We elect members to our parliament, state legislatures and local
governing bodies regularly and they form the government, frame laws,
rules, regulations and policy. The judiciary interprets and pronounces
judgements based on these laws, but these organs of state have
little power to decide what we think, what we aspire to become and what
our attitudes are. It cannot decide for us what jobs we will take up or
what sort of education we want, but can only provide us with options and
ensure fairness and freedom to choose. We make our own decisions and in
this aspect, the state has little role to play.
Our country has seen several instances of crimes against those
belonging to lower castes, women, tribes and minorities. The government
can only act by prescribing punishments for such acts and cannot be
expected to mark its presence in every street corner or in every home
and probe our activities. It is true that government can encourage and
promote development of those belonging to lower castes, women etc but
ultimately it is up us, the individuals, to treat our brethren with
respect, dignity and honour. This is where Amir Khan's television
endeavour "Satyameva Jayate" has its place, in influencing and educating the public, in
generating awareness about the evils that plague us, in a simple yet
effective language of a common man and one, thanks to his celebrity
status, people will listen to more than they will heed the words of our
politicians.
The solution to a skewed sex ratio is very simple, treat girls as
equal to boys. The government cannot frame a law for this, go to every
home and ensure this happens, our society must change because it feels
the need to change and not because there are rules and regulations and
incentives to promote the birth of girls. The role of government in
these areas is limited, the role of public discussions, awareness,
debates and opinions extremely important and such visible forms of
discussion as envisaged by Amir Khan should get people thinking because
it is in a form people can understand, relate to and most importantly
gets their attention. It is much better than the cacophony and extremely annoying professional news presenters that rule prime time television, as "Satyameva Jayate" consists of sensible discussions without any animosity and hot-headedness, shows real problems of real people and not merely expert views of those residing in ivory towers, detached from reality. It deserves appreciation since it goes much beyond tokenism and PR exercises of celebrities and it is evident that there has been some genuine effort from the actor's part to bring an issue to the public.
For all the talk of his actions being amateurish, perhaps that is
exactly what the country needs now. A known face coming out and asking
questions of us, our lives and attitudes which will be understood by
all, an attempt to find simple, elegant yet obvious solutions to the
problem that face our country. In my opinion, Amir Khan has succeeded in
that and I hope the initial enthusiasm the programme received continues
and we too start thinking about the issues in our society to which we
alone hold the answer.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Highly Inflammable Inflation
At times, it will be necessary for governments to take hugely unpopular decisions for the greater good and long term positive results. Only a decisive government can take such decisions and we need governments who can make such calls. The price of petrol was deregulated and Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) were given freedom to decide on prices on June 2010 and it has been the cause of public outrage ever since, but it was a step in the right direction. The last bout of revision meant prices went up by over Rs.7. This price hike is definitely justified in the light of fall in the value of rupee, high international prices the world over due to tension over Iranian issue and huge current account deficits. The need for sound financial management is beyond questioning, we have already experienced what such crunches can do since it was such a crisis in 1991 that pushed our nation's financial stability to the brink forcing us to adopt revolutionary economic reforms.
There are a few other reasons to justify higher price for petrol- world over, consumption is rising at such a rapid rate that we will see end of oil within the century, burning of fossil fuels also add to global warming and higher pollution levels and we also see lop-sided power and influence for a few countries that own oil wealth and for those that have influence over these oil producing countries. By keeping the price of oil high, it is assumed that consumption is discouraged but this is rarely true in the case of petroleum products since this is what moves the country, its people and its economy and so no matter how high the price, we will pay for it and there are no viable alternatives either.
In spite of the fact that price rises are justified for petrol (and also for other petroleum products, the prices for which are still under government control), the government must do its part to protect citizens from such hardships. The price of petrol that consumers pay consists of not just the cost of production and margins of OMCs as almost of 50% of it goes to the government (both central and state) in the form various taxes and duties. In the short-term, government can reduce taxes it levies on the consumer by not just forgoing additional revenue from the hiked prices, but a cut in the tax rates themselves. Revenue forgone by reducing and not levying taxes and duties on gold and diamond for the years 2010-2012 was more than 1 lakh crores and during 2012-2013, the government withdrew its own budget proposals to levy a nominal 2% tax on these items which shows that cutting taxes is not something the government is averse to. The majority of petroleum products is produced by the public sector and so there is little meaning to competition among these OMCs since the money is anyway going to the same destination and so costs on marketing and advertisements also make little sense which can be reduced or even done away with.
The revenue generated by government and OMCs from petroleum products must be used to invest in other sources of fuel and energy and to encourage the use of electric cars and also to encourage renewable sources of energy. Only then will our country have long term energy and financial stability. By taxing non-essential items like gold and jewellery, reducing taxes on this essential product and by investing the revenue generated to fund future stability and security, the government can protect the people, address financial issues and clearly show its commitment to good governance that keeps the interest of the people at heart. Only such an all round effort, can completely justify unpopular actions like increase in prices of essential items without inviting the people's angst against the government, will convince the people that short-term pains will evolve into long term gains and only then will the people reward the government with its support and confidence.
There are a few other reasons to justify higher price for petrol- world over, consumption is rising at such a rapid rate that we will see end of oil within the century, burning of fossil fuels also add to global warming and higher pollution levels and we also see lop-sided power and influence for a few countries that own oil wealth and for those that have influence over these oil producing countries. By keeping the price of oil high, it is assumed that consumption is discouraged but this is rarely true in the case of petroleum products since this is what moves the country, its people and its economy and so no matter how high the price, we will pay for it and there are no viable alternatives either.
In spite of the fact that price rises are justified for petrol (and also for other petroleum products, the prices for which are still under government control), the government must do its part to protect citizens from such hardships. The price of petrol that consumers pay consists of not just the cost of production and margins of OMCs as almost of 50% of it goes to the government (both central and state) in the form various taxes and duties. In the short-term, government can reduce taxes it levies on the consumer by not just forgoing additional revenue from the hiked prices, but a cut in the tax rates themselves. Revenue forgone by reducing and not levying taxes and duties on gold and diamond for the years 2010-2012 was more than 1 lakh crores and during 2012-2013, the government withdrew its own budget proposals to levy a nominal 2% tax on these items which shows that cutting taxes is not something the government is averse to. The majority of petroleum products is produced by the public sector and so there is little meaning to competition among these OMCs since the money is anyway going to the same destination and so costs on marketing and advertisements also make little sense which can be reduced or even done away with.
The revenue generated by government and OMCs from petroleum products must be used to invest in other sources of fuel and energy and to encourage the use of electric cars and also to encourage renewable sources of energy. Only then will our country have long term energy and financial stability. By taxing non-essential items like gold and jewellery, reducing taxes on this essential product and by investing the revenue generated to fund future stability and security, the government can protect the people, address financial issues and clearly show its commitment to good governance that keeps the interest of the people at heart. Only such an all round effort, can completely justify unpopular actions like increase in prices of essential items without inviting the people's angst against the government, will convince the people that short-term pains will evolve into long term gains and only then will the people reward the government with its support and confidence.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
In the end, 'the means' becomes the 'end'
'End justifies the means' is a highly popular excuse to justify drastic and unfavourable action and in Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna resorted to it with guile and being the incarnation of god, it is a perfectly fine way of doing things. But what we see these days are that the 'ends' fade from the picture very soon and the means become an end in itself.
India initially established reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs for a period of 10 years so that they can come out of the backward status(the ends) and it has been extended and continues to this day. In fact, reservation is now provided for Other Backward Classes too or OBCs a highly flammable three letter word in India (I do not wish to go into the need or lack of need or misuse of this provision) and now it has become an end in itself as various communities want themselves to be included in the OBC category to avail the benefits of reservation. Achieving reservation has become an end in itself and thus achieving 'backward' status is the means towards the reservation!
Governments were established to serve the people, but now we have governments taking policies that are detrimental to the interests of the people (Think Greece and austerity), whether it be dictatorships propped up with the military and financial might of super-powers or legitimate democracies that trample upon human rights and basic living necessities of its citizens to provide 'economic growth' and generate statistics that will be given 'thumbs up' by rating agencies headed by individuals whose sole purpose in life is to crunch numbers for the benefit of industrialists and manufacturers without considering the impact of the letter grades they award. It does not matter whether governments displace hundreds of thousands of citizens from their homes or deprives millions of them off their livelihoods or poison the air we breathe and water we drink, but we must encourage FDI and mining no matter what the cost.
Money was the means to easy transaction of goods and now making money has become an end in itself (what else can explain the stock market and government efforts to pacify investors who are actually traders and vultures merely trying to cash in on a scoop). It does not matter if we divert farm land for shopping malls and multiplexes, it does not matter that half our country's population is poor (estimates vary, but even under the current poverty line of Rs.22.35 for rural and Rs.28.42 for urban areas, 36crore Indians are poor) we must encourage foreign investors and give them tax exemptions to kindly spend their money here. What our government does not understand is that Europe and USA have got stagnant domestic demand and the only market they have is India (China won't let them in and there are good enough Chinese manufacturers as they learned the tricks of the trade when all western manufacturing shifted to China) and we have the opportunity dictate terms or atleast negotiate as equals rather than waiting for the benevolence of the white-man.
The purpose is lost, the means become a self-serving machine, perpetuating its existence and holding the end as a distant mirage or at times erasing it completely from everyone's mind. Is there a purpose to life? I am glad I do not know of one even if it exists and that means I haven't figured out the means and so I am going to be just fine.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Simon says-I am perfect, the world isn't
'He is really intelligent. If he tried, he would have got it' or 'Well, I know how to do it, I know what to do, I would have done it if I wanted to, but I don't want to because it is too silly'- I have heard these comments so often that the next person who says it better have lightning quick reflexes to save their health, from me. I have heard it so often that when people say this, I don't hear these words any more, instead what I get is 'I am an under achiever, I was all potential and talent, but I wasted it and never really got anywhere with the opportunities I got and I am upset that others used the opportunity and are doing better than me'.
I too have used that lame excuse to convince myself I was doing fine, a long time ago in my school days when I refused to study Biology. But then I realised I was merely being pathetic and envious and dropped the defensive approach. Let them be and this has helped because I do not feel envy or the urge to defend my choices and make the comment that must not be made, what this means is that I know what I am doing and why I am doing it.
I hear a lot of people say 'If I get a chance, I will leave India and go to Singapore'. Let me see, middle class India which numbers more than a 150million atleast wants to go to law abiding Singapore that has currently 3.8 million citizens and 1.2 million expats. Perhaps everything that is wrong with India is in its geography and not in the consumerism, perpetual last minute rush, apathy, callousness, general contempt for rules that seems all pervading. To have the right to complain, we must have done something on our own to rise above the petty contempt with which we view ourselves and if we are to be respected, we must first change ourselves and then respect ourselves for that.
(Singapore is whole of 710sq.km and India is 3.2million sq.km and even if we give power to the states, I for one cannot figure what to do about districts like Kurnool and Anantapur with population of almost 4million and spread over an aread of 19000sq.km and )
We complain about potholes on the road and lack of pedestrian space, but how many of us actually walk on the right side of the road or wait for the signal to cross the road or resist the urge to spit casually in the open? How many of us know to drive properly and take a right turn without violating atleast a dozen rules? A 10min drive will let us see hundreds of people chatting away on the mobile phones, on bikes, cars and pedestrians too texting and on a call or on their mp3 players oblivious to the traffic around them.
Whenever I say I am planning to join the civil service, the reply that everyone comes up with is 'Don't you know what happened to Raju Narayanaswamy?' Yes, but I also know about these
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?277990
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3269591.ece
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20120504290808800.htm
and if good civil servants are something difficult to digest, then give me examples of their greed and corruption.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-28/india/29594799_1_steel-mill-lockers-raipur
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/enforcement-directorate-ias-couple-madhya-pradesh/1/158422.html
We stick to stereotypes, view what is ours and what we are and what made us with contempt and blame it on others and our environment whereas we are squeaky clean. How do we make things better? In this situation, the answer is very simple but we will never get round to doing it since it involves taking action and we are all only enthusiastic about lectures and inspirational words, but never in putting into action Mahatma Gandhi's words 'Be the change you want to see in the world'.
I too have used that lame excuse to convince myself I was doing fine, a long time ago in my school days when I refused to study Biology. But then I realised I was merely being pathetic and envious and dropped the defensive approach. Let them be and this has helped because I do not feel envy or the urge to defend my choices and make the comment that must not be made, what this means is that I know what I am doing and why I am doing it.
I hear a lot of people say 'If I get a chance, I will leave India and go to Singapore'. Let me see, middle class India which numbers more than a 150million atleast wants to go to law abiding Singapore that has currently 3.8 million citizens and 1.2 million expats. Perhaps everything that is wrong with India is in its geography and not in the consumerism, perpetual last minute rush, apathy, callousness, general contempt for rules that seems all pervading. To have the right to complain, we must have done something on our own to rise above the petty contempt with which we view ourselves and if we are to be respected, we must first change ourselves and then respect ourselves for that.
(Singapore is whole of 710sq.km and India is 3.2million sq.km and even if we give power to the states, I for one cannot figure what to do about districts like Kurnool and Anantapur with population of almost 4million and spread over an aread of 19000sq.km and )
We complain about potholes on the road and lack of pedestrian space, but how many of us actually walk on the right side of the road or wait for the signal to cross the road or resist the urge to spit casually in the open? How many of us know to drive properly and take a right turn without violating atleast a dozen rules? A 10min drive will let us see hundreds of people chatting away on the mobile phones, on bikes, cars and pedestrians too texting and on a call or on their mp3 players oblivious to the traffic around them.
Whenever I say I am planning to join the civil service, the reply that everyone comes up with is 'Don't you know what happened to Raju Narayanaswamy?' Yes, but I also know about these
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?277990
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3269591.ece
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20120504290808800.htm
and if good civil servants are something difficult to digest, then give me examples of their greed and corruption.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-28/india/29594799_1_steel-mill-lockers-raipur
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/enforcement-directorate-ias-couple-madhya-pradesh/1/158422.html
We stick to stereotypes, view what is ours and what we are and what made us with contempt and blame it on others and our environment whereas we are squeaky clean. How do we make things better? In this situation, the answer is very simple but we will never get round to doing it since it involves taking action and we are all only enthusiastic about lectures and inspirational words, but never in putting into action Mahatma Gandhi's words 'Be the change you want to see in the world'.
Powerful Matters
There has been immense debate raging over nuclear power plants in the world over the last few years with fears over their safety having intensified after the Fukushima-Da Ichi plant disaster in March of 2011 and large sections of activists, general population and nuclear sceptics protesting to close down existing plants and to shelve plans to construct more of them.
The usual arguments against nuclear power plants are-
1) Safety- The reactor that spewed radio activity in Japan was constructed in the 60s and most of us were not even born yet. The latest model reactors have modern safety features and in India, these are in comparatively seismically safe zones and have adequate safety features to prevent a Fukushima type failure of back-up coolant pumping mechanism (a)
2)Spend fuel- Usually, spend fuel requires to be stored in isolated areas and the practice has been to store them underground in specially constructed bunkers or caves. India has adopted a closed nuclear fuel cycle which creates 50times more energy (b) (c) than all other systems and reuses large amounts of the spend fuel.
3)Lack of precautionary drills and awareness among people in the surrounding area and threat to environment- this is the only reasonable argument that I have heard from among the heap of protests that is holding back nuclear energy in India.
It is not a matter of doubt that we face sever power crisis in our country and our growth (whether this growth benefits only the rich and powerful who then pacify the middle class and the intention of signing contracts with pernicious clauses is altogether another issue) is directly dependent on availability of power. Every sphere of human activity is now dependent on power and its shortage severely restricts our individual capabilities. Nuclear energy is considered the best option to meet this requirement but uninformed protestors and a lot of 'environmentalists' or 'green citizens' recommend renewable energy sources like wind, solar, tidal energy and biomass(will we be asked to switch to firewood soon since it is also biomass?). I would like to point out a few misconceptions with respect to these renewable energy sources.
Wind Energy- this is highly location specific and require large patches of land and in a country that has a population density of over 400 people a square kilometer, a model pioneered by scarcely populated Scandinavian countries is little more than a misfit. Even then, let us assume we find enough land, there is an issue called capacity factor (d). I regularly see articles that talk about the installed capacity of wind energy in India but how much of their capacity can be utilised? Capacity factor for wind mills is just 20-40% and that is when all conditions are favourable. From my personal experience of having done a project on renewable energy and spend considerable time studying actual systems, what we get is less than 10% in most areas (e). What this means is that if a wind farm has a capacity of 100MW, it can at best produce 10MW.
Solar- It is as obvious as daylight that sun does not shine for 24 hours a day and the best capacity factor for solar photovoltaic (SPV) cells is at 19% (f) . In short, both solar and wind mills cannot be relied for consistent power outputs (anyone who has studied renewable energy basics should know this) and we cannot wait for the wind to blow or sunny days to complete our tasks. There is also the misconception that placing huge solar panel arrays in the Thar desert will easily solve all our issues. Only those with no clear understanding of the workings of SPV technology will say so- dust, high temperature fluctuations and corrosion will reduce efficiency over time and destroy the SPV array before costs can be recovered (again from my personal experience, just normal dust from the landscape will cause huge fall in power output).
(There is a scope to question the capacity factor of nuclear plants and other sources of energy. The capacity factor for nuclear energy is infact 90% (g) and for thermal plants it is more than 60% (h) which is far better than that of renewable energy)
Tidal Energy- highly location specific and installed capacity is just around 500MW all around the world. This can be developed to meet power requirements of coastal areas.
In placing our nation's development in such a technology, we need to exercise extreme caution and this means we have to ensure adequate fuel supply for these plants, we need to ensure the safety of the people in the vicinity, take them into confidence and make them part of this endeavour since their livelihoods might be at risk from the normal operation of the plant (water being used up and hot water being released back) and are also at immediate risk from any accidents. The survival and livelihoods of the people must never face any threats and there should be detailed procedures, mock drills, awareness programs to prepare for worst case scenarios and minor accidents along with adequate steps to protect the environment.
Nuclear energy is one of the paths we must traverse to attain carbon free energy production and this is the only source of stable, uninterrupted, large scale power we have before us right now and the so called alternatives do not meet our needs- neither in terms of actual production or reliability. There are technical issues with all sources of power, but when a luminary like Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam whose credentials need no mention here supports nuclear power, we must not simply dismiss it lightly.
The future for solar and wind energy will mostly lie in localised production with houses having their own mini power plants with SPV cells or wind mills or both to meet part of their domestic demand thereby reducing the load on centralised production. Centralised power produced through nuclear plants and other existing plants shall become the source of power for heavy usage including industry, large and commercial buildings and railway transport. The politics and business of power plants have always been an issue in India with previous experiences with Enron having turned sour and developed powers trying to use 3rd world nations as the hunting ground for new markets. It should be the safety of the people and their welfare that must guide such a project and the solution to meeting our energy demand through clean, reliable fuels lie in ensuring these are implemented by keeping at heart the interests of the people and not be scuttled the misplaced fears of the a few or in the selfish interests of monopolies while depriving the downtrodden in this nation.
The usual arguments against nuclear power plants are-
1) Safety- The reactor that spewed radio activity in Japan was constructed in the 60s and most of us were not even born yet. The latest model reactors have modern safety features and in India, these are in comparatively seismically safe zones and have adequate safety features to prevent a Fukushima type failure of back-up coolant pumping mechanism (a)
2)Spend fuel- Usually, spend fuel requires to be stored in isolated areas and the practice has been to store them underground in specially constructed bunkers or caves. India has adopted a closed nuclear fuel cycle which creates 50times more energy (b) (c) than all other systems and reuses large amounts of the spend fuel.
3)Lack of precautionary drills and awareness among people in the surrounding area and threat to environment- this is the only reasonable argument that I have heard from among the heap of protests that is holding back nuclear energy in India.
It is not a matter of doubt that we face sever power crisis in our country and our growth (whether this growth benefits only the rich and powerful who then pacify the middle class and the intention of signing contracts with pernicious clauses is altogether another issue) is directly dependent on availability of power. Every sphere of human activity is now dependent on power and its shortage severely restricts our individual capabilities. Nuclear energy is considered the best option to meet this requirement but uninformed protestors and a lot of 'environmentalists' or 'green citizens' recommend renewable energy sources like wind, solar, tidal energy and biomass(will we be asked to switch to firewood soon since it is also biomass?). I would like to point out a few misconceptions with respect to these renewable energy sources.
Wind Energy- this is highly location specific and require large patches of land and in a country that has a population density of over 400 people a square kilometer, a model pioneered by scarcely populated Scandinavian countries is little more than a misfit. Even then, let us assume we find enough land, there is an issue called capacity factor (d). I regularly see articles that talk about the installed capacity of wind energy in India but how much of their capacity can be utilised? Capacity factor for wind mills is just 20-40% and that is when all conditions are favourable. From my personal experience of having done a project on renewable energy and spend considerable time studying actual systems, what we get is less than 10% in most areas (e). What this means is that if a wind farm has a capacity of 100MW, it can at best produce 10MW.
Solar- It is as obvious as daylight that sun does not shine for 24 hours a day and the best capacity factor for solar photovoltaic (SPV) cells is at 19% (f) . In short, both solar and wind mills cannot be relied for consistent power outputs (anyone who has studied renewable energy basics should know this) and we cannot wait for the wind to blow or sunny days to complete our tasks. There is also the misconception that placing huge solar panel arrays in the Thar desert will easily solve all our issues. Only those with no clear understanding of the workings of SPV technology will say so- dust, high temperature fluctuations and corrosion will reduce efficiency over time and destroy the SPV array before costs can be recovered (again from my personal experience, just normal dust from the landscape will cause huge fall in power output).
(There is a scope to question the capacity factor of nuclear plants and other sources of energy. The capacity factor for nuclear energy is infact 90% (g) and for thermal plants it is more than 60% (h) which is far better than that of renewable energy)
Tidal Energy- highly location specific and installed capacity is just around 500MW all around the world. This can be developed to meet power requirements of coastal areas.
In placing our nation's development in such a technology, we need to exercise extreme caution and this means we have to ensure adequate fuel supply for these plants, we need to ensure the safety of the people in the vicinity, take them into confidence and make them part of this endeavour since their livelihoods might be at risk from the normal operation of the plant (water being used up and hot water being released back) and are also at immediate risk from any accidents. The survival and livelihoods of the people must never face any threats and there should be detailed procedures, mock drills, awareness programs to prepare for worst case scenarios and minor accidents along with adequate steps to protect the environment.
Nuclear energy is one of the paths we must traverse to attain carbon free energy production and this is the only source of stable, uninterrupted, large scale power we have before us right now and the so called alternatives do not meet our needs- neither in terms of actual production or reliability. There are technical issues with all sources of power, but when a luminary like Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam whose credentials need no mention here supports nuclear power, we must not simply dismiss it lightly.
The future for solar and wind energy will mostly lie in localised production with houses having their own mini power plants with SPV cells or wind mills or both to meet part of their domestic demand thereby reducing the load on centralised production. Centralised power produced through nuclear plants and other existing plants shall become the source of power for heavy usage including industry, large and commercial buildings and railway transport. The politics and business of power plants have always been an issue in India with previous experiences with Enron having turned sour and developed powers trying to use 3rd world nations as the hunting ground for new markets. It should be the safety of the people and their welfare that must guide such a project and the solution to meeting our energy demand through clean, reliable fuels lie in ensuring these are implemented by keeping at heart the interests of the people and not be scuttled the misplaced fears of the a few or in the selfish interests of monopolies while depriving the downtrodden in this nation.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Nehru's Socialism and New India
Every economics, modern history book and article I read on India has a reference to Nehruvian socialism and its evils and the 'Hindu rate of growth'. I do not agree that Nehruvian socialism and protectionism was bad and has only harmed India and I do not really understand the truth behind the phrase because for 18 centuries India was the leading economy of the world and it was largely made of Hindus (Period of Guptas was called the Golden age of India). I am not trying to glorify a religion or spew forth propaganda but merely pointing at how short our memory is and how misnomers are the norm. One could say that Mughal period was one of Indian renaissance, I would hardly call it that because all the structures mughals built were palaces and graves for themselves like absolute rulers still do and they encouraged arts and crafts for their own pleasure(a) and mughal empire was city-centric with very little connection to the people with the king being a distant reality as his connection with most of the people was merely collecting revenues.
I would like to point out the benefits of socialism that was established by Nehru by looking at the reasons for India's recent growth-
1) Large number of educated individuals- this was the result of the strong base for education that was set-up which resulted in increase in literacy and also created a large number of professionals
2) Indian enterprises- Although protectionism did fuel corruption, inefficiency and easy going attitude it did allow the nation to create some wealth in public sector and also a few in the private sector. Although the ones in private sector had a tough struggle, Infosys, Patni, TCS etc were founded in the pre- reform India.
We are also a secular democracy which has reasonable stability when compared with almost all other nations that were freed from colonial rule and a perfunctory glance across the border would suffice to convince even the biggest cynics of India that we have been lucky and that is due to-
1) Secular Democracy- We are not a struggling democracy (atleast we established democracy and now are attempting to root out old malaises) or an autocratic nation. In spite of issues, we do have an elected government
2) Judiciary- Our judiciary has been the protector of our rights even when government has been trying its utmost to curtail them and has delivered landmark verdicts on tax laws to property disputes
We are not a banana republic or an autocracy or anti-secular nation simply because we chose to protect and cement the ideals on which our country was founded and close the nation so that these foundations will not be washed away by the tides created by cold war and other conflicts that was raging the world over, before they can solidify. If we had left our nation open for foreign investments immediately, we would have seen a continuation of economic exploitation and slavery that was the hallmark of colonial rule.
There has to be questions asked of modern rate of growth too as we find that 47% of households do not have toilets and 30% of the population that numbers 36crore people are defined as poor under a ridiculous poverty line. We have an enormous middle class that are patronised by the current spurt of growth who have a stake in maintaining the status quo(a number greater than the population of US), we have a large number of poor who are used for human labour- statements like labourers are not available in construction industry and their wages have gone up due to MGNREGA clearly show this exploitive attitude since MGNREGA doesn't even provide minimum wages in most places- and a small section of rich and powerful who decide what happens in this country.
Whether or not situation has improved is a pertinent question and so this must be answered before derogatory use of 'Nehruvian' socialism and 'Hindu rate of growth' since such remarks forget the fact that our current growth is making the rich richer and has made a middle class that buffer the rich from the poor and is making the poor poorer. This growth is benefiting some section of society and hence cannot be considered to be in the interest of the nation and rather than focussing on numbers alone, we must find a balance between greater aspirations of the rich and middle class and the survival needs of the poor. We might have something fruitful to learn from old ridiculed policies, not their entire implementations but some of its intentions and ideals.
Nehruvian socialism should have been seen as the means to get to a stable position, a time during which India consolidated its position on a strong foundation, strengthened our nation's unity and shored up our defences but it became the absolute end and saw it as our duty and purpose to establish a socialist paternal state driving even the thought of what should have been the real goals out of the picture.
(a) - Public Administration in India, S.R.Maheshwari, Ch.2, The Mughal Administration
I would like to point out the benefits of socialism that was established by Nehru by looking at the reasons for India's recent growth-
1) Large number of educated individuals- this was the result of the strong base for education that was set-up which resulted in increase in literacy and also created a large number of professionals
2) Indian enterprises- Although protectionism did fuel corruption, inefficiency and easy going attitude it did allow the nation to create some wealth in public sector and also a few in the private sector. Although the ones in private sector had a tough struggle, Infosys, Patni, TCS etc were founded in the pre- reform India.
We are also a secular democracy which has reasonable stability when compared with almost all other nations that were freed from colonial rule and a perfunctory glance across the border would suffice to convince even the biggest cynics of India that we have been lucky and that is due to-
1) Secular Democracy- We are not a struggling democracy (atleast we established democracy and now are attempting to root out old malaises) or an autocratic nation. In spite of issues, we do have an elected government
2) Judiciary- Our judiciary has been the protector of our rights even when government has been trying its utmost to curtail them and has delivered landmark verdicts on tax laws to property disputes
We are not a banana republic or an autocracy or anti-secular nation simply because we chose to protect and cement the ideals on which our country was founded and close the nation so that these foundations will not be washed away by the tides created by cold war and other conflicts that was raging the world over, before they can solidify. If we had left our nation open for foreign investments immediately, we would have seen a continuation of economic exploitation and slavery that was the hallmark of colonial rule.
There has to be questions asked of modern rate of growth too as we find that 47% of households do not have toilets and 30% of the population that numbers 36crore people are defined as poor under a ridiculous poverty line. We have an enormous middle class that are patronised by the current spurt of growth who have a stake in maintaining the status quo(a number greater than the population of US), we have a large number of poor who are used for human labour- statements like labourers are not available in construction industry and their wages have gone up due to MGNREGA clearly show this exploitive attitude since MGNREGA doesn't even provide minimum wages in most places- and a small section of rich and powerful who decide what happens in this country.
Whether or not situation has improved is a pertinent question and so this must be answered before derogatory use of 'Nehruvian' socialism and 'Hindu rate of growth' since such remarks forget the fact that our current growth is making the rich richer and has made a middle class that buffer the rich from the poor and is making the poor poorer. This growth is benefiting some section of society and hence cannot be considered to be in the interest of the nation and rather than focussing on numbers alone, we must find a balance between greater aspirations of the rich and middle class and the survival needs of the poor. We might have something fruitful to learn from old ridiculed policies, not their entire implementations but some of its intentions and ideals.
Nehruvian socialism should have been seen as the means to get to a stable position, a time during which India consolidated its position on a strong foundation, strengthened our nation's unity and shored up our defences but it became the absolute end and saw it as our duty and purpose to establish a socialist paternal state driving even the thought of what should have been the real goals out of the picture.
(a) - Public Administration in India, S.R.Maheshwari, Ch.2, The Mughal Administration
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Thoughts on Implementation of PDS and Food Security
The Tendulkar committee report says that 37% of the Indian
population is below the poverty line, a figure accepted by the Planning
Commission of India and going by this figure, the number of poor in
India easily exceeds the poor in the poorest of African countries which
is around 410million. Therefore, it is absolutely essential
that the government must step in to ensure the basic necessities of life
to all its citizens. But recently, we have been dithering on providing
the most essential of survival needs, namely food to our people. For 64 years, we have
tried various ways to ensure we have enough food production to meet the
needs of our population and we succeeded in that and now we even export
food grains. We currently have buffer stock far exceeding our
requirement, but unfortunately grain is rotting due to lack of storage
facilities and lying in warehouses far beyond their period of safe
consumption. The Hon'ble Supreme court observed that rather than letting grains rot, it would be better to distribute it for free to the needy(1) (2).
Our current debate on food security revolves around two aspects, the much criticised Public Distribution System (PDS) and the proposed National Food Security Bill. PDS is implemented by various state governments with financial assistance from the central government and various states vary in its implementation. Kerala provides, atleast on paper, food grains to its entire population regardless of their economic status and although the need for subsidised grains even to the rich or even the middle class is debatable, this ensures that no one among the needy is left out of this absolutely essential safety net. In states with targetted PDS, it is plagued by leakages and duplication of ration cards that are essential to prove ones entitlement to subsidised grain. This means that grains can be diverted and sold to open markets with the help of forged ration cards and the really needy are left out either because they don't have the ration card or the grains have been already diverted.
As the benefits do not reach the intended target population which has lead several states to try out direct cash transfers and coupons that can be used in any PDS outlet. But these too are facing several issues as several shops provide less than the entitled quantity of grains and do not accept coupons*. Direct cash transfer is also not preferred since these can be misused by other members in the family. Even direct bank transfers (they need to open a bank account first) is not preferred by the poor because these places do not have access to banks. The only solution we have right now is the current system of subsidies through PDS which has to be modified to ensure fair distribution of items especially to the most vulnerable in the society. The proposed food security bill intends to make the same mistake of targeting those eligible for food security and this can only lead to misuse of food grains and the intended beneficiaries being left in the lurch. Many of the poor are migrant labourers with their families in the villages in another part of the country and so providing ration cards for the entire family will leave the migrants out if targeting is made the norm.
What we need is universal coverage which will ensure that none of the more than 450million poor in India are denied access to this essential necessity. We have the working model in Kerala which has drawn positive response from all households in the state and we need to extend it to the whole country. This will involve the government increasing its grain procurement monumentally and we also need to build from scratch the infrastructure to transport and store large quantities of grain and ensure they are not wasted and do not go bad. We need cold storages and transport facilities and this is not just for our food grains but also for our vegetables and fruits-a third of produce is wasted due to absence of such facilities(3)- which can be achieved by partnering with railways and inviting private investors that include retailers and large farmers or their co-operatives. Implementation of supply-chain mechanism is absolutely essential to ensure our population has access to food grains as well as vegetables and fruits and this will also provide enhanced income to our farmers who toil in the sun to feed our nation. Innovations like real time tracking of movement of goods as the ones implemented by courier services will be cheap cheap and effective. Technology like Radio Frequency Identification (the access cards of almost all employees in IT companies use this) are cheap and can be easily implemented, anti-theft devices are installed in even the smallest items of clothing in most major retail outlets, barcodes have been in use for a long time and this shows it is possible to implement technology on a large scale in a cost effective manner.
Such massive changes will involve naturally a few conflicts and these have to be solved before we can roll out such an ambitious programme. As the government increases its procurement, it will lead to shortage of grains available for the open market. It is the open market that the rest of our population depends on and this is because grains available in PDS shops are of not of unquestionable quality. Even in Kerala with universal coverage of PDS, those who can afford it, buy their grains from the open market because of issues with quality and timely availability. Hence, it must be ensured that grains are of good quality, are available for sale all the time and open market prices do not spiral out of control and if it does, government must release its own stock from warehouses to bring down prices. It is also possible to try direct transfer of cash to bank accounts, not just for subsidy in food grains but also in fuel, education and healthcare but then they could still be misused even if access to banking is improved. There is also the question of money as the government might not be able to procure the entire amount necessary for the population, but the fact that food grains are rotting in government warehouses is appalling and so the attempt is to distribute already procured grain to the needy.
The issue of subsidy is still a raging debate- whether the government should have direct involvement or should it just provide direct benefits to the needy. On paper, the UIDAI project will identify every citizen and whether they require welfare assistance and then government will provide direct cash to these individuals for food grains, education, healthcare and whatever necessity including disaster relief. They can then use the services of whichever provider they deem suitable and this will remove the need for leaky dysfunctional government organisations like teacher less schools, PDS shops that never open and doctorless hospitals.
Such an implementation is still a long way away as we still have not figured out the way to implement the UID project and its nuances. The government should not quit from providing these essential services completely but should stay on as a benchmark, a low-cost option and there is also the issue of accessibility in many places as private enterprises and individuals may not be interested in working in far flung areas.
The goal of a hunger free nation is within our reach, is well within our resources and it is our moral responsibility to bring such a future to reality and erase the ignominy of a new economic power that sends satellites to space but still has the highest population of poor in the world
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article617813.ece - 1
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article605557.ece - 2
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india-wastes-59-mt-fruits-vegetables-every-year/119841/on -3
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/
Our current debate on food security revolves around two aspects, the much criticised Public Distribution System (PDS) and the proposed National Food Security Bill. PDS is implemented by various state governments with financial assistance from the central government and various states vary in its implementation. Kerala provides, atleast on paper, food grains to its entire population regardless of their economic status and although the need for subsidised grains even to the rich or even the middle class is debatable, this ensures that no one among the needy is left out of this absolutely essential safety net. In states with targetted PDS, it is plagued by leakages and duplication of ration cards that are essential to prove ones entitlement to subsidised grain. This means that grains can be diverted and sold to open markets with the help of forged ration cards and the really needy are left out either because they don't have the ration card or the grains have been already diverted.
As the benefits do not reach the intended target population which has lead several states to try out direct cash transfers and coupons that can be used in any PDS outlet. But these too are facing several issues as several shops provide less than the entitled quantity of grains and do not accept coupons*. Direct cash transfer is also not preferred since these can be misused by other members in the family. Even direct bank transfers (they need to open a bank account first) is not preferred by the poor because these places do not have access to banks. The only solution we have right now is the current system of subsidies through PDS which has to be modified to ensure fair distribution of items especially to the most vulnerable in the society. The proposed food security bill intends to make the same mistake of targeting those eligible for food security and this can only lead to misuse of food grains and the intended beneficiaries being left in the lurch. Many of the poor are migrant labourers with their families in the villages in another part of the country and so providing ration cards for the entire family will leave the migrants out if targeting is made the norm.
What we need is universal coverage which will ensure that none of the more than 450million poor in India are denied access to this essential necessity. We have the working model in Kerala which has drawn positive response from all households in the state and we need to extend it to the whole country. This will involve the government increasing its grain procurement monumentally and we also need to build from scratch the infrastructure to transport and store large quantities of grain and ensure they are not wasted and do not go bad. We need cold storages and transport facilities and this is not just for our food grains but also for our vegetables and fruits-a third of produce is wasted due to absence of such facilities(3)- which can be achieved by partnering with railways and inviting private investors that include retailers and large farmers or their co-operatives. Implementation of supply-chain mechanism is absolutely essential to ensure our population has access to food grains as well as vegetables and fruits and this will also provide enhanced income to our farmers who toil in the sun to feed our nation. Innovations like real time tracking of movement of goods as the ones implemented by courier services will be cheap cheap and effective. Technology like Radio Frequency Identification (the access cards of almost all employees in IT companies use this) are cheap and can be easily implemented, anti-theft devices are installed in even the smallest items of clothing in most major retail outlets, barcodes have been in use for a long time and this shows it is possible to implement technology on a large scale in a cost effective manner.
Such massive changes will involve naturally a few conflicts and these have to be solved before we can roll out such an ambitious programme. As the government increases its procurement, it will lead to shortage of grains available for the open market. It is the open market that the rest of our population depends on and this is because grains available in PDS shops are of not of unquestionable quality. Even in Kerala with universal coverage of PDS, those who can afford it, buy their grains from the open market because of issues with quality and timely availability. Hence, it must be ensured that grains are of good quality, are available for sale all the time and open market prices do not spiral out of control and if it does, government must release its own stock from warehouses to bring down prices. It is also possible to try direct transfer of cash to bank accounts, not just for subsidy in food grains but also in fuel, education and healthcare but then they could still be misused even if access to banking is improved. There is also the question of money as the government might not be able to procure the entire amount necessary for the population, but the fact that food grains are rotting in government warehouses is appalling and so the attempt is to distribute already procured grain to the needy.
The issue of subsidy is still a raging debate- whether the government should have direct involvement or should it just provide direct benefits to the needy. On paper, the UIDAI project will identify every citizen and whether they require welfare assistance and then government will provide direct cash to these individuals for food grains, education, healthcare and whatever necessity including disaster relief. They can then use the services of whichever provider they deem suitable and this will remove the need for leaky dysfunctional government organisations like teacher less schools, PDS shops that never open and doctorless hospitals.
Such an implementation is still a long way away as we still have not figured out the way to implement the UID project and its nuances. The government should not quit from providing these essential services completely but should stay on as a benchmark, a low-cost option and there is also the issue of accessibility in many places as private enterprises and individuals may not be interested in working in far flung areas.
The goal of a hunger free nation is within our reach, is well within our resources and it is our moral responsibility to bring such a future to reality and erase the ignominy of a new economic power that sends satellites to space but still has the highest population of poor in the world
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article617813.ece - 1
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article605557.ece - 2
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india-wastes-59-mt-fruits-vegetables-every-year/119841/on -3
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Solutions
As I hadn't suggested any solutions in the previous post, but merely
problems which all are aware of and quite obvious, I did think about how
these issues can be tackled. They may or may not work, but no one can
say for sure what will happen.
The government must act as protector and trustee of the resources (spectrum or minerals) and dispense them keeping the public good in mind, not how much money will come to the government itself or Swiss bank accounts of individuals.
The government must get out of most economic activities like aviation and hotel running and be involved only in essential and basic ones like defense, power and water supply, atomic energy, public transport, space etc. This is because these are absolutely essential to the country and only the government can invest massive amount of money and also engage in sectors that may not generate huge profits but are absolute necessities for the people and serve strategic purposes too.
In certain sectors like communication, transport, education etc it can have a presence to make sure that private enterprises do not engage in unfair practices like price-fixing or predatory pricing and provide a benchmark.
The government must appoint independent regulators in all sectors ranging from education to environment protection, consisting of experts in the field to make sure no one engages in unfair practices and the interests of the people are protected. It is here that civil society and activists have a role to play, it is here that informed citizens have a part to play and that is why we all have a role to play in a democracy as we need to keep ourselves informed of the state of affairs in our nation and not just the state of 'affairs' among celebrities. We need to raise our voice and that does not always have to mean getting on the road and shouting slogans but just voting properly and expressing opinion.
Our local self governing bodies must make sure that government funds are utilised properly, conduct surprise inspections on their implementation whether it be road or canal construction or teaching at schools or public health centres and check whether they are not functioning, those affected by them must find out how their grievances can be redressed and that is why awareness, literacy and discussions are important- only informed citizens can make sure they get what is due to them as rights, entitlements and facilities. This coupled with legislation like the citizen's charter and strong grievance redressal mechanisms and the lokpal or lokayukta that is in the offing can create a better country for future generations.
The best cure for bad democracy is a democracy where people are well informed, politically active and demand what is due to them which will make their representatives answerable to them directly. We have even now people who ask why read the newspaper or why should I keep myself aware of what is happening in this country, they have no right to blame a government, they only come out to express their emotions and wear a gandhi cap when it is fashionable to do so. We need to first rise up from our own slumber and then make demands from our government for fair, equitable development and a clean environment in all senses for us to live in.
The government must act as protector and trustee of the resources (spectrum or minerals) and dispense them keeping the public good in mind, not how much money will come to the government itself or Swiss bank accounts of individuals.
The government must get out of most economic activities like aviation and hotel running and be involved only in essential and basic ones like defense, power and water supply, atomic energy, public transport, space etc. This is because these are absolutely essential to the country and only the government can invest massive amount of money and also engage in sectors that may not generate huge profits but are absolute necessities for the people and serve strategic purposes too.
In certain sectors like communication, transport, education etc it can have a presence to make sure that private enterprises do not engage in unfair practices like price-fixing or predatory pricing and provide a benchmark.
The government must appoint independent regulators in all sectors ranging from education to environment protection, consisting of experts in the field to make sure no one engages in unfair practices and the interests of the people are protected. It is here that civil society and activists have a role to play, it is here that informed citizens have a part to play and that is why we all have a role to play in a democracy as we need to keep ourselves informed of the state of affairs in our nation and not just the state of 'affairs' among celebrities. We need to raise our voice and that does not always have to mean getting on the road and shouting slogans but just voting properly and expressing opinion.
Our local self governing bodies must make sure that government funds are utilised properly, conduct surprise inspections on their implementation whether it be road or canal construction or teaching at schools or public health centres and check whether they are not functioning, those affected by them must find out how their grievances can be redressed and that is why awareness, literacy and discussions are important- only informed citizens can make sure they get what is due to them as rights, entitlements and facilities. This coupled with legislation like the citizen's charter and strong grievance redressal mechanisms and the lokpal or lokayukta that is in the offing can create a better country for future generations.
The best cure for bad democracy is a democracy where people are well informed, politically active and demand what is due to them which will make their representatives answerable to them directly. We have even now people who ask why read the newspaper or why should I keep myself aware of what is happening in this country, they have no right to blame a government, they only come out to express their emotions and wear a gandhi cap when it is fashionable to do so. We need to first rise up from our own slumber and then make demands from our government for fair, equitable development and a clean environment in all senses for us to live in.
CAPITALIST Matters
The purpose of capitalism is to make profit and generate dividends to shareholders and keep this going for as long as possible. Capitalism
is not concerned about generating employment or preserving the
environment because these only reduce profit or in other words, being
concerned about the environment or generating employment does not make
more money. It is the same with worrying about rehabilitating and
compensating those displaced by a factory or a mine since it
is too cumbersome and expensive. What is done when faced with such a
situation- Cut corners? Make deals with those in power? Turn a blind eye
to environment and good of the people? All of it is happening in our
country.
These are issues with unbridled capitalism and capital will flow out once it has exhausted all resources in a particular region or resources become too expensive, whether it be labour or minerals and once it leaves, only then does the true cost of their operations come into full view. This is why we need some regulation and control over the functioning of capitalism. Communism and socialism as a pure concept may be past its glory days and capitalism is also getting there with the current string of crises showing no signs of abating.
It is only obvious that we are seeing the re-emergence of Keynesian economics, where private enterprise is allowed to function with the government intervening in certain sectors and also during periods of crisis. But I would go a bit more than that, government should play the role of the regulator and also participate in certain sectors such as public transport, power, water, education etc because in a country with vast underdevelopment only the government can provide certain goods and services. Whenever there are profits to be made and that too in the immediate future, there and only there will capitalism fill the demand. The current trend has been high economic growth with little growth in employment* as investments are high in capital intensive sectors and not labour intensive sectors which makes for good economic growth numbers but bad for people and if we do not give people opportunities to develop and add to the skills of our working population, once capital finds greener cheaper pastures, we will be left in the lurch.
We need investment and economic growth for the good of our people, we need jobs and education for our people and a healthy and prosperous environment to be preserved for future generations and not just GDP growth that will only fill the coffers of a few rich industrialists and politicians in their payroll.
Nandan Nilekani's book 'Imagining India' is quite naive in assuming that capitalism is the panacea to all our economic problems and the left parties in India are merely being boisterous as they are tied down to old ideas and the 'red corridor' is merely an outcome to over-activism and dismisses the work of Medha Patkar and Aruna Roy. He fails to understand that their work is to ensure equitable development and social justice and they have gained a place because the ruling parties have been hand in glove with corporates in exploiting natural resources with scant regard to the environmental and social consequences. Development has to be atleast Pareto neutral in the worst case and even then it is futile and it has to be a Pareto improvement(1) and what we have are Pareto inefficient outcomes and that is what fuels the naxal movement in this country.
If we have unbridled capitalism, we will only have development and growth in statistics and tables while even a billion Indians can be left in the lurch without any access to a decent standard of living or hope for the future.
*http://articles.
1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
These are issues with unbridled capitalism and capital will flow out once it has exhausted all resources in a particular region or resources become too expensive, whether it be labour or minerals and once it leaves, only then does the true cost of their operations come into full view. This is why we need some regulation and control over the functioning of capitalism. Communism and socialism as a pure concept may be past its glory days and capitalism is also getting there with the current string of crises showing no signs of abating.
It is only obvious that we are seeing the re-emergence of Keynesian economics, where private enterprise is allowed to function with the government intervening in certain sectors and also during periods of crisis. But I would go a bit more than that, government should play the role of the regulator and also participate in certain sectors such as public transport, power, water, education etc because in a country with vast underdevelopment only the government can provide certain goods and services. Whenever there are profits to be made and that too in the immediate future, there and only there will capitalism fill the demand. The current trend has been high economic growth with little growth in employment* as investments are high in capital intensive sectors and not labour intensive sectors which makes for good economic growth numbers but bad for people and if we do not give people opportunities to develop and add to the skills of our working population, once capital finds greener cheaper pastures, we will be left in the lurch.
We need investment and economic growth for the good of our people, we need jobs and education for our people and a healthy and prosperous environment to be preserved for future generations and not just GDP growth that will only fill the coffers of a few rich industrialists and politicians in their payroll.
Nandan Nilekani's book 'Imagining India' is quite naive in assuming that capitalism is the panacea to all our economic problems and the left parties in India are merely being boisterous as they are tied down to old ideas and the 'red corridor' is merely an outcome to over-activism and dismisses the work of Medha Patkar and Aruna Roy. He fails to understand that their work is to ensure equitable development and social justice and they have gained a place because the ruling parties have been hand in glove with corporates in exploiting natural resources with scant regard to the environmental and social consequences. Development has to be atleast Pareto neutral in the worst case and even then it is futile and it has to be a Pareto improvement(1) and what we have are Pareto inefficient outcomes and that is what fuels the naxal movement in this country.
If we have unbridled capitalism, we will only have development and growth in statistics and tables while even a billion Indians can be left in the lurch without any access to a decent standard of living or hope for the future.
*http://articles.
1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Resilient Inspiration
Let me make something very clear, I do not like Winston Churchill and what he did to India and Indians- exporting food grains from India during the famine and holding on to India believing it was their right to plunder makes him a mere looter. But there is one thing that I must admit, he was bad news for India but he was exactly what Great Britain needed. I like a particular quote of his "Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except
to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
(for the entire speech - http://school-for-champions.com/speeches/churchill_never_give_in.htm)
If this is not inspiration, I do not know what is. He showed this works as an island was able to somehow survive the onslaught of a mad despot who simply walked his way across Europe, stood victorious infront of the Eiffel tower and also had his army reach the Kremlin. Churchill lead his nation at a time of crisis and brought out the power that words have in his war broadcasts and in speeches like these that kept up the spirits of the people and his policies during the time saved Britain and perhaps the world too. He also gave the "Sinews of Peace" (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sinews_of_Peace) speech which popularised the term "Iron Curtain" for that part of Europe under Soviet influence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain).
From personal experience too, I do admit I have very little of and from that itself I have found that never giving up is the best way to handle defeat. The novel 'Alchemist' was suggested to me by many, perhaps to inspire me to find my true calling but it taught me more about perseverance and resilience more than anything else. I hope I can keep trying until success is met for every journey that I embark upon
NEVER GIVE UP!
(for the entire speech - http://school-for-champions.com/speeches/churchill_never_give_in.htm)
If this is not inspiration, I do not know what is. He showed this works as an island was able to somehow survive the onslaught of a mad despot who simply walked his way across Europe, stood victorious infront of the Eiffel tower and also had his army reach the Kremlin. Churchill lead his nation at a time of crisis and brought out the power that words have in his war broadcasts and in speeches like these that kept up the spirits of the people and his policies during the time saved Britain and perhaps the world too. He also gave the "Sinews of Peace" (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sinews_of_Peace) speech which popularised the term "Iron Curtain" for that part of Europe under Soviet influence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain).
From personal experience too, I do admit I have very little of and from that itself I have found that never giving up is the best way to handle defeat. The novel 'Alchemist' was suggested to me by many, perhaps to inspire me to find my true calling but it taught me more about perseverance and resilience more than anything else. I hope I can keep trying until success is met for every journey that I embark upon
NEVER GIVE UP!
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