Earlier this year, India saw its first big airline acquisition, when Air Sahara, run by the Sahara group, was taken over by Naresh Goyal's Jet Airways. The deal was worth Rs. 2300 crores, and was talked about the world over as a preview of what was about to happen in the promising Indian aviation sector.
As usual, there were people against it, including the Commies, who said this would create a monopoly and all that crap. Usually in a free market, acquisitions mean one has automatic access to the acquired company's infrastructure, with some riders, but for a relatively 'free' economy, which they say India is, this deal was far from clean. The Government of India was involved in every step of the way when this deal was announced, much because of its need to play big brother. In my previous posts I have already talked about the Con'gress's mindset to play big brother, like it always has during much of our independent lives. You name a big deal in the country and you will find that the Government of India is watching it like a hawk. The reason is simple, India must be protected from itself, and the only one who can protect is the Government of India. Well, thats what the successive governments think anyway. In the view of the Government, every private entity is out to hurt the country, and hence all this 'liberalization' and all these new-age practices have to be watered down with a heavy dose of socialism. After all, these pansies must look out for the interest of the vote bank that makes the most noise, and in India's case, that has always been the numerous trade unions oweing their allegiences to one party or the other.
Then there's the Chinese puppets in India. These morons couldn't see a good idea if it walked naked in front of them. Old habits die hard, and these elected representatives from mainly two states have managed to hold the entire nation to ransom. I have talked enough about their double game already. Its funny how one party supports something in their bastion, but is opposed to the same thing on the national level. Never seen that happening, but hey, you know what, I am sure the Chinese thought it out well before sending the orders down to their Indian arm. Thats my anti-Government rant for the day and now coming back to the Jet Sahara deal.
The deal had red flags on it from the start. Air Sahara has a lot of heat coming its way recently because of its shady trade practices and even shadier financial reporting. Then theres Naresh Goyal's Jet, which has been linking with the underworld for a long time now. This article from Money Control says that Jet's reasoning is that they are in a financial crunch, which I find really hard to believe. So one day they say alright, lets buy this company, and only a few months later they say they don't have the money to do it? Nah, no dice.
What caused the Jet-Sahara deal to fall through?
The Lucknow district court has extended the interim order freezing the Jet Airways-Air Sahara Escrow account until June 30, reports CNBC-TV18.
But what made the Jet-Sahara deal to fall through? Is the Home Ministry playing politics or was it just cautious in delaying Naresh Goyal's security clearance.
Jet Airways allowed the merger with Air Sahara to lapse after the deadline on Wednesday; and it did not even put out any statement. Even the stock exchanges were not informed. Now, Sahara has a curious explanation about why the deal fell through.
"The only reason they gave us was that they were going through a financial crunch and they wanted a cut in the deal," said Alok Sharma, President, Air Sahara. Sahara says the merger was conditional on Naresh Goyal being on Air Sahara's reconstituted board but analysts say that was not the reason why the merger fell through.
"It was clear they wanted to get out of it; security clearance was not the issue," Kapil Kaul, Civil Aviation Analyst said.
But the Home Ministry should have conveyed the reasons for the security clearance not coming though, in the absence of which, the government will be seen to be abusing its discretionary power to influence the course of the merger.
Analysts say that this episode raises regulatory issues and calls for a regulator to veto all aviation mergers and acquisitions.
Meanwhile, Jet Airways broke its silence with a one-line notice to the Exchanges stating that the deal was in court. But exclusive information with the TV18 network points out how Jet started pulling the plug on the Sahara deal on June 21.
It is learnt that top Jet Airways officials met in London that day to chalk out a plan to call off the deal. It seems Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal was also present at this meeting.
The officials discussed the situation that would arise after the deal was called off. Also on the agenda, were plans to recall Jet's staff and resources allocated to Air Sahara.
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And now like every other big event in the country, this case heads to this country's favorite pub, the courts.
Jet-Sahara buyout deal in tailspin as both fly to court
The high-profile buyout of Air Sahara by Jet Airways is on the brink of collapse as both airlines approached the courts today with hours to go before the escrow account for the deal expires.
The Subroto Roy-founded airline has alleged that Jet Airways terminated the takeover agreement. ‘‘The deal technically falls through at midnight. We are ready to give Jet Airways an extension of 15 more days. If the deal falls through, we will run Air Sahara as a full-fledged airline from tomorrow,’’ Air Sahara’s executive vice-president Alok Sharma said.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, in a move aimed at blocking Jet Airways from withdrawing money deposited in the escrow account created for the merger, Air Sahara moved the sessions court at Lucknow. It sought that Jet Airways be restrained from withdrawing any money from the escrow account.
Air Sahara’s move came soon after Jet filed an arbitration petition before the Bombay High Court, seeking direction to stop Air Sahara and its seven directors from withdrawing Rs 500 crore transferred by it in the escrow account.
While there was no clearance from the Union Home Ministry today for Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal’s candidature on the Air Sahara board, it is learnt that there is an in-principle approval. Clearly, financial reasons—Jet was seeking to lower the acquisition price—are the key factor behind the breakdown in the deal.
The first major indication of the deal going sour was the reported move by Jet asking all its top-level employees working with Air Sahara to report back to its parent company.
Even though Jet officials have not explicitly stated the reason for pulling out, in their affidavit to the court asking to block Air Sahara’s access to the escrow account, it says Air Sahara had not fulfilled conditions agreed upon, including transfer of infrastructure facilities like parking bays, arrival and departure slots.
Jet’s reluctance to proceed with the acquisition of Air Sahara grew over the past couple of weeks, particularly after Jet found it had to spend over Rs 250 crore to just get Air Sahara functioning in full capacity.
It’s learnt that Jet has been incurring an expenditure of nearly Rs 40 crore a month after it took control of Air Sahara’s operations. This sent calculations awry and prompted a rethink when the due diligence report indicated serious shortcomings in maintenance standards.
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It really shows Jet in bad light that they didn't do their homework before going through with the deal. Keeping all the government influences aside, it seems Jet failed to fully access the performance and risk involved with Air Sahara. The parent company, Sahara Parivar, like i said, is already under a lens for shady financial reporting and doesn't seem to be doing so well financially, and Air Sahara, it is learnt, was just as messed up. I can't understand how Jet failed to see this. The government wants to steer clear of this fight, it is learnt, but sooner or later it probably will be. All in all, lets wait and see how India's first major airline acquisition, and now first failed acquisition, turns out.
Jet deal not scuttled by delays: Govt
The government has reacted strongly against Jet airways claim that the deal with Sahara was scuttled because of procedural delays on its part. On Tuesday, Jet had issued a statement that the Rs 2300 crore Jet-Sahara deal had lapsed because of delays in the government processes.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel however said its merger policy was in place one month before the deal deadline.The minister is upset over a Jet Airways' statement that says the deal fell through because of delays in government approvals.
Now Patel has set the record straight."A government does make policy to suit a particular airline a broad framework of mergers and acquisition policy was ready by May," said Patel.
Earlier, this week however, Air Sahara had claimed Jet Airways wanted the original amount Rs 2300 crore to be reduced.
"Jet Airways told us they are having financial problems and that's why they wanted a cut in the deal," said Alok Sharma, President, Air Sahara.
Original amount
Earlier in the day both Jet and Sahara moved the Supreme Court. Sahara says they want to ensure that their version of events is heard. Jet's immediate concern is that the case is heard in Mumbai and not Lucknow where Sahara had originally filed a case against them.
It's perhaps natural that Sahara and Jet will differ but as they fight one thing is clear the government would not like to be dragged into a controversy.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
The sad story of NICE
India once had a Prime Minister named HD Devegowda. Mr. Devegowda was the leader of the United Front, a brief political coalition that existed in the mid-90's after the end of tenure of the PV Narasimha Rao Government.
The United Front Government was a short term hodgepodge to take advantage of the fact that neither the BJP not the Congress could muster up enough numbers to form the Government. So this UF government had 2 or three prime ministers, and its cabinet was full of who'se who of all regional parties. Heck, its Defense Minister was Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav, the current Chief Monster of Ulta Pradesh.
It wasn't long before Mr. Devegowda's spot in the national limelight was over, a term in which, more than anything else, he was famous for two things, taking his entire extended family on foreign trips with him, and falling asleep during meetings and Parliament sessions.
So after his stint at the center, Mr. Gowda returned to his home state of Karnataka and was the big man on campus. In the early 2000's, Karnataka's Chief Minister was S.M Krishna, a very popular CM from the Congress. Mr. Krishna could be credited with a lot of Bangalore's development, and his favorable view of the business community. Thus when he went, questions were raised about how friendly the new government will be. I am not too much in the know about Karnataka politics, but I do know that Gowda hated Krishna for his popularity, even though they were supposed to be allies in the state government. Gowda is the leader of the Janata Dal (Secular).
In the 80's, when Bangalore was just witnessing a boom, there was a plan to link Bangalore to its satellite town of Mysore with a 6 lane expressway, with brand new, modern townships and industrial complexes throughout the distance, and the executors of the project, the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Limited, were given huge tracts of land for the purpose. Although the plan was on the drawing board, it couldnt take off due to lack of funds, until around 1995. Although Janata Dal supported the project, Mr. Gowda was against giving so much farm land to the company, and led a campaign of insisting that the corridor only stick to building the expressway and nothing else. So a committee was constituted and they said that the company was indeed given excessive land. Nothing was done about it at the time, and poor NICE has been in a roller coaster ride ever since.
Now Devegowda's son is the CM, and although he made all the noises that he is unlike his father and pro-reform and promised to take up major infra projects, the influence of his father on his actions and words is apparent. The Company went to the Supreme Court and the court ordered the government to remove all hurdles from the path of the company and let them execute the project, but till today, the GoK is adamant in its stand, and is unwilling to let this company do anything. So basically, they have decided to go against the Supreme Court order. One way they are doing so is by bringing in a legislation in their puny legislature, just like their brother monkeys did in the Delhi Legislature after the Supreme Court order on the illegal encroachments.
JD (S) launches ad blitz against NICE
Launching a campaign against Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), the JD (S) has issued an advertisement in the media alleging that the promoters of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) are planning to illegally raise Rs 4,500 crore by selling excess land of 975 acres and buffer land of 749 acres around Bangalore in the implementation of the first phase of the project itself.
Though NICE was spending only Rs 5.37 crore for constructing a km of road under the first phase involving 41-km peripheral road, 9.8-km link road and 12-km expressway, in reality the state would have spent Rs 72.46 crore per km due to the selling of excess land by the NICE, the party argued.
The company which did not even have construction equipment was implementing the project through sub-leasing arrangement, the party alleged.
JD(S) claims
*Only 2,471 acres required as per court order for the first phase of BMIC project, but NICE already possesses 2,894 acres
*NICE still demanding an additional 791 acres around the peripheral road for the first phase. *NICE spending only Rs 333 crore for construction of the first phase and planning to make a profit of Rs 4,500 crore by selling the excess land under this phase.
*NICE bought lands from farmers at Rs 3-8 lakh per acre; now planning to sell them off at Rs 3-8 crore per acre
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K'taka Govt's cheque to NICE bounces
The cheque issued by the Karnataka Government to the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), the promoters of the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), towards payment of penalty imposed by the Supreme Court has bounced, allegedly due to insufficent funds.
The Supreme Court had slapped a penalty of Rs five lakh on the State Government in its ruling on April 20, terming the Government's appeal against the High Court order, which upheld the acquisition of 20,193 acres by NICE for the project, as ''frivolous arguments.''
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I am not trying to scuttle BMIC project, says Deve Gowda
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda has denied pressuring the Karnataka Government led by his son, H.D. Kumaraswamy, into scuttling the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project by not only denying more land but also taking away land already provided for the project.
Stressing that he will not give up his fight, he said: "I will never compromise on the rights of the poor, Dalits, the downtrodden and farmers, whom I represent. I am not opposed to BMIC on BOOT. But, I will not allow BOOT to be turned into open loot."
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I read somewhere that this project is the most scrutinized project ever in the history of the country. There have been dozens of government orders passed on it, dozens of committees have been formed to look into it, and dozens and dozens of campaigns have been started for and against this project. The politicians in Karnataka have tried various methods to scuttle this project, including character assasination of the company head, and getting their party workers to ransack project lands and hurt officials. With the politicians of Karnataka determined to see that Bangalore loses its position as the leading business destination, there is no doubt that numerous vested interests have worked overtime to see that such a potentially beneficial project does not see the light of day for some reason or the other.
The United Front Government was a short term hodgepodge to take advantage of the fact that neither the BJP not the Congress could muster up enough numbers to form the Government. So this UF government had 2 or three prime ministers, and its cabinet was full of who'se who of all regional parties. Heck, its Defense Minister was Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav, the current Chief Monster of Ulta Pradesh.
It wasn't long before Mr. Devegowda's spot in the national limelight was over, a term in which, more than anything else, he was famous for two things, taking his entire extended family on foreign trips with him, and falling asleep during meetings and Parliament sessions.
So after his stint at the center, Mr. Gowda returned to his home state of Karnataka and was the big man on campus. In the early 2000's, Karnataka's Chief Minister was S.M Krishna, a very popular CM from the Congress. Mr. Krishna could be credited with a lot of Bangalore's development, and his favorable view of the business community. Thus when he went, questions were raised about how friendly the new government will be. I am not too much in the know about Karnataka politics, but I do know that Gowda hated Krishna for his popularity, even though they were supposed to be allies in the state government. Gowda is the leader of the Janata Dal (Secular).
In the 80's, when Bangalore was just witnessing a boom, there was a plan to link Bangalore to its satellite town of Mysore with a 6 lane expressway, with brand new, modern townships and industrial complexes throughout the distance, and the executors of the project, the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Limited, were given huge tracts of land for the purpose. Although the plan was on the drawing board, it couldnt take off due to lack of funds, until around 1995. Although Janata Dal supported the project, Mr. Gowda was against giving so much farm land to the company, and led a campaign of insisting that the corridor only stick to building the expressway and nothing else. So a committee was constituted and they said that the company was indeed given excessive land. Nothing was done about it at the time, and poor NICE has been in a roller coaster ride ever since.
Now Devegowda's son is the CM, and although he made all the noises that he is unlike his father and pro-reform and promised to take up major infra projects, the influence of his father on his actions and words is apparent. The Company went to the Supreme Court and the court ordered the government to remove all hurdles from the path of the company and let them execute the project, but till today, the GoK is adamant in its stand, and is unwilling to let this company do anything. So basically, they have decided to go against the Supreme Court order. One way they are doing so is by bringing in a legislation in their puny legislature, just like their brother monkeys did in the Delhi Legislature after the Supreme Court order on the illegal encroachments.
JD (S) launches ad blitz against NICE
Launching a campaign against Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), the JD (S) has issued an advertisement in the media alleging that the promoters of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) are planning to illegally raise Rs 4,500 crore by selling excess land of 975 acres and buffer land of 749 acres around Bangalore in the implementation of the first phase of the project itself.
Though NICE was spending only Rs 5.37 crore for constructing a km of road under the first phase involving 41-km peripheral road, 9.8-km link road and 12-km expressway, in reality the state would have spent Rs 72.46 crore per km due to the selling of excess land by the NICE, the party argued.
The company which did not even have construction equipment was implementing the project through sub-leasing arrangement, the party alleged.
JD(S) claims
*Only 2,471 acres required as per court order for the first phase of BMIC project, but NICE already possesses 2,894 acres
*NICE still demanding an additional 791 acres around the peripheral road for the first phase. *NICE spending only Rs 333 crore for construction of the first phase and planning to make a profit of Rs 4,500 crore by selling the excess land under this phase.
*NICE bought lands from farmers at Rs 3-8 lakh per acre; now planning to sell them off at Rs 3-8 crore per acre
----------------------------------------------------------
K'taka Govt's cheque to NICE bounces
The cheque issued by the Karnataka Government to the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), the promoters of the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), towards payment of penalty imposed by the Supreme Court has bounced, allegedly due to insufficent funds.
The Supreme Court had slapped a penalty of Rs five lakh on the State Government in its ruling on April 20, terming the Government's appeal against the High Court order, which upheld the acquisition of 20,193 acres by NICE for the project, as ''frivolous arguments.''
-------------------------------------------------
I am not trying to scuttle BMIC project, says Deve Gowda
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda has denied pressuring the Karnataka Government led by his son, H.D. Kumaraswamy, into scuttling the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project by not only denying more land but also taking away land already provided for the project.
Stressing that he will not give up his fight, he said: "I will never compromise on the rights of the poor, Dalits, the downtrodden and farmers, whom I represent. I am not opposed to BMIC on BOOT. But, I will not allow BOOT to be turned into open loot."
------------------------------------------------------
I read somewhere that this project is the most scrutinized project ever in the history of the country. There have been dozens of government orders passed on it, dozens of committees have been formed to look into it, and dozens and dozens of campaigns have been started for and against this project. The politicians in Karnataka have tried various methods to scuttle this project, including character assasination of the company head, and getting their party workers to ransack project lands and hurt officials. With the politicians of Karnataka determined to see that Bangalore loses its position as the leading business destination, there is no doubt that numerous vested interests have worked overtime to see that such a potentially beneficial project does not see the light of day for some reason or the other.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Still loving the Mid-day meals
I talked about this in one of my posts earlier, and I am still impressed with the Mid-day meal scheme. We know our education system is a mess, and current Con'gress politicians are busy trying to mess it up further, but the one good story out of all this is the success of the mid-day meal scheme, which, according to some, is the largest in the world.
So for this post, I try to look further into this scheme, how it started, and how it is coming along. Before anything else, I am sure its pretty obvious what the scheme is about. It is about providing midday meals to school children in thousands of schools all across the country, in an attempt to spur parents to send their kids to school, especially the ones who are financially constrained and do not send their children to school simply because they would rather have them work to bring extra money into the household. Despite all the calls for it, and the numerous success stories all across the world, true to its character, Indian governments, both at the center and the states had only reluctantly begun implementing it, despite orders from the Supreme Court of India.
In January 2004, this report was published on the website, 'India Together' titled 'Groundswell for mid-day meal scheme.' As I had thought, there is a lot more to this scheme than just being a scheme that just went right. While the idea has been lingering in the country for a long while, it was only in 2003 that it was taken to the next level, and accorded any importance to it. Please read every word of this long report, it'll make you feel good that at least something is going right in our great nation.
This report is more than 2 years old, and I am sure a lot more states are in the fold now, I will try to look for more recent data on that.
Groundswell for mid-day meal scheme
It’s a measure of the low priority accorded to elementary education in post-independence India that only on July 1, 2003 was the long-standing proposal to provide a free mid-day meal to all students in government primary schools implemented in the southern state of Karnataka (pop. 56 million). After the introduction of its Akshara Dasoha mid-day meal scheme, Karnataka became the eighth of India’s 31 state governments to action this scheme which has universally effected dramatic improvements in school enrollment. However some of the largest states of the Indian Union including Uttar Pradesh (pop. 160 million), Maharashtra (96 million), Bihar (82 million) and West Bengal (80 million) are yet to introduce the free mid-day meal scheme within their administrative jurisdictions.
Free mid-day meals for school students were first introduced in a Japanese private school in the late 1800s, in Brazil in 1938 and in the United States in 1946. With evidently satisfactory results.
Comments the Global School Feeding Report of the United Nation’s World Food Programme: “School feeding programmes often double enrollment within a year and can produce a 40 percent improvement in academic performance in just two years. Children who take part in such programmes stay in school longer and the expense is minimal.”
The reluctance of India’s central planners, policy formulators and educationists to action the free mid-day meal scheme to incentivise parents at the base of the social pyramid to send their children to school is especially surprising. The scheme, first introduced in the southern state of Tamilnadu way back in 1956, has proved remarkably successful in improving school enrollment in that state. Though partially launched in 1956, the mid-day meal programme was given full shape and form by the state’s actor-turned chief minister the late M.G. Ramachandran in 1982. Since then its efficient state-wide implementation has vaulted Tamilnadu into the ranks of the most literate states of the Indian Union (adult literacy: 73.5 percent), an attribute which has endowed this southern state (pop. 62 million) with a shower of benefits including a stable population, steady industrialisation and perhaps the best physical and social infrastructure in the country.
The state government’s budgetary provision for NMP for the year 2003-04 is a relatively sizeable Rs.659.39 crore (2.47 percent of its annual budgetary outlay). Against this modest cost, the benefit has been a dramatic increase in school enrollment in the state — in primary schools it has shot up 31 percent from 5.04 million in 1985-86 to 6.59 million in 2002-03. Moreover in middle school, drop-outs have decreased from 24 to 13.85 percent during the same period.
Quite evidently the Tamilnadu experiment is replicable in other states given political will. A recent study of mid-day meal schemes in three states of the Indian Union — Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Karnataka — conducted by the Centre for Equity Studies of the Delhi School of Economics clearly indicates the nexus between improved student enrollment and retention and the free mid-day meal. A study of 81 schools in which free mid-day meals were introduced in July 2001, indicates class I enrollment rose by 15 percent within the year. Particularly impressive jumps were made in female enrollment in Chhattisgarh (17 percent) and Rajasthan (29 percent).
Given the proven efficacy of the mid-day meal scheme in improving school enrollment and attendance in a society in which an estimated 59 million children in the age-group six-14 are out of school, it is shocking that only half of India’s 31 states provide cooked mid-day meals in schools within their administrative borders, though three states have launched the scheme on a pilot basis in some districts. Seven states with an aggregate population of 400 million don’t provide a cooked meal despite a Supreme Court judgement of 2001 directing all state governments to provide cooked mid-day meals in primary schools within six months.
Though most of the defaulting state governments failed to meet the apex court deadline of May 28, 2002, the governments of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have expanded their mid-day schemes to cover all primary schools administered and aided by them. The recalcitrant states which despite repeated warnings from the Supreme Court have not yet implemented the cooked mid-day meal scheme are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand which host an aggregate population of 275 million citizens of whom 50 percent are comprehensively illiterate.
Approximately Rs.9,000 crore per year is required to implement the free mid-day meal scheme in all government and aided schools countrywide. This seems too large to be affordable, but in reality it’s a small price to pay to reap a potentially monumental socio-economic benefit.
Not surprisingly the dominant sentiment within the ministry of education in Lucknow is sceptical. Department officials concede that if the free mid-day meal scheme could not be implemented in the six most backward districts for lack of funds, it is highly unlikely that it will be implemented in 18 (out of a total of 70) districts in the state.
According to the CES survey (mentioned earlier), the approximate cost to state governments of providing cooked meals for 200 days a year (as stipulated by the Supreme Court) is a mere Re.1 per day per capita because the central government provides grains and cereals from the rotting 65 million tonne foodgrains mountain stored in the makeshift godowns of the public sector Food Corporation of India. Therefore for instance, it would cost the Uttar Pradesh government a mere Rs.300 crore per year to provide mid-day meals to all primary (upto class V) children.
This conspicuous lack will to implement a scheme which offers great cost-benefit advantages is rooted in several socio-economic factors. For one, India’s new tribe of self-perpetuating politicians is subliminally aware that an educated population is certain to demand good governance and accountability from them. Secondly there is a deep-rooted bias in favour of merit-based rather than universal education within the nation’s dominant middle class. Thus while considerable pains are taken to establish excellent institutions of education such as the Kendria Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodalayas and top-rung private sector schools for high performance primary and secondary students (and the IITs and IIMs for school leavers), there is little interest within governments at the central and state levels to raise universal primary and secondary education standards which would benefit poor citizens at the base of India’s complex and massive social pyramid.
Low rent-earning opportunities apart, a possible cause of the general lack of will within state governments to action the school mid-day meal programme could be lack of confidence about implementing this inevitably massive programme while maintaining minimum quality standards.
The general lack of establishment enthusiasm in some states is also influenced by the widely held belief that the provision of cooked meals disrupts classroom processes. Some media reports suggest that teachers spend too much time supervising culinary operations to the detriment of academic timetables.
The critical importance of decentralising the free mid-day meal to the maximum possible degree has impacted itself upon the educrats of the Union HRD ministry in New Delhi. The ministry is currently proposing the constitution and involvement of independent self-help groups in the form of mothers’ groups in every school offering the scheme.
The bottom line is that the politician-bureaucracy combine is less driven by moral exhortations than by public pressure. Therefore there is a great onus on the academic community and the nation’s educated middle class in particular to intensify pressure on the political establishment to extend coverage of the provenly beneficial free mid-day meal to all government schools across the country. The national interest plainly demands it.
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A couple of changes have indeed taken place since this report was published, and I can name two off the top of my head. One, the governments have made progress in getting the parents involved in the preparation of the meals. This ensures that teachers do their real job of teaching and not spend too much time on managing the preparations. Parents ensure that quality is maintained, because they have a very strong incentive, unlike our politicians; Their own child is in there.
While the report says that the per capita cost for the scheme comes out to Rs. 1, which was true and was maintained till recently, when the government at the center decided to raise the level of investment to Rs. 1.50 per child. This will ensure that children not only get the staples like rice, dal and wheat, but now they can also get vegetables and fruits in their diets.
Also, the scheme is now much more decentralized than before. But as they say, the incentives for politicians to have an educated citizenary are low. And how right they are. This has been my view ever since I started taking any interest in Indian politics. Politicians would rather sit in their offices and do nothing while stealing state money, than actually providing good governance to their voters.
Although initially launched in 1995, the government revised it in 2004. Here are some points from the website of the Ministry of Education's Department of Elementary Education and Literacy.
Guidelines of revised National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, 2004
“The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing - … that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.
Article 39 (f)
National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (Mid-Day Meal Scheme), 1995
1.2.1 Introduction
National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education [commonly known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme] was launched as a Centrally-sponsored Scheme on 15th August, 1995. Its objective was to boost “universalisation of primary education by increasing enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously impacting on nutrition of students in primary classes”. It was implemented in 2408 blocks in the first year, and covered the whole country in a phased manner by 1997-98. The programme originally covered children of primary stage (Classes I to V) in government, local body & government-aided schools, and was extended in October, 2002, to cover children studying in Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative & Innovative Education (AIE) Centres also.
Central assistance has been provided to States under the programme by way of:-
i) Free supply of foodgrains from the nearest godown of Food Corporation of India (FCI) @ 100 gm. of wheat/rice per student per day [cost of which is reimbursed to FCI by the Govt. of India], and
ii) Subsidy for transport of foodgrains from nearest FCI Depot to the Primary School – subject to a maximum of Rs.50 per Quintal [ceiling last fixed in June, 1997].
Programme Management
- Prescription of State/UT-specific Norms of Expenditure
-- Nodal Department in the State Government/UT Administration
--- Nodal Responsibility at the District Level
---- Management at the Local Level
At the local level, State Governments will be expected to assign responsibility for implementation and supervision of the programme to an appropriate body e.g. Gram Panchayat, Municipality, Village Education Committee, Parent Teacher Association or School Management-cum-Development Committee. Responsibility for cooking would as far as possible be assigned to local women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Youth Clubs affiliated to Nehru Yuvak Kendras (NYKs), VEC, SMDC, PTA/MTA, or good NGOs where available.
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And then it starts spreading.
Mid-day meal scheme a success story in Rajasthan
Centre raises mid-day meal aid
Mid-day meals: MCD to involve students’ mothers
This century is ours, inshallah.
So for this post, I try to look further into this scheme, how it started, and how it is coming along. Before anything else, I am sure its pretty obvious what the scheme is about. It is about providing midday meals to school children in thousands of schools all across the country, in an attempt to spur parents to send their kids to school, especially the ones who are financially constrained and do not send their children to school simply because they would rather have them work to bring extra money into the household. Despite all the calls for it, and the numerous success stories all across the world, true to its character, Indian governments, both at the center and the states had only reluctantly begun implementing it, despite orders from the Supreme Court of India.
In January 2004, this report was published on the website, 'India Together' titled 'Groundswell for mid-day meal scheme.' As I had thought, there is a lot more to this scheme than just being a scheme that just went right. While the idea has been lingering in the country for a long while, it was only in 2003 that it was taken to the next level, and accorded any importance to it. Please read every word of this long report, it'll make you feel good that at least something is going right in our great nation.
This report is more than 2 years old, and I am sure a lot more states are in the fold now, I will try to look for more recent data on that.
Groundswell for mid-day meal scheme
It’s a measure of the low priority accorded to elementary education in post-independence India that only on July 1, 2003 was the long-standing proposal to provide a free mid-day meal to all students in government primary schools implemented in the southern state of Karnataka (pop. 56 million). After the introduction of its Akshara Dasoha mid-day meal scheme, Karnataka became the eighth of India’s 31 state governments to action this scheme which has universally effected dramatic improvements in school enrollment. However some of the largest states of the Indian Union including Uttar Pradesh (pop. 160 million), Maharashtra (96 million), Bihar (82 million) and West Bengal (80 million) are yet to introduce the free mid-day meal scheme within their administrative jurisdictions.
Free mid-day meals for school students were first introduced in a Japanese private school in the late 1800s, in Brazil in 1938 and in the United States in 1946. With evidently satisfactory results.
Comments the Global School Feeding Report of the United Nation’s World Food Programme: “School feeding programmes often double enrollment within a year and can produce a 40 percent improvement in academic performance in just two years. Children who take part in such programmes stay in school longer and the expense is minimal.”
The reluctance of India’s central planners, policy formulators and educationists to action the free mid-day meal scheme to incentivise parents at the base of the social pyramid to send their children to school is especially surprising. The scheme, first introduced in the southern state of Tamilnadu way back in 1956, has proved remarkably successful in improving school enrollment in that state. Though partially launched in 1956, the mid-day meal programme was given full shape and form by the state’s actor-turned chief minister the late M.G. Ramachandran in 1982. Since then its efficient state-wide implementation has vaulted Tamilnadu into the ranks of the most literate states of the Indian Union (adult literacy: 73.5 percent), an attribute which has endowed this southern state (pop. 62 million) with a shower of benefits including a stable population, steady industrialisation and perhaps the best physical and social infrastructure in the country.
The state government’s budgetary provision for NMP for the year 2003-04 is a relatively sizeable Rs.659.39 crore (2.47 percent of its annual budgetary outlay). Against this modest cost, the benefit has been a dramatic increase in school enrollment in the state — in primary schools it has shot up 31 percent from 5.04 million in 1985-86 to 6.59 million in 2002-03. Moreover in middle school, drop-outs have decreased from 24 to 13.85 percent during the same period.
Quite evidently the Tamilnadu experiment is replicable in other states given political will. A recent study of mid-day meal schemes in three states of the Indian Union — Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Karnataka — conducted by the Centre for Equity Studies of the Delhi School of Economics clearly indicates the nexus between improved student enrollment and retention and the free mid-day meal. A study of 81 schools in which free mid-day meals were introduced in July 2001, indicates class I enrollment rose by 15 percent within the year. Particularly impressive jumps were made in female enrollment in Chhattisgarh (17 percent) and Rajasthan (29 percent).
Given the proven efficacy of the mid-day meal scheme in improving school enrollment and attendance in a society in which an estimated 59 million children in the age-group six-14 are out of school, it is shocking that only half of India’s 31 states provide cooked mid-day meals in schools within their administrative borders, though three states have launched the scheme on a pilot basis in some districts. Seven states with an aggregate population of 400 million don’t provide a cooked meal despite a Supreme Court judgement of 2001 directing all state governments to provide cooked mid-day meals in primary schools within six months.
Though most of the defaulting state governments failed to meet the apex court deadline of May 28, 2002, the governments of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have expanded their mid-day schemes to cover all primary schools administered and aided by them. The recalcitrant states which despite repeated warnings from the Supreme Court have not yet implemented the cooked mid-day meal scheme are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand which host an aggregate population of 275 million citizens of whom 50 percent are comprehensively illiterate.
Approximately Rs.9,000 crore per year is required to implement the free mid-day meal scheme in all government and aided schools countrywide. This seems too large to be affordable, but in reality it’s a small price to pay to reap a potentially monumental socio-economic benefit.
Not surprisingly the dominant sentiment within the ministry of education in Lucknow is sceptical. Department officials concede that if the free mid-day meal scheme could not be implemented in the six most backward districts for lack of funds, it is highly unlikely that it will be implemented in 18 (out of a total of 70) districts in the state.
According to the CES survey (mentioned earlier), the approximate cost to state governments of providing cooked meals for 200 days a year (as stipulated by the Supreme Court) is a mere Re.1 per day per capita because the central government provides grains and cereals from the rotting 65 million tonne foodgrains mountain stored in the makeshift godowns of the public sector Food Corporation of India. Therefore for instance, it would cost the Uttar Pradesh government a mere Rs.300 crore per year to provide mid-day meals to all primary (upto class V) children.
This conspicuous lack will to implement a scheme which offers great cost-benefit advantages is rooted in several socio-economic factors. For one, India’s new tribe of self-perpetuating politicians is subliminally aware that an educated population is certain to demand good governance and accountability from them. Secondly there is a deep-rooted bias in favour of merit-based rather than universal education within the nation’s dominant middle class. Thus while considerable pains are taken to establish excellent institutions of education such as the Kendria Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodalayas and top-rung private sector schools for high performance primary and secondary students (and the IITs and IIMs for school leavers), there is little interest within governments at the central and state levels to raise universal primary and secondary education standards which would benefit poor citizens at the base of India’s complex and massive social pyramid.
Low rent-earning opportunities apart, a possible cause of the general lack of will within state governments to action the school mid-day meal programme could be lack of confidence about implementing this inevitably massive programme while maintaining minimum quality standards.
The general lack of establishment enthusiasm in some states is also influenced by the widely held belief that the provision of cooked meals disrupts classroom processes. Some media reports suggest that teachers spend too much time supervising culinary operations to the detriment of academic timetables.
The critical importance of decentralising the free mid-day meal to the maximum possible degree has impacted itself upon the educrats of the Union HRD ministry in New Delhi. The ministry is currently proposing the constitution and involvement of independent self-help groups in the form of mothers’ groups in every school offering the scheme.
The bottom line is that the politician-bureaucracy combine is less driven by moral exhortations than by public pressure. Therefore there is a great onus on the academic community and the nation’s educated middle class in particular to intensify pressure on the political establishment to extend coverage of the provenly beneficial free mid-day meal to all government schools across the country. The national interest plainly demands it.
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A couple of changes have indeed taken place since this report was published, and I can name two off the top of my head. One, the governments have made progress in getting the parents involved in the preparation of the meals. This ensures that teachers do their real job of teaching and not spend too much time on managing the preparations. Parents ensure that quality is maintained, because they have a very strong incentive, unlike our politicians; Their own child is in there.
While the report says that the per capita cost for the scheme comes out to Rs. 1, which was true and was maintained till recently, when the government at the center decided to raise the level of investment to Rs. 1.50 per child. This will ensure that children not only get the staples like rice, dal and wheat, but now they can also get vegetables and fruits in their diets.
Also, the scheme is now much more decentralized than before. But as they say, the incentives for politicians to have an educated citizenary are low. And how right they are. This has been my view ever since I started taking any interest in Indian politics. Politicians would rather sit in their offices and do nothing while stealing state money, than actually providing good governance to their voters.
Although initially launched in 1995, the government revised it in 2004. Here are some points from the website of the Ministry of Education's Department of Elementary Education and Literacy.
Guidelines of revised National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, 2004
“The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing - … that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.
Article 39 (f)
National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (Mid-Day Meal Scheme), 1995
1.2.1 Introduction
National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education [commonly known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme] was launched as a Centrally-sponsored Scheme on 15th August, 1995. Its objective was to boost “universalisation of primary education by increasing enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously impacting on nutrition of students in primary classes”. It was implemented in 2408 blocks in the first year, and covered the whole country in a phased manner by 1997-98. The programme originally covered children of primary stage (Classes I to V) in government, local body & government-aided schools, and was extended in October, 2002, to cover children studying in Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative & Innovative Education (AIE) Centres also.
Central assistance has been provided to States under the programme by way of:-
i) Free supply of foodgrains from the nearest godown of Food Corporation of India (FCI) @ 100 gm. of wheat/rice per student per day [cost of which is reimbursed to FCI by the Govt. of India], and
ii) Subsidy for transport of foodgrains from nearest FCI Depot to the Primary School – subject to a maximum of Rs.50 per Quintal [ceiling last fixed in June, 1997].
Programme Management
- Prescription of State/UT-specific Norms of Expenditure
-- Nodal Department in the State Government/UT Administration
--- Nodal Responsibility at the District Level
---- Management at the Local Level
At the local level, State Governments will be expected to assign responsibility for implementation and supervision of the programme to an appropriate body e.g. Gram Panchayat, Municipality, Village Education Committee, Parent Teacher Association or School Management-cum-Development Committee. Responsibility for cooking would as far as possible be assigned to local women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Youth Clubs affiliated to Nehru Yuvak Kendras (NYKs), VEC, SMDC, PTA/MTA, or good NGOs where available.
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And then it starts spreading.
Mid-day meal scheme a success story in Rajasthan
Centre raises mid-day meal aid
Mid-day meals: MCD to involve students’ mothers
This century is ours, inshallah.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Today is World Refugee Day
Today, the 20th of June, 2006 is the World Refugee Day. Let us take a moment from out lives to stop and ponder to think about the millions of people who have been forced to move out of their homes because of war and famine. A place to live, food to eat and clothes to put on our bodies are the things in life we take for granted, yet there are human beings who make without at least one of them. Dear Lord, give me a lot of money, and give me the will to spend it all on the deprived people of the world. That is what i want to do, and that is what I will strive to do.
The one headline that provided a glimmer of hope is that the number of refugees in the world is at its lowest in the last 26 years. While the media chooses to focus its cameras on the numerous celebrities going around camps, holding children, and talking about compassion, this situation will not improve that way. The people with money must share some of what they have with the deprived and displaced humanity elsewhere. No, we can't go to bed satisfied that Hollywood actresses are taking care of the situation.
UN marks World Refugee Day with message of hope and events around the globe
20 June 2006 – From remote camps to big cities, from the steaming lowlands of Liberia to the high plateaux of Afghanistan, from floodlit fountains to fashion shows and soccer matches, the United Nations today celebrated World Refugee Day with a message of “Hope” broadcast around the globe by leaders, film stars and refugees themselves.
“Let this Day serve as a reminder of our responsibility to help keep hope alive among those who need it most – the millions of refugees and displaced who are still far from home,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message, underlining this year’s theme.
“For the thousands of people forced to flee their homes each year, escaping with their lives and a few belongings, is often just the start of a long struggle. Once they have found safety from persecution or war, they still face enormous challenges just trying to obtain things most of us take for granted - schooling, a job, decent housing or health care.”
“If there is one common trait among the tens of millions of refugees that we at the UN refugee agency have helped over the past 55 years, it's the fact that despite losing everything, they never give up hope,” said High Commissioner António Guterres, who marked the Day on the ground at the Bo Waterside area near the Liberia-Sierra Leone border, meeting returning refugees and displaced people.
There are currently 20.8 million people of concern toUNHCR, including 8.4 million refugees, more than 5 million of whom have been in exile for five years or longer.
In Buta in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a simple man who had not seen his homeland in four decades since he was taken by his fleeing family to Sudan as a four-month old infant, symbolized UNHCR’s work and the Day’s theme.
A world away in Afghanistan, UNHCR marked the Day with a documentary film and visits to aid centres in a country that has produced the largest group among the Agency’s total global populations of concern. Since the ouster of the Taliban regime more than four years ago, some 4.6 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan.
In Geneva, UNHCR’s home base, the city’s iconic 140-metre-high jet d’eau fountain and public buildings around the country were set to be bathed in blue, the UN colour, and World Refugee Day banners were to line the Mont Blanc bridge. Australia was illuminating the old parliament building and other landmarks in Canberra, the capital.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
India, as a rising nation, must be more active in sending aid workers and other help to Africa and other affected places. This world is not a white man's burden anymore, and India and other rising countries need to announce that by being more proactive in world affairs.
Indian religious organizations are crying foul all the time of all the evangelist money coming into India's tribal lands, but the reason is that our own money and support not reaching there. What stops all the big temples, mosques and other organizations of India to channel resources and aid and human hours to the needy around the world. Why must I always switch on the news and hear about Hollywood actors and actresses being the saviours of this world?
India has been home to the Tibetan refugees for many decades, and add to that the thousands who just came in as things heated up in Nepal.
Refugee populations: Fact file
According to the UNHCR, the total number of refugees worldwide reached 8.4 million by the end of 2005, the lowest level since 1980.
Refugee numbers have decreased by 12% in 2005, the fifth consecutive year in which the global refugee population has dropped.
Here is a list of major refugee populations at the end of 2005 ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday:
Country of Origin Asylum Population
Afghanistan Pakistan/Iran 2,414,695
Sudan Chad/Uganda 730,914
Burundi Tanzania/Democratic 485,506
Republic of Congo Tanzania/Zambia 461,248
Republic of Congo
Somalia Kenya/Yemen 3 90,026
Palestinian Saudi Arabia/Egypt 349,828
Territories*
Vietnam China/Germany 348,446
Liberia Guinea/Ivory Coast 336,115
Iraq Iran/Germany 312,480
Azerbaijan Armenia/Germany 250,911
* Does not include about four million Palestinian refugees living in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
-------------------------------------------------------------
So Tibetans are not considered refugees anymore I suppose. All hail economy, a treacherous regime can get away with anything because it can make cheap consumer goods.
The one headline that provided a glimmer of hope is that the number of refugees in the world is at its lowest in the last 26 years. While the media chooses to focus its cameras on the numerous celebrities going around camps, holding children, and talking about compassion, this situation will not improve that way. The people with money must share some of what they have with the deprived and displaced humanity elsewhere. No, we can't go to bed satisfied that Hollywood actresses are taking care of the situation.
UN marks World Refugee Day with message of hope and events around the globe
20 June 2006 – From remote camps to big cities, from the steaming lowlands of Liberia to the high plateaux of Afghanistan, from floodlit fountains to fashion shows and soccer matches, the United Nations today celebrated World Refugee Day with a message of “Hope” broadcast around the globe by leaders, film stars and refugees themselves.
“Let this Day serve as a reminder of our responsibility to help keep hope alive among those who need it most – the millions of refugees and displaced who are still far from home,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message, underlining this year’s theme.
“For the thousands of people forced to flee their homes each year, escaping with their lives and a few belongings, is often just the start of a long struggle. Once they have found safety from persecution or war, they still face enormous challenges just trying to obtain things most of us take for granted - schooling, a job, decent housing or health care.”
“If there is one common trait among the tens of millions of refugees that we at the UN refugee agency have helped over the past 55 years, it's the fact that despite losing everything, they never give up hope,” said High Commissioner António Guterres, who marked the Day on the ground at the Bo Waterside area near the Liberia-Sierra Leone border, meeting returning refugees and displaced people.
There are currently 20.8 million people of concern toUNHCR, including 8.4 million refugees, more than 5 million of whom have been in exile for five years or longer.
In Buta in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a simple man who had not seen his homeland in four decades since he was taken by his fleeing family to Sudan as a four-month old infant, symbolized UNHCR’s work and the Day’s theme.
A world away in Afghanistan, UNHCR marked the Day with a documentary film and visits to aid centres in a country that has produced the largest group among the Agency’s total global populations of concern. Since the ouster of the Taliban regime more than four years ago, some 4.6 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan.
In Geneva, UNHCR’s home base, the city’s iconic 140-metre-high jet d’eau fountain and public buildings around the country were set to be bathed in blue, the UN colour, and World Refugee Day banners were to line the Mont Blanc bridge. Australia was illuminating the old parliament building and other landmarks in Canberra, the capital.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
India, as a rising nation, must be more active in sending aid workers and other help to Africa and other affected places. This world is not a white man's burden anymore, and India and other rising countries need to announce that by being more proactive in world affairs.
Indian religious organizations are crying foul all the time of all the evangelist money coming into India's tribal lands, but the reason is that our own money and support not reaching there. What stops all the big temples, mosques and other organizations of India to channel resources and aid and human hours to the needy around the world. Why must I always switch on the news and hear about Hollywood actors and actresses being the saviours of this world?
India has been home to the Tibetan refugees for many decades, and add to that the thousands who just came in as things heated up in Nepal.
Refugee populations: Fact file
According to the UNHCR, the total number of refugees worldwide reached 8.4 million by the end of 2005, the lowest level since 1980.
Refugee numbers have decreased by 12% in 2005, the fifth consecutive year in which the global refugee population has dropped.
Here is a list of major refugee populations at the end of 2005 ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday:
Country of Origin Asylum Population
Afghanistan Pakistan/Iran 2,414,695
Sudan Chad/Uganda 730,914
Burundi Tanzania/Democratic 485,506
Republic of Congo Tanzania/Zambia 461,248
Republic of Congo
Somalia Kenya/Yemen 3 90,026
Palestinian Saudi Arabia/Egypt 349,828
Territories*
Vietnam China/Germany 348,446
Liberia Guinea/Ivory Coast 336,115
Iraq Iran/Germany 312,480
Azerbaijan Armenia/Germany 250,911
* Does not include about four million Palestinian refugees living in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
-------------------------------------------------------------
So Tibetans are not considered refugees anymore I suppose. All hail economy, a treacherous regime can get away with anything because it can make cheap consumer goods.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Apologies for the inaction
I woke up this morning, on the eighteenth day of sixth month of 2006 and realized I hadn't even remembered I had a blog the past few days, let alone bothering to post in it. Its because yesterday was my graduation day, and the past few days have been a whole hodgepodge of various graduation related events.
From going to many parties, to many dinners, to meeting many parents, and then finally walking up on the stage and shaking hands with the President and other people out there was a whole new feeling. Much love and respect to my mamu jaan and mami ji for attending my graduation. I love you both very much.
Needless to say, it was a big milestone for me, and I with all the pressure and tension in trying to finish school in the United States, I had thought this day would never come. But it did, and I think i did alright. I graduated with a magna cum laude, on the Dean's List and even then my life is not seeing the stability that I am trying to achieve. Now that this chapter is over, a new chapter starts of what my future plans will be. Should I stay in this country or go back to India next year? I dont know, and I am trying to figure out what my options are.
So thats one story that i've been living the past few days, and finally have some time to catch a breather. Although i've been busy with my own things, it is not that I have been not following what is going on around the world. By the way, I hope people have been following the Football World Cup. Its one of the most beautiful sports, and I am trying to get every minute of it, from watching the spanish free to air channel, since I have no cable, and taking lunches in the bar across the street from my work to catch that days game. i am a part of a World Cup pool and to tell you the truth, I am getting killed. Half my predictions, probably more than that, have been wrong, and there is no way in hell I am even going to end up as the top three performers. Goodbye my fifteen dollars.
Coming to India, its just depressing news that has been hitting me everytime I log onto an Indian publication. The Congress is gearing up for a grand UP battle, and the Queen has called on her subjects to shape up for the showdown. So expect more dirty politics being played out in the coming months.
A forumer brought up a valid point, the Congress is all about control. Having ruled most of the first 50 years after our independence when India was an epitome of socialism with nationalizations, public takeovers and throwing out foreign companies, Congress is not about to let go of that mindset. What can one man at the helm do when the people around him are assholes of the first degree. What can the Prime Minister do when the Queen allows her other ministers to interfere in his decisions and in effect challenge him on everything.
Thats just the government. I think I have already mentioned that Indian media revels in publishing bad news. I logged onto Indian Express and I see news of a man being killed for complaning about a sect in Gujarat, an on duty cop being killed on a train, people clashing for something or the other. In the end, it seems this whole country is pissed about something, and wants to fight. Now if only we could channel our anger and frustrations towards the enemies who are working overtime to hurt our state. That would be loverly, no?
I will part with some pictures from my graduation. I'll get back to the depression later, because I am sure that is not going to go anywhere while I am looking the other way.
From going to many parties, to many dinners, to meeting many parents, and then finally walking up on the stage and shaking hands with the President and other people out there was a whole new feeling. Much love and respect to my mamu jaan and mami ji for attending my graduation. I love you both very much.
Needless to say, it was a big milestone for me, and I with all the pressure and tension in trying to finish school in the United States, I had thought this day would never come. But it did, and I think i did alright. I graduated with a magna cum laude, on the Dean's List and even then my life is not seeing the stability that I am trying to achieve. Now that this chapter is over, a new chapter starts of what my future plans will be. Should I stay in this country or go back to India next year? I dont know, and I am trying to figure out what my options are.
So thats one story that i've been living the past few days, and finally have some time to catch a breather. Although i've been busy with my own things, it is not that I have been not following what is going on around the world. By the way, I hope people have been following the Football World Cup. Its one of the most beautiful sports, and I am trying to get every minute of it, from watching the spanish free to air channel, since I have no cable, and taking lunches in the bar across the street from my work to catch that days game. i am a part of a World Cup pool and to tell you the truth, I am getting killed. Half my predictions, probably more than that, have been wrong, and there is no way in hell I am even going to end up as the top three performers. Goodbye my fifteen dollars.
Coming to India, its just depressing news that has been hitting me everytime I log onto an Indian publication. The Congress is gearing up for a grand UP battle, and the Queen has called on her subjects to shape up for the showdown. So expect more dirty politics being played out in the coming months.
A forumer brought up a valid point, the Congress is all about control. Having ruled most of the first 50 years after our independence when India was an epitome of socialism with nationalizations, public takeovers and throwing out foreign companies, Congress is not about to let go of that mindset. What can one man at the helm do when the people around him are assholes of the first degree. What can the Prime Minister do when the Queen allows her other ministers to interfere in his decisions and in effect challenge him on everything.
Thats just the government. I think I have already mentioned that Indian media revels in publishing bad news. I logged onto Indian Express and I see news of a man being killed for complaning about a sect in Gujarat, an on duty cop being killed on a train, people clashing for something or the other. In the end, it seems this whole country is pissed about something, and wants to fight. Now if only we could channel our anger and frustrations towards the enemies who are working overtime to hurt our state. That would be loverly, no?
I will part with some pictures from my graduation. I'll get back to the depression later, because I am sure that is not going to go anywhere while I am looking the other way.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The oil hike, and then its roll back
If you are following world news, you will know that high oil prices have been a major cause for concern all over the world. Every nation is witnessing rising oil prices, and high fluctuations. Economic uncertainties have taken their tolls on world stock exchanges, with the Bombay Stock Exchange losing major percentage points every week. Its pretty much the same scene with other exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange.
In a free market economy, a rise in prices is usually passed onto the consumers, but India is not a free market economy (despite what that visiting politician might tell you at that economic forum in that part of the world). So to protect the consumers, the government did not allow the state oil companies to raise oil prices, and thus they were forced to take a hit of billions of dollars, pushing them into a loss. And these are some of India's biggest PSU's we are talking about here.
Last week, the government finally realized that this can't be kept on like this, because it will run this companies into bankrupcy sooner than later. Of course, the brainless block of people that the Left are, they can't be expected to understand world economics. The country's economy can go to hell, as long as the people are not burdened. So they opposed any move to raise oil prices tooth and nail, but the PM finally said, enough, and fuck you guys, I am going to raise the prices. So the prices were raised, but then the Lefties went berserk, and given the fact that the Queen of India also thinks like the Left i.e. vote banks before anything else, the PM was under pressure instantly to call for a partial roll back. The only positive thing about this whole episode was that the PM was assertive in saying a full roll back couldn't be done, and then did call for a partial roll back, definitely on orders from the Congress headquarters.
Time for tough decisions
In the biggest-ever increase in fuel prices, the government on Monday raised the price of petrol by Rs 4 per litre and of diesel by Rs 2.
In the decision to hike prices of petrol and diesel lies an unmistakable message for the Left parties.
Sources close to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told HT he felt that meeting high expectations from the 8.5 growth rate and sustaining several other positive indicators would not be possible without facing difficult situations head on. The result: the decision to raise petro prices in the face of the Left's opposition — underscored in a note it addressed to Singh on Monday, outlining measures other than a hike.
"The elections to state assemblies are over and the PM felt it was time to move forward," said a source. He said Singh decided not to kowtow to the communists' unreasonable demand, especially when the gap between domestic and international prices has left oil PSUs bleeding.
The sources said the Left Front partners had to decide whether they wanted a functional or a dysfunctional government. The PM accommodated them by holding back the decision on oil prices till the assembly polls. But they are not willing to concede anything in return.
Anticipating the Left's reaction to the hike and to avoid a direct face-off with his outside supporters, the PM, the sources said, had cancelled his visit to Kolkata next week to lay the foundation stone for the Indian Institute of Sciences.
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So thats the part of the fuel hike. The decision was to be taken months ago, but being a great democracy that India is, the government did not do so because of the upcoming state elections. So it was okay to let the public sector undertakings bleed by a few billion dollars than hurt your prospects in elections.
But like I said, elections or no elections, more of our politicians cannot be expected to know the ways of the rupee. They don't know about how an economy is run, and they couldn't care less. And the Empress of India seems to be in the same mould. So what happens next? Like every decision taken in India, there are calls to roll it back. How can i forget about the BJP's pitch for a rollback. I still stand by my view that their loss in the last national elections took their senses away, and now their main job as the opposition party is to oppose any economic liberalization proposed by the Government.
Cong asks Govt to cut fuel price hike
The Manmohan Singh government proposes, but Congress disposes. After months of consultations with the Left allies, the government on Monday decided to raise petrol price by Rs 4 and diesel by Rs 2 a litre, only to be told by Congress to reduce the quantum.
The decision, taken by the Cabinet despite a strike call from the Left and protests from the opposition BJP, is now poised to be moderated to the relief of motorists.
Congress leaders went into a huddle to discuss the issue after the decision to raise petrol and diesel prices was announced. They found the revision too steep and wanted it to be reduced. "We appreciate the government's compulsions, especially in view of flaring global crude and mounting losses of state-owned oil marketing companies. But we also feel the burden is going to be too high and should be reduced," party spokesman Rajeev Shukla said.
Party sources suggested a Rs 3 a litre hike in petrol and Re 1 a litre hike in diesel as "reasonable and acceptable to consumers". The opposition from Congress took the government by surprise. Before the Cabinet met, PMO sources had indicated that Manmohan Singh was all for it.
"The government has been sensitive to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s concerns about the impact of higher fuel prices on farmers and limited the hike in diesel to Rs 2 a litre." Congress' protest raises questions over the disparity between the party and the government and its attention to boundary management.
---------------------------------------------------
The Con'gress says that a Rs. 2 raise is reasonable, as opposed to the Rs. 4 set by the PM. I am sure they must have spent countless hours running financial calculations and measuring the economic impact of the fuel hike, or the lack of it. Just to clear things up, even Rs. 4 is not enough to bring the oil companies out of the red, but its a start.
The PM is a good man, but we know who runs the country. And I know that the Con'gress is still a slimy, calculating party that does not care about morals and ethics as long as the vote banks are being entertained. Teaming with the Commie traitors, they have time and time again opposed many economic decisions taken by the Prime Minister. I had such high hopes when Congress came to power, thinking Sonia Gandhi will be different, she is powerful and has class, but I was wrong. She is just one of them.
PM may agree to partial rollback of oil price hike
Despite the government’s disclaimers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may eventually agree to a partial rollback of fuel prices but only after discussing the matter at the next meeting of the Left-UPA coordination committee, which is likely to be held in the third week of the month.
Although the Congress and the Left parties are pressing the government to reconsider its decision, the BJP’s agitation plans have queered the pitch for the Centre. The government does not want to take any decision at this juncture as it would not like the BJP to grab any political mileage from this move.
It was stated that the government had taken a conscious decision to stand firm on the issue despite the fact that the Congress had also joined other political parties in seeking a partial rollback.
Congress sources said the Congress and the Left parties were well aware that a fuel price hike had become inevitable because of the spurt crude oil prices in the international market. The two were also sounded out by the government about the decision, which was held in abeyance on account of the assembly elections in Kerala and West Bengal following a request from the Left parties.
---------------------------------------------
Like i said, not that these monkeys are not aware of the repercussions of their actions.
In a free market economy, a rise in prices is usually passed onto the consumers, but India is not a free market economy (despite what that visiting politician might tell you at that economic forum in that part of the world). So to protect the consumers, the government did not allow the state oil companies to raise oil prices, and thus they were forced to take a hit of billions of dollars, pushing them into a loss. And these are some of India's biggest PSU's we are talking about here.
Last week, the government finally realized that this can't be kept on like this, because it will run this companies into bankrupcy sooner than later. Of course, the brainless block of people that the Left are, they can't be expected to understand world economics. The country's economy can go to hell, as long as the people are not burdened. So they opposed any move to raise oil prices tooth and nail, but the PM finally said, enough, and fuck you guys, I am going to raise the prices. So the prices were raised, but then the Lefties went berserk, and given the fact that the Queen of India also thinks like the Left i.e. vote banks before anything else, the PM was under pressure instantly to call for a partial roll back. The only positive thing about this whole episode was that the PM was assertive in saying a full roll back couldn't be done, and then did call for a partial roll back, definitely on orders from the Congress headquarters.
Time for tough decisions
In the biggest-ever increase in fuel prices, the government on Monday raised the price of petrol by Rs 4 per litre and of diesel by Rs 2.
In the decision to hike prices of petrol and diesel lies an unmistakable message for the Left parties.
Sources close to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told HT he felt that meeting high expectations from the 8.5 growth rate and sustaining several other positive indicators would not be possible without facing difficult situations head on. The result: the decision to raise petro prices in the face of the Left's opposition — underscored in a note it addressed to Singh on Monday, outlining measures other than a hike.
"The elections to state assemblies are over and the PM felt it was time to move forward," said a source. He said Singh decided not to kowtow to the communists' unreasonable demand, especially when the gap between domestic and international prices has left oil PSUs bleeding.
The sources said the Left Front partners had to decide whether they wanted a functional or a dysfunctional government. The PM accommodated them by holding back the decision on oil prices till the assembly polls. But they are not willing to concede anything in return.
Anticipating the Left's reaction to the hike and to avoid a direct face-off with his outside supporters, the PM, the sources said, had cancelled his visit to Kolkata next week to lay the foundation stone for the Indian Institute of Sciences.
-----------------------------------------------------
So thats the part of the fuel hike. The decision was to be taken months ago, but being a great democracy that India is, the government did not do so because of the upcoming state elections. So it was okay to let the public sector undertakings bleed by a few billion dollars than hurt your prospects in elections.
But like I said, elections or no elections, more of our politicians cannot be expected to know the ways of the rupee. They don't know about how an economy is run, and they couldn't care less. And the Empress of India seems to be in the same mould. So what happens next? Like every decision taken in India, there are calls to roll it back. How can i forget about the BJP's pitch for a rollback. I still stand by my view that their loss in the last national elections took their senses away, and now their main job as the opposition party is to oppose any economic liberalization proposed by the Government.
Cong asks Govt to cut fuel price hike
The Manmohan Singh government proposes, but Congress disposes. After months of consultations with the Left allies, the government on Monday decided to raise petrol price by Rs 4 and diesel by Rs 2 a litre, only to be told by Congress to reduce the quantum.
The decision, taken by the Cabinet despite a strike call from the Left and protests from the opposition BJP, is now poised to be moderated to the relief of motorists.
Congress leaders went into a huddle to discuss the issue after the decision to raise petrol and diesel prices was announced. They found the revision too steep and wanted it to be reduced. "We appreciate the government's compulsions, especially in view of flaring global crude and mounting losses of state-owned oil marketing companies. But we also feel the burden is going to be too high and should be reduced," party spokesman Rajeev Shukla said.
Party sources suggested a Rs 3 a litre hike in petrol and Re 1 a litre hike in diesel as "reasonable and acceptable to consumers". The opposition from Congress took the government by surprise. Before the Cabinet met, PMO sources had indicated that Manmohan Singh was all for it.
"The government has been sensitive to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s concerns about the impact of higher fuel prices on farmers and limited the hike in diesel to Rs 2 a litre." Congress' protest raises questions over the disparity between the party and the government and its attention to boundary management.
---------------------------------------------------
The Con'gress says that a Rs. 2 raise is reasonable, as opposed to the Rs. 4 set by the PM. I am sure they must have spent countless hours running financial calculations and measuring the economic impact of the fuel hike, or the lack of it. Just to clear things up, even Rs. 4 is not enough to bring the oil companies out of the red, but its a start.
The PM is a good man, but we know who runs the country. And I know that the Con'gress is still a slimy, calculating party that does not care about morals and ethics as long as the vote banks are being entertained. Teaming with the Commie traitors, they have time and time again opposed many economic decisions taken by the Prime Minister. I had such high hopes when Congress came to power, thinking Sonia Gandhi will be different, she is powerful and has class, but I was wrong. She is just one of them.
PM may agree to partial rollback of oil price hike
Despite the government’s disclaimers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may eventually agree to a partial rollback of fuel prices but only after discussing the matter at the next meeting of the Left-UPA coordination committee, which is likely to be held in the third week of the month.
Although the Congress and the Left parties are pressing the government to reconsider its decision, the BJP’s agitation plans have queered the pitch for the Centre. The government does not want to take any decision at this juncture as it would not like the BJP to grab any political mileage from this move.
It was stated that the government had taken a conscious decision to stand firm on the issue despite the fact that the Congress had also joined other political parties in seeking a partial rollback.
Congress sources said the Congress and the Left parties were well aware that a fuel price hike had become inevitable because of the spurt crude oil prices in the international market. The two were also sounded out by the government about the decision, which was held in abeyance on account of the assembly elections in Kerala and West Bengal following a request from the Left parties.
---------------------------------------------
Like i said, not that these monkeys are not aware of the repercussions of their actions.
Monday, June 12, 2006
If you're unfortunate to be from Lucknow
One of my frequent online activities is to look for news. I look for news to read and to post on the internet forums that I am a member of and to write about on my blog. This morning, I was looking for infrastructure development news from Lucknow to post on the SkyScraper City forum, and I realized, once again, that nothing but bad news seems to be written for that city.
While I loved Lucknow when I lived there, I realize it was a protected life away from the grime and filth of the city. Now that I have grown up, I have a growing interest in political commentary, and reading about Lucknow always leaves me angry and bitter. While looking for news on infrastructure, all I came across was news on crime, politician-criminal nexuses, and brazen misuse of power by people in charge. Add to that all the instances where the civic authorities are too busy blowing each other to do their work. There are dead bodies floating in the Gomati, you think the Lucknow Municipality cares? Nah, they dont. Criminals are ruling the roost in the city, but can the Police do anything? Of course not, they are too busy providing the politicians protection. Of course politicians in India need protection. They need it from the millions of us, the common men, who have been mutilated and used by these genital warts we call UP politicians.
Having lived in Lucknow, I think I have seen first hand how things work in the city. Every part of the city gets massive power cuts, every part but the colonies where the top government officials and the politicians live. I think in Lucknow everyone thinks they are important. Every second car will have a board announcing their position. Puny party activists will proudly display their party flag and everyone else is expected to respect their right of way and provide special privelages.
You know, as much seedy money as the politicians and most bureaucrats earn, they are still cheap. I think an undying similarity between all these people is the way they try to get out of paying toll. In the smaller cities, and on smaller highways which haven't been touched by the NHDP, toll is usually collected by youth who man temporary posts made out of tin sheets, and use jute ropes as barriers. Everybody stops to pay the tolls, but as a 'big' figure approaches, the beacon goes on, and that important person's police escort will roll the window down and announce who is in the car, and they will be let through, and no, they don't pay the 5 rupees. I believe that is how most of these people roll.
So here's a Lucknow that is steeped in crime, much of it under the patronage of the politicians who come from all parts of the state to make it their home, and the civic and other public authorities are busy pandering to their whims and fancies. Some projects do come up once in a while, like a 6 lane road through the city that is supposed to cut travel time, and other such random projects, but as things stand, cities like Lucknow seem to have no chance of providing their residents the basic civic amenities that define city living.
The state chief minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav leads from the front in corruption and crime. He and his family have been busy amassing land in all parts of the city, but of course, since US is a gangsta's paradise, there will be no repercussions.
'No concealment of properties by Mulayam'
There is no concealment of properties by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, against whom a petition alleging amassing of wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income is pending in the Supreme Court, and there is complete disclosure of all properties, state Advocate General S M A Kazmi said on Sunday.
He told reporters here that the properties have been assessed with the income tax department and other taxing authorities on year-wise basis and all properties had been disclosed by Yadav and his son.
Kazmi also claimed the petitioner Vishwanath Chaturvedi had a long association with Congress party as a functionary holding high offices. Chaturvedi had filed a PIL in the apex court alleging that Yadav and his family members had amassed wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Thats one picture. The second one is how crime and politics go hand in hand in our glorious city.
Getting gunners by using his ‘milky ways’
LAND MAFIOSO Govind Bajpai alias Guddu Bajpai (of Narora in Kakori), who used his ‘milky ways’ to get into the good books of quite a few IPS and IAS officers’ better halves, flaunted his connections brazenly to get things done. A smooth operator that he was, he managed to get not one but three gunners to provide him round-the-clock security. Here is how.
Completely brushing aside his criminal activities, secretary, Home, RM Shrivastav had directed the then Lucknow SSP Ashutosh Pandey to provide a gunner to him.
Since the Home Department was not in a position to provide three gunners to Bajpai, two more gunners were given in the names of Raghuvansh Bajpai and Kamal. But all the three were always with Govind Bajpai, who had a long criminal history.
Several cri#minal cases were pending against him in Kakori, Mahanagar and Vikasnagar, including a case under NSA in Kakori. But the Home department in flagrant violation of rules did not bother to even seek a report from the DGP headquarters before directing the SSP Lucknow to provide security to him. The application of RM Bajpai indicates that his “cows were dying unnatural death”.
That was a matter of serious concern. He had been after all supplying cow milk free to IAS and IPS officers.
Guddu Bajpai, who had given the address of his house in Paper Mill Colony Nishatganj, moved the first application to the Home secretary on November 18, 2005. The same day it was sent to the SSP with the instruction to provide security. The SSP marked the letter to the concerned officer on November 19. But no action was taken.
Again on December 31, 2005, Bajpai’s second application was forwarded to the SSP and he was provided a gunner in the first week of January 2006. Similarly, the Home department forwarded applications of RM Bajpai and Kamal Ahmad to the SSP on December 19 and 21, 2005 respectively. Both “VIPs” were quickly provided security. But the two gunners were at Guddu Bajpai’s disposal.
However, with his criminal activities coming to the notice of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav last week, the gunners allotted in the name of Govind Bajpai and Kamal Ahmad were withdrawn on June 1 and 6, 2006 respectively. But even then he was left with one gunner.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then theres the drugs. There was a report in one newspaper that much of the city's drug business is run by the politicians and their kin. Another exemplary public service performed by our beloved leaders.
Drug peddlers operate openly in Lucknow
Lucknow: The Rahul Mahajan episode may have put the police on alert over narcotic drugs in cities like Mumbai and New Delhi, but drug peddling in this Uttar Pradesh capital remains unabated.
"One of the peddlers, a woman, operates from a well-frequented historical monument in the heart of Lucknow though cops are aware of this," he said, adding that her customers were mainly young students and rickshaw-pullers.
Another outlet is near the Lucknow railway station, he said, where customers openly queue up to get their 'puria' (packet) of the intoxicant. Asked about the open drug peddling in the city, a top police official said, "We have booked many people under the Narcotics Act."
According to police records, 537 people were arrested under the act between January 2005 and April 2006. However most of those arrested were either ordinary drug users or petty vendors.
A senior official of the Special Task Force (STF) alleged connivance of local police and officials of the Narcotics department."Every one knows that drug trade emanates from Barabanki (30 km from here), from where the contraband is carted by youngsters," the official said.
"While opium is ostensibly grown under the direct supervision of the narcotics department, large quantities are passed on to drug merchants who get it converted into heroin before it finds its way through well-knit conduits into the international market," he said.
Operations are carried out through a three-tier system targeting the source, agent and petty peddlers, he disclosed.
Sting operation
"But how can anyone lay hands on a big fish, which include some important politicians?" asked the official.
A sting operation by a TV channel recently showed a minister in Uttar Pradesh agreeing to cart drugs in his official car - for a hefty price.
He named another cabinet colleague who he claimed was willing to be a partner.
---------------------------------------------------------------
And then, to portray the filth that the residents of the city have to live in, heres an report on the excellent work being done in keeping the water bodies clean. This is the clean water that the residents are fortunate enough to get to drink every day.
A cesspool of drinking filth
The sight is outright repelling. Human excreta, cow dung, sewage waste spread all over is eventually making its way to a nullah. The nullah, in turn, specially during monsoons, deposits this waste into the Gomti.
As it is there are 27 nullahs opening into the river at various points in the city but this one is the most hazardous. It is the only one which is threatening the source of raw water supply to the city. For many months now the raw water supply to Lucknow has been highly contaminated with both bacteriological and botanical waste.
Sewage of an entire locality coupled with cow dung and the other waste of the Radhagram cattle colony has been finding its way upstream into river Gomti at the spot from where water is being pumped for treatment. The source of the contamination is the Nagariya nullah, one of the oldest in the city. This nullah caters to the Nagariya village and the cattle colony close by.
Set up in the year 2000 the cattle colony has around 350 dairies and a bovine strength of 2500. The waste of this colony which includes truckloads of cow dung finds its way into this nullah.
What has caused the alarm bells to ring is the intermixing of this filthy water with that of Gomti at the Gaughat channel. This channel is the sole source of raw water supply to the Gaughat pumping station. Water from this pumping station is sent to the Aishbagh and Balaganj water works where it is treated and made fit for human consumption.
Says general manager Jal Sansthan RK Tripathi "in view of the waste coming from the Nagariya nullah we are forced to use more chemicals to treat water. This means increased use of alum and chlorine.
---------------------------------------------------------------
So there you have it. The people of the city get to feed on bullshit from these monkeys in khadi, and get to drink cowshit from their protected votebanks. Mera Bharat Mahan indeed. But then, these are minor problems when the ruling party workers have much more important national matters to worry about.
Samajwadi Party protests 'income tax notice' to Amitabh
Despite all my optimism, I can't help but wonder at times, dude, we're screwed. By the time I will have kids my age, our politicians will probably have sold the country out.
While I loved Lucknow when I lived there, I realize it was a protected life away from the grime and filth of the city. Now that I have grown up, I have a growing interest in political commentary, and reading about Lucknow always leaves me angry and bitter. While looking for news on infrastructure, all I came across was news on crime, politician-criminal nexuses, and brazen misuse of power by people in charge. Add to that all the instances where the civic authorities are too busy blowing each other to do their work. There are dead bodies floating in the Gomati, you think the Lucknow Municipality cares? Nah, they dont. Criminals are ruling the roost in the city, but can the Police do anything? Of course not, they are too busy providing the politicians protection. Of course politicians in India need protection. They need it from the millions of us, the common men, who have been mutilated and used by these genital warts we call UP politicians.
Having lived in Lucknow, I think I have seen first hand how things work in the city. Every part of the city gets massive power cuts, every part but the colonies where the top government officials and the politicians live. I think in Lucknow everyone thinks they are important. Every second car will have a board announcing their position. Puny party activists will proudly display their party flag and everyone else is expected to respect their right of way and provide special privelages.
You know, as much seedy money as the politicians and most bureaucrats earn, they are still cheap. I think an undying similarity between all these people is the way they try to get out of paying toll. In the smaller cities, and on smaller highways which haven't been touched by the NHDP, toll is usually collected by youth who man temporary posts made out of tin sheets, and use jute ropes as barriers. Everybody stops to pay the tolls, but as a 'big' figure approaches, the beacon goes on, and that important person's police escort will roll the window down and announce who is in the car, and they will be let through, and no, they don't pay the 5 rupees. I believe that is how most of these people roll.
So here's a Lucknow that is steeped in crime, much of it under the patronage of the politicians who come from all parts of the state to make it their home, and the civic and other public authorities are busy pandering to their whims and fancies. Some projects do come up once in a while, like a 6 lane road through the city that is supposed to cut travel time, and other such random projects, but as things stand, cities like Lucknow seem to have no chance of providing their residents the basic civic amenities that define city living.
The state chief minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav leads from the front in corruption and crime. He and his family have been busy amassing land in all parts of the city, but of course, since US is a gangsta's paradise, there will be no repercussions.
'No concealment of properties by Mulayam'
There is no concealment of properties by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, against whom a petition alleging amassing of wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income is pending in the Supreme Court, and there is complete disclosure of all properties, state Advocate General S M A Kazmi said on Sunday.
He told reporters here that the properties have been assessed with the income tax department and other taxing authorities on year-wise basis and all properties had been disclosed by Yadav and his son.
Kazmi also claimed the petitioner Vishwanath Chaturvedi had a long association with Congress party as a functionary holding high offices. Chaturvedi had filed a PIL in the apex court alleging that Yadav and his family members had amassed wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Thats one picture. The second one is how crime and politics go hand in hand in our glorious city.
Getting gunners by using his ‘milky ways’
LAND MAFIOSO Govind Bajpai alias Guddu Bajpai (of Narora in Kakori), who used his ‘milky ways’ to get into the good books of quite a few IPS and IAS officers’ better halves, flaunted his connections brazenly to get things done. A smooth operator that he was, he managed to get not one but three gunners to provide him round-the-clock security. Here is how.
Completely brushing aside his criminal activities, secretary, Home, RM Shrivastav had directed the then Lucknow SSP Ashutosh Pandey to provide a gunner to him.
Since the Home Department was not in a position to provide three gunners to Bajpai, two more gunners were given in the names of Raghuvansh Bajpai and Kamal. But all the three were always with Govind Bajpai, who had a long criminal history.
Several cri#minal cases were pending against him in Kakori, Mahanagar and Vikasnagar, including a case under NSA in Kakori. But the Home department in flagrant violation of rules did not bother to even seek a report from the DGP headquarters before directing the SSP Lucknow to provide security to him. The application of RM Bajpai indicates that his “cows were dying unnatural death”.
That was a matter of serious concern. He had been after all supplying cow milk free to IAS and IPS officers.
Guddu Bajpai, who had given the address of his house in Paper Mill Colony Nishatganj, moved the first application to the Home secretary on November 18, 2005. The same day it was sent to the SSP with the instruction to provide security. The SSP marked the letter to the concerned officer on November 19. But no action was taken.
Again on December 31, 2005, Bajpai’s second application was forwarded to the SSP and he was provided a gunner in the first week of January 2006. Similarly, the Home department forwarded applications of RM Bajpai and Kamal Ahmad to the SSP on December 19 and 21, 2005 respectively. Both “VIPs” were quickly provided security. But the two gunners were at Guddu Bajpai’s disposal.
However, with his criminal activities coming to the notice of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav last week, the gunners allotted in the name of Govind Bajpai and Kamal Ahmad were withdrawn on June 1 and 6, 2006 respectively. But even then he was left with one gunner.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then theres the drugs. There was a report in one newspaper that much of the city's drug business is run by the politicians and their kin. Another exemplary public service performed by our beloved leaders.
Drug peddlers operate openly in Lucknow
Lucknow: The Rahul Mahajan episode may have put the police on alert over narcotic drugs in cities like Mumbai and New Delhi, but drug peddling in this Uttar Pradesh capital remains unabated.
"One of the peddlers, a woman, operates from a well-frequented historical monument in the heart of Lucknow though cops are aware of this," he said, adding that her customers were mainly young students and rickshaw-pullers.
Another outlet is near the Lucknow railway station, he said, where customers openly queue up to get their 'puria' (packet) of the intoxicant. Asked about the open drug peddling in the city, a top police official said, "We have booked many people under the Narcotics Act."
According to police records, 537 people were arrested under the act between January 2005 and April 2006. However most of those arrested were either ordinary drug users or petty vendors.
A senior official of the Special Task Force (STF) alleged connivance of local police and officials of the Narcotics department."Every one knows that drug trade emanates from Barabanki (30 km from here), from where the contraband is carted by youngsters," the official said.
"While opium is ostensibly grown under the direct supervision of the narcotics department, large quantities are passed on to drug merchants who get it converted into heroin before it finds its way through well-knit conduits into the international market," he said.
Operations are carried out through a three-tier system targeting the source, agent and petty peddlers, he disclosed.
Sting operation
"But how can anyone lay hands on a big fish, which include some important politicians?" asked the official.
A sting operation by a TV channel recently showed a minister in Uttar Pradesh agreeing to cart drugs in his official car - for a hefty price.
He named another cabinet colleague who he claimed was willing to be a partner.
---------------------------------------------------------------
And then, to portray the filth that the residents of the city have to live in, heres an report on the excellent work being done in keeping the water bodies clean. This is the clean water that the residents are fortunate enough to get to drink every day.
A cesspool of drinking filth
The sight is outright repelling. Human excreta, cow dung, sewage waste spread all over is eventually making its way to a nullah. The nullah, in turn, specially during monsoons, deposits this waste into the Gomti.
As it is there are 27 nullahs opening into the river at various points in the city but this one is the most hazardous. It is the only one which is threatening the source of raw water supply to the city. For many months now the raw water supply to Lucknow has been highly contaminated with both bacteriological and botanical waste.
Sewage of an entire locality coupled with cow dung and the other waste of the Radhagram cattle colony has been finding its way upstream into river Gomti at the spot from where water is being pumped for treatment. The source of the contamination is the Nagariya nullah, one of the oldest in the city. This nullah caters to the Nagariya village and the cattle colony close by.
Set up in the year 2000 the cattle colony has around 350 dairies and a bovine strength of 2500. The waste of this colony which includes truckloads of cow dung finds its way into this nullah.
What has caused the alarm bells to ring is the intermixing of this filthy water with that of Gomti at the Gaughat channel. This channel is the sole source of raw water supply to the Gaughat pumping station. Water from this pumping station is sent to the Aishbagh and Balaganj water works where it is treated and made fit for human consumption.
Says general manager Jal Sansthan RK Tripathi "in view of the waste coming from the Nagariya nullah we are forced to use more chemicals to treat water. This means increased use of alum and chlorine.
---------------------------------------------------------------
So there you have it. The people of the city get to feed on bullshit from these monkeys in khadi, and get to drink cowshit from their protected votebanks. Mera Bharat Mahan indeed. But then, these are minor problems when the ruling party workers have much more important national matters to worry about.
Samajwadi Party protests 'income tax notice' to Amitabh
Despite all my optimism, I can't help but wonder at times, dude, we're screwed. By the time I will have kids my age, our politicians will probably have sold the country out.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
whats going on for CWG 2010?
If people tuned in will recall, New Delhi is scheduled to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games, representing nations from all continents and all walks of life. The costs are huge, expected to cross Rs. 5,000 crores, and this makes the new minister for sports and youth affairs, Mani Shankar Aiyar, a very unhappy man.
Last week the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Michael Fennell, visited the city to take stock of the games preparations. The Tabloid of India reported that he was impressed with the preparations, and ran the headline, "Preparations on track, says Federation Chief." Okay, thats promising right, and the cynic Indian in me can only let out a deep breath and think that our politicians haven't yet messed this one up yet.
Then there was Hindustan Times reporting the official's visit, and it ran the headline, "Games plan tripping on water, power, Delhi told." Now this newsitem doesn't look as promising as the one reported before it. According to this newsitem, the official told them that preparations for the stadiums and everything might be top-notch, but it won't matter much if they can't solve the perennial problem of power and water.
In my mind, I have no doubt the President must have been wondering if Delhi will even be able to host one day of the event, and I agree with him, because people of Delhi have been left wondering just how incompetent can a neta from Delhi get. Shiela Dixit means good, and she's generally seen as a doer, but the problem is that the rest of the politicians in the Delhi government are those small-minded, self serving politicians that I love to write about.
After almost 60 years of independence, India's capital does not have access to reliable power supply. Think about that. Politicians have let their vote banks steal power, let illegal colonies mushroom in every nook and cranny, and in general have resisted any action that was taken to mitigate this situation. It was only when the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court got on Delhi's ass to get things done that we see them doing something reluctantly. I can't forget the hue and cry after the SC's order against illegal construction. The reaction by the MLA's, many of whom had broken zoning and construction laws as well, was classic. They passed resolutions in their Assembly 'ordering' a halt to these demolitions, they passed resolutions seeking to give these illegal colonies a new legal identity and all the other usual bullshit.
There are two projects that New Delhi is pinning its hopes on to solve the power problem: The Tehri Hydroelectric project, and the Dadri Gas based Electric project. While the Tehri project is supposed to go live this month, producing 250 MW in the first phase, and another 250 MW in the second phase, this project has been through hell but seems to finally have made through.
Similarly, The Dadri gas-electric project by Reliance is probably the biggest electricity generation project in the country. Expected to be operational by 2008-2009, this project is expected to take care of much of Delhi's power problems. But heres the rub, to really make things work, the supply and distribution of electricity will have to be revamped. The thousands of illegal electricity connections will have to be checked, and considerable efforts will have to be made to cut down the transmission and distribution losses. Now mind you, 3 years is enough time to change things considerably, and it comes down to the will and determination of politicians, and thats the toughest part.
Its the same with water. Delhi gets its water from UP and Uttaranchal, and UP has that grandmaster of corruption, Mulayam Singh Yadav at the helm. And he hates the Congress for daring to take on his chokehold on the Muslim and OBC votebanks. So UP releases less water and draws more power, and while the states fight it out, the rest of the country can just sit back and watch this orgy of good governance.
I haven't even talked about the MCD. In all their years of existance, they have done nothing to make Delhi a better place to live. They are working on it now, with the Supreme Court's gun aimed at their head. Shiela Dixit talked about speeding up the construction of public housing. Haven't heard anything on that front for a while now, but such a project should be placed on the priority list of things to be done.
As someone one a forum pointed out, Delhi may have a plethora of projects lined up, but much will remain the same as long as the attitude of the people remains the same. Delhi may have all the money to spend on flyovers, but it has little pride. The rich live behind closed doors and the middle class is too busy fighting out the traffic snarls, unfriendly policemen and the thugs on every corner. Here is the national capital of India as one of the most unsafe cities for women. How bloody shameful. Eve-teasers abound on every bus, every taxi, threewheeler driver will talk dirty to women, and if a lady is on the streets, somebody will pass a lewd comment just for the heck of it. And what does the Delhi Police do? Eh, they are too busy collecting their haftas, so they're cool.
I think Delhi will do well, and I really want to believe that the people in charge will come out winners. If it happened in 1982, it can happen in 2010. Go Delhi (and Delhiites, cultivate some culture, pleej?)
Last week the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Michael Fennell, visited the city to take stock of the games preparations. The Tabloid of India reported that he was impressed with the preparations, and ran the headline, "Preparations on track, says Federation Chief." Okay, thats promising right, and the cynic Indian in me can only let out a deep breath and think that our politicians haven't yet messed this one up yet.
Then there was Hindustan Times reporting the official's visit, and it ran the headline, "Games plan tripping on water, power, Delhi told." Now this newsitem doesn't look as promising as the one reported before it. According to this newsitem, the official told them that preparations for the stadiums and everything might be top-notch, but it won't matter much if they can't solve the perennial problem of power and water.
In my mind, I have no doubt the President must have been wondering if Delhi will even be able to host one day of the event, and I agree with him, because people of Delhi have been left wondering just how incompetent can a neta from Delhi get. Shiela Dixit means good, and she's generally seen as a doer, but the problem is that the rest of the politicians in the Delhi government are those small-minded, self serving politicians that I love to write about.
After almost 60 years of independence, India's capital does not have access to reliable power supply. Think about that. Politicians have let their vote banks steal power, let illegal colonies mushroom in every nook and cranny, and in general have resisted any action that was taken to mitigate this situation. It was only when the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court got on Delhi's ass to get things done that we see them doing something reluctantly. I can't forget the hue and cry after the SC's order against illegal construction. The reaction by the MLA's, many of whom had broken zoning and construction laws as well, was classic. They passed resolutions in their Assembly 'ordering' a halt to these demolitions, they passed resolutions seeking to give these illegal colonies a new legal identity and all the other usual bullshit.
There are two projects that New Delhi is pinning its hopes on to solve the power problem: The Tehri Hydroelectric project, and the Dadri Gas based Electric project. While the Tehri project is supposed to go live this month, producing 250 MW in the first phase, and another 250 MW in the second phase, this project has been through hell but seems to finally have made through.
Similarly, The Dadri gas-electric project by Reliance is probably the biggest electricity generation project in the country. Expected to be operational by 2008-2009, this project is expected to take care of much of Delhi's power problems. But heres the rub, to really make things work, the supply and distribution of electricity will have to be revamped. The thousands of illegal electricity connections will have to be checked, and considerable efforts will have to be made to cut down the transmission and distribution losses. Now mind you, 3 years is enough time to change things considerably, and it comes down to the will and determination of politicians, and thats the toughest part.
Its the same with water. Delhi gets its water from UP and Uttaranchal, and UP has that grandmaster of corruption, Mulayam Singh Yadav at the helm. And he hates the Congress for daring to take on his chokehold on the Muslim and OBC votebanks. So UP releases less water and draws more power, and while the states fight it out, the rest of the country can just sit back and watch this orgy of good governance.
I haven't even talked about the MCD. In all their years of existance, they have done nothing to make Delhi a better place to live. They are working on it now, with the Supreme Court's gun aimed at their head. Shiela Dixit talked about speeding up the construction of public housing. Haven't heard anything on that front for a while now, but such a project should be placed on the priority list of things to be done.
As someone one a forum pointed out, Delhi may have a plethora of projects lined up, but much will remain the same as long as the attitude of the people remains the same. Delhi may have all the money to spend on flyovers, but it has little pride. The rich live behind closed doors and the middle class is too busy fighting out the traffic snarls, unfriendly policemen and the thugs on every corner. Here is the national capital of India as one of the most unsafe cities for women. How bloody shameful. Eve-teasers abound on every bus, every taxi, threewheeler driver will talk dirty to women, and if a lady is on the streets, somebody will pass a lewd comment just for the heck of it. And what does the Delhi Police do? Eh, they are too busy collecting their haftas, so they're cool.
I think Delhi will do well, and I really want to believe that the people in charge will come out winners. If it happened in 1982, it can happen in 2010. Go Delhi (and Delhiites, cultivate some culture, pleej?)
Monday, June 05, 2006
What does Congress want really?
I am confused and am having a really hard time trying to figure out what the Congress wants for itself. I mean, of course every party in the end would want its never-ending rule over the country, but I think the Congress has a very muddled plan to go about doing so.
They say the ends justify the means, and it is not hard to see the Congress come up with all sorts of circus tricks involving biased policies focused on specific vote banks time and time again. Ideally, for the Congress leaders, it would be very fortunate if the people of India simply believed what the Congress told them, but much to their chagrin, it does not look like its happening. For this reason the Congress keeps changing skins after every failed or backfired trick and keep coming back with a new plan.
Congress got caught red-handed in the Office of Profit fiasco and then tried to turn it their way by bringing a bill to save their asses and of their Chinese puppet allies. Now they had hoped that the OBC quota would be accepted by the people of India with a smile, but alas, that too didnt happen. Now it seems that the Con'gress is trying to distance itself from the one-man destruction team that Arjun Singh has become.
I feel sorry for Sonia Gandhi. A woman with such considerable power would do better to have better strategists to implement her plans of establishing Prince Rahul as the next ruler of India, the latest in the Gandhi dynasty. She has millions of Indians worshipping her and yet it would be safe to assume her vote-bank appeasement policies haven't really gone as planned. Although the training of the future King has started already. Rahul is going to Singapore soon, he met His Holiness The Dalai Lama last month, and he is just stepping up his vocal campaign in Uttar Pradesh, that unfortunate state ruined by reckless politics. In fact, Rahul has come up with a middle path to deal with this quota issue! wow, cool na? The PM wants to induct Rahul as a minister, and he was with the PM on his recent visit to Afghanistan. Word is that Mrs. Gandhi wants him to work with the party first, and then roll the rest of the mortels head over heels.
Coming back to vote banks, the Con'gress is afraid it will alienate the middle class with its quota BS. Thats unheard of, don't you think, considering our middle class has been one of the most docile voting groups ever. Well, the rich still don't seem to fall anywhere in the picture, they don't vote and have never been a part of the election equation. But the ever increasing middle class is a rising force.
One thing the Governments of India, future and present, will realize is that the private sector of India is a strong force that has the power to change things. And while much of this private sector is in the hands of the rich, its headcount comes from the middle class, that seems to increasingly shunning government jobs for a more professional, competitive environ. Thus when Congress is bent on pushing the quota wagon, it is threatening this usually quiet middle class, because if you look at this the other way, much of middle class is also the, I am sorry I have to use this word, castes that are unfortunate enough to not be 'backward' in the eyes of the Government.
The assumptions here are clear, as has been said before, the 'upper' castes are always better off, and the 'lower' castes, have been given the worse deal. I think its becoming increasingly clear to me that this is a fight for Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam is the self-proclaimed messiah of the Muslims and the OBC's, and the Congress wants to take the fight back to him. I am a firm believer of this theory that this is the main reason for this whole quota push. Both these entities have been going overboard trying to woo the respective vote-banks. Mulayam refuses to ban a terrorist organization, SIMI because he doesn't want to hurt the sentiments of Muslims. Did i mention it ever that it is unfortunate that this unscrupulous politician equates minority appeasement to activities against the state. So why is it taking so long for our minorities to realize that all these years they have been used by these politicians for their own ends?
As for Arjun Singh, I think he's reduced to a joke now, a very expensive and dangerous joke though. I saw his interview with Karan Thapar. I wish I could pop a bullet in that senile head of his. It was clear he was lying through his teeth, and wasn't forthcoming at all with any of his (and his masters') agendas.
Cong takes dim view of Arjun's new quota salvo
With the threat of an exodus of urban middle-class votes from its kitty over the OBC quota issue, Congress has taken a dim view of HRD minister Arjun Singh's additional list of 100 "deemed universities" for the 27% quota.
Responding with unease to reports about Singh's note to the cabinet to enforce Centre's control over such institutions to regulate their affairs, the party on Sunday left no doubts that its first priority was to douse the passions flared by the reservation issue. Congress, in fact, sought to dismiss Singh's proposal as speculative.
With government heaving a sigh of relief after it succeeded in persuading the medicos to call off their strike, the Congress leadership is clearly in no mood to see revival of the agitation over any provocation.
They say the ends justify the means, and it is not hard to see the Congress come up with all sorts of circus tricks involving biased policies focused on specific vote banks time and time again. Ideally, for the Congress leaders, it would be very fortunate if the people of India simply believed what the Congress told them, but much to their chagrin, it does not look like its happening. For this reason the Congress keeps changing skins after every failed or backfired trick and keep coming back with a new plan.
Congress got caught red-handed in the Office of Profit fiasco and then tried to turn it their way by bringing a bill to save their asses and of their Chinese puppet allies. Now they had hoped that the OBC quota would be accepted by the people of India with a smile, but alas, that too didnt happen. Now it seems that the Con'gress is trying to distance itself from the one-man destruction team that Arjun Singh has become.
I feel sorry for Sonia Gandhi. A woman with such considerable power would do better to have better strategists to implement her plans of establishing Prince Rahul as the next ruler of India, the latest in the Gandhi dynasty. She has millions of Indians worshipping her and yet it would be safe to assume her vote-bank appeasement policies haven't really gone as planned. Although the training of the future King has started already. Rahul is going to Singapore soon, he met His Holiness The Dalai Lama last month, and he is just stepping up his vocal campaign in Uttar Pradesh, that unfortunate state ruined by reckless politics. In fact, Rahul has come up with a middle path to deal with this quota issue! wow, cool na? The PM wants to induct Rahul as a minister, and he was with the PM on his recent visit to Afghanistan. Word is that Mrs. Gandhi wants him to work with the party first, and then roll the rest of the mortels head over heels.
Coming back to vote banks, the Con'gress is afraid it will alienate the middle class with its quota BS. Thats unheard of, don't you think, considering our middle class has been one of the most docile voting groups ever. Well, the rich still don't seem to fall anywhere in the picture, they don't vote and have never been a part of the election equation. But the ever increasing middle class is a rising force.
One thing the Governments of India, future and present, will realize is that the private sector of India is a strong force that has the power to change things. And while much of this private sector is in the hands of the rich, its headcount comes from the middle class, that seems to increasingly shunning government jobs for a more professional, competitive environ. Thus when Congress is bent on pushing the quota wagon, it is threatening this usually quiet middle class, because if you look at this the other way, much of middle class is also the, I am sorry I have to use this word, castes that are unfortunate enough to not be 'backward' in the eyes of the Government.
The assumptions here are clear, as has been said before, the 'upper' castes are always better off, and the 'lower' castes, have been given the worse deal. I think its becoming increasingly clear to me that this is a fight for Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam is the self-proclaimed messiah of the Muslims and the OBC's, and the Congress wants to take the fight back to him. I am a firm believer of this theory that this is the main reason for this whole quota push. Both these entities have been going overboard trying to woo the respective vote-banks. Mulayam refuses to ban a terrorist organization, SIMI because he doesn't want to hurt the sentiments of Muslims. Did i mention it ever that it is unfortunate that this unscrupulous politician equates minority appeasement to activities against the state. So why is it taking so long for our minorities to realize that all these years they have been used by these politicians for their own ends?
As for Arjun Singh, I think he's reduced to a joke now, a very expensive and dangerous joke though. I saw his interview with Karan Thapar. I wish I could pop a bullet in that senile head of his. It was clear he was lying through his teeth, and wasn't forthcoming at all with any of his (and his masters') agendas.
With the threat of an exodus of urban middle-class votes from its kitty over the OBC quota issue, Congress has taken a dim view of HRD minister Arjun Singh's additional list of 100 "deemed universities" for the 27% quota.
Responding with unease to reports about Singh's note to the cabinet to enforce Centre's control over such institutions to regulate their affairs, the party on Sunday left no doubts that its first priority was to douse the passions flared by the reservation issue. Congress, in fact, sought to dismiss Singh's proposal as speculative.
With government heaving a sigh of relief after it succeeded in persuading the medicos to call off their strike, the Congress leadership is clearly in no mood to see revival of the agitation over any provocation.
Friday, June 02, 2006
We're # 1!
Thats right, its true, we're number 1 in the world in something. Last week, the UNAIDS brought out a report that said that India has finally overtaken South Africa as the world with the largest number of AIDS affected. To South Africa's 5.5 million, we now have 5.7 million.
Given the pusillanimity of the government over the issue, and the basic messed up societal structure that we live in, I can see this figure to rise considerably in the future. When I say messed up societal structure, it is not something definite, but rather, a combination of various factors that have killed openness and common sense in our society.
There is a stand-up comedian of Indian origin named Russell Peters, and in one of his routines, he says something to this effect, "Indians are the most hypocritical people in the world. We are not supposed to talk about sex and yet we have the second highest population in the world. Somebody's fucking!"
And its the same point that I am trying to make. Its high time we stopped calling children the gifts of God and take responsibility for bringing them into this world. There are thousands of children on our city streets that are only there because their parents are too poor to feed them, and thus send them out to beg. What about state support for the city poor? Ha ha, i'm only kidding! When do you think the state has supported any of its people? Well, the people who actually need help. The state's all for maximum support to the underserving. Politicians and their posse come to mind immediately.
Thats one thing, the lack of healthcare among the urban poor, which I think is the biggest cause of this rise. Sex workers fall into this category of urban poor, and the state and any independent healthcare organization has failed to reach out to the thousands out there who are denied basic health facilities and instead looked down upon. I think only recently did the sex workers in certain cities such as Kolkata and Chennai organized themselves and demanded better living standards.
Mumbai is the AIDS capital of India. I read an article a few years ago about how it spreads. Being the commercial capital of India, at any given moment, there are thousands of commercial men in the city. These include anybody from the biggest CEO to the truck driver for a small contractor. From the thousands of truckers that come into the city, some avail the services of the sex workers, who have AIDS already, and once they fornicate, they carry the virus with them. And thus the virus spreads far and wide. I read this article a few days ago that almost half the sex workers in few of the southern states are HIV positive.
Not that this problem hasn't been recognized by some concerned people. NGO's have been giving out free condoms to sex workers in many cities and the sex workers themselves insist that their clients wear them. But nothing will happen till there is a concerted effort from the state to make this into a pan-Indian movement. But then, the politicians don't really care, and why should they, when the people who elect them don't really care themselves.
The fact that we now have the most HIV positive people in the world shows that respective Governments have constantly failed to make even an iota of effort to take care of the situation. There has been a lot of lip service, but I have yet to come across success stories from the field.
Now begins the series of articles that validate that this situation is slowly getting out of hand in the entire country.
INDIA: Human trafficking in the northeast fuelling HIV/AIDS - report
a study across eight states in this resource-rich, infrastructure-poor, conflict-scarred region seeks to highlight a new worry: the rising tide of human trafficking - mostly women and girls - and its potential for hastening the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The seven-month long study carried out by the Nedan Foundation, an Indian NGO working in the largely isolated region, was sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is expected to be released soon.
"Poverty and conflict are fuelling trafficking in the north eastern states. This opens up huge possibilities for the spread of HIV. It is high time programmes address the problems," Digambar Narzary, head of the Nedan Foundation, said.
"We visited 25 relief camps of internally displaced persons [IDPs] in Kokrajhar in Bodoland Territorial Council, Assam [state]. Nearly 200,000 people are living in these camps without proper food. Traffickers carry out recruitment drives in such relief camps. They make false promises of jobs as domestic help in big cities," he said.
An influx of migrants over the past few decades into northeast India from neighbouring areas has sparked ethnic conflicts over land, leading to demands for secession and political autonomy.
Narzary noted that more than 100 young women had gone missing from the camps over the past two years. Regional analysts fear that such "missing girls" may have been sold into sexual slavery or "temporarily married" – often a euphemism for prostitution. The fear is that many such girls are extremely susceptible to HIV/AIDS and that many have already been infected.
India now holds the second largest absolute number of HIV infections in the world, UNAIDS has said. With more than 5 million people living with HIV in the adult population in 2004, India accounts for almost 13 percent of global HIV prevalence.
But with little reliable research, the trafficking problem is more widespread in the region than previously thought. Interviews by Nedan's field teams with 60 teenage sex workers at Dimapur, a border town in the north eastern state of Nagaland, revealed that many of the girls had been trafficked from the Naga countryside with false promises of sales jobs in big cities.
Sexual transmission is driving India's AIDS epidemic, according to UNAIDS. This route accounts for approximately 86 percent of HIV infections in the world's second most populous country. The remaining 14 percent are through blood transfusion, mother-to-child-transmission and injecting drug use, particularly in north eastern states and some metropolitan cities.
Narzary hopes that the report's key findings, such as these from the eight states, will spur the Indian government, as well as NGOs, to come forward with initiatives to reduce the level of human trafficking in the region and thereby lessen the spread of HIV/AIDS in this troubled part of the country.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
AIDS cases rate highest in India: UN
India now has the largest number of AIDS infections as the spread of the disease shows no sign of letting up a quarter-century into an epidemic that has claimed 25 million lives, the UN says.
The data shows that India has 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, surpassing South Africa's 5.5 million.
However, the percentage of India's adult population with HIV-0.9 per cent, is still far lower than in parts of southern Africa, where the infection rate is well into the double digits.
Intensive AIDS prevention efforts among prostitutes and the men who frequent them have pushed down HIV infections dramatically in four south Indian states, according to a recent University of Toronto study.
The study found a 35 per cent drop in HIV among people aged 15-24 years because of efforts by authorities and non-governmental groups to educate sex workers.
Only nine percent of pregnant women in poor countries are receiving services, such as access to drugs, to help prevent mother-to-child transmission, despite a UNAIDS goal of 80 per cent coverage.
Women's vulnerability to the disease continues to increase, with more than 17 million women infected worldwide with nearly half the global total, and more than three-quarters of them living in sub-Saharan Africa, the report found.
Stigma and discrimination also still plague those infected with the virus, and young people's knowledge about HIV/AIDS remains low with less than 50 per cent having adequate information about the disease.
------------------------------------------------
And the Government of India does what the Governments of India have always been doing, deny, deny, deny.
India brushes off UN's Aids reports
India rejected on Wednesday a United Nations report that said it had overtaken South Africa to become the country with highest number of people living with HIV."I am very surprised with the UNAIDS report," Indian Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss told reporters."I totally disagree with it."
Tuesday's report from UNAIDS, the UN's Aids prevention agency, said there were an estimated 5,7 million Indians living with the deadly virus at the end of 2005 against South Africa's 5,5 million cases. But Ramadoss said he stood by the Indian estimate of 5,2 million cases.
He also disagreed with the UNAIDS figures showing only about seven percent of infected people in India were getting the antiretroviral drugs needed to prolong their lives. Ramadoss said the real figure of people on antiretroviral medicines was higher, but he didn't give any figures
Denis Broun, India coordinator for UNAIDS said the UN body had reached a "more accurate" figure by widening its survey to include all age groups. Previous surveys only considered people between the ages of 15 and 49.The new figure includes 50 000 children believed to be living with HIV and previously not included in official data.But Broun praised India's HIV prevention programme, which has focused on encouraging condom use among high risk groups including prostitutes.
A report in the medical journal Lancet this year said the prevalence of HIV in 15-to-24-year-olds dropped by more than a third in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, home to three-quarters of those living with the virus in India.
Given the pusillanimity of the government over the issue, and the basic messed up societal structure that we live in, I can see this figure to rise considerably in the future. When I say messed up societal structure, it is not something definite, but rather, a combination of various factors that have killed openness and common sense in our society.
There is a stand-up comedian of Indian origin named Russell Peters, and in one of his routines, he says something to this effect, "Indians are the most hypocritical people in the world. We are not supposed to talk about sex and yet we have the second highest population in the world. Somebody's fucking!"
And its the same point that I am trying to make. Its high time we stopped calling children the gifts of God and take responsibility for bringing them into this world. There are thousands of children on our city streets that are only there because their parents are too poor to feed them, and thus send them out to beg. What about state support for the city poor? Ha ha, i'm only kidding! When do you think the state has supported any of its people? Well, the people who actually need help. The state's all for maximum support to the underserving. Politicians and their posse come to mind immediately.
Thats one thing, the lack of healthcare among the urban poor, which I think is the biggest cause of this rise. Sex workers fall into this category of urban poor, and the state and any independent healthcare organization has failed to reach out to the thousands out there who are denied basic health facilities and instead looked down upon. I think only recently did the sex workers in certain cities such as Kolkata and Chennai organized themselves and demanded better living standards.
Mumbai is the AIDS capital of India. I read an article a few years ago about how it spreads. Being the commercial capital of India, at any given moment, there are thousands of commercial men in the city. These include anybody from the biggest CEO to the truck driver for a small contractor. From the thousands of truckers that come into the city, some avail the services of the sex workers, who have AIDS already, and once they fornicate, they carry the virus with them. And thus the virus spreads far and wide. I read this article a few days ago that almost half the sex workers in few of the southern states are HIV positive.
Not that this problem hasn't been recognized by some concerned people. NGO's have been giving out free condoms to sex workers in many cities and the sex workers themselves insist that their clients wear them. But nothing will happen till there is a concerted effort from the state to make this into a pan-Indian movement. But then, the politicians don't really care, and why should they, when the people who elect them don't really care themselves.
The fact that we now have the most HIV positive people in the world shows that respective Governments have constantly failed to make even an iota of effort to take care of the situation. There has been a lot of lip service, but I have yet to come across success stories from the field.
Now begins the series of articles that validate that this situation is slowly getting out of hand in the entire country.
INDIA: Human trafficking in the northeast fuelling HIV/AIDS - report
a study across eight states in this resource-rich, infrastructure-poor, conflict-scarred region seeks to highlight a new worry: the rising tide of human trafficking - mostly women and girls - and its potential for hastening the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The seven-month long study carried out by the Nedan Foundation, an Indian NGO working in the largely isolated region, was sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is expected to be released soon.
"Poverty and conflict are fuelling trafficking in the north eastern states. This opens up huge possibilities for the spread of HIV. It is high time programmes address the problems," Digambar Narzary, head of the Nedan Foundation, said.
"We visited 25 relief camps of internally displaced persons [IDPs] in Kokrajhar in Bodoland Territorial Council, Assam [state]. Nearly 200,000 people are living in these camps without proper food. Traffickers carry out recruitment drives in such relief camps. They make false promises of jobs as domestic help in big cities," he said.
An influx of migrants over the past few decades into northeast India from neighbouring areas has sparked ethnic conflicts over land, leading to demands for secession and political autonomy.
Narzary noted that more than 100 young women had gone missing from the camps over the past two years. Regional analysts fear that such "missing girls" may have been sold into sexual slavery or "temporarily married" – often a euphemism for prostitution. The fear is that many such girls are extremely susceptible to HIV/AIDS and that many have already been infected.
India now holds the second largest absolute number of HIV infections in the world, UNAIDS has said. With more than 5 million people living with HIV in the adult population in 2004, India accounts for almost 13 percent of global HIV prevalence.
But with little reliable research, the trafficking problem is more widespread in the region than previously thought. Interviews by Nedan's field teams with 60 teenage sex workers at Dimapur, a border town in the north eastern state of Nagaland, revealed that many of the girls had been trafficked from the Naga countryside with false promises of sales jobs in big cities.
Sexual transmission is driving India's AIDS epidemic, according to UNAIDS. This route accounts for approximately 86 percent of HIV infections in the world's second most populous country. The remaining 14 percent are through blood transfusion, mother-to-child-transmission and injecting drug use, particularly in north eastern states and some metropolitan cities.
Narzary hopes that the report's key findings, such as these from the eight states, will spur the Indian government, as well as NGOs, to come forward with initiatives to reduce the level of human trafficking in the region and thereby lessen the spread of HIV/AIDS in this troubled part of the country.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
AIDS cases rate highest in India: UN
India now has the largest number of AIDS infections as the spread of the disease shows no sign of letting up a quarter-century into an epidemic that has claimed 25 million lives, the UN says.
The data shows that India has 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, surpassing South Africa's 5.5 million.
However, the percentage of India's adult population with HIV-0.9 per cent, is still far lower than in parts of southern Africa, where the infection rate is well into the double digits.
Intensive AIDS prevention efforts among prostitutes and the men who frequent them have pushed down HIV infections dramatically in four south Indian states, according to a recent University of Toronto study.
The study found a 35 per cent drop in HIV among people aged 15-24 years because of efforts by authorities and non-governmental groups to educate sex workers.
Only nine percent of pregnant women in poor countries are receiving services, such as access to drugs, to help prevent mother-to-child transmission, despite a UNAIDS goal of 80 per cent coverage.
Women's vulnerability to the disease continues to increase, with more than 17 million women infected worldwide with nearly half the global total, and more than three-quarters of them living in sub-Saharan Africa, the report found.
Stigma and discrimination also still plague those infected with the virus, and young people's knowledge about HIV/AIDS remains low with less than 50 per cent having adequate information about the disease.
------------------------------------------------
And the Government of India does what the Governments of India have always been doing, deny, deny, deny.
India brushes off UN's Aids reports
India rejected on Wednesday a United Nations report that said it had overtaken South Africa to become the country with highest number of people living with HIV."I am very surprised with the UNAIDS report," Indian Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss told reporters."I totally disagree with it."
Tuesday's report from UNAIDS, the UN's Aids prevention agency, said there were an estimated 5,7 million Indians living with the deadly virus at the end of 2005 against South Africa's 5,5 million cases. But Ramadoss said he stood by the Indian estimate of 5,2 million cases.
He also disagreed with the UNAIDS figures showing only about seven percent of infected people in India were getting the antiretroviral drugs needed to prolong their lives. Ramadoss said the real figure of people on antiretroviral medicines was higher, but he didn't give any figures
Denis Broun, India coordinator for UNAIDS said the UN body had reached a "more accurate" figure by widening its survey to include all age groups. Previous surveys only considered people between the ages of 15 and 49.The new figure includes 50 000 children believed to be living with HIV and previously not included in official data.But Broun praised India's HIV prevention programme, which has focused on encouraging condom use among high risk groups including prostitutes.
A report in the medical journal Lancet this year said the prevalence of HIV in 15-to-24-year-olds dropped by more than a third in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, home to three-quarters of those living with the virus in India.
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