Salute to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan for refusing an honorary doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, because of racist attacks on Indian students in Australia. Officials there repeatedly say that these are random crimes and not racist attacks as if that somehow reduces them to teenage pranks. Australia was founded as a penal colony where the dregs of Britain were dumped and so people have criminal genes. The whites tried to wipe out the aborigines by kidnapping their children in early twentieth century. Australia sees itself as a western nation and despises its Asian neighbours. It sent troops to fight alongside Americans inVietnam and Iraq. Even now it has troops controlling East Timor thus trying to gain control of oil and gas in the Timorese sea. About forty years ago in a spat with Britain Malaysia stopped sending its students to British universities thus cutting off valuable funds. Britain had to go on its knees begging for forgiveness. So what is our government doing? Nothing, not even a travel advisory. Therefore thanks to Mr. Bachchan who says his ' conscience does not permit me to accept this decoration from a country which perpetrates such indignities on my fellow countrymen .' Seventynine ministers and one aging actor. Who is a greater patriot and loves his people more? Easy to guess.

Two industrial bodies namely CII and FICCI have prepared a wishlist for the new government. They demand that interest rates should be cut by at least 50 basis points to spur industrial growth. It would also help the government reduce its interest outgo since government borrowing is set to zoom because of all the bribes doled out to win the election. Unfortunately food prices are still increasing at over 10% and if petrol and diesel prices are decontrolled, as demanded by the oil minster, food inflation could jump still higher. Already Saudis are predicting crude at $ 100 a barrel by the end of the year. Bye bye aam aadmi. They ask for simplification and lowering of taxes. A very good move which will stimulate domestic spending and increase demand. Again, with fiscal deficit at over 6% and debt, including those of the states, at around 80% of GDP there is very little room for maneuver. Not forgetting 79 ministers, each with attendant kleptocrats, requiring billions to service. The last demand is for good governance which means honesty and no corruption. I am sure politicians and kleptocrats will crack up at the joke. Why go through exhausting and expensive campaigning or spend hundreds of hours cramming for the civil service exams if you do not make enough so that at least five generations can live in luxury without having to work? We have to remember that Congress has promised 'continuity' which means that the aam aadmi will be kept naked while the khas will party in Delhi and other capitals of the world. Who wants a new world order when the old one is working so well?

Five years back when the Congress sneaked into power with support of the commies the world was about to embark on a liquidity fuelled binge which would end with the mother of all bubbles. As the Indian economy grew, inspite of the Congress, taxes were increased to stratospheric levels. In 2008 useless, parasitic civil servants were bribed by almost doubling their salaries costing hundreds of billions. Then all farmers' loans were waived costing further billions. More bribes were offered by promising rice at Rs. 3 a kilo. Once the results were in smaller parties have been bribed with ministerial posts resulting in the largest government ever with 79 ministers. Indian politicians being criminal beggars there will be demands for VIP status with resulting security, free bungalows, free cars, foreign junkets and countless other freebies. The hapless taxpayer will foot the bill for all these bribes which should keep the Congress in power for another five fruitless years. Meanwhile according to a thinktank, CMIE, Indian companies have lost Rs. 430 billion because of erratic power supply with voltage fluctuations. Will anything change? Doubtful. After all it is in the service of the naked aam aadmi that the Congress is khas.

Must confess that it was great pleasure to read about the bomb in Lahore killing at least seven ISI bastards. For dacades these filth have trained, financed and supported terrorist attacks in India so deserve to get bitten by the mad dogs they have created. We are constantly told that as a nuclear weapon state Pakistan cannot be allowed to fail so it should be given money to survive, help to build up its institutions and support to educate its children. The truth is that Pakistan is aready a failed state. The army, including the ISI, was the most powerful block in the country and could bring order because of the respect it commanded. No longer. The machinations of Musharraf and his fall due to public agitation led by the lawyers has eroded any respect the army enjoyed. There is militancy in Sindh and Baluchistan. Taliban openly defy the government and promise a sharia state under its control. No amount of killing in the Swat valley is going to get rid of the Taliban. It will be good if there is open civil war in Pakistan with total chaos. The decision will then be forced on the world about what to do with this womb of terrorists. Paki nuclear weapons were made with Chinese help. We have seen that murderers you create invariably turn against you so if there is a terrorist nuclear bomb, even a dirty one, it will be in China. No other country deserves it more. Let Pakistan disintegrate and we shall be rid of the scourge once and for all.

Last week's repairs of the Hubble telescope by US astronauts was beautiful. It is hard to imagine the intelligence and hard work required to carry out such difficult work in space where any accident would mean certain death. It is hard to imagine that a country which produces such geniuses selects imbeciles to conduct its foreign policy. When Soviet Union broke up Russia was weak and insolvent. Instead of helping it to stand on its feet and develop strong institutions the west chose derision and contempt. The US financed Rose, Orange and other peaceful revolutions in former soviet republics and managed to put some of its stooges in power. It continued to expand NATO to these former republics and wants to set up missile defence shields in Poland. The drunken buffoon, Yeltsin was replaced by a black belt, Putin and the bear is snarling back. The US is losing its influence in central Asia. Yushenko is certain to be kicked out in Ukraine and Sakashvili is barely hanging on in Georgia. The Baltic states are in an economic mess as is Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria and the US cannot help because of its own economic problems. It is turning to China, the most dangerous country, for help. The US is still unable to distinguish its true enemies from competitors. It should develop and strengthen Russia and India to counter China and finish off Pakistan. These countries may be far away from America but 9/11 should have taught the US that distance is no barrier to attack. Imbeciles are no good in planning strategy.

The US is calling for tougher sanctions against North Korea for testing a nuclear weapon. The hypocrisy is mind blowing. The only country in the world to have wiped out two towns in Japan with nuclear weapons the US has been involved in genocide for decades. Dioxin over Vietnam and Laos, depeleted uranium on Iraq, the US refuses to appologise for its crimes let alone pay compensation. What the US is saying is that we have the right to kill you or wipe you out if we please but you should not develop any capacity for self defence in case you hurt any American. The other criminal nation in this complicated puzzle is, of course, China. Hated and feared by all its neighbours its danger is multiplied by it being uncivilised and by its voracious appetite. It is the only supporter of the North Korean regime which is overseeing the gradual death of its people due to starvation. The Burmese junta continues to murder its people due to China's support. Pakistan's nuclear weapons were developed by China. It is feared by its South East Asian neighbours such as Phillipines because of its aggression over the Spratley Islands. It threatens Japan and Taiwan who have to depend on US help for survival. The other major threat of China is the ecology of the entire region. The Chinese tendency to eat anything means they are wiping out all living creatures from tigers to sea horses and may turn the whole of Asia into a barren land. The US in the west and China in the east, will the world survive?

Ever since human society evolved there has been a generation gap between parents and children. Children have always felt that parents are old fashioned fossils set in their ideas and unable to understand them. A hundred years ago arguments may have been on whether to wear dhotis or trousers but there would have been only minor changes between generations. Now, however, the gap is real and big as a mountain. Everchanging technology means that by the time we have learnt to use one gadget it is already out of date. Computers and internet mean that information is passed on within seconds and adopted throughout the world. Not every innovation is progressive however. I still think that the VCR was a much better device than the DVD because it gave me the freedom to record television programmes to be seen at a more convenient time. Having a hard disk in your tv is not the same thing because it will crash sooner or later requiring the hassle of gettting it fixed. In this world education has become as important as nutrition and vaccinations for children. A child deprived of learning computers and english will be the new scheduled caste and will earn in hundreds while others will earn in millions. That is why politicians in India who still force vernacular education on children are enemies of the people. Human sacrifice?

Before the elections the freeloading press was constantly reminding us about the reforms initiated in 1991 by Dr. Manmohan Singh, then Finance Minister and now the Prime Minister, and moaning the fact that being reliant on communist support he has been unable to carry out any reform in the last five years. Well, if he is such an honourable man of such high principles surely he should have resigned rather than hang on to his gaddi inspite of barbs about being a remote controlled PM. Perish the thought. Now that the Congress has won the freeloading press has changed tack completely. We are now being prepared for the fact that no reforms will take place and it will be much the same as before which means good old 'neta babu raj' wherein grand projects to help the aam aadmi will be announced only for taxpayers' money to end in the pockets of politicians and kleptocrats. The aam aadmi will be kept alive on a drip feed of small change so that they stay suitably grateful but remain hungry and naked. The private sector will be threatened with reservation for undeserving people who have barely managed to pass their school leaving exams. High taxes will cripple airlines and devious laws such as censoring the internet will be enacted to emasculate the educated middle class. The Congress cannot exist without the naked aam aadmi and will do everything to keep the people poor and illiterate as they have done for 50 out of the last 60 years. If we had a free press the Congress would not get away with its pernicious policies but our journalists also come from the same society that has been conditioned to beg for alms since independence. A freeloading press has been the biggest success of the Congress.

The Congress never ceases trying to censor the outflow of information. After the Mumbai attacks it shamelessly tried to bring a bill to stop live television coverage of such events but failed, presumably because some politicians own news channels and opposed the measure. Earlier it had tried to censor the press but backed down against massed opposition. It seems that it managed to pass a bill in December which would give it powers to censor content on websites including news items, articles, advertisements and blogs. The censorship will come under six headings namely interest of sovereignty or integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order or incitement to commit any cognizable offence relating to other five reasons. For a party which is full of genuflecting, foot licking, invertebrate chamchas any criticism of the Family could be construed as being against the integrity of India. Democracy is not just winning a chance to loot the exchequer every five years but ensuring true freedom for the people and no freedom is more important than freedom of speech. India is surrounded by countries which fiercely censor the web including China and Iran and there is no internet in Burma. Seems like we are going down that road. How much longer before people are arrested or beaten for what they have written and how much longer before an Indian is begging for political asylum in a foreign country? Loot and shoot.

So President Obama is finding out that being president is more problematic than making campaign speeches. His promise to close Guantanamo has run into trouble from both sides. Democrats refuse to fund the closure because they do not want any detainee inside the US. They are afraid of public disapproval for bringing dangerous men into the country. Perhaps they forget that the US regularly brings in far more dangerous men onto its soil. These are drug lords from Columbia and elsewhere . These are completely unscrupulous men who think nothing of killing judges, policemen or even politicians to prevent capture. Some of them have killed hundreds without any second thoughts yet they are tried and imprisoned in the US without any complaint. Then there is Dick Cheney, the former Vice President, who is going on air everyday lying his head off. His thesis is that since there were no further attacks on the US since 9/11 it was because of information revealed by torture. His bluff can be easily called by releasing all information gathered from detainees under torture and seeing if they were relevant. It must have been a hugely expensive logistical problem to launch 9/11 and the Al Qaeda leadership probably did not have the funds and educated recruits to carry out such an attack. Also with Afghanistan under heavy bombardment they were fleeing for their lives. Yet Americans are listening to Cheney instead of throwing rotten eggs at him. Much like Indians believing the Congess.

What ecstasy! On monday the Sensex jumped within seconds of opening and trading was halted by the circuit breaker. It ended the day up 17%. Fundamentals had not changed since last week. Exports are still down. Deflation in construction, mining and manufacturing is being camouflaged by double digit food price inflation. Oil companies have reported heavy losses and oil price has jumped to near $ 60 a barrel. Fiscal deficit at over 6% means there is no money for further stimulation of the economy. So why did a Congress victory cause such dizzying rise in the Sensex? The answer, according to the freeloading press, is 'continuity' or no change. Already the former Trade Minister, Mr. Kamal Nath has said that there will be no reform of the banking, insurance and retail sectors. The same gang being returned to power means industrialists can continue with the same 'setting' and do not have to bribe a completely new set of gang members and kleptocrats thus saving hundreds of millions of rupees. A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking the revelation of the names of everyone with black money in foreign banks. The previous Congress led government opposed the PIL and one may suppose that the case will be eternally drawn out much like Bofors until people have time to shift there money to safer alternatives. The only good thing is that the evidence is all in foreign hands and cannnot be destroyed. I thought that Indians are goats to vote for the Congress until I realised that there was no alternative. It is so depressing that I wish I had not lived to see this.

Seems like LTTE chief, Prabhakaran has been killed trying to fight his way out of army blockade rather than be caught and hanged. He was a terrorist and a diabetic. Another diabetic, Saddam Hussein did nothing. He should have planted huge bombs all along the highway to blow up the Americans as they drove to Baghdad from Kuwait. He should have poured oil all over the desert and set fire to it as US tanks and humvees drove in. He should have rigged one palace with RDX, invited the Americans in and blown himself up in one final, glorious fireworks display that would be talked about for centuries. Instead he hid in a hole in the ground like a rat, had his mouth examined like a dog, was made to wash his own clothes in prison, was tried and hanged like a common criminal and buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. An ignominious end to one who had been an absolute dictator for a generation. Its a mystery how a stupid coward could terrorise a people for a generation. Meanwhile his victor is gradually coming under the spotlight in the US as drip by drip more revelations emerge about torture and lies about WMDs. George W. is in no personal danger but his reputation could be drawn and quartered in the near future. Ignominy has no friends.

The final results are in and the Congress is set to form the next government. Obscene celebrations by the chamchas would have you believe that they have won a trillion dollar lottery which, in a sense, they have. Now the trillion dollar Indian economy is at their mercy to loot as they please. Also the future of sons have been assured so the loot can continue for generations as it has done so far. The freeloading press has been unbelievably successful in its hatchet job. It has been lying about the economy, conjuring up a rosy future and suppressing the truth. In the last five years the Congress led government increased taxes astronomically, stopped all liberalisation, wasted taxpayers' money on bribing kleptocrats with huge undeserved pay increases and allowed inflation to jump to double digits. We can look forward to more of the same. The massive fiscal deficit means further rise in taxes thus eroding spending power of the people. Inflation of food items has remains stubbornly high and with oil prices rising one can expect further increase in inflation. Exports are down some six months in a row and millions of jobs have been lost in textile, construction and in diamond polishing sectors to name a few. The symbol of the Congress is a raised palm signifying obstruction to any progress and one can expect that to continue. After all without the naked aam aadmi there would be no Congress so it makes sense to remain static and keep the aam aadmi naked.

Seems that pop singer Madonna is to marry her toy boy called Jesus. As a piece of news it is so inconsequential as to be rubbish but it was so nauseating in its perversion that I was disturbed for the rest of the day. After all Madonna was the mother of Jesus and, even though I am not a christian,I am shocked at the symbolic sacrilege. If we believe in God we have to believe that he cannot possibly be insulted. No mud can stick to Him, He cannot be beaten and He is too great to be affected by any abuse. When any religion is insulted it is not God who cares but the believers who are insulted. For instance a dead man does not feel any pain, joy or insult so if a dead man is insulted deliberately it is his children who are being targeted. A while ago a German company put pictures of the Hindu God Ganesha on footware. The company and its directors are temporary and disposable but Ganesha is forever and hence could not care but this was a deliberate and gratuitous insult to all Hindus. In a civilised country people have the freedom to be atheist and have the guarantee of the right to free speech but do they have the right to cause anguish by deliberate humiliation?

In 2007 fellow called Hassan Ali was charged with money laundering. He had apparently transferred $ 8 billion or Rs. 400 billion to an account in Switzerland. Now a spokesman for the Swiss government, Folco Galli has said, in an interview to a private tv channel, that the documents submitted by India regarding the case were forged. He also said that India is dragging its heels in asking the Swiss about details of black money stashed away in Swiss banks. This is only a small news item at the bottom of the front page. There is no sense of outrage at this news report, no editorial denouncing the last government and no campaign to nail the minister and civil servants responsible. After all the freeloading press is hardly likely to embarass the Congress during the elections. At the top of the front page in large letters is the treatment of passengers by Air France at a Paris airport. Appears that a plane was called back after developing technical problems and whereas the whites were taken to a nearby hotel the Indians were corralled in a small room without food and water for the night. When a government, which is solely responsible for law and order, submits forged papers to another country in a massive laundering case then all the people become tainted. Every European who reads this humiliating incident in the papers is likely to develop a deep scorn for India and its people. No point in blaming Air France for being racist. They are just showing what they think about all of us. The only remedy is to hang those responsible by their privates. With the present trash, very unlikely.

It is election day in this hill town. The last day of the month long circus which, to me, is a turf war between political gangs rather than citizens choosing their representatives. All schools, offices, banks and most shops were shut but, thankfully, my friendly vegetable vendor was open, cheerfully overcharging as usual. Various companies and newspapers have been running ads and commercials asking people to go out and vote. Their message is essentially that every citizen must vote to show whether they approve of their sitting member of parliament. Problem is not that your MP is rubbish, which in the vast majority of cases he is, but that there is noone to choose instead. You have the southern fat lady who spent hundreds of millions on her foster ( read bastard ) son's wedding. Then there is the decrepit geriatric sleazeball whose sons are known murderers. There is the rustic buffoon whose chamchas looted all new car showrooms for his daughter's marriage and, looming large, the lady who claims to be oppressed but is reputed to possess over Rs. 20 billion and erects her own statues at taxpayers' expense. These people are very keen on everyone casting their ballot and there is even talk of making it compulsory. However, these scum are not interested in our right to choose our representatives but because a large turnout gives them legitimacy. If everyone votes the winner can claim that a genuine majority of people turned out to vote for him and hence he has the right to do whatever he pleases which means steal, rape and murder. Why should we give legitimise these scum by voting? It is my life and it is unacceptable to waste even a minute for these garbage.

As expected the Iranians have released Roxana Saberi, the journalist with dual American/Iranian citizenship. She was arrested in january and charged with trying to buy a bottle of wine. The charges were later increased to include those of spying. Her first trial lasted barely an hour and she was sentenced to eight years in prison. The President, Mr. Ahmadinajad wrote a letter to the judge of the appeals court asking for leniency which passed a two year suspended sentence thus setting her free to get back to the US. This case shows the Iranians in a very poor light. First, they charge her with one offence and then later make it much more serious thus giving the impression that the charges were trumped up. That is not to say that Ms Saberi could not be a latter day Matahari but the manner of how the entire case was conducted makes it seem that Iranian judges are a bunch of clowns. Second, the fact that she is released after a letter from the President shows that the judges carry out orders of higher authorities. Third, this is clearly a victory for Obama and Hilary Clinton who had gone on the offensive and demanded her release showing that Iran, for all its huffing and puffing, is scared of the US after all. This is a clear strategic and moral victory for the US who have demonstrated that their citizens are untouchable no matter what crimes they commit. A year or so from now we may expect Ms Saberi to write a book describing her time in jail and painting Iranian government in the worst possible light. No doubt the book will be banned in Iran and some copies may be burnt in public demonstrations bringing further ridicule for the lack of free speech. Fanatics are stupid.

So the Pakis are fighting the Taliban. Whether it is because Taliban came so close to the capital or because the americans kicked some Paki ass I do not know but they claim to have killed some 700 militants. It is impossible to know if that is true because Pakis are genetic liars and also because their army is totally corrupt. Starting with Ayub Khan to Musharraf the army has ruled Pakistan on many occasions and controls a lot of land and businesses. Such armies usually become unprofessional and cowardly and it is doubtful whether the Paki army has the guts to really take on the militants. The wonderful thing is that the country which provides much of the inspiration to Al Qaeda is a huge friend of Pakistan and it is Saudi Arabia. Because of its two holy mosques Saudi Arabia is a compulsory pilgrimage for all Paki muslims and its government provides money for religious education for the spread of Islam. This money goes to madrassas which in turn brain wash the young into becoming mujahiddin. Because the country itself is so fanatical its citizens join the Al Qaeda to fight jihad and gain paradise. Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers of 9/11 were Saudis. There is nothing the Pakis can do to stop Saudi financing madrassas and exporting terrorists to their country and the US and NATO are hamstrung by all the oil that country possesses. Therefore, all this fighting is not going to yield anything longterm. A few Taliban will be killed no doubt but thousands will replace them. Only one thing can stop jihadists and it is something George Bush, remember him, recommended. Massive research to find a cheap substitute for oil and then send the Saudis back to sleeping with camels.

The Telegraph in Britain has published a list of expenses claimed by members of the House of Commons. They have started with members of the governing Labour Party and will publish details of all MPs including the Tories and the LibDems. Already it is causing massive controversy as people realise that MPs have been claiming for toilet seats, fertiliser and laundry charges. One lady claimed for two blue movies watched by her husband on pay per view but has since refunded the money which is a shame because when the lady in question is spending all her time serving the people her husband needs to forget his loneliness. Better the virtual, in my view, than looking for actual flesh and blood to pass his time. There is a huge public outcry that MPs are wasting taxpayers money so much so that it is part of BBC's overseas news broadcast. Contrast this with India. Everyone knows our MPs are bandits looting the exhequer but they are also beggars. They beg for free government accommodation, security officers, even free travel on the railways and anything that they can scrounge out of the system. Yet we can see that most are immensely wealthy from the declaration of assets before the elections. They even steal from Hindu gods. Some of the wealthiest places of worship in the world are Hindu temples such as Tirupati which get offerings of hundreds of millions every year yet never declare their accounts. They get so much wealth every year that the money could possibly pay for the education of all the children in the country. Thieves and beggars, the lowest class of human trash is running this country. What hope do we have?

The cat, it seems, has been let in among the pigeons. President Obama has announced changes in the tax structure whereby US companies will have to pay taxes on overseas earnings. Until today companies paid taxes only on the money they repatriated back to the US and paid nothing if they ploughed their earnings back into the overseas country. No more. Indian politicians and industrialists already resemble headless chickens. Some are puffed with indignation at this effort at protectionism, predicting big losses for the IT sector while others say this will only harm US companies by increasing expenses and thus reducing competitiveness. Today the pharma sector has caught cold because they are afraid of the big pharma companies cutting down on backroom operations and R&D that they are doing in India at present. No one has a clue. Politicians are engaged in a turf war called elections and anyway stand for elections to loot the exchequer and not to formulate policy. In contrast the US has a plethora of thinktanks staffed by any number of phds from Ivy League colleges with experts in everything from the effect of locusts on Africa to the recruiting practices of LeT. Yet a look back at US policies does not inspire confidence. From the Bay of Pigs fiasco to the war in Iraq the US has repeatedly made huge blunders. Its support of right wing dictators in Latin America has resulted in the rise of anti american left wing leaders like Chavez and its support of Pakistan has resulted in US troops dying in Afghanistan today. So are we better of in having political thugs and kleptocrats running the country? Perhaps ' Ram bharose ' will see us through. Fingers crossed.

Under Obama's stick the two donkeys, Zardari and Karzai, were calling each other 'brother' and promising whatever. They are two beggars come to ask for alms and would have done anything Obama asked but as soon as they are back home they will go back to fighting. Truth is that muslims will fight and kill. If they are a minority they will fight the majority as in India, Thailand and Phillipines but where they are the majority they will kill each other. Thus the Kurds will fight the Turks in Turkey but will kill Turkmens and Sunnis in north Iraq. In south Iraq Shias will kill Sunnis. In Pakistan Sunnis kill Shias, Ahmadiyas and Sufis while the Taliban kill Pakis and Afghans. Hamas will fight Fatah in Gaza while the Hezbollah will kill Palestinians and the Druze in Lebanon. Black Arab Janjaweed will kill black Nubians in Darfour, Sudan while everyone will kill each other in Somalia. Wherever in the world there are more than 100 muslims there is bloodshed. After all it is the religion of peace. Best are the fellows who live in western countries where they enjoy personal freedoms, which are not present in any muslim country, but want to bring shariah through bloodshed. Abu Qatada, a Jordanian, kept fighting extradition to Jordan on the grounds that he will be tortured there but kept on preaching hatred against the British while his case was going on. If he believed in glorious martyrdom he should have proclaimed 'subhanalla' and gone back to Jordan happily but he knows that once his kind get hold of him his end will be anything but glorious. Unless politicians recognise the truth people will keep dying.

It was heartening to hear Mr. Ben Bernanke testifying that he thinks the recession is bottoming out and he hopes, with a few caveats, that recovery will start towards the end of this year. With respect to Mr. Bernanke, who obviously knows vastly more than me, I still doubt he knows what he is talking about. This entire crisis was brought about by record low interest rates started by his predecessor, Mr. Greenspan, and continued by him. Not only that he allowed the Bush administration to cut taxes and thus add to the already huge liquidity. He has been presiding over massive spending by the present administration increasing deficit to over one trillion dollars. Can he swear that he will be able to reduce money supply if inflation starts to take off? What will he do if the dollar were to fall by, say, 50%? If recovery indeed takes off it will again put upward pressure on commodity prices. Oil has jumped to over $ 54 already. What will he do if oil goes to above $ 100 and chokes off any nascent recovery? If the US starts to recover and customers start buying again it will only increase fiscal deficit by sucking in imports. The East Asian crisis, the dot com crisis and now the subprime one, not one of the hotshot economists foresaw them coming. Why should we believe they have the treatment when they cannot diagnose. We may yet have a Mugabe-syndrome crisis wherein currencies become toilet paper and toilet paper costs in millions. Mugabe will enjoy that. Scary.

In today's paper Rahul Gandhi is featured as quoting his father saying that only 10 paise of every rupee spent by the government reaches its beneficiary because corruption eats away the other ninety. He is promising that if Congress is voted back to power this will be corrected. Yeah, right. Mr. Gandhi is a young man so maybe he should go and read the history of post independence India. This country has been ruled by, er, the Congress for about 50 of the 60 years and mostly by members of his family. In the last five years his mother has been in charge as the puppet master preparing the stage for her sonubaba. In all these years coruption has increased exponentially. Previously a sarkari fellow was described as honest if he did your work without asking for bribe. Today bribe is demanded openly and the fellow who does your work after pocketing your money is very honest. Politicians are criminals, political parties are gangs and the elections are a polite version of turf war. The police are mafia in uniform mainly used by the local government for extorting money from motorists while allowing murderers to go free. So Mr. Gandhi, my question is this: will your party make the police independent? Will you pass a bill which says that all civil cases must finish within two years? Will youshut down the IAS school and reduce the kleptocrats to a third of their present number? Will you stop Bangladeshis taking over this country? Mr. Gandhi, you will not dare to kill a street cow because that would cause a riot but you know that if you shoot me in front of the police chief in daylight and the fellow will cover up for you. Will you gurantee that you will be hanged if you are to murder me? If not, please can it.

Silvio Berlusconi's wife has filed for divorce citing his flirtations with teenage girls. She thinks he is 'shameless.' Surely after thirty years of marriage she must know that he is one of the most corrupt politicians who actually used his majority in the parliament to pass a law protecting him from prosecution as long as he is Prime Minister. Using parliament to condone his crimes is surely infinitely more shameless than jumping, sorry flirting with teenage girls. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela lost a referendum which would allow him to stand for a third term but held another one this year and won. The newly elected President of Paraguay, who fathered one proven and possibly another two as yet unproven children while a Cotholic bishop sworn to celibacy, refuses to resign and wants to move on. Nixon was pardoned by his successor Gerald Ford as was Karl Rove by George W. Now Obama is reluctant to prosecute Cheney, Rumsfeld and company for torture and illegal renditions because it would divide the country. Tony Blair, who supported the US in an illegal war by lying to the Commons resulting in the death of about 170 British soldiers, is still free. Only leaders of small weak countries are made to pay for their crimes. Thus Charles Taylor is under trial while Bashir of Sudan remains free. Noriega who was captured by the US in a blatantly illegal attack on Panama has served time in US prison and has been passed on to France for further punishment. It is for this reason that Kim Jong Il of North Korea desires nuclear missiles. The only medicine is to reduce the power of politicians by forming citizens corporations which will ask questions keep them in check. Hope.

With election circus ongoing the government officials keep telling us that the economy is going to grow at 6.50% and that there will not be any recession in the country. The freeloading journalists faithfully echo these comments without question. However we are also told that industrial production is declining and exports are falling. Inflation is down to 0.54% but food prices are rising at near double digits which means that wholesale prices of other goods are declining which is deflationary. With declining production and exports we can expect job losses or,at best, no new job creation and increasing spending on food means less money to spend on other goods. House prices have fallen by 25% but they should fall by another 30% to reach fair value. With fiscal deficit rising to the stratosphere government borrowing will have to jump putting pressure on interest rates which will hold back recovery. Also the IMF is predicting a global slowdown which in turn will affect exports. Yet we are being told that India is immune. Either our economists are on ecstasy or they are lying to us to facilitate a Congress win in the elections. Once the new government is formed and a proper budget is presented we may get a glimpse into the future. Meanwhile as I predicted a Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court to force the government to investigate and reveal the names of individuals holding illegal accounts abroad amounting to $1.4 trillion. Maybe some of that money is being smuggled back in through Participatory Notes wherein foreignors can invest in the Sensex without disclosing their identities. We are but sheep praying that we will be spared.

At last the government has put the final nail in the Bofors farce by asking Interpol to withdraw its red corner notice against Quattrocchi. This insulting farce has been going on for decades costing the country billions of rupees. There was never any chance of the fellow having to face any sort of justice just as there has never been any punishment for the murderers of sikhs after Indira Gandhi's assassination. Probably the Congress party is not sure of forming the next government and wanted to finally end the matter for the countryman before the election results are published. The point to note is that nothing was done during the five years that the BJP was in government just as nothing has been done on Tehelka or the Kargil coffins scam during the five years of this government. Today political parties are gangs of dishonourable, lying scoundrels and do not want to start a gang war between each other. It is possible that if results are borderline the Congress and the BJP may form a coalition to form a government. Arresting and jailing criminals belonging to the other side may result in tit for tat prosecutions when the other side comes to power. That would be debilitating for each gang and half the members might end up serving time. Horror of horrors the court might not allow them to stand for election again. How would they loot the exchequer and pass on the mantle to their drug taking, murderous children if that happened? The only gainers in this insulting farce were the CBI sleuths who went all over the world eating, drinking and enjoying the pleasures of expensive resorts while failing to catch him every time. I hope they have brought nice souvenirs to remind of the pleasures they enjoyed at taxpayers' expense.