CHOGM & Maldives - What India should do

CHOGM

The opposition from the Tamil Nadu political parties has literally forced the PM to take a decision. This is not a great multilateral forum that PM has to attend. However, with the resolution passed by the TN assembly, the PM has to attend the CHOGM meeting. Otherwise it will look like he has let the regional parties decide the foreign policy. What I would suggest is PM to attend the meeting and must also visit Jaffna. That will ensure that the regional parties keep quite. 

When it comes to Sri Lanka, we need to force them to implement the so called 13+ that Mahinda Rajapaksa said he will do. As mentioned in my earlier post about going back on promises he made (http://dailykaruthu.blogspot.in/2013/08/from-13-to-diluted-13-feeling-cheated.html), Rajapaksa has been getting away with whatever he wants to do. Unless we have a relationship with them, we will not be able to force him to act. In case the PM decides not to attend this meeting we will have no clout with Rajapaksa. The sad part is the opposition party in Sri Lanka led by Ranil Wikramasinghe is also in tatters that also gives Rajapaksa the room to do what he wants. 

Every party knows that Indian fisherman has been going deep into Sri Lankan territory to catch fish. When LTTE was active, Sri Lankan fisherman were not allowed to fish which also helped the Indian fisherman to catch fish in Sri Lankan territory. Now that LTTE is finished the Sri Lankan fisherman are also back in the ocean and they don’t want Indian fisherman fishing in their territory. This is what is forcing the Sri Lankan Navy to act. However, all that they should do is take the Indian Fisherman into custody for crossing into Sri Lankan territory and not fire at them. India needs to be engaged with the Sri Lankan government, even to force them not to fire at our fisherman.

The other worry is that China card is played beautifully by Rajapaksa. We are being naive to fall into that trap. We should have never allowed him to use the China card. When India is not even allowed to get near South China Sea how in the hell did India allow China to get well entrenched in Sri Lanka? 

Maldives

I had written about 20 days back about what's happening in Maldives (Maldives' tryst with democracy) and what India should do. Sujatha Singh the Foreign secretary had visited Maldives after that. But things have taken a turn for the worst. Elections were supposed to have been held by 20th of October is now postponed to 9th of November and if there is a second round it will be held on 16th of November. That will leave a 5 day gap of the country not having a President. 

Gayoom is still having a strong say in the country. India which has helped Gayoom many times, is not able to influence him now. This is really surprising and unbelievable as India even helped him thwart an attempt by LTTE to take over Maldives. 

Mohammed Waheed, the current President has decided not to contest the elections, which was the wise thing to do. He received only 5% votes in the annulled elections held on 7^th September.

Election commission has clearly stated that it will not hold elections before the 9th of November. India should ensure that the elections are held without any further delay. India should talk to Gayoom and reign him in. China has a huge consulate in Male and bulk of the tourists coming to Maldives are now from China. India need to ensure that Maldives also doesn’t start playing the China card. 

Response to the Open Page article by Dr Sheila Balakrishnan in The Hindu titled Civic Sense, last on our list

This is in response to the Open Page Article published in today's Hindu titled Civic Sense, last on our list by Dr Sheila Balakrishnan from Trivandrum(http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-openpage/civic-sense-last-on-our-list/article5276987.ece). 

It is always easy to find fault with our country and this is another such article. I would like point out a few things and in no way am I saying that civic sense is not required. 

Coming to dog poop, I have lived in the US and seen everyone pick up the dogs poop and drop it in the bins. I also thought this was great and then realized that its by law that people are required to pick up their dog's poop. I would suggest that the doctor watches the beautiful movie called Milk where Sean Penn plays the first elected gay activist Harvey Milk and how he championed the law to force dog owners to pick up their dog's poop. In UK also its a law. I also feel bad when I see dog poop, cow dung and what not on the road and when I have jump around on the road to avoid stepping on them. I have also felt that we should have a law like in the west to force but when I realize that many human beings today defecate in the open as they don't have toilets at home we are asking for too much (at least for now). 

Road usage is an issue that I agree with the doctor on. However, you should drive in New York city to realize that there is nothing different from what happens in India. 

Public place behavior again I would request the doctor to read this beautiful article in New York Times titled The Good Men of India (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/opinion/sunday/the-good-men-of-india.html), we definitely need outsiders to tell how good people are in India. Also how many times have we had strangers take the kids on buses and keep them on their laps? In which other country would you see that? Everyone is so selfish about what they do and what not do. 

Mobile Phones, agreed but this is an issue across the world. Case in point the ex-NSA chiefs telephonic interviews being posted live on twitter. 

In end I would have been happy if the article was note just addressed to us Indians. All things that the doctor has raised happen across the world and not just in India. That being the case why would she point out about India alone? 

Civic sense is required for everyone period. Not just Indians. 

New developments

Very short post, there are some suggestions that I had mentioned that BJP and Congress should do in the part 5 of my series on 2014 elections things are starting to fall in place. 

I had suggested that BJP should ally with JDS but apparently Deve Gowda is pitching his tent with the third front. The other alternative is for BJP to get back Yeddy into the team in Karnataka. Not sure how much positive effect it will have, have to watch out.. He was sent out of the party for his corruption and in desperation they are trying to bring him back, which can be exploited by the Congress. 

Congress and both are desperately wooing JJ in TN. She is playing hard to get. Apparently PC has spoken to her and Modi was desperate to meet her during his last visit to Chennai. JJ also has sent her ministers to attend a meeting which had PC heading it. She has clearly stated that she is going to wait till the elections are over before supporting anyone. Her ambitions are big for the two national parties to manage. 

There are lots of opinion polls which are predicting that AAP will do exceedingly well in Delhi, I would be surprised if they win more an handful of seats. Probably Yogeshwar Yadav conducting these surveys explains the reason for such high projections. 

The other interesting development is the 10 party alliance that has been formed in North East, will have to wait and see if they all fight the elections together. That will be a huge setback for BJP which would have been hoping to have AGP and NPF in their alliance. 

YSRC, even though there are statements that they might be open to both Congress and BJP, I would be surprised if they move wth BJP. Congress' best hopes in AP is to merge TRS with them and also get YSRC into an alliance post the elections. 

The semi finals as the 5 state assembly elections is touted will be keenly watched. Interesting times ahead. 

Government and PSU - When will they learn? - Part 1

This is a serious of frustrating things that I have experienced in various Government and PSU interactions

1) Online Grievance redressal with Chennai Corporation - Was very happy that the Chennai Corporation has a facility to raise any issues online. I raised a concern about the newly constructed storm water drains one night. The next day morning the ticket was closed and I received an SMS for the same. I was very happy with the speed of the response. Went to see what actually they have done, to see that nothing has changed. I was confused and logged in online to see an update "Action will be taken" and the ticket closed. They have strict SLAs I believe not for fixing the issue but only to close the tickets.

2) Property Tax Payment with Chennai Corporation - I had paid the property tax regularly and they started tracking the payment data online. I was happy with the digitization. However, they missed one of my payments that I made few years back. Went to the zonal office and gave them a letter with a copy of the bill. They said we will send the letter to Rippon building office and not sure when it will be acted on. They said don't pay the property tax till the issue is resolved as the system will take any payments that I make for that period which they claim was missed out. I have an outstanding of 3 years and I have sent a reminder also still no response. Second issue is why are there charges for paying the property taxes online? Aren't we saving their effort by paying online? Shouldn't they be giving a discount, which actually BSNL does for online payments. They give a 1% discount on the bill if either you pay online or

3) Indian Bank - My mom still uses the services of Indian Bank. The bank opens at 10 am daily, so we cannot go before we get to work on weekdays. Saturday is the only day we can go. Every time I go there for getting entries in the pass book, the teller says don't come on Saturdays. If you send an statement in mail why will I come to the bank regularly? They also shout at us if we don't get the passbook updated frequently. I have a joint account with my mom and we finally decided to apply for a debit card for my mom. The debit card came in my name I went to the bank to complain. The teller say it is ok to use the debit card even if it's in my name. What security!!! Then I explained, what will happen if my mom uses a debit card in my name in a shop. Then they agreed to change the card and reissue one in my mother's name. After waiting for a couple of weeks got an SMS that the card is ready. Went to the bank to see that it's again in my name. Decided that there is no point in complaining again. Next decided to apply for internet banking so that I don't run into such issues. Applied in my name this time but this time the PINs came in my mother's name. Bottom line in case of joint accounts, if you apply one thing in one holders name you will get it for the other holder :)

Not all instances are bad, let me share some experiences where they have learnt

1) Ration card - Addition of my son's name - I just googled what has to be done and went to the zonal office and gave a form. They said it will take 1 month to get the addition done and asked us to come after a month. Exactly after a month's time went and got the ration card with the addition done. Even though 1 month is a long time, was happy that the work got done without multiple follow ups

2) Experiences at RTO - Went for a few things like change of address in DL, RC and cancellation of hypothecation in RC. Every time as long as we follow the process that is laid out, everything got done with just one visit. Also happy that the money spent was very low than what we will do when we go through the agents. 

Vanakkam Chennai - A Movie Review

Watched Vanakkam Chennai yesterday. The multi-plex which has 4 screens had other new releases like Nayyandi and Kayavan and this was the only movie which was house full. It is another story this screen was not even 1/4th in terms seating capacity to the other three screens.

Debut for Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, daughter-in-law of the former first family of the state. It's the first time that a lady from their family is getting into movies/entertainment industry. She sticks to the tried and tested romantic genre.

Cast includes Siva, Priya Anand, Urvaasi, Santhanam, Nizhalgal Ravi, Nasser, Rahul Ravindran, Renuka.

The story is pretty simple, the lead pair are forced to share an apartment and in the process fall in love. Cut to flash back, the girl is already engaged. Finally the lovers unite. The handling is nothing new. Songs are loud. Comedy is pathetic. Too many characters who are wasted, Urvaasi(who comes as a cop and a neighbor to the lead pair) a class actress is hardly used. Nasser comes in one scene, Santhanam (who now a days comes from the first scene till the climax in all such movies) makes his presence only during the interval. Rosy aunty & uncle - irritating to the core. Nizhalgal ravi(heroines father), nothing much to do. America mapillai (sorry London mapillai) another character added for the sake of showing a possible villain to the love story. Renuka (Siva's mother) has something to do. Aarthi, Swaminathan, Mano Bala all come in single scenes.

Santhanam even though comes only half of the movie, does the same thing that he has done in many other movies. Trying to help the lovers. Some scenes are good - How the heroine handles a driver on landing in Chennai(by acting as if calling her dad and giving full details of the car and the driver to ensure the driver behaves),  Siva mentioning about ring removal gel(when he actually uses saliva to remove the ring from the heroine) . Why do we need a holi scene in a tamil movie?

Siva is his usual self. Same poker faced look. Cannot dance. Priya Anand is good with her expressions.

Songs are ok but the RR is bad. The last song which comes when the credits roll is good.

Overall the movie has nothing new, comedy is also not good. Overall a very average movie. 

Maldives' tryst with democracy

Maldives had it's first multi party elections in 2008 after 30 years of rule by Maumoom Abdul Gayoom. Gayoom ruled Maldives from 1978 to 2008. Finally in 2008 he decided to allow multiparty elections. Mohamed Nasheed won the election in the second round. Maldives allows a run off between the top two candidates if no one secures more than 50%. In the first round Nasheed was placed behind Gayoom. However, he formed alliances with other losing first round candidates and won the second round.

Maldives had it first elected President and Nasheed assumed office in November 2008. In what was a short lived tenure, he was sacked in February 2012. This was in culmination of opposition protests which started against serving of pork and liquor in Maldives, which is a predominantly Muslim state. He initially said he resigned as he didn't want the people to suffer and later said he was forced to resign at gun point. Gayoom was said to be behind the whole thing. The army and police also joined hands with the opposition in forcing Nasheed out. His deputy Mohammed Waheed Hassan became the President. Waheed went onto induct Gayoom's party members in his cabinet which only strengthened the argument that Gayoom was behind the coup.

Nasheed kept protesting and in April 2012 Waheed announced that the elections will be held by June 2013. Nasheed in the interim took refuge in the Indian High Commission to avoid arrest. India tried to mediate between Nasheed and Waheed. Nasheed was arrested for misuse of power. (He had a judge arrested during his presidency).

The June 2013 date was pushed to September 2013. Finally on 7th September Maldives had its second elections. Four participants contested and Nasheed was placed first with 45% votes. As no one got more than 50% the run off was scheduled for 28th September. Waheed was placed a lowly 4th in the elections. Gayoom's brother Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom was placed second in the elections with 25% votes. The run off which was scheduled for 28th was to have been between Abdulla Yameen and Nasheed.

The election was overseen my many external observers including former Chief Election Commissioner from India. 3rd placed Qasim Ibrahim filed a complaint with the Supreme Court, which asked the Election commission to delay the run off till it decides on the complaint. The Supreme court on 7th October annulled the elections based on some "secret" police report which claimed the elections were rigged. Even though none of the external observers had anything but praise for the way elections were conducted. The people also did not raise any complaints.

The elections are now scheduled for 20th of October. Not really sure if the Supreme Court is taking revenge for Nasheed arresting a judge or Gayoom has well entrenched people in all parts of governance who won't allow Nasheed to win the elections. The people of Maldives should also give a decisive mandate to in the 20th October election to ensure there is no need for a run off.

India, which wields lot of power in the region, should ensure democracy is upheld in Maldives. India during the 2012 crisis pushed back US from direct involvement and all US actions were routed through India. Now is the time for India to really stand up for the people of Maldives and not allow the courts to derail the democracy. 

Section 8(4) of the Representation of People's Act - Ordinance and The Nonsense

Section 8 of the RP act lists down the conditions when the people's representative can be disqualified. Sub section 1 & 2 the representative can be disqualified for a period of 6 years even if the punishment is fine for certain offences like rape, sati, untouchability, etc. Sub section 3 talks about conviction for other crimes and when the representative is punished for 2 years at least. The sub section 4 talks about the exceptions to the above three sub sections. Basically all that the representative has to do is appeal against the judgement within a period of 3 months. This applies only for a sitting MP/MLA. The section 8(4) clearly distinguishes between a sitting MP/MLA and a contesting MP/MLA.

The Constitution bench of the Supreme court in a case in January 2005 clearly said section 8(4) is an exception and was held that the provision was not unreasonable. The division bench of the Supreme court in its ruling in July this year held that the section 8(4) is unconstitutional. Not sure if it is right for a division bench to override the constitution bench's verdict.

The government moved a bill in the parliament to change the section 8(4) and the changes were convicted MP/MLA can continue to be a representative as long he appeals and gets a stay on the verdict. However, they cannot vote on any legislature or draw any salary. This is contradiction to the constitution as the constitution gives the right to the MP/MLA to draw salary and vote on legislatures. The Rajya sabha has sent this bill to the standing commission where it is supposed to be discussed in detail before reintroduced.

In the interim the government moved a review petition in the Supreme court to reconsider the decision but the same has been rejected. The government moved an ordinance (basically an interim law which will hold good for 90 days till it is either approved/rejected in the parliament). The ordinance had the same language as the bill which is in the standing commission now.

Many parties reached out to the President asking him not to sign the ordinance (every law has to be signed by the President before it gets into effect, even after they are passed by the Parliament). President has asked for clarifications wanting to know what is the urgency for moving an ordinance.

Last Friday Rahul Gandhi came to a congress press conference and said that what the government is doing is wrong and the ordinance is utter nonsense and has to be thrown away. The cabinet is likely to discuss the ordinance and the fall out of Rahul Gandhi's outburst.

Questions

1) Can the division bench override what was already approved by the constitution bench?
2) What is the urgency to move the ordinance?
3) Even if government wants to negate the ruling of the Supreme court, it has to amend the constitution. There is no way the government could have passed the constitution amendment with their current number of MPs. That being the case couldn't the opposition, which is claiming that it is not right for the government to try and override the Supreme Court, defeated the constitution amendment? What is the necessity to send this to standing commission?
4) Going by the SC verdict, when a lower court convicts a representative they will be disqualified. What will happen if the conviction is overturned in the higher court?
5) Agreed that the courts in this country are independent. When the government can change the Public prosecutor isn't the government circumventing the independence?

There is a sub-plot, on the July 11th the Supreme court also ruled that the people who are in jail(not necessarily convicted)  cannot contest polls. The reasoning was that only people who can vote, can be elected. People in jail cannot vote and hence cannot contest elections. The government filed a review petition in the Supreme court. Without waiting for the review petition to be heard government moved an amendment to allow people in jails to contest polls. This has been passed in the parliament and approved by the President also. The amendment was the right thing to do, as there are many instances where cases are filed against opposition party  members and arrest are made.