STRAIGHTSPEAK

Is it time to rethink Democracy ? -I

2010-07-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

The ruckus and the pandemonium that was witnessed in the Bihar Assembly today has become a routine affair in the country's elected bodies, whether Municipal Corporation bodies, State Assemblies or the Parliament itself. Members throw mikes, slippers and just about anything and everything within their reach; brandish wads of currency notes in the House; push, shove, punch and kick each other and then brag about their "feats" in front of cameras. They are audacious and impudent enough to cloak their actions in the veneer of right to freedom of speech and expression and most ironically - DEMOCRACY.

It's difficult to pin-point a precise starting point for this sorry state of affairs, for each and every link in the chain only serves to reinforce and strengthen the preceding. The rot sets in with the very process of electing representatives. No election can be won without pumping in massive sums of money on campaigning, the costs are incurred not just on printing of campaign material but also on collecting crowds for rallies and gatherings and on cronies who carry out campaign management for the candidate.The prescribed limits for expenditure are nothing but a joke, enforcement is either lacking or in case of conviction, toothless. Where does all this money come from? In part from party funds and in part from the candidate's own pocket. Who gives these funds to the party? Corporate houses, businessmen with deep pockets and crime-lords are some of the much publicized sources but not the only ones. A large chunk of the cash also comes from government officials paying huge bribes to the powers to-be for plum postings in different departments. Check-posts at various borders invariably collect large amounts from businessmen whose trucks are at the mercy of check-post officials. Fines are collected not only for genuine offences but also under false pretexts. Businessmen are ready to pay in order to avoid undue harassment and opportunity loss of business arising out of seizure of vehicles. And hardly any of these fines find their way into state coffers for they are actually bribes. A percentage is retained by the officials and the rest is sent to politicians who in turn retain a percentage and deposit the rest into party coffers which fund election costs. Businessmen recoup their costs from the end-user of the raw materials or the finished products which drives up market prices of the goods. A very recently publicized case involved an illegal iron-ore mining scam to the tune of 60000 crore in Karnataka where all political outfits at different points of time have grown fat on the earnings. The ruling BJP government at first tried to muzzle investigations by the Lokayukta by tying down his hands and taking away prosecution powers and when the issue became a hot potato owing to the latter's resignation in protest, reinstated and reposed full faith in him. The opposition led by the Congress wants the issue investigated by the CBI - not just because CBI is under Congress' control at the moment, but also out of fear that the Lokayukta will go after politicians of all hues whereas the CBI can be used for selective targeting. The past three assembly elections in Karnataka have been funded majorly out of illegal iron-ore export earnings. The same story is true for every state in India, with iron being replaced by other commodities such as bauxite, zinc, copper and even timber. So the very process of electing representatives festers and nurtures an ecosystem that loots the country of its resources and the citizens of their wealth. And what do we get in return? Abusive hooligans throwing slippers and shoes and putting on an unabashed reality show style display of physical strength.

There is nothing to show that those running the country even understand the enormity or complexities of the problems and issues facing the state, let alone being capable of solving them. The country today finds itself in the middle of a civil war that keeps engulfing more and more districts and states with every passing day. The threat of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism never abates. ISI has built an incredibly vast and complex network of spies, sleeper cells and surrogate organizations in almost every state of the country. Southern states of Karnataka and Kerala increasingly find themselves in the midst of Islamic radicalization of their youth. UP has the largest presence of ISI spies in the country.(You'll find an AK-47 being sold at a paan shop in Azamgarh district of UP.) Certain districts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are in control of jihadi elements. Kashmir one doesn't even need to talk about. Insurgencies in the north-east are being fueled and festered by the ISI operating from Bangladesh and Nepal. And the most heart-wrenching aspect of each and every of these Hydras is the tacit support of the political establishment- the same which we bring into power by voting for them in elections. Vote bank politics relegate everything else to the background. Religious fanatics, particularly those belonging to the minority communities, are appeased and allowed to carry out their nefarious activities in return for electoral support, the common man be damned! The recent case of a lecturer's hand being chopped off in Kerala by an Islamic party PFI(Popular Front of India) went unpunished with the Congress-led government trying to play down the issue. This party has links and ties with jihadi elements in and outside India as has been revealed by police investigations time and again. Yet, the green signal for taking action is never forthcoming from the political establishment. The state is becoming a hotbed of radical activities but neither the Congress nor the Left seem keen to risk political capital by antagonizing minority communities. If there is one party that has contributed the most to the security ills plaguing the country today, it's the Congress. It has always shown and led the path when it comes to sycophancy and short-term selfish gains, others following suit. To win minority support it scrapped POTA- the only legislation that had any teeth to deal with terrorist activities calling it "draconian","anti-minority", "biased" and a myriad other adjectives. The legislation itself says nothing of the religion of an offender. If an overwhelming majority of the terrorists belong to a particular community,how does that make the legislation "biased"?? Quick to renounce and berate Hindu extremist actions, its leaders try to put a question mark and raise doubts whenever a Muslim terrorist is gunned down by the security forces. Digvijay "foot-in-mouth" Singh calls into question the genuineness of the Batla House encounter in Delhi when on a tour to Azamgarh where the killed SIMI terrorists hailed from. Doesn't matter that the Delhi police force lost its best officer in the encounter. Since the terrorist was a Muslim, it's a crime to have killed him irrespective of the fact that he was behind bombings in Delhi and a wanted man. Not one statement was forthcoming from any of the Congress leaders over revelations by David Headley that Ishrat Jahan was an LeT recruit, something which Narendra Modi has been claiming all along after her death in a police encounter and Congress crying itself hoarse over the issue. Abdul Rehman Antulay, who has long outlived his utility as a politician seeks to resurrect his political fortunes by raising questions over the encounter during the Mumbai attacks. Elements in the government,bureaucracy,judiciary and police are on the payroll of crime gangs,slum lords,smugglers,land and forest mafia and anti-national elements yet we never hear of a conviction or a punishment. If it takes more than two years for a Ajmal Kasab to be handed the death sentence for killing hundreds with sheer impunity in full public and camera glare, there must be something dreadfully wrong with our public institutions. And mind you, the case first goes on to High Court from here and then to the Supreme Court and if both uphold the death sentence the defendant has the option of seeking mercy before the President of India. And going by the government's own claims a decision over the plea can't be taken before clearing the 20-30 petitions already pending(and have been pending for years).
Hail democracy!!

The first part dealt with the issues of electoral malpractices and national security.

The next part will talk about the misuse of democratic rights by miscreants to create more problems for others and the role democracy plays in hindering economic growth and development of the country. All of these are not without consequences for the poor and helpless in the name of whom all of it is done which shall be examined.

On the brink of a Civil War - I

2009-10-09T00:31:00.000-07:00

Warning: This post is a very long one and deals with the Naxalite/Maoist movement.There are no photographs to break the monotony of narration so read only if actually interested in the issue.

What served as an immediate trigger for this post was the beheading of a police inspector (an intelligence officer to be precise) from Jharkhand by Naxalites (or Maoists if you please).For the purpose of this post I shall be using the two terms interchangeably for there is no difference between the two. As for the why part, for those who couldn’t care less about the names, I’d suggest that they skip the rest of this particular paragraph which is just some boring history.The term Naxalite is derived from the name of a village called Naxalbari in West Bengal where a peasant movement first started in 1969 under the leadership of Charu Mazumdar in protest against the landlords who treated them inhumanly-long working hours, petty wages, violating their womenfolk etc. The movement gradually spread and the instigators came to be known as Naxalites.They formed a party of their own-the Communist Party of India(Marxist-Leninist) (which didn’t fight polls for they didn’t believe in democracy.As a fact, Communists don’t believe in democracy, their doctrine tells them that democracy is a sham invented by the bourgeois class.).As the movement spread,these people took inspiration from the Chinese leader Mao who had led Communists to power in China in 1948 and gradually came to be known as Maoists. “The Little Red Book” mandated by Mao for all his countrymen became the book of gospels for these people and they subsequently came to be known as Maoists.It’s a different matter altogether that time and again Mao brought nothing but misery to his people with his policies and committed indescribable atrocities right from the time he gained power(and in the course of taking it as well) till the end of his rule.

Time and again we keep coming across news items on the front page describing either Naxal atrocities or stories of encounters between them and the police. What do these people want? Why all this violence and bloodshed? Simply put, the aim of Maoists is the overthrow of the state and replacement of the existing system of governance with their own which envisages justice, equality and empowerment of the poor and the downtrodden etc. In short,the classic utopian Communist dream. And the path they have chosen is that of direct confrontation with the state in keeping with the Maoist doctrine ,”Political power flows from the barrel of a gun.” Hence the violence.

The officer referred to in the beginning was abducted to make a swap deal with the government wherein the extremists wanted the release of Maoist Kobad Ghandy who was arrested a few days back for his activities. The refusal of the government to bend to their demands sounded the death knell for the officer. The Maoists have shown themselves to be what they really are- a bunch of violent maniacs whose activities amount to treason and who need to be reined in immediately.This is not an isolated incident.There have been several more in the past but the Taliban-style beheading is a novelty. Yet, there is no dearth of intellectuals in the civil society who sympathize with their cause and romanticize their movement. True, those who join the movement at the lower rungs are mostly those who have been discriminated against or wronged in one way or the other. Some of them have even seen their own family members killed, raped or tortured by individuals acting on behalf of the state (the police mostly) and failing to get justice have chosen the violent path. But nothing, nothing whatsoever justifies this kind of gory violence against the society. Ours is a democratic country and there are processes and systems in place to ensure checks and balances. Conceded,the system is not always fair and it is far from perfect but democracy is the best option the world has at the moment. The recalcitrance of the Maoists in trying to replace it with a system that has been successful nowhere in the world and has only brought humongous levels of pain and suffering is exasperating. Agreed that a lot of rot has set in with money doing most of the talking but efforts and energies have to be directed towards eliminating that rot and not uprooting the tree.

In my opinion, the main culprits are the leaders of these outfits who encourage and instigate the disgruntled to rebel and take by force what they deserve; for these leaders are mostly educated people who understand the stakes involved and the consequences of fighting the state.They read Communist and Maoist literature, get influenced by it and seek to influence others. They are people like you and me who see the injustice around them in their youth and college years and try to find a way to end it, some go about it in a manner befitting a vibrant democracy and others in a truculent manner, ending up fighting the state with arms. The irony is that those elements in the system who may have perpetrated crimes against people mostly go unpunished.If I have been wronged by an XYZ policeman and take up arms in response what are the chances of me encountering him again in future? My organization won’t go looking for a particular policeman, would it? It is fighting a planned struggle, seeking to weaken the administrative and defence machinery of the state as a whole, why is it going to expend time and money in helping me settle personal scores with a particular individual when all of its members have their own grievances and their own fish to fry? The organization would never be able to work for its stated goals if it sought to serve the selfish interests of its members so it simply doesn’t; it exhorts you to work for the greater good and the larger cause. Would I not have a better shot at justice and bringing the real culprits to book if I followed the democratic path?In all fairness, it may not be possible for everyone to do so thanks to the rotten system but that still doesn't justify killing somebody else to satiate your anger,does it?It would amount to no better than an act of blinded vengeance,cloaked in the veneer of ideology.

To those sympathizing with the cause being fought for,namely the upliftment of the poor I pose this simple question : If the government were taking affirmative action in backward areas and the rebels hampered those would you still continue to be misled by their purported aims? Not if you really have the people's best interests at heart I believe. I say this because time and again Naxals have exposed themselves to be what they are-a bunch of power-hungry animals-by blowing up railway tracks,cell-phone towers,hampering road construction for public transport and eliminating any and every other semblence of infrastructure in the backward areas.Is this their way of helping their "brethren"?

To those who claim local support for these insurgencies, I would like to counter by claiming that the local support is cultivated by these groups for two selfish purposes- to get information on the activities of the government aimed at rooting them out and to get food,shelter and refuge in times of combing operations by the forces.The morality and propriety of having a state-funded militia such as the Salwa Judum may be debatable but you cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that such a force wouldn't even exist were disillusioned tribals happy with the trigger-happy Naxals.It's a false claim that Naxals don't kill civilians, there is ample record and proof to show the contrary-and I'm not even referring to civilian casualties as collateral damages but calculated,cold-blooded torture and murder in the so-called courts of their "Janatana Sarkar".Human rights activists who are out baying for the blood of the police at the drop of the hat,in response to criticism for their one-sided,hypocritical actions, have lately taken to issuing token statements and press releases condemning violence by the rebels as well.But I never see them filing cases, fighting bitter court battles and taking out marches in favour of police even in the most gruesome and unjustified killings of its men.Since they do all of it for their beloved Naxals,if this is not hypocrisy WHAT IS??Are all human rights only for the rebels and not for the security forces?What crimes have the latter committed to deserve such apathy and negligence?That of taking up the responsibility of protecting you and me at the cost of their own lives,working in the most pitiable conditions at meagre wages with outdated weapons and inadequate training?? If you can't be thankful the least you can do is not to degrade their sacrifices. The truth is that while opposition to the state howsoever spiteful will be tolerated,bitter criticism of Naxals is a sureshot invitation to retribution.While all the onus of being lawful and democratic is put on the state,the Naxal cause is justified,their actions seen as not a cause but a consequence of state violence.Let one thing be clear : human rights are for humans and not animals,I could give umpteen bone-chilling accounts of the ruthless and barbaric killing of police personnel by the Naxals but for now please make do with a small sample.

In Ranibodli in March 2007,one of the rooms of the police camp was bolted from outside by the Maoists and petrol bombs thrown inside towards the off-duty,unaware police personnel.Some escaping security men were targeted from tree-tops,killing a total of 55 police officers.As if this couldn't pacify their quest for sadism they laid down IED's(Improvised Explosive Devices)all around the building to hinder even the evacuation of casualties.The charred bodies of the personnel could not be recognized even by their kin. If the perpetrators still manage to win your sympathy and you still feel that they should be arrested and tried rather than be killed on the spot even if unarmed, I personally can only hope that one of you never becomes in-charge of dealing with these animals.

The next post shall deal with the ideal strategy to counter the movement,discussing the development-first versus action-first debate,the actions taken so far by various states,their successes and failures,the road for the future and finally the dire consequences of not dealing with this menace while there is still time.

Reflections on "A Better India,a Better World" - I

2009-08-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have been reading this fabulous book by Narayana Murthy for the last few days and it's caught enough of my fancy to get me to park my butt on a chair and dissect and analyse it.The book has been divided into ten sections,each dealing with different though frequently overlapping themes.Each section contains a number of lectures broadly pertaining to the sectional theme.I intend to write a multi-part series on the book and this post shall deal with the issues and ideas espoused in the first two sections.

In this book,Murthy deals with the different aspects that one needs to focus on to ensure a better life for each and every Indian citizen and by extension any global citizen.According to Murthy,the key to eradication of poverty lies in the use of entrepreneurship to create jobs on a large scale.Once a believer in communist and socialist ideas,he describes the one incident of his life in 1974 that convinced him of the philosophy he holds dear to his heart.The horrendous treatment meted out to him by guards in the red bastion of Bulgaria(which incidentally,is the only remaining Communist European country even today) merely on suspicion of his critical attitude towards the government purged all affinities for the Left from his mind and made him a proponent of compassionate capitalism.The only thing ironically,that saved him from being thrown into prison for life was the fact that he "belonged to a friendly country called India"(in the 1970s India was still largely socialist).

Murthy emphasizes the need for constant introspection and learning from experience in order to be able to realize one's full potential.The perception that ability is inherent and not developed "leads people to plateau early in life" and become complacent.While he concedes that chance events play a critical role in shaping an individual's career and life,it's only when people know how to seize an opportunity with both hands that they can get best out of fortuitous events.What helps in making this judgement is ultimately experience gained from toiling hard.

While Murthy feels pride in the accomplishments of Indians in various fields,he cautions against arrogance.He asks the reader to dwell upon why India still lags far behind despite having at its disposal all the necessary ingredients for breakneck economic progress-natural and human resources,technology and talent.According to him these factors rank below the spirit of hardwork and honesty,a strong,able and dependable leadership and the elimination of an elitist mindset amongst the powers that-be.To prove his point he gives the excellent examples of Japan and Switzerland which are deprived of ample natural resources.Also the fact that Japan and Germany bounced back from ruin after the second world war in such a short span of time only seeks to reinforce this convicton.

Murthy sharply criticizes the self-righteous attitude of Indians who refuse to learn and adopt the good aspects of other cultures and countries and are a society of people contemptuous of better societies even with our own meagre progress.We continue to dwell in the glory of the past,endlessly boasting about what we gave the world,without feeling the need to continue doing so in the present.Without the humility of showing the willingless to learn from people more advanced than ourselves,we put ourselves in danger of fading into oblivion.We continue to try rationalizing our failures and shirking responsibility.Accountability is as anathema to us as criticism is to China.The more you rise in the hierarchy the less accountable you become.No project gets completed on time,costs keep spiralling multi-fold and the final product is almost always sub-standard or outdated by the time it's ready.To give a fresh and glowing example,the ATV(nuclear submarine)Project that was envisioned and commissioned in the 70's finally delivered its first baby after decades of labor just the last month.And to add insult to injury,it wasn't even Indian technology that achieved it-as tom-tommed by the Prime Minister on the day of launch.The central problem had always been that of miniaturising the nuclear reactor to make it work for a submarine and after two and a half decades of futile efforts,we took help of Russian designs and engineers to achieve it.That the Prime Minister had the arrogance to make such a statement in presence of 130 Russian engineers present at the launch speaks volumes of our incompetence and the proclivity to hide it.Also,the less said about the development of the indigenous figher aircraft Tejas,the better.Defence bungles merit a separate post in themselves(this one I sincerely intend to write very soon!)

Public sector institutions and jobs of those working in them in India are held more sacrosanct than the millions of consumers they are expected to serve.Unreasonable pampering to the extent of eliminating competition from the private sector through direct or indirect means kills entrepreneurial spirit and breeds complacency in these institutions.As it is,India is one of the lowest ranked countries in the ease of doing business where it takes 3 months to get all the necessary clearances to start a business even after you grease the palms of babus at every level.And if you would like to shut down a business,god help you!It takes an average of 10 years to do so,thanks to our archaic bankruptcy and labour laws.Any hint of a labour sector reforms brings together unions cutting across party lines to protest vehemently in one voice,as was recently seen after the presentation of the Union Budget.

The Indians hardly ever give back to society.Individual interests always dominate community interests and result in creation of abysmal public amenities and community spaces.Scant respect and apathy for what doesn't belong to self results in dirty roads,parks and public toilets,piles of garbage and distasteful graffiti on walls of monuments and public facilities.The responsibility for creation and maintenance of public spaces is deemed solely to be that of the government's.Everybody in India wants to be a thinker and not a doer,(that's hypocrisy for me,for even I belong to the same breed I guess :P)preferring to articulate than implement.We conduct innumerable studies,create a plethora of committees and write endless reports-all resulting in zilch at the ground level.

The only way out of our self-inflicted misery,according to Murthy,is discipline-both in thought and action.Discipline in thought pertains to taking decisions in a strictly objective manner,keeping focus on growth and collective good rather than sycophany.The nature of politics in India is such that it is in the interest of the politicians of all hues to keep their vote-banks happy than focus on growth.A society divided on caste,ethnic and religious lines dampens the spirit of even an honest politician or bureaucrat thereby perpetuating misery and backwardness. Discipline in action pertains to commitment towards meeting deadlines and not indulging in corrupt practices.Corruption results in inflated costs,selection of incompetant contractors and below par final products.We get sub-standard roads,ill-built schools,absent and unqualified teachers and low-quality food stuff.These in turn worsen inequality in an already unequal society,result in dissatisied individuals and social unrest in the long run.The Bandra-Worli Sea Link took years to complete whereas in China six such bridges were commissioned at the same time and were up and functioning before this one saw the light of day.Now we discover that it's of limited use to citizens for various practical reasons thanks to short-sightedness of our esteemed policy makers.Nevertheless,all that political parties can think of fighting about at the moment is the name of the bridge.

What makes a great nation is not the availability of resources but the way it chooses to utilize them.Clarity of purpose and razor sharp focus on implementation are the two indispensable elements if we are to realize our destiny and earn respect.These come only from a disciplined and honest approach towards the task.We may either take the nation to dazzling heights of glory by making sacrifices for the greater good or let it sink into abyss for small,selfish interests borne out of narcissistic mindsets.The choice is ours.

Sach Ka Saamna

2009-07-23T00:15:00.000-07:00

The game show is barely two weeks old and has already rocked the Parliament!Our so very alert,soaked in "Indian culture" MP's cannot find a better topic to discuss in these difficult times.The country is staring at a drought-like situation,farmers are already crying,drinking water woes plague the nation,industry which was barely recovering from the effects of recession again looks set to be down in the dumps, lakhs are still out of jobs and yet...all of these petty,run-of-the-mill issues can wait while these virtuous, holier-than-cow sages of the modern age go about the onerous task of saving the "Indian culture".Wonder if this phrase ever crosses their minds when they bed prostitutes in their protected,out-of-the-public glare enclaves...

Just for the record,the issue was raked up by a Samajwadi Party MP in the Rajya Sabha. What else can one expect from a party which openly declares English as anathema and is paranoid of computers and all the technology that makes farm-work easier?Of course with the caveat that it doesn't have a problem if the party chief's son gets trained as an Environmental Engineer from a college in Sydney...one's gotta make exceptions once in a while,eh?

Politics apart, the show has definitely been an instant hit with the Indian audience right from the very first episode.I watch it everyday.For those who still don't know,it's the Indianised version of the American show "The Moment of Truth". Participants are asked more than 50 questions in the polygraph test before the actual shooting of the episode and 21 out of those are asked here.So one always knows what to expect in the hot seat.If despite that contestants choose to go ahead I don't think it should be anybody else's problem. Even in the course of the game contestants are repeatedly reminded about their prerogative to call it quits at any point.How much more fairness can you ask for?I'm sure that before signing up, contestants realise the full import of what they're getting into.If despite that they choose to,I think it's the courage of conviction that brings them here.It takes enormous guts to accept your mistakes,secrets,beliefs and convictions in front of the whole world and more than that,in front of your near and dear ones.In a country that believes in keeping its deepest,darkest secrets in the bottom-most drawer of the closet,what is it that's making it flock to the show in drones?Why is it that there hasn't been a dissenting voice from the public over this washing of dirty linen?(I'm not talking of politicians,they don't classify as public except during elections)Is it not because whether we accept it or not,we're all voyeurs at some level?Isn't the itsiest, bitsiest hint of a scandal involving a public figure enough to make us glued to the TV or the net?Forget a public figure,if it's someone you know and you know that your friends know,(confusing,eh? :P)ask yourselves whether or not you go running to tell others about it.Girls are more gossipy but boys aren't all that innocent either.We all want our own houses to be kept sacrosanct but couldn't care less about violating the sanctity of other's.

Whatever the reason for soaring TRP's, I believe every person on the show must've had a reason to be there.The lure of money may've played its part but it's got to be more than just that.It could be a desire to come clean for once and for all to rid self of guilty conscience or a desire to prove to the world one's honesty and integrity.I won't comment upon the accuracy of the polygraph machine whose results are still not admissible as evidence in court but would still implore you to look beyond just that. A criticism being levelled is about the show's potential to break relationships and homes.In response,I'll quote Rajeev Khandelwal,the host,from his blog:

"Also i spoke to Smita Matai a few days back. It was one of the happiest moments of my life when she told me that everyone who walks up to her feels proud to have met her. People on the roads and in multiplexes where she has visited off late do not just recognize her but also acknowledge her courage and confidence. And more then that she and Tony(her husband) have come even more close since the episode was air. Isn't it a reflection of a growing, mature and positive India."

In all fairness to the critics though,the American version of the show has had a mixed impact.Some relationships broke,some got back on track and some got firmly cemented than ever.To know more search on Wiki for "list of the moment of truth episodes".My argument is this: These people chose to be open about their lives and relationships,they wanted their relationships to be built on truth,not deceit.It's a choice they made about the way they wish to lead their lives.And if they were going to go the whole hog,how did it matter if the whole world knew about it in exchange for some moolah?The ones to whom it would really matter would still be their near and dear ones.For the rest,it's just instant gratifiaction of voyeuristic desires.

While the debate doesn't look like it's going to end soon,what with the I&B Ministry serving a show-cause notice to Star Plus,I believe it's a question of choice.Nobody's forcing anyone to go speak the truth.The show is aired at 10:30pm which is a decent enough time to prevent kids from watching the mature content.And oh!I wonder why the Shiv Sena hasn't uttered a word so far...I rather expected them to be ransacking the studio by now.. :P

UID Project:Vision for a new India - II

2009-07-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

Continuing from where I left in the last post,let me list out some of the potential stumbling blocks as well as inherent dangers of not taking care of privacy issues.

There are thousands,may be lakhs of villages in India where they still don't have electricity.Even if there is,it's not available most of the time.How then would the card(which I understand,would need a card reader) and its supporting infrastructure i.e computers etc. work in such places?This clearly demonstrates the need for development of power infrastructure in tandem with the UID project.But is this actually possible?Let's see why I personally think it isn't.

In each of its five year plans,the Indian government sets itself a target for power generation capacity addition over the course of the plan period.There hasn't been a single plan period thus far when the added capacity has ever exceeded 50% of the target.In the ongoing plan period,the target has been fixed at 77,000MW but going by the pace of capacity addition,it can be safely assumed that this time's gonna be no better.In contrast,China is adding 1 lakh MW capacity every year in order to meet its burgeoning requirements with a coal fired power plant commencing operations at an average of 1 per week!!But that's a story for another time...What I wish to merely point out is the fact that India isn't becoming energy sufficient for many more years,maybe decades to come.How then would the benefits of the card reach those for whom it has the potential of being nothing short of a life-changer?Aren't these the very people who have been accorded the highest priority in the project?So much so that the pilot project is going to issue cards to those registered under the NREGA and then to everyone else.

There are a number of privacy issues which need to be sorted out.An elaborate policy framework needs to be outlined which would unambiguously specify who exactly is authorised to access the data of citizens.Failure to protect privacy could result in not only some pesky but innocuous calls from telemarketers,it could actually endanger your life.Imagine this data getting into the hands of crime syndicates and the underworld.A rich businessman could end up receiving threatening extortion calls based on the data of his income tax returns.In case of riots,the data could help rioters identify localities and houses of people belonging to a particular community.If that sounds far fetched,consider this.In the Gujarat riots in 2002,Hindu rioters used data obtained from voter lists to identify shops and houses of Muslims and specifically targetted these installations,leaving those belonging to Hindus untouched.This gross misuse of voter lists would've never come to light but
for the fact that the speed and efficiency with which frenzied mobs targetted Muslims,leaving all Hindu properties unscathed made investigators smell a rat.And this isn't an isolated case.Kashmiri pundits,who have been driven out of the valley in lakhs by Islamic fanatics and are now living as refugees in their own country,were a victim of the same plot.In fact,the former are supposed to have derived inspiration from the latter in use of voter lists.These two instances are enough to show what catastrophic and horrifying consequences unprotected data in the public domain could entail.Certainly this is an aspect that cannot be overlooked.

In an article in the TOI,Mr.Swaminathan Ankleswar Aiyar pointed out that Indian bureaucrats have always sought to scuttle any initiative to give power in the hands of the people.They always manage to find loopholes in anything that seeks to bring about transparency and accountability in the system.I'll concede that RTI Act is a glowing exception but then again,bureaucrats continue to make attempts at diluting the law by pressing for exemption of file notings from the purview of the Act.With this mentality,can one trust these babus not to notch up innovative schemes to beat the system and thereby retain their stranglehold on funds and assets?

The most challenging aspect of the project however,in my opinion,is the source for the data Nilekani is going to use to prepare the database.Multiple sources are being tapped-LPG gas connection holders' list(11 crore connections in all,which assuming an average family size of 5 covers 55 crore people-nearly half the population), voter lists,ration card lists,PANs etc.Of these,ration card lists and voter lists have a large number of phantoms and there are a large number of people holding multiple PANs.How does Nilekani propose to weed out those who are either dead or non-existent from these lists?My hunch is that the compulsion for biometric data would eventually weed out these people but nevertheless large amounts would have been wasted by the time absence of biometric data confirms non-existence(every card is expected to cost Rs.30 at the most conservative estimate.)

Although I wanted to elucidate the technological aspects of the smart card as well in this post,I guess it would make it very long.So if you're more of a tech-oriented person,watch out for the next and final part of this series.

UID Project :Vision for a new India - I

2009-07-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

One of the most ambitious projects announced by the newly elected UPA government is its intention to issue a unique identification number to each citizen of India.Each person is to be issued a smart card carrying basic information such as name,date of birth etc. as well as biometric data such as fingerprints.For the purpose the government has set up a body called the Unique Identification Authority of India and roped in Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to head the body.To enable him to pursue his task in a hassle-free manner,he has been given the rank of a Cabinet Minister and given full freedom to choose his own team members-whether from the private or the public sector.It is estimated that the project is going to cost the exchequer 1.5 lakh crores.The first phase is expected to be rolled out in 18 months and 10,000 crores have been earmarked for the same.This phase would cover the beneficiaries of various social sector programmes being run by the government such as the NREGA.

The purposes behind this massive exercise are multiple:

1.)It is expected that the biometric system will help identify and target in a better manner the intended beneficiaries of various government schemes and subsidy programmes such as the NREGA,Public Distribution System and the myriad BPL schemes.At the moment,we have a comic(and outrageous!) situation where the total number of ration cards and BPL cards far exceed the number of people entitled to them.According to Mr.Swaminathan Ankleswar Aiyar,a TOI columnist,we have 223 million ration cards issued against a entitled population of 180 million and 80 million BPL cards issued against an entitled population of 65 million.(Data for the no. of eligible beneficiaries comes from government's own surveys.)In the state of Karnataka alone,the number of BPL card beneficiaries far exceeds the state's entire population,let alone the number of BPL families!!What this basically implies is the existence of 'phantoms' as Mr.Nilekani puts it in his book 'Imagining India'.These are people who exist only on paper i.e either they never were or are long dead.Also taking advantage are people who don't qualify for these benefits. These phantoms are often a creation of the authorities and shopkeepers who use them as a tool to siphon off the subsidised rice,wheat,kerosene and sugar from the allotted quota and sell them in the open market at market rates.As a result PDS is now a totally rotten system with leakages exceeding 50%.Its a double whammy for the state- subsidised goods don't reach the intended beneficiaries and oil marketing companies end up making massive losses on kerosene which is heavily used for transport in place of diesel since subsidised kerosene is much cheaper than diesel. More on the PDS in a later post.The smart card along with a simultaneous drive to increase penetration of banking services in rural India would allow the government to transfer subsidies in cash form to the entitled by depositing them in their accounts,thus eliminating all levels of interaction in between and by implication pilferages.The smart card reader at the outlet providing the subsidised service or good to the consumer would deduct the amount from his account thus ensuring that the cash is not spent on anything it's not intended for.

2.)It is the intention of the government to ensure that the relationship between the state and citizens be made as little traumatizing as possible for the latter by making the process transparent.As of now,the implementation of any scheme and flow of funds is completely at the mercy of corrupt and immoral bureaucrats.The authority levels are too many which ensures that of every rupee spent on the poor,only 5 paise reach them.A smart card linking each citizen to a national database will ensure that they are getting their due since each transaction will be recorded using the card. Bureaucrats won't be able to sit pretty by distributing funds merely on paper.

3.)It will force the government to acknowledge the plight of the poor and helpless by forcing it to acknowledge their 'existence'.The government would no longer be able to draw a veil over large-scale poverty and destitution by simply ignoring the as of now nameless poor.This in turn would force it to ensure that they are provided for.

4.)It will help to check large-scale illegal immigration in India from countries such as Bangladesh.According to estimates there are more than 2 crore Bangladeshis illegally residing in the country.These immigrants not only place a strain on the nation's resources,a large number of them are a serious security threat as well.Ditto for Pakistani intelligence agents,terrorists and other illegal citizens known in diplomatic parlance as 'aliens'.

5.)Citizens will be saved the hassle of carrying on their person a number of different documents such as passport,ration card,PAN card,voter ID card,birth certificate,caste certificate,driving license etc. for different purposes.

6.)It will help in making financial transactions much more transparent,eliminate instances of holding bank accounts using multiple PANs,expose fake voters and fake government employees.Surprised by that last bit,eh?Be prepared to receive the shock of your life by the next few lines.Recently in Delhi,where I've been staying for the last couple of months,a shocking scandal came to light.It has been discovered that 45,000 employees of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD)are non-existent(are either dead,fictitious or drawing salaries as government employees without working apart from pursuing regular professions).For the past 20 years,salaries and perks were being regularly drawn against their names.These employees were mostly appointed to lower level posts such as sweepers, gardeners etc.Despite repeated complaints by citizens of absence of these workers from their jobs,little or no action was taken by higher authorities.Not surprising considering that these officers were receiving a cut from those salaries to keep their mouth shut!What finally let the cat out of the bag was the municipal commissioner's decision to issue biometric identity cards to employees for attendance purposes.The cards were supposed to be issued when the employees came to give their attendance.Since the phantom employees' attendance used to be marked by the attendance officer himself, the fraud wasn't exposed for a lot of years.When these fictional employees didn't collect their cards,the matter came out into the public domain.There was an immediate uproar and some of the employees reported to work.People in some localities got the shock of their lives when they saw their washerman,gardener or local printer of many years sweeping streets early in the morning!!This shows the power of technology in improving civic facilities and making the government and its employees accountable to the people and gives a peek into what the future might hold for us if the unique ID card project becomes a success.

7.)Transparency in financial transactions i.e. being able to put a name to each transaction taking place will help in detection of financial activities of terrorist and militant organizations,atleast those which are taking place through legal channels.A year back or so,National Security Advisor M.K.Narayan had admitted that terrorist organizations had been active in the stock market.Not only that,a number of sympathisers of these organizations regularly send money through legal banking channels apart from the more popular and illegal hawala route.Being able to track these payments would help in choking supply of funds to these unscrupulous elements.

Howsoever well meaning the intentions of the project may be,the challenge of implementing it on the ground is enormous.By Nilekani's own admission,he expects it to be a challenge greater than he's ever faced when he says,"I'm supposed to work with 600 different departments of the government,no two of which ever work together."
There are a number of factors,circumstances and forces which will test Nilekani's resilience,perseverance and determination as he goes about his task.In the next post I intend to discuss some of the potential bottlenecks,possible misuses of the card as well as provide a detailed description of the technological aspects of the smart card and its supporting infrastructure.

Are EVM's really tamper-proof ?

2009-07-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

The recently concluded general elections in India threw up some really astonishing results.Defying all exit polls, pre-election surveys and expert opinions, the Congress-led UPA roared back to power in style with Congress crossing the 200-seat mark for the first time since the Rajiv-era.The same experts who were made to eat crow over the unprecedented results now attributed them to Congress pioneered initiatives such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(NREGA), the multi-thousand crore farm-loan waiver, National Rural Health Mission(NRHM) and last but not the least to the so-called charisma of Rahul Gandhi (sic!) and his youth brigade. Until recently,
nobody thought of questioning the EVMs.Quite surprising for a country where political parties are forever ready to go for each other's jugular over every petty issue!

The reservations expressed by opposition parties may actually not be a case of sour grapes after all.The fears have a very rational basis for a number of reasons.

In an article in "The Hindu" dated 17 June 2009, former Union Law Minister Subramanyam Swamy reveals that there have been a number of instances in European countries where EVMs have been shown to be vulnerable and prone to tampering- to the extent that a number of these countries have abolished the e-voting system and have returned to the old-fashioned paper ballot one.He quotes the examples of Germany, Ireland,Netherlands and even the Californian state of USA where these machines have either been banned or put on hold pending a full investigation.The Dutch Nedap machines used in Netherlands and Germany were hacked live on national television by experts following which they were banned.That reminds me of the US presidential elections where George Bush Junior beat Al-Gore to come to power after a sensational drama where after declaring Al-Gore as winner,authorities retracted their statement and after a recount in Ohio if my memory serves me right, Bush was declared winner.It was alleged at that time that the machines had been tampered with to overturn the verdict.There was even a documentary titled "Hacking Democracy" made over the issue.(Available on DC in case a Bitsian is reading this post)

In India, EVMs are manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited(BEL) which claims on its website that its machines are entirely tamper-proof.It makes comparisons with Computerised voting systems to emphasise that its machines are a lot better.It claims that its use of customised and proprietary hardware and software scores over commercial,general purpose hardware and OS used by other systems. It also tom-toms the fact that its software is burnt into ICs and therefore cannot be accessed, retrieved or altered, while other systems have their software written in C or C++ which renders them open to manipulation.A forceful argument,I must say,but who said that it's not possible to make a particular lot differently to suit a specific purpose?Just modify the code before it's fused into ICs and bingo!its done.Since once burnt,the software cannot be retrieved,no need to fear being getting caught!For the record, BEL is a public sector company with the government holding nearly 75% of its equity.The possibilities are enormous particularly in light of the fact that Bizta,the company which made the EVMs used for Venezuelan general elections where Hugo Chavez roared back to power with a record majority,had the government holding a 28% stake in the company-something that came to light after the elections were over.
Moreover,these softwares reside in Flash memory and are hence changeable.Lastly it says that its voting data resides on EEPROMs which need no external back-up battery for retention as opposed to other systems where voting data resides in RAM with battery back-up on mother boards and are vulnerable to corruption if battery fails.However in a newspaper item that appeared in Times of India this Sunday,it was claimed that a 1965 batch IAS officer Omaish Saigal made a presentation before the top brass of the Election Commission in which he demonstrated how by entering a specific code the machine could be programmed such that every fifth vote would go to the candidate of a particular party.In a country where election results are drastically altered by a swing of a few percentage of votes(there was merely a 9% difference in the no. of votes polled by Congress and BJP in these elections),the implications are obvious.Although the story was promptly denied by EC functionaries the following day, the denial doesn't come as a surprise.Anything short of a categorical denial would have brought about a wave of litigations and sparked national outrage.This story coupled with the controversial appointment of Navin Chawla as Chief Election Commissioner before elections in face of strong opposition by other parties and a damning report by outgoing CEC Gopalswamy questioning the impartiality of Chawla, leads one to suspect that the smoke is not without fire.Though nothing may ever be proved or disproved in the end, the episode leaves some lingering questions.

How can we ensure free and fair elections in India in the true sense of the words? Is it advisable to return to the paper ballot system of yester years and thereby bring back the days of booth-capturing and mass bogus voting in favour of a particular party? If not, then how to go about it if even technology is helpless in face of those hell-bent on subverting democracy?

The problem lies not with technology but the way one implements it.The fact that the OS used in EVMs is proprietary in nature might leave them open to vulnerabilities others may be able to exploit without anyone else getting wise to it.The best approach would therefore be to leave the code and machine architecture open to public scrutiny.This would ensure that vulnerabilities are patched up and no scope is left for tampering.However since any such move is bound to be protested by companies which manufacture these machines over fears that it would erode their market competitiveness, as a compromise we can have a select group of experts look at the code and suggest modifications. There have also been suggestions that we could use two EVMs manufactured by different companies simultaneously to check foul play.While such a system reduces probability of tampering it doesn't eliminate it.

For those who would like to dismiss any suggestion of foul play in Indian elections as merely another conspiracy theory, let me quote from the article of Mr.Swamy:

"Why are the EVMs so vulnerable? Each step in the life cycle of a voting machine — from the time it is developed and installed to when the votes are recorded and the data transferred to a central repository for tallying — involves different people gaining access to the machines, often installing new software. It wouldn’t be hard for, say, an election official to paint a parallel programme under another password on one or many voting machines that would, before voters arrived at the poll stations, ensure a pre-determined outcome.

The Election Commission of India has known of these dangers since 2000. Dr M. S. Gill, the then CEC, had arranged at my initiative for Professor Sanjay Sarma, the father of RFID software fame at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and his wife Dr Gitanjali Swamy of Harvard, to demonstrate how unsafeguarded the chips in EVMs were. Some changes in procedure were made subsequently by the EC. But the fundamental flaws, which made them compliant to hacking, remained."

If steps are not taken soon,elections may very well lose credibility and faith in democracy lost.Nobody has the right to reduce the world's biggest democratic exercise to a farce.As it is,barring a few,politicians in India are hardly trusted by anyone.A charge of fraud involving EVMs,if ever proved,could very well be the final nail in the coffin- both for politicians as well as the whole democratic set-up.

Personality Test

2009-06-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

My Personality


Neuroticism	77
Extraversion	48
Openness to Experience	49
Agreeableness	60
Conscientiousness	66

You do not experience strong, irresistible cravings and consequently do not find yourself tempted to overindulge, however you feel enraged when things do not go your way. You are sensitive about being treated fairly and feel resentful and bitter if you think you are being cheated. You are not prone to spells of energetic high spirits. You are not interested in the arts and do not display aesthetic sensitivity. You are tenderhearted and compassionate, feeling the pain of others vicariously and are easily moved to pity, however you are not adverse to confrontation and will sometimes even intimidate others to get your own way. You strive hard to achieve excellence. Your drive to be recognized as successful keeps you on track toward your lofty goals. You often have a strong sense of direction in life, but may sometimes be too single-minded and obsessed with your work.

poll maker

jewelry

Satyam:The Truth "Lies" Beneath...

2009-01-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Satyam first came into news on 16th December with its announcement of purchasing 100% and 50% stakes respectively in his sons’ companies Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure. (Maytas incidentally is Satyam spelled backwards).Ramalinga Raju’s family members own a combined stake of more than 30% in each of these companies. The deal was finalized for $1.6 billion-a figure that raised a number of eyebrows and invited shareholders’ wrath who questioned the rationale of this valuation and the high-handedness of the board members who took such a major decision without consulting or informing investors of the proposed move. The markets reacted sharply and Satyam’s share price took a beating. Many in the industry questioned the role of independent directors in ratifying such a move without due diligence and the issue brought into focus family dominance in corporate affairs.Rattled by the criticism the move was abandoned the very next day. The company’s image took another beating on 23rd December when the World Bank announced an eight –year ban on Satyam for data theft and providing improper benefits to World Bank employees. In the next few days its oldest board member M Srinivasan and independent directors Krishna Palepu and Rammohan Rao,the dean of the Indian School of Business quit on moral grounds. Also Merrill Lynch,which had been tasked with searching for strategic partners for Satyam backed out alleging serious irregularities in Satyam’s account books.Finally on 7th January Ramalinga Raju released a confessional letter to Satyam’s board informing of massive financial fraud and cooking up of company’s account books which had been going on for years for which he assumed sole responsibility claiming that no other board member knew about any of it. The company’s shares came crashing down in the stock markets with the price per share being reduced from Rs.179 to Rs.39 in a single day and shareholders losing massive amounts of money.Raju confessed to having inflated cash and bank balances of the company by Rs.5040 crores,understated Satyam’s liability to other companies by Rs.1230 crores,overstated debtor position i.e. amounts other companies owed to Satyam by Rs.490 crores and inflated interest received on loans issued to other firms by Rs.376 crores.The actual operating profit according to his statement was just 3%-something nobody in the industry seems prepared to digest because even a non-descript IT firm doesn’t operate below a profit margin of 20%. The reason he says all this was done is to prevent a takeover of the company which would have exposed the gap in the real and actual profits. But the gap kept getting bigger and when all attempts to bridge it failed the Maytas deal was conceived as a last-ditch attempt to do so.It was hoped that Maytas’ assets would justify the stated finances of the company and the latter’s payment could be delayed once Satyam’s problem was solved. Thus it was to be a deal in which Satyam was supposed to be paying with non-existent cash.In short it was a matter of money staying in the family.But since the move failed to pass muster, the game was up for the gap had grown too wide to be sustained and couldn’t have been concealed for long.Satyam didn’t have enough cash in its coffers to pay its employees so the fraud would’ve been exposed sooner or latter.

But experts argue that inspite of all his claims Raju couldn’t have done it alone for a fraud of such magnitude requires the connivance of the Chief Financial Officer and his team at the very least.It’s simply not possible to inflate revenues by Rs.588 crores in a single quarter as Satyam did without the CEO,CFOand COO not being in the loop unless they’re blind and dumb.

Another theory doing the rounds is that Satyam did make all the profits it claimed to be making but the promoters quietly invested it in real estate through Maytas companies without anyone’s knowledge.This,it turns out ,is a bigger crime than just inflating profits from a legal viewpoint. With real estate prices crashing in the recent times that investment got wiped off and the promoters were left with nothing in their hands.This theory derives strength from the fact that Rajus own large swathes of land in and around Hyderabad and Maytas needed funds for its own operations.

Raju’s claim in his letter that neither he or his family members have benefited from inflated profits sounds hollow in light of the fact that their holding in the company came down dramatically from 14% to 8% in a period of two months in 2006 when the share price(a direct function of the company’s inflated revenue declarations) was around Rs.700.He had claimed that they hadn’t sold their shares in the last eight years except for a small amount sold for philanthropic purposes.A reduction in holding by 6% translates into a sale of 1.5 crore shares giving a return of Rs.1000 crores- by no means a small amount.

Raju’s credibility is being further eroded by allegations of fraud in the EMRI scheme which is supposed to be a charity providing emergency medical services.95% of the investment has come from state governments and 5% from Rajus and land to the tune of 10-20 acres is being allotted for free in each of the eight states it is operating in-something which is not at all required for such operations.Also the organization is overcharging the government for its services and tenders for contracts by state governments are being issued with terms in favour of EMRI.

Raju also has a past record of defrauding the government by not paying back the loan he took to start the Sri Satyam Spinning Mills in 1983.The loan to the tune of Rs.52 lakh was taken from Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation. His company ran into losses and Raju sold it to another party without repaying either the interest or the principal.The new owners professed no knowledge of pending dues and Raju dissociated himself from the issue saying that he was no longer associated with the company.Since then the APIDC has been able to do very little except issue notices and in effect has had to write off the amount as bad debt.This shows that this is not the first instance of bad corporate governance with Raju.Ironically Satyam has been awarded the Golden Peacock Award for excellent corporate governance thrice,most recently in 2008.

Another party being seen as hand in gloves with Raju is Satyam’s audit firm Price Water House Coopers which certified all its accounts and financial transactions-something not possible if they’re not in cahoots with the guilty except when they either act dumb or show gross negligence. That PwC wasn’t able to spot an irregularity of Rs.5040 crores in CB&B(cash and bank balances) and Merrill Lynch caught it in two weeks points to two possibilities-either their audit team didn’t bother checking it with the banks or the CFO’s office created forged statements on the letterheads of banks to fool them.Both cases amount to serious neglect of responsibilities by PwC which is supposed to certify to the shareholders that the accounts are “true” and “fair”. In any case the firm has lost its reputation and is already facing lawsuits in the US.Only if it is very lucky it may escape with severe fines,lose many of its clients and shrink into insignificance like Anderson which went bust owing to the Enron scandal(Anderson was its audit firm).

As of now,the government has superseded Satyam’s present board and appointed an interim board of three members-Deepak Parekh(chairman of HDFC),Kiran Karnik(former chairman of NASSCOM) and V.Achutan(legal eagle) to assess the company’s position and try to bring it back on track because despite its woes it remains profitable with solid foundations.The main concern is to arrange for operating capital i.e. money to keep the company’s day-to-day operations running and pay employees’ salaries as well as to ensure that the client base is not eroded. As of now,the government has refused to bail out the company on grounds that it would set a bad precedent and encourage potential scamsters to think they can get away with fraud.The new board has appointed KPMG and Deloitte-two of the “Big Four” audit firms on Wall Street to reassess Satyam’s financial position(PwC is or well! rather was one of the group before this fiasco).The fourth one is Ernst&Young-the firm which carried out the valuation of Maytas companies and declared the proposed deal to be worth the contentious figure of $1.6 billion.

Yesterday the government appointed three more members to the board:Tarun Das-chief mentor of CII(Confederation of Indian Industries) which is an industry association,T.N Manoharan-chartered accountant and past President of ICAI(Indian Chartered Accountants Institute) and S.Balkrishna Mainak of LIC which is a major stakeholder in Satyam.

Ramalinga Raju,his brother Rama Raju and CFO Vadlamani are in judicial custody-another controversial move as it is being alleged that the action was taken to prevent SEBI from questioning them(only the police can interrogate them as long as they’re in judicial custody and are in no way competent enough to question them on corporate affairs).

Although the businessman-politician nexus in this case is not being vigorously probed as of now,as the probe moves forward many skeletons are likely to come tumbling out of the closet for Raju is said to have built his empire by seeking and getting favours from Andhra politicians of all hues over the years who in return used him to further their own political ends by projecting him as the face of Andhra pride in front of the world.

For India this fiasco couldn’t have come at a worst time with economy on a path to slowdown and economic stimulus by the government yet to show any effects.The India story could be badly affected if the issue is not dealt with in an exemplary manner and perpetrators left unpunished for it would dent the country’s image in the eyes of clients and investors who might go elsewhere.It’s for this reason that all IT firms are taking pains to emphasize that this is a one-off case and the standards of corporate governance in the industry are quite high. The biggest question mark hangs over the fate of Satyam’s 53000-strong workforce that has been looking to find new jobs but finding few takers in face of hiring freeze as well as directives from NASSCOM to other IT firms not to poach Satyam’s employees.

Corporations: The Necessary Evil

2008-12-31T02:00:00.001-08:00

Watched the movie "Battle in Seattle" yesterday and the mind immediately got flooded with a plethora of thoughts.The movie is based on real events depicted through fictional characters and is the story of mass protests at the WTO(World Trade Organization) meeting in Seattle,Washington which ultimately led to collapse of the talks.For a full synopsis(at the risk of encountering spoilers) go to

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0850253/synopsis

However, what I want to talk about is not the movie itself but issues- both core and peripheral- related to it.The protesters are opposed to the WTO because they feel that it's being used by the developed and powerful nations of the world to flood the third world and poor nations with their goods thus destroying any attempts at self-sustenance.All this is done under the garb of sugar-coated slogans of "Globalization" and "Free Trade".The carrot held out is the seemingly easier and cheaper access to goods for the people of all countries.The WTO envisages a single unified global economy but fails to make any provisions for the local farmers and entrepreneurs who would lose their livelihoods in face of stiff competition.Hey wait!How can imported goods come at so cheap a price so as to elbow out these guys?? The answer lies in- subsidies.

European nations and America give billions of dollars in subsidies to their own farmers who are then able to produce at a lower cost and sell cheap. Even so, they make handsome profits.Now, these countries are not agrarian in nature- meaning that only a very miniscule percentage of the population is involved in farming.This makes it easier for the governments to give heavy subsidies per farmer.On the other hand,developing and third world countries have majority of their populations involved in agricultural activities.For these countries whose economies are much smaller than those of the developed countries,it becomes all the more difficult to subsidize farming.This results in lack of usage of modern equipment and techniques in farming which has a direct impact on the quality and quantity of produce.If at all the farmer chooses to use modern machinery, the cost of production also goes up considerably because the farmer now has to pay back the loan taken from the bank to purchase the machinery. This limits his ability to sell below a minimum price.With cheap and better quality goods coming from elsewhere he is unable to withstand the competition. It's true that consumers which form a smaller portion of the population will now have access to cheaper goods but face the risk of becoming overdependent on imports owning to the dying out of local industry. There may arise a situation where owing to poor produce some year the developed country doesn't export its produce.The impact can be imagined. This effect continues up the production chain because the local industry won't be able to produce cheap after procuring the more expensive raw material from local sources whereas industry in developed countries will.The irony is- developed countries in WTO want developing countries like India to stop giving subsidies to their farmers but are not willing to do the same in their own.Clearly, all this is being done at the behest of and in the interest of large corporations which are driven by the profit motive.Infact(atleast as far as the US is concerned) a corporation is mandated by law to maximize profit for its stakeholders and thus can absolve itself of guilt,if any,in the pursuit of its objectives.

Now this is where it all gets damn confusing for me! All right, the corporates world over are driven by selfish motives and are willing to exploit or be involved in the exploit of others in pursuance of their goals.Also,many of us would automatically sympathize with the plight of those suffering as a result.But does that mean we should stop using the products of these companies? Not eat that burger at your favourite multinational joint, not purchase that pair of sports shoes from Nike(in India they are imported from China where its workers are paid a pittance and Nike pockets all the money),not consume products made from imported food-grains(not that ur gonna be able to tell anyway!),not use a laptop or an iPod(the lithium ion batteries use a substance found in abundance mostly in very poor African nations which use child labor to mine it-of course it's the corporations who supervise the mining),not wear diamond jewellery(try finding out something about DeBeers if u can not to mention blood diamonds)? This list can go on for ever,including things you cannot imagine life without-foremost being oil.Probably nothing in the world has caused as much exploitation as oil has. This exploitation has been carried out by both- corporations as well as governments- and continues to this day.Ever since reserves of oil were found in the Middle East at the turn of the century, the world has never been the same.A number of countries have been condemned to eternal hell for their oil,the most recent being Iraq and Afghanistan.Afghanistan itself doesn't have any significant oil but its control is vital for the US to enable it to bring oil through pipeline from oilfields in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan which will have to pass through Afghanistan and Pakistan before entering the ocean.A Taliban controlled Afghanistan wouldn't allow that although US tried its best to negotiate with this barbaric regime.More on oil politics in later posts.

Even if everyone decided to boycott these goods or decide not to be employed by them what will happen to the workers who might go jobless as a result? The collapse of corporations will resonate throughout the economic chain because everything is interlinked(the current recession is proof).The world economy shall collapse and it will be utter chaos everywhere.And what shall we have achieved? Absolutely nothing.So clearly an outright boycott is not an option. Then what IS?I don't know and I don't think there IS an effective one.At most you can try your best to persuade these people to bring about a change of heart and hope for the best but clearly that doesn't smack like a practical solution.Human greed is too strong to let go of opportunities for the sake of others.Most of us want to be rich and powerful and I personally am no exception.

That leaves taking recourse to legal route as the only option.Tough laws may discourage exploitative,immoral,unethical and criminal practices and force corporations to behave.But again laws are made by governments-which may be democratically elected or dictatorial regimes.In case of the latter dictators aren't accountable to anyone and can therefore rule as they see fit.Naturally corporations would be willing to pay arm and leg to the dictators to bend laws their way in such an atmosphere.In case of a democracy,no one ever heard of politicians winning elections without money to run their electoral campaigns.Who pays the chunk of this money and what do they want in return? Be it either India or the US,time and again we have seen laws being heavily tilted in favour of corporations and the judiciary overlooking violation of laws by them.Organizations like the WTO are brainchilds of not governments but corporations who are eager to expand their reach at whatever price.With the weight of the government behind these guys what choice does that leave you with?

So where do I see myself after college?What do I want to achieve?Like many others I want a high-paying,satisfying,glamorous job and a stellar corporate career.Would I be hypocritical enough to join a multinational?Yes,I would.I've worked hard all my life to the best of my ability to realise my goals.I know there are things which I cannot change and are beyond my control.Besides,there is no corporation which doesn't perpetrate exploitation in one form or the other and given all the arguments in this post do I have a choice if I want to fulfill my dreams?(Assuming that I'm not planning on being an entrepreneur!)

Lazzzzing Around!

2008-12-29T01:55:00.000-08:00

Vacation is getting very boring now.Wish it's over soon and I get back to college.All I do is to eat,sleep,read,watch TV n movies on lappie.Currently reading Noam Chomsky's "Understanding Power" but not in a mood to finish it now.Saw three movies yesterday-"Bachna Ae Haseeno","The Deal" and "Wall-E".

"Bachna..." is typical Bollywood fare-the candy floss stuff.Minissha Lamba and Deepika look hot,Ranbir's acting is okay.Timepass movie in short.Watch "The Deal" if you like politics else just another movie."Wall-E" is an animation film from the house of PIXAR.Sweet movie if you manage to sit through the first half an hour.Story is kinda new.

Polyester Prince :The Rise Of Dhirubhai Ambani

2008-12-27T03:34:00.000-08:00

This is the name of a book by Hamish McDonald I finished reading a couple of days back. It details the life of the man right from his childhood days till about the time he died and exposes him and Reliance to the world in full. It is only after reading this book that I realised the scale and magnitude of the frauds perpetrated by him and his coterie of friends.

On the other hand, one cannot but help marvel at the sheer genius of the man who took on the whole government and bureaucracy headlong and twisted and manipulated them to suit his will and desire. The state-controlled economic set-up of India(which it was till 1991) had been designed by some of the best minds in the world and yet Dhirubhai outwitted and hoodwinked it at each and every step.That he managed to shine the most when license-raj in India was at its worst speaks volumes about his abilities.At the peak of his powers he could make or break Prime Ministers not to mention other Cabinet ministers and Chief Ministers. His battles with Bombay Dyeing chief Nusli Wadia and Indian Express owner and editor Ramnath Goenka have become the stuff of legend.It is in the most intense phase of this battle that 'years of living on adrenalin' as the author puts it, finally took its toll on him and he suffered a paralytic stroke from which he never fully recovered.

In the course of reading this book a lot of characters and events in the movie 'Guru' began falling in place.Apart from the obvious Abhishek Bachchan as Dhirubhai and Aishwarya Rai as his wife Kokilaben, the character of Abhishek's father as schoolmaster is based on Dhirubhai's father who was also a school teacher, Mithun Chakravarty's character is inspired by Ramnath Goenka who initially saw great promise in Dhirubhai but later fell out with him owing to latter's business practices and Madhavan's character as a journalist in Mithun's paper is inspired by S.Gurumurthy who exposed Reliance and Dhirubhai in Indian Express to the full.Aishwarya's brother as Abhishek's business partner in his initial days is also based on a real life character whose share Dhirubhai bought out after they disagreed on certain points. Abhishek's stint in Turkey is symbolic of the years Dhirubhai spent in Aden(in Yemen) when it was a busy business place. The allegation levelled against him regarding smuggling of machines without paying custom duties is very much true;Dhirubhai is said to have smuggled in a whole factory worth $1 billion by dismantling machines and then reassembling them after their arrival taking advantage of loopholes in customs regulations.It was considered as a punch in the face for the bureaucracy at that time.In another instance he paid duty for 8 machines and installed 12 in his plant by showing the latter as spare parts to the authorities(the figures of 8 and 12 appear in the movie too).The annual shareholders meeting used to be a grand affair with Dhirubhai as shown in the movie and there was an instance when the public turned against him in the meeting and he had to flee. The paralytic stroke shown in the movie(after the disastrous shareholders meet) came much later in real life though.The movie leaves out his most scandalous affairs(Harshad Mehta scam and issuing of duplicate shares)and doesn't even make a mention of his tussle with Nusli Wadia.Guess the producers didn't want to take chances with the Ambani clout.On that note, even this book is not available in India for the Ambanis have threatened legal action against anything they preceive as defamatory in the book!No wonder I never across it before in the press or anywhere else.It's only by accident that I chanced upon a downloadable free ebook version on the net while searching for something else.

The book candidly details all of Reliance's misdoings while acknowledging the genius of the man.In the words of Sucheta Dalal, a well-known business reporter:

The Polyester Prince is an accurate portrait of one of the most colourful, controversial and brilliant of Indian businessmen, who converted into an art; the bending and twisting of the stifling license-permit system to his advantage. It traces his humble beginnings at Chorwad in Gujarat to being in the Forbes list of the world's richest men.

As McDonald says in the book, 'Everything about the Ambanis, in fact, was a good magazine story.' If Anil Ambani's stormy courtship of Tina Munim, whom Hamish describes as 'a girl with a past' has all the ingredients of a Bollywood potboiler, then the saga of Dhirubhai's rise to being among the most powerful men in India is significantly more dramatic and awesome. There is the fight-to-the-finish battle with Ramnath Goenka -- the fiery and fearless proprietor of the Indian Express; then the war with industrialist Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing; the much publicised allegations against some Ambani staffers over a plot to murder Wadia; Reliance's travails during the V P Singh government, which almost brought the business house to its knees, and sundry other controversies over licensed capacities, export manipulation and share switching. It also narrates how Reliance created the equity cult which got the general public investing in equity and investors' reciprocal adulation for the man for over a decade.

McDonald uses his skill as a journalist to paint an accurate picture and to bring in the unsavory aspects of Reliance's dealing with business rivals without attracting charges of defamation. The book candidly traces Dhirubhai's uncanny knack of tweaking and capturing political and bureaucratic power -- Ambani's equation with Indira Gandhi and her family and their powerful minions, as well as the suitcases of cash which Indian business houses used to engineer changes in tariffs and duties for specific products. At the same time, McDonald finally portrays Dhirubhai as a visionary with unconventional ways of fulfilling his mega plans.

Read the full article here: http://www.rediff.com/money/2000/jul/26dalal.htm

He manipulated not only the system but his company's account books as well.By putting up front companies and spinning a complex web of financial transactions here and there he made it extremely difficult for anyone to make any sense of it. As the author says-Probably only Dhirubhai, his two sons and a couple of selected near ones were the only people who had the whole equation in their heads.

Everything else apart, the book makes you realise the readiness with which our politicians do the beckoning of businessmen, the impunity with which they demand cash(for instance,Sanjay Gandhi asked Nusli Wadia for donations to Congress to get a license clearance) and abuse their positions in power.Apart from Indira Gandhi,Murli Deora,the present Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Pranab Mukherjee, the External Affairs minister, used their clout in the administration to benefit Reliance and Dhirubhai heavily-both financially and legally. CBI has been shown to be a mere puppet in the hands of politicians and by extension Reliance(the CBI chief's son was the owner of a Reliance factory)- something that stays true to this day.The heads of public sector banks, bureaucrats in the finance ministry,law ministry and officers in the law enforcemnt agencies have been shown as having business interests in Reliance either directly through ownership of shares and debentures(allotted by Reliance for free out of special prerogative quotas in return for their 'services') or indirectly by having franchisee rights of a Reliance company through their family members. A number of bureaucrats accused of favouring Reliance have been shown as taking up jobs with it after retirement.Even the media hasn't been spared.Reliance had a number of journalists in major newspapers and magazines on its payroll to paint a favourable image of the company.It even started a newspaper of its own-the 'Observer of Business and Politics' when the Indian Express campaign started hurting it real bad but it failed to click. But the author does acknowledge that given the opportunity any other businessman does and would've done the same things Dhirubhai did.The only difference with him was the courage factor and the scale on which he did whatever he did. By his own admission he took advantage and worked hard to exploit the opportunity while others remained complacent and therefore had no right to complain. He attributed complaints to the jealously factor he says is so inherent in Indians.

To say that he played a big role in changing the face of Indian politics forever (inadvertantly though) won't be an exaggeration. He got V.P Singh (who was the Finance Minister in the then Rajiv gandhi Government and was bearing down upon Dhirubhai's empire) sidelined upon which the latter resigned and then led to Rajiv's downfall in the next elections.Fearing a Congress comeback he then took the reservation genie out of the bottle which has completely changed the contours of Indian politics forever. The man who had a reputation for honesty and efficiency (as Chief Minister of UP he rid the state of notorious bandits to a great extent) became a villain(or a hero depending on which side of the fence you are) overnight.

Perhaps the most shocking side of his personality was the willingness to take recourse to violence as the last means. At various times he got beaten up his own workers agitating for higher wages and overtime pay, his business rivals(son of Kapal Mehra, his rival in the polyester business)-the latter couldn't be proved in court and got threats issued to a number of people as well(none of which have been proved). A manager of his company Kirti Ambani was arrested for hatching a murder conspiracy against Nusli Wadia and Reliance immediately dissociated itself from his actions.

The author also gives details of the Ambanis association with Harshad Mehta in order to jack up Reliance share prices by manipulation of markets but says that the joint Parliamentary probe was stopped by Murli Deora before it could throw the noose around Dhirubhai.

Dhirubhai's contention was simple-Everyone has a price, whether low or high.His personality is best summed-up in the author's own words-

Dhirubhai Ambani built his company through outstanding abilities and drive on many fronts: as an innovative financier, an inspiring manager of talent, an astute marketeer of his products, and as a forward-looking industrialist. The energy and daring that showed itself in his early pranks, practical jokes and trading experiments developed into a boldness and willingness to live with risk that few if any other Indian corporate chiefs would dare to emulate. His extraordinary talent for sustaining relationships, and sometimes impressing men of standing, won him vital support from both governments and institutions.

The dark side of his abilities was an eye for human weakness and a willingness to exploit it. This gained him preferential treatment or at least a blind eye from the whole gamut of Indian institutions at various times. Over decades in India, some of the world’s best minds had applied themselves to building a system of government controls on capital ism. Dhirubhai Ambani made a complete mockery of it-admittedly at a stage when the system was decaying and corrupted already. The Ministry of Finance and its enforce ment agencies, the Reserve Bank of India, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Company Law Board proved timid and sometimes complicit in their handling of questionable episodes concerning Reliance. The public financial institutions that held large blocks of shares in Reliance and had seats on its board were passive and acquiescent spectators, rather than responsible trustees for public savings.

No Need for me to Write and for u to Read This!

2008-12-24T03:07:00.000-08:00

Saw "The X-Files: I Want to believe" yesterday. Booooooring!!!!!! I'm not even sure I completely understood what it was all about. Two retired FBI agents(a male and a female), a priest with 'visions'(also a convicted paedophile), abduction of a couple of serving FBI agents and lots of bullshit-pretty much sums it all up. Complete waste of time. Better avoided.

Battle for the Black Gold

2008-12-23T02:17:00.000-08:00

Saw an excellent documentary yesterday-"The Battle for Oil- China vs the US". It pretty much sums up all the political, economic, geographical and strategic factors at play today over this precious resource and the dangerous future that lies ahead if an alternative isn't found soon.

The US is the biggest consumer of oil in the world and imports two thirds of its requirements-all this despite being the third largest producer in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Russia-and on the whole consumes one quarter of the total world production. China's economy has grown sevenfold ever since it took the road to capitalism and needs massive amounts of oil to sustain itself.At present 50% of the requirement is met through domestic production and the rest is imported but it's projected that very soon it shall have to import two-thirds of its needs. As a result the Chinese have been on a buying spree around the world trying to ensure long term supplies of oil to feed their industries and have gone out of their way to woo African and Latin American countries. China's main suppliers of oil from Africa are Sudan and Chad and from Latin America it's Venezuela. Unlike their western counterparts the Chinese attach no strings in dealing with these countries. They make it quite clear that all they want to do is business and steer clear of meddling in the internal politics and affairs of these nations. They invest massively in the infrastructure sector- building roads, bridges, railway stations and airports- and provide huge loans on easy terms to these countries. They deal with the government and not its people which leaves the former to use the oil revenues in any which way it might wish. In short, windfall oil revenues are no guarantee of improvement in the lives of the people.If the regime is rogue and corrupt there's little that can be done.

On the other hand the US has been trying to make inroads in Africa too but since the government is not directly involved the private corporations are unable to match the monetary power of the Chinese who do business through state-owned entities and are therefore able to commit massive government funds. Also the Chinese have been encroaching upon traditional US turf by getting Venezuela to commit a major chunk of its production to China.Before Hugo Chavez came to power in Venezuela, the regime was US-friendly but now the new socialist regime is less kindly disposed towards the US-infact Chavez loses no opportunity to lambast George Bush and his policies in public and is trying to forge an anti-US coalition within Latin America to further harm its interests. On the other hand, China is also getting friendly with Iran which has been at loggerheads with the US for quite some time now over its nuclear ambitions. It has used its muscle in the Security Council to oppose any sanctions proposed on Iran by the US and has in turn been rewarded with oil. China's unique status as the sole Asian country with the veto power attracts the oil-rich anti-US countries to an alliance with it. China has also prevented any action against Sudanese government for its atrocities in Southern Sudan and Darfur. These are the oil-rich regions of the country and government raised, funded and backed Arab Janjaweed militias have been carrying out a vicious genocide campaign against the tribes in this region. These tribesmen are either non-Arab Muslims or pagan worshippers. Either way, the Arabs don't care. Considering that 85% of Sudanese oil is exported to China, the stakes are too high for China to let the international community take action against Omar-al Bashar, the Sudanese premier who has been convicted of genocide by the International Court.

Another piece in this game of chess is Taiwan. It's an island country whose independence is recognized by very few nations of the world as a result of Chinese pressure. Chad, which formerly recognized Taiwan as an independent country has now changed its stance to support China under diplomatic pressure as well as coercive tactics(China was fuelling insurgency in the border areas of Chad)China has for years been threatening military action if Taiwan were to issue a formal declaration of independence. On the other hand, the US has pledged to protect it in event of a Chinese aggression. More than anything else control of Taiwan is important to China from a strategic point of view. Most of China's oil comes by sea and in the event of a crisis Taiwan would be China's Achilles' Heel and it would be at the mercy of the US navy for the latter controls the Taiwan Strait which lies on one of the main oil routes supplying all of East Asia. Therefore China is not only investing heavily in a blue water navy but also trying to build enough pipeline capacity to bring oil through ground from Russia, Kazakhastan etc. All the same, control over Taiwan would give it the right to control the Taiwan Strait itself than allowing the US to do it thus eliminating threat of a blockade during war.

There was also an attempt two years back by a Chinese oil company to take over the US oil company Unocal as a perfectly legitimate corporate acquisition which raised a storm in the US political and strategic circles. It was touted as an issue of national security and was blocked. Having failed to meet its needs through acquisitions China intensified its search of oil in other areas of the world.

However, some years down the line, with the ever growing demand for energy this quest is set to intensify much more and might even result in wars being fought for control of oil supplies. The US can neither tell China and India to contain their growth nor agree to consume less and leave more for others. The problem is with the pie-its size is fixed and cannot grow. Although rapid advances in technology has made it economically viable to exploit reserves of heavy crude as well, its nothing more than a stop-gap solution. The bottomline is- unless we manage to discover an alternate source of energy capable of meeting all our energy needs, we are staring at a bloody future ahead of us for in the face of dwindling supplies, wars will become inevitable. Already energy security is the prime motivating factor for a number of existing strategic alliances in the world and as new players come into the picture, realignments are most likely to be based around energy concerns.

Movie Time !!

2008-12-22T23:25:00.000-08:00

Saw a number of movies in the past few days- Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Eagle Eye, Transporter 3, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom( I know its very old...) and an MTV Fully Faltoo Movie- Ghoom (parody on you know what..).

'Rab Ne' has nothing much to boast of as far as content is concerned but I liked it nevertheless.The songs were good, acting quite up to the mark (SRK does justice to both his characters) and ahem!the newcomer Anushka has a pretty face too.Moreover saw the movie in INOX rather than on laptop so was a better experience on the whole.

'Eagle Eye' is a fast-paced, action-cum-thriller-cum-mystery flick. Here's the plot from imdb-

Jerry and Rachel are two strangers thrown together by a mysterious phone call from a woman they have never met. Threatening their lives and family, she pushes Jerry and Rachel into a series of increasingly dangerous situations, using the technology of everyday life to track and control their every move.

Warning-Spoilers Ahead!

Story is reminiscient of Terminator with a grand AI system of the US government going out of control but the target is just the US government top brass rather than the whole of humanity as in Terminator and has more of chasing and running around than raw action. Lots of cars have been blown up or crashed for the chase sequences. The climax seemed rather tame though. Connoisseurs of this genre would enjoy it I guess! Personally, I'd rate it higher than its 6.8 rating on imdb.

Transporter-3 was a bit disappointing though.The action seemed cliche having seen the first two parts only a few days back. Jason Statham continues to bash up umpteen number of goons in his trademark style flaunting his six packs at every available opportunity.Here's the plot from imdb-

Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukranian government official, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. En route, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina's safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective.

No spoilers possible in this case!The plot line pretty much sums up the movie.Statham fans and die-hard action buffs will enjoy it I suppose. As far as action is concerned Transporter-2 takes the cake for me.T-3 action seems tamer.

Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom is a very old one(made in 1984) and the worst in the series.Boring and factually inaccurate is how I would describe it. (it seems Indians in the British times ate live snakes, scorpions and everything else that crawls or slithers for lunch and dinner!!). Amrish Puri plays the villain who is a devotee of Goddess Kali and brutally sacrifices humans to obtain evil powers from her.Harrison Ford in the role of Indiana is of course the saviour for the potential victims. In short, loads of bullshit as far as the story in concerned.

The parody on Dhoom was too cheap and I managed to laugh not even once throughout so the less said the better.Quite disappointing considering that their parodies on Taare Zameen Par and Chak De India were much better.My advice- Avoid it!

Also saw the Kolkata and Ahmedabad auditions of Roadies and completed the first season of Friends.(finally!!) Friends is simply too good!The humour, the dialogues, the acting...everything.Can't wait to get back to college and download the next season!

Why am I an Atheist? -II

2008-12-18T23:05:00.000-08:00

Look around you, you see so many conflicts taking place under so many different pretexts and millions (that's not a hyperbole!) dying that you cannot possibly imagine that a God would condone any of it.Think of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the resulting wrethched lives of those in the Gaza Strip (its being touted as one of the biggest humanitarian disasters in waiting), the even more cursed existence of those in African countries- Sierra Leone, Somalia,Congo,Rwanda,Uganda,Zimbabwe,Sudan...the list is endless. Recall the conditions prevailing in Afghanistan and Iraq, the lives of Tamils in Sri Lanka and if nothing else your own fellow countrymen suffering the scourge of terrorism,naxalism and insurgency in all parts of the country. Doesn't it ever make you wonder why this supposed God isn't putting an end to any of it or at the very least ensuring that perpetrators don't go unpunished?

A student might attribute his success in exams , a businessman his profits, a college graduate his job and a young man his success in love all to God. Doesn't this God have better things to do?? Why would He (yeah! I'm a male chauvinist) leave millions of poor,destitute,helpless,defenceless humans to their fate and instead indulge all these guys??I guess I've made my point so shall spare you the remaining dialogues.

On a personal note, even I used to pray for success in exams till about two years back but as I kept getting more and more disillusioned with 'God', I stopped doing so and it has made no difference to me as far as my exam results are concerned.If you prepare well you'll do well, otherwise you won't.It's as simple as that.Period.

All these religious and spiritual leaders you see on TV or at places of worship; giving sermons on how to lead life, dictating beliefs you should hold and in general brainwashing you....have you ever cared to find out how much of it they practise themselves?Roman Catholic priests are notorious world over for their sexual harrassment and abuse of kids, Hindu priests in high seats of the order of Shankaracharya stand accused of murders and rapes, Muslim mullahs and clerics are well known for their ridiculous fatwas (shall deal with in detail in a later post) over issues ranging from cartoons and books to women empowerment. Has anyone ever cared to enquire into the finances, profits and expenditures of the various charitable trusts and 'social work' organizations set up by the celebrity preachers appearing on '24-hour bhakti channels'? Some months back there was a controversy over deaths of two students in an ashram run by Asaram Bapu's organization?Does anyone know what happened to the probe? These people trot around in their AC luxury cars, jet planes and enjoy the best money can provide...yet claim to be doing a service to humanity and so on.Whose fault is it that such people are able to thrive and prosper?

All these factors apart from the cliche -'Science has uncovered no evidence thus far...' do make a potent case for atheism and belief in self rather than reliance on a Supreme Power to take care of all the ills and wills plaguing your and my lives.

Why am I an Atheist?

2008-12-16T22:44:00.000-08:00

Let's ask this the other way round.

Why should I NOT be an atheist?

Can anyone give me one rational argument as to why one should believe in the existence of a supreme being? Ok!The first argument I can see coming up is people's personal experiences which they term miraculous and attribute the same to the Divine.They may talk of incurable diseases being mysteriously healed all by themselves; financial,family or personal problems getting resolved-again in an inexplicable manner- and so on and so forth.So if you cannot explain something you attribute it to the mercy,kindness and generosity of God.Have you ever wondered how this attitude of yours is different from that of the primitive cavemen who cowered before and worshipped anything and everything they couldn't understand and were afraid of? They had different gods for each and every force of nature,be it rain,thunder,lightening,sea or the sun.Whatever Man couldn't understand he worshipped.

And thousands of years yonder,nothing seems to have changed....

Have you ever wondered why God would want a world full of gross injustice with one man subsisting on stones(I mean it- residents of a village in Orissa were forced to eat limestone to escape hunger-the village is Kalahandi if my memory is correct) and another having enough to feed an army?I'm not a socialist or a communist but I do believe that a man has the right to atleast two good meals a day.I won't be reeling off any statistics to support my argument...I assume you are intelligent enough to do that yourself. My point- Can a God be heartless enough to let such injustice be perpetrated?I don't think so! Of course! There is this whole philosophy of the cycle of 'karma' which exists in the Hindu philosophical texts but to me it smacks of nothing but escapism.It is just a vain attempt to explain what is glaring enough not to be ignored.A criminal going unpunished and an innocent man suffering are all blamed on 'karma' by stating that the criminal shall suffer in the next birth or that the innocent man is reaping the fruits of his misdeeds in a previous birth.How convenient!I wonder what then is the need for laws,police and courts in our society.After all,'karma' shall ensure that justice is done at some point of time and therefore by appointing ourselves as dispensers of justice,we are committing another crime!Any rational being knows that there cannot exist a society without laws and yet seeks to endorse such paradoxical concepts to explain the coexistence of God and injustice.

All religions have their own version of how life began on earth, of how man came into existence and yet each and everyone of these flies in the face of scientific evidence uncovered so far.None of the religions say a word about The Big Bang and all of them attribute life to the grace of God.If none of them can be correct about the origin of life how can they claim what the supposed God wants or doesn't want man to do?The Vatican in particular is absolutely against teaching the theory of evolution to kids in school coz it is in direct conflict with the version Bible preaches."Forget all the evidence you've got", it says,"its a sin to even doubt the veracity of what everyone knows is the truth." Maybe I'm exaggerating it quite a lot over here considering that the Vatican has recently changed its stance to suggest the coexistence of both versions(no doubt in the face of mounting evidence in support of evolution) but even this new stance is ridiculous for I fail to see how the two can coexist given what each of them propounds.My point-Everything you know about God has been fed to you by your respective religions none of which can give you any evidence in support of their credibility.Beyond everything your religion tells you, can you find an argument compelling enough to believe in God?