Auto fare rationalization in Chennai

I have stayed for a few days in Bangalore and Hyderabad and one thing that really strikes me is the autos. Every auto I had taken charge by the metre and give back even 1 rupee change. Even if you travel in the night, they just charge the 25% premium which is also fixed.

I am sure anyone who had used Chennai autos will definitely have had bad experiences. I have been shouted at by an auto driver for giving 50 rupees for a 3 kilo meter ride. Nowadays around 15 rupees per kilo meter has become a norm.

Last time the fare was fixed was in 2007 and every auto driver rejected the fare. We were back to heckling. The charge fixed was 14 minimum and 6 for additional kilometer.

Supreme court in its ruling last December had asked the TN government to rationalize the fares by May. Nothing happened till May and again they gave the government 2 more months to fix the fares. Nothing happened and on July 22nd Government asked for 4 more weeks to fix the fares and also to ensure GPS enabled meters.

In the interim private players like Namma Auto have started their services. Namma auto gives you a receipt and they charge a minimum of 25 and 10 for every additional km. They claim that they are making a good profit. There are stories that these auto drivers are beaten up by normal auto drivers. This used to happen when the call taxis started.

The government finally took time to listen to everyone last weekend. The auto unions are asking for 30 rs minimum and 15 for every additional km.

The petrol prices have gone up nearly 50% in the period from 2007 to now. I don't think a 15 rupees per kilometer fare is acceptable to all. Even with inflation of around 10% per year we are looking at an increase to around 11 rupees per kilometer.

Summary

Having lived in Chennai for 37 years and seen what happens usually. The government will fix a fare which is lesser than what the auto unions ask and they will use that excuse to not use meters again.

I wish I see a day when the auto drivers in Chennai do not fleece and don't ask any questions or bargain when they start the ride. Maybe with more propagation of the private players we will get to see such a day.

Skull Cap - Symbolism or there is more to it?

It has almost been 2 years since Narendra Modi refused to wear the skull cap which was offered in a Sadhbhavana fast. Even today it has been quoted as a sign that he is not secular because he refused to wear the skull cap.

Shivraj Singh Chauhan another BJP CM, who is consciously positioning himself as an alternative PM candidate without saying so explicitly, wore a skull cap last week. There were quotes from people asking Modi to learn from Shivraj Chauhan. Does Shivraj Singh Chauhan become secular because he wore a skull cap? 

I strongly oppose Modi's views on many things but is wearing the skull cap or not the only criteria to identify whether someone is secular or not?

There are religions which propose nirvana, should people attain nirvana to prove that they are secular?

Summary

Every religion should co-exist and I don't think someone has to do what others do to show that he/she is secular.

Secularism means that I don't discriminate anyone based on caste/religion  and definitely not that I do what other religion does.

Where is Thalaivaa?

Available in the pirated CD stores around Chennai.. That's the sad state of affairs for this latest Vijay starrer which was supposed to released for Ramzan over last weekend.

Alas, we don't have a release and the poor movie going public have been subjected to 555.. Not that I am a fan of Vijay's movies but I would have watched that movie than watching Bharath with his steroid induced 6 packs. Or there is SRK and his mocking of Tamil language in the latest movie, a definite NO.

Oppressed Students Revolutionary Force, a completely unknown entity has sent threats to theatres against the release of the movie. Claiming that they were representing the SRM college whose owners were the distributors of this movie. If you have a axe to grind with the SRM College owners then go protest outside their colleges. Why in theatres?

What was a police doing when such threats come to theatres? I don't think that's the only reason for the film not getting released. When a politician gets an threat don't we increase their security? Like what the CM mentioned during the Vishwaroopam episode, don't we have enough cops to provide security for all theaters?

Then there were talks about movie not getting entertainment tax waiver, which was cited as the reason for the delay. This is the most bizarre thing that government is controlling in this state. What business does some bureaucrats have in deciding whether a movie gets an entertainment tax waiver or not? Earlier some great movies like Gandhi got entertainment tax waiver to get more general public watch the movies. The tickets were cheaper for those movies which had tax waiver. Then it was changed to all movies with Tamil titles will get tax waiver by the DMK regime. This was done to enable spread of the language. Now this has been changed to only movies with Tamil titles, U certificate and which really spread Tamil culture will get tax waiver. Our bureaucrats decide whether a movie spreads Tamil culture. Don't we have better usage of the official machinery than this?

Vijay released a statement that the movie has nothing to do with politics. Why did he do that? Did someone say that the movie has been stalled because it is a way of him expressing his intentions to get into politics or about his policies? Everyone in the state knows that he and his father think that he can be the next CM, why would anyone want to stop a movie because of that?

Jayalalitha, the CM had consciously decided to not meet Vijay and his father to show that she has nothing to do with this. Has she really done that?

Now there is also a case filed by grandson of SS Kandasamy, who claims that his father and grand father are shown in bad light in this movie.

Summary

The cops should have found out who really is behind the threat, the so called Oppressed students revolutionary force. And ensure that they are put in place. No one should get away with issuing bomb threats.

I might agree with Jayalalitha's approach of not getting involved directly, but she should ensure that the police are not keeping quiet.

This is not the first time this is happening in the recent past. We should ensure that this does not become a practice.

I personally believe this is real abuse of power. Don't really know who is abusing.

Movie a movie, and I am sure like most Vijay movies this will also bomb. Why give it unnecessary publicity?

On a lighter note : Maybe the movie heard the Thalaivaa song from Chennai Express and got offended and decided not to release :)

Food Security Bill & The Objections

The Indian Government has tabled the Food Security Bill in the parliament this week. The Bill entitles the following

1) 75% of Rural population & 50% of urban population will get 5kg at a price of Rs 3/kg for Rice, Rs 2/kg for wheat and 1/kg for coarse grains
2) Also entails free meals for pregnant/lactating women till 6 months after the delivery through the anganwadis and also a financial support of 6000 Rs for maternity support
3) Also entails free meals for children from the age of 6 months to 14 years either through the anganwadis or Mid day meal programs in schools.

Basically the law claims to address the following

1) Right to food for targeted households
2) Provide nutritional support for Pregnant/lactating women
3) Provide nutritional support for children

What are the objections that people have raised?

1) Some states like Tamil Nadu already provide rice at much cheaper price and they are complaining that this act will take that away.

Response : This is a myth. The act will only reduce the subsidiary burden of the state and pass it on to the center.

2) Some states where more people have moved to urban areas complain that their current food supply entitlement from the center will go down

Response : Partially true. Even though there were oral promises provided by the central government there is nothing in the act as it is tabled in the parliament.

3) Some states are complaining that this act takes away the federal structure

Response : This is a myth. The people who will receive the benefits under this act are to be identified by the state government. As in lot other central programs like MGNREGA, etc. the state governments will be implementer of this act

4) Some states are complaining that this is not universal and they already have a universal PDS.

Response : This is partially true. However, this does take away a huge subsidiary burden from the state government and pass it to the central government. This money can be used for various other social benefit programs.

5) Some intellectuals are complaining that 5kg per person is not enough and they want this to be increased to 7 kg.

Response : These entitlement of 5kg per person is more than enough as calorific requirements of individuals.

6) This does not address the mal nutrition issues

Response : This is true except in the case of Pregnant women and children upto 14 who are covered through free meals. Rice and wheat does not address mal nutrition concerns. We need to add proteins and iron to address those concerns. However, there is an ulterior motive of winning the elections which this will deliver as in the case of NTR winning his last election or Karunanidhi winning the 2006 elections.

7) PDS is already leaking and that's not the right way to deliver the subsidized food.

Response : Completely agree. Every time you don't buy anything at the ration shop, the staff there take away your entitlements and sell it black market. Probably an aadhar linked PDS with biometric authentication will ensure only such things don't happen in future.

Summary

We do not need such a large entitlement program to address mal nutrition. We do not have 67% of our population suffering from mal nutrition. And rice and wheat alone will not address mal nutrition. People will have more money now to buy milk/pulses etc. which they were using to buy rice/wheat. End of the day the state cannot provide everything at a subsidy.

I like the second and 3rd part of the acts which ensures free meals to Pregnant women and kids between 6 months and 14 years.

All the states are given 6 to 12 months to implement this act from the time it is passed in the parliament. Will that give enough time for the benefits to trickle down and the Congress government to use it? I doubt.

Killing of 5 Indian Army Jawans in the Poonch Sector

We had a firing incident this morning and 5 Indian Army jawans were killed. This is the 57th ceasefire violation in the year 2013. This happened around 400 metres inside Indian territory.

The army spokesperson this morning mentioned this morning that our Army patrol was attacked by the Pakistan Border Action Team along with 20 terrorists and in the ensuing firefight 5 army jawans were martyred.

The Defence minister in the parliament mentioned that the firing was done by 20 terrorists along with people dressed in Pakistan Army uniforms.

India has called the Pakistan High Commissioner and India lodged strong protest.

The opposition leader said the country and the army had to undergo the humiliation because of the weak and indecisive government at the center.

Questions

1) These are highly protected areas and how did so many terrorists cross the LOC and get into the Indian side without support of Pakistan border forces ?

2) Why does the Defence Minster say that it was people dressed in Pakistan Army uniforms and not Pakistan Army? Was this done to show Pakistan Army in good stead? Why was that important? Is this to ensure that the supposedly planned talks at secretary level in September happens?

3) How did the terrorists and Army get into the Indian territory and go unnoticed?

4)  Doesn't BJP remember that within few months of the Lahore declaration, Kargil happened and that Parliament attack happened during their regime? So does that mean that they were weak and indecisive?

5) Do we have to politicize everything in the country? From the Uttarakhand tragedy to this one, why doesn't our opposition parties behave so cheap. I am not blaming the current opposition party alone, this applies to every party which is/has been in the opposition.

6) The LOC is fenced and electrified and connected to sensors/thermal imaging devices. Then how did the infiltration go unnoticed? For that matter how does all infiltrations go unnoticed when we have the electrified sensors with all those high tech devices to track any movements

Summary

It is high time we restart our covert operations wing under the RAW which was shut down by IK Gujral.

We should also retaliate strongly whenever such ceasefire violations happen from the Pakistan side. However, the response should be restricted to that region alone. No one wants a full fledged war. That is what will ensure these such incidents are stopped.

Lastly - Arnab Goswami is back with his favorite topic of discussion in his Newshour show with his favorite guest Mahroof Raza. :)

Parvez Rasool - Great chance to give him the Indian cap - Missed

Parvez Rasool the 24 year old Kashmiri cricketer was selected for the Indian team that toured the Zimbabwe.

He was the first Kashmiri cricketer to have been selected for the Indian team. This was a great moment for Jammu & Kashmir cricket which had not produced any great sports persons. (there was Mithun Manhas who plays for Delhi and also in IPL). Parvez was the only guy who plays for Kashmir and was picked for the Indian team.

He played couple of matches for Pune Warriors in this year's IPL. What I made out of him was that he was ok, didn't see anything great. Being a spinner in India, you need have variations to be selected. In the limited chances he got in IPL, he didn't exhibit many variations..

It was rumored that it was more of a tokenism to select him. Whatever be the reason for selecting him, the opponents for the last series, Zimbabwe, was the best team to test out all our bench strength. With line with that thought the selection panel had also rested many senior players.

The team did a good thing in giving good opportunities to Amit Mishra, Shami Mohamed & Jayadev Unadkat,  Pujara, Vinay Kumar & Mohit Sharma who all got at least 2 matches. The only person who was in the touring party who didn't get a game was Parvez Rasool.

Parvez Rasool not being selected to play even a single match against Zimbabwe only strengthens the rumor that his selection to the 15 was more tokenism.

Virat Kohli has defended his decision that he couldn't drop a guy like Jadeja (who is today the No 1 ODI bowler.. what a shame.. that's a topic for another day).. When the selectors could rest guys like Dhoni, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar & Ashwin for the entire series, why was it difficult to rest Jadeja for a game or two?

If I was in the Virat Kohli's position, I would have definitely taken the tokenism to the next level and have played him in one match at least. Even if had bowled pathetically we wouldn't have lost the match.

Now coming to side part of the whole story... On Saturday when the match was just starting.. there were a series of tweets from the J&K CM asking BCCI whether they had to take him all the way to Zimbabwe to demoralize him and that it would have been cheaper to do it in India...

Great to see that a CM is supporting his state cricketer but on what basis was he saying that Parvez was demoralized? Agreed that Parvez would have been disappointed that he didn't get a chance to play a single match but he should gain experience from the process.

The CM should have probably not used terms like demoralized...

From 13+ to diluted 13 - Feeling cheated

When the war was going on in Sri Lanka, I used to support the Sri Lankan government for taking on the LTTE... After all they had killed a former PM of India... Even though this was the monster that India created it had gone way out of control and had to be taken out...

During the time of war there were various interviews that the President gave to the Hindu newspaper.. In all those he had promised to go beyond the 13th amendment and implement what he termed as 13+.... where he said he will devolve more power to the provincial councils...

We were all so naïve to believe what he had said... Even though some fringe elements in the Tamil society in India were shouting from the roof tops asking India to stop the way and the famous fast undo death between breakfast and lunch of the CM the war went onto the logical end...

There are estimates of thousands of civilians were killed and the 11 year old kid of Prabhakaran was killed in cold blood.. More war crime news, videos and allegations keep coming up.. some people said there will be some civilians who get killed during the war.. agreed but if the number that are coming out is really true then its really bad...

There are people who are still not moved out of the camps and are living in pathetic conditions in the camps..

There are now news that more Sinhalese are being migrated into the North and eastern territory which is a Chinese strategy followed in Tibet and other areas were they moved Han Chinese.. This is to ensure that there are no more revolutions...

China card is played very well by Rajapaksa to ensure they shut India's protests... I am surprised that India does not have any other card up its sleeve to tackle the China card..

Then comes this news about the dilution of 13th amendment and that Land and Police powers will not be devolved to the provincial councils.. From 13+ to a diluted 13th amendment and we end up feeling cheated...