RBI Annual Report 2016-17 confirms demonetisation disaster

Andhra Jyothy dt Aug 31, 2016 - Headlines

• On November 8,  2016, the Modi government kicked off a massive demonetisation exercise in a move that was aimed at curbing black money, fake currency and corruption. Since then it has been a widely debated topic, with analysts and economists wondering whether the benefits trumped the costs.
• The Reserve Bank, which has so far shied away from disclosing the actual number of junked currency deposited after November 8 last year, said in its Annual Report for 2016-17, that Rs.15.28 lakh crore out of the Rs.15.44 lakh crore of the junked currency had come back into the banking system, leaving only Rs.16,050 crore out.  This means that 98.96% of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes that were banned as a result of demonetisation were returned to the central bank by the end of June 2017.
• In the immediate weeks after demonetisation, one school of thought believed that if a sizeable amount of demonetisation notes didn’t return to the RBI (presumably because the owners of the notes feared getting caught for tax evasion, this could translate into a “windfall gain” for the Modi government. The government itself believed that roughly Rs 2 -3 lakh crore would not return, according to statements the-then attorney general made before the Supreme Court in November 2016.
• Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, "RBI gained Rs 16,000 crore, but lost Rs.21,000 crore in printing new notes! The economists deserve Nobel Prize." He also tweeted "Rs.16,000 crore out of demonetised notes of Rs.15,44,000 crores did not come back to RBI. That is 1 per cent. Shame on RBI which 'recommended' demonetisation."
• A collateral damage as a result of rise in printing and other cost was dividend RBI pays to the government. RBI said its income for 2016-17 decreased by 23.56 per cent while expenditure jumped 107.84 per cent. The RBI paid Rs.30,659 crore dividend to the government for the year ended June 30, 2017 against the expected Rs.74,901 crore. In the previous year RBI paid dividend of Rs.65,876 crore dividend to the government.

• Demonetization has destroyed Agriculture, Informal economy, Small Industries, and unquantifiable effects on each and everyone. No one is benefited. CMIE estimated costs incurred by Nation during demonetisation period of 50 days is over Rs.128,000 crores that achieved nothing. Yet our PM Modi lives in a fools paradise publicizing what ever small good is happening around as an achievement of DeMon while maintaining stoic silence on bad effects that surface.
• Series of  farm loan waivers by states to mitigate farmer woes is actually pulling down our otherwise vibrant economy. Another effect is the NPAs have virtually destroyed public sector banks. Today they are doing nothing but counter banking.

Demonitization 2016: Arrogance, Audacious & Atrocious dt Nov 30,2016

Demonetisation process adopted by Modi giving undue importance to secrecy rather than meticulous planning for its seamless implementation, betrayed constitution, violated laws of the land, undermined RBI & other institutions, cabinet made irrelevant and parliament denied its right to discuss and vote it. With in few days of DeMon, it was clear that it is headed for its monumental failure and Modi had opportunity to 'restore status-quo ante' and deliberately ignoring it indicates his arrogance and contempt for people of India and their sufferings. He was so much blinded that he has not even considered mitigation aspects except making an emotional speech asking people 50 days but problems persisted for over 8 months. Charismatic he is, he was able to campaign and win UP elections that DeMon is hurting and making rich sleepless and is the tool in his hands fighting corruption which is a total lie. His apathy towards not appointing Lok Pal & Lok Ayuktas for the past 4 years is the true indicator of his corruption fighting attitude. It is a matter of shame that, the one man Modi who unleashed mindless & unwarranted economic disaster 'demonetization' on otherwise vibrant Indian economy resulting in the nation losing lakhs of crores of rupees, impacting poor & peasants is walking amidst us proudly unpunished and pretending as a great achiever. 

21 Things modern man need to stop doing

Our society’s becoming emasculated. Our men are becoming soft, weak, and vain. Our society was literally built by the hands of strong men who did the work without complaint. It’s being destroyed by men who don’t know how to be men. Boys who aspire for fame are concerned about winning, about popularity, about finding themselves, about getting what they feel they deserve without doing the work to get it.

1. Stop taking selfies. It’s weird. It’s vain.
2. Stop thinking you’re entitled to a single thing. You’re not entitled to someone else’s money. You’re not entitled to happiness, only its pursuit.
3. Stop complaining. Men don’t complain. They don’t cry about how things are, they accept them and do what they need to do to make them better.
4. Stop comparing yourself to others. Stop wishing you were in someone else’s shoes. Stop wanting what someone else has. Stop looking over the fence and start looking in the mirror.
5. Stop watching porn. It changes how you treat women, for the worse. Go get a real woman, treat her well and with respect. It’s turning a generation into impotent, sadistic cowards who treat women like objects.
6. Stop watching TV. Read a book instead.
7. Stop worrying about your clothes. Clothes don’t make the man. Take pride in how you present yourself. Stop fretting over your appearance because appearance is not the measure of a man. The content of your character is who you are. The clothes you wear mean nothing.
8. Stop being a little bitch*. Stand up for what’s right. Fight what’s wrong. Stop being a little bitch and take a stance. Fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.
   (* A small person who complains about everything)
9. Stop letting your fear inhibit my freedom. Stop trying to take my guns. Stop trying to tell me what I can and can’t buy. Don’t let your fear inhibit my freedom. Don’t be a coward.
10. Stop thinking you know everything. We take a stance and we have no real idea why the stance is taken. Every single human on this planet knows something that you don’t and has something to teach you. Go into every conversation with humility.
11. Stop blaming other people and entities for your lack of anything. This life is on you. Whether you’re happy, of value, and successful is on you. It isn’t the result of anything other than your own choices and actions. Stop blaming others for your lack of anything. Start taking control of your life, your thoughts, and your choices or just shut up.
12. Stop waiting for the perfect job to come your way, take the next one available. Too many humans think they’re destined for something perfect when they haven’t earned it. The reality is that you need a bloody paycheck, so take the next job and work very hard, climb the ladder, be better than your wage, and reap the future rewards.
13. Stop being a dick**. Smile. Be kind. Be good. Complement people. Help people. Open doors for women. Give your time to something other than your own benefit. Start being the good man you’re capable of being.
    (** Conducting oneself in an inappropriate manner to the annoyance of others)
14. Stop being insecure. Stop being so insecure that you can’t rejoice in the success of others. Stop being so insecure that you can’t be kind to your fellow man. Know that you’re better than the insecure prick who needs to push others down to feel good about himself.
15. Stop being a bully. Strength is given not to punish but to uplift. Fight for others, don’t pick on them. Defend others, don’t make fun of them. If you’re strong you have the chance to lead. If you’re a bully you’re going to get your ass kicked one of these days, if not by another human, by life as you end yours alone and without true, valuable relationships.
16. Stop sleeping in. Stop being lazy. It isn’t your right to be lazy. That’s not freedom. Freedom is earned, it’s won, it’s appreciated. When someone else is taking care of you, you have no freedom.
17. Stop waiting. Start acting. Start chasing your goals, your dreams, and hunting down your fears. Stop waiting for a gift, a promotion, a helping hand, go out and get it. It may take years to get what you want, but persist. God didn’t make you a quitter.
18. Stop quitting. Stop quitting when things get tough. Tribulation is opportunity, it always is and always has been. When the economy tanks, those who’ve saved their money, who’ve stayed disciplined when things were going well will have the chance to cash in. When the shit hits the fan you’re given an opportunity to persist, to push through, to become tougher and stronger. Stop quitting when it’s easier to quit, keep pushing.
19. Stop pouting. Life can suck. It’s harsh. It isn’t easy. Bad shit happens to good people all the time. But pouting is useless. Choose to look at the bright side, to appreciate wherever you are and the opportunities you have.
20. Stop wasting your money. Spend money on experiences and other people, not on things, nor on yourself. Money can be a great thing. It can help others. It can open your eyes to new ways of living, different cultures, climates, and creations. Stop wasting it on stupid shit. Start using it to enrich your life and the lives of others.
21. Stop gossiping. Gossip is weak, yet it dominates conversations. Men don’t do that shit. Talk about ideas, not other people. If you enter a conversation and it turns to gossip, excuse yourself from the conversation. Be better than that. Be about more than that.

If you could stop all these things you end up being a good & hard working person and everything comes to you with time. Not so easy! With consciousness it is achievable. Even if you accept and keep trying, by evaluating continuously you could improve progressively and become good man - a jewel in the society. Avoiding company of bad people is the first step.

Nandyal bypoll result - Jagan lives in denial

• The Nandyal by-election was projected to be seen as a referendum on the three years of the AP's TDP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's rule.
• 25 years ago, the TDP under NT Rama Rao conceded a walkover in Nandyal for the Lok Sabha bypoll, enabling Telugu bidda PV Narsimha Rao win the seat after becoming prime minister. 
• In 2014, YSRCP's Bhuma Nagi Reddy won defeating TDP's Silpa Mohan Reddy by a slender majority of 2% votes. 
• In an extremely unethical political situation, Late Bhuma Nagi Reddy's nephew is pitted as TDP's candidate against YSRCP's Silpa Mohan Reddy after a spate of defections and, AP Speaker doing nothing about the defections, and due to death of TDP's Bhuma Nagi Reddy.
• The established norm is that when an MP or MLA dies mid-term, the party holding the seat is allowed a no-contest, with the other party not putting up a candidate. Nandyal is a peculiar situation, where both the YSRCP and the candidate's family (of TDP) asked each other to back off, making a contest inevitable.
• Naidu has taken the by-election very seriously. He has involved all party seniors, and has campaigned extensively himself, making it a prestigious battle. The TDP chief has personally reached out to different community leaders, distributing sops to the electorate to ensure victory for the ruling party.
• Naidu even issued a subtle threat to those who wouldn't vote for the TDP, saying he will have nothing to do with those villages. He said, "You take pension doled out by my government, walk on the roads laid by my administration, take ration and use the glow of the streetlights erected by us. Why wouldn't you vote for us?"
• Naidu keeping BJP state leaders out of election campaign and avoiding Muslims wrath, who are 20% of voters, was a good strategy that paid off.
• Nandyal is the first political test for Nara Lokesh, Naidu's son, party general secretary and the state IT minister. It is one thing to lure Opposition MLAs to the ruling camp by using political clout, and quite another to win an election. The victory proved Lokesh's credentials as a politician. 
• For the YSRCP, Nandyal was the best chance to show anti-incumbency. Its loss is likely to result in more migrations from YSRCP to TDP in the next two years. 
• While TDP is largely seen as a Kamma dominated party, YSRCP has a larger Reddy community presence. In the Reddy vs Reddy fierce battle, YSRCP's defeat confirmed weakened Reddy community support to YSRCP that Jagan enjoyed in the past. 
• Nandyal has voters of 20% Muslims & 10% Vysyas and large Dalits as well. TDP victory is seen as its patronization by Muslims, Vysyas & Dalits apart from Reddys as well.
• The Nandyal defeat is severe setback for Prashant Kishore, YSRCP strategist for 2019. Kishor was introduced to the party three months ago, with Jagan saying that Kishor will help them in 'Mission 2019'. It is rumored that Kishor charged Jagan hefty fees of Rs.50 crores.
• Nothing will change for the people of Nandyal. Politics in India, especially that in the Rayalaseema region of AP, is practised that members of one or two families are allowed hegemony over a constituency for decades. Nandyal is no exception as the leaders move from one party to another and their support base moves with them, like a herd.
• Both TDP & YSRCP are believed to have spent about Rs.500 crores and vote-for-cash is rumored between Rs.2,000 & Rs.5,000. 

If we don't learn on our own, adversity will teach us lessons 

Since 2004 Nandyal was bastion of Reddys from Congress & later YSR Congress. With this bypoll TDP regained its lost hold after two decades. Extending - it indicates erosion of Jagan's grip in Rayalaseema due to his arrogance and vulgar abuses. Roja filled up where ever there were gaps in abuses. Even after, Jagan lives in denial and will only ruin himself and YSRCP. Now Jagan will have uphill task to hold his folks together with 2019 indications clearly favoring TDP & Chandrababu Naidu. The highlight of this TDP's win is that it fought out alone without involving BJP leaders in campaigning and soliciting support of Pawan Kalyan, whose support probably might have helped TDP winning over YSRCP in 2014 general election with slender majorities in many constituencies.

Special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh

JAGDEEP SINGH
CBI Judge, Panchakula, Haryana

• Jagdeep Singh is Additional District and Sessions Judge at the Panchkula district court and was designated as CBI judge in April 2016.
• The Special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda chief & the self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 10 years in prison on Aug 28, 2017. He is also accused in two murder cases, and forcing 400 followers to undergo castration at his dera so they could “get closer to God”.
• Singh pronounced godman guilty of raping two women followers, on Aug 25, 2017, is known for his competence and toughness. Eyewitnesses recall how he didn’t let the tense atmosphere in Haryana’s Panchkula -- more than 200,000 dera followers had camped in the city -- to unfaze him as he walked into the court.
• In the aftermath, at least 30 people were killed and 300 injured on Aug 25, 2017 when clashes broke out in this Haryana town after a court convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of raping two of his followers 15 years ago, sparking fury among thousands of supporters who had gathered days ahead. As news of the conviction spread, there were reports of violence in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
• He was a bright student and is considered a very hardworking and upright officer. A very competent, tough and upright judge with a no-nonsense attitude. That is how Singh is described by his colleagues in the legal fraternity. Singh likes keeping a low profile and is a man of few words. But all those who know him vouch for his competence and integrity.
• In Sep 2016, Jagdeep Singh was on his way to Hisar from Panchkula when he stumbled upon a group of four people who had met with a fatal accident. Singh first called the emergency ambulance helpline number when an operator told him “Will the Ambulance Come Flying?”, and that was enough to awaken the godly nature of Jagdeep Singh. Without wasting any time, Singh stopped a private vehicle and took the injured people to the hospital without waiting for anyone’s help. Such is the charisma of the justice who stood true to his designation and became the saviour of the innocent souls. All four lives were saved.

Haryana meyhem after Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's conviction

The Indian judiciary holds the key towards protecting Indian citizens and people like Jagdeep Singh make us believe that the system is for the betterment of people and not just a deception. The nation is proud to have a judge like Jagdeep Singh who stood for the truth no matter what the odds were. We definitely need more people like him when it comes to staying true to law, despite facing tremendous opposition.

BJP - Dera Baba rape conviction - Haryana Mayhem

• Large-scale violence has struck Haryana for the third time in three years ever since ML Khattar was sworn in as chief minister on Oct 26, 2014. 
• Massive violence followed the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Fri Aug 25, 2017 by a special CBI court, holding the Dera Sacha Sauda leader guilty of rape. In about 300 incidents across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi 31 people died and 250 have been injured after the court verdict.
• There were intelligence reports too fearing violence. But the Khattar government did not take adequate measures to ensure that violence did not erupt. The state government should not have allowed Baba Ram Rahim to travel from Sirsa to Panchkula as a hero in a convoy of 700 cars. It could have restricted to 5/6 cars. 
  BJP and its leaders were Ram Rahim's bhakts and won elections with his help.
• Khattar defendng himself saying that the Haryana government had made complete arrangements but "the mob was really huge" as people entered the state on foot several days ahead is only a cosmic theory and rubbish. He only appealed to people on TV to remain clam and quiet. Ditto by PM & HM from Delhi. This is no way of maintaining law & order.
  Security forces were doing nothing when mob rampage is going on, as seen on TV.
• Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh defending "State governments did take precautions. You can't blame them" and expressing inability to avoid congregation of Dera supporters in Panchkula saying “In a democracy, how can you stop movement of people all together” is totally irresponsible.
  He should quit if he can't do his job properly.
• BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj today stroked controversy when he openly came out in defence of controversial godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh even after he was convicted by a special CBI court in a rape case. He said the court has listened to the complainant and not millions of devotees who consider him god. His remarks came after 31 people were killed in violence in Haryana after a CBI court convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
  BJP leadership is unhappy with his surrealist remarks.
• Sakshi Maharaj also said Dera supporters shouldn't be held responsible for mayhem damage. 
  Then who is responsible?
• BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted "A new threat to Sadhus. Politicians and ashramites wanting to grab Ashram wealth by sending the Swamijis to jail. Sadhus must groom successors."
  What a cosmic theory?
• Controversies of Dera Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh includes death of child controversy, rape of sadhvis, murder of journalist, charges of blasphemy, posession of illegal weapons etc.
• He is one of the 36 people in the country who enjoys the VVIP Status and Z+ security cover due to threats from Punjab militants since 2008. This is because he is well-known for wielding influence amongst politicians in Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. Chief Ministers of these states even bow before him in respect.
  He was a criminal facing trial since 2007 and with Z+ security! 
• Punjab and Haryana High Court castigated ML Khattar led BJP government, saying “This was a political surrender to allure vote bank. CM is the Home Minister. Why has he allowed people to assemble for seven days. CM is protecting them.” 
  Punjab & Haryana Courts have inspired public confidence in judiciary.
• The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that all losses caused to property be recovered from Dera Sacha Sauda. The state was also directed to issue orders to the Dera not to alienate any of its properties till further directions of the court.
• The Haryana government said it will compensate for the losses of media personnel and the properties of others.
  Why & how, with whose authorization? 
• BJP chief Amit Shah has categorically said that Khattar will neither be replaced nor even called to explain only indicates several BJP leaders heads will roll for involvement with Dera Baba, if Khattar is not saved.
  If 30 lives are not enough to consider easing out Khattar, then how many more are needed?

Punjab & Haryana High Court full bench admonishing
Haryana government and passing nasty remarks on Modi

In days ahead, several more scandals involving Dera Baba and political personalities will surface and government and its agencies will work hard to save the culprits against public interest. The way convicted Bajrang Dal leaders got bail on health grounds as soon as Modi became PM, Dera Baba coming out of jail soon will surprise none.

Modi's stoic silence on this burning issue is quite surprising. Khattar, a first-time MLA, was chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah to lead the party government in Haryana. Khattar is a RSS Pracharak and BJP replacing him is out of question. BJP's shameless people don't resign for their failures but will justify their inefficiency & inaction and stick to seat. Suresh Prabhu & Nitish Kumar are not a BJP/RSS men. BJP is showing themselves as a glorified Mutt. Modi & BJP have mastered the art of campaigning failures as successes and bombard in high pitch ad-campaigns and make gullible people believe it. But what they don't know is that honesty is the best policy and truth eventually trumps. An ardent admirer of Modi is so much disappointed and remarked that - "Modi is just wearing a development mask but supports medieval thoughts and BJP is losing credibility very fast. This might be the beginning of the end of BJP. This arrogance is just unacceptable. May God show someone fresh and good to lead India." Dera Sacha Sauda must be liquidated all its properties auctioned off, victims fully compensated and all damages paid off.

American way of living needs 4 Earths

Americans consume a disproportional amount of the world's stuff. It's obvious that Americans consume more, on average, than the people of less developed countries. But the claim that four Earths would be needed if everyone lived like Americans is still a striking one.

• America make up 5% of the global population.
• America uses 24% of the world's energy. 
• America eats 15% of the world's meat. 
• America produces 40% of the world's garbage.
• America eats 10 billion animals every year. 
• America throws out 16 billion disposable diapers every year. 

It would take 4 Earths, to be precise 3.9 Earths, to sustain world population of seven billion at American levels of consumption. At Indian consumption level, world requires just half the planet.

One curious thing to note is that the world's population is currently using not one, but one-and-a-half Earths. The forests and oceans of the world absorb a lot of carbon dioxide, but we are currently emitting more than the planet can handle and extra land and sea we would need to absorb it is estimated that we need an extra half a planet.

5% of the world's population that lives in the U.S. has more environmental impact than the 51% that live in the other five largest countries. The wealthiest 20% of the world's population consumes 80% of the goods and services produced from the earth's resources.

The global economy cannot grow indefinitely on a finite planet. As populations increase and economies expand, natural resources must be depleted; prices will rise, and humanity -- especially the poor and future generations at all income levels -- will suffer as a result.

Americans ought to realize that although we must satisfy basic needs, a good life is not the one devoted to amassing material possessions which eventually comes to own us, keeping us from fulfilling commitments that give meaning to life, such as those to family, friends, and faith. 

Privacy is a fundamental right

• A nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on August 24 unanimously ruled that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty” and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution. SC overruled previous judgments on the privacy issue that ruled that privacy is not a fundamental right.
• Justice Chandrachud in his judgment for himself, Chief Justice Khehar, R.K. Agrawal and S. Abdul Nazeer said that privacy is a concomitant of the right of the individual to exercise control over his or her personality. Natural rights like privacy are inalienable because they are inseparable from the human personality. To live is to live with dignity. Privacy with its attendant values assures dignity to the individual and it is only when life can be enjoyed with dignity can liberty be of true substance. Privacy ensures the fulfillment of dignity.
• The judgement also stated that - Like other rights which form part of the fundamental freedoms protected by Part III, including the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21, privacy is not an absolute right. A law which encroaches upon privacy will have to withstand the touchstone of permissible restrictions on fundamental rights. In the context of Article 21 an invasion of privacy must be justified on the basis of a law which stipulates a procedure which is fair, just and reasonable. 
• The Union government had argued that privacy is a common law right. The government argued that right to privacy is not expressly included in the Constitution as the founding fathers rejected or jettisoned the idea of inclusion of privacy as a fundamental right. The centre had termed privacy as a "vague and amorphous" right which cannot be granted primacy to deprive poor people of their rights to life, food and shelter.
• The earlier Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi rejected suggestions that Indians could refuse to provide their iris scans or fingerprints to the government, telling a court "the concept of absolute right over one's body was a myth".
• The judgment will have a crucial bearing on the government’s Aadhaar scheme that collects personal details, biometrics to identify beneficiaries for accessing social benefits and government welfare scheme.
• A bunch of petitions were filed in the Supreme Court in 2015 challenging Aadhaar as a breach of privacy, informational self-determination and bodily integrity. The petitioners argued that Aadhaar enrolment was the means to a “Totalitarian State” and an open invitation for personal data leakage. 
• The government claimed Aadhaar was a panacea to end corruption in public distribution, money laundering and terror funding.
• Attorney general K K Venugopal had argued that right to privacy cannot be a fundamental right has now welcomed the SC decision. He said that whatever the 9-judge bench says is the correct law.
• Three days ago, PM Modi hailed the SC judgement on triple talak as "historic" and said it grants equality to Muslim women. Today on Privacy rights judgement of SC, he maintained stoic silence so far. He is yet to respond. Why?
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the apex court has accepted the government’s argument that privacy is a fundamental right, but it’s not an absolute right but will be subjected to restrictions which will be fair, just and reasonable. He blamed that the privacy matter went to the Supreme Court because the UPA government brought about Aadhaar without a law. It is too late to contend that privacy will not be a fundamental right.
• Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made a somersault by welcoming the judgement but said should have "reasonable" restrictions. 
• Mukul Rohatgi said that the government should not have diluted their stand in court because the inclusion or exclusion of fundamental rights is only the proviso of Parliament. It is a very unsatisfactory resolution of the dispute. His view is that the framers of the constitution did not intend to make privacy a fundamental right. He said “The fact is, we haven’t won this case. The eight-judge bench of 1954 has been overruled and the Aadhaar issue has been left unresolved. So where is the question of winning?” Had he still been in office as Attorney General, he would have admitted that the government had lost the case.

Today's verdict is a major setback for the government, which had argued that the constitution does not guarantee individual privacy as an inalienable fundamental right. The verdict however does not comment on whether the government's demand for Aadhaar to be linked to all financial transactions amounts to an infringement of privacy. There are fears that the data could be misused by a government that argued Indians have no right to privacy.

Aadhaar has its uses, but it is also an instrument of control and manipulation. It must be only optional, not mandatory. Aadhaar had already violated the privacy rights with the vast majority of the population already enrolled, their information held in insecure databases, and linked to public and private services. Ambedkar's fears of abuse of constitution without amending it are coming true in Modi's India. In a democracy, ruled by majority, it is the duty of majority to uphold the rights & dignity of minorities. Ambedkar also remarked that democracy in India is only a top-dressing on an Indian soil, which is essentially undemocratic. Unfortunately Modi & co believes that minorities must toe line with majoritarian wishes with no individual rights etc.

Read the exhaustive article on the judgement

Parliamentary processes diminished

• What is our conception of Prime Minister Modi when he called parliament “the temple of democracy”? Is it merely a place to ratify decisions made elsewhere in party cabals or cabinet meetings? Or is it a chamber where the representatives of the Indian people assemble to express their considered opinions and thoughtful disagreements, before coming to an outcome in the interests not of a party but of the country as a whole? I guess for Modi it is the former.
• In parliament, the Government will propose. The opposition will oppose. If matters come to a head and a vote is called, the Government’s brute majority will dispose. Merits of the matter hardly matters. This is how our parliament works these days.
• Parliamentary debates have become a ritual. On most issues whip is cracked and MP's duly vote on party lines.
• Even sensible suggestions by the opposition are never adopted.
• With overwhelming majority the Government simply chooses not to listen.
• The Anti-Defection law was passed with good intentions and with which the road to hell is paved. It was intended to stop the aaya Ram-gaya Ram practice of legislators crossing the floor in pursuit of power and pelf. The idea was noble, and rested on sound principles: governmental stability matters; people must stay loyal to the party on whose platform they contested; the intent of voters must not be betrayed by defections.
• The Anti-Defection law 1985 enabled a practice of party whips on all issues, making receptivity to the ideas of the other side punishable with expulsion from the House. The ‘argumentative Indian’ is on display only when he is arguing strictly according to his party’s position.
• The Anti-Defection law has not eliminated the defections, but dramatically reduced them. It only made defections a group affair, more costlier and at the mercy of Speaker, without fear of legal scrutiny.
• Parliament is supposed to be a forum where individual MPs of ability and integrity met to discuss common problems and agree upon solutions.
• MP's are supposed to advocate the wishes of their constituents, rather than themselves. MP betrays himself and his voters while surrendering his own better judgement to the dictates of his party leadership. This is a travesty of the parliamentary process.
• In the UK no whip was issued on a vote for Brexit. No whip was issued for UK supporting the US in the Iraq war. Dissent was freely and honestly expressed on both sides of the aisle. Such freedom is unknown to the Indian MP with the Anti-Defection Law.
• Government and legislation are matters of reason and judgment, and not of inclination. And what sort of reason is that, in which the determination precedes the discussion; in which one set of men deliberate, and another decide.
• Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, where not local purposes, not local prejudices ought to guide, but the general good of the nation. 
• In the early days a prime minister could even be challenged by MPs from his own party -- think of Nehru being attacked by Feroze Gandhi, Finance Minister TT Krishnamachari being forced to resign by his own backbenchers, or Mahadev Mishra challenging his Prime Minister’s China policy. Today conformity rules the roost. So why give parliament an importance its performance does not warrant?
• The first three Lok Sabhas saw as many as 140 days sittings a year. We are now at about half that number, and it is reducing every year. BJP Government clearly has very little time for the distractions of Parliament. State assemblies are even worse: many sit for fewer than 30 days a year, and in Haryana the average is 12 days.
• In the last Lok Sabha, 25% of the bills were passed with scarcely any discussion. Barely 15% of the Union budget is discussed in detail. Our government is spending taxpayers’ money without the taxpayers’ representatives having a meaningful say in how it is spent. 
• Once bills are passed they become Acts, and these are implemented through the promulgation of rules drafted by the Government and are supposed to be placed on the table of each House. The rules are subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Guess how many rules have been discussed in the current Lok Sabha? Precisely zero.
• Our Prime Minister Modi spoke of introducing ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. Instead, we are heading to a system of ‘minimum parliament, maximum government’. The judiciary is stepping into the breach, taking initiatives that should have been done by Parliament. Unelected judges substituting themselves for the people’s representatives. It’s nobody’s fault but our own, but it’s not the democracy.
• It is time to look at our institutions and ask if they are really providing the foundations on which our democratic freedoms must be built. The crisis assailing our legislative representation in Parliament makes this task imperative and urgent.

Beware of ministers who can do nothing without money, 

and those who want to do everything with money

Thrift should be the guiding principle

It is essential that a democracy must function with transparency & accountability and rule of the law must be followed. No expenditure should be allowed without prior approval of parliament or legislature except while dealing with specified emergencies. Ordinances must be discouraged and must be subjected to detailed scrutiny. No Act shall be passed without detailed discussion and rules framed for implementation must be ratified or modified by Parliament or Assembly with in 60 days. Discretion must be eliminated and replaced with well defined processes. Executive decisions must have either cabinet and/or legislature ratification. Projects must be granted by a 'Planning Commission' or 'Niti Aayog' type expert bodies but never by any individual office bearer. Government must focus more on Governance rather than money matters. Nothing should be done unless it benefits larger masses. Extravagance should be despised. 

Curious love letter

Unintended consequences

The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of people, and especially of government, always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. Unintended consequences are outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and intended by a purposeful action. They could be beneficial, drawbacks and perverse results.

The first and most complete analysis of the concept of unintended consequences was done in 1936 by the American sociologist Robert K. Merton. He identified five sources of unanticipated consequences. Ignorance, error, imperious immediacy of interest, basic values requiring prohibit certain actions and self-defeating prediction or the self-fulfilling prophecy.

In medicine, most drugs have unintended consequences, or side effects, associated with their use. However, some are beneficial. For instance, Aspirin, a pain reliever, is also an anticoagulant that can help prevent heart attacks and reduce the severity and damage from thrombotic strokes. Famously, the drug Viagra was developed to lower blood pressure, with its main current use being discovered as a side effect in clinical trials.

The law of unintended consequences is at work always and everywhere. The law of unintended consequences provides the basis for many criticisms of government programs. As the critics see it, unintended consequences can add so much to the costs of some programs that they make the programs unwise even if they achieve their stated goals. A policy that protects one industry from foreign competition makes it harder for another industry to compete with imports.

If cars, trucks and buses start driving themselves, people who earn their living from driving these vehicles will suddenly find themselves out of a job. Loss of driver jobs in USA alone would be 4 million - which is more than jobs lost during 2008 Great Recession. Account for all the supervisory, management and support staff for these driving jobs and that number could double. Many of these workers are classified as low-skilled workers and it will be difficult for such unemployed workers to quickly find new work, and the cost of re-training them could be high. Another interesting consequence is that after a few generations, very few people will even know how to drive a car anymore.

An example of unintended consequence: Social Security has helped alleviate poverty among senior citizens. It has carried a cost that goes beyond the payroll taxes levied on workers and employers. Today’s workers save less for their old age because they know they will receive Social Security checks when they retire. It means that less savings are available, less investment takes place, and the economy and wages grow more slowly than they would without Social Security.

An unintended consequence of China eradicating sparrows costed 20 million lives in late 1950's: During the late 50s and early 60s, communist China's Mao Zedong undertook a benign ecological program to kill sparrows which ate the grain of the peasants. Mao knew nothing about animals. He didn't want to discuss his plan or listen to experts. He just decided that the 'four pests' should be killed. The masses of China were mobilized to eradicate the birds that resulted in the near-extinction of the sparrows in China. By killing sparrows, they eliminated the primary enemy predator of the locust. Without any natural predator the locust thrived. Grain production in most rural areas collapsed and a massive famine began. The resulting massive famine in China killed an estimated 20 million people. 

Politics is tricky; it cuts both ways. Every time you 

make a choice, it has unintended consequences 

Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more 

unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful

The worst unintended consequences are being faced by Indians consequent to senseless demonetization by Modi during Nov 2016. He did it just Mao's way - a quack advised & secretly planned in a most undemocratic and autocratic way surprising the whole world. The consequences are enormous including loss of lives of over 100 people. The brunt was borne by poorest, as usual. Read the opinions. While achieving none of its stated objectives, unintended consequences are growth slowed, informal economy brought to stand still, millions lost livelihoods, agriculture destroyed, banking sector ruined and so on. It was aptly described as most naive, least thought through policy decisions ever and a massive man-made disaster. Steve Forbes described it as "India's government perpetrated an unprecedented act of demonetization, that is not only damaging its economy and threatening destitution to countless millions of its already poor citizens but also breathtaking in its immorality...What India has done is commit a massive theft of people's property without even the pretense of due process, a shocking move for a democratically elected government." A vicious cycle has been set into motion by Modi and unpredictable problems and unintended consequences are bound to surface incessantly. It may take few years to come back to pre-Nov 2016 levels of economy. However Modi preferred keep Indians in denial by not answering Parliament, fudging economy's data, and publicizing its failure as successful and is the beginning of relentless fight against corruption. Ironically, Modi too is corrupt in many different ways, but much less compared to Congress and his Gujarat CM days were knows as Mr. 3%. His stature doesn't august well in the company of Adani's & Ambani's as well.

At-will employment

At-will employment means that an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason, or for no reason without incurring legal liability, as long as they don't discriminate in doing so. Likewise, an employee is free to leave a job at any time for any or no reason with no adverse legal consequences. 

As long as your employment isn't covered by a collective bargaining agreement, an individual employment contract or regulations that supersede Employment at Will, one could be fired at any moment, no matter how long he/she has held your job. Employment at Will sounds like a great deal for employers, but it's not. Employment at Will is a terrible thing for employers and their employees both.

1. It promotes "keep your boss happy" even if it is conflict with organization's interest.
2. It encourages employees to search for another job even when his problem could be resolved through frank and open communication.
3. Organization will get saddled with lousy managers, since lower rung employee's views never reaches the top.
4. It keeps employees focused on pleasing their direct supervisors and organization loses on breath taking ideas in trying new things by lower rung employees.
5. It kills the abilities of employees in collaboration, innovation and to try out new things. Employees can't be blamed for taking the safe route when their income is at stake.
6. It makes people shut up when they desperately want to speak that would benefit organization.
7. It gives supervisors and managers the idea that they are kings and queens in their little kingdoms. This idea promotes loyalty to a supervisor over idea-sharing, disruptive thinking or any other ambitious undertaking that squashes the potential of your team.
8. It disrupts the critical connection between employee and their passion for their work. That's harmful and expensive to your business. Employees are focused on guarding not to irritate their managers.
9. It keeps the organization mired in fear, lacking trust.
10. Managers & HR team uses Employment at Will as a cudgel against their employees.

Organizations can step out of Employment at Will simply by using a higher standard for employee discipline and termination. The more clearly and consistently organization shows to its employees that merely speaking up or having a different opinion from their boss will not get them in trouble, the more trust will grow in the organization. To lead through trust instead of fear, managers must be trained to coach and lead not to ride herd on their employees. Smart employers grab the best talent, pay them well and treat them well while on board.

The chief business of Americans is business

This is a trait in US, where people are well educated, well informed and have social security cover. The same has been copied by Indian IT industry and suits their policy deficits in their HR practices. During down turns lay offs are common these days without any kind of fair policy leading to heart burns among laid off employees at times doing their job well and way above in the merit order. Many times the laid off employees have family to support and repay bank loan EMIs and loss of job creates turbulence at home. Companies who resort to reckless layoffs will suffer loss of reputation and are avoided during recruitment drives. It helps a lot for companies to have policies and procedures that may be followed in different circumstances which goes long way avoiding troubles and safeguarding reputation.

Helicopter Parenting

Confused about how to be an involved parent without smothering your kids? 
If you're a helicopter parent, an advice to curb the hovering.

• Taking too much responsibility for their children's experiences, their successes or failures. It is also called "overparenting."  It means being involved in a child's life in a way that is overcontrolling, overprotecting, and overperfecting, in a way that is in excess of responsible parenting.
• A low grade, not making the team, or not getting a certain job can appear disastrous to a parent. Many of the consequences, parents are trying to prevent - unhappiness, struggle, not excelling, working hard, no guaranteed results - are great teachers for kids and not actually life-threatening. It just feels that way.
• Worries about the economy, the job market, and the world in general can push parents towards taking more control over their child's life in an attempt to protect them. Worry can drive parents to take control in the belief that they can keep their child from ever being hurt or disappointed.
• Adults who felt unloved, neglected, or ignored as children can overcompensate with their own children. Excessive attention and monitoring are attempts to remedy a deficiency the parents felt in their own upbringing.
• When parents see other overinvolved parents, it can trigger a similar response. Sometimes when we observe other parents overparenting or being helicopter parents, it will pressure us to do the same. We can easily feel that if we don't immerse ourselves in our children's lives, we are bad parents. Guilt is a large component in this dynamic.
• Many helicopter parents start off with good intentions. It is a tricky line to find, to be engaged with our children and their lives, but not so enmeshed that we lose perspective on what they need. Engaged parenting has many benefits for a child, such as increasing feelings of love and acceptance, building self-confidence, and providing guidance and opportunities to grow. Once parenting becomes governed by fear and decisions based on what might happen, it is hard to keep in mind all the things kids learn when we are not right next to them or guiding each step. Failure and challenges teach kids new skills, and, most important, teach kids that they can handle failure and challenges.
• The main problem with helicopter parenting is that it backfires. The underlying message of the parent's overinvolvement sends to kids is 'my parent doesn't trust me to do this on my own,' and this leads to a lack of confidence.
• If the parent is always there to clean up a child's mess or prevent the problem in the first place - how does the child ever learn to cope with loss, disappointment, or failure? Helicopter parenting can make children feel less competent in dealing with the stresses of life on their own.
• Overparenting is associated with higher levels of child anxiety and depression.
• Children who have always had their social, academic, and athletic lives adjusted by their parents to best fit their needs can become accustomed to always having their way and thus they develop a sense of entitlement.
• Parents who always tie shoes, clear plates, pack lunches, launder clothes, and monitor school progress, even after children are mentally and physically capable of doing the task, prevent their children from mastering these skill themselves.
• Parents need to keep one eye on our children now - their stressors, strengths, emotions - and one eye on the adults we are trying to raise. Getting them from here to there involves some suffering, for our kids as well as for us. In practical terms, this means letting children struggle, allowing them to be disappointed, and when failure occurs, helping them to work through it. It means letting your children do tasks that they are physically and mentally capable of doing. Remembering to look for opportunities to take one step back from solving our child's problems will help us build the reliant, self-confident kids we need.

A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner

The greatest thing that a parent can give to his children are roots. As parents we tend to hurt the ones we love most because we don't allow them to struggle to gain strength. Nothing worthwhile in life comes without a struggle. People who have overcome obstacles are more secure than those who have never faced them. Everything is difficult before it becomes easy. 

India's Freedom & Liberalisation

• India was at a crossroads 70 years ago when it made choices that were enshrined in the constitution, so that its workers and peasants were freed from class and caste oppression.
• Nehru said at the midnight when India woke up to freedom. “To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.”
• The zamindars and landlords finding that open defense of landlord's interest was no longer feasible, switched over to communalism for their class defense.
• Pakistan's falsity of religion-based nationalism and a state was founded on theocracy. It was one area where the Hindu right-wing emulates its sworn enemy and India was sought to be converted into a theocratic state called Hindu Rashtra. 
• M.S. Golwalkar, RSS supreme leader for more than 30 years minced no words: “The non-Hindu peoples in Hindusthan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no ideas but those of glorification of the Hindu race and culture…. In one word, they must cease to be foreigners, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less no preferential treatment—not even citizen’s rights.”
• It is no accident that the Hindutva forces had nothing to do with anti-colonial struggle and independence. Infact, the RSS chief M.S. Golwalkar had so little sympathy for the anti-colonial struggle that he thought that the British would have to be invited back shortly after Independence in order to govern India. Today they laud Ambedkar today for sheer opportunistic reasons.
• The first major victim of this narrow cultural nationalism of the Indian right-wing was the Father of the Nation. After being driven to the margins of Indian politics in the wake of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, the right wing RSS and its latest political incarnation, the BJP, is at the helm of India, now.
• The slide started post-Nehru and was complete in 1991, when the Congress went back on its promises and ushered in the neoliberal order. The Congress ceased the cause of workers and peasants ostensibly called national interest, but in reality for the material prosperity of the merchants and manufacturers. Now with the BJP unburdened by the legacy of any egalitarian struggle, the free people of India are under the onslaught of neoliberalism and rabid communalism.
• Ambedkar argued that the political equality, guaranteed by the constitution, would get jeopardised if there was no corresponding movement towards social and economic equality. The first setback to independent India's was its inability to carry out any significant land redistribution. The top 15 per cent of landowners continued to hold the same percentage of land area as before. Dalits, the landless class, who had been denied the right to own land under the old system continued to remain landless and therefore both socially and economically disempowered. By the end of the 1950s, Jawaharlal Nehru was worried about growing wealth and income inequality in the country, he has to set up the Mahalanobis Committee to inquire into it.
• The per capita annual foodgrain availability, which had been around 200 kgs at the beginning of the 20th century in “British India” declined to 148.5 kgs during the 1939-44 and even lower to 136.8 kgs in 1945-46, was pushed up close to 180 kgs by the end of the 1980's. It has since declined, over the neoliberal period, reaching 163 kg for the years 2012-14.
• The spontaneity of capitalism was breaking the bounds set by state control. And soon it was to jettison the institute a regime of neoliberalism, under which the domestic corporate-financial oligarchy got closely integrated with globalised finance capital.
• The economic travails of the dirigiste regime arising from the sluggish growth of the home market owing to growing economic inequality, its loss of social support among the people for the same reason, and the big bourgeoisie’s wish to break out of it has contributed towards effecting a transition from dirigisme to neoliberalism.
• Neoliberalism greatly accentuated the increase in economic inequality, though it accelerated the growth rate in the tertiary sector. The acceleration in growth rate was resolved through larger exports of services, larger elite consumption of luxury goods, and the effects of asset price bubbles. The top 1 per cent of households in India currently owns 60 per cent of the country’s total wealth puts India with the fastest increases in asset inequality.
• The process of primitive accumulation of taking over of peasant's land 'for a song' for corporate projects and squeezing the peasants through higher input prices, by withdrawing subsidies and the drying up of institutional credit, but without commensurably higher output prices. These output prices, especially of commercial crops are allowed to fluctuate widely with world market prices. Even phenomena like Demonetisation and the GST are also mechanisms for imposing primitive accumulation upon the petty production sector. 
• A tragic consequence of this primitive accumulation at the expense of peasant agriculture has been the suicides of over three lakh peasants over the last two decades. And large numbers of peasants have left agriculture and migrated to cities in search of jobs, which are not being created to an adequate extent despite the apparently high GDP growth. The net result has been a proliferation of casual employment, intermittent employment, part-time employment and disguised unemployment. The growth in the casualisation of employment and privatisation of public sector units have weakened trade unions. While capital is international, workers are still organised along national lines, making national unions ineffective.
• The middle-class segment that has done well out of globalisation, owing to the outsourcing of services from the metropolis, and owing to the rise in the share of surplus which supports a range of activities from finance to advertising, has expectedly belonged to the upper castes which have been privileged enough to acquire the skills to make use of the opportunities that have been opening up. Since these beneficiaries attribute their own success not to their privilege but to their talent, the inevitable conclusion is drawn that those who are excluded from such jobs are untalented. An impression spreads that children from the oppressed castes do not make it because they lack talent, which boosts casteist prejudice.
• Development in India started on a wrong foot by eschewing land redistribution and the pursuit of capitalist development contributed to growing socio-economic inequality, that got a free run under neoliberalism. The adherents of Hindutva in power this social counter-revolution is being carried forward with a vengeance. India is not a fascist state, but the growing socio-economic inequality is destroying the constitutional provision of political equality.
• Fascism arises when the system besieged by crisis is challenged by a threat from the revolutionary forces whom fascism is used for eliminating. Fascism grows when the system is at a dead end and when the working-class movement is not in a position to mount a challenge. That is when large sections of the people flock to fascist movements, not because it provides a credible way out, but because it projects a messiah, it resorts to flamboyant but meaningless rhetoric, it appeals to unreason, and it holds not the system but the “other” (the Jews or the Muslims or whatever) as responsible for the travails of the people.
• It may seem intriguing that neoliberalism has reached a dead end, Modi promises even greater neoliberal reforms while a Trump rails against neoliberalism. But this contrast between two current manifestations of fascism arises because neither has a coherent programme anyway for overcoming the crisis and the frustration gripping the people. Both are essentially purveyors of unreason for whom the economic agenda as a thought-out rational programme is incidental.
• The corporate-financial oligarchy adopts the fascist movement, finances the fascist movement, and promotes the fascist movement, which exists independently of it. Fascism provides “stability” and also an ideal ideological prop for neoliberal capitalism. Fascists in government represent, in the Indian context, an alliance between corporate capital and Hindutva. The fact that capital is globalised while the state remains a nation state entails that even a fascist nation state must abide by the wishes of globalised capital (to prevent capital flight) and this fact restricts its ability to overcome the crisis.
• At peril are the gains and achievements made by the movements for national independence, socialism and social justice. India is once again is at crossroads where the choices it made 70 years ago are being undermined.

The left and democratic forces can have an alternative agenda that promotes equality, that strengthens democracy, and is willing to withdraw from the neoliberal regime. They should for instance have an agenda of introducing a set of universal, justiciable economic rights, to supplement the political rights that the constitution guarantees. These can include the right to food, the right to employment, the right to publicly-funded free and universal quality health care, the right to publicly funded free and universal quality education up to a certain level, and a right to adequate old-age pension and disability benefits. The implementation of these rights together would cost less than 10 per cent of the GDP annually, which the country can easily afford. 

There comes a time in the life of every nation when it stands at the 

crossroads of history and must choose which way to go ... Lal Bahadur Shastri

Globalization benefits just minuscule percent of population to prosper, who are rich, educated and with access to power & resources. Trickle-down theory that says benefits for the wealthy trickle down to everyone else is unacceptable nonsense. In a large populous country like India, where most people are illiterate & poor, governments ignoring their welfare and chasing money making machines is nothing but abuse of principles of democracy and Constitution of India. Globalization is a concept propounded by developed & educated western countries to expand their reach for marketing their products and services rather than extending helping hand for upliftment of suffering masses in the world. India blindly embracing it for monetary gains, is not only height of insanity but also detrimental to its large segments of population. Development is not facilitating educated and/or rich people to prosper but enhancement of living standards of all classes of people simultaneously.

Once a cheater, always a cheater

Who can you trust? That’s the gamble, and when it comes to choosing a partner, fidelity is a core aspect most of us require. You can trust everyone–to be who they already are. Take a clear-eyed view of your partner; accept that you aren’t going to change them; weigh the available evidence; and get honest about your own comfort level. 

• The old adage ‘once a cheater, always a cheater’ has the ability to brutally tarnish your reputation in future relationships. Yet the adage isn’t always true. 
• When people get caught cheating, they often promise never to cheat again. Making such a promise, however, doesn’t predict what will happen next. 
• Cheating is caused by a host of factors.
• If you don’t (or can’t) change the underlying reasons of cheating in the first place, it will most likely happen again. 
• One bad decision can have a knock-on effect for future relationships.
• People who have been unfaithful in the past are far more likely to do it again & again.
• If a cheater feels guilty about lying the first time, they are much less likely to experience the same level of regret the next time.
• Those who had cheated in their first relationship were three times more likely to do the same in their next relationship.
• Serial cheaters initially felt bad about cheating, but have cheated so much they've adapted to their ways and simply don't feel bad about cheating any more.
• People who suspected their first relationship partners of cheating were four times more likely to report suspicion in later relationships.
• Admitting you were unfaithful in past relationships is a gamble. 
• Telling small lies desensitizes our brains to the associated negative emotions, which may encourage us to tell bigger lies in the future.
• In other words, those little white lies we tell all the time might build up into bigger, more serious untruths.
• Change is possible, but difficult. It requires a lot of insight and effort. Without some type of counseling and a strong commitment to change, people often make the same mistake again.
• A drunk driver knows on an intellectual level that drinking and driving is potentially fatal to themselves or others on the road but until they spend the night in jail, lose their license and pay fines they don’t recognize the extent of the consequences.

We need to pay attention to our romantic pasts
in order to make better choices for our future relationships.

An university's social survey found that 21% of married men and around 15% of married women have cheated on their spouses. If the betrayer takes responsibility for what happened, without blaming others, they tend to stay faithful. More than that, they need to acknowledge what caused the breakdown within their relationship and understand what factors pushed them to cheat. If they blame their partner or lack insight into their actions, chances are, they’ll do it again. If recovery is going to happen, the betrayed spouse has to be willing to forgive. If both partners approach the problem with an open mind, it’s possible for a couple to heal and move past infidelity. Through revitalized commitment and effort the couple can move on and experience a stronger relationship than ever before.

It is human propensity to cheat first time with great care, with less care second time and recklessly third time on wards and if caught, deny it shamelessly. Very rarely people realize their wrongdoings, apologize and return to normal path of honesty. Human beings rarely change. In the company of bad people, good people turn bad. But in the company of good people, bad people never turn good. It is better for good people to avoid bad people. 

Stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right 

and part with him when he goes wrong ... Abraham Lincoln

Bold poser from DP Bhatejaji, Ex GM, Bank of India to PM & FM

Today I have posted the following on the Facebook page of PM Narendra Modi and sent an email to FM Arun Jaitley. For information of all my friends.

Respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji,
Respected Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitely ji,

First of all I extend my sincere thanks in anticipation that you will spare a few minutes of your valuable time to read and take suitable action in the matter.

I am a senior citizen and on 01.08.2012, I put Rs 40 lakhs in a nationalized Bank for 5 years. I was being paid an amount of Rs. 35,352/- every month (of course subject to income tax) enabling me to lead a worry free life financially. Now on maturity I have reinvested the amount in the same Bank and I will be paid Rs. 26,489/-; a shortfall of Rs. 8863/- i.e. 25% over the previous return, per month. Can you please advise me from where I should make good the loss or sacrifice consumption of medicines or atta or dals or vegetables or fruit or milk or what?

Practically your government after taking over in 2014 has done nothing for senior citizens. No additional facilities extended but withdrawal of what existed in 2014. No commodity or provision item is available at the price of 2014. Yes, you have been able to bring down the figures of inflation and indices but not the actual prices. Every off and on the prices of some essential daily use items go rocket high like dals, chana/besan, salt, onion and now the tomatoes. At that time we cannot even dare see those items. 

I know you have political and the theoretical replies for these issues like interest on deposits and advances in banks depend on demand and supply. The prices of daily use items vary with seasons being agricultural products. But the straight upward shoot of prices cannot be justified by these reasons. If the government wants to provide cheaper credits to the trades and industries, it should not be at the cost of depositors. Banks are sitting over volcanoes of NPAs and all good money is being diverted for bad money. 

But is it not the duty of the government to enable the senior citizens to lead a respectable life who have spent their golden years in serving various organizations and finally the nation? Government cannot see the other way. I am at a loss to understand from where this deficit of 25% be met. Is any of the minister/MP/MLA is ready to cut his salary and allowances by this percentage? If not, then why the public especially the senior citizens? 

Perhaps it is because that, like you, we do not have the power to fix our own salaries, allowances and perks and getting everything for full year, for sessions of total of 3 months and that too attending sessions at their sweet will. When the matter of increasing your salaries comes, you pass the same just in 2 minutes with no discussion, with all heads together be it from ruling or opposition benches. For this increase, you totally over look the cost to the exchequer, deficit, economics and any other factor.

The government had started a scheme for deposits of senior citizens and the rate was 9.20% but In July, 14 it was reduced to 8.3%; the amount limited to Rs 15 lakhs. This is totally unjustified. The rate should be a minimum of 12% and the amount limit should be equal to what a person gets as terminal benefits. The government should ensure financial respectability to the senior citizens to walk with their heads straight.

I am sure you will understand the plight of the people whose good part of expenses comes from the interest of their savings of life time.

Sorry if I have offended you in any way.

Thanks and Regards

D. P. Bhateja 2246 Sector 48C Chandigarh
Mobile : 9417819504

(Forwarded Msg)
Please forward to at least 200 ... this country is going to 🐕🐩🐈🐓🦃🦌🐪🐫🐘🦍

During past three years, during Modi's governance, citizen benefits/subsidies are curtailed or withdrawn, taxes increased, agriculture distressed and Modi & Jaitley combine proved themselves as takers never givers. Low oil price benefit for past three years was retained by central government, not passed on to consumer. Today, an MLA's lifestyle annual expenses are at least Rs.100 lakhs and MP's Rs. 10 crores. Their lifestyle is much more vulgar than erstwhile Nizam's. General election spending is mind boggling. A recent MP bye election spending was estimated at over Rs.500 crore and MLA bye election about Rs.200 crores. It is rumored that UP election campaign 2017 spearheaded by Modi costed nearly Rs.10,000 crores for BJP. Modi's 2014 PM election campaign, alone, is rumored to have costed over Rs.10,000 crores. All these are happening in Modi's India right under his nose and he lectures that he is fighting corruption. The anti corruption institutions like Lok Pal & Lok Ayuktha are in cold storage even after the Act was passed 4 years ago.

Modi's New India

Rolling stone gathers no mass

Modi has initiated so many schemes so far in the last three years namely Million jobs every year, Swiss bank black money, Anti corruption, profitable MSP to agriculture, Swachch Bharat, Make in India, Demonetization, GST and so on and few of them costed nation several lakhs of crores of rupees and none of them have achieved any of its intended objectives and nation is saddled with unintended consequences. Now he comes out with another slogan 'New India coming!' and no one knows from where it will come. On other hand Kashmir situation is at its worst, border standoff with China threatening imminent war are serious issues where nothing is being done. He neither owned up responsibility of failures nor regretted causing hardships to poor people of India with his quack advised demonetization and mangled GST implemented in a hurry. India with agriculture supporting 60% population and informal sector that provides 90% of jobs needs to be carefully nurtured, preserved and promoted. Modi in the pretext of bringing them into tax net is virtually destroying agriculture and informal economy causing loss of livelihoods to millions of people. His style and BJP's functioning has solid foundation on corruption next only to Congress and his anti corruption stand cuts no ice. With his rhetoric and mesmerizing speeches how long Modi will continue to cheat people of India is a matter of time which will not go on forever. In any case India will pay the price. 

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, 

but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.