In an appeal against penalising late filing of tax returns, a tribunal in Britain has criticised HM Revenue and Customs saying," It is no function of the State to use the penalty system as a cash generating scheme." Private Eye, August 19. In Delhi car owners, even those with new cars, have to get a pollution certificate every 3 months, an underhand tax, failing which you pay heavy police fines. The tribunal then said," It has long been part of the common law of this country that manifestations of the State must act fairly and in good conscience with its citizens." Former Karnataka Chief Minister, Yedyurappa has been charged with taking bribes and in Gujarat, the Governor has bypassed the state government by appointing an ombudsman, Lokyukta in the state. Both are BJP governments. Not one person has been imprisoned or charged in Mumbai for the Adarsh Housing scam and in Delhi for the Commonwealth Games scam which are both Congress. The CBI has found no money trail linking the former telecom minister, Raja with the companies Reliance and Unitech thus clearing the way for charges against Raja being dropped. The DMK is an ally of Congress and has been taught a severe lesson for being impertinent. The Supreme Court has appointed a Special Investigation Team to investigate the riots in Godhra, Gujarat where a few hundred died but not one person has been hanged or even imprisoned for the Congress inspired slaughter of 10000 Sikhs. So powerful is the Congress that the BJP did not dare to investigate the Bofors scam when in power. Like a black widow the Congress sits inside a vast web of crime and corruption. India is helpless.

In a desperate effort to reduce inflation the government is considering opening up the retail sector to foreign companies such as Walmart. Till today foreign companies are allowed to open stores which sell just one brand of product to retail customers. Companies such as Carrefour, which operates hypermarkets in other countries, is allowed to run, what is known as, cash and carry stores where they can sell only in bulk. Politicians fear that local grocers stores will be unable to compete with these giants who make profit on volumes by cutting margins. These companies bring down costs by sourcing directly from farmers and eliminating middle men thus bringing higher profits to farmers. Finally, one huge incentive for the government, which it does not want to advertise, is that local stores do not pay any tax so the government loses hundreds of billions of rupees every year. To pacify opponents ministers proposed that foreign companies will have to commit to buying at least 30% of goods locally but the commerce department thinks that this will be incompatible with WTO rules. TOI, August 29. India joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT in 1948 which sought to lay down rules governing global trade. The Uruguay round was held in 1986 and in 1994 the WTO was agreed in Marrakesh. This treaty sought to liberalise trade and reduce non tariff barriers. India has been a member since the beginning on January 1, 1995. The General Agreement on Trade a Services came into force in 1994 which liberalised telecom. The World Famous Economist is credited with India's growth story by liberlising the economy. But was he? Or was he just following rules already laid down as a civil servant does? Perhaps a genuine scholar will enlighten us with a neutral review.

A little news item today says that household savings has dropped from 12.1% last year to 9.7% this year which will impact growth. The last time it it dropped below 10% was in 1997-98 when the economy grew just 4.3%. One reason why people are saving less is because of the scorching rate of inflation which shows no sign of coming down in spite of rising interest rates. The Food Corporation will need Rs 853.6 billion to buy stocks of which Rs 677.4 billion will be for subsidised sale. To pay for the rising subsidy bill the government will need to borrow more and will not be able to contain its deficit to 4.6% that it hoped to achieve. The government is desperately seeking new ways to raise taxes which, in turn, raise inflation and cut consumption. The RBI needs to increase interest rates until property prices drop by around 70% which will remove black money from the system and registration tax and stamp duty on sale of properties need to be lowered to 1% as in other countries. This the politicians are unwilling to do because state governments are bankrupt and property taxes are a huge source of income. Also companies complain that high interest rates will increase borrowing costs and impact investment. No it will not. If the RBI brings down inflation to 2-3% and then maintains rates high enough so that property prices increase by just the same rate it will increase consumption by eliminating inflation. A stable borrowing cost will enable businesses to plan long time without the worry of yo-yo rates. Savings will jump as returns will be positive. The other imperative is to reduce population so as to reduce the subsidy burden. Else remain poor.

There is great celebration in India in, what is seen as, a victory for Anna Hazare. The parliament has accepted the 3 points, stressed by Hazare, for inclusion into the draft Lok Pal bill. But does this mean that these 3 points will be part of the final bill or a strong bill will be passed? Not if the criminal politicians or the thieving civil servants can help it. The politicians at least are known to the people and may be vulnerable to pressure but the civil service is a shadowy web of corruption spreading through every branch of government, its immense power lying in its intimate knowledge of the obscure rules and a strong support system bred from a strong sense of brotherhood. It is an evil shadow stretching from coast to coast and influencing every aspect of our lives. Over the years they have built up an extremely lucrative system of insurmountable harassment to force the people to pay extra money for any service, be it a driving licence or a building permit, which generates unknown billions of rupees for these scoundrels and they will fight to the last to protect their earnings. There are millions of civil servants and no ombudsman, however strong, can possibly keep them under check. There are not enough prisons in the whole world to imprison these criminals. The only way is to hamstring the villains in a way that they will find it hard to harass us. Pass a law which prescribes a strict time limit for every service. Every application must be answered by a named officer within, say, one month and reason will be given in writing for acceptance or rejection. Any discrepancy to be immediately punished by cut in salary. Excise the cancer.

To ask the parliament to enact strict laws against corruption is like asking the Cosa Nostra to pass laws against racketeering, smuggling and killing. At least 70 members of the current lot have cases of murder, violent crime and rape against them. They were able to stand for elections because the party leaders gave them tickets for elections precisely because they have money and goons to beat up opponents. Instead of being ostracised they are friends with other politicians which makes every party a political gang. Which is also why they are unable to pass a bill for a strong Lok Pal because the great majority of politicians and civil servants will end up in prison. To see the politicians squirming, lying and snarling is education indeed. Suddenly they are stuck in parliamentary procedures and constitutional niceties yet when it comes to increasing the salaries and expenses of the MPs there is no debate and the bill is passed on a nod. The first bill this government passed on coming into office in 2009 was one to allow ministers to travel free with family, friends and anyone they wanted at taxpayer expense. No delay for procedures or constitution there. Now they are playing a game of dare with the Anna Hazare team piling on the pressure to see if they will allow the old man to die or buckle at the end. That is why they are using every delaying tactic while they bribe and coerce old and new colleagues of Hazare to request him to end his fast. But Hazare should not break off now. To give up without anything concrete would be to lose credibility and he will never be trusted again. Even if a bill is passed the scoundrels may not notify it. That will be another fight.

So, Gaddafi has scarpered through an elaborate system of beautifully built tunnels under Tripoli. How long he will evade capture is for the future. However, till now he has been surprisingly wily in keeping himself and his family alive in spite of deliberate attempts by NATO planes to assassinate him and his sons by bombing civilian targets while lying about hidden military installations. Ceausescu was caught, tried and executed by firing squad. Saddam, stupid till the end, was captured living in and underground hole in filthy conditions, spent time in prison being humiliated by red neck American soldiers and was subsequently hanged. Gbagbo barricaded himself in one of his palaces but was ultimately captured, was slapped by an opposition soldier and is now under house arrest awaiting trial. Samuel Doe was tortured by Prince Johnson for an entire night till he died. Pinochet died of old age. Mubarak is on trial for the killing of protesters while Ben Ali is hiding in Saudi Arabia as is Ali Abdullah Saleh after he received treatment for burns received when rebels fired into a mosque he was in. Mugabe is still very much the president as is Bashar al Assad who is facing increasing protests all across the country. Ahmadinejad managed to suppress peaceful protests by the sheer brutality of his response but could still come to a sticky end if the Supreme Leader decides to pull his plug. Lukashenko seems safe for the near future. Charles Taylor managed to flee to Nigeria but is now facing trial at the Hague. Abacha was apparently poisoned by 6 teenage prostitutes who were Indian. Dictators have colorful ends. We hope Gaddafi can entertain us for longer.

Since this hill state was carved out of UP property prices have rocketed by more than 100 times. Land, which could be bought for Rs 100,000 ten years ago now sell for more than Rs 30 million. Rents for apartments have also increased but by nowhere near as much. A 3 bedroom flat will cost Rs 5 million to buy but may be rented for less than Rs 25000 a month. If the Rent Control Act came into force number properties for rent would increase by another 30% bringing rents down even further. With banks paying interest at 10%, Rs 5 million kept in fixed deposit would fetch Rs 40,000 a month. So why are rents so much lower? The reason is that half the price of the flat is paid in cash or black money so the official price is Rs 2.5 million. When the new state came into being it created a new government with a new assembly and supporting bureaucracy. Thus hundreds of new criminals were suddenly created, able to cream off the exchequer and collect millions in black money leading to the surge in property prices. This is happening all over the country and feeding the crippling inflation which the Reserve Bank cannot control. As if high on Ecstasy the Planning Commission is predicting 9% growth in the next plan. This brings us to Bihar where the government has decided to confiscate properties belonging to thieving civil servants and turn them into schools. The Patna High Court has upheld the confiscation of a multistory house of one SS Verma, an IAS officer. One shameful reason why girls drop out of schools is the lack of clean toilets. At least this house, described as palatial, will have wonderful bathrooms to tempt girls to come to school. Three cheers!

A man's honor depends on his word. The Congress promised a strong ombudsman but went back on its word and has introduced a bill, which is not just weak, but dangerous to citizens because it will help scoundrels to escape justice by threatening greater punishment to whistleblowers than to criminals. Now the Congress wants Anna Hazare to end his fast promising to put his version before the parliament. They must think that everyone is stupid because the Congress and its allies are in power precisely because they control parliament and we know whose version is going to be passed. Hazare has asked for written guarantees before ending his fast. This is such an insult for the Honest Man that anyone with the slightest sense of honor would have resigned his post. So called liberals have been scathing in their attacks on Hazare saying that his methods are extra parliamentary and that he has built up expectations so high that he is bound to disappoint people. Firstly, our parliament consists of criminals who are thriving in the present system and have no intention of seeing their privileges reduced. They have told lie after lie, tried to malign civil society members with false allegations and have even produced false evidence of wrongdoing. Evil has to be fought by any means possible. Secondly, even if Hazare fails does that mean he should not try to rid the country of corruption? The politicians and civil servants are such criminals that they will surely find a way to loot but if a strong Lok Pal bill manages to reduce corruption by a mere 50% that will help the poor more than all the social schemes put together. No wonder liberals are despised as woolly headed.

In September 2009, Andhra Chief Minister, Mr YSR Reddy of the Congress died in a helicopter accident. His son, Jaganmohan Reddy immediately demanded to be made Chief Minister in his father's place. When denied, he resigned from Congress and his seat in Parliament, formed his own party and won the subsequent bye election with overwhelming majority. He is now being investigated for criminally amassing a fortune, rumored at Rs 400 billion, up from Rs 7 million just 6 years ago. Now 26 Congress MLAs and 2 MPs have resigned their seats in his support. This is our great democracy where the Chief Minister post is seen as family property to be passed down from father to son, where a politician can collect any amount of money with complete impunity until he falls out with party bosses and where other politicians resign in anger at investigation of corruption. In the UK Lord Hanningfield and members of the Commons, Jim Devine and Eric Illsley have served prison terms for fiddling their expenses. IN the US, Rod R. Blagojevich, governor of Illinois is facing prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. He has been banned from holding public office in Illinois for life. Former Presidential contender, John Edwards is facing a $ 1.5 million fine and 30 years in prison on felony charges. In India the Chief Minister of Bihar installed his illiterate wife in his place when charged with looting Rs 9.5 billion in the fodder scam and is even now a member of parliament. He is safe because he is a coalition partner of the ruling Congress. Is it any wonder that the scum are fighting dirty to scuttle a strong ombudsman.

The middle east is fueled by hatred. They hate Jews, Christians, Hindus, the US, Israel, other tribes, Sunnis hate Shias and vice versa and so on. To meddle in this poison pot is to invite trouble. Cameron will no doubt enjoy his Thatcher moment when Gaddafi is captured and the rebel hold on Libya is complete but does he have any idea as to who the rebels are or whether they will remain united or fight a civil war? The US meddled in Vietnam resulting in slaughter of millions and the ultimate rout with tails between their legs. They meddled during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the myopic belief that defeat for the Soviets would be victory for the US but that resulted in 9/11 and US soldiers are still dying there. George Bush, father and son, meddled in Iraq leaving the country divided among sectarian groups with Iran holding maximum influence. Now NATO has " liberated " Libya from the hated Gaddafi but for whom. There are rumors that a rebel general was assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood. Pipes through the Sinai supplying gas to Israel have been repeatedly blown up. Recent attacks on Israeli buses by gunmen resulted in the death of 5 Egyptian police by Israeli soldiers in hot pursuit resulting in recall of the Egyptian ambassador to Israel and protests outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo. Under pressure of protests the Syrians sent Palestinians across the Israeli border on the day of Naqba so the present attacks could be to generate tension with Israel to divert people's attention. Or it could be Iran trying to support the Shia regime in Damascus. Western politicians cannot stop from meddling. They can only make it worse.

In their desperate effort to protect the Congress, the footlicking press has dismissed the anti corruption stir as English speaking, middle class and elitist. Anna is no Gandhi they say. Quite. Gandhi was from a well to do, upper caste Hindu family who trained to be a barrister in London and spoke better English than the Angrez governor. The press has not understood the reason for the complete lack of communication between civil society and the government. Accustomed to complete immunity for the most heinous crimes our politicians have forgotten the meaning of the word " honesty ". And therein lies the nub. Our most revered Prime Minister thinks that having clean hands makes him honest while condoning and protecting the Rajas, Kalmadis and Dikshits. He does not know what " accessory " means. The PM is unaware that allowing coalition partners to plunder in order to hang on to kursi is gross Adharma. To promise a strong Lok Pal bill including the PM to tempt Anna to break off his fast and then retracting is deception. To circulate a fake CD trying to malign activists is an act of fraud. To say that Anna is corrupt from head to toe based on disproved allegations, is acting with the support of the US or the RSS or saying that he wants to usurp the powers of parliament are outright lies. To say that Parliament is supreme is to be suffering from an acute delusion of grandeur. We, the people, are supreme and these fellows are our servants and to pass laws which make them immune from prosecution is an act of sedition. Corruption in India comes in myriad guises and our politicians and civil servants are masters. Hang the lot?

The US economy is studied in great detail by many different organisations and individuals. There are official studies, think tanks, famous fund managers and brilliant economists, all contributing to an informed debate about the state of the economy, dangers facing it and what solutions to adopt. The US being the largest economy in the world such close scrutiny is desirable even if political fanatics choose to ignore realities as we saw in the most shameful brinkmanship during the debt ceiling crisis. In India, all we get is a stupid repetition of how strong the fundamentals are and a moronic debate about whether the growth rate will be 8.2% or 8.5%. Politicians like to dish out bromides to avoid a panic in the market, fund managers are dependent on rising share values for their bonuses and brokers earn higher margins from high prices. It is not that India does not have brilliant economists capable of analysing all the statistics, predicting the rate of inflation to expect in the medium term, calculating the amount of black money in the economy and how to tackle it and reading the global economy and chances of a global recession. Sadly everyone seems to be in employment and unwilling to write independent opinion for fear of being sacked. The only negative we hear is that growth has to be inclusive and poverty needs to be eliminated but how this can be done without eliminating black money, which is fueling inflation, and reducing absolute numbers of people is never discussed. This makes us like sheep. Buy shares, buy land, buy gold because their prices will increase infinitely. Is there a huge bubble liable to burst any moment? Sadly we do not know.

Stock markets all over the world fell yesterday and are falling again today. Banks such as Morgan Stanley are predicting a 1 in 3 chance of a global recession. US manufacturing and house sales have fallen sharply but retail spending is still good and oil prices are dropping. In Europe countries like Finland and Austria are demanding collateral from Greece before contributing to its bail out fund. Greek economy is predicted to contract because of the severe austerity imposed on it which will reduce employment and tax revenue thus making it impossible for Greece to repay its loans making default inevitable. European banks exposed to debts of Greece, Spain and Italy are seeing their shares fall precipitously. US authorities have been holding meetings with European banks operating in the US to find out if they have enough liquidity in the US so that US customers do not lose even if loans in Europe turn sour. The European Central Bank has said that an unnamed bank has been borrowing $ 500 million everyday for 7 days which maybe a hint at tightening of inter bank lending. This is what happened in 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. But would it be such a disaster if the global economy goes into recession or even deflation. Unbridled growth over the last few decades has seen the rich getting richer while incomes of middle classes shrank in real terms in the US and the UK. A similar event has been taking place in India. The rich want more money, politicians want money for campaign finance while we suffer. That is why campaign finance reform has been blocked by the rich in every country. A recession may make us more equal.

The Congress failed to appreciate the differences between Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare. Ramdev is young, Hazare is 74 years old. Ramdev is very rich, with Rs 10-20 billion in assets, Hazare does not have anything to his name. Ramdev is a yoga guru, Hazare projects himself as a follower of Gandhi. In arresting Hazare the Congress was responding with arrogance and aggression as it has been doing for 60 years whenever it has seen any danger to its power and expected no reaction from the masses. After all Delhi Police used extreme violence against Ramdev's sleeping followers at 2 in the morning and got away with it. They thought that by arresting Hazare they would be removing the focal point of the country wide anger against corruption but only managed to infuriate people. The whole country united in protest. Seeing their move had backfired the police released Hazare and asked him to leave Tihar jail but he refused unless the police removed all restrictions against his fast. It was a comical situation wherein the police were begging a man to leave jail and the man refusing. Eventually the police and the Congress capitulated and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is cleaning up Ramlila ground for Hazare's fast. Speaking of Hazare our most revered Prime Minister said," However, the path that he has chosen to impose his draft bill upon Parliament is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our Parliamentary democracy." Strange that the Prime Minister does not think larceny, lying to the people, clinging on to kursi by serious foot licking and family dictatorships as " fraught with grave consequences ". They are all scoundrels.

The quality of politicians all over the world is so poor that they would not be able to run a grocers shop between them. President Obama is on a bus tour of mid western states after opinion polls show an approval rating of 39%, the lowest rating for him so far. The ratings for Congress is a dismal 13% approval with a massive 84% disapproval rating. Republicans are disapproved by 72% of the people with 60% disapproving of Democrats. This is because the Republicans held the country to ransom over raising the debt ceiling and Obama capitulated without a fight, both sides looking to next year's elections rather than the welfare of the nation. Across the pond, in Britain, David Cameron was heckled by teenagers in Witney in Oxfordshire which is his own constituency. Cameron has been talking tough on fixing the " sick society " in Britain with harsh punishments for the rioters but young people were unimpressed. There were whistles when he entered and " chicken " noises when he left. TOI, Wednesday, August 17. " He is blaming everyone but himself," said Jake Parkinson, an unemployed 17 year old. " The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. I'd love to go to university, but it is the money that is putting me off." Indian politicians have always been unsavory characters but lately power seems to be concentrated in a group of completely useless people who want to hang on to power at any cost because that gives them an opportunity to loot the exchequer and satisfy their egos by going around surrounded by armed police. The whole mess is presided over by the Honest Man who is completely without honor, principles or a spine. Of all the dangers facing the country the politicians are the most dangerous.

The Capo is out of town with Companion and Indian Zardari attending. Sonubaba is in charge of the country ably assisted by the Honest Man who has presided over the most corrupt government ever. Also in attendance the Bengali Biscuit Babu and the Southern Twister who was down by thousands of votes but managed to twist it around and win by some 300 votes. This is the coterie which decided to authorise the arrest of Anna Hazare, a 72 year old man who wanted to fast against corruption. This was done in the name of democracy which, according to the Congress, means " cast your ballot at the time of asking and then shut up and let us do whatever we like ". Hazare is a sworn follower of Gandhi who used to fast frequently for political reasons. The Congress pretends to follow Gandhi's principles to suit its ends but if anyone is seen as a threat to its noose around the country it reacts violently, as at present, and when it sent its dogs to beat up sleeping people at 2 in the morning. The whole confrontation is about whether to have an ombudsman with powers strong enough to investigate and prosecute corrupt politicians, judges and civil servants. Hazare and the people want a strong ombudsman but the Congress has introduced a bill which gives no powers and proposes to punish any whistle blower far more severely than criminals. Italy produced fascism, the mafia and prime ministers like Craxi, Andreotti and now Berlusconi. We seem to have learnt from them. Pictures of Mubarak inside a cage inside an Egyptian courtroom is inspiring. Will we ever see our scoundrels inside similar cage or, better still, at the end of a rope?

Catching a train leaving New Delhi station at 6.50 am this morning nearly turned into a nightmare. Delhi police had blocked off the front of the station to prevent any terrorist attack. That was a correct. Usually the roads in front of the station are jammed with hundreds of vehicles of all description with thousands of passengers milling around. Any bomb, however small, in that congested area would result in unimaginable carnage. All cars, taxis and autos were stopped at least 100 yards away and people told to walk the rest of the way. However, Delhi Police being the callous, anti people force that it is there had been no prior warnings in newspapers. There was no effort at streamlining traffic and keep it flowing in one direction. Cars tried to approach the station from different directions to be turned away at every approach by a policeman. Not surprisingly there was traffic chaos. People stood helpless in driving rain with their luggage getting wet on the pavement. A few porters that were available were charging 3 to 4 times the normal rates. This was celebration of Independence Day in India's capital city where criminals drive around in official cars with red beacons and sirens protected by heavily armed police while the people are treated worse than cattle. Hemmed on every side by hostile countries, inflation out of control, the economy showing signs of collapsing we had to listen to the usual lies about getting rid of corruption, fight against terrorists, controlling inflation, improving infrastructure and all the usual garbage we have heard many times before. An Indian boot on our necks is no different from a British one. We are still prisoners.

A massive lie being perpetrated on the Indian people by the criminal Congress and the footlicking press is that " parliament is supreme ". IT IS NOT. We, the people, are supreme and these criminal scum that desecrate the halls of parliament are our servants. Black money billionaires they may be but servants they are nonetheless. The Congress glibly uses Mahatma Gandhi for persecuting Hindus, pretending to protect " minorities ", conveniently forgetting Gandhi's habit of going on fasts to get his point. Anna Hazare, a 72 year old Gandhi follower, went on an indefinite fast at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi to protest against corruption. Seeing the whole country supporting him the Congress became terrified that they may be forced to stop their criminal ways and may even have to face justice so they accepted all his demands to get him to stop his fast. As soon Hazare stopped his fast the Congress retracted all its promises and started threatening Hazare and his supporters with dire consequences. Undeterred Hazare has decided to start another fast on the August 16, a day after Independence day, to make the country truly independent by getting rid of criminals. The Congress controlled Delhi Police has put so many conditions on allowing the fast to go ahead that previous police chief Kiran Badi has said," The Delhi Police ( had ) been politicised. These ( restrictions ) are not the work of a thinking police force." On another front the Congress is using its usual slimy tactics to subvert the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee from publishing its report into the 2G scam. The Ndrangheta is nothing, the Congress is the most successful criminal syndicate in the world.

Nothing more entertaining than a nice conspiracy theory. Recently Standard and Poor's lowered US credit rating from AAA to AA+ inviting hostile comments from President Obama and Treasury Secretary, Geithner. But are they really as angry as they show or has S&P acted thus as a favor to the Obama administration? The Dow, which had fallen initially, rose more than 4% at Friday closing. This act maybe the stick Obama needs. He is planning to go on a bus tour and no doubt will blame Republicans for lowering America's prestige, increasing payment on US debt and lack of patriotism for potentially swingeing defence cuts. Not a bad start for his reelection campaign. Meanwhile over in Britain the Prime Minister, Cameron is busy trying to show how tough he is by launching a campaign of persecution against the poor while he hopes to erase public memory of his lovey kissy relations with Rebekah Brooks and News International crooks. He was oh so keen to give a second chance to Andy Coulson, now under arrest, but is promising extreme violence against recent rioters, mostly made poor and unemployed due to his severe austerity program. He has promised to bring out the army, which he is in the process of emasculating, interrupting social media such as Blackberry, much as Ahmadinejad did, and has started to eject families of looters from council housing, a tactic used by Israel on Palestinian bombers and relentlessly criticised by Britain. If the law is to be applied fairly then Cameron should be tried for being an ideological fanatic, wasting money on bombing Libya and sucking up to crooks. It is difficult to be tough as Thatcher. You need balls.

Despite Nobel prize winning economists, highly educated treasury and central bank officials boom-bust cycles continue to affect the economies of the world. Following enormous growth after the dotcom collapse of 2001 the world is facing a severe recession, maybe even a depression. Nobody seems to have any idea as to why this happens so no one can suggest a cure. The main reason is the complete lack of synchronicity between planning by citizens of a country, its politicians and its business heads. Individuals think and plan for a lifetime and for the lives of their children after them. Their financial planning, therefore, spans decades as they buy into mortgage for homes stretching over at least 20 years, buy life insurance and pension plans lasting for their entire working lives. Politicians, on the other hand, focus on winning the next elections in 4 or 5 years time. They will often lower taxes or increase social security payments just before an election even if the measures are inflationary and add to national deficit. Elections are expensive forcing politicians to seek donations from friends in business who benefit from government contracts and loose regulatory supervision. This is why bankers were able to play with sub prime mortgages almost resulting in bankruptcy and then take huge bonuses nonchalantly. Business heads think of increasing profits in extreme short term periods of quarterly reporting. They are then paid millions in so called bonuses which are really glorified tips. They will lobby politicians for lax laws, pay for fraudulent research vilifying climate science or sack thousands of workers for no fault of theirs. Tips are same as begging. Ban them.

The propaganda channels BBC and CNN try to present American and NATO soldiers as heroes trying to bring civilisation to ungrateful Afghan barbarians who respond by trying to kill them. Few days ago 30 American Seals were killed when a Taliban fighter brought down a Chinook helicopter they were travelling in. Today we learnt that the fighter has been killed by US bombing. To justify the killing by portraying the Taliban as cruel murderers one of the widows of the dead Seals was shown with tears running down her cheeks saying,'... he was a wonderful husband and a fabulous father to two wonderful children. He was a warrior for Christ and he was a warrior for our country...." While this video will play well in white skinned ex colonial countries it will only infuriate all Afghans and muslims. Firstly, the US is an invader of Afghanistan and, as such, every US man woman and child in that country is a part of an occupying force and thus fair game. Just as Americans felt violated by the attacks on the twin towers so the Afghans have every right to feel violated by US boots on their soil. It was the presence of US soldiers in Saudi Arabia which so infuriated Osama bin Laden that he formed Al Qaeda. Bin Laden is dead but, by causing the US to attack Iraq resulting its deficit to go out of control and bring it close to economic chaos, he has succeeded in his vow of hurting the US. Secondly, just as the Americans see themselves as warriors " for Christ " so the muslims see them as infidels and Crusaders waging a war against Islam. Muslims are significant populations in every country in the world and breeding like bacteria. Warriors " for Christ " should not underestimate the warriors for Islam. It will be a fight to the finish.

The riots in London are the result of many factors which have been building up over years. British police are known for their brutality, incompetence and racist attitudes. The inhuman practice of kettling as adopted during the recent peaceful protests by students led to some losing patience and attacking the Conservative party offices. The recent riots started from the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan as he was travelling by minicab. The police instantly lied that he had shot first but it appears that a bullet lodged in a police radio came from a police gun. The cold blooded execution of Jean Charles Menezes, an unarmed Brazilian electrician, in an Underground train, at Stockwell station is still fresh. At least 333 people have died in police custody since 1998 but not one police officer has been punished. The murder of Stephen Lawrence has still not been solved. Cameron has blamed the riots on criminals and has promised to punish them severely. That is exactly what Assad of Syria and Gaddafi of Libya are saying. The public was already sickened by the claims scandal. Then came the financial crisis of 2008 when banks were rescued with millions of taxpayer pounds only to see Fred Goodwin of Royal Bank of Scotland walk off with a pension of 1 million pounds/year. Bank executives are again receiving huge bonuses while the Cameron government has embarked on savage cuts in benefits and services leading to increasing unemployment. It is hard to understand how Cameron can find money to bomb Libya while increasing college fees by 300%. Blair had Iraq while Thatcher had Falklands. Cameron wants to make his mark as well. Or maybe he just likes to kill.

Following the 315.69 points or 1.82% fall in the Sensex on Monday today's Hindustan Times has gone all out to reassure investors that India is safe even if the rest of the world suffers a financial meltdown. An article," Ignore financial flatulence, work the real economy ", angrily denounces the sell off in the east because of the financial problems of rich countries. Our most revered Finance Minister is quoted as saying," As India's growth story is intact and its fundamentals strong, we are in a better position than many other nations to manage the challenge." The Chief Economic advisor, Kaushik Basu said,".....in the medium-to-long run, there will be global capital in search of safe haven, we can become the safe haven that a lot of global capital will be seeking." Of course, the great sage, Montek Singh Ahluwalia has shared his wisdom," I don't expect to see a big negative impact but we have to watch the situation", which, like the sayings of all great sages, is beyond us ordinary folks. However, we never hear from the man the Congress-footlicking press has constantly told us is the greatest economist since Adam Smith. In his 7 years in the post our most revered Prime Minister has always talked down to us in general terms saying that everything will be alright if we trusted him. Sadly everything is not alright and we want him to analyse for us in great detail what the economic situation is at present, what dangers could hurt us in the future and what solutions he recommends. We want charts, graphs, maths, the whole enchilada. We may not understand the details but economists will and we will read what they say. So, what say. Speak as a man or cling on to kursi.

It is hard to determine who are the biggest enemies of the India people, criminal politicians, thieving, parasitic civil servants or the freeloading, Congress stooge English press. The first page in today's Times of India,TOI has the picture of spineless Congress creepy crawlies prostrate in front of temple praying for the recovery of Ms Sonia Gandhi. While everyone wishes her speedy recovery the abject adulation of one family is nauseating and cringe making. On page 6, we have complete distortion of news trying to protect the Congress government in Delhi. According to the Comptroller and Accountant General approvals for the game were given in 2003 when BJP was in power, apparently without proper budgeting. However the Congress has been in power since 2004 when all the arrangements were made, infrastructure constructed and payments made. The Congress in Delhi was solely in charge when the organising committee was registered in 2005 and billions were stolen thereafter. The headline - " NDA can't wash hands of games mess: Auditor " is an absolute lie seeking to protect the Delhi Chief Minister. On page 8, under the headline " Compromising positions ", the writer pretends to analyse politicians who have become an embarrassment for their parties but focuses on BJP in Karnataka and Gujarat. There is no mention of petrol pump scam, the massacre of Sikhs, loan melas, telecom Sukhram and the thousands of cases of crime. betrayal and treachery by the Congress. This constant spread of lies by the press has protected the Congress for 63 years and helped one family dictatorship. One Caligula destroyed Rome. We have so many.

Panic all over the world. Markets fell across the world on fears of a double dip recession in the US and Europe sliding into a debt crisis. Yesterday the Nikkei was down 3.72%, Sensex 2.19%, FTSE 2.71% and the Dax 2.78%. The DOW was up 0.54% but was down 700 points for the week. Politicians are unable to fix the problems, not because they cannot but because they are motivated by self interest. Like company CEOs who concentrate on the next bonus politicians do not look beyond the next elections. With presidential elections next year Obama chose to give in to the Tea Party jihadis because he is confident of winning against the current lot of Republican pretenders. Berlusconi has to hang on as Prime Minister to protect himself against the many corruption charges that hang over him. He wanted to increase spending to stimulate growth. Someone must have beaten sense into him pointing to the rising spreads on the bond markets. For a few centuries western countries became fabulously rich with slave labor and looted commodities from colonies. The GATT trade talks conned developing countries into opening up their markets while rich countries kept theirs closed. Raw materials had little tax on them while manufactured products were taxed out of the market. Poor countries exported commodities cheap and imported finished goods at high prices. That is why the WTO talks are deadlocked because poor countries are refusing to be suckers once again. It is impossible to have infinite growth with infinitely growing populations. Perhaps a complete collapse of world trade will focus minds. Decrease consumption in rich countries and babies in poor.

When India earns millions of dollars every year from medical tourism why should anyone go to the US for a simple operation? It is indeed ironic that someone has to spend 3 weeks in the US when Americans are coming here for surgery. Who will pay the millions of rupees it will cost, the taxpayer or the patient? Will the Italian government pay for a foreigner to be treated in the US? How generous we Indians are! The Delhi High Court has opined that Ms Mayawati, Chief Minister of UP, does not have to pay any tax on the millions she received as gift from her supporters because the gifts were a sign of their " love and affection ". Under Indian tax laws husband and wife are not allowed to file joint tax returns and only gifts from first degree relatives are free of tax. We are not aware that judges have been provided meters to measure " love ". Delhi Police have not found any evidence of any politician being bribed to vote for the Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008. When politicians are receiving so many billions for " love " a few thousand rupees are bound to get lost. Delhi Police were forced to start investigating after being forced by the Supreme Court but, of course, the Court cannot force them to do a proper job. Not surprising that these are the same thugs who brutally beat up sleeping women, children and old men at 2 am not so long ago. So vicious was their attack that one woman has ended up with spinal injuries leading to paralysis. The picture of former president Mubarak of Egypt lying inside a cage was inspirational. Will we ever see our rotten lot inside a similar cage? Or, better still, at the end of a rope? What a wonderful dream.

Ever since the crisis of 2008 politicians and economists have been frantic for growth. Asian economies are said to have resisted the recession and quickly resumed high rates of growth while the US and Europe lag behind. So, who have benefited from this " growth". Number of millionaires, those who have $ 1 million of free cash, has increased to 11 million who possess a total of $ 42.7 trillion. There are 103000 super rich with $ 30 million to spend. There wealth is now $ 15 trillion. In China Ferrari sales were up by 50% and Mercedes by 112%. Gold keeps hitting record levels everyday. In India one tycoon has been given a salary of Rs 70 million even though company profits fell 20%. Sales of expensive cars such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi have jumped in the first 6 months of 2011. BMW president Andreas Schaff said," ..... everywhere we keep reading and hearing about a slowdown but when we look at our sales or enquiries at our dealerships, it has never been better. If the first half of the year is so good, the second half would only be better." Anyone hearing that would think that India is already one of the richest countries in the world until you read that Maruti, which makes cars for the middle classes, sold 25% less cars in June compared to last year because of rising interest rates in a desperate effort to control inflation and increased fuel prices. Rich people love growth because they make more money, a lot of which is black. Politicians love growth because increased tax collections mean more money to loot. All this black money leads to uncontrolled inflation killing the middle class. So what is the future? Greece or Somalia?

I have been calling him a gasbag since the beginning but I did not know that he was going to prove me right so spectacularly. In a complete capitulation President Obama accepted everything that Tea Party Republicans demanded so as to be able to increase the debt ceiling and avert a default on US debt. Now, even the New York Times, that used to eulogise him, is calling this " surrender ". One writer said that Hillary Clinton would have made a better president and another said that Obama is just one notch above Jimmy Carter because he got Bin Laden. In one way the Americans are fortunate to have ideological fanatics like the Tea Party loonies. At least there are some people who object to high taxes and demand reduction in the size and spending of the government. Sadly we have no such protection in India. Criminal politicians are unanimous in increasing their pay and perks. The government was able to buy not one but 5 luxury aircraft for useless ministers at a cost of Rs 9.5 billion with not one question from opposition MPs as to why this was necessary. Salaries of MPs was increased by 80% and their discretionary spending increased from Rs 10 to 50 million. Vast hordes of useless, thieving civil servants are paid huge salaries to harass taxpayers and police are employed to guard criminal politicians and beat up sleeping innocent citizens. Meanwhile China is blaming muslim Uighurs trained in Pakistan for riots in Xinjiang province forcing ISI chief Pasha to rush to Beijing to kowtow most humbly. Jihadis have always avoided China because these cowards know that the Chinese will react savagely. Let us see if they have the guts to protect Uighurs or retreat with their tails between their legs.

Politicians are ecstatic that private companies have promised to pay Rs 320 billion to build highways. In a kind of auction construction companies bid for the privilege of building roads for the government. This must be an Indian miracle seen nowhere else on the planet where the government not only does not spend a paisa for road building but rakes in billions of rupees. This has 2 effects. One, since these companies have already spent huge amounts of cash to be awarded a project they resort to substandard construction so that roads develop potholes after one rain shower. The murder of a government engineer in Bihar, who reported such work, is an example. Second, constructors will be allowed to charge toll every 50 kms making windfall profits. That is why they are paying this official bribe. This is an insidious tax on car owners. About half the price of every car sold in India is tax. On top of that we have to pay a lifetime road tax at the time of purchase and petrol is highly taxed. The reason why motorists have to pay extortionate taxes is because the government is bankrupt. Government controlled Air India is being kept alive by a steady drip of taxpayer money because criminal politicians and thieving, parasitic civil servants travel free with family and friends. Air India's losses are to reach Rs 1 trillion but the politicians will not allow restructuring or get professional managers to run the company because that will expose all the corruption in the airline. More sinister, politicians deliberately price cars out of the reach of the poor. They are determined to keep the aam aadmi naked and hungry. That way they can buy votes with alms.

In today's TOI we learn that the world's largest drinks company Diageo paid $1.7 million in bribes to government officials in India who were responsible for purchasing or authorising sale of its brands and thus made a profit of $11 million. The company also paid bribes in Thailand and Korea. It has agreed to pay $ 13.3 million of its profits along with a penalty of $ 3 million to settle the charges out of court. It is great to read of a multi national being penalised for corrupt practices but the sad thing is that its punishment is not in India where it committed its acts but in the US where the SEC discovered the bribes and determined the punishment. In India civil servants can only be prosecuted if politicians grant permission which, since they are partners in crime, is seldom granted. Our most revered Prime Minister has revealed why criminals are never punished in India. In response to the threat of opposition MPs accusing the Congress of corruption in the just started monsoon session of Parliament the Prime Minister said," We are not afraid of discussing the issue of corruption. The Opposition also has too many skeletons in its cupboard." Very interesting comments. By saying " also " the Prime Minister admits that Congress is corrupt but seeks to justify it by throwing mud at the Opposition. Recently some politicians belonging to another party in UP have been charged with rape. Would the Prime Minister condone acts of rape by Congress fellows because some other politicians had done it? This is the man that our freeloading press is always praising as the most honest and the greatest economist in history. The economy is collapsing and crime exploding. We know why.