|| Satyameva Jayate ||

“Maharashtranomics” and Bihar

In Part I of this series a few weeks ago, I had promised to share some data on statewise GDP, taxes and population in India.

I am still working through the various numbers but below is snapshot data* for the five largest states in India (population-wise). Together these states make up almost half of Lok Sabha.

It reveals some interesting facts:

Maharashtra has more than 5-times the GDP of Bihar, mainly driven by its 5x per-capita GDP as compared to Bihar. In terms of number of seats in Lok Sabha though, it has 48 compared to 40 for Bihar.

Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have similar-sized GDPs (AP is about 14% more GDP than WB) and not much different per-capita GDP.; Both send 42 candidates to the Lok Sabha.

UP’s per capita GDP is twice that of Bihar but it is still only 55% of AP or WB. Compared to Maharashtra, its per capita GDP is barely 37%. It is of course, the state that sends the maximum number of MPs to LokSabha and these numbers make it obvious why Mayawati might actually make it all the way to 7, Race Course Rd (although it will by no means be easy).

More on this in the days to come.

Related Posts:

No longer funny…

Alaskonomics and Bihar - Part I

“Biharnomics” Examined 

* Source: Various, incl. Wikipedia and 12th Finance Commission Report

November 9th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India | one comment

“The Godfather of Bangalore” - Excerpts

This is a dark story* in many ways befitting tonight’s ”Amavasya” (eve before the new moon).  It comes from Bengaluru which - one believed - had managed to raise itself from the mire of corruption, crime and dirty politics that pervades Bharat.  Unfortunately this story could have come from any big city in India…

But as hopeless as the situation looks to be, we cannot let this dampen our spirits.  As Anil Chawla wrote in a comment on this blog:  “…We have to keep the lamp of faith and hope alive….May we be filled with hope when everyone else despairs…”

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*** Excerpts from “The Godfather of Bangalore” by Scott Carney ***

It’s a little past midnight, and a lonely parcel of farmland not far from the new international airport in Bangalore, India, is soaking up a gentle rain. At the center of the lot is a house surrounded by a low stone wall. There’s a hole in the roof and a bushel of ginger drying under an awning. Large block letters painted on the wall read: this property belongs to chhabria janwani. Inside, eight men—two armed with shotguns—confer in hushed voices as they peer out the windows. Is it safe for them to go to sleep, or should they stand watch another few hours? A guard wearing a dirty work shirt is the first to notice signs of trouble. In the distance, flashlight beams sweep the roadway. The lights advance, accompanied by a chorus of voices. Then the sound of people scrambling over the wall. One of the guards makes a break for the gate, sprinting toward a police station a mile away. Before the others can do much more than scramble to their feet, 20 attackers brandishing swords and knives emerge from the shadows. Some carry buckets of blue paint. It takes them only a minute to overrun the building. Three guards who stood their ground lie bleeding on the floor. The others surrender.

Firmly in control, the marauders shift gears. They pull out rollers and slather paint over Chhabria Janwani’s claim to the land. By the time a police jeep pulls up, the sign is only a memory. The attackers have achieved their goal. Thanks to the convoluted rules surrounding land ownership, the removal of Janwani’s lettering throws his claim into question. The dispute is no longer just a criminal matter of a gang of outlaws taking over a piece of ground; now it’s a civil issue that will have to be mediated in the courts. This kind of legal battle, with its near-endless appeal process, could easily last 15 years. If Janwani hopes to develop or sell the parcel during that time, he’d be better off just letting his assailants have the property in exchange for a fraction of its value.

Keep Reading…

October 28th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Corruption in India, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India | no comments

W’end Links: Ms Sherawat, Karunanidhi & an unsual Church

Timeless post by Varnam on why Thiru Karunanidhi and Mallika Sherawat are closer than you think.

Atanu Dey writes about a creative way to fund 50 new IITs.

And an unusual group that brings together the secular and the sacred on the US presidential election trail.

Brief excerpts from all the articles below.

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Keep Reading…

October 11th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Ancient Indian History, Current Affairs, Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, Indian Economy, Miscellaneous, Politics and Governance in India | 2 comments

“Biharnomics” Examined

In Alaskonomics and Bihar - Part I, I raised the point about distribution of taxes and income amongst various states in India.

This matter is at the heart of several controversies – the most recent being Narendra Modi’s demand that revenues from Gujarat should largely be spent in/on Gujarat. It also has a bearing on issues such as the anti-North-Indians movement in Maharashtra. But most importantly, this analysis is key to understanding and dealing with under-development in Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, AP and MP…all of them states having large swathes of land where the government has no role and no influence, forget authority.

In that sense, this discussion not only influences national economic development but also has ramifications for internal security (with regards the influence of Maoists) as well as the evolution of India’s federal structure (and the relationship between states and centre).

However, my search for data to support this analysis was not very fruitful…I did unearth some very interesting nuggets but there are still large gaps without which it is difficult to formulate any hypothesis on this sensitive subject.  As the title of this post suggests, a lot of these “nuggets” had to do with Bihar and how it compares vis-à-vis other states.

The first excerpt is from an article provocatively titled, “The economic strangulation of Bihar” (originally published in 2004). In the article, Mohan Guruswamy and Abhishek Kaul, the two authors contend that: Bihar is being systematically denied even its rightful due from the Centre, let alone the additional assistance its economic and social condition deserves.

The picture they paint of Bihar is not pretty.

Keep Reading…

October 3rd, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Corruption in India, Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India | no comments

The amazing story of pointReturn

Those of you old enough to be online in the early part of this century would remember a site called “GoodNewsIndia“. I was reminded of the site in a completely different context (during the course of a call this afternoon) and decided to check it out…which led me to the amazing discovery of “pointReturn”

GoodNewsIndia was dedicated to publicising grass-roots initiatives that were directly improving the lives of millions in India. Many of these stories were of unsung heroes and little known tales of ingenuity and dedication…

A few years ago, Sh D V Sridharan (publisher and editor of GoodNewsIndia) got involved with a land restoration project…What happened next is best told in his own words…

*** The Story of pointReturn ***

…In 1980 I had the same urge as I did in 2003 and now again, in May,2006. Bereavements seem to nudge me to return to land in a fundamental way. 

In 1980 I heeded the call. I was a total illiterate in the ways of nature. I was a mere refugee running away from a heart-break. Shaku, my wife had died in 1978. We were both 36 and in the event, something snapped inside me. I wanted time-out to ruminate.

I bought 6.5 acres of barren sands by the sea near Chennai [-then known as ‘Madras’] and groped my way towards greening it. I built a sail windmill to pump water, endured -and enjoyed- being without electricity, money or a social life. The silent spaces and the coconut and other trees inching their way up made enough amends.

Magically, money, friendships, learning and a new confidence began to arrive. I realised that far from me growing the trees, they were growing me. I growed.

Keep Reading…

September 29th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Indian Economy, Miscellaneous | no comments

Alaskonomics and Bihar - Part I

I chanced upon this article in the latest issue of TIME magazine. It has some very interesting data about taxes and spending in Alaska. After about an hour of google search today, I found a little bit of data (along these lines) on some Indian states too…I will share that with everyone in Part II of this post (either tomorrow or the day after). 

In the meantime, enjoy reading some excerpts from Sarah Palin’s Alaskonomics by Michael Kinsley:

…Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks No. 1 in taxes per resident and No. 1 in spending per resident. Its tax burden per resident is 2 1/2 times the national average; its spending, more than double. The trick is that Alaska’s government spends money on its own citizens and taxes the rest of us to pay for it.

…Alaska is, in essence, an adjunct member of OPEC. It has four different taxes on oil, which produce more than 89% of the state’s unrestricted revenue. On average, three-quarters of the value of a barrel of oil is taken by the state government before that oil is permitted to leave the state. Alaska residents each get a yearly check for about $2,000 from oil revenues, plus an additional $1,200 pushed through by Palin last year to take advantage of rising oil prices.

…As if it couldn’t support itself, Alaska also ranks No. 1, year after year, in money it sucks in from Washington. In 2005 (the most recent figures), according to the Tax Foundation, Alaska ranked 18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950). Its ratio of federal spending received to federal taxes paid ranks third among the 50 states, and in the absolute amount it receives from Washington over and above the amount it sends to Washington, Alaska ranks No. 1.

Wonder what the figures are for Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Bihar etc etc…If any of you have any idea of where might I find similar statistics for the states in India, please send me an email at jai.dharma AT gmail.com. Thank you.

Related Post: The forgotten “J” in J&K 

Adjacent Post: There is a “राष्ट्र” in “महाराष्ट्र”… 

September 23rd, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Current Affairs, Indian Economy, Politics and Governance, Politics and Governance in India | no comments

The “right” and the “left” - Shaping the debate

Pl. read this in the context of the on-going discussion re. governments, economy, market intervention and liberal policies…Below is a great summary of the positions on the “right” and “left” of the economic spectrum by Prof Greg Mankiw:

• The right sees large deadweight losses associated with taxation and, therefore, is worried about the growth of government as a share in the economy. The left sees smaller elasticities of supply and demand and, therefore, is less worried about the distortionary effect of taxes.
• The right sees externalities as an occasional market failure that calls for government intervention, but sees this as relatively rare exception to the general rule that markets lead to efficient allocations. The left sees externalities as more pervasive.
• The right sees competition as a pervasive feature of the economy and market power as typically limited both in magnitude and duration. The left sees large corporations with substantial degrees of monopoly power that need to be checked by active antitrust policy.
• The right sees people as largely rational, doing the best the can given the constraints they face. The left sees people making systematic errors and believe that it is the government role’s to protect people from their own mistakes.
• The right sees government as a terribly inefficient mechanism for allocating resources, subject to special-interest politics at best and rampant corruption at worst. The left sees government as the main institution that can counterbalance the effects of the all-too-powerful marketplace.
• There is one last issue that divides the right and the left—perhaps the most important one. That concerns the issue of income distribution. Is the market-based distribution of income fair or unfair, and if unfair, what should the government do about it? That is such a big topic that I will devote the entire next lecture to it.

Hopefully this will help us clarify our thinking…

I am guessing (and I may have to eat my words here!) that most readers of this blog will fall on the “left”…which would be somewhat of a paradox as their political leanings are (I’m guessing again) mostly towards the “right”.

I am tempted to write a separate post on the “right” and “left” of the political spectrum.

***

Mahesh and Patriot: I would request you to please get the ball rolling on this discussion (and I should not forget Sanjeev) … Thanks.

Related Posts:

With one eye firmly on polls… 

Time to dump some anachronisms? 

India vs. Bharat  

“China Could Learn From India’s Slow and Quiet Rise” 

September 18th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Current Affairs, Debates & Discussions, Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India | 17 comments

Draupadi’s Vastraharan - The Disrobing of India

Like most of you, I watched and read about the proceedings of the last few days with a sense of sadness and great shame…Amidst all this, these words by Radha Rajan touched a raw nerve… Please read and think…(emphasis added)

*** The Nation as Draupadi ***

Parliament on 22nd July resembled the court of the Kauravas with the Speaker playing Dritharashtra. Every individual in parliament on that day, notwithstanding the party to which he or she belonged, was some character in the shameful court and I was the nation.

When the Prime Minister scornfully tabled his written response to the two-day debate with the Speaker instead of facing the Members of Parliament and addressing their concerns verbally, he was only underscoring parliament’s irrelevance in concluding international agreements and treaties.

This is a serious deficiency in the country’s democracy in theory and in practice because when parliament is rendered impotent to influence government decisions impinging on national security, it amounts to disregarding the sense of the House and the will of the people. It is a chilling truth that on that fateful day not one member in the august house, in the treasury or the opposition, faithfully represented the voter who put him or her there. As the end results proved, many of them were disloyal even to the party to which they belonged.
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The Lok Sabha voted, not on the nuclear deal (it has no locus standi, as pointed out, to decide on international treaties) but on a trust vote sought by the Prime Minister on behalf of his government. Had the Prime Minister lost the trust vote, the country would have been faced with premature elections with the distinct possibility that several sitting MPs may not return to the House.

Not surprisingly, while the government did not want to fall, MPs fearful of not returning to the next Lob Sabha, also did not want the government to fall. The game of dice began and in the bizarre context of the ruling party and a section of the opposition sharing the same anxiety, the players staked the nation’s resources, her interests and eventually her dignity.

Keep Reading…

July 23rd, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Ancient Indian History, Corruption in India, Current Affairs, Debates & Discussions, Elections Analysis, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement, Technology in India | 11 comments

India-Pakistan energy collaboration…really?

Continuing from Part I of this guest post by Ashutosh on India, Pakistan and geo-strategic issues…

A few days later (after the Tehelka Summit), I attended the book launch of the second edition of� �Natural Gas in Asia - The Challenges of Growth in China, India, Japan and Korea� by Oxford Institute of Energy Studies…

I took with me experiences of the previous week and also the knowledge that at the launch of the previous edition in 2004 (which I had attended too), the popular view�was summed up in a single sentence �India and Pakistan can play cricket with each other but energy co-operation, no Sir, that is not yet on the cards�
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Cut to July 2008 - Launch of the second edition, the same old projects: Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline- the roller coaster that is the Iran-India LNG deal- and this time the view about energy co-operation - a possibility- even call it distinct possibility.� Just the previous week, at the Tehelka conference a few participants- Imran Khan, Asad Durrani and a few others had mentioned Iran-Pakistan-India collaboration but the same people said a lot more about a lot of other�issues too�..and one can�t ignore or forget what was said.
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The view in this very knowledgeable energy crowd, albeit dominated by western oil and gas company executives was: “India-Pakistan energy collaboration, really?”
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Had I not attended the Tehalka conference, I would have just about given these much bandied about projects,�a�grudging chance- may be, just may be�. But then again I ask why now? And why with Pakistan in between? What�s wrong with an energy cooperation with other states in the Middle East like Qatar, or a nuclear energy pact with US?�

Don�t we have some of the best engineers and technical manpower to provide a solution to the big global crew change in oil and gas? How are we leveraging that strength as a country? In the light of these, how important is this Iran-Pakistan-India gas deal and who wants it more badly? The Iranians? The Pakistanis or the Indians? � I can say for certain, the Indians don�t need it as bad.

Shantanu, thanks for alerting me about the Tehelka event- even its attendee composition was quite telling- a relatively large number of expat professional Pakistanis compared to Indians attended this event.
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Having experienced a range of insinuations at the Conference may I add my own?��National enlightened self interest wins over personal economic aspirations amongst expats from Pakistan.�� To use a phrase, made popular once again by the book of the same name - �We are like that only� � entrenched in our compassionate Capitalistic (the latter word purposefully with a capital “C” and the former with a small “c”) mindset and to an extent, perhaps it is for the better; we have become great role models of tolerance - too great for our own good, I think!

Related Posts:

India - Pakistan: Notes from an Island�

On Nano, global warming, India and China�

India, Iran and the IPI pipeline�

India-China-Japan-US and the politics of energy�

July 15th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Current Affairs, Enviroment Related, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), India & Its Neighbours, Indian Economy, Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India | no comments

Quote of the week

Sh. Amar Singh:

�We are not wheeler-dealers…All our politics is about national interest…�

�:-|

Have a restful,�enjoyable weekend…

July 4th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Elections Analysis, Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India | one comment

Some links for weekend reading - IV

On Bal Thackeray and his call for Hindu suicide squads/ Hindu terrorists: Nip it in the bud by Offstumped. A short excerpt:

Bal Thackeray�s remarks are reprehensible. There is no moral sanction for Terrorism by any tenet of Hindu Dharma. Those responsible for the Thane bomb blast must be brought to trial and any attempts by them to appropriate moral sanction under Hindu Dharma must be denounced unequivocally. There is no room or place for Terrorism by Hindus for Hindus with Hindu Dharma as moral cover.

Terrorism is Adharma let there be no ambiguity on this.

On Narendra Modi’s comment re. taxes and aid: Two curious legal cases by BarbarIndian. Excerpt:

The first involves the following statement by Narendra Modi:

“I want to tell the government in Delhi, lets sign a year-long pact, you don’t take any money from us and don�t give us any aid. And then we will show the Centre how we run the state. You all tell me, am I not right,” he was quoted as saying. [link]It is not known if these were the exact words uttered by Modi, but calling these statements seditious is quite ambitious. As a matter of fact, Congress bigwigs have not made any public statements, leaving the hatchet job to foot soldiers like Manish Tewari.

Given that the UPA top brass have basically maintained a wall of silence about the Gujjar and Gorkha issues, one can only imagine the seriousness of this regime about the nation’s security. Perhaps this is a moot point, since many of UPA’s partners are unabashedly seditious, especially the communist factions.

As a side point, Congress claims that the Government does not have “any system to determine how much a state government contributed in taxes to the Centre”. This is quite funny. Evidently the Government does not have any mechanism to determine which castes qualify for OBC privileges either. The Government does not even have a mechanism to determine how much of social spending actually go to intended recipients (15% if you believe the late Rajiv Gandhi, 5% if you believe Rahul).

The center-state resource allocation issue is nothing new. A plethora of studies have been done on this issue, as an example - here. The fact of the matter is, there is a well defined system that determines these issues. That system is called “electoral opportunism”.

I will try a summary of the study in a future post.

On Jihad Against Freedom of Speech at the United Nations�by Jeffrey Imm. Excerpt:

The United Nations’ Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has no problem with its members suggesting that the 9/11 attacks were an “inside job” perpetrated by the United States on itself. …

Denying the role of Jihadists in the 9/11 attacks is apparently perfectly acceptable freedom of speech for the UNHRC, but criticizing Sharia law is another story.

On June 16, 2008, UNHRC president Doru Romulus Costea announced that criticism of Sharia law will not be tolerated by the UNHRC, based on the complaints and pressure by Islamist delegates to the UNHRC. In effect, the Islamist nations represented at the UNHRC have effected a Jihad against freedom of speech at the United Nations when it comes to criticizing Sharia or Islamic supremacist (aka Islamist) theocratic ideologies that threaten the freedom and lives of innocents around the world.

On Pakistan Army fires strategic broadsides at United States and India�by Dr Subhash Kapila. Excerpt:

General Ashfaq Kiyani, Pak COAS has been quoted by the respected Pakistan journalist, Ahmed Rashid in a Los Angeles Times feature as follows:�

• General Kiyani has told US military and NATO officials that the Pakistan Army will not �retrain or re-equip� its troops to fight the counter-insurgency war on the Afghan frontier as demanded by the Americans.
• Pakistan will deploy the bulk of its troops on Pakistan�s borders with India and prepare for possible conflicts with traditional enemy India.

Related observations emanating in this report are as follows:�

• More than 80% of the $ 10 billion aid provided by USA to Pakistan was diverted to buy advanced major weapon systems for the Indian front.
• Pakistan Army after its peace deals with Taliban leaders has virtually withdrawn from the seven districts of FATA
• Posts vacated by Pakistan Army now stand occupied by Taliban cadres.
• The peace deal with the Taliban has only one proviso that they will not attack Pakistan Army troops.� There is no proviso that they will not attack US/NATO troops in Afghanistan and therefore the Taliban has now a free run against them.

Have a thoughtful weekend.

Related Posts:

Some good links for weekend�reading��

*Must Read* links for the�weekend

Recommended weekend�reading�

June 22nd, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Current Affairs, Distortions, Misrepresentation about Hinduism, Global Terrorism, Hindu Dharma, Human Rights and Legal Issues, India & Its Neighbours, Indian Economy, Jammu & Kashmir related, Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India | one comment

I can’t get a job in Mumbai anymore

This�is beyond being “funny”

“…(Maharashtra) state Finance Minister Jayant Patil…announced in the state legislative assembly that 80 per cent jobs in companies that will now open units in Maharashtra must go to locals.

…The finance minister also defined the Marathi manoos. �It has to be a person who has been living in Maharashtra for more than 15 years and knows Marathi,� he said.

I fail the test…miserably.

The problem is - in my entire life, I have never lived for 15 years in any single city or state…Who will hire me now?

And quite how they are going to ensure compliance is beyond me (in spite of Shri Patil’s ominous words: “We will be strict…”).

Sadly, this is probably not the last blow to the idea of an Indian/”Bharatiya” identity.

Related Posts:

Identities and�Globalization�

Of Bangalore, Bengaluru and Fractured�Identities��

There is a “राष्ट्र” in “महाराष्ट्र”

May 1st, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | An Indian Identity, Current Affairs, Identity, Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India | 41 comments

Are we living in a “Kaliyug” hell?

Once upon a time, I used to dismiss talk of increasing pollution in Indian cities as scare-mongering by NGOs eager for funds and publicity…

I am a little wiser now…but this recent news-item really sobered me up.

Excerpts from “Mumbai. Delhi among world’s dirtiest cities”:

“…Mumbai and Delhi are among the 25 dirtiest cities in the world while the four Indian metros and Bangalore are among the 20 densest cities, according to the Forbes magazine.

The US business magazine also lists Sukinda in Orissa and Vapi in Gujarat among the 10 most polluted places globally.

While listing Mumbai as the seventh dirtiest, the magazine also cites a recent private sector proposal, Vision Mumbai, which seeks $1 billion government aid for infrastructure, pollution control and economic growth strategy.

Delhi at No.24 fares little better but gets drubbing for the pollution in Yamuna river, which is devoid of marine life and where “garbage and sewage flow freely, creating a rich environment for the growth of water-borne diseases contributing to extremely high rates of infant morbidity.”

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In an earlier Forbes list of the 20 densest urban areas in the world, Mumbai and Kolkata occupied the top two slots, packing in over 23,000 people per square kilometre.

India and China combine to claim nine of the 20 slots, according to 2007 statistics from citymayors.com.

Chennai is at No.8, Delhi at No.13 and Bangalore at No.19 in the list of densely populated cities. Karachi in Pakistan is at No.3.

�
In Forbes’ list of 10 most polluted places on earth, two Indian towns figure. In Sukinda, Orissa, large swathes of the area’s surface water and drinking water contain very high covalent chromium levels, potentially affecting 2.6 million people, the magazine said.

Sukinda is home to almost all of the country’s chromite ore deposits and one of the largest opencast chromite ore mines in the world.

In Vapi, the pollutants are chemicals and heavy metals from industrial estates, potentially affecting over 70,000 people. Mercury in the groundwater here is reported to be 96 times higher than the World health Organisation (WHO) standards.

Local produce can contain up to 60 times more heavy metals, such as copper, chromium, cadmium and zinc than non-contaminated produce in control groups, Forbes reported.”

I am worried…very worried. Are our policy planners listening?

The original Forbes report is here.�

March 5th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Current Affairs, Enviroment Related, Indian Architecture & City Planning, Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India | 2 comments

With one eye firmly on polls…

Finance Minister unveils the Budget.

But maybe not.

“If you have nothing else to say about the Budget, then you can call it election-budget,” he said in a tone tinged with sarcasm at the customary post-budget briefing.

I picked up these couple of *interesting* items.

Interesting tidbit # 1:

Farm loan waiver revolutionary step: Sonia

“Today is a very happy occasion. The waiver of loans on farmers by the UPA government is a revolutionary step…I congratulate the UPA government and Finance Minister P Chidambaram for it”

The interesting bit is�”a large gathering of farmers…descended at her 10, Janpath residence soon after the announcement of the relief in the Union Budget 2008-09” !!

I wonder where they were hiding until the budget was announced.

Interesting tidbit # 2:

FM doubles allocation for minority welfare�

Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced that the allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been increased from Rs 500 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 1,000 crore in 2008-09….

A total of 256 branches of public sector banks have been opened this year until December 2007 in districts with substantial minority population. He also said that 288 more will be opened by March 2008*.

The bit that caught my eye: “Chidambaram further announced that more candidates belonging to the minority communities will be recruited in the Central Para-Military Forces.”

Hmmm…Do the paramilitary forces come under the control of Finance Ministry? Last I heard they were still under the MHA…Just curious.

If any of you noticed something else in the Budget that I may have missed, please share it here.

* In this context, some of you will find this post interesting: Specious Arguments and False�Propoganda

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March 1st, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Current Affairs, Elections Analysis, Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement | 2 comments

Interview with Ujjwal Banerjee - Part I

A few weeks ago I got in touch with all the 8 finalist of Times of India’s Lead India�programme and requested them to share their views on a several important issues of national interest with the readers of my blog.

Sadly only one of the contestants bothered to write back (not an encouraging sign)…He was Ujjwal Banerjee�who not only�wrote back, but did so promptly…in spite of his obviously busy schedule.

Ujjwal suggested doing the interview in parts as he needed time to reflect on the questions…So here is Part I of the interview where Ujjwal shares his views on reservations, criminalization of politics and economic policies.

If any of you are in touch with the other Lead India contestants (not just finalists), please ask them to respond as well.. I did write an email to each of the finalists�but have not heard back from anyone - and unfortunately I do not have contact details of other contestants.

Without further ado, here are my questions and Ujjwal’s responses.

Keep Reading…

February 8th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Current Affairs, Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India, Reservations, Affirmative Action | no comments