Are we a rich country?

Morgan Stanley is about to launch its prestigious Private Investment Club in India. It will only include individuals having a minimum investible surplus of $1billion. India is only the fifth country where Morgan Stanley is launching its club. Its existing only in US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. So should we feel privileged on behalf of the rich in the country? At first I did feel proud about the fact, but then I read a series of articles on the farmer suicides in Vidarbha.

According to Stats, a farmer in India commits suicide every 30 minutes(source: Rediff). Majority of these are in Vidarbha, which is part of one of the most prominent states of India. Relief packages have come and gone but nothing seems to end the woes of these farmers. We see a large number of articles in media on the fate of Vidarbha widows but do we see any action by the local politicians? Climate changes resulting in poor monsoons are resulting in failed crops, increasing the debt burden of the farmers, leaving them with no other option other than taking their own lives in hope of getting some compensation from the government for their kin.

So, next time we gloat over the increasing number of Indians in the prestigious lists of Forbes, Fortune, etc, lets spare a thought about the widening income gap between the rich and poor in India.

Rahul Gandhi becomes the target of a new sport played in India - stone pelting

Rahul Gandhi, on his recent austerity drive in Shatabdi Express, encountered an amusing incident which involved stone pelting on the coaches of the train near Panipat. The stones were not pelted by any terrorist organization or workers of a rival political party, but playfully by some children in the age group of 10-12. He would have now experienced the real woes of 'Aam aadami'.

Even though people maybe surprised by the new sport of stone pleting that 'youngistan' is practicing, me and people like me who travel frequently in Mumbai local trains are not. Children of slum dwellers who live adjacent to the railway line, frequently throw stones at the passengers travelling in trains as a source of entertainment. We have seen innumerable cases of commuters being hurt, especially during the Holi festival. A few commuters have also been blinded or seriously injured on their face causing them irreparable damage. But the authorities have done little to move the slum dwellers away from the railway line. Slums and politics go hand in hand in India and there is little place for the plight of daily commuters vis-a-vis electoral gains.

Hopefully, this incident will bring this matter to the forefront and put an end to the nuisance faced by millions of travelers daily. Next, I hope Rahul Gandhi travels in Mumbai or atleast lives in Mumbai for a week during peak rains. I am sure he will get a closer peek to 'aam aadmi's' life.

Austerity Drive by Government. How about Tee shirt and shorts for Ministers??

Few days back there was a funny forward making rounds which mocked the first day of Nandan Nilekani in the parliament. It was written as a mock blog penned by Nilekani after his first day at Parliament. The blog described how Nilekani was amused when he was chided by Azahruddin for wearing a suit in the parliament while others wore the Indian kurta pyajama. Azahar then offered Nilekani the services of his Italian designer who designs his Indian attire for the parliament. This may be a mock anecdote but fits so perfectly with the pseudo austerity psyche of the ministers.

The recent call by Sonia Gandhi to Congress ministry for austerity highlights this point. Tharoor and SM Krishna have been asked to vacate their 5 star accommodation to move to more humble dwellings. Tharoor immediately tweets that the money he spends is from his own pocket. As a Gen Y Indian I don't find anything wrong if Tharoor or anyone lives royally at their own expense. But what I hate is the show of austerity our netas display even when in reality they follow a immodest lifestyle. It demonstrates hypocrisy at its height. Also, lets not kid ourselves when they say that its their own wealth. We all know how their 'own' wealth is created.

The call to austerity is praiseworthy but I hope it encourages the ministers to change their way of living rather than treat it as a branding exercise.

A modest lifestyle looks real when ministers like Pranab Mukherjee and our PM Manmohan Singh follow it but looks like a publicity stunt when most of the others use it as a tool to enhance their public image. Just like ministers wearing khadi makes no sense to me. As long as they conduct their duties, I don't care if they wear a tee shirt and shorts in the Parliament. Its cheaper too!! Any takers for that??

IT project in Bengal gets scrapped

Go to any quiz competition in India and you will find that most of the winners are Bengalis. When I was a kid my mother used to coerce me into eating fish by saying that Bengalis are so intelligent and have a fine memory because they eat fish. During the British ruling era, Kolkata was an important city for East India company and many 'babus', scholars and barristers were Bengalis from Kolkata. Its ironic that a state that was known for its intellectual wealth was left behind when India marched towards liberalization in 1990's. Left behind in the industrialization era due to the communist rule, it also missed out the IT train.

Its extremely sad to know that due to the shady deals of real estate developers and politicians, the people of West Bengal will be deprived of the information technology township plan at Rajarhat in Greater Kolkata. The IT park could have led to generation of atleast one lakh IT jobs in Bengal. All this because the WB government wants to wash off its hands from any land acquired by Vedic realty, a real estate company, which has come in limelight because of its shady deals. Instead of dealing with the issue, the government has gone ahead and scrapped the project, in which Vedi realty was also a partner, fearing the unraveling of the scam may create a controversy. Why face the controversy when its so easy to dunk and run away?

A big hurray for Kapil Sibal

Mr Kapil Sibal, India's Human Resoruces and Development minister and a Harvard Law graduate, is trying to reform our archaic educational system and three cheers to that. The Educational reforms and the Right to Education Bill led by him is a welcome change after the ex HRD Minister Arjun Singh managed to mess things quite a bit. It is rare to see a minister make noise about the right things and it deserves applause.

The decision to scrap the Class 10 exams in all CBSE affiliated schools from next academic year and introduce a grading system will bring respite to the cramming that most of the students have to endure starting from their summer vacations. (I guess it's a bad news for the coaching classes as an assured money minting scheme will be taken away from them.) A process of comprehensive evaluation throughout the academic year and an optional online test for students who want to change schools will be established.Though the Class 12 exams remain atleast one bottleneck is removed. I have always preferred the objective entrance tests pattern of exams rather than the cramming sponsored subjective ones. Across the year evaluation of students will also encourage them to pay more attention in their classrooms rather than in the coaching classes which act as an additional burdern both to the students and their parents.

His other important initative is the Right to education bill which has provisions like, schools being set up by the govt in every neighbourhood within 3 years, private schools to reserve 25% of seats in Class, no failing a child till Class VIII, insistence on having a national curriculum, etc. Though it is not very elaborative on the cost that will be incurred for this mission, it's is definitely a step in the right direction.

The decision that the CBSE experience will be examined before State Boards take the plunge a year later, is also prudent as it demonstrates a good business pactice of testing the market befor taking the plunge, rather than going big bang and then rolling back. Kudos to him and he certainly gets my vote.