Will our prayers be answered?

As 2013 fades away, with its tanking economy, blatant Chinese incursions into Indian territory and sexual assault on an Indian diplomat by US officials, we Indians are left wondering if 2014 will be any better. To win elections with ' minority ' votes by persecuting Hindus the Congress proposes to pass a Communal Violence Bill. The Congress view is that Hindus being the majority in India do not need any protection, ignoring the fact that in the world we are a minority and gradually becoming even smaller. Out of a total of 7 billion people in the world Christians comprise around 3 billion, Muslims 2 billion, Buddhists around 1.5 billion while Hindus are just about 700 million. Former Indian Mujahideen chief, Yain Bhatkal wanted a nuclear device to bomb Surat in Gujarat. His boss in Pakistan, Riyaz Bhatkal told him," Anything can be arranged in Pakistan." A senior intelligence officer said," We have been coming across different kinds of IEDs over the years. The reason is that terrorists are undergoing all kinds of advanced army-level training in Pakistan with the help of the ISI. And if terror outfits have access to nuclear bombs, then it is very dangerous for us." Meanwhile, after sexually assaulting her, the US is going ahead with its trumped up charges against our consular official in New York. They reckon that since our government turns the other cheek to the mad dogs of Pakistan in spite of repeated terrorist attacks we will back down if they increase the pressure. A nation of ignorant baboons, the US will bare its teeth at the weak but will run with its tail between its legs if confronted, as it did from Vietnam and Iraq and will do from Afghanistan. The Chinese keep crossing over into our territory whenever they feel like, clearly knowing that we are too weak to respond. The Communist Party has realised that to stay in power it must make its country economically and militarily strong so that the people have something to boast about. Party leaders work hard to increase the wealth of citizens and provide them with the best infrastructure in the world. Our politicians, on the other hand, want to keep the majority of people poor and illiterate so that they can be bribed with handouts to win elections. They are only interested in looting the nation. We can only pray. Happy New Year to everyone.

Everything they do is without any honor.

The Congress has vowed to crackdown on inflation and corruption. But why now? The Congress grabbed power in 2004 by promising free handouts on taxpayer money and even increased its seats in the parliament in 2009 by more bribery. Common sense told us that you cannot go on spending more than you earn, therefore fiscal deficit and inflation will rise while the rupee will plummet. Even as the Consumer Price Index was inching above double digits our most revered Finance Minister was forcing the Reserve Bank not to increase interest rates so as to somehow maintain growth rates. The motive was entirely dishonorable. High inflation reduces the effective debt of the government, low interest rates help it to borrow vast sums for more bribery and growth, even if hollow, increases tax collections and helps useless expenditure. Knowing that it will lose next year's general elections it is rolling over Rs 850 billion of debt to next year.  Artificially low rates encouraged companies to go on a borrowing binge. According to a report by Credit Suisse 3700 listed companies have a combined debt of Rs 24 trillion which is one quarter of the GDP. Rs 8 trillion of this debt was on the books of companies whose interest payments exceeded their operating profits. Scary. Naturally banks are sitting on gigantic Non Performing Assets. " 30 year assets were built with 10 year money and we were expecting repayment from the eighth year," said the Chairperson of State Bank of India, Arundhati Bhattacharya. This meant that when the growth rate dropped and inflation shot up, reducing demand, companies were suddenly faced with lower sales and revenues. By encouraging borrowing low interest rates resulted in a massive increase in property prices, resulting a humongous bubble. In turn, this increased black money to astronomical levels, fueling inflation. To cling on to power the Congress allowed its members and coalition partners to go on a rampage of corruption by reining in the CBI where its criminal friends were involved but bringing false accusations against opposition politicians. Having received a drubbing in 4 state elections and with general elections in 5 months it is talking about inflation and corruption. But this is not because of moral values or love for the country. It is an entirely dishonorable attempt to fool the people yet again. Perhaps this time even fools are not buying it.

You need billions to serve the people. It's only fair.

Our most revered Speaker of the Lok Sabha is already living in a bungalow on Akbar Road but now has been given the use of another one on 6, Krishna Menon Marg for her father's trust. Combined cost of both properties would not be less that Rs 5 billion. She, of course, is of the Congress. She was also in the news last year for having traveled abroad 20 times in 35 months since assuming office. The country most visited? Switzerland. She took along others for these jaunts. The more the people enjoying the less the questions. Total cost to taxpayer? Rs 100 million. Our previous President went on 12 foreign trips lasting 79 days and covering 22 countries. Her last grand trip was a 12 day extravaganza to Seychelles and South Africa along with 100 people, including son in law and grandchildren. Naturally all this menagerie needed a Boeing 747. Total cost - just over Rs 2 billion or $40 million. In January this year we learnt that her security cover extended to her family and included 18 constables and one sub-inspector, apparently breaking even our most corrupt government rules.  Our most revered Prime Minister took more than 70 foreign trips at a cost of Rs 6.5 billion, 15 of these trips were during the time the parliament was in session. Our politicians work for only a few weeks a year but even so our Prime Minister did not bother to turn up to answer questions, showing his contempt for parliament. Where Congress gives the lead will others be left behind? Assembly members in Karnataka are going on a ' study tour ' of Brazil, Argentina and Peru in South America where they will learn Samba and Tango, visit the Amazon, mountains and beaches. Whether they will study the minute details of nubile South American beauties we have not been told. On the way back they will study the desert in Dubai. They will be well advised not to study women in an Arab country because they have a habit of lashing offenders. Luckily Dubai has beautiful shopping centers and huge duty free shops at the airport where prices are really cheap. The worrying thing is that the Chief Minister says that this happens every year. In Maharashtra ministers spent Rs 210 million on redecorating their official bungalows between 2010 and 2013. The economy maybe diving but hundreds of billions are being spent with gay abandon. However, the cynical should remember that this helps politicians only to serve the people.

I spy with my little eyes, says Kejriwal.

Being the capital Delhi has the parliament, the central government, an assembly, a state government and 3 municipalities. It therefore has thousands of politicians, tens of thousands of civil servants and hundreds of thousands of ' business ' people who thrive on their close contacts with some or all of the above. Not surprising that it is also the corruption capital of India and probably among the tops in the world. The slogan for Delhi is " sab chalta hai ( everything goes ), it is part of the game ". If you protest that corruption is not a game but a cancer eating the core out of our nation you will be met with an uncomprehending stare and most probably a muttered " sala pagal hai ( stupid fellow is mad ) ". Not surprising that the promise of a clean government by the incoming Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal has set the rats running in different directions. He has promised to audit the power companies. Delhi has been divided into 3 zones and one company has been given monopoly license to supply electricity in each zone. Electricity rates in Gujarat are the same as in Delhi but bills are at least one third less in Gujarat than in Delhi. Either there are additional taxes here or the meters are faulty. He has promised to supply 700 liters of water free to every household. Delhi is extremely hot in summer and water supply is deliberately interrupted to force people to buy water from private tankers at Rs 1 per liter which means that a 1000 liter tank costs Rs 1000 to fill. The water mafia was raking in tens of billions of rupees and there can be no doubt that money was passing up the chain right to the top. There was no supply of water today in south Delhi probably because of sabotage, no doubt as a warning to Kejriwal. The central government has suddenly increased the price of CNG by Rs 4.50 per kg which is a huge rise of 10%. In an effort to reduce pollution the previous Congress government forced public transport to convert to CNG so bus, auto and tax fares will all have to rise substantially which will be blamed on the new government. An undercover operation by the news channel, Headlines Today showed how civil servants are frantically shredding files to hide their loot and large numbers have applied to be transferred out of Delhi. Why work if you cannot loot? Total panic in response to a warning. What happens if he really goes after the scoundrels?

India, a criminal paradise?

Seems that a gangster, called Vikarm Paras, wanted in over 100 cases of murder, robbery and extortion, was able to escape after drugging his escort of 4 policemen at Old Delhi Railway Station. How was he able to get them to eat something laced with drugs. Not just that, he took along 4 MPS sub-machine guns that the police carried so now anyone trying to arrest him could easily be killed with the same arms. Apparently in 2012 he was able to escape after taking his escort into a clothing store by promising to buy them designer clothes. This shows that our police are 1. completely untrained, 2. so poorly paid that they are easily tempted and 3. not properly equipped to restrict a criminal during transfer. The notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan escaped several times from custody in spite of having killed scores of policemen. In any other country a cop killer would never be able to escape because every other policeman and woman would be looking for vengeance. A visit to any court in India will show police bringing criminals for trial, holding them by the hand, without any handcuff. Judges are brimming over with the milk of human kindness for dirty criminals but have no sympathy for victims unless forced by public opinion. Thus, Rathore, a pedophile was sentenced to a laughable one year in prison but let out after only 6 months in an insult to Ruchika Girhotra. But even after a murderer is sentenced to life in prison our kind politicians let them out for enjoyment on the most frivolous excuses. A common one is illness which cannot be diagnosed and for which Amarmani Tripathi, murderer of Madhumita Shukla, was allowed out for months. Gurbaksh Singh Kalra, convicted terrorist and killer of former Punjab Chief Minister, Beant Singh will be allowed out on parole after a hunger strike lasting 42 days. Could not have been much of a hunger strike if he is still alive after 42 days. Does the US let terrorists out from Guantanamo for refusing to eat? No. They are forced fed and kept in chains. That is why the US had no major terrorist attack after 9/11 while Indians continue to be killed regularly. However, punishment can only come after a trial. But not if you are a civil servant because the government does not allow the investigation to proceed. Thus, 20 civil servants are to go scot-free because the CBI is not allowed to investigate them regarding exporting cheap rice to African countries by private companies who charged the market rate and made windfall profits. India has to be a paradise for criminals.

We need businesses, not beggars.

The credit rating agency, Fitch warned that after the mauling in the recent elections in 4 states the Congress would be inclined to increase spending on social schemes which would vastly increase the Current Account Deficit. The government is committed to limiting the fiscal deficit to 4.8% of the GDP but had used up 84% of the deficit by 14 October. At the same time tax receipts are not rising as predicted in the budget, leaving a big hole to be filled. That is because growth is stuttering along at below 5% level. Uncontrolled inflation and indiscriminate increase in taxes on all goods and services have reduced demand which is showing in reduced sales and thus reducing taxes. There are only 2 ways the fiscal deficit can be reduced : either by increasing tax collections or by reducing expenditure. Tax collections increase naturally when the economy is growing with a low inflation, encouraging people to spend more. Trying to increase taxes by increasing rates and levying taxes on all services just add to inflation and further reduce demand. Demanding more taxes from earnings of foreign companies or suddenly changing rules regarding transfer payments discourages Foreign Direct Investment which India needs desperately. Reducing expenditure is equally tricky. The Congress relies on unproductive handouts to its ' vote bank ' to win elections and there will be extreme resistance to any attempt at reducing bribery on taxpayer money. Thus, expenditure on vital infrastructure and reforms are being cut, hurting growth prospects in the long term. But surely our most revered Finance Minister keeps boasting about 9% growth rates a few years back so he can work his magic once again. Er, no. That growth was a combination of reforms under the previous BJP government, very low interest rates in the west, allowing our companies to borrow at very low rates, and a construction boom, due to low borrowing costs, leading to a massive property price bubble based on black money generated by numerous scams. That the economy is growing at less than 5% even though interest rates are close to zero in the US and Europe shows how the Congress has destroyed it. Exorbitant land prices have increased expectations so that it is virtually impossible to find land for building factories. We need to move away from wasting taxpayer money on handouts to encouraging wealth creation. First we have to get rid of politicians. Is that possible?

Genuine article or just a gigantic pain in the whatsits.

What their real intentions are only time will tell but till now the Aam Admi Party or AAP, which won 28 seats out of 70 in the elections to the Delhi Assembly has been a delightful pain in the tender regions of all the political parties in India. Born only a few months back out of the anti corruption movement of Anna Hazare it has broken virtually every tradition and has caused extreme consternation among all politicians who had a comfortable understanding to loot the country regardless of party or ideology. While parties are very secretive about their finances the AAP put all contributions on its web site. It relied on unpaid volunteers to campaign door to door instead of paid rallies. Members were always available to the media to answer questions, giving it lots of airtime on news channels. The BJP with 32 seats could have tried to form a government but were terrified to play the usual game of bribing members of other parties because of the AAP effect, especially with general elections in a few months. BJP fellows are extremely upset at missing out on becoming ministers. After all, what is the point of spending vast amounts of money to win a seat if you cannot multiply it by becoming a minister. The Congress with just 8 seats offered support to the AAP hoping to snipe from the sidelines and gain from its failure. Problem is that the Congress in Delhi does not want reelection along with parliamentary elections in May because it does not want to be associated with the extreme unpopularity of the central government and so will have to keep AAP in power till those are over. The danger of a long partnership is that the Congress will have to share the blame if the AAP does fail to carry out its promises. Also the AAP is threatening to examine all the books and expose any corruption of the previous Congress government. Imagine having to support people who want to change your address to Tihar jail. Now that it has decided to form the government the AAP has said that it will refuse cars with flashing lights. This will cause acute discomfort to all civil servants. Imagine a 2 paisa deputy secretary coming in an official car while the minister drives herself in her small personal car or comes by the metro. Succeed or fail the AAP has already changed the rules of the game. We hope it stays long enough to make the changes permanent.

Hereditary power is extremely harmful.

In a scathing comment the veteran politician Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party blamed the ' jholawallahs ' for the defeat of the Congress in the recent elections in 4 states. The term jholawallah means someone who is carrying a bag, usually made of cloth or jute. It is a pejorative term for those with socialist tendencies who go around doing, what they think is, good for the poor, a sort of NGO fellow in flipflops as it were. " Indira Gandhi was a strong leader. She used to take decisions and had the capacity to implement them, so during her time such jholawallahs didn't grow," he said. This has been taken to be a criticism of the National Advisory Council or the NAC of Mrs Sonia Gandhi which is an extra constitutional body dictating policies to the Congress led government. The NAC has 11 members under the chairmanship of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and, except Anu Aga who is a business person, all the others are socialists or ex civil servants. While the Right To Information act has been helpful the Council's interventions in economic policy have been nearly disastrous. The NREGA scheme has cost Rs 2 trillion since 2006. It has resulted in a jump in rural wages by setting a floor, which has contributed to the massive food inflation, and has increased fiscal deficit. Had the same money been invested on roads and electricity it would have encouraged business and helped the poor by increasing the number of jobs. Undeterred the NAC was instrumental in the passage of the Food Security Bill, which will further add to the deficit, and isolated India at the WTO meeting in Bali recently and forced a compromise which maybe very costly in the future. However, the Council is strong only because the government is weak. Our most revered Prime Minister was built up as a World Famous Economist by the freeloading press so he should have protected the country against woolly headed social schemes or resigned in protest. Our most revered Finance Minister declared such schemes were ' game changers ' but is now going around blaming his predecessor for the impending credit downgrade to junk status. To balance its budget the Congress has increased taxes to unbearable levels, further reducing demand. Perhaps next year's elections will eliminate all families and truly liberate India. We can only hope and pray.

A race of the mediocre, who will lose?

The meek, we are told, shall inherit the earth. Instead the mean and the cheats have grabbed power in every country of the world. There were George Bush and his unscrupulous poodle, Tony Blair who rid the world of the evil tyrant, Saddam Hussein, apparently to bring peace and prosperity to the Iraqi people. Instead they have been responsible for the deaths and maiming of more people than Saddam could have done in 10 lifetimes. Then, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy did the same to Gaddafi in Libya by killing at least 30,000 Libyans. Today Libya is a country of armed gangs and Al Qaeda and people are still dying. Did they learn anything from their stupid meddling in events that they did not understand? No. Sarkozy was kicked out, to be replaced by Francois Hollande, the most unpopular President in the history of France. This time they were going to be oh so cunning. They would not get directly involved but will get rid of the evil dictator, Bashar al-Assad by supplying ' aid ' to the rebels. However, when there are free goodies to be had Al Qaeda is not going to miss out even if they have to kill other rebels in the process. So now Britain and the US are stopping even non-lethal aid to the rebels. What about the non-muslim, non-black Barack Obama? He is supposed to be a master of the lofty rhetoric. Or hot air in layman's language. He was going to bring peace to the world by refraining from war, withdraw from Iraq, control finance companies and bring affordable healthcare to every American. He has, after a fashion. Although many have lost their previous health cover even though he had promised they would not. Republicans have stopped or delayed budgets, are threatening to cut spending on social security and have held up appointments to key posts. Iraq is sliding towards civil war, Libya is already there and Afghanistan will be taken over by the Taliban with Pakistani support while he continues to supply money and arms to them. He has allowed the NSA to run amok, spying on everyone including friendly countries, infuriating leaders. He has presided over cold blooded murder of children and civilians by extensive use of drones. Perhaps he thinks he is safe. After all who will dare touch a former president of the US of A? Maybe things will change. Maybe he will need to be strip searched and his cavities examined. In an unpredictable world you never can tell. Can you?

There is a complete lack of ambition.

In all the cacophony regarding the arrest of an Indian consul in New York we have been deprived of the facts of the case. Apparently the maid making the accusations is being supported by an NGO. NGOs need to raise money for the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by their directors so it is in their interest to create an emergency where none exists. It is for this reason Russia has cracked down on foreign funded NGOs. US officials are trying to occupy the moral high ground by claiming that the maid was not being paid the minimum wage. That is easily countered. Firstly, she was living with the family, so rent and food should be calculated as part of her wages. Secondly, Alabama does not have any minimum wage. In Montana it is $4 and in Oklahoma it is a paltry $2 for businesses with annual turnover of less than $100,000. There was a high court order in India on the maid and her entire family was flown out surreptitiously by some US citizens which shows that there was a premeditated conspiracy. These people can be easily identified from CCTV pictures at Delhi airport and should be arrested on a charge of kidnapping and activities hostile to India. A few days in Tihar will focus American minds wonderfully. As for that slimy quisling, Preet Bharara, he obviously fancies himself as some sort of a star and has visions of running for office someday. We should honor his wishes and treat him as a star. The government should pay paparazzo in New York to follow him night and day for as long as it takes. It would be fully legal and cost a few million dollars. If he has ambitions for higher office he will need to raise money and sooner or later he will slip up. Ask Eliot Spitzer, the terror of Wall Street. The Pakistanis regularly help the Taliban to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan and then ask for more money and arms. But do this lot have the guts. No. Already government stooges are writing articles advising the importance of good relations with the US and there are reports tying the consul with the Adarsh scam in an effort to discredit her. The reason is that there are 73 ministers who like travelling abroad, especially to the US. They have little or no ambition of making India rich and strong so that they are respected abroad. Instead they are happy to steal money, try to show their superiority by treating us with contempt while wagging their tails when confronting a white fellow. How sad for us?

Fever maybe a sign of serious illness.

In a human being fever for a short time is treated with an aspirin and chicken soup but when it lasts for weeks and months it is a sign of serious underlying disease, from tuberculosis to cancer. It is the same with the economy where inflation is a sign of overheating. It maybe seasonal, when it lasts for a few weeks, but when it cannot be controlled over a period of years then it signifies serious problems. Trouble is that the problems are caused by politicians and this breed never likes to take responsibility for its actions. Our most revered Finance Minister pleads his helplessness at every forum, blaming his predecessor, Mr Pranab Mukherjee for the economic mess, conveniently forgetting that he was the one who created the mess between 2004 and 2008 when he started fuel subsidies, converted a Current Account surplus into a deficit and started all those juicy social schemes which helped Congress win in 2009 but resulted in the massive fiscal deficit which is stoking the fires. This is what he said recently," Demand is being stoked by the fact that we have high fiscal deficit and that fiscal deficit was not contained for a fairly long period, I think over a period of two years." So cute, isn't he? But has he really tried to control inflation since he came back into Finance last year? He has tried every trick to pressure the Reserve Bank from raising rates. Even now he says," I have been advised that inflation has got entrenched and monetary policy does not have or has very little impact on food prices and fuel prices." What is that supposed to mean? What does he mean by " entrenched "? Does it mean that no attempt should be made to control food prices which are killing the poor? Not just that. He is actively stoking inflation by keeping interest rates low. India has the lowest real policy rate, which is the difference between interest rate and the rate of inflation. Real policy rate is positive in Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea which means the interest rate is higher than the rate of inflation so savers get real returns on their investments. It is negative in Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, the US and the UK, the highest being in Turkey where it is -2.80. In India the real policy rate is a whopping -3.45%. In fact the US, Europe and Japan are worried by very low rates of inflation. The only cure is to get rid of the cause.

Are the rats deserting the Congress ship?

Have these gentlemen seen the writing on the wall that they are writing complete opposite of what they have been preaching for years. One man writes," I am delirious with joy that the tide is turning." And what is the tide whose turning has made him so delirious? It is the defeat of the Congress in elections in 4 states earlier this month despite throwing handouts on taxpayer money to bribe voters. Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan was a ' case in point '. Why? Because he used the revenues from oil in his state for all kinds of social schemes, such as free prescription medicines, pension schemes and schemes for women. And yet  the Congress was thrashed, ending up with just 21 seats to BJP's 162. The article says that the poor feel demeaned to be given handouts such as the NREGA scheme which pays the rural poor for 100 days every year for doing no work. This, along with the Food Security Bill, was supposed to be a ' game changer ' for the Congress to win the parliament in 2014. So the conclusion in the article is that the people are sick with corruption and are refusing to be treated a beggars. The other gentleman is supposedly an economist and he writes that it will be dangerous for the Congress to resort to more social schemes to try and win elections in 2014. He says that budget figures can be fudged but will not fool economists or foreign investors. Really? He was clearly fooled because he has been writing articles, singing praises of the Congress, for years. He also mentions Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan as an example of abject failure of bribing the voters. He says that the Food Security Bill failed because various state governments were already distributing food virtually for free. He cautions against even greater social spending, such as on free pilgrimages for people, free medicines, free energy efficient CFL bulbs or free mangalsutras for anyone getting married, because this will only add to the fiscal deficit and even if a large portion of the deficit is rolled over to next year's budget it may result in a credit downgrade to junk status. That will initiate a stampede of foreign funds because many of these funds have internal rules forbidding them from investing in countries which are not credit worthy. It is men such as these that have encouraged the Congress to bring the country close to bankruptcy. Surely they should say sorry.

A weak state is always naked.

The Indian government has reacted angrily against the US government for subjecting a Deputy Consul in the Indian Consulate in New York to degrading and perverted treatment. Her maid had absconded in June and she was accused of false statement on the visa application of the maid and of paying her less than the minimum wage. Why this required a strip search, cavity search and DNA collection is difficult to say. Apart from malicious perversion, that is. This is being orchestrated by New York district attorney, Preet Bharara who is of Indian origin. No doubt he has visions of running for political office someday and is showing how tough he is. It is easier to get convictions from a jury against foreigners than against local whites. Seeing the disrespect that Obama receives from the Republican base Bharara should remember that he will always be a coolie for white Americans. In Delhi the government has removed concrete barriers from around the US embassy. This is stupid because security is an internal matter and should be decided by threat perception and not as special privilege. The government has also taken away special privileges from the US embassy staff without telling us why they were given such privileges in the first place. But where did the Congress find a spine in the first place? We know that Congress fellows are a bunch of spineless creepy crawlies whose only mission in life is to genuflect to The Family.The same Congress saw nothing wrong when our most revered Prime Minister went on bended knees to Sharm al-Sheikh to offer peace to Pakistan just a few months after the Mumbai attacks. This maybe a delayed reaction to a summons being served on Ms Sonia Gandhi while she had gone for a medical check up to the US in September. Since she will not obey the summons the court could issue a warrant for her arrest in which case she will never be able to go to the US. Nor to Europe because US law is paramount there. Which means that Ms Gandhi will be safe only within the borders of India and therein lies the mystery of the Congress spine. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a French citizen and Chief of the IMF was taken in handcuffs from an airplane in May 2011. The US will never dare do this to a Chinese citizen. Because they want Chinese money and China will react violently. Only the strong are respected.

The economy does not forgive stupidity.

After receiving a drubbing in the state elections earlier this month the Congress has suddenly woken up to the public rage caused by uncontrolled inflation. After insisting for over a year that growth at any cost is more important than inflation our most revered Finance Minister, the man solely responsible for this unnecessary suffering of the people, has admitted that inflation was responsible for the defeats but did not have the guts or decency to apologise. He blamed the states instead. The Wholesale Price Index rose to 7.52% in November from 7% in October and the Consumer Price Index rose to 11.24% in November from 10.17% in October. Food inflation, which affects the poor the most, because physical labor demands more calories, rose to a blistering 19.93% in November from 18.19% in October. Food inflation will moderate a bit as the effect of the fantastic monsoon rains kicks in but, if prices fall a lot, income of farmers will go down causing anger in rural areas. With general elections in 6 months time the FM has few options left. If inflation is left unchecked the Congress faces a rout but trying to bring it under control is fraught with danger. Congress fellows know only one way of winning elections, that is by bribing the ' vote bank ', and any effort to cut expenditure results in enormous anguish. Finance Ministry fellows seek to cut Rs 20 billion from the NREGA scheme, Rs 120 billion from the Rural Roads scheme, Rs 20 billion from the Rural Housing scheme, Rs 32.65 billion from the Watershed scheme and Rs 40 billion from the Livelihood Mission scheme. Already the Rural Development Minister has written an angry letter to the Prime Minister describing the cuts as ' completely unreasonable ', ' savage ' and ' demoralizing '. Another way would be to increase interest rates which we have been saying for at least 2 years. Trouble is that Indian businesses went on a borrowing spree because rates were kept at unreasonably low levels because of the stupid desire for ' growth ', and increasing rates may result in bankruptcies. The Reserve Bank has stopped United Bank from lending any more money because of the amount of bad loans on its books. With growth purely on the back of hot money the danger is that trying to fill in the cracks may result in the whole edifice collapsing. The economy is very unforgiving.

Jyoti has left us in darkness.

Exactly one year ago today a young woman, named Jyoti was viciously raped by 4 men inside a bus in Delhi. The attack was so savage in its brutality that all her intestines were ruptured, eventually causing her death due to infection. ' Jyoti ' means ' light ' but what followed her violation was perhaps the darkest period in our history. In order to conceal her name the press named her ' Nirbhay ' which means ' fearless ' as though this young woman, out for an innocent evening with her boyfriend, had any choice in the bestiality visited on her. Was it an attempt to make her sound noble as though she had volunteered her life in the cause of her country, as women do in the armed forces, and thus sanitise the disgusting event to protect the Congress government? There was a spontaneous outpouring of anger at this senseless destruction of a life and people, especially the young, came from all over the country to demonstrate on the streets. The politicians completely ignored the event at first. Safe in their billion rupee bungalows, paid for by the taxpayer, travelling in cars with flashing lights, claiming right of way over ambulances and fire engines, and protected by a posse of police, armed with automatic guns the loss of one life in a country of 1.2 billion is of little concern to them. This when Delhi had a woman Chief Minister, of the Congress, and a woman totally controls the Congress which runs the central government. When the anger boiled over at the callous disregard of the politicians they reacted the way they have always done when faced with peaceful protests. With brutal force. People were savagely beaten up, gassed and arrested on false charges. When a policeman collapsed and died, probably due to the exertion of thrashing people, it was immediately announced that he had been beaten to death by the protesters. This was an excuse to clamp down even more brutally and eventually the protesters had to flee to save their own lives. Later the lie was exposed. The policeman had died of a heart attack. To cover up for their earlier mistake the politicians suddenly brimmed over with tender love and she was sent to a Singapore hospital for treatment. She was probably dead by this time anyway. The result of this cruel farce? Rape cases have doubled since then. Poor Jyoti. Her light was extinguished twice - once by her attackers and then by the politicians. Poor Indians - we are imprisoned in the dark by our politicians.

You cannot kill an idea.

Till now people in India had become used to the fact that criminals became politicians because that gave them power to control the police and so stay out of prison. To hide their corruption they corrupted the police and the CBI so violent crimes, such as rape and murder, went out of control. Certain institutions such as the Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General and the Supreme Court tried to keep them in check but it was like trying to hold back the tide. Politicians resented being held to account for gross misuse of taxpayer money on the excuse of reducing poverty. First create poverty by levying extortionate taxes on all goods and services, then throw handouts at the poor in the form of various social schemes and skim the cream off the top. Anyone demanding accountability was accused of being anti poor and vilified. If people agitated for justice they were severely beaten up. If high taxes and indiscriminate spending caused soaring inflation it was an excuse for more handouts such as the Food Security Bill which aims to distribute wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 a kg to 800 million people, which would be more than the whole of North and South America combined. Until now. Less than a year ago a new party called the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP sprang up in Delhi and decided to contest the assembly elections held a couple of weeks back. Why promise a little here and a little there, they decided to promise everything to everyone. The poor were promised free water, electricity at half price, regularisation of all unauthorised colonies and cheap food. The middle class was promised complete transparency, no corruption, no cars with flashing lights holding up traffic, no free accommodation at taxpayer expense and open government. Young people were seduced with more jobs as prosperity increased. At first the established parties dismissed the AAP as a joke but the AAP went on to win 28 seats out of 70 in Delhi and in the process, inflicted a humiliating defeat on the 3 time Chief Minister of the Congress. Now the parties are refusing any horse trading as in the past. The Congress has introduced the Lok Pal Bill which it had scuppered and the Finance Minister, who had arrogantly dismissed inflation, is talking about controlling it.  Pundits dismiss the AAP as a temporary phenomenon but if it can create the idea of complete intolerance of corruption it will have done its job. We wish it all the best.

Should have listened to Mom.

As we grow up our mothers teach us not to lie or steal, to respect others and serve the country. Sadly, Congress fellows forgot their own mothers to prostrate themselves to a foreign woman with such abject servility that they have sickened the entire nation as the recent humiliation in state elections have proved. So servile are they that no one dared to tell her that opinion polls predicted a rout. " We were nervous meeting her....jostling like school children....no one wanted to talk first," confessed a Congress General Secretary. Shades of North Korea? To divert attention from the Commonwealth Games scam before elections in 2009, which brought such international shame on India, the Congress refused a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation on the 2G scam. The opposition fell into the trap and the entire abuse was concentrated on the DMK. Now the DMK is refusing to ally with the Congress for the coming Lok Sabha elections. DMK heir apparent, MK Stalin has described the Congress as " untouchable ". Oh dear. To bribe the electorate the Congress resorted to massive spending on diverse handouts. This resulted in inflation but the RBI kept interest rates low until CPI went into double digits. As late as last October, even as people were being crushed by rising prices, slashing demand, our most revered Finance Minister was pressuring the RBI to reduce interest rates. Echoing Tagore he said that he would walk alone if need be. Returns on savings became negative as the rate of inflation was higher than interest offered on term deposits by banks. To protect their money people started to buy gold but that increased the Current Account Deficit and the threat of credit downgrade loomed ominously. To make it unprofitable the government increased tax on gold to 10% and on jewellery to 15%. Smugglers were ecstatic. Gold imports of surrounding countries have boomed and their CAD are becoming uncomfortable. Sri Lanka imported $110 million worth of gold in the first 4 months of this year compared to $150 million in the whole of last year and gold import of Pakistan has shot up to 3,265 kg in the first 2 months of this year compared to 347 kg last year. So desperate is the Congress that it is looking to overturn the Supreme Court verdict criminalising homosexuality. There go the minority votes that the Congress persecuted Hindus for. They should have listened to their birth mothers.

Crooks feel so comfortable in India.

A report by Global Financial Integrity, based in Washington in the US, ranks India 5th largest exporter of illicit money. Between 2002 and 2011 around $5.9 trillion were transferred out of developing countries. In 2011 alone $946.7 billion, generated by crime, corruption and tax evasion, drained out of poor countries. India's share in this was $84.93 billion in 2011 and a total of $343.04 billion between 2004 and 2011. GFI President, Raymond Baker says," Anonymous shell companies, tax haven secrecy and trade- based money laundering techniques drained nearly a trillion dollars from the world's poorest in 2011, at a time when rich and poor nations alike are struggling to spur economic growth." Where is all that money going to? The UK has 7 tax shelters and the US has 9. In the US, Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming and Washington have incorporation laws similar to tax havens. This might explain why Indian politicians keep running to the US on flimsiest of excuses. No wonder India is ranked 94th on Global Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International. These figures are not surprising when we consider that most of our civil servants and politicians are criminals. Within the last 5 years we have been regaled with so many scams that it is impossible to remember the list. Trillions of rupees looted by the scum have to be stored somewhere. Those who have the means keep the money abroad in numbered accounts while the rest invest in properties, thus creating the mother of price bubbles. This relationship is wonderfully illustrated by the adventures of Mr Ashok Khemka who alleged shady land dealings by Mr Robert Vadra, son in law of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Mr Khemka is an officer in Haryana which has a Congress government and the Congress will do anything to protect The Family. Thus Mr Khemka has been charged with misconduct by the Haryana government while civil servants, who were found to be complicit in shady deals by the High Court, have not been charged. Even more incredible, there are intelligent and educated people who actually advocate not punishing civil servants for the crimes they commit. Apparently this frightens them so much that they stop working. Make it a law that if a file is not cleared by one month they lose one month's salary and see how they jump. Should we be making excuses for criminals to make them feel safe?

Individuals with moral courage are game changers.

Speaking at ET Awards 2013 our most revered Finance Minister said," Reforms require game changers. Game Changers are not individual men or individual women. Game changers are ideas. Game changers are institutions." Oh dear. Is he saying that Gandhi was not a game changer? Ideas do not grow on trees but come from individuals who are original thinkers and are not afraid of criticism. It is the Congress party which has destroyed the economy by playing the same old game of bribing the " vote bank " with taxpayer money and destroying institutions such as the CBI by using it to harass opponents while deliberately messing up cases against friends. Game changers are not always for the good however, as was exemplified at Nelson Mandela's funeral. There was Robert Mugabe who has murdered thousands to stay in power, destroyed the Zimbabwean economy and is determined to hang on to power even at the age of 89 years. There was Tony Blair skulking in the background. A war criminal who was a shameless poodle to George Bush and who apparently had " multiple encounters " with Wendi Deng precipitating her divorce from Rupert Murdoch. The present President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma is definitely not a game changer. Accused of corruption and rape, married 6 times with 20 children, some of whom are from affairs with other women, and spending $20 million of public money to extend his private residence to house his enormous family. We know and loath his type in India. He was booed every time his picture appeared on screens. Obama and David Cameron are no game changers either. They could not resist squashing Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who seems quite a babe, to take a selfie. Cheap thrills. Mandela was definitely a game changer. Imprisoned for 27 years on Robben Island by the apartheid regime he brought about a peaceful transition to black rule without bloodshed. In the movie about him he is played by Morgan Freeman. When told to change the symbol of white supremacy, the Springboks rugby team he says," That is selfish. It does not serve the nation." About whites he says," We have to surprise them with restraint and generosity." It took great courage to tell the truth to people who had been brutally suppressed for a century. Sadly, our lot are puny crooks and liars.

Socialism is dead. Let us bury it forever.

Seems that our socialist friends in Venezuela are using blackmail on ONGC Videsh ( OVL ). Apparently the government has been taking money from its oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA to fund social schemes, leaving it short of cash. Now PdVSA is withholding $421 million in dividend payments to OVL to force it to pay for the entire investment in the 2 oil projects although it holds 40% share in one and just 11% in the other. Before we start getting angry about Venezuelan perfidy we should remember that this is exactly what our government has been doing. In mid-October our most revered Finance Minister called heads of all Central Public Sector Enterprises, including ONGC, and demanded higher dividends to reduce the exploding budget deficit, purely due to social schemes. He is demanding Rs 730 billion in dividends this year compared to Rs 550 billion last year. When Hugo Chavez became president in 1999 he used the country's oil wealth to start social schemes. This allowed him to win 3 elections but inflation soared and the Bolivar dropped in value. On 1 January, 2008 the Bolivar Fuerte, or strong Bolivar, was introduced in exchange for 1000 old Bolivars. At introduction it was 2.15 to the dollar. As inflation soared it dropped to 4.30 and then on 13 February, 2013 it was adjusted to 6.30 to the dollar. Chavez died on 5 March 2013 and was succeeded by Nicolas Maduro who does not have the same charisma as Chavez did and so has continued with social schemes. Inflation has soared to 54% and Caracas has become the murder capital of the world. It was President Lula who started Bolsa Familia where families were paid directly provided they kept their children in schools and took them for health check ups. The Congress thought it was good a wheeze to win elections and started the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme but without any conditions. A jubilant Congress fellow even called it a " game changer ". However, inflation, especially in food, was going out of control. So the Congress brought in a Food Security Bill which promised cheap food to around 800 million people. Sadly, this broke WTO rules on subsidies so our Commerce Minister went to the negotiations in Bali determined to wreck the entire trade deal if we were not allowed to break the rules. Naturally we infuriated everyone. Socialism perpetuates poverty. It must be made a criminal offense to use it to win elections.

Most of our growth came from scams.

A couple of days back the World Business Report on the BBC showed a group of young women eating sushi at a " kitty party " inside a luxury mall. There is so much money in India now that the top designer labels are opening outlets in cities, confident of handsome profits. And yet we are told that only 35 million people pay any income tax and the Congress has been spending trillions of rupees in the name of " inclusive growth ". Bank loans to farmers were forgiven, the MNREGA scheme pays the rural poor for 100 days a year for fictitious work, farmers are paid a Minimum Support Price for grains which is higher than the market price, tribals will be paid a MSP for forest produce, The Food Security Bill promises to provide wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 a kg to around 800 million poor people, a Backwards Regions Grant, Below Poverty Line cards which are better than winning a lottery and an endless list of handouts. If we are such a poor country who buys handbags for Rs 2 million each and shoes for Rs 1 million each? How did they make so much money? We have people like the late Ponty Chadha who could get monopoly license to sell liquor as well as permission to provide midday meals in schools in UP because of his proximity to politicians. There are the Reddy brothers who were making trillions from illegal mines in Karnataka and 2 former Chief Ministers were named in the Goa mining scam. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General estimates that Rs 1.86 trillion were lost in the Coalgate scam in which mines were distributed to family and friends.  Then there were the 2G scam, the Commonwealth Games scam, the Tetra trucks scam, the Scorpene submarines scam, the Augusta-Westland helicopters scam, the Railway Board scam and other scams yet to be reported. Billionaires in India refuse to repay loans taken from banks. They use their connections to politicians to get bank officers to restructure loans by issuing new ones. Banks are sitting on trillions of rupees of Non Performing Assets. A report by Credit Suisse says that 10 large infrastructure companies have combined bank debt of Rs 63.1 trillion, which is half of the GDP of India. That is why land prices are zooming up, inflation is uncontrolled and luxury retailers are coming here. The vaunted growth is built on stolen wealth which is why it is not generating taxes. BBC should not be surprised.

It can only be good to light fireworks underneath the criminals.

Yesterday, Sunday was a tumultuous day as votes cast in the recent elections in 4 states were counted. From early trends it was clear that the BJP was going to win big in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan while it was nail biting stuff in Delhi and Chhattisgarh. For a while it seemed that the BJP, under Chief Minister Raman Singh, would lose Chhattisgarh because of the sympathy vote in the Bastar region where 30 Congress leaders, including Mahendra Karma, the architect of Salwa Judum, were killed in May. Eventually Raman Singh won a comfortable majority with 49 seats out of a total of 90. While it was a straight fight between the Congress and the BJP in 3 states, Delhi had a new party called the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP, which had chosen a broom as its election symbol, in a deliberate provocation to the other parties. The AAP promised a transparent government free of corruption, a Jan Lokpal Bill to tackle corruption in government and no deal with any other party as they are all corrupt. It is no wonder that traditional parties hate the AAP but the people loved it and it won 28 seats out of a total of 70 in Delhi. Not just that, the AAP chief, Arvind Kejriwal humiliated 3 time Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dixit of the Congress by over 25,000 votes. Pundits are claiming that this is the end of winning elections by dishing out freebies to the poor on taxpayer money but sadly, that is not the case. Raman Singh is known as " chawal wale baba " in Chhattisgarh because he was giving rice, gram and salt to the poor almost free. Shivraj Singh Chouhan won in MP by giving money to girls, distributing free bicycles to children, subsidised food grains and 24 hour electricity to rural families. Ashok Gehlot lost in Rajasthan despite giving wheat at Rs 2 a kg, pensions and free medicines in government hospitals. The AAP was promising to reduce electricity bills by half, free water and other handouts for the poor without stating how they were going to pay for them. The danger is that the Congress will see this as a victory of handouts and pile on social schemes to win the general elections next year or leave behind a bankrupt economy if it loses. We wait to see what effect the AAP has on criminal states like UP, Bihar and Maharashtra. At the very least it has put some fear in the criminals who were so comfortable till now.

There is a pot of gold at the end of a well lighted road.

Manufacturing is usually labor intensive and for a poor country like India with hundreds of millions of young people providing cheap labor we should be having a thriving manufacturing sector, like China has. In an effort to stay in power the Communist Party in China built up gigantic modern infrastructure and actively helped companies to set up factories to provide employment to its people and supply cheap products all over the world, helping to keep down inflation, which encouraged central banks to keep interest rates low which, in turn, encouraged people in rich countries to go on a borrowing binge to buy Chinese made products, making China the second richest country in the world. India, on the other hand, has a so called democracy which means elections every 5 years. Unfortunately for us our politicians, being largely of the criminal class, took the easy option of wasting taxpayer money on social schemes to bribe the poor instead of improving education, building wide roads, ensuring constant electricity, universal healthcare and measures to reduce population. The consequence is that vast numbers of Indians have remained poor, dependent on handouts to survive, which is what politicians want. More than 3 million jobs were added in the organised sector between 2004 and 2010 but a survey by the National Sample Survey Organisation showed that there was a loss of 3 million jobs in the total manufacturing sector. Which means that the unorganised sector, which employs many more people, lost 6 million jobs. The unorganised sector produced 12.6 million new jobs between 1993 and 2004 but only 1 million new jobs between 2004 and 2012. It was partly due to the strong rupee which hampered export related industries such as textiles, garments, leather and gem cutting. Exports have rebounded since the rupee depreciated against the dollar but the Congress is trying desperately to strengthen the rupee, probably to control inflation. The infrastructure sector is in absolute shambles because projects were given to cronies who wanted to make windfall profits but have been halted by the CAG. A report by Credit Suisse says that 10 large infrastructure companies have a combined debt of Rs 63.1 trillion. Will we always remain poor for the sake of winning elections?

Every bad action has a much worse reaction.

Isaac Newton's third Law of Motion states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. That is true in the pure world of physics but in the messy world of human beings an action maybe completely ignored and forgotten or result in exaggerated response. Thus, every bad action results in much worse reaction, because of the multiplier effect of millions of emotional human beings. The BJP government between 1998 and 2004 had lowered taxes, reformed telecom, bringing about a mobile revolution, reduced deficits, reduced subsidies in fuel and generated a Current Account surplus. In its overwhelming greed for power the Congress promised freebies to the poor who are happy to get mouldy bread today than jam tomorrow, not realising the diabolical ploy in the Politics of Perpetual Poverty. Thus trillions of rupees were wasted on a massive lie called " inclusive growth " instead of on productive infrastructure which would have allowed the poor to move out of poverty by starting small businesses, better education and improved health. This massive spending resulted in huge deficits, high inflation, an explosion in property prices, leading to accumulation of black money, and a fall in the value of the rupee. The government is now stuck. To reduce deficit it has to cut expenditure, but this will reduce growth. To reduce inflation interest rates need to go up but that will increase borrowing costs for industry and cause many companies to go bankrupt as they are sitting on massive loans which they need to restructure. To reduce CAD exports need to be encouraged by a weak rupee but that will increase prices of imports, especially oil, and add to inflation. To survive in next year's elections more humongous bribes need to be paid but that only adds to the fiscal deficit and inflation. The Congress thought that at least one painless method of reducing CAD would be to reduce the import of gold. After all purchase of gold by the people is completely unproductive and just locks up finance. So they increased taxes on gold from 2% to 10%. Gold imports fell but sadly so did precious dollars from the export of jewelry by 54% to $4 billion because of shortage of gold. Gold demand in Thailand has doubled as smugglers use drug routes to fill the demand in gold. Bad faith results in bad action. The reaction is terrible for India.

India needs patriots, not excuses.

At a keynote address at ET Now conclave in New Delhi on 29 November our most revered Finance Minister said," I don't produce growth. I don't produce growth, I don't deliver growth. No government delivers growth - government delivers the conditions for growth." Politicians, especially Indian ones, are known never to take responsibility for their actions. Last week the Prime Minister of Latvia, Valdis Dombrovskis resigned after a rood collapse at a supermarket killed 54 people. He came to power in 2009 and is credited with rescuing the economy from collapse. A government or finance minister may not be able to produce growth but they sure can destroy it as ours has done by indiscriminately wasting money to buy votes to win elections. The FM compares his record with that of the previous BJP government, boasting about the growth rate between 2006 and 2008, completely forgetting to mention that this growth purely due to the reforms instituted by the BJP, a flood of cheap money from abroad, subsidies on fuel and record borrowing by business companies because of abnormally low interest rates. He brags that the best GDP growth rate of 9.6% was in 2006-07, the lowest fiscal deficit of 2.5% in 2007-08 and the largest rise in foreign exchange reserves by $92 billion in 2007-08. True, but oil was at 64 dollars per barrel and the rupee was allowed to rise to 39.33 to the dollar. The foreign exchange rise was due to borrowing by businesses and hot money looking for higher returns from the stock market. Inflation was 4.74% only because the strength of the rupee kept inflation low by keeping imports, especially of oil, cheap. That was the time when the Reserve Bank should have increased interest rates to bring inflation down to below 3%, controlled excessive borrowing and bought large amounts of dollars to bring the rupee down to between 45-50 to the dollar which would have increased exports, reduced the CAD and built up a comfortable cushion so that we would not have to worry about the Federal Reserve tapering its bond buying program. We had a Current Account surplus from 2002 for 4 years. Even now, more wasteful social schemes are being invented to try and win elections next year. The FM says that the best is yet to come. Yes, when the Congress is wiped out.

Will we survive by ourselves?

The Doha round of trade talks at the WTO, which have been going on for over a decade, is going nowhere in Bali in Indonesia as India refuses to discuss its Food Security Bill. " For India, food security is non-negotiable," said our most revered Commerce Minister, Anand Sharma. " Public procurement at administered prices is often the only method of supporting farmers and building stocks for food security in developing countries. Need of public stockholding of food grains to ensure food security must be respected," he thundered. Sadly, we cannot believe his pious words because we are not convinced that the bill was passed to help poor people. We are of the opinion that the bill is an extremely cynical ploy by the Congress to win next year's general elections and will do genuine harm to the economy and to the poor. By paying a Minimum Support Price for food grains the cost of food goes up. A higher price encourages farmers to divert farmland to grain production creating shortage of fruits and vegetables as shown by the recent food inflation. Hoarding of grains by the government causes artificial shortage and, since India lacks adequate storage capacity, vast amounts of food are wasted. India is not the only country which pays subsidies to its farmers. The US pays billions of dollars of subsidies to farmers, some of whom are billionaires while the butter mountains and wine lakes of the European Union are legendary. Under WTO rules no country is allowed to pay subsidy of more than 10% of output and the fear is what the Congress will give away on other aspects of trade to protect the Food Security Bill. Memories of Sharm-al-Sheikh linger. Our talks with Asean for a Free Trade Agreement have fallen through recently. A trade agreement between India and the European Union is going nowhere after years of negotiations. The EU wants a reduction in duties on cars and wine, which means alcoholic drinks, which India is not prepared to concede because the government needs punishing taxes to pay for wasteful social programs. Meanwhile Europe and the US are pushing ahead with negotiations to conclude a transatlantic trade deal that would create the biggest trade block ever. The WTO will become redundant and they will dictate trade terms to others. We are not in Asean, Apec, Nafta and will not be in TTIP. On our own we will be crushed by the others. All to win lousy elections.

Does democracy end with elections?

In India if you see newspapers showing pictures of 3 or 4 pretty girls cheerfully giving the finger it means they have just voted in some elections. They are showing the indelible ink mark on their left index fingers which is applied to prevent bogus voting. Today is Delhi's turn to elect a new state government and voter turnout seems to be higher than in other years. Educated people are usually reluctant to vote because they see it as a waste of time. Political parties are legalised gangs, full of criminals guilty of the most heinous crimes, usually controlled by families and buying votes from legions of poor people with promises of free handouts at taxpayers' expense, never mind the cost to the economy. All these freebies have to be paid for so taxes are among the highest in the world making everything so expensive that the vast majority of people cannot afford them. Thus poverty is the excuse for keeping people poor so that they will be so grateful for the few cheap rubbish thrown at them that they will vote for whoever promises the most. So the election commission has incorporated a NOTA or " None Of The Above " button on the voting machines which is meaningless because even if a majority of people reject all candidates they will not be disqualified but the person with just one vote will win if the others get no votes. The gang which wins forms the government which means they can do whatever they like without having to account for their actions. They can order 12 luxury helicopters from Augusta-Westland at a cost of Rs 30 billion for their comfort, travel abroad with families and friends at will, make vast amounts of black money from dishing out coal mines, sign away our security at Sharm-al-Sheikh and destroy the economy with useless social schemes to keep a foreign woman in power. And then tell fancy stories to lull us into stupor. Our most revered Finance Minister writes how he is fighting to save the economy from collapsing since he returned to the ministry, completely forgetting to mention that he is the man responsible for all the social schemes responsible for the uncontrolled inflation and fiscal deficit. He talks about how glorious everything was in 2007 without talking about how he has destroyed the economy and how India is still 94th on the Corruption Perception Index with a score of 36 out of 100. Democracy has become the last refuge for the villains.

There can be no growth without education.

We can rejoice. The great sage of India, Montek Singh Ahluwalia has seen bottom. He now expects great growth in the economy. But he does not say how. A report by PeopleStrong, a human resource company, says that jobs will increase by a mere 1.4% next year. The good news is that the skills of the those joining the labor force have improved, the bad news is that only 34% of them are employable. A previous study found that only one in four was employable. India turns out more than 4 million graduates every year of which more than one million are from professional colleges and 600,000 are engineering graduates. That is not surprising when this government has criminally ruined education by banning examinations in schools and guaranteeing promotion to a higher class for all students. This was done because the Congress levied a new tax on the middle class when it passed a Right to Education Bill which forces private schools to reserve 25% of seats for poor children. Most of these children would have illiterate parents who would not be able to help them with their studies at home and would fare badly in examinations. So no exams. What this has done is to give a permanent holiday to teachers because now they have no need to teach anything because no one can judge what the children know. Programme for International Students Assessment tests 15 year old children in reading, maths and science. In 2009 India came 73rd out of 74 countries, just above Kyrgyzstan but below Trindad and Tobago with a population of just 135, 000, less than that of a small town in India. So the Congress did not allow any child to appear in the test in 2012 and has said that India will not participate in 2015 either. Not only that the Congress has cut the education budget by Rs 40 billion to reduce fiscal deficit which has ballooned because of the wasteful social programs. After all children do not vote, do they? On the other hand a report by Credit Suisse says the 3,600 top companies in India have a debt of $400 billion and have difficulty in paying back because of the fall in the value of the rupee. 80% of loans are in companies which have not paid any interest in 4 quarters in the last 2 years and 26% in companies that have not paid interest in 8 consecutive quarters. Robbing our children to fill their own pockets. Wonderful.

Will we get a proper government this time round?

Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have had their say. In a couple of days it will be Delhi's turn as we vote to elect the next state government. In the other 3 states it was a straight fight between the Congress and the BJP but in Delhi the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP is the joker in the pack. People are sick of constantly rising prices of utilities, horrific crimes, especially against women, and a brutal police force more interested in protecting criminal politicians than serving the people. Crime is born from corruption. Delhi has the misfortune of being the only city in India with both a state government and the central government. The state government was involved in the Commonwealth Games scam which brought us shame across the world. Roads were repaired a couple of months ago in anticipation of the elections but potholes have returned. During this one month electricity demand is at its lowest because air conditioners and fans have been switched off and it is not cold enough for heaters. Still we suffer periodic blackouts. We only get to know of very few of the numerous scams. One was the theft of Rs 200 million from the money for building night shelters for the homeless. The Delhi Anti Corruption Branch tried to suppress the crime but it was exposed by the Vigilance Commission. From 2G to Coal mine allocation to Tetra trucks to Augusta-Westland helicopters the political gangs constituting the central government have been very busy collecting trillions of rupees. Some of that money will probably be invested in winning parliamentary elections in May next year so that they can continue to collect more moolah while thwarting investigations by the CBI. Already one party has been distributing bottles of alcohol in poorer parts of Delhi while another one has been distributing 10 kg sacks of flour for women and alcohol for men. Many hundreds of billions of rupees will be spent till May next year. Whether this will provide a stimulus to the economy or merely increase inflation only time will tell. There is a chance of a hung assembly in Delhi. The AAP is saying that it will refuse to form a coalition with either the Congress and the BJP as they are equally corrupt. That will mean President's rule with reelections in 6 months. The Congress will try everything to prevent elections in Delhi coinciding with the national ones because of the Modi factor. Will they support an AAP government just to keep the BJP out? We can only hope that these elections will be more than an entertaining circus.