Sunday, April 29, 2012

That's all, Your Honour!: April 22-28


1. In a major scientific achievement, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched their first Radar Imaging satellite (RISAT-1) on their Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C19) last week. This is a major achievement because, with this satellite, we can now image the earth under all weather conditions - rains, night time etc. Up until now, our remote sensing satellites could operate only in clear sky daytime conditions. We were paying Canada to provide us data during monsoons and during night time. Now, we can generate and process our own data. RISAT-1 will help us in obtaining better agricultural data too. Also, radar imaging can help in generating good data during floods. And another important function of this satellite is that it can spy too :). Though the need for a radar satellite was recognised much earlier, various considerations like cost, weight, operations etc took us this long to develop it. Not just these, radar imaging will find many other applications too - terrain mapping, geology, wind patterns along the oceans etc. This satellite has been placed at an orbit of 536kms. 

2. The Election Commission of India has announced bye-elections to 28 seats across the country. Out of these 18 are from Andhra Pradesh only! AP is now gearing up for it's "mini general elections" on June 12. Apart from these 18 seats, 1 lok sabha seat is also up for grabs. 17 MLAs were disqualified (16 from Congress, one from erstwhile PRP) from the assembly for failing to follow their party whip. Chiranjeevi resigned to his seat when he got elected to the Rajya Sabha. The congress party will face a rout in these elections, and therefore we might get to see a big change in the state political scenario after these elections are over. The TDP too is not in a strong enough position to give fight to the fledging YSR Congress party. More blogs on these elections to follow soon. Please stay tuned.

3. And finally, Abhishek Manu Singhvi resigned as the congress party spokesperson and also as the chairman of the standing committee of law, justice and personnel. Phew - what a relief it will be to not see him anymore on TV! That's all, your honour! 

అదన్నమాట! ఏప్రిల్ 22-28


రాష్ట్రం ఈ వార ఒక అనూహ్య పరిణామం చోటు చేసుకుంది. రాజకీయాలకి సంబందించినది కాదు! 

ఇంటర్మీడియట్ రెండో ఏడాది పరీక్షలలో ఈ సారి ఫిసిక్స్ పేపర్ చాల చాలా కష్టం గా ఇచ్చారు అని అన్ని వర్గాల వారు విమర్శించారు. అసలు సిలబస్ లో లేని ప్రశ్నలు చాల ఇచ్చారు అని చెప్పుకొచ్చారు. ఫలితాలు విడుదల అయ్యాయి ఈ మధ్య - రాసిన వాళ్ళలో 31% మంది ఈ పరీక్ష తప్పారు అంట. చాల మంది కి తక్కువ మార్కులు కూడా వచ్చాయి. లక్షలలో రాస్తే, కేవలం దాదాపు 600 మందికే 60 కి 60 వచ్చాయి అంట. దీనితో ఇంకా పెద్ద దుమారం ఈ రేగింది రాష్ట్రం లో. 

కాని మంత్రి గారు మాత్రం ప్రశ్నలు అన్ని ప్రబుత్వం చెప్పిన పుస్తకం నుంచే వచ్చాయి అని చెప్పారు. పేజి నంబర్లతో సహా చూపించారు. ప్రైవేటు కళాశాలలు వాడే పుస్తకాల్లో అలాంటి ప్రశ్నలు లేకపోతె ఎవరిదీ తప్పు అని అడగకనే అడిగారు. అప్పటికి 21 నుంచి 18 కి తగ్గించారు కూడా పాస్ మార్కుని. మంత్రిగారు మాత్రం ససేమిరా అన్నారు, గ్రేసు మార్కులు ఇవ్వడానికి. 

ఇంతలో ఏమైందో - చరిత్ర లో మొదటి సారి, ఇంటర్మీడియట్ రెండో ఏడాది పరీక్షకి కుడా ఇంప్రూవ్మెంట్ పరీక్ష రాసుకునే వెసులుబాటు కలిపించారు. మొదటి ఏడాది విద్యార్దులకే ఇది ఇంత వరకు వర్తిస్తు వచ్చింది. మొదటి ఏడాది వాళ్ళు రాస్తే, అన్ని రాయాలి. కాని ఇప్పుడు, కేవల ఈ ఏడాది కి మాత్రమె, రెండో ఏడాది విద్యార్ధులు ఏ ఒక్క పేపర్ కోసం ఇంప్రూవ్మెంట్ రాసుకోవచు అంట. ఎంసెట్ అయ్యాక ఈ పరీక్ష పెడతారు. ఇంకా ఈ సారి పెట్టబోయే ఫిసిక్స్ పరీక్ష కష్టం గా కాకుండా, సులువు గానే ఇస్తారు అని మనకి అర్ధం అయ్యిపోయింది కదా అండి! 

ఇక పొతే, కేంద్ర ఎన్నికల సంఘం మన రాష్ట్రం లో 18 అసెంబ్లీ స్థానాలకి 1 లోక్ సభ స్థానం కి జరగబోయే ఎన్నికలకి తేది ప్రకటించింది. జూన్ 12 న ఎన్నికలు ! ఇక అన్ని పార్టీలు కసరత్తులు ముమ్మరం చేసాయి. కాని ఈ సారి కూడా కాంగ్రెస్స్ కి, తెదేపా కి భంగపాటు తప్పేటట్టు లేదు. వేచి చూడం మరి ఏమౌతుందో . 

ఇంకో పెను మార్పు - డాక్టర్ రాజశేఖర్ మరియు శ్రీమతి జీవిత రాజశేఖర్ భారతీయ జనత పార్టి లో చేరారు. అదన్నమాట! 

Friday, April 27, 2012

Sachin as an MP - the myth, facts and opinions



Sachin Tendulkar will begin a new innings as a Rajya Sabha MP.

The Myth

Constitutional expert Bhupendra Chaube (no seriously, he is THE expert. Read the details here.) sent a barrage of tweets yesterday. 

"Will we now see " god " of cricket in parliament? Cong proposes sachin tendulkar's name to the rajya saba"

"But frankly, what is it that Sachin can do in Politics at this stage? Bal Thackeray wont forgive him if he takes up cong membership"

"Imagine, Sachin speaking on a contentious issue like Bofors, That will be something"

The extremely well informed Bhupendra Chaube also happens to be the National Bureau Chief of CNN-IBN - you would think all the above is true or might even happen. Now let's get back to some civics lessons that we learnt in school. 

The Facts

The actual strength of the Rajya Sabha is 245 members. 233 of them are elected from various states (by the elected representatives of those states, MLAs/MLCs). 12 of them are nominated by the President (technically the government of the day recommends to the President). The criteria for choosing these members is: 

"...amongst persons having special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service"

These members need not be members of any political party. They are not obliged to join any political party. Infact, these members cannot even vote in the Presidential election. The full list of such nominated members is here. Barring a very few exceptions, we can see that this list is filled with people who are genuine experts in their fields. On a side note, the biggest aberration in this list is that pompous Mani Shankar Aiyar (who needs to be boycotted for reasons mentioned here). 

As you can see, the list has some eminent personalities (artists, scientists, musicians, writers etc) that we easily recognize - M.F.Hussian, Lata Mangeshkar, Dr. Bimal Jalan, Dr. C.Narayana Reddy (from AP), Dr. Raja Ramanna, Prof. M.S.Swaminathan etc. When I took a look at the list, I also realised that there are so many experts on which we had no idea about :(. More reading beckons on these experts. 

Most of these members have not joined any political party. Sadly, most of these members haven't participated in any debates; haven't asked any questions related to their field; and their fields haven't benefitted much from their elevation to this position. This calls for a healthy debate on some guidelines to be set for such nominated members. This cannot be a honorary post by any means. But that debate is for another day. 

So the government of the day is entitled to nominate persons having special knowledge in the aforementioned fields. Sachin Tendulkar does not fit into any of those fields. I am not sure if the above fields are binding by law though.

We therefore now busted the first two myths by the constitutional expert Bhupendra Chaube. It is the government that proposes, not any party. And Sachin hasn't joined any political party (as of now). Being a nominated member of Rajya Sabha does not amount to joining politics. Mere speculations by people in responsible positions will do no good - but we are digressing. 

The opinions.

Now let's come to the third myth. It is not necessary for every member to talk about every single issue in Parliament. Sadly, our members of Parliament are not as intelligent as these news anchors to have a strong opinion on anything and everything under the sun. Second and most importantly - why should Sachin (or anyone who is an expert in another field) not have an opinion on Bofors? Why the contempt that people from one background cannot have an opinion on other aspects of public life? 

Sachin Tendulkar met Sonia Gandhi yesterday. Only ESPN-Cricinfo mentions that he met the Prime Minister too. No other news outlet mentioned this. After these meetings, the announcement came that Sachin has been recommended to the Rajya Sabha. In this backdrop, it is but natural to assume that the appointment had political overtunes. Is the Congress party trying to gain political mileage with this? I have no doubt in my mind that it is trying to do it. Soon it will take credit for giving representation to the aspirations of the youth etc. 

Does Sachin have political aspirations? Is he joining the congress party? We don't know yet. If he does, my personal respect towards him as a person will come down a bit (not that it matters). The exalted position I (and many) hold him as a player will not diminish even by a wee bit. 

But what will he do in the Rajya Sabha? This is an opportunity for Sachin to voice the problems of sports exclusively. He has been nominated from this field, and this is his golden opportunity to bring about changes in sports (and not just cricket) in the country. Will he be able to take such a lead role? His past record as a leader does not inspire confidence for sure. But shouldn't we wait for a while before judging him? 

Should he have accepted the invitation? Frankly, upon first hearing this, I was disappointed. But upon reflecting, there is really no reason to judge his decision currently. We will know if it was the right decision or not, 6 years from now. 

The outrage though is primarily because the depths to which the congress party has plunged the polity in our country. Anyone who is remotely seen as being associated with the party automatically have to face a huge backlash. Like some fellow tweeters commented, the outrage has some political message in it too - anyone associating themselves with the congress now will be seen as taboo too. It is important to debate the pathetic leadership that bought us to this stage. 

The outrage against this perceived political affliation towards Congress aside, the other disturbing thing is the outrage against him personally. He never asked for the demi-god status many of us accorded him. No one is perfect in this world. His actions in asking for tax rebates etc might not be inspiring but surely those are no cause to pour bile on him? Some question if he will play or attend the Rajya Sabha when it is in session. Don't we all know that it is not mandatory to attend the house every single day? This Prime Minister himself doesn't do it, why this unfair expectation from Sachin then? 

By being a member of Parliament, Sachin has now entered the sphere of public service. He is and must be accountable for his stint in the Rajya Sabha. If he doesn't perform, let's question him about it. But I'd suggest that we a little bit patient about this too. 

And lastly, the media

TV media as expected went agog with this news. They were entirely successful in conveying the message that Sachin can now be equated with the congress party. Congress party might even gain electorally with this, given the huge amount of fan following he has (any additional votes are welcome to the congress kitty!). Even regional media front-paged/headlined this news item. Though, it was not a banner headline in the newspapers. 

Along with Sachin, actor Rekha and activist Aga (who is a member of the Sonia Gandhi led NAC) were also nominated.Fat chance that many even know about Aga (or for that matter there is a nomination process!). Those who follow me on twitter know very well about MAA Music channel :). Today morning, the anchor on MAA Music was thrilled at Sachin's appointment and views this as an honour to him by our government. Congress ka goal achieved :D 

Thursday, April 26, 2012

RTE - more recommended reading


Frankly, am tired of the romantic and rhetorical articles in the media on RTE. They are still continuing the "private schools are wrong" tirade. Sample this today:

"Forget the misplaced angst of private schools,...."

And then the mandatory "disclaimer"

"This is not to deny that there will be challenges faced by all concerned — school managements, teachers, parents and children — in enforcing the law both in letter and in spirit. "

But then they will not write what these challenges are.

I am documenting below, some of the articles written by bloggers, explaining many details and facets of this RTE. Please take some time out and read all of them to gain a proper understanding of this act.

This list is so far the only articles I could find that discuss the other side of the rhetoric/romantic points made in the main stream. Please share any other good articles (content based please, either for or against) and will be more than happy to put them up here. 





Sunday, April 22, 2012

That's all, your honour!: April 15-21


1. India successfully test fired nuclear capable Agni-5 missile this week. This missile was entirely designed by DRDO and has a range of more than 5000 kms. With this launch, India is now just one of the five countries that have the inter continental ballistic missile technology. The mission was flawless and more details can be read here

2. In another dastardly act, Maoists kidnapped a district collector in Chattisgarh. Mr. Alex Paul Menon was kidnapped after his two security guards were killed by these murderous Maoists. Mr. Menon was meeting villagers in tribal areas when the kidnapping happened. Maoists in Odisha recently kidnapped (and released) two Italian hostages. They are still holding a MLA as hostage. And now, after killing the innocent security guards, these people have kidnapped a serving officer of the government too. Sadly, none of the commentary in the mainstream media is condemning these murderous actions by the Maoists. When a Maoist is arrested/killed, we see pages of articles writing how the State is denouncing human rights etc etc. But when these folks resort to murder most humiliating, then no one speaks or writes against them. Why, your honour? Just what explains this silence? 

అదన్నమాట! ఏప్రిల్ 15-21

కాంగ్రెస్ అధిష్టానం వారు ఈ వారం ఇంకో నాయకుడుని ఇక్కడికి పంపిచారు. శ్రీ వాయలార్ రవి గారు డిల్లి నుంచి వచ్చారు. నాలుగు రోజులు ఉన్నారు. చాలా మంది నాయకుల్ని కలిసారు. అందరు అవే సమస్యలు మళ్ళి మళ్ళి వివరించారు. బొత్స గారు, కిరణ్ గారు సరిగ్గా నడిపించటం లేదు అనేది వారి సారంశం. ఈ పాత మనం ఎప్పటి నుంచో వింటూనే ఉన్నాం. కొత్త ఏమి ఉంది చెప్పండి ! పోనీ రవి గారు ఏమైనా కొత్త పరిష్కారం చూపించార అంటే, అదీ లేదు! ఎందుకు వచినత్తో, ఎందుకు వేల్లినత్తో మరి! అధినేత్రి కి నివేదిక ఇవ్వడానికే అయితే, ఆజాద్ గారు ఉన్నారు కదా? కోతగా రవి గారిని ఎందుకు పంపిచారు ? ఉప ఎన్నికలలో గెలవడానికి డిల్లి నుంచి నాయకులు వచ్చి నివేదికలు ఇస్తే ఎలా అండి? నియోజకవర్గం లో ప్రజలతో ఉండండి - గెలిచే అవకాశాలు మెరుగుపడతాయి! అదన్నమాట! 

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Right to Education act - The devil is in the detail


"The Ministry has received representations from several unaided and aided schools seeking clarification on the procedure to be followed for admission. The Ministry held a meeting with various stake holders on the 14th of August, 2010 to elicit their views for formulating a guideline for admissions,...."

Let's first discuss why the date has been emphasized. 

Through the Constitution (86th amendment) act, the central government introduced Article 21A into the Constitution in 2002. 

"The state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age six to fourteen years in such manner as the State, by law, shall determine."

That was how "Right to Education" was born. 

First, a quick observation on the year. Remember the innumerable times the UPA government said (and the media parrotted) "but we just followed the Cabinet decision of NDA government in 2001" while referring to the 2G scam? Also, remember the innumerable times the UPA reminded us (and the media parrotted) that all ills of the country are because of that dreaded 6 year rule by NDA? Then shouldn't it be logical for the RTE romanticists to give due credit to the NDA government for bringing in this amendment and making education a fundamental right? But I am asking for too much, and we are deviating from the main subject too. 

Anyways, in 2002 the then government amended the constitution and made education as a fundamental right. The next logical step would be to determine the manner in which this right will be implemented. A new government came to power in 2004 and took about 5 years to determine the manner. The result was the The Right of Children to Free And Compulsory Education Act, 2009 released on the 27th of August, 2009. One of the most important rule reads:

"The school .... shall admit in class I, to the extent of atleast twenty-five percent of the strength of the class, children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged section in the neighbourhood and provide free and compulsory education till its completion"

So after taking a sweet 7 years to come up with the law, the UPA government announces that 25% of class 1 in private unaided schools should be with children from weaker section and disadvantaged section and...and does not provide any sort of guidelines to the schools (one of the main stakeholders) on how this procedure should be followed. And so the magnanimous Kapil Sibal calls for a meeting in 2010 to "formulate a guideline". Let's now see what the guideline is:

"...schools shall follow a system of random selection out of the applications received from children belonging to the weaker and the disadvantaged sections ..to fill....25% of the seats". 

Genius, no? 8 years after it was first envisaged that education will be a fundamental right, Kapil Sibal tells the schools to follow a "random" selection method and that is a guideline officially issued!! What about the other 75%? 

".... each school should formulate a policy under which admissions are to take place"

Double genius, no? Just the word random raises so many questions in one's mind. For example,  would selecting students based on who their favorite hero is constitute "random"? And the above wording is precisely why this RTE act looks so flawed. There I said it - it looks flawed! 

The media narrative has been so carefully drafted that anyone who objects to this act is labelled (amongst many things -elite, prejudiced). You hear, "poor are benefitted" from the union government and that should be end of the debate. More on that later. Let's come back to the bill.

So are the "poor" really benefitted? 

Fellow blogger Reality Check India demolishes that whole argument in his brilliant must read post here. The act specifies that 25% of seats during admission have to be reserved for disadvantaged and weaker sections of the society. The act defines:
  • “child belonging to disadvantaged group” means a child belonging tothe scheduled caste, the scheduled tribe, the socially and educationally backward class or such other group having disadvantage owing to social, cultural, economical, geographical, linguistic, gender or such other factor, as may be specified by the appropriate Government, by notification;
  • “child belonging to weaker section” means a child belonging to such parent or guardian whose annual income is lower than the minimum limit specified by the appropriate Government, by notification;
Here's a simple question. Whether a child belongs to "weaker section" or not is decided by an income limit of the parent. If the parent of a child who belongs to the "disadvantaged" group earns more than this limit, is the child still eligible? If so, then what just is the point of having a quota for parents who can afford it? If not, why is the government splitting the 25% into two groups when income is the only criteria? To put it in simple terms:
  • Let's assume income limit is Rs. 5000/- a month.
  • If the income of a parent is Rs. 4000/-, then his/her child is eligible for this quota. 
  • If the income of a parent belonging to SC, ST etc, is 10,000/- per month, his/her child is eligible for this quota.
  • If the income of a parent belonging to neither of these groups is Rs. 8,000/- per month, his/her child is NOT eligible for this quota.
So when Barkha Dutt says "didn't we say we would rather have an economic criterion for reservations than it being caste-driven? Well here, for the first time there is such a basis", you know what to tell her now! 

It would be a purely economic based criteria only if the government compartmentalizes income groups. Why can't the government do it? Something like:
  • Upto Rs. 5000/- per month, free.
  • From 5000 - 10000 per month, pay 10%
  • 10000-15000 per month, pay 20 % and so on?
Wouldn't that make more sense? Wouldn't that then do justice to the actual lower income and poorer sections? Why bring in the charade of caste based reservations in here too? 

Then there's the problem of plenty. The Andhra Pradesh government defines "weaker sections" as: 
  • others viz., BC, Minorities, OCs (whose annual income does not exceed Rs. 60,000/- per annum)
This Central Vigilance Committee report tells us that the criteria for issuing a White Ration Card for a family in Andhra Pradesh is: 
  • Families with income upto  Rs 75,000 in urban areas and upto Rs 60,000 in Rural areas are now eligible for White Cards.
Now, the Andhra Pradesh Budget speech and an official hoarding below both tell us that:
  •  there are about 2 crore families in this state (~7.5 crore people out of the 8.5 crore) that come under the above category.

I believe it will just be a matter of time before the weaker section is redefined to include the urban ceiling limit. Even without that, we will have lakhs of families that fall within the Rs. 60,000 limit. Now, how on earth will you randomly choose from such a large sample? What about the others that will be randomly left out? Will they be sent to government schools? Wait, more questions arise now! 
  • If there is a government school and a private school (unaided) in the same "neighbourhood", will this quota be applicable? (AP Act defines "neighbourhood school" to be at a safe walking distance of 1km for primary and 3km for secondary. A school per km!)
  • If so, how is this government justifying random selection of students to be benefitted from the quality of education in a private school?
  • If not, why doesn't the act specifically mention the same? 
  • Would those who are randomly left out now come under the "disadvantaged section"? 
Why only class 1?

Please note the other wholly arbitrary point. Why is this act restricted to only class 1 admission? What wrong have children in poverty in class 2 and 3 done? Was there nothing that the genius Kapil Sibal could do about this? What if some parent decides to lie about the child's age and put him in class 1? It is entirely possible, for the act states: 
  • No child shall be denied admission for the lack of age proof. 

Training of the teachers

I wish to note a personal experience here. A couple of years back, I once addressed a group of engineering 4th year students. We had a lively interaction. The flow of dialogue was smooth, we could cut jokes and relate things quite smoothly. A few months after that, we invited a group of 12th class vocational course students to our office campus. These children were from an NGO and come from poor backgrounds. I volunteered to teach them for about two hours. And I started talking to them in the same flow as that of the engineering students. 15 minutes into the session, I realised I am failing woefully in communicating with them. Their lecturer told me that they are not used to this, and also told me that the lecturers are specially trained to teach them. I took a few tips, and then managed to talk to them further but could only partly succeed. 

The point I am trying to make is this - the teachers of existing private schools need to be trained extensively to teach kids from poor backgrounds. That's not because the teachers are elitist. They are used to a flow. They are accustomed a method of teaching that needs honing if they are teach a diverse group of students. So why can't the government say that the act will come into effect from 2013. In this one year, the government will identify all neighbourhood schools, have the teachers trained, have the principals discuss with the locals on modalities and be fully ready from 2013 onwards? But then this is too much to expect from the genius of Kapil Sibal, no?!

Actually this is not the first time Kapil Sibal is doing something like this. He did the same with uniform medical test across the country. His own party's state government's wanted 2 years time, so that both 1st year and 2nd year syllabus and teaching plan can be streamlined. But common sense typically eludes the genius of Kapil Sibal! 

Arbitrary everywhere

Randomness is written all over this law. Sample this: 
  • No teacher shall engage himself or herself in private tuition or private teaching activity
So if you want to supplement your income, you are not allowed to do that? Who is the government to tell you not to conduction private teaching activity at your home? 

Or this:
  • medium of instructions shall, as far as practicable, be in the child's mother toungue
As far as practicable? Just what does that even mean?? 

Or this:
  • "No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against...... in respect of anything which is done in good faith or intended to be done, in pursuance of this Act...."
Good faith? You want to know one example of good faith. A. Raja purely acted in "good faith" while deciding to sell 2G spectrum in 2008 for prices in 2001. Who writes such a law really?

And finally you have 15 member National and State Advisory councils. Another good political rehabilitation center has been established successfully. 

And the worst - Minority institutions exempted. 

The Supreme Court has upheld the UPA government's contention that unaided minority schools will not be covered under RTE. The Supreme Court said:

Reservation of 25 per cent in such unaided minority schools will result in changing the character of the schools if the right to establish and administer such schools flows from the right to conserve the language, script or culture, which right is conferred on such unaided minority schools. " 

Now we have more questions! 
  • There are "Hindu" schools that run to "conserve the language, script or culture". Why are they exempt then?
  • If an unaided "minority school" does not run courses to "conserve the language, script or culture", then will it fall under the RTE ambit?
  • For example, is the St. Ann's school in Secunderabad under the RTE ambit or not? 
All the laws relating to this RTE can be found here: http://mhrd.gov.in/rti_school  

And finally, the media narrative

Fellow blogger Reality Check India has compiled a near comprehensive list of the narrative in our media on this act here. 

Being opposed to the Right to Education is one thing. Being opposed to this particular act (method of implementation) of Right to Education is a totally different matter. While it's too much to expect from our media to differentiate between these two, I think it is also important to note a couple of previous instances of such carefully drafted narratives. 

  • Take the Food Security Bill for instance. "How can we not afford to have Food security" thundered the editorial director of NDTV. The actual act was not discussed - only the romantic parts of it were discussed. Her reporter even thought FSB guarantees "free ration to all".  It was left to bloggers to read, and question the provisions in the act. This blogger also made a humble (but long attempt) to decode the Food Security Bill, here
  • When Kapil Sibal pompously announced that there will be no more board exams for 10th class, the entire TV media erupted in joy. I remember a particular anchor even telling him that "tonight I bring with me the thank you of lakhs of children." or something like that. Do you know what the fine print was? If you are a CBSE student and wish to continue in the same school after your 10th class, then there is no need for you to write the board exam!! This means zilch for "lakhs of students", especially in my state Andhra Pradesh! 
  • Take the NREGA for instance. Which mainstream media outlet even attempted to debate the failings of this system? NREGA benefits the poor and hence cannot be debated? Even MP's have expressed their misgivings about this scheme and here we are, romanticizing it eternally. 
  • Take the Lokpal bill. That bill was debated endlessly. Pages of articles and hours of TV time went into dissecting each comma, full stop, word, sentence, and paragraph. Why? Because "it doesn't benefit the poor"?

Conclusion

I cannot but stress to the reader again, the importance of reading this blogpost on Reality Check India. Many details are debated there. 

Remember folks, the devil is always in the detail :)  

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Welcome Mangoes :)



So finally the only reason I wait for summer has arrived! Mangoes !


They have been purchased.





Cut.


And eaten too :) 






Sunday, April 15, 2012

That's all, Your Honour!: April 8-14


The first two topics this week are something on which I wanted some more time to collate thoughts and write in detail. Hence, will only passingly mention them. Hopefully will get to blog about them soon! Moving on to other happenings this week... 

1. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Right to Education Act and has also upheld the government's rule that says minority institutions are exempt from this act. More on this topic later. 

2. Also this week, 23 people were convicted in the case of post-Godhra riots. 23 others were acquitted. The Special Investigation Team set up by the Supreme Court to investigate another massacre during that time has found the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi as not guilty. More on this topic too, later. 

3. Yet again, leaders of India and Pakistan met this week! This time though, India requested Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari to accomodate a meeting with the Prime Minister during his planned private trip to Ajmer dargha. Such is our desperation to talk with Pakistan that we want to grab every available opportunity, even if the other side is not as willing. And just so that we don't feel too much outraged, the media has been fed with stories like these - the PM bought up Hafiz Saeed's case "upfront"! So what was the crying need to meet Zardari for 40 minutes? What was the crying need to arrange a lavish lunch for him? On the day, the talks happened, it looked as if nothing had yielded. And then slowly we began to see what these talks actually resulted in. India has apparently decided to open the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) gate for companies in Pakistan! While trade is good, how are we going to ensure that someone like Hafiz Saeed will not open a benami company and "invest" in India? Apparently "encouraged" by Pakistan's "pro-active steps" in improving trade, the Indian government will now further look at increasing the list of traded items too. Now the visit of the President makes a lot of sense - we wanted to get trade going. Leaders of this government and multiple commentators in the media never tire of telling us that the post Godhra riots in Gujarat should never be forgotten. The same guys also emphatically want us to move on from the multiple terror attacks perpetrated from the Pakistani soil. Some consistency these people maintain! 

4. Did you know that this UPA government still believes that there is no scam in the 2G spectrum sale? This week, this UPA cabinet okayed a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court. In this, the UPA government (technically the President is asking these questions but in reality President just acts on the advice of the cabinet) wants the SC to clarify about all spectrum allocated since 1994 !! The UPA government still continues to peddle lies that Raja merely followed the policy of earlier governments. While the name First Come First Serve (FCFS) did not change, Raja and the UPA government arbitrarily changed many by-laws thus making it totally different from originally envisaged FCFS. However, as is the norm with this government, the continue to peddle lies. Read this brilliant article in The Hindu which exposes many more such lies that are being peddled shamelessly by this government. 


అదన్నమాట! ఏప్రిల్ 8-14


వైఎసార్ గారిని తిట్టాలా వద్దా ? ఇది ఇప్పుడు కాంగ్రెస్స్ ని వేధిస్తున్న ప్రశ్న. ఎప్పటి లాగే ఒక వర్గం ఏమో తిట్టాలి అని, ఇంకో వర్గం ఏమో తిట్టకూడదు అని వాదించు కుంటున్నాయి. జగన్ అవినీతి ని యైఎసార్ అవినీతి ని వేరు గా చూడకూడదు అని కొందరు భావిస్తున్నారు. ఈ కొందరు లో చిరంజీవి గారు కూడా ఉన్నారు. ఈ వారం అంత వాదించుకున్నారు. ఇంకా ఏమి తేల్చలేదు ఈ కాంగ్రెస్స్ వాళ్ళు ! 

వీళ్ళు ఏది తేల్చిన వీళ్ళకి నష్టమే. వైఎసార్ గారు ఉన్నంత కాలం ఏమో విర్రవీగారు, విచాలవిది గా డబ్బులు సంపాదించారు. ఇప్పుడు ఏమో జగన్ గారు సోనియా గాంధి ని తిట్టినందుకు , అప్పట్లో జగన్ ఒక్కడే బాగా లబ్ది పొందినట్టు చెప్తున్నారు! వినే వారు ఉండాలే కాని, ఎంతకైనా తెగిస్తారు ఏమో వీళ్ళు ! అదన్నమాట!

Friday, April 13, 2012

Those imaginary discussions!


The degradation of an institution will give rise to another. In this context, the degraded institution is the coverage and public discourse on the TV media. The rising institution is the blogoshpere (includes blogs and other social networks). Personally, current affairs and policy matters interest me a lot. I used to talk to myself, having imaginary discussions with who I thought were like-minded folks while reading newspapers and watching TV back in the early 2000s. As the debates on TV began to grow, so did my imaginary discussions. At the most, I used to write out some thoughts or discuss with roomies and bore a group of very close friends who were kind enough not to ask me to stop :D .

And that's when blogosphere happened. First, I got to read a few blogs in the 2007-2008 timeframe. I wanted to write out too, but was scared for a while. 2009 elections spurred me to start sharing my thoughts. I did not know who offstumped was or who ran the reality check India site, but was intrigued to read all the posts there. Never knew about www.cbcnn.blogspot.com and was thrilled to see that few folks have taken out their time from their normal work to write about stuff that interests me too. Likewise, many such blogs (too many to name) captured my attention. 

And then twitter happened. I have come across so many interesting profiles that sometimes I feel so good about all those imaginary discussions I had. I felt good because those discussions don't feel imaginary anymore :). It's as if I knew these people from a long time. And the best part - almost all of them had full time jobs; as in their time and effort that went into detailing stuff outside their work was outstanding. I have been fortunate enough to get to interact with a wide range of folks - from students to grand parents :D.

More importantly, I learnt a lot. A lot of my thinking process underwent changes. I could refine the thoughts better. Some blogs made me rethink some of my adamant and strong positions (and that includes eating veg food outside :P). The web always threw up a host of differing viewpoints on a single issue (in detail, not in vaccum!) And that's been the biggest takeaway in these 3-4 years of exposure on the web. Learning. 

What spurred me to write this? The portal, Centre Right India released their promising roadmap here. Folks that run this portal have a full time job. They run this out of sheer love for creating an alternative and (more importantly) meaningful discourse. Many folks who contribute extremely well researched blogs on this forum have a full time job. It fascinates me that there are so many well meaning folks who wish to contribute their thoughts for a purposeful discourse. And that two full time job holders have taken it upon them to create this institution is truly commendable. 

TV media as we have seen is becoming a bane. An institution that is degrading. CRI is providing a platform for you to stop having those imaginary discussions walking around in your room :). Come and pour your thoughts in here. Contributing to them doesn't just mean merely writing blogs. Read them, discuss them, tear our blogs apart (but only based on facts, not like the Rahul Gandhi act :D), and appreciate them :) - that's contributing too. Enhance your knowledge on the web. 

Wishing CRI and all other fellow bloggers on the web a very good luck. Here's to a better public discourse on policy. Cheers! 

Sunday, April 8, 2012

That's all, Your Honour!: April 1-7



1. The picture above is another testimony of the depths some sections of the media can plunge, in their quest for sensationalism. Indian Express editor Shekhar Gupta along with a couple of his journalists wrote a front page story on how the army moved two units towards New Delhi, a day before the army chief's petition in SC was coming up for hearing, without informing the defense ministry. And this apparently "spooked" the government. 

First, this "troop movement" story was reported by rediff much earlier than IE. In their story, rediff clearly tells the readers that this movement was an exercise conducted by two units to test for readiness while moving in emergencies. They encountered fog and adverse traffic conditions during this activity. 

Indian Express reports this same activity and tells us that this was done without authorization. Many retired army folks and also the present army chief have clarified multiple times that there is no need to take permission for such routine practices. Yet, Indian Express believed there is a story in this troop movement somewhere! Infact, Shekhar Gupta said in an interview to CNN-IBN that the retired officers wouldn't fully know how these things work! 

If the government was actually spooked, then it speaks volumes about the inefficiency of the government. Then why headline with such alarming words and then tell the readers, that "we are merely placing facts"? This whole attempt to tar the image of the army is the proof of the depths to which sections of the media can plunge. Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN had a blistering interview with Shekhar Gupta. He clearly called the bluff of IE. The Hindu also wrote an editorial deriding the front page story of IE. NDTV, as always, did a mild interview of Shekhar Gupta (which IE published!). 

2. In Odisha, the Maoists are still holding an Italian citizen and also an MLA as hostages. Despite the state government releasing the names of 27 people they are willing to let go, the Maoists are not happy with the offer. They want the release of 7 more people, halting the police operations against them, withdrawal of central forces in tribal areas etc. This is yet another disgraceful act by the murderous Maoists, but then after this kidnap saga ends, we will again see articles asking us to understand why Maoists are doing what they are doing. Shame. 

3. The liquor scam saga in Andhra Pradesh seems to be never ending. The ACB was raiding the liquor shop owners (who are benamis of politicians - detailed blog here) who hold white ration cards! This irked APCC chief, Botsa Satyanarayana because he thinks the CM is doing this on purpose to defame him. The Congress  central leadership stepped in. Maybe based on their awesome advise, the Chief Minister transferred (technicaly promoted) the investigating IPS officer. The head of ACB protested this transfer and wrote to the Chief Secretary asking him to stop the transfer. However, the CM ensured that the officer was transferred. If you are wondering what this scam is all about, read this excellent article on The South Reports. I assure you, mind will be blown by the magnitude of the scam! That's all, your honour! 

అదన్నమాట ! ఏప్రిల్ 1-7

ఈ వారం అంతా మద్యం కుంభకోణం మీదే చర్చ . విజయనగరం లో తన వాళ్ళ మీద ఏసీబీ దాడులు ఎక్కువగా జరిపిస్తున్నారు అని అలిగిన బొత్స గారిని సముదాయించడానికి , ముఖ్యమంత్రి గారు సదరు ఆఫీసర్ ని బదిలీ చేసారు ! ఆ ఆఫీసర్ కి ప్రమోషన్ ఇచ్చి, వేరే చోటు కి పంపిచేసారు ! 

కాని ఏసీబీ వాళ్ళు మాత్రం ఈ తరుణం లో ఆఫీసర్ ని మార్చడం కష్టం అని చీఫ్ సెక్రటరీ కి నివేదిన్చుకున్నారు. అయిన సరే, ముఖ్యమంత్రి గారు ఆఫీసర్ వేల్లిపోవాల్సిందే అని చెప్పారు! ఆఫేసర్ మారిన, అక్రమ షాపుల పై దాడులు ఆగవు అని ఏసీబీ స్పష్టం చేసింది! 

ఇప్పుడు ఏమో షాపు వోనర్లు , మాకు ఏ తప్పు తెలియదు, అసలు వల్లనే పట్టుకోండి అని మొర పెట్టుకుంటున్నారు. అసలు వాళ్ళు అంటే, రాజకీయ నాయుక్లె మరి - వాళ్ళన్నిఎలా పట్టుకుంటారు లెండి! అదన్నమాట ! 

Monday, April 2, 2012

Copying their reporting style...


Inspired by how NDTV framed this report, I am making an attempt to write a similar report on the recent blows to Congress in Andhra Pradesh :). The NDTV link is just one such example. Many channels/newspapers follow the same template. Following is the report.

Bad news all around for Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party. In a big blow to their government in Andhra Pradesh, the CAG has unearthed a multicrore scam in which it was claimed that undue benefit worth Rs. 1,784 crores were given to private parties that were close to former congress Chief Minister Y.S.Rajashekhar Reddy. This report was tabled on the last day of the budget session of the assembly. The opposition parties claimed that they stand vindicated by this report. The opposition has been continously fighting with the Congress government over large scale corruption charges. 

In a further blow and dent to the congress party, the CBI has filed a chargesheet and named Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of former CM, late Y.S.Rajashekhar Reddy as accused number 1 in a disproportionate assets case. CBI investigated this case based on directions from the High Court. CBI has also included the names of 12 other people/firms in their chargesheet filed two days back at the Nampally court. The CBI has accused Mr.JaganMohan Reddy of misusing his father's office to get undue benefits. The CBI also implied that officials were pressurised by none other than the then CM. 

Just a couple of weeks earlier, in another body blow to the congress party, the Supreme Court has issued notices to 6 ministers of Andhra Pradesh asking them to explain the reason behind issuing 26 GO's during YSR's time. These 26 GO's have benefitted companies that are close to YSR's family. It is widely believed that YSR was given a free hand to run the administration in AP by Sonia Gandhi. Many analysts believe that Sonia Gandhi has turned a blind eye to this looting by YSR and the congress party, and is now having to face the heat. 

PS: For the record, following are the news links on NDTV for the above mentioned three recent cases. 1 (note that this is a PTI report. search yielded only this link), 2 and 3

Sunday, April 1, 2012

That's all, Your Honour!: Mar.25-31



1. This week saw the Sonia Gandhi led UPA fiddling with yet another institution. This time it was the Army. It all started with this interview of the Army Chief, General V.K.Singh. In the interview to The Hindu, he revealed that he was offered a bribe of Rs. 14 crore. Since parliament was in session, the opposition picked up this issue immediately. They demanded an explanation from the defence minister, Mr. A.K.Antony. The defence minister tells the parliament that when he first heard this from the Army chief, he was shocked. And upon recovering, he asked the Army chief if he wants to pursue further. The Army chief apparently said no, and the defence minister closed the matter!! And on top of this, to sound sanctimonious, A.K.Antony says - "If I am wrong, you may punish me.". And since the opposition created an uproar, he ordered a CBI enquiry into this. 

And then it was revealed that Sonia Gandhi, through Ghulam Nabi Azad, asked the Defense minister to probe the corruption allegations regarding the procrurement of Tatra trucks in 2009! And since then there has been no follow-up. Antony said he ordered a probe based on that letter only in Feb 2012. 

The mess did not end here. There was another leak. The Army chief has written to the Prime Minister alerting him to the woeful shortage of latest infrastructure in the Army. As usual, the Prime Minister doesn't seem to have done anything on this important letter - even after the letter said that we are not fully ready for a night war! All hell broke lose, because many people thought that the General leaked this letter and therefore started wronging him. The General then said that this leakage of the letter should be treated as "high treason". Later the Defence minister also termed this act as "anti-national" and ordered an IB probe. We are yet to find out who leaked the letter. 

Now, as is always the case with our public discourse, the debate centered around who leaked the letter and not on the contents of the letter! There was little debate on our preparedness and the morale of the armed forces. This whole week, we were just witness to a incompetent minister who looked like he was just hoping this controversy will die without him doing anything. Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister have as always not uttered a word. It was left to the Army chief to sound the compromise note. And once General V.K.Singh retires, we will pretend as if all this never happened! That's all, your honour! 

అదన్నమాట! మార్చి 25-31


ముఖ్యమంత్రి గారు కరెంట్ చార్జీలు పెంచారు. దాదాపు పది ఏళ్ల తరువాత కరెంట్ చార్జీలు పెరిగాయి. ఎప్పటికీ అప్పుడు చార్జీలు పెంచితే ఈ బాధ ఉండదు కదండీ? కాని మన పాలకులు ఆ పని చెయ్యరు. ఒకే సారి ఎక్కువగా పెంచేస్తారు చార్జీలు. దీనికి బదులు గా సంవత్సరం కి ఒక సారి కొంత శాతం పెంచుతూ ఉంటె, ఏ ఇబ్బంది ఉండదు కదా! 

"జగన్ అక్రమాస్తుల కేస్" అంటే ముందు ఎవర్ని ప్రశ్నించాలి అండి ? ఒక వేల ఆ కేస్ లో అర్రెస్ట్ జరిగితే ముందు ఎవర్ని అర్రెస్ట్ చెయ్యాలి అండి ? 

పై రెండు ప్రశ్నలకి నా సమాధానం అయితే జగన్. కాని మన రాష్ట్రం లో ఏమి జరిగిందో తెలుసా? కేస్ ఏమో ఆయన అక్రమంగా ఆస్తులు సంపాదించారు అని వేసారు. అయన అకౌంటంట్ ని అర్రెస్ట్ చేసారు. అయన పత్రిక ని విచారించారు. కాని అయన ని మాత్రం ప్రశ్నించలేదు. "జగన్ అక్రమాస్తుల కేస్" లో ఇప్పటి వరకు జరిగిన అర్రేస్ట్లు లో జగన్ గారి పేరే లేదు ! ఇదేం  విడ్డూరం అండి? 

జగన్ గారు ఏమో ఇంకా ఓదార్పు యత్రలోనే ఉన్నారు. ఎన్నాలు ఒడార్స్తారు అండి? సిబిఐ వాళ్ళు చార్జిషీట్ కూడా దాఖలు చేసారు కోర్ట్ లో. కాని జగన్ మాత్రం బయటే తిరుగుతునారు. ఆయనను నమ్మి సహకరించిన వాళ్ళు మాత్రం జైలు లో ఉన్నారు! అదన్నమాట!