Chidambaram too dearer. He has been arrested for favoring his son Karti in helping INX media when he was the finance minister in 2007.

INX Media, owned by famous Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani (an accused in murder of her daughter) had approached FIPB (Foreign Direct Investment Board), seeking permission for issuing equity shares to three non-resident investors based in Mauritius through the FDI route. FIPB approved the request allowing INX Media to receive foreign funds to the extent of Rs 4.62 crore, However, it rejected the INX other request for downstream investment of foreign funds in its subsidiary, INX News Pvt Ltd.

It is alleged that Karti, son of P. Chidambaram, the then finance minister, used his influence and accepted kickbacks to help INX Media. In January 2008, the financial intelligence unit of the finance ministry discovered the anomaly in the money flow into INX Media. As it involved foreign funds, the Income Tax department forwarded the case to the ED.

As per the CBI FIR filed against the company, its directors and other involved parties in May 2017 deliberately and in violations of the conditions and approval" went ahead with the downstream investment and generated FDI exceeding Rs 305 crore in the company by issuing shares to foreign investors at a premium of more than Rs 800 per share between August 2007 and May 2008. The foreign firms allegedly bought each share for Rs 862.31, a price that was more than 86 times its face value. The Enforcement Directorate subsequently lodged a money laundering case against INX Media and related parties including the alleged conduit Karti in 2018.

CBI says as Chidambaram was the finance minister in 2007, so his role comes under the scanner for FIPB clearance. The CBI alleged that instead of ordering investigation into the irregularities, the FIPB - under Chidambaram - suggested to INX Media to simply apply for fresh approval for downstream investment of overseas funds it had already received. As later Indrani Mukerjea turned approver in this matter, CBI case was further strengthened. According to Indrani, INX Media got a favourable deal after she met with Chidambaram seeking FIPB clearance in 2008.

However, except Indirani Mukerjee, there is nothing on record to prove the involvement of Chidambaram. But after Delhi High Court on Tuesday refusing to grant anticipatory bail to ex-finance minister and its observation, that " he seems to be the "kingpin" and "key conspirator" in the INX Media case built by the probe agencies and he needs to be interrogated in custody for the investigation to be effective", the doors for his arrest were wide open. He was,so far, getting a reprieve from arrest after the Delhi High Court granted him interim protection in May last year, extended from time to time till Tuesday.

Govt of the day always tale shelter under " law will take its own course", But, in reality, it always takes a chartered course as per govt wish. If a natural course is taken. most of the leaders will be behind bars. Everybody knows that CBI is a " caged parrot" of the govt as described by the country top court. It always dances to the tune of ruling party. Even BJP leaders, when in opposition, said loudly on many occasions.

In 2010, Amit Shah was accused of having orchestrated the extrajudicial killings of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauser Bi and his criminal associate Tulsiram Prajapati.

The same CBI had alleged in Sohrabuddin Sheikh murder case some marble traders of Rajasthan were being harassed by demanding hefty protection money. CBI then claimed that two of these marble traders paid Amit Shah to eliminate Sohrabuddin. Amit Shah, along with the police officers DIG DG Vanzara and SP Rajkumar Pandian, allegedly hatched a plan to kill Sohrabuddin.

Sohrabuddin's death was exposed by a journalist as an extrajudicial killing . CBI had claimed that Amit Shah had transferred Vanzara to various places in order to facilitate these killings. However,all these allegations were dismissed as "concocted" to facilitate the arrest of Amit Shah, by the then Congress-ed UPA govt.

So should we believe CBI? Or for that matter should a court take cognizance of the CBI allegations or charge sheet. All these moot points come to our mind whenever an arrest is made by CBI. Even in Chidambaram case. Its a same old story. CBI is doing what the govt wants. He has been the most vociferous critics of the Modi govt and has minced no words on Kashmir latest happenings. Silencing critics by putting them behind bars is an old authoritarian tactic.

Read More

Remembering Rajiv Gandhi

In the era of "Modism", its not advisable to sing songs for Nehru-Gandhi clans but I am tempted to remember late Rajiv Gandhi for his amiable gracious and sweet-tempered nature..I believe, it was easy to get along with him. Today is Rajiv Gandhi birthday and I wish to share my personal face-to-face encounter ( not meeting) with him when he was Prime Minister of India.

In eighties. being an over enthusiastic young entrepreneur, I dared to lay my hands on a project for bringing out a daily from Parwanoo. The Parwaoo was selected the publication center as it was close to Chandigarh and it was felt that a daily newspaper was somewhat viable only if it covered Haryana, Pubjab and UT Chandigarh to sustain. Still feel. a Himachal daily needs ad support from neighboring states to sustain I was able to mobilize some resourceful people to support me financially in this project.

Everything went fine ( backed by govt of the day) until IDBI, the then apex body for re-financing state financial institutions, came into picture. The project was turned down on the plea, it wasn't viable. Tried to convince the IDBI authorities over the viability of the project. Anyway, it was during this "running" that I sought the help of Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister. It was a sheer chance and I grabbed it. Rajiv Gandhi had come to the state to have an aerial look at the devastation wrecked by the heavy rains. Una district was then almost marooned.

After surveying the flooded areas, Rajiv Gandhi addressed a press conference at Shimla. A he was about to leave the press conference , I went to him and sought his help. He walked very fast and sensing that he was about to reach his cavalcade, he stopped and took my hands into his and consoled," don't worry, your work will be done". Putting the letter, I handed over to him into his jacket pocket, he asked me to contact his special secretary in PMO (Parthasarathi) and desired if I had any problem should contact him directly. I spoke to him twice through PMO exchange. and he was nice to share my problem. Its a different matter that project never saw the light of the day. That was the Rajiv Gandhi, a young energetic and approachable. I still believe, he would have been a better PM than the some of his successors.

Congress suffer from many ills and so are other political outfits. None is above board. Its sheer absurdity to blame Congress for patronizing hegemonic politics. All are chips of he same blocks. The problem with Congress is that most of its party leaders are ideologically totally " blind" and rootless. They want to run the party from the air-conditioned rooms whereas saffron party and its mother outfit RSS work at the grass root level. Until, the Congress leaders toil hard at ground level, party can never match BJP organisational strength. I feel that Grand Old Party needs a mother outfit like RSS to sustain itself.

(Chander Sharma)

Read More

Defection: Mockery Of Democracy

Of all the legislative reforms in India , the anti-defection law is the most abused and violated. And unfortunately, the ruling dispensation of the day always remains ahead of others. Whether Karnataka, Sikkim , Delhi, Haryana or any state, the ruling party BJP has been engineering defections defeating the very purpose for which the law was enacted in 1985.

The Sikkim is the latest state where saffron party succeeded in engineering defections of 10 out of the 13 MLAs of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) to get official opposition party status. The saffron party could not win a single seat in 32 seated Sikkim assembly elections held in May along Lok Sabha polls. Party got 4.71 % of votes polled.

The politics of " abusing people's mandate for personal gains originated way back in 1967 when Gaya Lal, a legislator in Haryana state assembly, defected and changed his party twice in a day, and third time within the fortnight. He did all this to eat the fruits of power. The political situation in the state was then in a flux after the fractured mandate. He took advantage of the situation, and succeeded in his mission. Since then a new phrase of "Aya Ram, Gaya Ram (come and go)" was coined to describe politicians switching parties for money and power.

And thereafter just between 1967 and 1971, as many as 142 defections in Parliament and 1,969 in state assemblies, were engineered, according to PRS research. As many as 212 defectors were rewarded with ministerial berths. Between 1967 and 1983, there were approximately 2,700 defections in assemblies. Interestingly, 15 of defectors become chief ministers. And Haryana created another record in 'defection' when in 1980, Bhajan Lal, the then Janata Party's CM defected to Congress lock, stock and barrel to continue as chief minister after Indira Gandhi returned to power. This brazen act made him notorious for "Aya Ram. Gaya Ram culture.

Alarmed over the this, all political parties agreed To check the defection and the 10th Schedule to the Constitution, referred to as the ‘Anti-Defection Law,' was inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985.The grounds of disqualification are specified as: "A member would incur a disqualification under paragraph 2 (1) (a) when he “voluntarily gives up his membership of a party” and under 2 (1) (b) when he/she votes (or abstains from voting) contrary to the directive issued by the party. As the experience shows, these provisos proved inadequate to prevent the defections, especially when ruling party was involved in it. Its abuse remained unabated and continues till date. No party is afraid of this law and flouts it with impunity.

Despite that evil of political defections has been a matter of national concern. no serious attempt has been made to is not combat it. On the contrary, the law is blatantly abused by the very saffron party that still blames Congress for all ills. We must note that defections undermine the very foundations of our democracy and weaken it.

Politics, over the years, in India has become "dhandha" or last refuse of "vested interests". Its, no more., a "jan seva public service. Instead of bringing electoral and legislative reforms, politicians have, greatly, succeeded in reaping the rich harvest of the people's mandate. They get fat tax free salary, perks and facilities and hefty pension. Reluctantly. even top civil servants, big businessmen and celebrities are attracted towards it. not for "Jan Seva"but because of the lucrative monetary and social benefits . This may be good for more and more good and competent people are now joining politics, but defection is a slur on the system. mocks at the democracy .India need to combat it at the earliest.

Read More

Kashmir Move To Affect Flow Of FDIs

I strongly feel that the latest happenings will have its adverse affect on flow of foreign investment. And if it happens, this will be really devastating for the Indian economy, already reeling under slowdown.

The latest date shows that foreign investors (FPIs) are turning bearish on the Indian stock market and the Kashmir move may fuel the run. FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) have sold shares worth Rs 2,000 crore after the budget on July 5 (presentation of the budget) showing a build-up of bearish bets in four-and-a-half months. FPIs were the net buyers for the past five consecutive months.

The lack of confidence in the markets and impending slowdown are being attributed to the prevalence of bearish bets. After all, the confidence building measures are a must for attracting foreign investments. India has already slipped in its ranking of 2019 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index. India's ranking has come down from 8 in 2017 to 16 in 2019. It improved marginally to 11 in 2018.

China is still better placed than India. China had remained on top on the Index from 2002 through 2012. Now U.S. has snatched the top position from China and is on top of Index for seventh year in a row despite president Trump wranglings. The business-friendly regulatory environment, skilled workforce, technological capabilities are U.S. Enduring appeal.

So far, India, with China and Mexico were the preferred destinations among emerging markets for the foreign investors. But, recent developments in India have created instability. Investors always dread instability and restrictive business environment in the market. The geopolitical tensions adds to to their fears. The recent happenings in Kashmir have escalated the geopolitical tensions with Pakistan.

Kashmir plays an important role in development settings of India. Its one of the leading global tourist destinations. It offers immense investment opportunities for adventure, pilgrimage and health tourism. Kashmir handicrafts are world famous and its traditional handicraft industry has emerged as a large industry.

Undoubtedly, Kashmir valley beckons investment from outside and if thrown open, it can drive India to PM cherished dream of $5 trillion economy. So far, the flow of FDI to Jammu & Kashmir has been muted. Cumulative FDI inflows during April 2000 to March 2018, were barely $ 6 million.

But, the big question is will investors come, given the geopolitical tensions? There is hardly any hope that "mischievous Pakistan" will let Kashmir breath in peace. Drum beatings on " One Nation. One Flag" can't prevent Islamabad from its nefarious designs in Kashmir. Alienation of people can't be arrested by mofussil measures . Each of the 50 states of America, has its own flag that co-flutters with the national flag. Hawaii’s flag even bears Britain’s Union Jack to represent Britain’s ‘historical relationship’. But. no state and its people have ever demanded session from mainstream.

Karnataka has its own state flag. A bi-coloured Flag of Karnataka was adopted by the state government on March 8 2018. Till then only Jammu and Kashmir had a state flag. Now BJP govt is ruling the state.

Growth only needs open environment and confident of investors in the system. Even Prime Minister Modi has admitted this in his ID address. Kashmir only needs growth and big investments. All other things will follow.

Read More

Population Control Meed Of The Hour

Its heartening to hear from prime minister, Modi expressing concern over population explosion, In his his Independence Day address from the Red Fort on Thursday, PM said "population control is the only way to progress. He urged the country to work towards family planning, smaller families so that dreams of our children are fulfilled.

One hopes country, especially protagonists of large families, will listen to him and work for smaller families. As of now Population control is India's top concern. This problem is getting more and more acute day by day with nearly 22 million children being added every year. Undoubtedly. India is over-populated. over 15 % of world population lives in India but the country has just 2.4 % of the land area of the world. So, lets us see what can be done? Should we follow China's "one family, one child" policy or should we put a break on human reproduction or what is called anti-natalism for the time being?

In the late 1970s, the Chinese government introduced a number of measures to reduce the country's birth rate and one of the most important of measures was a one-child policy. It decreed that couples in China could only have one child.

It was a distinct family planning policy, quite different from most other countries which focus on providing contraceptive options to prevent birth of a child . The policy allowed rural parents a second child if the first was a daughter. The policy allowed exceptions for some groups, including ethnic minorities. The policy was there for over three decades but was abandoned at the end of 2015.

However, China's one-child policy proved a misnomer. For nearly 30 of the 37 years. it existed (1979–2015) more than half of all parents in China were allowed to have a second child.

And if pursued in India where about 20 % are minorities( Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Zoroastrians), the policy will only add to population imbalances and saffron party will never allow this. The latest move in Kashmir is a case in point. Actually, the hidden agenda behind the move on the abrogation of Kashmir special status is to see in long run Muslim dominated Kashmir valley turns into a Hindu- majority region.

So we are left with only choice of family planning- "educational, comprehensive medical or social services enabling individuals, including minors, to determine freely the number and spacing of their children and to select the means by which this may be achieved. All the stakeholders have to ensure the cent percent implementation of family planning. Unfortunately, at least 12.3% married women in the age group of 15-49 year have no access to any family planning method, according to National Family Health Survey-4. There are many shortcomings in the system and we need to focus fully to remove these. In 2015, 225 million women will not have access to family planning,

Health care professionals have identified ten most essential components for effective and successful family planning. They are: supportive policies, affordable Services, contraceptive security, trained staff, evidence-based programming, leadership & management, effective communication, client-centered care, easy Access and integrated services. A checklist suggests most of them missing during implementation or if adopted are half-heartily pursued.

The aggressive family planning during emergency period in late seventies still haunt the nation and somehow proving a deterrent to success of family planning. There could be some exaggeration but a measure like mass sterilization is still unpopular in rural India , despite the fact that i is the the best possible method for population control. However, it is not easy to garner support for sterilization, mainly because of taboos ad misconceptions associated with it.

Anyway, we also need to debate the anti-natalism- a belief that humans shouldn't have children. Though, its a nihilist rhetoric idea having far-reaching consequences, there is no harm to know about it. Whereas natalism promotes child-bearing and parenthood as desirable and seeks financial and social incentives for people to reproduce, anti-natalism is assigns a negative value to birth. Anti-natalists argue that people should abstain from procreation because it is morally bad.The concern for genetic inheritance and worries about overpopulation and the environment have led to this belief.

Even Gautama Buddha had spoken of anti-natalism. Sir Hari Singh, a distinguished educationist, poet, and novelist had stated on his book that Oblivious of the suffering to which life is subject, Buddha had said;" man begets children, and is thus the cause of old age and death. If he would only realize what suffering he would add to by his act, he would desist from the procreation of children; and so stop the operation of old age and death".

And the Encratites observed that birth leads to death. In order to conquer death, people should desist from procreation: "not produce fresh fodder for death". The Manichaeans, the Bogomils and the Cathars believed that procreation sentences the soul to imprisonment in evil matter. They saw procreation as an instrument of an evil god, demiurge, or of Satan that imprisons the divine element in matter and thus causes the divine element to suffer. (Quotes from Wikipedia)

Human being, is a freethinker soul and his thinking goes beyond eternity. So, its not surprising that there are dozens of anti-natalist groups, active on social media. Whatever may be the methods, there is no denying, India, urgently. need to stop the population explosion. Explosion of any kind always brings destruction .

Read More