What Ever Happened to India Against Corruption?

The charges and counter charges between Kapil Mishra, Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP only reveal that there are no honest politicians in India today – only two-faced hypocrites. It is extremely foolish of the BJP and Congress to take a ‘holier than thou’ stance since they do not practice cleanliness in their electoral politics either. Yes, you're guilty even if you accept dirty money for your kin or party.

If some politicians are still considered clean, it's usually due to the takeover of media houses, lack of evidence, U-turns of eye witnesses (with money changing hands), bungling or complicity of investigating agencies, or the existence of labyrinths (such as a network of shell companies) created to conceal the scams.

Have you ever stopped to think why no political party is now asking for the full implementation of the Lokpal Act? Because it suits them all. Aam Aadmi fought for the Lokpal Act. The Congress and BJP promised to deliver on TV debates, but now all of them suffer from selective amnesia. And they're corrupt because their sycophants and blind supporters continue to vote them in election and election. Yes, it is you who are to blame!

During the height of the demonetization drive when our older citizens were forced to stand in hour-long queues just to deposit their own money, all political parties were given legal immunity to deposit their black money comprising of the defunct 500 and 1000 Rupee notes in banks. There has been precious little done to bring about transparency in electoral funding either as crony capitalism reigns supreme. And, to top it all, bribing voters with alcohol and money is a given in almost every election. 

Yet there continues to be a political slugfest among the parties trying to outwit each other and proving which one of them is the most corrupt, as ‘In the land of the Blind, the one-eyed man will be King.’

Will GST Be Beneficial for Consumers in India?

GST will almost certainly be passed in the monsoon session of parliament. It will be wonderful news for the union and state governments, the economists, the political parties who will rush to claim credit (not input credit) for its passage and the businessmen who will no longer be harassed by multiple tax authorities and will find the new tax system extremely streamlined with fewer hassles.

But what's in store for the consumers? Not very good news, I m afraid. The tax rates for goods and services may be 20% or higher and it is bound to lead to inflation, at least in the short term. GST may have a profound impact on Indian eCommerce as all online transactions would be subject to this tax. Then there is the recommendation of 40% GST on aerated drinks as a form of sin tax since these drinks are considered unhealthy. I found this a ridiculous argument as it will open a pandora s box and make taxation in India arbitrary, judgmental and discriminatory.

And finally the most stupid recommendation. GST may put the onus on the buyer to check whether the seller has paid goods and service tax (GST). So, if I eat at a restaurant and pay the bill with GST on it, should I ask the restaurant owner to show me his tax details?

Let's hope that better sense prevails and the form of GST dished out to us is more consumer-friendly and less taxing!

The Great Indian THEM-OCRACY - Here's to a glorious future in a Banana Republic!

Hey, now it's officially confirmed that India is a Banana Republic. The details of the Essar Leaks scandal have finally blown the lid off the subterfuge. Our democracy is a joke! In fact, it is actually a THEM-OCRACY. Read in sync with the Radia tapes controversy and recent press reports, I declare that whichever government is at the helm, whether it is a BJP, Congress, Left, AAP or any other formation, India will still remain a Banana Republic, at least for a while. And here's why I say this:

1) The details of the Essar and Radia scandals reveal that even Union Budget decisions, ministry formations and important government policies are decided by big corporates . What's more? It shows that even the judgment of a supreme court judge was bought in the 2G corruption case (We already know that the CBI director had taken money from guilty parties in the case) and journalists are being paid to write news articles in favour of politicians and large business houses.
2) There is no such thing as privacy in India - if the phones of Ambani, Amitabh Bacchan, Ministers and the National Security Advisor can be tapped, then what hope is there for the common man?
3) Rajya Sabha tickets have been proved to be bought and sold in black like movie tickets ( all across the country).
4) The topper of a leading Political Science exam in Bihar did not know what the subject was about - it was found out later that the toppers had paid money for their prestigious position and failed the retest.
5) Several Indian citizens including a senior minister of India's 'most nationalistic' party are still communicating with the anti national terrorist Dawood Ibrahim who is the main culprit behind the Mumbai serial blasts.
6) CBI is now the CCBI or Clean Chit Bureau of Investigation. Its latest clean chit is in the Vyapam Scam where it claims that there is no criminal conspiracy although 51 people (witnesses and investigators) have died tragically and mysteriously, the latest being a senior police official who was hit by a speeding car earlier this week itself!
7) The CBI, ED, IT, NIA, RAW, IB and other investigating agencies have become puppets in the hands of their masters - The remote has only passed from the hands of Sonia to the hands of Modi - everything else is same - the match fixing, the clean chits, etc as is evident in the Ishrat Jahan Fake Encounter Controversy.
8) David Headley, one of the most dreaded terrorist involved in the plotting of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks was given immunity by Ajit Doval for 'revealing' what everybody knew and the nation does not want to know - why?
9) Most of our ministers and elected representatives across the country are murderers, rapists, kidnappers and thieves (the Indian citizen is fully to be blamed for this ).
10) Only 10% of those involved in heinous crimes, including those responsible for violent acts of terrorism and for rapes and murders in major riots, are pronounced guilty and most of them get only 10% of the severity of the sentence which they deserve - and that too either they are acquitted altogether (like Bhai) or get their sentences lowered in subsequent judicial reviews.
11) Governments, banks and the entire system unethically (and often illegally) shower lands, loans, largesse and loads of love on the Robert Vadras, Lalit Modis, Adanis and the Mallyas on "humanitarian grounds".

Here's to a glorious future in a Banana Republic!

Exposing the Medieval Mindset

Today I visited the local fish market and was surprised to hear fisherwoman bargaining in English using words like “fresh”, “expensive” and “twelve hundred.” Yet, nearly a month ago, I saw several participants getting punished for using English phrases during day-to-day conversations in India’s premier reality show, Big Boss. Why is this anti-English idea being mooted on popular television shows when most of the world has adopted the language as their own and the world has gone truly global? Are TV show producers steadily succumbing to the paranoia of the medieval mindsets.

 

And, by the way, what is a medieval mindset? In the period following the collapse of the Roman Empire from the 5^th century right up to the sixteenth century religion ruled the roost. All the major religions of the world came into prominence during this period but culture declined. The followers of these modern religions were just as brutal and barbaric as their pagan counterparts. The Christian armies burnt and even ate the corpses of their foes during the crusades at the start of the previous millennium.  

The Renaissance in the 15^th and 16^th century came as a breath of fresh air to the sea of unenlightened humanity who just could not look out of the box they had so ‘religiously’ prepared and entrapped themselves in. But the medieval mindset continued on and has survived even up to this day of tablets, Smartphones, iPods and YouTube videos. 

Unfortunately, fascists as in Egypt and possibly in India as well, the chief proponents of this medieval mindset, are being elected to power all over the world. We can ignore this threat to our own peril. People accept them as a means of change from all that is not right with their present systems, but they could be in for a rude shock when the change does happen!