Soja Re, and save 10000 Crore Rupees

Sand opined on Rat's blog.

Considering the recession and the job losses, govt of India should skip this year's election and continue status-quo for the next 5 years. Even if the election happens (spending around 10K Crore I heard from somewhere), the same parties will get almost the same number of seats. So, what's the point? Instead of election, parties should be given an opportunity to re-align.. Like Jayalalitha to support congress, Left to support BJP, Shivsena to support congress. RJD & SP to merge. (All the post election dramas which happen every 5 years) Then a new govt will be formed with new political equations and govt saves 10K Crore from treasury.

I haven’t heard a better proposition about Indian politics in the recent times. Makes perfect sense to me.

These politicians have been looting our nation for decades, in the name of democracy. They align with communal forces, choose candidates based on cast equations, give tickets to vested interests and outright criminals, support religious extremists to influence vote banks, align with arch rivals to form coalitions, change allegiance and alliances as often as changing clothes .... in general do anything to get into power. So why bother to spend almost 10000 crore rupees to reelect them?

Here is the party wise list of members of the fourteenth (current) Lok Sabha. Once the elections are over, I will put another post to compare the party wise list to see if there is any change in these equations because of our once in five year circus.

S.No.	Name of Party	Member	Leader
1	Indian National Congress(INC)	150	Shri Pranab Mukherjee
2	Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)	112	Shri L.K. Advani
3	Communist Party of India (Marxist)(CPI(M))	42	Shri Basudeb Acharia
4	Samajwadi Party(SP)	32	Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav
5	Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD)	24	Shri Lalu Prasad
6	Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP)	16	Shri Rajesh Verma
7	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK)	16	Shri C. Kuppusami
8	Shiv Sena(SS)	12	Shri Anant Geete
9	Nationalist Congress Party(NCP)	11	-
10	Biju Janata Dal(BJD)	10	Shri Braja Kishore Tripathy
11	Communist Party of India(CPI)	10	Shri Gurudas Dasgupta
12	Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD)	8	Shri Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa
13	Independent(Ind.)	6	.
14	Pattali Makkal Katchi(PMK)	6	Prof. M. Ramadass
15	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM)	5	Shri Shibu Soren
16	Lok Jan Shakti Party(LJSP)	4	Shri Ram Vilas Paswan
17	Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(MDMK)	4	Shri L. Ganesan
18	Telugu Desam Party(TDP)	4	Shri K. Yerrannaidu
19	All India Forward Bloc(AIFB)	3	-
20	Rashtriya Lok Dal(RLD)	3	.
21	Revolutionary Socialist Party(RSP)	3	Shri Joachim Baxla
22	Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS)	3	Shri Kalva Kuntla Chandrasekhar
23	Asom Gana Parishad(AGP)	2	Dr. Arun Kumar Sarma
24	Janata Dal (Secular)(S))	2	Shri M.P. Veerendra Kumar
25	Kerala Congress(KEC)	2	Shri P.C. Thomas
26	All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimmen(AIMIM)	1	Shri Asaduddin Owaisi
27	All India Trinamool Congress(AITC)	1	Km. Mamata Banerjee
28	Bharatiya Navshakti Party(BNP)	1	Shri Delkar Mohanbhai Sanjibhai
29	Jammu and Kashmir National Conference(J&KNC)	1	.
30	Janata Dal (United)(U))	1	-
31	Mizo National Front(MNF)	1	Shri Vanlalzawma
32	Muslim League Kerala State Committee(MLKSC)	1	Shri E. Ahmed
33	Nagaland Peoples Front(NPF)	1	Shri W. Wangyuh
34	National Loktantrik Party(NLP)	1	Shri Baleshwar Yadav
35	Republican Party of India(A)(RPI(A))	1	Shri Athawale Ramdas Bandu
36	Sikkim Democratic Front(SDF)	1	Shri Nakul Das Rai

Total - 501, Vacant seats - 46
Source

There are precisely 11 parties which managed to get 10 or more people elected to the parliament. And these are the ones who decide our future.

Lets just examine the history of our major alliances and the way parties move in and out of these coalitions. How many of these movements are based on or inspired by ideology? What about parties which temporarily move away and then come back to the same alliance?

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is a coalition of political parties in India.
Had 13 constituent parties at the time of its formation in 1998.
Formed the Government in 1998, but collapsed within a year due to the AIADMK pulling out. It proceeded to win the 1999 elections with a greater majority and new alliances.

Currently, the eight parties in the NDA are:

1. BJP - Bhartiya Janata Party
2. SS - Shiv Sena - Maharashtra
3. JD(U)- Janata Dal (United) - Bihar and Karnataka
4. SAD - Shiromani Akali Dal faction led by Parkash Singh Badal - Punjab
5. INLD - Indian National Lok Dal - Haryana
6. AGP - Asom Gana Parishad - Assam
7. RLD - Rashtriya Lok Dal - Uttar Pradesh
8. NPF - Nagaland People's Front-Nagaland

Former members of the National Democratic Alliance, who have left the alliance, are:

1. NC - Jammu & Kashmir National Conference - Omar Abdullah- Withdrew in 2002, blaming the BJP for its loss in Jammu & Kashmir state elections.
2. LJSP - Lok Jan Shakti Party -Ram Vilas Paswan- Withdrew following 2002 Gujarat religious riots.
3. MDMK - Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Joined with Congress Party during 2004 elections.
4. DMK - Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Joined with Congress party during 2004 elections.
5. AIADMK - All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Joined with Congress Party during 1999 elections; subsequently re-joined alliance during 2004 elections, but did not remain aligned post-defeat. Joined the Third Front before the 2009 elections.
6. PMK - Pattali Makkal Katchi - Joined with Congress Party during 2004 elections.
7. IFDP - Indian Federal Democratic Party -P.C. Thomas-Following the 2004 election, he merged his party with the Kerala Congress, which is aligned with the Left.
8. TC - Trinamool Congress - West Bengal - Withdrew from the alliance at the end of 2007. Joined the Congress party before the 2009 elections.
9. BJD - Biju Janata Dal - Orissa - Left the alliance just over a month before the 2009 elections.

Parties who gave outside support, but are no longer allies:

1. TDP - Telugu Desam Party - In the monsoon session of Parliament of 2005, the TDP decided not to continue as part of an NDA boycott of Parliament. Speculation of an end to the NDA-TDP relationship was confirmed in August of that year, when the BJP and TDP contested local elections in Andhra Pradesh on their own. The TDP was the founding member of the Third Front in 2009

United Progressive Alliance - Formed soon after the 2004 general elections after it became clear that the previous ruling coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had been defeated. The NDA had gotten only 169 MPs in the 543 member 14th Lok Sabha, as opposed the UPA tally.

The Indian communist parties (Left Front), the Samajwadi Party with 39 (now 33) MPs and the Bahujan Samaj Party with 19 (now 17) MPs were other significant blocks that opted to support UPA at various phases of its 50 month rule.The UPA did not enjoy a simple majority on its own in the parliament, rather it has relied on the external support given by these parties to ensure that it enjoys the confidence of the Indian parliament similar to the formula adopted by the previous minority governments of the United Front and the NDA.

During the tenure of Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, the constituents of the UPA were, by mutual consent, supporting his government.At present the UPA is no longer supported by the Left parties.

Initially, the United Progressive Alliance was given external support from the Left Front which totaled 59 MPs. Similar external support was also promised by several smaller parties that were not a member of any coalition, including the Samajwadi Party with 39 MPs, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam with 4 MPs , the Janata Dal (Secular) with 3 MPs, and Bahujan Samaj Party with 19 MPs, who promised to support the government if it faced a vote of confidence. Nevertheless, these parties were not a part of the government. The UPA thus had at least 335 MPs out of 543 supporting it at the time of its formation.

Current constituents
Due to the volatile nature of coalition politics in India, the constituents of the UPA have been wavering. As of July 15, 2008 they were:

1. INC - Indian National Congress (153 MPs) (Out of these 1 MP is now a rebel and another is a non-voting member)
2. RJD - Rashtriya Janata Dal (24 MPs)
3. DMK - Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (16 MPs)
4. NCP - Nationalist Congress Party (11 MPs)
5. PMK - Pattali Makkal Katchi (6 MPs)
6. JMM - Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (5 MPs)
7. LJP - Lok Janshakti Party (4 MPs)
8. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (1 MP)
9. RPI - Republican Party of India (Athvale) (1 MP)
10. SDF - Sikkim Democratic Front (1 MP)
11. IUML - Indian Union Muslim League (1 MP)

Outside support is currently being offered by the

1. Samajwadi Party (33 MPs)
2. Bharatiya Navshakti Party (1 MP)
3. National Conference (2 MPs)
4. National Loktantrik Party (1 MP)

In addition, rebel MPs from Biju Janata Dal , the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal (United), the Telugu Desam Party and the independent MPs take the tally of UPA supporting MPs to 275.

Withdrawals

1. Telangana Rashtra Samithi -K. Chandrashekar Rao- The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was the first party to quit the alliance, first when its ministers quit the Andhra Pradesh government, and finally when an official withdrawal was done at the national level by its president K. Chandrashekar Rao, who resigned his Lok Sabha seat.
2. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), began its drift when it tied up with the UPA's rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) during the Tamil Nadu elections, and on March 16, 2007 officially withdrew support.
3. Bahujan Samaj PartyOn 21 June 2008, the Bahujan Samaj Party, or the BSP, with 17 seats, announced withdrawal of its support.
4. Left Front - On 8 July 2008, Prakash Karat, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (or the CPI (M)), announced that the Left Front would be withdrawing support over the decision by the government to go ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal, a Section 123 Agreement with the United States.
5. People's Democratic Party (PDP) - On 4 January 2009, Mehbooba Mufti, president of the People's Democratic Party announced the withdrawal of the PDP from the UPA given that the Congress had decided to support the Omar Abdullah-led National Conference Government in Jammu & Kashmir after the 2008 state elections.

Resignations

1. DMK -On October 17, 2008 14 DMK MP's, including central ministers T.R. Baalu and A. Raja, handed in their post-dated resignation letters to the head of the party, TN CM M. Karunanidhi in demanding an end to the violence against civilians in Sri Lanka. There were consequently 16 DMK MP's left in the 14th Lok Sabha. All 4 Rajya Sabha MP's had also submitted post-dated resignation letters, including Karunanidhi's daughter, Kanimozhi had handed in her resignation on October 14, A. A. Jinnah, Tiruchi Siva, and Vasanthi Stanley. All 40 Lok Sabha MP's of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry had also threatened to quit the government if it failed to take action on the Sri Lankan issue. Lawyers in Coimbatore joined their tamil brethren in burning an effigy of Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony within the court premises earlier in the day, alleging a conspiracy by bureaucrats of Kerala origin to keep the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka on tenterhooks. Following these actions, the TN CM Karunanidhi said, on November 4, that he was "satisfied" with the measures taken by the UPA government in the center on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. A statement said: "we have a Centre, which realises the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka, and the leaders there respect our sentiments," and that they were doing their best to mitigate the sufferings of the Tamils of Lanka. He added that, "We have to raise our demands to increase their action."

Source

Update - March 27, 2009
PMK(Pattali Makkal Katchi) with 6 MPS and 2 ministers (health minister Anbumani Ramadoss and minister of state for railways R. Velu) decided to move out of UPA and join hands with AIADMK.

3 parties which were a part of or supported UPA, ie Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Lok Janshakti Party and the Samajwadi Party have decided to come out of the coalition and form their own pre-poll alignment in Bihar and UP. So the only major parties remaining inUPA are Congress, NCP and DMK.

Update - April 03, 2009
Despite their decision to field candidates against the Congress party in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) partners Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) on Friday claimed they were still a part of the UPA and would come together to form a government under the leadership of Manmohan Singh after the Lok Sabha election.

“We are with Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. There are certain managers in the Congress who tried to create a rift between us during the seat-sharing discussion. However, we still say that Manmohan singh will be our PM candidate. UPA will come back and fight communal forces. Our aim is to form the government,” RJD chief Lalu Prasad told a rally in Lucknow along with SP leader Mulayam Singh and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan.

Update - May 11, 2009 - TRS Moves from Third Front to NDA
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), at a rally in Ludhiana on May 10, sought to project itself as a united front that now includes the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who was with the Left-led Third Front, appeared on the platform and declared his support for this alliance. The rally, organised by the NDA’s founding constituent Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), was attended by a galaxy of leaders. They included the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, BJP chief Rajnath Singh, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, SAD chief and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh, Asom Gana Parishad president Chandra Mohan Patowary, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chautala and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi. The TRS chief said his party was stabbed in the back after it gave the necessary oxygen to the Congress before the last parliamentary polls. Mr. Chautala warned the people that democracy would perish if they did not vote the NDA to power as the UPA was blindly following the agenda of large capital formation.

Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav while addressing a separate poll rally in Chandigarh in support of party candidate from Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat Hafiz Anwar-ul-Haq had this to offer as retaliation - "We had stopped L K Advani's Rath in Bihar earlier and this time too, his dream of becoming PM will remain a dream”. Claiming that he has joined hands with the LJP and the SP to stop "communal and divisive forces" from coming to power at the Centre, Lalu Prasad vowed to again scuttle the plans of L K Advani, who is "dreaming" to become the Prime Minister of the country. "Those people who sow seeds of hatred between brothers and communities can never become the Prime Minister of this country," he said making a scathing attack on BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Advani. Stating that his fight was against the BJP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena, union railway minister alleged "these forces are out there to spread poison in our society and breed hatred among the communities. Calling Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi "a murderer", the RJD chief said, "Narendra Modi is a murderer in Gujarat riots. ...Even the Supreme Court has ordered that the riots be probed by an independent investigating agency." He lashed out at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for sharing dais with Modi at the NDA rally in Ludhiana on Sunday and said his "so called secular mask has been exposed."

Who wants to be a Brahmarshi?

Foreword:
Here are some of the news items you get on the internet related to the Oscar winning movie Slum Dog Millionaire (SDM).

• Slum dwellers burnt effigies of Danny Boyle and others, at Kamla Nehru slum to show their protest against 'Slum Dog Millionaire'.
• "It is against the basic human values and violate human rights of poorest of the poor living in slums across India".
• The slum dwellers objected to the word "dog" in the title of the film.
• Defamation cases against film's music composer A.R. Rahman and one of its stars Anil Kapoor are filed for "depicting slum dwellers in a bad light" and "violating their human rights".

According to some of these ‘patriotic’ Indians, this was an attempt by a westerner to sell India’s poverty and misery to the west.

As arguments like

• Majority of India is still poor according to generally accepted living standards,
• More than 50% of the population of some of India’s metros live in slums,
• It is the director’s prerogative to choose the story he wants and to decide what is to be shown in the movie and what not to be shown,
• It might not be practical to have a mandate which states any foreigner who takes a movie on or based on India should dedicate the first 15 minutes of the movie to show glimpses of the rich and varied Indian culture and should not show anything which portrays India in a bad light

do not hold much water with these people, here is my attempt at foretelling a future India which will live up to these ‘patriots’ expectations.

Action:

Fast forward to AD 2029:
India is the current super power of the world. It’s a country of Millionaires and Billionaires now. No more workers and slum dwellers. All Indians are CEO’s of their own companies, all of which are completely automated (to avoid manual labor and thus the chance of poverty, slums etc). The entire population (of 2 billion people, considering current population growth rate) wakes up every morning from their huge-round-plush-silky-puffy-beds, slipping their feet into velvety slippers, grabbing their tall-orange-juice-glass offered on a silver-platter by a robot dressed like Air-India-Maharaja (no more human servants, you see, all human Indians are CEOs), walking into their imported Jacuzzi for a hot bath and water massage (Don’t blame me if you are reminded of Shah Rukh Khan’s dream morning in Ohm Shanti Ohm here, its just a coincidence). Then all of them proceed to their high-rise-high-tech-glass-walled offices in imported custom made Audis and Ferraris, to sign checks and multi-billion-Rupee (Dollar is devalued by now, a Rupee is close to 51 Dollars these days, which is a scenario every self respecting Indian used to dream of back in 2009) contracts and play billiards every once in a while. All of them also play Golf on Sunday mornings.

There aren’t any more slums to be found anywhere in India. Slums were banned somewhere in 2012. The closest form of what used to be slums are what are now sprouted at every nook and corner of all the big cities, which are called 25-Star-Hotels. These are the ultimate centers of luxury and fine living (as the name suggests, just compare them to the old 5 star hotels and see the difference) where 60% of urban population lives. Some of the CEOs who moved into the metros were too busy signing multi-billion-Rupee contracts for earning their daily manna (bread, nan, roti etc are outdated) that they often forgot to buy a house for themselves or some others were not even bothered to waste precious time to deal with such trivial nuances of day-to-day life. Instead, all those who didn’t have a house started renting out rooms in these 25-Star-Hotels and used to stay together. These 25-Star-Hotels grow organically, as in, when a new occupant joins, they just add a new make-shift room with walls made of gold plates, thatched with platinum sheets, and floor covered with silver-dust. The living conditions in these 25-Star-Hotels are so good that even people who have their own palaces dream of getting into one of these. When the super rich CEO dads and moms from these 25-Star-Hotels go to work, their children assemble in the huge indoor stadiums attached to the 25-Star-Hotels to play snooker (billiards is reserved for their dads), poker, basketball, baseball etc. Cricket, which used to be dubbed as a poor Indian game is completely wiped out. So are a set of other games like Khabadi, Gilli Danda, Kho-kho and so on. Their places are taken up by baseball and basketball which are considered ‘western’ games. Birth control tactics are not so prevalent in these 25-Star-Hotels and kids are born dime a dozen and all of them are born Millionaires/Billionaires. People who are born and live in a 25-Star-Hotel are mocked at as ‘Rich Dad’s as each of them inherit a huge fortune. (Compare this term with ‘Slum Dog’ which used to create quite a stir in the olden days. By the way, the word ‘Slum Dog’ is banned in India now)

Since Indians have already reached the pinnacles of luxury and materialism, there is a new trend spreading like wild-fire among them. They all have started donating whatever they have and set out to attain nirvana. Those who can shed substantial portions of their wealth and manage to travel in the path of Nirvana are called as Sanyasis. If you manage to climb even further up in the Nirvana ladder and throw away all the money you have, you become a Brahmarshi. In Hinduism, a Brahmarshi is a member of the highest class of Rishis (the Hindu sages), one who has understood the meaning of Brahman or has attained the highest divine knowledge Brahmajnana. Being a Millionaire/Billionaire is outdated and being a Brahmarshi is the new in thing. The only flip side of the story is, you can no longer become poor that easily as there is nobody to accept your donations as every other Tom, Dick and Harry you meet on the street is also a ‘poor’ Millionaire/Billionaire who is burdened by huge sums in his Patiala bank accounts (Swizz banks are outdated). You literally have to chase people, hunt them down and beg them to accept your millions. You find Millionaires (in Armani suites and Oakley sunglasses) roaming around streets and waiting in traffic signals to beg and force you to accept their wealth and thus help them out.

Since all are Millionaires, there are no thefts, burglary and dacoity anymore. There are no law and order issues also. So the main task of Police and Judiciary is to settle money ownership disputes. These are different from the traditional money quarrels, as in, both the parties will be trying to prove that the money in question belongs to the other party, as both are in search of Nirvana. You find young 25-Star-Hotel kids trying to dupe old ladies, who come for a stroll in the park, to trick them to accept their money (Old people are easy targets for anybody to dump their money on). Big corporate sue each other to put the burden of handling the extra profit they earned on each other. People break into stranger’s houses and deposit suite cases full of cash, kilos of jewelry etc there and run away. Police has to investigate, find out the culprits and hand them back their money. Culprits are awarded fines as a form of punishment. Fines often run into millions of Rupees. These are not traditional fines where the culprit has to cough up the money. The state forcefully handles over the fine amount to the culprit and he has to keep it.

People abhor traditional reality shows like “Who wants to be a Millionaire”. In its place, there are a new breed of shows like “Who wants to be a Brahmarshi?” Format is similar, the participant will be asked multiple choice questions and if they answer correctly, the show organizers will accept a part of the participant’s money. The money that the participant can donate increases exponentially with each question and the bumper prize will be a chance to donate all he has and become a Brahmarshi. You often find young corporate leaders weeping uncontrollably when they are eliminated after a couple of rounds, for giving a wrong answer, and who managed to shed only a couple of thousand Rupees.

As in the previous decades, there are child traffickers who abduct kids and make them beg on their behalf. Begging in this case is to force people to accept a part of the abductor’s wealth. Thease kids are called child-proxy-nirvana-beggars as these children are doing proxy begging for the abductor's Nirvana. Every morning, the abductor hands a part of his share documents and other assets to these kids, and they have to go around streets begging people to accept them. If they are not able to finish off what is given to them by the evening, they are tortured. Child torture methods in developed India include forcing them to have double their usual honey/milk/chocolate ration, depositing a couple of million Rupees in their bank accounts, forcing them to play with their imported toys for double the usual time etc. To increase the income potential of child-proxy-nirvana-beggars, some abductors force the kids to put on natural-organic-eco-friendly makeup, give them prettier and more expensive dresses and gift them all the latest gadgets.

Hope I have made the 'patriotic' Indians proud with a pink... oops... rosy description of a developed India.

Don't you have anything better to do?

I have been watching the developments of the Pink Love campaign. I am interested in this campaign because this is one of the rare occasions in the recent times wherein the women and men of the usually aloof Indian middle class and upper class have risen against the atrocities committed by a hooligan group in the name of religion/custom.

Most of the posts on that blog have attracted comments from some brain dead morons in the general direction of what my title suggests, ie, don't these women have any better work to do? Some of the critics of the campaign have listed out other social evils happening around us, including dowry deaths, female feticide, poverty etc. According to them, organizers of this campaign should be catering to the so called 'graver' issues of the society rather than taking up this 'relatively trivial' issue.

This is an argument which is deemed to be a 'no-argument' in most of the rational discussion forums, i.e., it is no more accepted as an argument point. The fact of the matter is, you can never start working on the resolution of an issue if you first set out to make a list of all the available issues, sort them in the order of importance, start attacking the most deadliest ones first and so on. It doesn't work that way.

It is illogical to come up with the argument that the work somebody else is doing is not important, or there are more important issues elsewhere. If you think so, you are welcome to do whatever you feel like doing about those neglected issues. Nobody is stopping you. Just don't waste everybody else's time.

Given the sparse time and resources at the disposal of each of us, there is a definite limit to the things we can do. We will not be able to solve all the issues of the world, and to be very honest, we might not even be interested in solving all the issues of the world. But we might be able to at least start solving one issue at a time. When we pick an issue, its usually something we strongly feel for. All those people who feel there are better issues to be solved, should stop wasting their time and start solving one of those 'graver' issues. The point in short is, as long as I am not forcing you to join my cause, don't criticize the relevance of my cause.

We have a lot of preachers and very few workers. If you attach any importance to yourself, then its your duty to prove that you don’t stop with just plain talk and you plan to actionize on the talk. So come on, all of you armchair critics, find something to work on, and start working on that.

Satyam:Maytas - Matter:Antimatter

Antimatter is an interesting concept in Particle Physics. For the interested, antimatter is related to matter in the same way antiparticle is related to particle. What is of greater interest to me right now is the fact that mixing matter and antimatter will lead to the annihilation of both in the same way that mixing antiparticles and particles does, thus giving rise to high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particle–antiparticle pairs.

Sometimes these same complex rules are applicable not just in abstract physics, but in corporate governance and in day to day management of modern industries. Just consider the recent Satyam fiasco. Isn't it interesting to note that Satyam when spelt backwards becomes Maytas? India’s 4th largest IT major on one side and a budding infrastructure company on the other side. One deals with bits and bytes and the other deals with brick and mortar. One a well known international brand, the other an almost anonymous entity until the recent merger attempt by the Satyam promoters. Almost a matter antimatter kind of pair in all respects. Most of the comparison parameters you consider will put these two at the opposite ends of the hinge.

So what should you expect when you try to mix these two? Probably, annihilation of everything bad and creation of high energy which catapults the mixture into a grand success. That is what at least Mr. Ramalinga Raju expected. Here it is in his own words – “The aborted Maytas acquisition deal was the last attempt to fill the fictitious assets with real ones. Maytas investors were convinced that this is a good divestment opportunity and a strategic fit. Once Satyam’s problem was solved, it was hoped that Maytas’ payments can be delayed”. Things did not work out as he had planned. He went on to admit “But that was not to be. What followed in the last several days is common knowledge.”

One of the biggest cases of corporate fraud exposed in the history of Indian industries. This happens to be too big a blow for the Indian IT industry which was already at its wits end due to economic recession. How many more days can the new Satyam management hold on to the reigns? Will the employees stick with the firm in the hope of a redemption? How many years will it take for Satyam the brand to regain investor confidence?

Here are some of the startling revelations from Mr. Raju’s letter

1. The balance sheet carries as of September 30, 2008
   
   • Inflated(non-existent) cash and bank balance of Rs 5,040 crore (as against Rs 5,361 crore reflected in the books.
   • An accrued interest of Rs 376 crore which is non-existent.
   • An understated liability of Rs 1,230 crore on account of funds arranged by me.
   • An overstated debtors position of Rs 490 crore (as against Rs 2,651 reflected in the books)
2. For the September quarter(Q2) we reported a revenue of Rs 2,700 crore and an operating margin of Rs 649 crore(24% of revenues) as against the actual revenues of Rs 2,112 crore and an actual operating margin of Rs 61 crore(3% of revenues). This has resulted in artificial cash and bank balances going up by Rs 588 crore in Q2 alone.

The letter goes on with the details of the rest of the fraud. We can only hope that the guilty will be brought to justice. Satyam Computer's auditors, PriceWaterHouse Coopers are yet to comment on the issue. The apex chartered accountants' body ICAI will seek an immediate explanation from PwC.

Hope this will act as warning to other companies to make sure they are doing all the right things and also that they are doing nothing but the right things.

Footnote: Just imagine if the Ambanies take a cue from this incident and decide to listen to their (so far absent) conscience, and come up with a resignation letter listing all the frauds they have done, I am sure the end result will be something as big as Encyclopedia Britannica.

Resignation remedy for Mumbai Terror Attacks

Yesterday was a field day of resignations and resignation offers in Indian politics and bureaucracy. First of all, let me summarize this post before I start - I welcome Mr.Shivraj Patil’s resignation.

Home Minister Mr. Shivraj Patil hesitantly offered to resign and his offer was gleefully accepted by the Prime Minister and the President of India. Taking a cue from this, National Security Adviser Mr. M.K. Narayanan stood up, with a resignation letter in his hand but his resignation was dutifully rejected and he was asked to remain seated. During the CWC meeting which took place yesterday, Defense Minister Mr. A.K. Antony, Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee dramatically offered to resign when their respective departments were put under the hawk’s eye for their (lack of) efficiency and all three offers were conveniently ignored by the rest of the lot.

If resignation is the solution to all our problems, all of us Indians should try resigning from whatever posts we hold and see what happens. We all know that is not the case and this is not the answer we are looking for. Then why did I say I welcome Mr. Shivraj Patil’s resignation? Because I want to see it as a change in the way the Indian politicians function. I want to see this as an instance of a politician being held accountable for his actions (or the lack of them). Accountability is a very crucial and utmost important aspect painstakingly missing in our politicians and bureaucrats.

“With great power comes great responsibility” said Uncle Ben to one Peter we all know. Indian politicians are a breed which are blessed with immense power but are not responsible for anything. They abuse their powers to lead a posh lifestyle and enjoy all the comforts they can get, bend each and every rule in the book to their and their kin’s advantage, indulge in unchecked bribery and are still protected from the clutches of the law on account of their authority and power.

• The PWD Minister is not accountable for the sad state of our roads.
• The Home Minister is not accountable for the unchecked rise in crime in our cities. He and the Internal Affairs Minister are not responsible for the recurring terror attacks.
• The Defense Minister is not accountable for the miss on the military’s part in guarding our nation.
• The Education Minister is not accountable for the sad state of affairs in our government schools.
• The Prime Minister is not accountable for any of the above even though he is supposed to oversee, control and direct all of them.

The system is so bad that the general public does not even expect these politicians to be accountable.

• When these same set of incompetent, partisan and corrupt politicians come begging for our votes in the next election, we happily elect him/her without sparing a moment to think about his/her accomplishments or credentials.
• We are so used to being held up, waiting in hour long traffic jams just to see one of these ministers speeding by through a free way, often to attend some private function.
• We are content and raise no questions when we see these politicians enjoy state sponsored trips abroad accompanied by a battalion of his clan complete with his grandson and puppy.
• We do not raise any questions when we see a pauper becoming a billionaire after joining politics.
• We do not raise any questions when we see crores getting spent on the politician’s birthday and when even more crores are spent on erecting these beggar’s statues across the state.

“Every nation gets the kind of leaders it deserves” said some Wiseman. So are we to be blamed for the sad state of our nation? Is it our fault that we don’t demand anything better from these politicians? Is it our fault that we are ready to put up with their incompetency forever? These are questions which does not have easy answers.

This is the background from which I say I welcome Mr. Shivraj Patil’s resignation. Not as a symbolic gesture or as a face saving measure for the government. But as a strong message that we won’t tolerate incompetence anymore. We want people who are responsible and are accountable. A Home Minister should not be allowed to get away with excuses like “I didn’t know about the terror attacks”, “I will tackle it next time”, “Why am I the only one responsible” and so on. At the best, he can give the excuse “I was caught unaware this time, I will make sure it does not happen again” on the very first time. But not again and again, week after week. There have been more than 10 brutal terror attacks this very year and he cannot just go on parroting his rehearsed speech every time, without even rearranging sentences. Hopefully this is going to be a new beginning when we start expecting the politicians to start delivering.

Now that dust has settled on Mr. Shivraj Patil, here are the rest of the lot whom I would like to see quitting, for the same reasons of incompetence and lack of accountability.

Mr. R.R. Patil, deputy CM and Home Minster of Maharashtra.
For issuing the statement “…small things like this happen in big cities…”. He belittled the effort and struggle of the police officers and NSG commandos who lost their life, he doesn't value the lives of innocent men and women who were killed in the melee and he just could not comprehend the seriousness of the situation. On one hand he could do nothing to avert this incident, or do something to take control and expedite the counter attack, and when everything has settled down, he has the audacity to come up and make such an atrocious statement which hurts millions of us. I do not think we the general public agree with the sentiment he expressed. Since he is a complete misfit, show him the door.

Mr. Vilas Rao Deshmukh, CM of Maharashtra
Mr. Vilas Rao Deshmukh should be kicked out for denying that there was intelligence reports about a possible attack on Mumbai. Either he is not being informed about what is happening to his state by his colleagues in his government, in which case he does not deserve to continue. If that is not the case, either he is lying or the RAW spokesperson is lying. One of them must go. We want our politicians to be accountable for their actions or at the very least for their words. They should not be allowed to get away with blabbering about anything and everything without checking the authenticity of the information they pass on and often blatantly lying.

Mr Deshmukh also had the audacity to tour around the Taj, after all the action was over, accompanied by his actor son and the film director Mr. Ram Gopal Varma. How could these people from the film industry be included in the official team which visited Taj? Doesn’t the incident expose the seriousness the CM gave for the official visit of a spot which shocked the entire nation?

The authority who should take action on a security tip off by the RAW or the RAW spokesperson.
Either the RAW spokesperson lied to us when he said his agency had passed on security warnings or the authority which is supposed to take action ignored the warnings. One of them must go. First of all, these people could not protect our motherland from being attacked, and when it happened, they are trying to pass the blame on to someone else. Make them accountable for their words at least. As a next step, we can make them accountable for their actions.

The coast guard officers who intercepted the terrorist vessel.
They are plain incompetent in carrying out their duty. If terrorists can fool them and get past them, then what are they getting paid for? If they were as effective as a bunch of village lasses in stopping a terrorist ship even after intercepting it, then why were they given the training to do their jobs? I am not asking for their resignation. Let them understand what their duties are, get necessary training and be truthful to their job.

And last but not the least, all the media persons who made this entire incident into a sop serial.
I have kept this to the very last so that I can elaborate on this. These are the people who think they are the modern Messiahs of India, but they are the ones who should be reprimanded and berated the most. What happened in Mumbai from Nov 26th to 29th was a national tragedy. It is not the time for these bastards to increase their TRPs with some irrelevant, inaccurate and inappropriate coverage and reporting. It was not a cricket test match to be telecasted live across the globe. There has to be some guidelines and restraint in place when they are covering a national tragedy.

Why should they telecast live images from the site of the adversity? It is not an action movie. Lives of hundreds of innocent men and women were trapped inside. Who is it going to help, except for the terror groups which are spread around the globe planning their next attack? Will the relatives of the people trapped inside the hotel be any more comfortable hearing about the barbaric acts committed by the terrorists? Who was supposed to enjoy the sight of the building going up in flames in front of their eyes? What we are looking for is actual news and details about the people who are rescued and are still trapped inside. I don’t think a reporter doing some bloody drama of crawling on the floor while jabbering away to glory will be of any comfort to the viewers across the globe.

And these very media men are betraying our commandos and army men who risked their lives to rescue the hostages, when the exact details, strength and movements of the commandos were telecasted real time. Don’t tell me that the TV lines to the hotel were cut, because that does not deter the terrorists from getting information through satellite phones from their accomplices spread around the world. Don’t tell me that they were not divulging military secrets and were misleading the terrorists, as the situation did not look like it was under anybody’s control for him to marshal the information being passed on to the media. Media was sneaking into unnecessary details and trying to create panic among onlookers and sensationalize the issue.

Some specific set of people from the media for whom I have specific questions to ask.

The reporters who reported that there was firing in the CST station on the second day afternoon and the presenters who presented that news on “Your Channel”s. The reporters should resign their jobs and opt for manual labor as they lack competency for anything else. They substantiated a baseless rumor and sent shockwaves to thousands. What if people had reacted violently? What if there was a stampede in or around CST station? What if there was a communal riot because of that news? The presenters who screamed that news at the top of their voice should apologize on air and admit that “Your Channel”s screwed up big time.

The presenter and reporter who were hypothesizing on a theory about who it could be when they showed a man falling out of a window. Initially they reported that it was a terrorist being thrown out. Then they corrected themselves and said it was a commando getting out. After sometime the original story was repeated again. We are not seeing a horse race or a football match for the commentator to bet and hypothesize. Report it if you know what had happened, else keep your trap shut. Nobody expects you to take educated or calculated or whatever else guesses. Neither the channel is paying you nor the viewer is watching the channel to see you gamble and bet amongst yourself and fool general public.

Bakra Dutt - For hanging out there most of the time and coming up with utter nonsensical statements every once in a while. I just want to mention your winding up speech when everything was getting over. You managed to get a set of local chaps to surround you, wave at the camera and push and pull eachother to be on air. It looked as if they were a set of spectators at a T20 cricket ground. Unfortunately in this great country, you get dime a dozen to gather around you and smile at you if you have a TV camera pointed at you. That doesn’t mean you have to capitalize on it and show the world how immature Indians are. You were prompting them to jump around you, cheer, applaud and shake hands with the tired commandos who were waiting inside the buses. It was a shame to see the way a set of mumbaikers monkeying around, dancing to the tunes of a TV reporter.

I feel it is high time we have some guidelines on what the Media can cover and what they cannot. Media should verify each and every sentence before it is aired, especially in troubled times. There should not be any live coverage of national calamities. Army and commandos should be the ones who control a catastrophe hit area, not brain-dead camera-wielding journalists and reporters. Aim of the media should be to pass accurate information in the form of news bulletins every once in a while, and not in covering it live with all the gory details.

PS: As somebody rightly pointed out, the morons with the Thackeray sir-name don’t even deserve a mention when we talk about serious issues concerning Mumbai. They are absolute lunatics who should have been chained years ago. So skipping those jokers.