Rains, Monsoon, Economy and Manmohan

Finally monsoon has showered some raindrops on the national capital bringing relief to its residents. TV news channels, though, made people believe as if entire India is now covered by this very erratic monsoon. This is one of the negative fall-outs of almost all the major news channels being based in New Delhi. Anyways, Delhi needed rains, it has got the first spell of monsoon spray. Nice. It has brought the soaring temperature down making weather unusually pleasant for Delhi. It becomes overwhelming here. But, monsoon this year does not present a rosy picture. Till now only 49 percent monsoon rains has been reported by the IMD, whose forecasts and estimates are hardly ever taken seriously by aam aadmi. People are already talking of drought in regions, which are crucial for foodgrains' production.

A drought in Delhi won't affect our kitchens and stomachs much but a similar situation in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and others would throw not only our individual family lives but the economy of the nation completely out of gear. Already, four farmers have ended their lives (in past 48 hours) in Vidarbh as monsoon kept them waiting. The vagaries of monsoon and the possibility of a drought this year are going to aggravate the splitting headache for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has just taken over the mantle of finance ministry. He is already losing his sleep over a slowing economy, falling rupee, rising food inflation and escalating fiscal deficit. On the top of it, the government has got the inertia of policy paralysis.

Many believe that a deficient rainfall this monsoon will further paralyze this UPA government and the simmering of an impending economic reforms would be kept under the wraps for some more time. The first issue that plagues the Manmohan Singh government is diesel pricing. The economists suggest the UPA government to decontrol it and/or, thereby raise the diesel prices. But, this will be another bolt from the blue for the farmers, who are a key voting bloc for the Congress and its allies as they will have to use diesel in the absence of monsoonal rains to run pumps for irrigation.

The use of more diesel would be a big worry for the government. Diesel accounts for more than 40 per cent of nation's oil demand. Farmers can increase the demand for diesel substantially if monsoon does not improve vastly and quickly. Then, keeping diesel prices at the present level will make it difficult for the government to keep fiscal deficit at the projected 5.1 percent of the GDP.

This means we are gearing up for another bad fiscal year. The first three months of the current financial year have already seen economy slumping to its lowest in almost a decade. Most of the credit rating agencies have cut down India's credit outlook making foreign investment difficult. Obviously, Manmohan Singh, the economist, has a daunting task to accomplish.
Weak monsoon makes a dent into farm based incomes, loosely, rural India's incomes. This, in turn, will hit adversely the markets of almost everything--- from chips and cold drinks to TV and motor vehicles, and from gold to computers.

Failing agriculture in India would also make agricultural produce in international markets costlier much to the discomfort of many poor countries of Africa and Asia. The recent example of this phenomenon was witnessed in 2009, when a severe drought in India's sugarcane producing states forced it to lift large quantity of the sweetener not only from its biggest producer, Brazil but also from other markets making benchmark New York futures climb to a three-decade high.

Monsoon is not a local geographical phenomenon now, it is all pervasive with global economic implications. Let's join Mr Manmohan Singh in his pray to Lord Indra so that He sends normal rain-bearing monsoon clouds over India's foodgrain producing states;it doesn't matter if Delhi does not get rains overflowing its drains.

CK Jaffer Sharief: Graft Trial for Rs 7 Lakh

While the dust is yet to settle down on scams that stagger with their statistics hovering in thousands and lakhs of crores of rupees, one former powerful leader is in dock and would be facing trial for a 'paltry' amount of Rs 7 lakh spent on his officers on a foreign trip. This news may sound meaningless in the wake of humongous amount being projected in various graft cases, but this proves that graft has always been in the draft. 

Former railways minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief will have to face trial in a corruption case of 1995. It is linked to his visit to London for treatment.  Sharief had gone to London for his treatment. he is accused of taking along four of his staffers without authorization. This unauthorized act of the then railways minister caused a loss of Rs.7 lakh to the state exchequer. 

The CBI registered an FIR against him in 1998 and later filed a charge-sheet. But, in 2005 the CBI filed a closure report in the court due to refusal of sanction by the government to prosecute Sharief. However, the court decided to proceed with the case. Sharief's appeal to stay criminal proceedings was dismissed by the Supreme Court of India on May 10. Only after the apex court's decision, the CBI moved fast and on Tuesday a Special CBI court found sufficient prima facie evidence and framed charges against the former railway minister. CBI Judge N.K. Kaushik has fixed August 21 as the date to begin the trial against him.

Sharief may rue the fact that while other less powerful ministers of today are getting away with cases involving graft of unimaginable amount of money, he is to face trial for an amount as small as Rs 7 lakh and that too was spent on his officers. He may ask whether a minister enjoys the discretion of spending a mere Rs 7 Lakh or not in the wake of recent discretionary spending by most of the ministers? But, then, he will have to answer why should a minister have the discretion to spend people's hard earned money without being subjected to accountability? And, also, can two wrongs make one right?

Cartoons: After Ambedkar, Nehru-Gandhi Removed

Are we increasingly becoming intolerant as a nation, as a society? Are we losing out our plurality of thoughts and of our social realities? Are we just a nation that cares for retaining or maintaining power? Are we stifling the basic idea of human's spirit of inquiry (about our past)? Are we all becoming a bunch of nincompoops or just over-sensitive bunch mob? 

The answer to all these questions is definitely Yes, if we go by what followed after NCERT cartoon controversy boiled over. We all know it started with a cartoon wherein JL Nehru was about to whip a snail (personifying our constitution-in-the-making) which was saddled by BR Ambedkar armed with a lash. Two theories were put forth. One, Nehru was depicted as flogging dalit messiah Ambedkar and that this was an insult to the entire dalit community. In politically aroused India, the term dalit does not need to be defined separately, though it has acquired an altogether different meaning over the years. This was said that the cartoonist Shankar meant an elite Nehru flogged a dalit Ambedkar! Everyone buried the fact that the two leaders respected each other immensely. 

Theory number two. That Nehru was upset with the pace at which constitution was being prepared and was angry with the entire process, which was moving at a slow pace. So, Nehru, holding Drafting Committee chairman, Ambedkar responsible for the delay wanted to whip the entire committee so that it can speed up the most crucial process of the time. 

It's true that Pt Nehru was upset and there has never been any doubt about it. He wanted to see the constitution making process to get over soon. So did Rajendra Prasad, the chairman of the constituent assembly. But, Nehru being the most influential leader of the age got more space in news media and public debate. So, his anguish also got more depiction among the cartoonists. Nehru was no casteist. And, Shankar, as they all say, was no naive cartoon journalist. He could not have shown Nehru supposedly whipping snail-rider Ambedkar, had any of the two leaders was a casteist. Moreover, the cartoon was published while the two leaders were very active in politics and interestingly, none of them objected to it. Further, Nehru wrote to Shankar suggesting that the cartoon could have been depicted the other way as well. 

But, much water has flown under the political bridge in India and decades later neo-sensitive dalit activists and politicians find the same things unacceptable. This is a classic example of a wedge being built between Ambedkar and his followers. Ambedkar, purportedly at the receiving end in the cartoon, respected Shankar's fundamental right to expression. But, his followers forgot that Ambedkar vowed to protect right to freedom of expression with his life. And, I would like to make it clear that these neo-activists are not true followers of Ambedkar but political opportunists, who want to stake their claim on Ambekarism and thereby emerge as dalit leaders. What followed when the NCERT cartoon was discovered six years after it was re-published in 2006 was a result of this race to emerge as champion of Ambedakrism. 

But, spare a thought. If Nehru 'whipped' Ambedkar for whatever reason, why should it be not taught to the students? If an eminent cartoon journalist felt that Nehru was responsible for expediting the already lengthy process of constitution making and Ambedkar was the centre of his ire, why should this generation be not taught about that? If Nehru had a casteist agenda in mind, why should it be not taught to young minds so that they have a proper understanding of the modern makers of India? And,  if an eminent cartoonist, who was appreciated by the likes of Nehru and Ambedkar was a casteist or anti-dalit, why should the students be not told about that?

However, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and his team think the other way. The latest proof of this mindset is the report submitted by the NCERT committee that examined cartoons in school textbooks after the aforesaid controversy. The committee, headed by Sukhadeo Thorat, chairperson of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, has recommended that the cartoons and caricatures bearing 'negative' references to politicians and bureaucrats should be removed from the text books. The only relief for me has been the remark by the six-member panel which was set up following the row over Dr B R Ambedkar's cartoon in the political science textbook that cartoons are good learning tools and that they should not be discarded away with completely. 

The panel has recommended removal or modification of 36 of the 176 cartoons in textbooks for classes 9-12. Interestingly, it has also sought removal of some of the cartoons of the Nehru-Gandhi family observing that such cartoons are too many in number. in the textbooks and has sought their removal. Another good thing about the report is a dissent by one of its members. Professor Pandian has objected to the conclusions of the report arguing that an unnecessary controversy has been created over harmless cartoons. He has argued that these cartoons need not be removed. But, his attempt to live true to Ambedkarism may not go down well with neo-activists aka anti-Ambedkarism protagonists.

Pranab: No. 2 To Numero Uno

Always number two, eternal challenger to the prime ministerial candidate of the grand old party, but never got the coveted and well-deserved post. But, now, Congress's Man Friday Pranab Mukherjee is all set to become the primus among (non-) equals. Mukherjee has quit as the finance minister of the country to contest the presidential poll scheduled for July 19. He is only the second serving union cabinet minister to have been nominated as a candidate for the presidential poll. 

His candidature has not been free from controversies, with many saying that the government and the party are not on the same page. And, perhaps to clear the cloud Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided to be one of the two proposers for Mukherjee for filing his nomination on Thursday for the election to President's office.

The Prime Minister's decision is a marked departure from the normal practice, which itself indicates that there were some differences of opinion on doing away with UPA's go-to man in past 8 years. But, then Mamata Banerjee and Mulayam Singh Yadav had left Congress with no other option.

On Pranab Mukherjee's part, he is someone, who has always been in the thick of things for over four decades, his nomination for the presidential polls indicate that his retirement from active electoral/ministerial politics is not really a retirement from politics. The office of the President is very much political. But, what remains to be seen and what would be a litmus test for Pranab, the person-politician is whether he adheres to Congress's philosophy or follows an independent political philosophy.

Pranab Mukherjee has vacated the finance ministry at a time, when the country is passing through a very rough economic phase. Industrial production is down, services hit badly, agriculture is partly good and mood is gloomy on the back of Eurozone crisis. But, given the policy paralysis that has afflicted this government especially the finance ministry for three years now, many view Pranab's timely elevation as relief rather than a problem.

Pranab's apparent attempt to seek solution of capitalist economy's problem through socialist approach was not going down well with the India Inc, which had started feeling that under his supervision, the economy was again drifting into the hands of bureaucrats. So, the reformists are happy that Pranab Mukherjee will now behold an office that does not interfere with Indian economy. 

Earlier in the day, Pranab's much anticipated bold measures had given a hope to the markets. But, his promised investors' confidence booster turned out to be a thud as he held out just a few small tweaks on his last day as the finance minister. However, a rational analysis would suggest that the economic slump was not his fault. Though, he must share his part of blame as the finance minister. Notwithstanding, Mukherjee remains a stalwart of Indian politics and the most loved and trusted politician of the time.

Still, he may rue that he was widely acknowledged as the superb all rounder, who could never wear a captain's hat. But, becoming the first citizent of the country must make up more than the loss incurred by him during his political career.

National Interest: Justice For Aarushi, Hemraj

A chirpy girl, presumably innocent (that is, she perhaps did not do anything to be 'punished' by death), was killed after someone slit her throat with 'clinical precision' around mid-night; the next day 'prime suspect' was found dead on the terrace of the same flat. The second murder took place the same night and around the same time. Police's inquiry rejected the possibility of forced entry into the house. Aggrieved parents became prime suspects, at least, in the eyes of sensation crazy TV watching public and now, they have been formally charged with murder, destruction of evidence and one of the two with misleading the police under various sections of the IPC. This has been the tell-a-tale of Aarushi-Hemraj murder case of 2008.

Now, in 2012, I firmly believe that the logical course of judicial process to search for justice for the deceased girl and a domestic servant has set rolling. This could have started much earlier save the efforts by, now accused, parents to delay the entire process by moving various court at various levels of the judicial process. The case has become multi-layered with some of the processes going on in the trial court and some others in the higher courts. While the Ghaziabad trial court has framed charges against Nupur and Rajesh Talwar, the dentist couple has again given hint of further delaying the process by deciding to challenge framing of charges in the High Court.

Though, it is extremely painful for parents to be tried for the murder of their daughter, but then, the world is brutal so, the judicial process should not be mild. If they are the accused and if they feel that they are innocent, they should assist the court in finishing the trial fast so that their guilt or absence of it can be proved in the court of law faster. There is no point delaying it. Again, it's tough on parents to prove that they are innocent given the circumstantial evidence that rule out presence of a fifth person at the time of the commission of twin murders. If Talwars are innocent and if police probe is accurate then, there is just one possibility that Hemraj killed Aarushi and then slit his throat with the same clinical precision and while dying tried to escape towards the terrace. And, that either Nupur or Rajesh Talwar bolted and locked the door leading to the terrace. You can believe this theory and buy this argument, I can't. 

Either police are going wrong in their investigation or the Talwars are lying. Both can't be true. This is also why, I, like many others want to see judicial process complete at a faster pace. It should not have Tareekh Pe Tareekh and this is what Talwars are exactly trying to do or at least this is what it seems like. 

I don't consider the case of Aarushi-Hemraj murder case as one of the thousands of murders that take place across the length and breadth of the country. It is case, which has posed the greatest challenge to our investigation system and tools and techniques used by it. It is also about murder of faith and relationship. It is also about faith of people in our police and judiciary. The basic question that torments people even in far flung areas, where Aarushi should not have been a topic of discussion by any stretch of imagination, is that can an influential couple be let off the hook without testing by fire when they seem to be the prime and only suspects in the case? This question has far reaching ramifications. If this case goes unsettled and justice is not delivered in the case, people's belief in our institutions will only dwindle.

For the sake of India, this case needs to be given the top priority by all agencies concerned. And, for Talwars? They will be doing a great service to the nation if they assist dutifully and wholeheartedly the court in unraveling the double murder mystery, as they call it, irrespective of whether they emerge as guilty or innocent.

News From India

Plane crashes in Nepal, 12 Indians among 21 onboard

A plane carrying 21 people has crashed in the mountains of North Nepal. 21 people including 12 Indians were onboard. The plane crashed while attempting to land at the Jomsom Airport, a gateway to a popular tourist and trekking area. The aircraft belonged to a local airline company Agri Air. 

Tax evasion at par with money laundering

Tax evader may have to face a stricter administration as the centre is mulling to place tax crimes at a par with money laundering. The offence will now have severe criminal and financial implications. The changes in the laws would make way for easier prosecution, rigorous imprisonment, fines and shifting onus on the accused to prove he is not guilty. 

Maharaja grounded, passengers $ govt stranded

 The Air India pilots’ strike has entered its seventh day. The pilots’ agitation has forced the national carrier to cancel as many as fourteen of its international flights on Monday causing great inconvenience to hundreds of passengers. The pilots are on strike since last Tuesday and are not ready to relent. They are dead against the pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines being imparted similar training as imparted to Air India pilots. Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has admitted that merger of Air India and Indian Airlines five years ago has not worked out well. Interestingly, AI and IA were making cash profits till 2006-07, when they were merged. But, both are running in loss thereafter.

News From India

 More trouble for Narendra Modi

Amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran has nailed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his controversial role in 2002 communal riots. Raju Ramachandran has said in his report on the 2002 Gujarat riots that the role of Narendra Modi needs to be investigated under various sections of IPC. He has found "circumstantial evidence available requiring further probe" against Modi.

 CBI names Congress baiter Jaganmohan as prime accused in assets case

The Central Bureau of Investigation has named Congress baiter and Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy as the prime accused in the assets case. The central probe agency, which has been accused by the YSR president to be acting at the behest of Congress masters, filed its third chargesheet in the case in the special CBI court on Monday. The CBI chargesheet focuses on the favours doled out to Ramky Group of Industries by Jaganmohan's father and once Congress' illustrious leader and former Andhra chief minister, Y S Rajashekhar Reddy as a quid pro quo to the investments made by the group in Jagan's business empire.

Antony clears Rahul Gandhi of UP debacle

No nepotism in distributing tickets, declaring candidates almost a year before polls, easy accessibility of the CM, PCC chief and CLP leaders to party workers and strict enforcement of discipline are some of the recommendations of the Congress committee that went into party's debacle in Uttar Pradesh.
The report of the three-member committee, headed by AK Antony, was submitted to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. It carries five pages of recommendations to revive Congress citing lack of connect with the voters.

Resume work or face action: Minister to Air India Pilots


The Air India management has warned the striking pilots to return to work by 6pm or face action. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has termed the strike by Air India pilots as illegal. He said the management of the national carrier would take appropriate action against the agitating pilots.


Supreme Court strikes down Haj Subsidy, slams Centre


In a major setback to the Centre, the Supreme Court has turned down its policy of giving government subsidy to Muslims going on annual Haj pilgrimage. The apex court slammed the Centre for politicising the issue of annual Haj pilgrimage. It maintained that the proposal of giving subsidy on pilgrimages to religious shrines is inappropriate and aimed at wooing minorities. The apex court also directed the Centre to eliminate the policy of Haj subsidies over a period of ten years.


Race for Raisina Hill, Sinha bats for Pranab

With race for Rashtrapati Bhawan hotting up day-by-day, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has got support from former finance minister Yashwant Sinha. Mukherjee’s popularity is gaining momentum with Sinha terming him a suitable candidate for next President of India.