Can we predict future of India

Indians who are educated would migrate to foreign lands in large numbers but still hold on to their cultural identity---Indian family ideals, our value systems, our love for knowledge and wisdom. They would always read avidly about Indian cultural ethos and be enchanted by it. The super rich would harness the political elite and control the economy. The poor worker citizens would struggle to form trade unions. Poverty stricken masses would be living in hordes. Farming will become high-tech. Bio-diversity of Indian fauna and flora would disappear. Water quality will become very poor for the common citizens. Industrial complexes would arise making the rich corporate class richer. Tourism would become a big industry, as there are plenty of historical monuments. Terrorism will rise as there would be vast differences between the rich and the poor. Role of the government will become reduced in the life of the citizens. We will all be helpless people of a hollowed nation.
There is faith that creates hope in us and we can avert that "helpless future" For every day is a day of beginning. If computerization of governance takes place quickly, we can help each and every citizen achieve his potential. And future will be bright. A good  governance will claim its rightful place by accounting for every one of its activities. Government would be the most powerful organization making effective utilization of its resources and make benefits for all.

New State in the Indian Union

Statehood for Telengana was supported by the UPA government. It must be passed in the Parliament now.  The people of Andhra Pradesh have long been asking for a split in the state. When States Re organisation Act 1956 was passed, the state of Andhra Pradesh was carved out of the Madras Presidency and merged with Hyderabad state. The need for Telengana was felt in 1969 itself. But aspirations  for separate state became frequent from 2001. When states of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh can were allowed to split into two, it is only logical that Andhra Pradesh can be given the same chance. The Prime minister will recommend to the President the draft of the Re organisation Bill. Then President will recommend it to Andhra Prdesh assembly and legislative council. This will take a month. Then the bill will get law ministry for vetting. Cabinet will discuss the issue and clear it and send it to Parliament. The split will be finalized in about six months, after it is sent to the home ministry for four months. The new state of Telengana will be 1.14 lakh sq. km; the whole state was 2.37 lakh sq km of total Andra Pradesh. 3.44 crores of people will live in Telengana while whole Andrhra Pradesh was 8.46 crores of persons. Most important aspect of Andra Pradesh is that it has 22 billion tonnes of coal reserves; it has bauxite, chromite, precious stones, and iron ore in 50 % of all the districts. Sharing of these minerals would not be even. So it would be loss for the people. But if they can overcome political strife, the split is worth it. After the split a new picture is emerging, tribal areas in Odissa is adjacent to Telengana(to be); next to Madhay Pradesh is Chattisgarh which has tribal population next to this area; next to Bihar is Jharkhand which has tribal area (where bauxite mining is being stopped for the perpetuation of tribal way of life) With the rise of tribal nation, a new kind of identity is being forged by making independent states. But all this is taking place after the primary calculation of how many votes from where will come from these splits for the dominant party, we should not forget that aspect.  

Food security scheme--how secure is it

We are about to launch Food Security scheme for the masses--67% of the Indian population. Can we give a fair distribution of food grains? For decades we have had "Fair Price Shops" or "Ration shops" which were distributing grains at subsidized rates for all citizens. Each family had a "Ration Card" by which he could get rice or wheat, sugar, kerosene or Liquid Petroleum Gas, sometimes cooking oil too. But it did not work out well, our grains were replaced by cheap sub-standard grains. And the shop owner sold our grains at higher rates. The FCI (Food Corporation of India) trucks which were delivering the grains were diverted to private granaries and our grains had never arrived at the shops. In a few states like Chattisgarh and Tamil Nadu, the scheme of Fair Price shops or PDS was very successful without any leakages. So there is no need of additional schemes. Three categories have been divided among the states which need food scheme most. First category does not need any help as already PDS is successful. Second category will get 50% of grains to be distributed from the central government. Other states which need most urgently will get 75% of required amount of grains from the central government. All this is arbitrary.
In the city of New Delhi, the food scheme will start from September 1,2013. In rest of the country, it will take six months to start the scheme of distribution. When there is computerization of PDS, there are no leakages. But now we are going to learn this all over again. This can go on for a little time only. When the grains in the storehouses become exhausted, we cannot give subsidized food grains. In place of it we will be giving cash so that poor people can buy grains (at the rate of 15 Rupees per kilogram) Once people become dependent on this scheme, we cannot make them independent of the government. Where is it taking us toward? Dependent population.

Genetically modified foods

India has been blessed with natural herbs and fine quality of native food crops. God has given us a great variety of plants of our own. We need not create new species of our own. GM foods are not sustainable politically speaking; they pose environmental threats and they are not healthy scientifically speaking. Owning "seed" rights is just not logical. If you use a particular seed you have to pay to the owner of the "genes" and this is not a good practice. Once you have created a new plant, it should be shared free of cost. The Indo-US Agriculture Knowledge initiative is pushing in the genetically modified foods into India. Just to maintain ties with them, we cannot adopt these foods. Today ninety percent of cotton seeds are owned by "monsanto", a foreign firm. Farmers have to pay for these seeds. The genetically modified plant of cotton will give infertile seeds, so farmers have to buy seeds at exorbitant prices.The genetically modified foods kill off the beneficial bacteria in our stomachs. When we know that it is unhealthy, then we should not allow it. It has been found that genetically modified foods cause lesions in the stomach of the person who has eaten it. Rats are used for testing genetically modified foods but they do not have a long life, so long term effects cannot be measured or tested for. Disease like cancer occur when people who consume  genetically modified foods over a long period of time. Realizing this, bt brinjal was banned in 2010. But field trials for twenty plants have been approved, so that they can be brought to the market.They are rice, tomato, groundnut, potato, corn, sorghum, okra, mustard, wheat, watermelon, papaya, sugarcane, rubber, caster, banana. The soil which is used to grow genetically modified plants becomes infertile as beneficial bacteria in it are killed. This causes ecological damages. The biodiversity of our native plants is threatened by the "super species" of plants--genetically modified plants or monster plants. These plants will dominate and our native species of rice,which was hardy and nutritious will be gone; soon native plants will disappear when these dominant species arrive. When God has created invaluable herbs for healing and healthy foods for a good diet, why go for genetically modified plant species? 

Why do we feel so small

When a big global power visits a small country like ours, we are nervous. Whenever an emissary from a super power visits us, we feel apprehensive. "What do they want from us?"---is in our minds. Tension is further increased when they want more and more trade links with us. Fair trade is never possible between unequal nations. There is the "exploited" nation and the "exploiting" nation. When those who have superior knowledge of the worth of our mineral wealth, come seeking it, we are bound to be exploited. The super power would like to take the mineral wealth at low costs from us because we do not know its actual worth. This has been repeated all through history. But we are different now, we can see easily what these powers want. And we know how to be equal partners in trade and commerce. Times have changed and we have changed with it.
Another topic that is brought up is that we must "look East" That is we must look at South-east Asia, towards our neighbours in the far East. This is told to us because the superpower does not want us to look at the Western neighbours like  Afghanistan, Iran or Iraq. There is reason to believe that super power want to club together to make a stronger team to face China. Our geo-political position puts us at equidistant with East and the West. We want to keep good relations with all. An this non-aligned position is the best. All talk talk cannot really solve anything. There is industrialization and there will be global warming which we cannot stop that. Other countries have industrialized and they want India "not to industrialize" Because we can grow bigger with industrialization and  will not remain a small power. We will grow bigger, but we will not threaten others.There is only a show of concern over global warming. Can anything be done about global warming? In the geological life of the planet, we go through global warming followed by quick setting of an ice age. It was during one ice age when early man can out of Africa and took refuge in caves. He migrated to other part of the world. When Earth's waters were frozen in the Northern and Southern poles, sea was less turbulent, and there were land passages to Indonesia and Australia. Then the global warming melted away the ice and made the seas more prominent and the land connecting the continents disappeared into the sea. We were cut off from each other. Now after the global warming, another ice age will be beginning. And between the two ice ages man has made civilizations. Will all civilizations survive another ice age? Superpowers cannot stop the coming of ice age or global warming, these are cycles of the Earth like Winter Spring, Summer or Fall.. 

Why is the Indian nation still backward

We have not learnt how to form effective groups. For any task to be done, there is need of group organization and that is lacking among Indians. In formal Indian organization, there is exhibition of hatred and scorn for those below one's status and at the same time there is dislike for those above one's status. Among equals, there is mutual suspicion;  and there is the feeling that the other should not have more benefits than one self. There are deep-set quarrels about superior and inferior statuses.That is there is an obsession with hierarchy of abilities of one another--- "I am better than that one" syndrome. This bisects group cohesion, with the result the group cannot not get any thing done, may it be policy making or simple office work. Because of different socio-economic statuses or cultural orientations or educational backgrounds people vary. But there is uniformity in the fact that they make ineffective groups. There is no group solidarity. There are always individuals who give away the weakness of other members easily. When there is an order from a superior role for a given group, there is mutual quarrel in demonstrating why it is not the individual's responsibility. In the end the task is not performed or delayed. At most times the boss has to not just give orders but also use threats. Whenever the boss shouted like the "zamindar" or the "lord" of feudal India, it had a negative impact for it reduced the self-confidence of individuals of the group who had to follow the orders. More over the superiors have complex that they are always correct and they do not head to the advice of  others. Often abuses are used upon the lower staff. The bosses also shatter the personality of the lower staff, affecting his self-worth. The worker is reduced to a slave.There is lack of support from other individual worker too. If trade unionism develops the individual worker will get his rights. But co-workers do not support individuals as their own job is at stake. Neither is there group solidarity nor group cohesion. To conclude, Indians cannot function in coordinated groups Even when we have immense natural resources, and even when we have an educated manpower, we do not know how to work well together.This makes us a nation of ineffective workers. Unless we learn to tolerate each others differences, and learn to cooperate and coordinate our activities, we cannot rise out of backwardness.

    

New solutions for the people

When forest rights were not given to the tribal populations residing in it, government took over forests and chased away the tribals as they were considered as encroaching on forest lands. But the Forests rights Act,2006 gave tribal people rights over their own land. The Act gave the people rights over holding deeds for the land they had cultivated. Local governments interpreted the law differently and tribals were not given rights. Almost always there was ambiguity in finding out which piece of land belonged to whom and in this pretext the tribal population was denied rights. But that has changed now. Under the Act, "gram sabhas" certified on which families cultivated which land in 2005 and land deed documents were forwarded to the state government. State government (Gujrat had rejected 128 thousand out of 182 thousand claims) rejected claims as exact locations of lands were arbitrary; even if claimed lands were given, it would be a small part of land. Action Research in Community Health and Development (ARCH) which was a non government organization had appealed to High Court saying that the claims were based on "panchnamas" or case records or official receipts or satellite imaging from Goggle or National Remote Sensing Agency. These were not accepted. But now new solution has emerged since old surveying methods were not precise, GPS was employed using hand held devices which costs only 12000 Rupees. Using this hand held device, one's land could be precisely measured by walking around one's plot of land and marking it, a map was immediately made of his land. This map was put on top of satellite image map and his land was marked genuine. Now tribes did not have to depend on a government department to tell them which was their land. When the tribals went with these supporting maps, their land claims were restored to them. Now forest department allows these tribes to bring in tractors to plough their fields. The rights of the tribes were realized by successfully adopting this new solution to their problem. Digitization of land records can help a great deal if done quickly.   

Poverty has declined

Poverty in India has declined from 407.1 millions below poverty line in the year 2004-5 to 269.3 million the year 2011-12. In urban areas the reduction is from 326.3 million to 216.5 millions in those years. And in rural areas also the decline in poverty is considerable from  80.8 million to 52.8 millions. The decline in poverty comes from the fact that there is increase in real per capita consumption. Poverty decline is derived from the fact that there is increase in monthly per capita consumption expenditure. It can also mean that the people are spending more on food for consumption because they have to. Costs of food has increased too. These figures cannot explain the realities. The fact is that cost of living has increased several times more. Compared the period 1993-4 to 2004-5, there is three times poverty reduction. Life is tough for all people rural and urban. Massive migration from rural to urban areas does show that people are moving to seek employment to get food. These migrations reflect the realities of poverty. When they come to urban areas, they do not have ready-made jobs. They work as construction site workers, as servants as manual labor (coolies) as cooks, as sweepers. To make a living in urban India is very very tough. And no poverty figures can describe the plight of such people.Life in India is cruel for the weak people. But the rich upper classes enjoy beautiful India. The poor struggle for drinking water, basic food, electricity, decent homes, medical care and schools for their children. Poverty figures do not show that, there are no statistics to describe their plight.Life is very very tough for the simple people of India. 

Food schemes--will they fare well

When we are about to start a new food scheme for the masses, we have to deal with a tragedy. On July 16, 27 school children died after eating the free mid-day meal given to them by their school in Bihar state. Forensic science lab had said, that the poisonous insecticide in the oil used in cooking had killed them. When grains and seeds used for pressing oil are stored, proper care is not taken. If insecticide spills in the granaries where these are stored, no body would bother. Moreover when the food served is free, we assume that there is no need to care. We assume that these poor persons are not worthy of anything better . We assume "so what" little chemical had mixed with food. But all human lives are precious. Casual attitude in storage, careless attitude in preparing the meals for poor children and having any poor sense of hygiene have all contributed to the deaths of school children. It is better if free food was not ever offered. At least they would be alive. This applies to the huge Food Security Scheme which is about to commence. If we give grains (5 Kilogram per person) at nominal costs, we must make sure it is not laced with poison. Carelessness in storage and distribution will mean that we will be the first government in the world which is so careless that it had  poisoned its own people. Are the lives of poor people so cheap that we treat these free food schemes so casually? People and their well-being is central focus of a country, we must realize this truth.   

Where is India?

Is India in the subcontinent of Asia? Is India the peninsular nation between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea? A nation is not defined by geographical boundaries. It is defined by the unified ideology of a nation--a  unified vision and unified aspirations. Nation exists in our minds, its not defined by geography. We are a multicultural mosaic mass of people put together by conditions of history (like the British rule) When there are so many diversities,can there be unity? We find there are more and more divisive elements within us. Reasons for unity are absent. There are political divisions on cultural lines, that is division of linguistic states; and further division within it has created greater alienation of the Indian people. There is constant fear that the dominant North would suppress the submissive South, as North Indians try to oust South Indians. In government organisations, there is compulsion to promote North Indian persons and push aside South Indian workers. In the Eastern states, there is a feeling that no attention is given for their development. And that is true. States in the far east of India have fewer colleges fewer industries and they feel left out. Only thing keeping the people in the outer rims of the nation is the fear of foreign intrusion. But the border states also  feel swamped by the presence of army. Coast guards cannot protect the poor Indian fishermen off our shores. There is feeling of apathy and helplessness; what good is being part of this huge nation which cannot protect its poor citizens. The high unemployment and lack of good opportunities have created problems common to all. There us reason to regret the pressure created by dominant Northern states. When party leaders project this issue in their speeches, they inadvertently invoke fear. If a party leader proposes that the English language has brought harm to the nation, the implications are not quickly realized. English is an important language in India. And like it or not the English language has brought unity to the ideologically divided nation--India. All aspire to teach English to their children, so that they have better opportunities. All read English newspapers and magazines. People do feel their place is denied in the national mainstream, and they express it in English.....the nation stands unified in this. 

Inefficient to deal with inefficiency

There are many ways that government can save its money so that it can spend on development. Reducing expenditures is the best way to save. One of the major expenditures is going to be the food security scheme, since we have many suffering under poverty conditions; we have to go for this. But there will be a limit as our grain reserves have an end; we will not be able to provide for them. And we will have to find some other social security scheme. The expenditure like keeping a large inefficient bureaucracy is the main reason that our government fails. We have to pay for  accommodation(or reimburse rent bills), for their dearness allowance, for transport allowance, for newspaper / periodical allowance, for  electricity for conditioners, for computers(which are not used) etc..big list of needs. One of the ways to can reduce the burden is to send these inefficient government officers away on early retirement, as they only sit idly while wasting government’s resources. Not only that, they have a casual attitude towards work and create much inefficiency. Most harmful aspect of hiring government officers is that they are corrupt and they destroy the environment for progress. By taking bribe for allocating resources, for making clearances and for government’s procurement they nullify effective policies. By greater computerization and better ways to carry on government’s activities, we can reduce the role of the government officers. Many offices have adopted automation of office procedures, and have introduced greater efficiency in their respective organisations. Government’s procurement can be done transparently by introducing “e-procurement” or “e-tendering” where the process of auction can be done electronically. Here too government officers call those firms which have bribed them even while procuring computers for “e-tendering”; there will be a hidden bribe somewhere in the process. How to catch them? These organisations encourage bribes while proclaiming to end bribes. There was only one hope that introduction of computers would end bribes, encourage transparency. And now that hope is gone too. Unless we get rid of the corrupt incompetent officers, there is no possibility of growth or development of the nation. . 

Desperate measures for desperate times

To encourage foreign investment in India, we have been trying to persuade many developed countries to invest in India. And now policies have been made to attract them. FDI (Foreign Direct Investment ) in telecom sector has been increased from 74% to 100%. And in insurance sector it has been increased from 26% to 49%. But this still needs clearance from the Parliament. With the Rupee having a lost its value to the dollar greatly, will foreign investors like to invest here? Since Rupee is weaker, it can help the investors get more value for their money. This is an open opportunity. In defence also FDI percentages have been raised. But it would require conditional clearances. We want state-of-the-art technology in defence sector. Indian investors need to have confidence in ourselves. Instead, all of us invest in gold, to save themselves from ups and downs of the market. Global conditions dictate how our reforms are taken. To cut down our current account deficit we are taking all kinds of desperate measures. Foreign capital 100% in telecom would allow a foreign telecom firm access to spectrum as never before. It would mean mean that they can take full control and we would be at their mercy soon.  Not only the policies, but the connected rules will have to be framed. Along with the economic reforms, we must refine our administration which would carry out the reforms. Did we do that? With the food security scheme coming up, the value of the Rupee would further go down. Then what would happen? Our economy would experience more  and more turbulence.

Aspirations of the people

Despite the inefficient organizations, people have great aspirations to grow and prosper in India. Individuals believe in themselves, in the work they do and they are capable, sufficient and full of hope. As workers, they carry on their responsibilities with dedication. As teachers, people try to instill on the next generation good values.  As computer scientists, they believe that good network of communications among government organizations can bring greater coordination of efforts. And sharing of knowledge amongst professional colleges and institutions by networks can improve quality of education.  Each worker in India has hopes and aspirations for better future for themselves and they believe in growth. Each doctor sees each patient with sympathy and prescribes medicines professionally. Civil Engineers have made grand structures in urban India and are proud of their work. We have the finest textile industry which has buyers world wide; at the same time, all people of India have a big range of choice to choose from the different fabrics available in the markets. Pharma industry is doing very well and we are big exporters of medicines. And with generic medicine available, people benefit in getting medicines which they require. Industries are growing at a fast pace. We need to give confidence to the people that things will improve. We need to believe in ourselves.
All parents make sure that the next generation(their children) gets better education and better chances in life. It is an aspiring India. People want better and they work for improving their lifestyles. This blog is for those who believe in hard work and for those who believe in themselves.

God said "rise, belive in thyself"--Bhavadgita

Institutionalized inequality--caste in India

We cannot enforce equality, it has to evolve in human cultures.Caste system is a reality in India. Caste is a cruel form of inequality which has persisted during all ages. We are trying to get rid of caste formations, but it re-emerges as new form of organization. Now Allahabad High Court has banned all election rallies related to caste groups, immediately.
All of us use our caste name as our last name. Our identity is linked to our caste.Caste cannot be wished away so easily, nor should we fear or hate it. Inequality is present everywhere in form of class, aristocracy or zamindari or caste(extended kin group) or tribal groups or racial groups. During elections, we can visibly see that caste is being used to mobilize vote banks. We cannot stop formation of groups may it be caste groups or others. When a section of people that they have been deprived of opportunities, they look for solution. And at this time, an aspiring  leader offers them a solution, they elect that one as their first choice. When a leader talks about "inclusiveness" he talks about that group which has been excluded from the mainstream. It is at this time that a caste group comes to ask him for their rights. When a leader reaches to the problems of the poor people, he realizes how they are being suppressed and he want to make efforts to elevate them( in process elevate himself) Many leaders motivate the suppressed group and wants to empower them and emancipate them from the cruel clutches of the upper castes. It is at this time the "identity politics" comes into being. When a group (caste) seeks its identity to fight for its rights, the election of a leader from that group becomes inevitable.We are evolving a more equal society where the lower group seek equality with the upper groups. Right to Assembly is our constitutional right. And no court can decide how we should assemble (as what group). For electioneering politicians, caste groups are ready made groups with real problems needing urgent solutions. People are seeking equality in an unequal society which denies them that right, And can we really deny a solution to bring equality to an unequal society?
When there is social crime which law or police are inept to address caste emerges again. Few caste communities/ groups got together to protect their women from crimes like rape; they tried to make solutions by themselves. They made a rule: we will escort our women when they have to go to colleges, or to go for shopping etc. Presence of caste communities need not be evil organization. It is a cultural group, an extended kin-group.. It shows ways to form kinship, it teaches how to create good relations among families, and it teaches community living. When such peaceful communities unite to discuss problems, is it termed a banned assembly? These communities need to know how to get their rights, how to be included in this vast nation---that is India. We cannot deny them this right to be heard as a group.  

Incentives for votes

When the people are so poor, they will be ready to sell the only right they have--right to vote. We really cannot blame them. Money and food that it can buy are immediate necessities of people. We want just elections, so we have banned giving away of freebies. Freebies are promised for reaping votes. To stop that the biggest court of the land has banned political parties from  saying "if you vote for us, you will get TV set, or laptop" But in a country like ours, where there is so much poverty, individual citizen have no hope of buying a TV or  a laptop, such freebies are a big thing. They would give them votes for anyone who offers them these. Free rice or wheat is not so attractive as free TV. Even if we stop the freebies, we would see that voters would sell their votes for parties which offer them money. We cannot stop that when it is done clandestinely without our knowledge. Voting is done so voters get favors done. Immediate gratification in form of food (money) is better than long term goals of voting for a perfect democratic party.Utopia is not existing in India, so people do vote for some or other gains. Unless we get rid of abject poverty, rights offered by democracy cannot have real meanings.In a single wave of the magic wand, we cannot wish away poverty so that we can have just elections. Our first goal must be to reduce disparities which poverty creates, so that we have a more equal society. When people are not equal or can ever become equal, we cannot have a just government. Our democracy becomes meaningful and truly be representative if people can elect whom they feel will solve their problems. And freebies or not, we must give people the opportunity to choose whom they want.

To keep away criminals

At several times, political parties give tickets to candidates with criminal back-ground. Why? When a party gives ticket to a criminal, it knows how to deal with him: simple terms--this favor for that favor. Secondly, there is a certain magnetic or charismatic look on the face of the criminal. The look of a "powerful personality" and this can bring in votes. But can they become law-makers because they are the real law-breakers. There is huge difference between notoriety and popularity. To the public mind this difference is perhaps not clear. That is the reason a law has been made to prevent people from criminal background from being elected. Supreme Court has passed a judgement,yesterday, disqualifying convicted MPs and MLAs from contesting elections. If a person is behind bars(both police custody and judicial custody), he cannot contest an election. There is "use of law" and there is "miss-use" of law. Ruling party can put leaders of rival parties can put in  prison and win elections. During "Emergency" when congress had put all opposition behind prison during elections, our leaders won while fighting elections behind bars. Even now tribal leaders are put behind bars, and their voices are suppressed. They cannot fight for their rights or represent their people. If one has served two years due to a conviction, one cannot contest elections ever. Judicial process is so slow that, it takes seven years for a case to come up. Labor union leaders often get arrested and are jailed. If they cannot contest, that would mean they cannot help their people. This law needs to be reviewed. We must look are the implications more carefully.We can easily become an ineffective democracy if we make mistakes in enacting proper laws.

Coming of Mobile-phone Technology

Indians are most intelligent, and that can be seen by how we had adopted the latest technology for our benefit. Now we are trying to located lost citizens in the floods of Uttrakhand by tracking their last calls from their mobiles. Mobiles have helped us a great deal in recent times. Since spectrum waves were sold at low prices, several mobile service companies have been competing with each other. With the result, we have offers which make using mobiles very cheap. Talk time charges are nominal. Mobile phones have become very common among all Indians. Mobile telephones have changed the lifestyles of average Indian in a very big way. New social networks have come into being. It is new kind of thinking "I" and "my phone" to "my friend" "my world"; all this is new to the psyche of the traditional Indian mind. We generally do not have individual opinions. Parents do suspect the freedom they have given their child by providing him with a mobile; "khap panchayats" do not allow women to use cell phones; upper castes resent the freedom bestowed on the suppressed lower castes as all use mobile phones. Except for the very poor in rural India, all use mobile phones frequently. Culture has been revitalised by cell phones as everyone likes to use to listen to music. SMS has become common. SMS in native language can help in communicating "on-line" market prices (agri-markets). Farmers and fishermen can know the market value of their produce/catch. Mobile phones have helped us connect to one another; they have improved businesses in leaps and bounds. Economic development has received a turbo boost because of the coming of mobile phones. All business activities have been fine tuned by mobile phones. With the result, India is growing very fast. Since it has become mandatory to give phone numbers of government officers on public domain, they can be accessed easily by all. There is no shroud which would block reaching them. This has reduced the “bribes” for accessing them for information or course of action. What is very amazing is that, politicians have started using mobiles to connect themselves to the citizens. Recently, a politician had his “talk with a citizen” broadcasted on TV. This is becoming more and more popular. Better results will come only when the politician values the requirements of the citizens he speaks to. Block Development officers were asked to send SMS messages of the the project they were overseeing every Monday; and at the end of the month, a whole report was generated from the results. Civil engineers had to send photographs of the progress of their projects to the control room and this assured that they were present on the site. So we can check our officers using the technology we have as never before thought. If an officer had accepted a bribe, he could be photographed unknowingly by a cell phone, and this would be counted as evidence against him, in a court of law. So we can counter-check graft, and it has empowered the citizenry.  We can check if government actions are transparent or not. Health services have received a boon; we can access hospitals by our mobiles when we need an ambulance. When a medicine which we need arrives at our pharmacy, we receive a call or a SMS  to get it. Our lives have been transformed by mobile telephone. Crime investigations have become accurate and easily solvable when cell-phone records become available. Students have benefited most and they adopt very very fast., they now access Internet by mobiles. Cell phones have changed our lives and enlightened our minds. They have empowered us and made us capable enough to demand our rights.

Can we ban acid attacks

Acid attacks are becoming more and more common. Women are moving out of their homes in pursuit of education and employment. And still mindsets of the menfolks are backward and they want to inflict harm on the independent women who they see as a threat to their job opportunities. Staking is present every where in India. Men mask themselves and while riding on a motor-cycle throw acid on the faces of women. This leads to permanent damage to the face and vital organs like eyes, nose, throat etc. Legal battles to resolve such acid attacks takes years and years. And fine of any amount as compensation will not make the victims recover from the psychological trauma. After nearly three weeks months after being told to ban selling of acids, (concentrated hydro-chloric acid) no efforts were made in this direction. Supreme Court questioned the state governments why they have not stopped the selling of acid by common grocers. Only diluted acid should be available for non industrial use; and the buyers must fill up a form so that they can be identified. All these measures cannot stop infliction of trauma on female population as mindsets cannot be changed by a simple "ban" Policing and severe punishment for crimes against women can help to some extent.

Rural and urban people

Urban India is aware that India is developing fast. Literacy rate in urban India is very high. And all those here get benefits of technological progress. In large metros like New Delhi, great deal of infrastructural growth have brought comforts for the citizens. But at the rate the city is growing, we cannot give benefits to all new arrivals. 52% of India is occupied in agriculture and is residing in remote areas. We are all dependent on them, because we are aware that they too are are part of development that is taking place in India. We must also educate them so that they start small industries and congregate in small towns. If the rural migrate to the urban areas as they are right now, accommodating them and providing water and electricity and transportation will be too difficult (or impossible) The unemployed rural people must get employment by starting small businesses but not while living in remote places. They must move to smaller towns where there is electricity and water supply (could be provided) With food distribution provided for them (67% of India will be getting subsidized food grains) they have an added advantage. Although we plan that development should take place in cluster of towns, people behavior cannot be planned or predicted. Rural people cling on to culture and Indian ethos more than urban people. Rural people are apprehensive of moving to different environments. Although a good paradigm for progress can be given. People's behavior cannot be changed. People themselves have to make the decision to move to towns instead of cities. We can guide but cannot force. Development comes from the people themselves and cannot be enforced.

Terror strike at Bodh Gaya

While rescue efforts are going on in full swing at the Northern state, terrorists strike at the state of Bihar. Most distressing news is that terrorists target places of worship. Creating hatred is most disgusting and that too at a religious centre is really terrible. On Sunday morning, at the Buddhist pilgrimage centre of Bodh Gaya, nine blasts too place simultaneously. We are still guessing who did this.To evoke hatred terrorists take so much effort. Is destroying monuments, people and religion show of protest against what one does not believe in? What goes inside a terrorist's mind to cause this? To weaken our nation, terrorists attack us. We will have to make a bigger police force to deal with them. More and more CCTV cameras at temples and other places of worship are needed. While great efforts are made to keep our country growing, so many are working against it. If such attacks take place, our progress is hampered as we have to spend more and more on efforts to curb terrorism. That means less and less on development. Even after expenditures on maintaining law and order, there will be such terrorists coming from outside India. More efforts must be taken to tackle that. We are getting farther away from our goal of development when these attacks take place. This is one of India's darkest hours, we are not able to protect our religious places.

To stop eco-disaster

Trees actually protect and preserve the ecosystems which they support. Several steps must be taken to stop the Himalayas from  being eroded. Replanting trees will take years and years but it must be started now. Immediately further making of hydel projects must be stopped. The type of vegetation which would hold on to the soil like oak (Baanj) would be extremely beneficial. The deciduous trees of this range(biome) would create a new kind of ecosystem where the fallen leaves would give nourishment to bushes shrubs and creepers and grasses. The rainwater would be absorbed by moss, lichen  and saprophytes growing on these trees. Moreover, these trees could provide fodder for the goats reared here. The pine (chil) trees which belong to the higher altitude have come to replace the native oak (Baanj) The greed to reap resin and to get fine timber made the people to replace it with this kind of trees. The erosion could not be stopped by the pine trees which get washed away by heavy rains (their roots are not strong and fibrous enough to hold on) Fragile top soil of the lower Himalayan range need protection from the vegetation that grows on them. And over a long period of time we have experienced the devastation that loose soil/sediments can cause—floods. Forest department had not noticed the gradual changes in the kinds of trees, they just wanted “green look” So they thought pine was giving a greener look which they need to show in their reports ( on whether the forests are growing). Pine trees do not shed leaves and they do not support other plants which may grow beside them. Pine trees are green in winter too as they belong to the "evergreen" range (biome) which grow in very high altitudes where temperature is very cold. They have straight roots and cannot hold to soil in heavy rainfall. But they can tolerate light snowfalls. They cannot protect the soil as deciduous trees (Baanj) can.

We worship the water from the Himalayas, we worship the mountains as they are the abode of Gods. If our devotion for these mountains is deep, we must care for them; we must plant more deciduous trees and protect the soil. When our holy land becomes disaster zone, we must stop and think. So next time we visit the shine in the Himalayas, we will plant a sapling of a Baanj tree. And new "Sanjeevini " will sprout here, giving life to all generations to come. And our holy mountains will be bestowed with life-giving herbs and thus our souls will be blessed.

It was the sanjeevini herb from Himalayas which brought back to life the epic hero, Lakshman in Ramayana.

Ordinance for Food security

The ordinance for Food Security has been signed by the President, making it into law. It still has to come to Parliament to to be approved. Now 67% of the people of India have food security. Food will be given at extremely subsidised rates, so that the poor can afford it. Five kilo grams per month for each individual at the nominal rate of three Rupees per kilo grams of rice/wheat.  When the granaries and storehouses are overflowing with bumper harvests, year after year, we must give the excesses away. 50000 tonne of grains spoil each year because of lack of storage space. It is was highly debated whether this would affect the economy of the country negatively. Farmers who had spent much in order to make the grains would feel that their produce has little value (it is almost free). Cost of other items like vegetable, lentils and cooking oil would go up, as they are not free or subsidised by government. Further production will have to be monitored, as farmers may not be interested in growing grains now. Support price will be given to the farmer. 25000 crores of Rupees will be spent by the government each year to feed 67% of the population. If huge expenditures are made by government for this scheme, we may go bankrupt. Food must be made affordable, but not free. Once people become dependent on this free scheme, it will be difficult to unshackle them from this kind of dependency on the government. Will all that is allocated reach the masses? As it is PDS (Public Distribution Scheme or "ration shops")  only deliver 50% of that which is allocated. There are too many leakages due to which allocated funds do not reach the people. The ordinance will take effect in six months. But can we really give away food for free without affecting the economy? If so for how long can we give? Not for ever. To feed the hungry people is most urgent now, we will tackle whatever which comes from it later.

Cyber Security Policy

The National Cyber Security Policy has been made. We are aware that when we enter the internet, there are serious security risks. We need to secure our sovereign data. So we have made an outline on how to protect against cyber crimes and cyber attacks. This is made to give confidence and assurance to stake holders, government organisations and businesses. First we must differentiate which information we can share and which we cannot. Education related information will always be shared. But personal, financial or banking related constitutes private data, which cannot be shared. We need the technology but we need the safety as well. We must protect our sovereign assets so we must raise questions like "what are our objectives in using the technology?" and "what strategies must we adopt to avoid outside interference? and "how to eliminate cyber attacks?" We must give this protection to all citizens, businesses and government organizations. How to operalinalize this policy on large scale is the question. Information empowers us, but it should not make us vulnerable.  We do not want "snooping" or "hacking" on our data. Super powers cannot take advantage of us easily for we know what is in their mind.

Launch of new satellite

We have crossed another milestone in the history of  space missions in India.We are in the era of space application of technology for the benefit of all citizens of India through the Global Positioning System . Today India has launched a new satellite IRNSS-1A successfully into space from Sriharikota. It is 23rd successful flight of PSLV which had sent the satellite into orbit. It has several advantageous features. It has the best navigational tracking, and now India has its own GPS. It will help us in audio-visual navigation--terrestrial navigation, marine navigation and aerial navigation. Vehicle tracking is very useful feature which this satellite will provide for us. Space based applications have created several possibilities. IRNSS is first in series of new kind of navigational satellites. Soon advanced communication satellites will be launched. Confidence in ourselves is renewed when our scientists make us proud. We have been able to achieve all this because we are the best.