An editorial on the Indian Union Budget 2008 written by me.

New Delhi: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced a Rs. 60,000 crore package for farmers in the Union Budget presented on Feb. 29. Marginal farmers with land holdings upto 1 hectare and small farmers with holdings of 1-2 hectares will have a complete waiver of their loans. Loans overdue upto December 31st, 2007 which have remained unpaid till Feb 29, 2007 will be covered under the package. Chidambaram has ignored the needs of the farmers with three or more hectares of land. Already by distinguishing between the marginal and small farmers the Finance Minister has stirred up a controversy, with farmers feeling the creamy layer (farmers with lesser land) among them is reaping all the benefits.

But waiving loans is not the solution to end the farmers’ crisis for good and it cannot continue for long. Besides this waiver does not apply to large number of farmers who have taken loans from private money lenders. The decision might end up attracting more farmers into the vicious cycle of ‘credit.’ According to government statistics the agricultural credit industry is worth Rs 2, 40, 000 crores in 2007-08. Hence the decision might just increase the profits of the bank at the loss of the farmers. On the other hand the budget does not provide any benefit to farmers who have paid off their loans on time.

A report by the Radhakrishnan panel on Debt in 1991 had stated several reasons opposing the waiver of loans. One of the reasons was around 51% of the country’s farmers do not have access to institutional credit. With the general elections scheduled for next year the Finance Minister has tried to appease the agrarian community. In reaction to the news PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) banks stocks dipped but recovered later. The banks will mostly be reimbursed by the government for their losses in the form of bonds and greater liquidity. However, Mr. Chidambaram did not specify the source of funding for this debt-waiver.

The Finance Minister hopes to finish implementing the relief package by June 30th of this year. But given the numerous paperwork involved, it’s unlikely that the farmers will be able to keep up with the deadlines. The agriculture sector saw a growth of 2.6% this year against last year’s 3.8%. Hence the Finance Minister’s prediction that the sector would row at 4% for the year 2008-2009 looks unlikely given the increasing rate of farmer suicides especially in Vidarbha.

Former Finance Minister and BJP Leader Yashwant Sinha termed the budget as a ‘disaster’ and criticised the relief package. Ironically On Jan. 10 at Wardha, Maharashtra a Kisan Sankalp Rath Yatra was organised by his party colleague Rajnath Singh. At the rally his party workers chanted slogans like “BJP in favour of farmer loans waiver.”

The budget does not talk much about the Public Distribution System except for the use of Smart Cards to distribute food on a trial basis in Haryana and Chandigarh. The Finance Minister also announced the allocation of Rs 31,549 crores for food subsidy under the scheme which will be used next year. The point is whether these funds will reach the needy people and not be pocketed by government officials.

Over the years, many schemes have been introduced by the government. It remains to be seen how much of these new schemes will see the light of the day.

(Vidarbha inputs by Swati Roy/Digantik)

Couple of weeks back I saw the Hindi movie Jodhaa Akbar. Directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar the movie talks about the romance between King Akbar a Muslim and his Hindu wife Jodha.

Many communities in India especially the Rajputs had objection to certain facts in the movie. Several controversies exist over the origins of Jodhaa and her being the wife of Akbar. Many religious groups in the country felt that the movie hurt their sentiments and called for a ‘ban’ on the movie.

 When the ban was not enforced, they resorted to physical violence. Theatres and halls screening the movie were vandalised, people were not allowed to see the movie. Thus in this process many harmless people got injured. Finally the Uttar Pradesh and couple of more states banned the movie.

I fail to understand why do people in our country have to resort to physical violence at the smallest of things? Its not the first time that certain people have had objections to a movie. Few years back when Deepa Mehta released her film ‘Fire’, it had to stop screening in theatres across Mumbai. The Shiv Sena termed that the film was against ‘Indian culture’ since it dealt with lesbianism.

If people have opposition to a movie, book they are free to voice their opinions in a peaceful manner. Our country is a democracy wherein everybody has a right to freedom of expression. Resorting to violence is not the solution. Such incidents only harm the reputation of our country.

 Because of the ban many film lovers have been denied an opportunity to see the movie. Hence, many of them will now rent out a pirated CD or DVD of the movie and catch it at home. Ultimately it is also the film producer’s loss.

Wonder when some people in our country will change?

go this forward is my mailbox , thought i would share it with you guys

 a man  hated his wife’s cat and he decided to get rid of it. He
>drove 20 blocks away from home and dropped the cat there.  However, the
>cat was already walking up the driveway when he approached his home.
>
>The next day, he decided to drop the cat 40 blocks away but the
>same thing happened.
>
>He kept increasing the number of blocks but the cat kept coming
>home before him.
>
>At last he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then
>left, past the bridge, then right again and another right and so on
>until
>he reached what he thought was a perfect spot and dropped the cat there.
>
>An hour later…. The man calls his wife at home and asks her,
>”Jen is the cat there?”
>
>”Yes, why do you ask?” asked his wife.
>
>Frustrated the man said,” Put that  cat on the phone, I am
>lost and I need directions to reach home!!!
>
>Moral: How much ever we dislike somebody, someday we might need their
>assistance.

I’m glad India won the CB cricket Series but i thought Harbhajan Singh went overboard in expressing his joy to the camerapersons after the match. Harbhajan was seen hitting his chest and yelling out to the cameras.

After any Australian bastmen got out, the Indian players were literally jumping and pouncing over each other in joy!

And as usual the Indian media went overbaod over the team’s win. You had programmes on news channels in India like ‘Chak De India..’. Even the crickt commentators came up with such cliche lines like, ‘It’s such an amazing victory….Young team India..’

Give me a break guys, they have won a series in Australia, not the World Cup! and our commentators should come up with new lines!!

I am jst soooo busy with my college dissertation, that i’m not getting the time to blog. This is so irritating. Here i’m writing some 5000-8000 words on Chess in Chennai! the deadline is friday and theres still soo much left. Wonder what’s going to happen?

The Pakistani elections have just started and there are already reports of rigging. I don’t get the idea behind these elections.

Isn’t it a foregone conclusion that Musharraf will come back to power? I feel that these elections are just a drama. Even if people go out to vote they have to fear for their lives. Some people feel that Musharraf is behind Benazir’s killing. The murderers of Benazir are still roaming free in the streets. In such a condition how can people vote? Even if they come out and vote what guarantee is that the electoral process will be fair and peaceful? All the more many people’s names have been missing from the voters list. There could also be bogus voting.

In run-up to the elections two suicide attacks took place last week killing hundreds of people. Certainly these innocent lives had a deadly price to pay for no fault of theirs.

It is just a ‘gimmick’ by Musharraf to please the international powers and claim all is fine with Pakistan.

Here is some humour to liven up your day. Got this funny thing in my mailbox through one of my friends. Enjoy!

1) There would be 10 times as many people on the ship

2) There would be a song with Kate Winslet in a white saree and of course singing in the rain

3) The movie would be called “Pyar Kiya To Marna Kya”

4) Hero and Heroine would float in cold water for days and still survive, but the villian would die on the first dip

5) The iceberg would be sent by the heroine’s father to teach the hero a lesson

6) None of the women would float due to heavy designer sarees.

And last but not least

7) Half of the rescue boats would be reserved for SC/ST/OBC

An article written by me

Chennai: The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) will host the fourth Yi (Young Indians) National Summit on Feb. 15 and 16 in Chennai. This year’s theme is “Wake up India,” with a special focus on climate change and its risks which could derail India’s economic progress.

 The summit has been held from the past four years in different cities of the country with themes relevant to the country’s youth. According to the CII Chennai representative D. Thulasiraj, the youth wing is an independent subsidiary of the organization. The aim of Yi is to bring people together from across the country in the age group of 25-40 to play an active role in nation-building. Unlike CII, Yi has specific areas of interest such as education, environment, economy and healthcare.

Thulasiraj emphasized that his organization is unlike the Rotaract clubs. “We are not doing only social work, but are also involved in business activities, and try to make our members better individuals,” he said. Hence members visit companies, and learn more about their functioning by interacting with the officials. Yi encourages the members to come up with innovative ideas to do something for the society’s benefit.
 
 When it comes to membership, Yi does not have any fixed criteria except the age group of 25-40. The unit engages students from schools and colleges, thus forming ‘nets’ in each place. As members of the net, they pay a yearly amount of Rs 50, which is increased to Rs 3000 once they turn 25 years old.

 The speakers at the summit this year include Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer ICICI Bank Limited, K. V. Kamath and Nobel laureate, Dr. R. K. Pachauri.

‘Mee Mumbaikar’ is what I would like to call myself. Nopes I’m not propagating the Shiv Sena party ideology. It is just that I am proud to be born and brought up n Mumbai. I am a South Indian, not a Maharashtrian. Does that mean i cannot stay in this city?

The violence afflicted by the Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) over the past few days has hurt me. Raj Thackeray the party president says that migrants should not be allowed in Mumbai since the city cannot take any more influx of population from other states. He criticised hindi film star Amitabh Bacchan for pouring his own finances to the state of Uttar Pradesh, his birth place rather than Mumbai, his residence. I feel its Amitabh’s own wish, he can donate money to any state any cause he wants. After all its his money!

Raj also disrupted a rally to be conducted by Amar Singh, leader of the Samajwadi Party. Hence a feud broke out between members of both the parties. I saw visuals of the violence on television and was shocked to see the same. Men with swords were breaking window panes of taxis, dragging out people and beating them to death.

I don’t believe in Mumbai being a city only for Maharashtrians. Earlier the Shiv Sena in the 1990’s had targeted South Indians and then Gujaratis in mumbai who made a place for themselves in the city. But how can you be so intolerant? Mumbai is not some special city, whose borders have to be sealed.

IS this what we call democracy? in a democracy people irrespective of caste/community/religion can choose to live in any place they want. Our Indian constitution promises the same. Then why are you torturing the North Indians? Yes, there are some anti-social elements in every community. But you cannot generalise about a community as a whole like they are ‘hooligans.’

The Mumbai economy is made up of North Indians who do occupations like driving taxis, porters or maidservants. it is true that states like UP, Bihar are economically less developed compared to the metropolitan cities. Hence people come here to search jobs, but this policy of ‘exclusion’ can never work. The solution has to be developed by he Central Government.

And lastly as my friend pointed out, the entire drama is being enacted by Raj Thackeray, Bal Thackeray’s nephew who broke away from the Shiv Sena and formed a rebel party. But even well-educated people like us will think it is the Shiv Sena which is behind this violence and not the Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena. The ideology of ‘Mee Mumbaikar’ is common between the two, however they both differ in the treatment of the campaign.

Mumbai belongs to one and all. The city is not owned by a particular community!

In a shocking decision Indian tennis player Sania Mirza has decided not to play in the upcoming Tier - II WTA event Bangalore Open. At first an injury was cited as the reason for her withdrawal. She had played the Australian Open 2008 Mixed Doubles Final with Mahesh Bhupathi despite an injury. It was the first Grand Slam final of her career.

Her managers Globosport have quoted in a statement released to the press that,”Sania mirza has been pained by the recent controversies surrounding her and decided nto to plau in India this year. Personally I am quite surprised at her decision. The best way to silence her critics would be to play at the tournament, win it especially with the William sisters confirming their participation in the event.

I agree that it is completely ridiculous to issue fatwas against her for wearing short skirts on court. No one is doubting her love for the country. Yes at times the media also has been putting her under the spotlight for every move she makes.  But as Sania knows our country is starved off idols especially woman. Hence, I udnerstand it’s very pressurizing for Sania to set out on the field and win always as expected by the billion people of our country.

 But by doing so she is sending wrong signals to the people out there. I would ask all the so-called ‘moral-policers” to leave Sania alone. We should only encourage Sania and reflect proudly on her achievements. Sania, hope you continue to play in tournaments in India, because it a honour.