Perfect prey for Land Sharks...thank the politicians

The other day I saw 'Khosla ka Ghosla' on TV and it was a hilarious and thoroughly entertaining movie.The same day, almost coincidentally, the newspapers reported about the real estate prices soaring in Mumbai.Also the Congress were back with its populist strategy of promising the extension of the 1995 deadline(the deadline meanwhile is to discourage squatting) for slum rehabilitation to 2000(with the BMC elections in mind).This while the pre-1995 slum-dwellers are yet to be resettled.And emerging in this backdrop was a SRA(Slum rehab authority) scam - exposing irregularities in allocation.
(See:Indian Express)

As the ordinary citizen grows restless about slums, the government proposes a solution- 'Shanghaisation'.And then follow the jaunts by ministers, at tax-payer's expense of course, to foreign countries to 'plan for the development of the city'.To appease the slum dwellers , they promise free accomodation.Free? How?- the builders will pay the costs and in return get additional land for development.
(See : New York Times)

Put this in the context of the real-estate boom and you have a lucrative 'opportunity'.With large areas of slum-cleared plots up for grabs , the builders wont mind sharing the spoils with the ministers to acquire the SRA projects.The builders in turn build sub-standard flats for slum-dwellers ( often the occupants have no say in the design), leading them to rent their flats and go back to squatting.And thus the cycle continues, slums multiply - delaying and obstructing infrastructure projects and thus wasting tax payer's money.Today , the TOI reports even gangsters being allocated SRA schemes and making an estimated profit of 100 cr.
(See:The Times of India)

And while the sea sharks may be close to extinction, the land sharks continue to thrive on the bait of ordinary tax-paying public provided by the politicians.

Indian Corporate Big-Wigs : Jekyll or Hyde

The Trinamul Congress recently 'exhibited'(rather over-enthusiastically by destroying furniture in the Kolkata Assembly) their oppostion against Tata Motors planning to construct a plant in Singur.According to them it is a fertile piece of land which is being grabbed for the project.Rather surprisingly, the Left(Yes,you heard right - the Left) has been unrelenting in the face of these revolts.Perhaps they are more than assured of their stronghold that is West Bengal,as far as elections are concerned.

This double-standard approach is quite contrary to their reservations regarding the Special Economic Zones being approved in various parts of the country.Some have even termed them as 'Special Exploitation Zones'.One now understands why the Left chose to offer 'outside' support rather than join the cabinet- they don't want to be held responsible for the 'bad' policies of the government, at the same time exerting pressure over UPA.

What do SEZ's do? SEZ’s are treated as foreign territories as far as trade, tariff and duties are concerned. They can source any raw material, capital goods without any approval/licence.They get duty free import,full access to domestic markets, get taxation benefits etc.However , it has turned into more of land grabbing exercise.Many reckon that farmers are made to sell land at lower rates to the corporates.Also it has been argued that in some cases , fertile land has been usurped.

This comes at a time when one hears almost everyday about farmer suicides.The other day I heard about the encouraging GDP growth of 9.2% in Q2.Not surprisingly,agriculture along with allied activities, however, grew by just 1.7 per cent in the second quarter against 3.4 per cent in the first quarter.So are the government along with corporate industrialists resulting in the decline of the already weakened farm sector?

There is some encouraging news though-Corporatised Farming.It involves a farmer selling his producing directly to the corporate retailers.What it does that it eliminates middlemen and wholesalers in turn increasing the profits for the farmers.It also guarantees for the farmers a sustained demand throughout the year and assured payments as against the present system where the prices depend more on market forces.ITC wanted to procure good quality Soya and Wheat from the farmer. Seeing several intermediaries in the way and boosting the price, they planted e-choupals that produced benefits to the villagers and benefited ITC as well.Others like Pantaloon,Reliance etc are planning to enter in this field soon.Even Wal-Mart which will venture into India soon,deals directly with farmers.

More such business initiative in the guise of social responsibility from corporate world will certainly help the cause of farmers.As far as the SEZ's are concerned, acquiring only wastelands for non-agricultural purposes and providing adequate compensation would do justice to the farmers.

And the Left(who else?) is opposing the entry of Wal-Mart,Reliance etc in the Retail sector as well !!!

Indian Sport : The Good ,The Bad and The Ugly

The Indian Cricket team were stuttering at 69 for 5 at lunch against Rest of South Africa in a warm-up game.But I won't continue talking about the Men in 'Blues' (couldn't resist a mention though) - it will take decades to finish if we rant about them.

Looking at the Indian performance in the Doha Asian Games , one observes varied facets of Indian Sport-

The Good:
There were certainly some performances worthy of applause including that of Pankaj Advani in billiards, Jaspal Rana in shooting or the Kabbadi team.Much is expected from hockey and tennis as well.

The Bad:
Last time I heard of Anjali Bhagwat she was crying out loud on not getting the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2003(the committee had to give in and she was jointly awarded along with K.M.Beenamol) or complaining about stiff muscles during the Athens Olympics as the reason for her dismal performance.This time too she finished a distant 22nd, her less illustrious compatriots fared better-one even made it to the finals.
The hockey team selected had some serious omissions like Viren Rasquinha ( KPS Gill even said that they need not give any reasons for the omissions).Well, a lowly China beat them 3-2 in the last match and they now face the ominous task of beating South Korea on Sunday to keep their hopes alive of making the last four.

The Ugly:
Can any Indian outing be complete without a whiff of dope?Only this time discus thrower Seema Antil took over the mantle from the usual suspects-the weightlifters.
And talk about washing dirty linen in public, the Leander - Bhupathi spat took an ugly turn with Paes questioning his commitment after a 1st round loss to minnows Chinese Taipei.Later, for the doubles , Leander is believed to have opted for Rohan Bopanna but was persuaded otherwise by the AITA secretary Anil Khanna.
Paes had, in the build up to the games,turned down his offer to reunite on the tour to strengthen their bid for a maiden Olympic medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.Bhupathi had also made his displeasure clear on the decision that Paes will play the mixed doubles with Sania Mirza.What could have been resolved with maturity inside the dressing room has come out in full scrutiny of the media.It will only make a huge dent in the team's morale.
What remains to be seen is whether they can put aside their egos and defend their doubles gold medal- the whole nation is certainly expecting them to.

Hail the Indian Judiciary

"The Supreme Court has said no permission is required to prosecute public servants - such as MPs and legislators accused of taking bribe."

"Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case."

"The Supreme Court has said that the "creamy layer" should be excluded from reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs and weigh its options."

These are a few of the verdicts that has made many 'elected representatives' rack their 'brains' for a way out.The politicians are now getting increasingly worried about an active judiciary , which coupled with growing public resentment , are threatening to diminish their invincibility. Even the lower courts are getting increasingly bolder in passing judgments against 'highly placed' people.
Their growing concern has given rise to suggestions such as - placing reservations in the 9th schedule to exclude it from the purview of the courts arguing over the extent of judicial review that a legislation can undergo.Some ministers even hinted at introducing reservation in the appointment of judges!
Those convicted kept up the 'tradition' of paying a visit to the hospital after the verdict.Chest pain seems to be one of the most common illness in India - the risk being high if you are a politician and a court judgment is an obvious trigger.
As long as our ministers don't come up with a authoritative law to protect itself from judicial 'interference', the judiciary will be one of the few institutions that the common man can place some faith in.One may argue about some cases take light years to decide while some accused go scot-free.Although most of the times this has been the result of 'slow paced' investigation by the police - there is scope for improvement in this matter.

Till then the judiciary reminds us - "Be you ever so high, the law is above you"