Surgical Strikes by India on Pak terrorists

Narendra Modi's administration was widely applauded by all sections of the nation for carrying out surgical strikes in POK (Pak Occupied Kashmir) terrorist camps killing some 40 terrorists, successfully without suffering any causalities. This was retaliation for terrorists striking our military camps killing some 18 soldiers, 10 days ago. We can except retaliation from Pakistan sooner or later. Pakistan politicians always depended on "hate-India" for their political survival.

Military option is always available in some form or another, but the risk is that it could escalate into full fledged war. With both nations armed with nuclear war heads, the loosing country might use nuclear option to avoid humiliation of defeat. In which case retaliatory nuclear war will destroy both the nations. While India will suffer huge losses which recovery will take over ten years, Pakistan will disintegrate.

There is nothing so great about Indian surgical strikes within two kilometers from our border.

I recollect 40 years ago 100 Israeli Military commandos traveled 4,000 kms in 4 planes and raided Entebbe airport in Uganda following hijack of Air France plane, to rescue 98 Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants. That was a dare devil operation applauded by the whole world. Today looking back the success was attributable more to luck than anything else.

• Needless to say, war is nothing but destruction on both sides and pulls down economy and deprives fruits progress & development to poor people by few decades. Negotiations for peace is always the best option, if feasible.
• Surgical strikes carries lots of risks and success or failure chances are always even.
• However war stands inevitable to safeguard our frontiers and preserve unity & integrity of the nation. 

My View:
The truth of the situation and happenings will never be known. The bulletins released by Indian & Pakistan authorities are only half truths. The kind of huge publicity generated by Govt for this minuscule achievement, is unacceptable non sense. I suspect politics by Modi in this matter.

Recollect: In 1970 Indira Gandhi government was in minority following split in Congress party. She manipulated to interfere in Pakistan's internal political imbroglio that led to 1971 Indo-Pak war and liberation of Bangladesh (East Pakistan) with the help of USSR. Riding high pitch wave of war victory, she opted for mid-term poll and swept polls with 2/3rd majority pulverizing Grand Alliance of opposition parties. Economically we lost more than a decade of progress then.

History is the testimony for wars are always fought due to ego clash of political heads of states but never in national or people's interest. It is all about politics. Nothing else. People's interest always lies in peace. No war is inevitable.

BJP-Modi is adopting Congress model of politics again. Vajpayee did the same thing between 1999-2004 and lost next election. Modi should learn lessons from history and mend his ways other wise he will dumped in trash bin like Vajpayee.

However, all offences must be answered by our defence forces with lightning speed with surgical strikes and aerial bombings of terrorist camps and army camps, never on civilian and industrial units. People of India must be able sleep peacefully with confidence that our territories are secure and unity and integrity of India is guaranteed, no matter what it takes and costs.

While cross border strikes and terrorism is happening since quite some time, the present surgical strikes (no tangible evidence so far) media campaign aiming for political benefits by BJP in the forthcoming UP elections is not ruled out.

Genuine Happiness - 10 Ways

Everyone is responsible for their own happiness and it means different things to different people. Various factors such as physical and mental fitness, income levels, loved ones and career achievements influence you. However, if you feel you aren't happy, you can bring a positive change to your situation. 

Learning to be more aware can do wonders for your well-being -productivity at work, food choices & habits or handling relationships. 

If you re-train your brain, you can learn to be happy. Here are 10 ways that could help.

1. Giving 
Caring about others and being helpful is fundamental to one's happiness. Not only does it lead to a healthier lifestyle, it also creates stronger connections between people and builds a healthy society.When you give to other people in some way, it activates your reward senses. 

2. Empathy 
Human beings are social beings and are designed to live in a social environment. In this set-up, it is important to feel connected to other people to avoid loneliness and depression. One way is to understand other's problems and offer help. 

3. Exercising 
Physical and mental exercises reduce stress, improve mood and lower anxiety. The release of endorphins and increase of T-cells in the body increase the level of happiness and strengthen the immune system. Any form of exercise also gives one a sense of accomplishment. 

4. Awareness 
Learning to be more aware can do wonders for your well-being -productivity at work, food choices and habits or handling relationships. It helps you get in tune with your feelings and stops you from dwelling on the past or worrying about the future so you can get more out of your day-to-day life. 

5. New experiences 

Embarking on new experiences can expand your senses and can also feed your creativity. New ideas come from diverse thoughts and the more you learn, the more you can change your way of life, for the better. 

6. Direction 
Goals help one's happiness. Be it small or large goals, planning and working towards them gives you a sense of fulfilment and something to look forward to. 

7. Resilience 
There is no good or bad experience, it's how you perceive it. You just need to find ways to bounce back and cope. Sometimes, it is important to rethink how you interpret situations. Remember to not jump to conclusions. Instead, pause and evaluate the circumstances. Be resilient. 

8. Emotions 
Research found that regularly experiencing positive emotions like joy, gratitude, contentment, inspiration, and pride creates an upward spiral and helps in building resources. It helps to focus on the good aspects of any situation the glass half full rather than the glass half empty. 

9. Acceptance 
Identifying your strengths and weaknesses and accepting your unique self for who you are boosts your happiness quotient. Focus on your strengths and be comfortable in your skin. 

10. Meaning 
Be a part of something bigger and think about the footprints you want to leave b e hind. Finding meaning is not always easy but you can take baby steps. Think about what you want to be remembered for. 

River Water Conflicts

• India's rainwater remains the same 4,000 BCM (billion cubic metres).
• Population has quadrupled since 1951.
• In the context of a growing economy, we have to better manage this finite water source, although it is a renewable resource.
• Cauvery water fights are result of over all demand being in excess of availability by more than 2 times.
• The only way to solve this Cauvery water problem is to reduce demand match its availability.
• Apart from inter-state rivalries that cause a political headache, most states are dealing with upstream-downstream conflicts within their borders. 
• Large-scale basin transfers seemingly appear to solve immediate water problems, it is sure to create much bigger problems in future. Hence this is unsustainable.
• Cities must use local resources first, including urban wastewater, to immediately reduce their demand on distant water.
• Rainfall patterns and river flows are not guaranteed anymore. 
• Climate change driven rainfall variations are happening just when we have reduced base flows in rivers due to over-exploitation of groundwater.
• Rivers are so much polluted and do not even reach the sea.
• Transparent river flow data sharing will allow efficient utilization of river waters but most state governments manipulate data leading to less efficient water utilization.
• Participatory groundwater management is a must for efficient and sustainable utilization of ground water but it is a long way to go to develop systems and gets matured.
• We have to become a low-water society, coming from the urgent need to create economic prosperity for all. We have to re-imagine and overhaul water consumption patterns to optimize every drop, across all competing users - agriculture, industry, and urban and rural domestic needs. So that all rivers flows peacefully and perennially and preserving ecology.
• We need to have integrated institutions for surface water and ground water to be treated compositely so that water can be governed more wisely, both for quantity and quality.
• Pollution control boards need to be radically restructured and made far more accountable to the public interest and safeguarding smaller rivers getting destroyed with urban sewerage and pollutants.

Power Demand could become unmanageable in Telangana.

So far KCR was lucky with deficit rainfall resulting in lower power demand especially from agriculture sector. In this 3rd year, rainfall is near normal with normal ground water table resulting in increased agriculture activity will lead to increase in power demand from this sector once monsoon season ends. The spurt in demand could be as high as 1,500 MW and could become unmanageable for Telangana state. Even if imports will give some relief, the financial burden estimated at more than Rs.8,000 crore will severely effect budget and development & welfare activities. While TS will see power cuts, capital city Hyderebad is likely to escape at least for now.

AP with lesser pump sets and surplus power will have no problem on this front.

With reduced demand throughout the country, efficiency in coal production & imports and its logistics, power position remained good during this year.

ABN Andhra Jyothi - RK Kothapaluku Sep 11, 2016

• The editorial shows RK's shift from AP towards TRS and BJP suggestive of accepting their superiority just because they are at giving end and AP at receiving end. This is unprincipled.
• Even though Pawan Kalyan's outbursts at Kakinada indicates his political immaturity but reflects the feelings of people of AP in reality.
• The 'Central Assistance to AP' package unveiled by Arun Jaitley & Venkaiah Naidu on Sep 08, 2016 falls short of fulfilling the obligations of Central Government contained in AP Reorganisation Act 2014 and promises made by then PM on the floor of RS while passing the bill at the behest of BJP leaders. Hence it is outright rejectable. No person with some kind of self respect will suggest its acceptance.
• RK quoting Andhra leaders walking out of Madras city immediately on announcing Andhra statehood without Madras city is only on the persuasion by Nehru to resolve the issue arising out of death of Potti Sreeramulu and its aftermath and avoiding conflict with stubborn C.Rajagopalachari CM, Madras state rather than any thing else. Nehru assured Andhra leaders about his acceptance to form linguistic states very soon and first linguistic state will be with merger of Andhra state and nine telugu speaking districts of Hyderabad state with Hyderabad city as its capital. Distorting facts and  writing in obscene language is indicative of either ignorance of facts or stupidity or both, by RK.
• RK should realise that Andhra statehood including Northern parts of Madras city was recommended by Madras Governor to Viceroy in 1930's but due to World War II it got stalled. Andhra statehood was promised by Gandhi in early 1940's but were asked to wait till independence.  But Gandhi died with in months of independence. It was C. Rajagopalchari powerful Tamil CM of Madras who could stall creation of Andhra state that resulted in frustration, fasting and death of Potti Sreeramulu. Trying to avoid confrontation with CR, Nehru persuaded Andhra leaders to forego Madras city and promised Hyderabad city while forming linguistic state of Andhra Pradesh. In the light of these facts, RK's loose comments on Andhra is uncharitable and despicable.
• Chandrababu Naidu, TDP CM of AP has full majority in the Assembly and he could very well reject the insulting package of Modi and survive in power. Who knows who will win in 2019 elections. I wish Modi not. Principles, self respect (NTR's anti Indira slogan of 1983) and political honesty are not negotiable and few thousands of crores is not worthy of that. 
• I would be glad if CBN calls it a day with BJP both at Centre & State and rejects the package and files 'writ of mandamus' in SC for directing Centre to fulfill its obligations of centre to AP as per AP Reorganisation Act 2014, which they didn't do deliberately on some pretext or other.
• Hats off to ONGC Charman Dinesh K Sarraf for filing case against Reliance as A1 and Union Government Ministry of Petroleum (70% shareholder in ONGC) as A2 in 'Great Indian Gas Robbery by Reliance' and safeguarding ONGC interests walking extra miles. I wish Chandra Babu Naidu to take clue from this.
• Venkaiah Naidu & Arun Jaitley (both opposition BJP leaders in RS then) has raised the matter of  'Special category Status' for AP in Rajya Sabha in 2014 and projected this as a magic wand which will solve all the problems arising out of mindless bifurcation of state by both Congress & BJP and the same was agreed on the floor of RS by the then UPA PM in the form of statement minutes before passing the Bill. And now same Venkaiah Naidu & Arun Jaitley, Central Ministers, at the behest of PM Modi, dares to say that certain NDC procedures doesn't allow them for granting SCS to AP now and came out with another magic wand called 'Central Assistance to AP' package which in its true sense is half of the obligations as per AP Reorganisation Act 2014 and expects AP people just accept it without applying their mind & brain. What an audacity on the part of BJP leaders for this shameless gesture. If they have guts let them conduct public meeting at Benz Centre, Vijayawada, talk about this and walk out in single piece without Police protection. 
• Needless to say that Union Government is accountable to Parliament only and nobody else as long as it follows Constitution and its statutes. Planning Commission, NDC etc are its subordinate organisations and their procedures are not binding on Union Cabinet. Even less educated person can vouch for this. BJP should understand what they are talking on SCS not granting to AP.
• If I have the authority, I would reject the package in its totality and insist on fulfilling AP Reorganisation Act 2014 provisions and promises made on the floor of Rajya Sabha to be in full, come what may within reasonable time frame.
• RK's suggestion to accept package and whatever it is worth, is unacceptable non-sense. People of AP are not beggars with begging bowl kneeling in front of Modi to accept what ever he feels like giving.
• RK praising KCR and his tendencies as a great political skills in another nonsense. On other hand High Court and Supreme Court admonished him for his illegal acts in at least 15 cases and some more cases in pipe line. I haven't seen such a shameless CM losing 15 cases in courts and continuing in that position. KCR resisting to hand over assets due to AP even after SC judgement and its time limit expired indicates how much respect he has for constitution, laws of the land etc. And height of stupidity is RK praising his maneuvers as great administrative skills.
• The writing will go endless and is worth stopping here.
• I wish RK will regain his lost senses.

Modi & Co cheats Andhra Pradesh

We all know that Sonia Gandhi and UPA with the connivance of BJP etc has bifurcated the state of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 purely for political reasons without following procedures, conventions, rules, laws and even abused constitution giving away capital, bulk of the assets, revenue, job & business opportunities to Telangana and inflicting deadly blow to residual Andhra Pradesh saddled with huge liabilities and unmanageable budget deficits. The Act only doled out vague assurances with out mentioning financial implications and time frames for development of AP in the AP Reorganization Act 2014, by using meaningless words 'shall', 'examine', 'consider' etc in the Act stunning the the people of AP.

The then PM Mr. Manmohan Singh, while speaking in Rajya Sabha on February 20, 2014 offered following steps to address concerns of people of Seemandhra region, outside the AP Reorganization Act 2014 at the behest of BJP's leaders Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu:
1. Special category status will be extended to the new AP state for period of 5 years to put state finances on firmer footing
2. Central government will take all fiscal measures such as tax incentives to promote industrialization and economic growth in successor states, along the lines extended to other states
3. Special development package to backward regions of the new AP state, which includes 4 districts of Rayalaseema and 3 districts of Uttarandhra (northern districts), along the lines of KBK plan and Budelkhand plan
4. Central government will execute Polavaram project including passing amendments for full rehabilitation of displaced families
5. Appointed day will be fixed to facilitate smooth transfer of personnel, finances etc
6. Any resource gap (i.e. revenue deficit) encountered by successor state of AP in bridging state finances between appointed day and acceptance of 14th Finance Commission recommendations by government will be compensated in 2014-15 budget.

The promises made for helping AP to survive without capital, institutions and budget deficits etc works out to Rs.3,00,000 crores and over 10 years it works out to Rs.30,000 crores per annum. During the past 2+ years central budget provisions were NIL and actual funds flow to AP were less than Rs 5,000 crores. With people of AP and Govt of AP becoming increasingly impatient and agitations and sentiments getting hardened, Modi & Co sat down to implement promises made in the Act only ignoring several promises made on the floor of Parliament while passing the Bill. The attached document 'Central Assistance to Andhra Pradesh' unveiled by Arun Jaitley & Venkaiah Naidu, Union Ministers in the press conference at New Delhi on Sep 8, 2016, again leaving the most important issues hazy and unaddressed. At best the package works out to about Rs.1,50,000 crores without any time frames. Implementation of the proposed package, falling short of the Act, is gross and mischievous violation of implementation of AP Reorganization Act 2014.

AP should file writ of mandamus in Supreme Court against Union Government to properly fulfill their duties or correct deliberate abuse of discretion. Recently ONGC fled case in SC against Reliance Industries as A1 and Union Government (MoPNG), the 70% equity share holder, as A2 in "Great India Gas Robbery by Reliance" and independent consultant's findings were embarrassing for GOI's complicity in Reliance's systematic pilferage of Gas from ONGC's gas fields for several years. Hats off to ONGC chairman Mr. Dinesh K Sarraf for walking extra daring miles to safe guard its organization's interests.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi maintains stoic silence, his deputies Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu cites vague interpretation of 14th Finance Commission report to deprive Special Category Status to AP. The only place 'Special Category Status' was mentioned in the report is as below
On page 17 (para 2.29 & 2.30) of the Report, the Commission has stated (inter alia):
“We did not make a distinction between special and general category states in determining our norms and recommendations ... In our assessment of State resources, we have taken into account the disabilities arising from constraints unique to each State to arrive at the expenditure requirements. ...
This only limits financial assistance to states irrespective of category. But more important benefit is in the form of tax incentives to industries which will boost economy, revenues and employment opportunities etc which was unaddressed by Arun Jaitley and misrepresented by Venkaiah Naidu in his press conferences with his vocal talents. This is outright abuse of AP and misleading the nation.

New capital construction, with its associated features & facilities, requires at the least Rs.75,000 crores and at the best Rs.250,000 crores and centre extending Rs.2,500 crores assistance is a matter shame. AP CM Chandrababu Naidu remarking that this paltry amount is not even sufficient for underground power cabling amply reflects the displeasure.

The mischievously worded Polavaram project assistance
The Central Government will fund the Polavaram Irrigation Project in the following manner:
(i) It will provide 100% of the remaining cost of the irrigation component only of the project for the period starting from
1.4.2014, to the extent of the cost of the irrigation component on that date.
puts huge burden on AP Govt due to (1) exclusion of Power House (2) limiting the central assistance as per 2014 estimates (3) Non reimbursement of money already spent by AP to the tune of Rs.5,000 crores. The result is that Centre will spend about 50% of actual project cost as and when it gets completed and remaining by AP Govt. This is day light robbery of AP by Centre.

More and more analysis will only end up in Central Government abstaining from its committed responsibilities towards the people of AP and BJP will surely pay bitter price in next 2019 elections. Discrimination between North and South is amply clear. I won't get surprised if BJP collapses under its own weight and Congress returns to power. Pavan Kalyan's compared Jaitley's package as two rotten laddu's and demanded AP Govt to reject it outright.

It is pertinent that Modi should 

1. be empathetic to the suffering of people AP after illegal state bifurcation
2. understand aspirations of people of India instead of capitalists of foreign countries
3. realize that governance is not maximizing revenues by elimination subsidies & deceiving southern people rather than trimming its own expenses and balancing budget as per IMF guidelines 
4. limit his own very expensive and unnecessary & fancy foreign jaunts 
5. avoid fancy & white elephant projects like 'Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project' which only serves Gujarati rich people rather than Indian common man
6. special status and central assistance to AP is the right of people of AP and Modi & Co's behavior denying these is nothing but rude and highhanded 
7. recollect Gandhi's advise to Nehru & Patel on assuming offices just after independence is paraphrased below .... whenever you set up to sign a file think of the common on the street & peasant in the fields and if it benefits him then sign it otherwise examine it thoroughly,

otherwise his Waterloo in 2019 elections is certain paving the way for undesirable Congress to return to power like in 1979, 1992 and 2004 mainly due to BJP leaders behaving worse than Congress leaders.

Venkaiah Naidu has completed successful burial of BJP in AP, 100 feet below the ground by doing nothing and defending Modi & Jaitley's manipulations. Needless to say Sonia Gandhi got nothing out of manipulations and Venkaiah Naidu in all probability will also get nothing despite his aspiration to the post of President or Vice President. 

Great Indian Gas Robbery by Reliance

• ONGC and RIL were allocated, by MoPNG, adjacent blocks for development of undersea wells off K-G basin in 2000.
• Since the blocks were adjacent to each other and contiguous oil and gas fields or reservoirs, under the provisions of the PSC, they should have been jointly developed by the two companies. 
• Four wells have been drilled by RIL within distances ranging within 50m to about 350m from the blocks of ONGC and wells have been so drilled and constructed that there is a pre-planned and calculated slant/angular incline towards the gas reserves of (the) petitioner with a clear idea to tap the same. Production of gas from the KG-D6 block by RIL started in April 2009.
• ONGC contended that RIL might have drawn natural gas worth up to Rs 30,000 crore from its fields adjacent to the Relaince's fields.
• After months of legal wrangling ONGC and RIL, agreed on an independent consulting firm based in the US which would give its technical findings in the dispute. This consultant, DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M) based out of Dallas, Texas, in the US, submitted an interim report on Oct 9, 2015 which stated that natural gas worth $1.7 billion or over Rs 11,000 crore had been extracted by RIL in an unauthorised manner from an area on the ocean bed where gas extraction was supposed to be controlled by ONGC. 
• What is worse is that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) in the Government of India has been complicit in the alleged theft by Reliance for its conscious and systematical pilferage of Gas.
• An estimated 11.89 bcm of gas from ONGC blocks would have “migrated” to Reliance blocks by Jan 1, 2017 and this volume would go up to 12.71 bcm by May 1, 2019 and after such a high volume of “migration” of gas, it would no longer be economically viable for ONGC to develop the particular undersea fields. ONGC could seek over Rs 25,000 crore by way of compensation. 
• RIL said that all its operations had been undertaken in accordance with the PSC and the development plan approved by the management committee which had government representatives holding veto powers. It added that all well locations and their profiles had been specifically reviewed and approved by the committee.
• ONGC’s decision to move court surprised so many despite being under pressure. The minister of petroleum and natural gas in the UPA government, Veerappa Moily shot off a note to the Secretary in the MoPNG, Saurabh Chandra, calling for an enquiry as to why ONGC had dared to initiate legal action against its biggest shareholder i.e. MoPNG owning 70% of ONGC shares. 

My View:
Crony capitalists, like Mukesh Ambani,  armed with huge amounts of money are like vultures always waiting for any sector to open up and with connivance of politicians in power and bureaucrats holding positions blatantly exploit loopholes which were consciously retained in the system to benefit them. Reliance, the largest corporate conglomerate has benefited from the way government policies are structured, it lays bare the alarming facts of a natural disaster waiting to happen due to the ruthless exploitation of the country. Needless to say management and enforcement of contracts are crucial to good governance in any sector. In the case of alleged gas robbery by Reliance, the management committee, which included representatives of the ministry, apparently acquiesced in whatever RIL did, and the contractual provisions for joint-management of the gas fields and imposition of penalties were never invoked. This does not augur well for a country that is aggressive inviting foreign investments. In the absence of political will and administrative honesty we as a nation makes one steps forward and these vultures pulls us several steps backward. In the absence of matured systems, aggressive privatization leads us to disaster and impoverish the nation while enriching ruthless corporates and businesses. 

Reliance with its attitude is dangerous to the society and must be disarmed and wound up and debarred for conducting any business. Its wealth and creating jobs and contribution to the economy is no justification for tolerating its unjust & unlawful activities. In fact, the larger the company the more is their responsibility towards law compliance and social order.

Despite common consultant's report confirming gas robbery and ONGC independent directors forcing filing of case against Reliance (A1) and Ministry of petroleum (A2) 70% owner of ONGC equity, three years ago Modi government not taking any precise action against Mukhesh Ambani's Reliance speaks volumes about his neat & clean administration.

Reliance Jio 4G Plans - A probable fraud

Reliance is company with profit as its stated prime objective and not a charity institution.

Consider the following points:

• They had invested over Rs. 100,000 crores during the past few years and has to make profits, not running social service nor a charity.
• Voice calls are not separately billed but consumes your data quota.
• Much publicized Rs.50/GB is applicable for high end customers paying Rs.2,500 or more monthly charges. At low end it as much expensive as others or even more.
• The hyped 4G GSM hand set at Rs.2,999 probably comes with lots of limitations and may turn out to be a paper weight especially for power users.
• Notwithstanding its real intentions, Reliance Jio unleashing price war will definitely bring down mobile tariffs and consumer stands benefited.
• In order to safeguard their customer base existing players will surely reduce tariffs and Reliance goal to rope in 10 crore customers might not happen so easily unless they address all customer issues in time. 
• For majority rural & poor voice only users Reliance Jio means nothing. BSNL prepaid still is the best.
• Existing players have invested several lakhs of crores won't close their shop and handover their customers to Reliance Jio so easily. They will invoke all legal and commercial fight with this predator.
• Finally, the Regulator i.e. TRAI is duty bound to ensure level playing and protect from illegal activities of Reliance Jio and ensure existing players survive.
• TRAI should examine pricing structure of Reliace Jio and if found its tariffs are with deliberate loss making and are aimed at pushing competitors into red and dissolution, severe penalties must be imposed on Reliance Jio.
• Finally no one should be allowed to go into the level where competition gets destroyed and industry monopolized to protect consumers, in long run. That is the spirit of democracy. Competition is essential for competitive pricing, customer service, innovation and quality assurance.

While BSNL's CMD has stated that they have no choice except to match Jio's tariff by tariff to stay put in business and retain customers. Other TELCO's are yet to announce their plans to retain their customers. If they match Jio's tariff's they lose revenue and if they don't they lose customers and in both cases their bottom line would take severe beating. To stay in business they have to follow BSNL's strategy. No other way.

I would suggest to wait for Reliance Jio operations stabilize and once customer benefits are visible and quantifiable then only migrate considering all aspects. Never trust blindly, even if their past track record is good.