Federal Front: KCR assisting Modi

KCR's lonely proclamation in Hyderabad, a month ago, of forming 'Federal Front' equidistant from BJP and Congress reveals his secret agenda. While his opposing Congress and BJP in Telangana is understandable, there is no way a non-Congress front would be able to fight and unseat BJP (and Modi) at Centre. In fact a non-BJP & non-Congress front, as conceived by KCR, can neither win nor serve any meaningful purpose except clandestinely helping BJP in dividing anti incumbency votes in 2019 elections.

• A third front is a certainty prior to 2019 elections and Chandra Babu Naidu might get a very active role in the front mainly due to his taking head-on with Modi after 2018 budget denying any assistance to AP, as per AP Reorganisation Act 2014 due to his previous experience in 1990's and his vast contacts and KCR doesn't like to play junior role to him, despite being so in life & politics.
• Except Deve Gowda, whose JD(S) has nothing against the BJP, none of the leaders — Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik, Hemanth Soren and MK Stalin — were enthusiastic about the objective of KCR’s proposed front.
• Mamata is ready for a front against the BJP, but she is opposed to exclude the Congress. Hemanth Soren has entered into an electoral understanding with the Congress even while KCR has been in touch with him. The DMK, too, was non-committal about KCR’s proposal.
• After meeting Mamata Banerjee at Kolkata, while KCR was addressing, Ms Banerjee replied to a scribe’s question saying, “it is not like whatever Mr Rao has said, I completely agree with that”. 
• CM Naveen Patnaik has made it amply clear that it would be a “courtesy call” as KCR happens to be in the state next week. “Rao is visiting Puri temple. On his return journey, he wanted to meet me. I agreed. The meeting has nothing to do with politics,” Patnaik told the media a day after KCR’s office announced the upcoming meeting.
• Both Rao and Akhilesh Yadav did not comment on whether this new coalition of regional powers, if it comes together, will be open to working with the Congress. “Our goal is not to make someone prime minister, but to take India forward. Nobody is an untouchable here and can work with us. The driving force of our alliance will be our agenda" KCR said adding that it could take about two months to arrive at a consensus and finalise an agenda.
• TDP views KCR's front is intended to help the Prime Minister Modi. It is an open secret that KCR and Modi have a pact. Otherwise, why did the Telangana finance minister skip the southern states finance ministers’ conference, when KCR is questioning the Centre’s dictatorship and demanding more powers for the states?
• The outcome of his highly publicised meetings doesn't commensurate with the brouhaha KCR generated among the TRS cadres with his announcement that he wants to change the destiny of the nation on the lines of Telangana. 
• KCR's announcement that he himself would lead the non-BJP, non-Congress front has sent across the message that he might also be in the prime ministerial race. It triggered neither any interest nor any support from any corner. 
• The poor response for his meetings elicited seems to have forced KCR to change his language vis-à-vis the Congress. 
• KCR's political detractors in TS says that the whole episode is a political propaganda ahead of the election year. Many see the federal front as an attempt to divert people’s attention from the failures of the KCR government and his “collusion” with Andhra contractors, while others see it as a “drama” to facilitate smooth transfer of power to his son KT Rama Rao. 

Whether KCR is hoping to team up with BJP or Congress, one thing is clear. Federal Front does not have any ideological lines of political base. KCR says that BJP and Congress have failed to address the people’s problems in the last 70 years and the front is different and it will be according to people’s needs. Slogans pitching him as the PM are expected to create a second wave of pro-Telangana sentiment and help the TRS win 2019 elections in the face of growing unity among opposition parties in the state.

Modi becoming weaker month after month since May 2017, regional party leaders with 15-40 seats started day dreaming to become PM of India in 2019, even though majority in LS is 272 mark. Ridiculous. Whether any one likes or not, Congress is certain to get near about 150 LS seats while BJP will get confined to less than 100 in 2019 elections. Regional parties have no option except to join alliance with Congress and share ministerial positions at centre with a common minimum program. And Rahul Gandhi will become PM not withstanding his immaturity & visionlessness. In any case, he will do better than Modi who only destroyed economy with his senseless adventures and 2014-19 years will remain forgotten years. India should aim to become a happy nation rather than racing to become super power. And KCR's secret agenda, of helping BJP and Modi, will only boomerang on his face. BJP & Modi will have to blame themselves for squandering away great opportunity to rule India with absolute majority with their arrogance, audacity and atrocious behavior. Time and again non-congress parties have proved themselves fit for sitting in opposition benches not in treasury benches.

The art of lying by telling truth

The line between truth and lies is becoming ever murkier. There's even a word for a very different form of lying. Misleading by "telling the truth" is so pervasive in daily life that psychologists describe it as - paltering.

• It is no secret that politicians often lie. They can do so simply by telling the truth.
• A classic example is when your mum asks if you've finished your homework and you respond: "I've written an essay on Tennessee Williams for my English class." This may be true, but it doesn't actually answer the question about whether your homework was done. That essay could have been written long ago and you have misled your poor mother with a truthful statement. You might not have even started your homework yet. 
• We lie all the time, despite the fact that it costs us considerably more mental effort to lie than to tell the truth. 
• Many of the lies were fairly innocent, or even kind, such as: "I told her that she looked good when I thought that she looked like a blimp." 
• Many people are not aware of how many lies they told, partly because most were so ordinary and so expected that we just don't notice them.
• When individuals use lies to manipulate others or to purposely mislead that it is more worrying. And this happens more often than you might think.
• Politicians dodge questions during debates they realised something else was going on. By stating another truthful fact, they could get out of answering a question. They could even imply something was truthful when it was not. Politicians do this all the time.
• Paltering was an extremely common tactic of negotiation. Most business executives admitted to using this tactic. The persons doing the paltering believes it was more ethical than lying outright.
• The individuals who had been deceived do not distinguish between lying and paltering. It probably leads to too much paltering as communicators think is somewhat ethical, whereas listeners see it as a lie.
• It is also difficult to spot a misleading "fact" when we hear something that on the face of it, sounds true. For instance, the UK's Labour Party campaign video to lower the voting age said: "You're 16. Now you can get married, join the Army, work full-time." A reality check team discovered that these facts do not tell the whole truth. "You can only join the Army aged 16 or 17 with your parents' permission. At that age you also need your parents' permission to get married unless you do so in Scotland. 16 and 17-year-olds cannot work full-time in England, but can in the other three home nations with some restrictions."
• Politicians want to achieve their narrow objectives, but they also want people to see them as ethical and honest. Even if we do spot misleading truths, social norms can prevent us from challenging whether or not they are deceptive. 
• While paltering is common in politics, so too is it in everyday life. A real estate agent tells a potential buyer that an unpopular property has had "lots of enquiries" when asked how many actual bids there have been. A used car salesman who says a car started up extremely well without disclosing that it broke down the week before. Both statements are true but mask the reality of the unpopular property and the dodgy car.
• Paltering is seen as a useful tool. It happens because we constantly have so many competing goals. We want to achieve our narrow objective [selling a house or car] but we also want people to see us as ethical and honest. These two goals are in tension and by paltering, people believe they are being more ethical than outright lying.
• We now frequently expect lies from those in power, it remains challenging to spot them in real time, especially so if they lie by paltering. When we're lied to by people in power, it ruins our confidence in political institutions – it makes the population very cynical about [their] real motivations.
• Lying can and does clearly serve a devious social purpose. It can help someone paint a better picture than the truth, or help a politician dodge an uncomfortable question. It's unethical and it makes our democracy worse. But it's how human cognition works.
• The prevalence of lies might stem from the way we are brought up. Lies play a role in our social interactions from a very young age. We tell young children to be grateful for an unwanted present. We give our kids very mixed messages. What they ultimately learn is that even though honesty is the best policy, it's also at times fine and preferable to lie about things.
• So next time you hear a fact that sounds odd, or someone to be deflecting a question, be aware that what you think is the truth may very well be deceptive.

No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar ... Abraham Lincoln

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Today not only politicians but most citizens resort to paltering for no tangible gains. People think some thing, talk some other thing and do altogether different thing. This has resulted in lower trust levels in the society making life difficult for everyone. Society has become too hypocritical. Life has become too tough, risks have increased and people have to be on guard all the times. Lots of stress and no gains at all. God has gifted humans to think, talk and communicate effectively and truthfulness would have made life simpler and easier but hypocrisy and lying at all times made life harder and miserable for human beings. 

Absolute truth doesn't exist

There is no absolute truth and that’s the absolute truth. Truth is surprisingly difficult to define. Truth is defined as the body of real things, events, and facts. Truth is most often used to mean being in accord with fact or reality, or fidelity to an original or standard. Truth may also often be used in modern contexts to refer to an idea of "truth to self," or authenticity. The best-known saying about truth is by Aristotle "To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true". It is not the only thing Aristotle said about truth.

• It’s doubtful whether there is any such thing as the truth.
• It is an absolute truth that absolute truth doesn't exist.
• Truth is agreement of thought with its object. 
• Truths are facts. And there are no facts, only interpretations.
• Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
• The opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate, is what we mean by the truth, and the object represented in this opinion is the real.
• Telling what is not true may result in legal and social penalties. 
• Truths are subjective; absolutism is objective. So, the question is whether something subjective can be objective.
• Anyone who believes in absolute truth is a fanatic or in imminent danger of becoming a fanatic. Absolute truth is the mother of extremism everywhere.
• Truth is in the eyes of the beholder. It may not appear as truth to others. 
• Absolute means completely. Try as you will, there will always be a trace of untruth. Nobody is capable of an absolute truth. Therefore, there is no such thing as absolute truth.
• People tend to have different opinions, which is natural. Because of these differing opinions some might view a certain topic morally right whereas others might see the same issue as completely immoral. 
• Deciding that absolute truth doesn’t exist is much more sensible than believing that they absolutely know everything.
• The idea of something being 100% right can always be challenged.
• In every statement, there is an ounce of bias, and bias is opinion, and opinion cannot be taken as fact.
• Truth comes only from the laws of nature. Nature always demonstrates its laws. Therefore truth is unique and universal.
• Let’s not ask what truth is. Let us ask instead how we can recognize it reliably when it appears. Four factors determine the truthfulness of the explanation: congruence, consistency, coherence, and usefulness.
• Truth is a complex, contradictory process in which error is constantly overcome through the development of knowledge, while truth itself becomes increasingly complete and profound.
• Any truth is objective. Subjective truth is merely an individual's opinion. Its content does not depend on the will, desire, passion or imagination of human beings. 
• We are humans who depend on relationships to survive. When it comes to stating your opinions without being asked, it is likely you shy away from telling a friend, colleague or family member something that you fear could hurt. As adults, we rarely choose to deliberately do something that will hurt people we know. We especially avoid sharing a truth face-to-face that could embarrass, offend or wound someone we like. 
• It’s been said that everybody lies, but the question is when, to whom, and why? And if someone is lying, how can you tell? The detection of deception is big business with big stakes. Children’s lies are ridiculously easy to spot, but as we get older, we get better at disguising the truth. We don’t necessarily get better at spotting it. 

Mahatma Gandhi said truth is what the voice within tells you. What may be truth for one may be untruth for another. It is not given to man to know the whole Truth. His duty lies in living up to the truth as he sees it, and in doing so, to resort to the purest means, i.e., to non-violence. God alone knows absolute truth. It follows that man, a finite being, cannot know absolute truth. Relative truth is all we know. Therefore, we can only follow the truth as we see it. Such pursuit of truth cannot lead anyone astray.

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything ... Mark Twain

The truth is rarely pure and never simple ... Oscar Wilde 
Half a truth is often a great lie ... Benjamin Franklin

Truth can be stated in many different ways, 
yet each one can be true ... Swami Vivekananda

2G Scam: Beneficiaries of the scam which was not there

The following are some of the prime beneficiaries of the 2G Scam propaganda. The 2G Scam case was described by CBI Court's Special Judge O.P. Saini as a scam, that was not there.

• Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India since 2014.
  He was the then BJP CM of Gujarat. His mainstay in 2014 election campaign was anti-corruption and leaned heavily on 2G Scam and Coalgate, among many others scams and reaped rich dividend.
• Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi since 2015.
  He was Joint Commissioner, Income Tax, New Delhi till 2006
• Kiran Bedi, Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry
  She resigned from IPS in 2007, after she was denied Delhi Police Commissioner, two years ahead of her retirement. She was BJP's CM candidate in 2015 Delhi elections but lost to AAP. In 2016, she was appointed as the LG of Puducherry.
• Vinod Rai, CAG (2008-13)
  Today he holds (i) BCCI Administrator (ii) Special Auditor for financial irregularities in Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivandrum (iii) First Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau, which will advise the government on top-level PSU bank appointments etc.
• Arnab Goswami, then Times Now TV's news anchor.
  Today he is Managing Director, Editor-in-Chief and Co-founder of Republic TV. Other co-founders are his wife Samyabrata Ray and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BJP MP.

In Dec 2017, Special Judge O.P. Saini said the CBI and the ED had failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove the charges against 33 persons named in the case that contributed to the Congress-led UPA' electoral loss in 2014. The judge stated that the charge sheet is based mainly on misreading, selective reading, non-reading and out of the context reading of official records while there is no evidence on the record produced before the court indicating any criminality in the acts allegedly committed by the accused persons etc. 

There is no question that corruption existed while doling out 2G licenses then. Nothing has happened on merit, in any capital, without kickbacks since 50 years. Without substantial evidence talking about this corruption leads us to nowhere. It is mere waste of time and energy. The fact that Modi and his CBI has not even filed appeal in higher court on this judgment, even after 4/5 months, indicates acceptance of Special Judge O.P. Saini's scathing remarks while dismissing the case.

Vinod Rai's cushy jobs

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The question is then CAG between 2008-13, Vinod Rai, holding constitutional position appointed by UPA exceeded his brief by publishing 2G Scam with humongous corruption figures of Rs. 180,000 crores without any substance or basis but also published booklets and distributed free of charge to all MPs to rake in Parliament which eventually was exploited by BJP, Modi, Arnab Goswami and many more. CBI, working directly under Modi could file in its charge sheet, in the 2G Scam case, corruption to the extent of Rs.30,000 crores only which was torn apart by the CBI Court Judge that not a single document nor an evidence was submitted by CBI or anyone to the court in the 2G Scam case for six long years. Vinod Rai, even though a retired person, kept stoic silence thereafter. Why?

While no one will be saint to dole out licenses without kickbacks, then and now as well, it was Vinod Rai who did the damage to UPA, Sonia Gandhi, MMS and Congress benefiting BJP, Modi etc. How come Supreme Court remembers only Vinod Rai every time and three times simultaneously to appoint him for what ever the work available with it? Is he the only competent person in whole India? After all, he is only an IAS officer without any specialized qualification but only long experience in Delhi corridors. As far as my knowledge and experience goes, Delhi will never come to my doorstep, no matter how much talented I am, but I must lick their boots to get any posting. Recollect shunting out of Amartya Sen and Raghuram Rajan by Modi administration, ruthlessly.

There is no question that Vinod Rai has RSS & BJP inclinations, despite licking boots of then FM P.Chidambaram to get CAG posting and then doing enormous damage to them. If not, why Vinod Rai hasn't criticized Modi & BJP during past 4 years, even once, despite enormous damages inflicted on the nation by Modi & BJP?

ATMs dry

 

Amidst reports of a cash crunch from different parts of the country, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government was “tackling the issue quickly” to overcome a “temporary shortage” caused by a sudden spurt in demand. But the truth is that almost all ATM's in the country didn't go dry overnight. In most places ATM's were short of cash since 3 months. And RBI claims that its vaults had stock of over Rs. 2 lakh crores of currency. Only our Lutyen's Nero's deliberately ignored as a step towards less cash society.

• Cash is coined liberty, fundamental right of citizens. Cash is a form of wealth and citizen's right to hold their wealth in any form can't be constrained.
• As long as people are poor and less educated and governments are irresponsible, inefficient and blatantly corrupt in public spending, efforts for cashless transactions or higher tax realizations will be thwarted by its citizens.
• While the shortage of currency is about Rs. 70,000 crores as estimated by SBI, RBI vaults stocked over Rs. 2 lakh crores of currency to meet any contingency. But deliberately, this was not put to use and people were subjected to hardships during past 3 months. Who is responsible for this mess?
• While 130% cash withdrawals compared to cash deposits for any bank is normal, last few months banks experienced more 200% cash withdrawals. This could be attributed to crop harvesting season, marriages, elections in some states etc. which are well known.
• But the most prominent reason is that people are exhibiting loss of trust in Banks due to high NPAs, centre's draft FRDI bill with 'bail in' clause and centre's reluctance in not increasing deposit insurance amount from Rs. 1 lakh per depositor (fixed in 1990's) to proposed Rs.10 lakhs per depositor.

• FM Jaitley has attributed the situation to a "sudden and unusual increase" of cash in "some areas". Which areas? Poll-bound areas? Why? Nobody is answering that and nobody is clearing the air on what could have caused the "unusual increase".
• One reason could be that since all the ATMs have not been recalibrated to dispense the new Rs.200 and Rs.50 notes, while at the same time Rs 2,000 notes are being phased out (speculation only), cash is finding it difficult to make its way to the people. 

Modi & Jaitley must understand that the government is duty bound to provide as much cash as people want and the government and the RBI cannot arbitrarily control the supply of cash to pursue their ulterior motives. People hoarding cash only reflects their loss of faith in government, RBI and Banking system. If they can't provide even printed fiat currency, Modi, Jaitley and Urjit Patel are unfit in their positions and must be ejected out.

Happiness everytime

India ranks 133rd among 156 countries in 2017, way below Pakistan (75th position), in the world happiness report. India lags behind almost all its neighbours except Afghanistan(145th). [China(86th), Bhutan(97th), Nepal(101st), Bangladesh(115th), and Sri Lanka (116th)]. Predictors of happiness in a society are: social connectedness, ability and opportunities to thrive, opportunities for growth, finding meaning and purpose in what we do, low crime rates and a healthy environment. Change is constant and people - after brief transitional period learn to adapt. Humans do have remarkable capacity to adapt and they usually do. In present times, chaos seems to have become order of things, but people have come to accept an enduring state of chaos as the new reality and are learning to adapt to it.

• Happiness can change, and does change, according to the quality of the society in which people live.
• Experience joy of friendship and community support.
• The longer you live, the more likely you are to become happier.
• We are happiest in our childhood and old age.
• Happiness levels steadily drop during early adulthood bottoming out in mid-40's. By age 50, those levels are in upswing again.
• Even as our happiness levels are on downward curve, we might, nevertheless, experience periods of great happiness.
• Our sliding happiness curve is due to stress and life changes in 20s, 30s & 40s. Working long hours, getting married, raising children, caring for ageing parents, putting away money for future et al.
• The youth's magical thinking that success in life is inevitable is replaced by the reality that things aren't always good. The realization is that good can from bad.
• If you have friends or relatives whom you can confide in, then you are automatically happier than people who have no one to turn to for advice or companionship.
• Social connections are good for us. Loneliness can kill. It is not the number of friends or social connections you have but the quality of your close relationship that matter.
• People who or married or live with their partners tend to be happier than those who are unattached and lonely. It is the texture of the relationships that makes the difference.
• Calling your spouse your best friend is another way of saying ' I've a got a pretty marriage'.
• Regardless of the status of one's relationship, people who have one to count on are happier, because they are not lonely.
• Most people prefer a good work-life balance above all else. Variety and learning new things are important, but not as important as work-life balance.
• If your job is preventing you from giving time to your family or partner, or if you worry about work problems even when you are not working, or if you are too tired after work to enjoy other things, that has a massive effect on your well being. 
• Stress is a major factor for unhappiness. Being content and at peace with our environment keeps negative emotions in check. A stressed unhappy person will be prone to psychosomatic conditions like anxiety, head aches, digestive issues or blood pressure fluctuations.
• The feeling of despondency and not being active, contributing member of society can deplete happiness levels.
• Staying active and eating healthy not only prevent lifestyle diseases but also boosts happiness.
• The sooner we take decisions that help us be happier, the better it is. That includes scheduling a fixed bedtime and picking up hobby or sport to balance the demands of leading a competitive lifestyle. Factoring in fun and enjoyment is essential for  peace and harmony in life.
• People who are able to feel a range of emotions, including negative ones, are happier than those who insist on feeling happy all the time.
• To make happiness a mainstay in life, we  need to (i) adjust our attitude*, (ii) learn something new#, (iii) interact differently with your partner@ (iv) focus on what you have%, (v) express gratitude& and (vi) give back$.
        * you may not be able to control what happens to you, but you can control
           how you react.
        # exploring new experiences can boost happiness and enhance
           quality of your life.
       @ after years together, couples are not as kind to each other as they
            could be. Treat your partner like a friend, involving less taking for
            granted and more positivity.
       % live in the present with what you have, forgetting shadows of past and
           bad thoughts, and  the future has a way sorting itself out.
       & instead of just feeling gratitude, expressing thankfulness spreads
           goodwill and joy and we respond to our environment in a
           positive manner.
       $ by getting involved with a cause or an organisation you will create
          opportunities to make more meaningful connections with new people.

Source: Readers Digest India | May 2018 | P68-75