Can demonetization lead to digitization

When it was announced that upto 2.5 lakhs of Rupees can be deposited in each account.. "Jan Dhan" accounts of the poor got 2.5 lakh deposits.. That means that their employers had given then this money to be chagned to new currency. But this was a trap.  What amount of money is being deposited in banks is noted by taxation department. And those with more than their capacity are being questioned.. Along with bio-metric tracking by Aadhar IDs which linked to bank accounts, present government seeks to rule over the lives of Indian people.Using technology government wants to make sure that  all individuals are equally poor(devoid of liquid money) But the common Indians do keep money in form of gold. And the government wants to stop that by raiding people's homes and track gold too. But Indians will find a way to hide that too. So demonetization has been an unsuccessful exercise as controlling people's wealth is indeed impossible. As all humans, Indian seem to want to earn and hoard wealth. Can human nature be changed? No it cannot be no it cannot be.

Dedemonetization of the Rupee notes 500 and 1000

Giving "poor"persons rights does not mean ruination of the economy. The Prime Minister introduced demonetization of the Indian currency. The 500 and 1000 Rupee notes are are of no value now. In their place new 2000 Rupee notes are now exchanged by the banks for 50 days(from November 9 till December 30). After that the old notes have no value. This was meant to end corruption and black market. But new markets are being created now. The banner of " for the poor people" is now adversely affecting the people. "Garib log" means the "poor people" but how can you categorize people like that? Farmers are given 25000 Rupees in their accounts so that they can buy seeds. But before this news reaches them the "sowing time" is over. Not all farmers have accounts and not all can demand their dues. What about other occupations? Workers, service-men--plumbers,electricians, masons, artisans,traders, push-cart vendors, rickshaw pullers and so many other skilled and semi-skilled person? Not all are having bank accounts. They are paid for their work in cash and now nobody can be paid as the old currency is no longer valid.
Equalizing  is not just possible just by snatching away money. The Prime Minister says that we are becoming a cashless economy, we are only becoming cashless beings.

A great leader passed away

The state of Tamil Nadu had a fine leader who looked after the welfare of the masses. She was Chief Minister Jayalalita. She had died yesterday at the age of 68. She had been elected six times and had a 35 year old political career. She had taken great efforts to get drinking water to the people. She had tried hard to get electricity to all. She had made mid-day meals scheme successful in schools. She had provided scholarships to girl students. She helped those who came to her seeking help. Now people of Tamil Nadu mourn her death

Rupee notes of 500 and 1000 values are not legal tender anymore

In a drastic move, the Prime Minister had said in his address to the nation has said that the 500 Rupee notes and 1000 Rupee notes are just pieces of paper. For next two days banks and ATMs will remain closed. After that persons with accounts can deposit their notes declaring where they got it from. But most small businesses in in India depend on just cash currency. They do not go through banks and electronic transactions.
And the really poor persons do not have bank accounts, where will they go.
People will certainly become uneasy over these moves. From now on people will use silver coins as currency and store their wealth in gold. And this "storage mode" will stop businesses from functioning as cash is frozen.  

Factories Amendment Bill 2016

Factories Amendment Bill 2016 was introduced in the the lower house(Lok Sabha) last month. Now standing committee is considering it. It is an improvement over the Factories Amendment Bill of 2014. What are the penalties? What is "over time" limits? What could be termed as "hazardous" Such changes will bring advantages to the seasonal labor force. But the unemployed do not get benefits. Many factories shut down as they have met with "loss" They certainly cannot pay their ex-employees. There is even new way of defining "factory" Could there ever be job security?Any changes to the factory bill would be cosmetic only. the condition of the worker cannot be changed. Market demands and ways to meet them necessarily exploits the labor class.Can a fixed work time be enforced? When there are many willing to work for longer time, labor is replaced immediately. In the end the health and welfare of the worker is neglected. Indian live shorter and unhealthy lives. So the bill tries to amend the Factories Act of 1948. It regulates the health and welfare of the factory workers and tries to make rules on "overtime". It seeks to control these:

• Power to make rules on various matters: The Act permits the state government to prescribe rules on a range of matters, including double employment, details of adult workers to be included in the factory’s register, conditions related to exemptions to certain workers, etc.  The Bill gives such rule making powers to the central government as well.

• Powers to make rules for exemptions to workers: Under the Act, the state government may make rules to (i) define persons who hold management or confidential positions; and (ii) exempt certain types of adult workers (e.g. those engaged for urgent repairs) from fixed working hours, periods of rest, etc.  The Bill gives such rule making powers to both, the central and state governments. 

• Under the Act, such rules will not apply for more than five years.  The Bill modifies this provision to state that the five-year limitation will not apply to rules made after the enactment of this Bill.

• Overtime hours of work in a quarter: The Act permits the state government to make rules related to the regulation of overtime hours of work.  However, the total number of hours of overtime must not exceed 50 hours for a quarter.  The Bill raises this limit to 100 hours.  Rules in this regard may be prescribed by the central government as well.

• Overtime hours if factory has higher workload: The Act enables the state government to permit adult workers in a factory to work overtime hours if the factory has an exceptional work load.  Further the total number of hours of overtime work in a quarter must not exceed 75.  The Bill permits the central or state government to raise this limit to 115.

• Overtime in public interest: The Bill introduces a provision which permits the central or state government to extend the 115-hour limit to 125 hours.  It may do so because of (i) excessive work load in the factory and (ii) public interest.

Supreme court scraps Singur's land Acquisition

In a remarkable move, Supreme Court tells Tata motors to return the 1000 acres land acquired to be returned to the farmers. At state level, Tata motors lost its case in 2011, due to which it moved its car manufacturing factory to Anand, Gujarat. Case went to highest court. By now the 'Land Acquisition Act of 1894' And now farmers' permission is required in acquiring land. So the land was acquired "illegally"And more over private companies cannot acquired land by this Act. The Tata motors manufactured the new car "Nano" and successfully launched in it in the market and made its profits. The farmers agitated for last ten years and many died in their struggle.
The Supreme court has ruled that within 12 weeks, land must be returned to the original owners, the farmers. And the price paid to them as compensation should not be obtained back by Tata motors. Because the farmers could not farm for the last 10 years, they had to watch helplessly, as factory came up, and they were told to move out. They had no where to go!
This is a big win for the farmers.Supreme court called the land acquisition law as a bad law in intent and execution. This acquisition was facilitated by the communist government of that time(2006) and it did not care for the farmers.

GST has been passed by Upper House of Parliament

Rajya Sabha has passed the GST(goods and services tax) Bill unanimously. This will enhance growth and development of the country as corporate do not have to go through tedious taxation by state governments. Now the central government will get the benefits of tax. And state government will loose revenue. Tthere will be uniform tax across the country and this will ease business.
State governments will require higher revenue for development, but the Central government has assured that the revenue loss will be compensated for next 5 years.Each state government has to pass its own state specific GST Bill soon.
It is not very simple as it sounds. The states are run by different party and not necessarily the party at the center(which is BJP now). So there will be difference in attitude towards the states.
There is now dual monitoring system, to keep an eye on supplier and the purchaser. Advantages outweigh the drawbacks. But will this work out.? Can the black market be abolished?Even now, most businesses employ laborers while not paying them minimum wages. Goods wont be taxed as much means better "profit-making" climate. Burden is there on the average Indian or the common man. Well there is some losses and some gains.
In order to ensure that there is no slippage on date of implementation of GST from 1st April, 2017, the Prime Minister reviewed the progress made on various steps needed for the rollout of GST relating to preparation of Model GST laws and rules to be framed, establishment of IT infrastructure for both Centre and States, training of officers of Central and State Governments and outreach for awareness of trade and industry. The Prime Minister directed that all steps must be completed much before 1st April, 2017. The Prime Minister observed that GST Council would need to have intensive meetings to be able to make timely recommendations relating to its mandate provided in Article 279A including making recommendations relating to Model GST laws, GST rates, goods and services that may be subjected to or exempted from GST. 

Many states are going to the polls, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal Kerala and so on

Each politician is trying to make coalitions to win election.But only to win, after winning teams breakup and people's problems are never looked into.Problems in India are economical and which ever party gets elected, the plight of the people will be same. Elections is the way to tell the people that there is hope. But is there hope?Each political party looks after its own self-interest. How to get power and how to secure power for next election and how to ruin reputation of other parties. It is sad to see the same sort of elections all over again. There are few paths for the people to survive. Since government does not give any benefits to the unemployed, they have to fend for themselves.
Electioneering is a big wast of resources. The whole phenomena takes much efforts and much expenditures. The resources spent on electioneering could be used to uplift people. All these years dynastic control of the Congress party meant that people were kept poor. Why? So that they have fixed vote banks. Cunning political policies of the congress party has meant impoverishment of the people. There must be a way to overthrow dynastic control of politics.

Self help is best help. Whatever government does is not helping the people. People have to help themselves. Now rickshaws (like the one in picture) are driven by rural persons who have migrated to city. The cost of the vehicle is low( and it does not need a licence. Running cost is low too. Profits are high as six persons can be accommodated in it. And one can buy with a small loan, and recover the costs very soon.

Belgium blasts -cause of worry

When Europe is  so vulnerable, India too is vulnerable. What to do? Just when the Paris blast was solved, now this is here. Airport bomb at Belgium.First, this will affect the tourist industry. Europe enjoyed the economic benefits of tourism and especially Belgium.And now all are concerned, what is next? Or who is next?It is terrible. Whether to travel or not to? Not to.When one has to travel as per job requirement, one is putting one's life in danger.One and all are are worried

How do rural Indians survive

Rural India migrates to urban India because to live by cultivation is too difficult.Unemployment is rampant. And Rural employment scheme cannot provide sufficient money for them to survive. Climate varies too much,making agriculture precarious. Land holdings are too small and they do not give enough returns to gain the input costs,fertilizer,water,pesticide,seeds etc.So the farmer has to migrate to provide food for his family.But he has no skills to work in urban India. So he starts as a laborer.. ...he may drive a rickshaw or drive a man cart and send some money to his home in village.

There are other options.Like for instance,he can buy things at cheap price and sell those goods to make little money.

Small tea stalls which cater to the need of the labor class can give some small profits. But big hotels are too risky 9 out of 10 hotels fail, as there is too much competition.If he learn to be a tailor or a plumber or a carpenter or an electrician.There is better chance of surviving in urban India.

Rural Employment scheme(MGREGA) gives money for the unemployed in rural areas. But it could instead give them skills to survive in urban India

Aadhaar Bill has been passed

Unique identity of an individual, bio-metric data(finger prints, and eye's iris photographs) are used to give an "Aadhaar number"(ten digits) The eye patterns are unique and can identify an individual. Such documentation violated the constitutional right to liberty (which includes privacy)Aadhaar Bill which was previously defeated in the Rajya Sabba(Upper House) was passed again successfully in Lok Sabba(Lower House).And the amendments made by opposition were not passed. It was disguised as "money bill" by the finance minister.Rajya Sabba, and others parties absented themselves as they did not adhere to the passing of the bill. Only 140 minsters of parliament voted.So it was passed by unfair means.It is now said that Aadhar can be made mandatory if a person wants to avail subsidiaries given by the government. Since public interest and safety is more important than individual, it is ok to compromise on individual rights to privacy. Clever moves of the finance minster will be checked, sooner or later. Supreme court does not approve such documentation of the citizens 

Indian men are hardworking

Why are Indian men, hardworking? Little boys grow up fast while being taught they are responsible for the well-being of the entire family. When a young man arrives to work, he knows in his heart, that he has to provide for food for his parents, medicines for his grandparents, school fees for his siblings, so and so forth. He knows the responsibilities of taking care of his whole family and that is why he is hardworking. Little boys grow up fast and take up their responsibilities as adults. They don't feel it as a burden but they are pleased to fulfill their duties. It is this fundamental truth that makes India great.

Re-thinking on budget for the year

Already people have started protesting because they do not want tax on EPF or Employee Provident fund. This is normal, they need to tell the government that they are trying to save money keeping some in the provident fund,, and if that is taxed also,they are unhappy.Otherwise the budget is "tax-friendly.There are no retrospective amendments, and it does give concession to industrialists. Small time start-ups and MSEs can benefit tremendously. And tax slabs are better that the lower level is now broader, giving exemptions to many middle-income groups. But total taxed population is only 3 to 5 percent, so this does not matter. There will be loss in revenue rates.
66% of the population is rural and is dependent on agriculture.Of this 66%population, only 15% has land which can be cultivated. Others are marginal farmers landless laborers, how will insurance for crops help these 85% of rural population?
Large irrigation projects will take a long time to materialize.Minor projects like deepening of wells or making ponds and wells will help. But these small projects cannot provide water to large farms. We need large farms.Only coming of industrial agriculture will solve food needs of India.When will our economists learn this?

Aftermath of riots

Malls have been burnt down. Now there is no place to go and relax. Gyms are reduced to dust. Where will the youngsters meet and share ideas?State run buses have been burnt down, no public transport for the people. Hospitals have been burnt down, where will the sick go?Politicians tried to visit the home of ordinary citizens in riot hit towns, and people shut their gates and slammed their doors and told him to leave them alone. These protests are politically motivated. Ordinary public did not know how to shut down water supply to Delhi. This classified information was provided to the rioters by politicians themselves. Riots went on even after the negotiations were over, because the "damage ordered" (by Politicians) was not complete yet. So that is how the developed towns were ruined to ashes. All this could have been avoided because the protests were announced ahead of time. As the rioters got to the venue, police could have reached there ahead of them. Teargas and water guns would have been sufficient. Fire brigade could have been kept by-standing as this was planned by the people .....And now people have turned against the erring politicians who had created the riots using the unsteady young population's minds.

Dreamy budget is "rural-centric" and not pro-industry

Budget has been presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister. Even it wants to concentrate on rural India, it must make long term plans for speedy industrialization of rural economy. This budget consolidates the present state of affairs. It tries to give small relief to the farmer. Insurance to the farmer against crop failure, good price for his produce and so on. But farmer holdings are extremely small, and efforts must be made to create cooperatives which would merge and create big farms where mechanized farming can take place. Short-sighted plans will land us in big trouble later.
Universal healthcare is an important transformation which the budget is going to bring about, 1.3 lakh Rupees for people, care for the elderly and so on. These will get good votes from the elderly. While industry and corporate are ignored. Where is capital forming? Where will people invest? What is the future course of industry? Retails--100% means fall of the small scale businessman who would buy and sell to make a living.Education and rural employment are not going to boost the economy.
Self-congratulatory vision, that"we are doing better than other nations" is not truth. We are a small part of global economy but we have a huge population and limited resources(money) So we are just surviving and prosperity is too distant. As per global standards, our quality of living is poor.We have growth percentage which is higher than other nations is not relevant as we have a small economy compared to them. We must work hard to catch up with the world.Dreamy budget is setting us back...We must spend more on defense and more on infrastructures

Step to darker times

Riots in Haryana have moved the state back wrecking its record development. With fast industrialization, it was keeping up with the modern world. But the riots have caused much damage. People started burning vehicles(cars, buses, trucks) on the National Highway(Grand Trunk road), looting shops, burning down hotels burning down malls and even started gang-raping. It is completely disgusting. Such are the people of Haryana? Police ignored all this and did not take action against this. And police teams even deny the crimes of rioters. Why? The police themselves are from Haryana and they do not want to take action against their own people.Even villagers deny it and say that it will give bad name to their village. Police are asking the media to show footage of the events there and claim to know nothing of it. All over sides of the roads, in the fields are women's clothes. Destruction of property has brought thousands of crores of Rupees. Loss of lives is sad. And loss of values is shameless. Is this modernization? This is what educated Haryana is like?

Haryana's protests turned ugly

Parts of Haryana are under curfew as mob started vandalizing public property. Railway tracks broken and highways are blocked. Water supply to Delhi from the canals in Haryana have been blocked.Mob also burnt down the homes of elected persons. Railway station torched, police stations burnt, old train bogies burnt,vehicles(buses cars) burnt..etc.. But this cannot go on. Government has spoken to the people that their demands will be met. But the people say "now, now, now" Similar uprisings can go on in other parts with other castes too. Even other states. This is not the way to protest but it is setting a precedent. Ten days of burning and several(14) people have died in the protests too. what else can go wrong
Photo is that of Sultan Garhi, New Delhi

Protests for reservations--is agitation needed

Jats of Haryana are agitating for reservations for their castes. So people have assumed that without affirmative action, they cannot progress as a group. So school, colleges and media cannot provide an environment conducive fro the progressive thoughts. They have resigns to the fate that their caste group--Jats can progress only when affirmative action is brought about to provide reservations in colleges and in government jobs. Hard working people of Haryana must have faith in themselves and must not try to obtain reservation(affirmative action) for themselves.Proximity to Delhi has opened lot of opportunities to the people of Haryana.
So they do not have faith that modern institutions can bring about equality, then should protest in a peaceful manner. Their way of protest could be a march or a demonstration, but to block roadways and railways is not the right way to protest.
People must be heard.....and not suppressed....is government hearing to their plight or not? And is the  media covering... Media is too busy with courts, lawyers and JNU students...etc
The picture above is that of Quila-i-Kuhna Mosque inside Old Fort, New Delhi

We must rethink on our relationship

Not so neighborly neighbor is responsible for terror attacks on India. At first, one cannot believe on words of a prisoner. But his revelations have been confirmed by Pakistan. India is so gullible. We were dreaming on keeping good relations with this unruly neighbor. We never had needed them, why did we bother. Our feelings for them was warm but it was one sided only.We wanted warm and friendly relations. That is not possible. We must re-think now. How could be so so wrong?

When a neighbor is not neighborly

We went to Pakistan with the view of improving friendly ties. But we got in return an attack of our airbase at Pathankot. We cannot let terrorists ruin our relations. There are many terrorists groups in Pakistan and they have a policy of sabotaging ties with India. So we cannot make public the fact we have friendly relations. Because these terrorist do not like it. We have lost seven men, so far. We have to become more vigilant. And we must keep international relations a secret. Otherwise, we cannot proceed. It looks like we are having war.How to take their action peacefully. We cannot. It is hurtful to see our people die. But we cannot let hatred ruin our relations. Oh these barbaric terrorists