two Indias.

On April 20, 2011, the Supreme Court of India told the Central Government ,

“ We can’t have two Indias. You want the world to believe that we are the strongest emerging economy, but million of poor and hungry people are a stark contrast. It is a tragedy of sorts. We have our food granaries full, and in many places, overflowing. And there is a prediction of bumper crop this year. If it’s so, why not allocate substantial food grains to take care of hunger and malnutrition ?”

Could following have prompted the Supreme Court to make these remarks ? :

Ø   2010-11 harvest of food grains will be at 232.1 million tonnes, the second highest of all times

Ø   Total effective food storage capacity in the country is less than 3 million tonnes

Ø   Over the last 10 years, 1 million tonnes  of food grains have rotted in the godowns of Food Corporation of India

Ø   435 million Indians [ 36 % of 1210 million population ] are below poverty line, unable to spend even Rs.12 ( $ 0.21 ) per day on food / clothing / shelter

For this “ Second “ India comprising the remaining 36%, it is starvation from birth until death ! To them a GDP growth rate of 9 % makes no sense !

With  regards

hemen  parekh

A Full Blown Crisis ?

World Bank president Robert Zoellick warns that the world is one shock away from a full-blown crisis.
Here are my guesses re: where that one shock may come from :
> European Invasion [ Libya ]
> Ethnic Massacres [ Africa ]
> Population Explosion [ India ]
> Regimes Overthrow [ Middle East ]
> Nuclear Nemesis [ Japan ]
> Economic Collapse [ PIGS ]
> Overheated Economy [ China ]
> Melting Snows [ Poles ]
> Terror Exports [ Pakistan ]
> Food Shortages [ Developing Countries ]
> Global Warming [ Worldwide ]
Feel free to add your own.
There is no doubt that in 2011, a “ Black Swan “ event is around the corner !

With regards

hemen parekh

Makes no difference !

Whether you want to start a business or want to close a business, it makes no difference in India.

International Finance Corporation’s “ Doing Business Report – 2011 “,ranks India as follows amongst 183 countries surveyed [ Source : Times of India / April 18,2011 ] :

 Starting a business ………………………. 134

 Closing a business ………………………. 134

 Paying taxes ………………………………… 164

 Dealing with construction permits .. 165

 Enforcing contracts ………………………. 182

How many approvals do you need ?

 To start a business ……………. 35 ( takes 29 days )

 To construct a building …….. 37 ( takes 195 days )

And now, some good news for entrepreneurs of the “ Economic Super-Power “ :

Government is set to launch a project that will not just provide entrepreneurs the opportunity to seek all clearances for starting a business at the click of a mouse but also guarantee approvals in a specified number of days.

With regards

Hemen Parekh

Bribe Taker or Bribe Giver or Both ?

On its website and in print, Times of India [ April 17,2011 ] mentions a working paper by Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, in which he is supposed to have suggested that that those who pay bribes should not be penalized because they would then be encouraged to report the crime after they have committed it. This will make the bribe receiver too scared to ask for it. This, he claims, could substantially bring down everyday corruption.

"It is being argued is that this entire punishment (for the act of corruption) should be heaped on the bribe taker and the bribe giver should not be penalized at all, at least not for the act of offering or giving the bribe," he suggested.

On the face of it, this looks like a good suggestion provided the Lokpal Bill provides for the following :

Ø  Bribe should have been given only for getting a service that was legally due to the bribe-giver and was being denied

Ø  Onus of proving [ that a bribe was given / accepted ], must lie with the bribe-giver

Ø  Complaint must be specific and provide details in respect of a claimed incidence of bribing

Ø  If it turns out that the complaint was  false / mischievous / malicious and cannot be proved, then the Lokpal Act must provide for severe punishment to the complainant – in order to deter harassment of honest officials

I hope, Drafting Committee will thoroughly consider all aspects.

With regards

hemen  parekh

Who Says So ?

Who says Mumbai is lagging behind the US of A ?

At least not in the matter of divorce

 28,465 marriages were registered in Mumbai during 2011-2012

In same period , 11,546 divorce cases were filed

But at 40 % , that is a significant improvement over 2010-2011 !

When the percentage was 46 % ( 10,892 divorce cases against 23,743 marriage registrations )

At this rate , India’s commercial capital may soon overtake America’s entertainment capital Las Vegas - also famous for its quickie divorces !

Hum  kisise  kum  nahi  !

With regards

hemen  parekh

www.CustomizeResume.com

Jobs  for  All  =  Peace  on  Earth

Access to Justice

In corruption related complaints, Lokpal Bill aims to deliver a verdict within one year of filing a complaint with a local Lok-Ayukt.
A very desirable objective indeed.
I have some doubt whether this lofty goal can be achieved.
Here is why :
Under today’s system, filing a complaint in a court of law is a torturous / time-consuming / expensive process – beyond the reach of common.
Despite this, according to one estimate, there are 30 million cases pending before Indian courts.
At the current rate of disposal, it will take 30 years to clear these !
Now, if Lokpal Bill makes filing of a complaint, a very easy / simple / fast / inexpensive process, will we see 300 million complaints filed in the next 3 years ?
And if so, how many Lok-Ayukts will we need to dispose-off these complaints within one year ?
I request the drafting committee to consider this aspect as well.
With regards
hemen parekh

Let us Institutionalize

By terrorizing beaurocrats thru his Red Brigade, Chairman Mao of China wiped out corruption within months.
But corruption returned within a few months of his death – and how !
Today, China is amongst one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Nothing that is centered on an individual survives for long.
This is why Anna Hazare wants a stringent Jan Lokpal bill so that his anti-corruption crusade gets institutionalized.
Let us further mandate that all mobile phones already sold / to be sold in India, has following built-in “ Speed Dialing “ to connect to local :
 # 7……………….. Police
 # 8…………………Consumer Protection Cell
 # 9………………..Lok-Ayukt
That will enable 780 million mobile owners to knock at the doors of justice within seconds.
Youth of India ! You must take the lead in some out-of-the-box ideas / action.
With regards
hemen parekh

Poverty Defined

Indian Government does not consider you as “ Poor “, if you can afford to spend [ on food / clothing / shelter combined ],
 Rs. 12 per day living in small towns [ $ 0.25 / day ]
 Rs. 17 per day, living in metros [ $ 0.28 / day ]
That makes 544 million Indians ( 45 % of the population ) “ Rich “, since they are earning as much as Rs. 20 [ $ 0.41 ] per day !
And since the statutory minimum wages are Rs. 150 per day, obviously these 544 million people are “ unemployed “ or employed for only a few days in a year.
But if we can somehow manage to bring back those 2 lakh crore rupees lying in Swiss banks, we can provide year round jobs to 600 million people !
This is why we must support Anna Hazare in getting rid of corruption.
This is our last chance – and it is in the hands of Young Indians !
With regards
hemen parekh

Laws cannot touch the Lawmakers

In Israel, former President Katsav got a jail-term of 6 years for rape.
It is a different story in India, where lawmakers are exempt from the laws !
In April / May 2011, Indians will elect Members of Legislative Assemblies for 5 states.
Will they be any better than the outgoing 813 MLAs , of whom :
 25 % are criminals
 204 have 516 criminal cases pending against them
 83 are facing criminal charges for murder, kidnapping and extortion
 97 are billionaires
 403 did not declare PAN [ Permanent Account Number ] details
( Why file an Income Tax Return ? )
These are findings of National Election Watch ( as reported in DNA, March 13,2011 ).
Democratic elections in India, are a political invention to enable citizens to choose who should swindle / loot / rape / murder them for the next 5 years, without fear of law!
With regards
Hemen Parekh

MARIE ANTOINETTE REVISITED

23 March 2011

MARIE  ANTOINETTE  REVISITED

Upon being told that people are starving for want of bread, Marie Antoinette is supposed to have remarked,

“If people don’t have bread, why don’t they eat cake? “

While framing National Food Security Bill, Government of India seems to echo the same sentiment !

 The Center for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) , based in Delhi, has come up with following figures :

• No of households in India  ………………………240  million

• No of undernourished people  …………………230  million

• Food grains required for 1 year ………………115 million tons

• Subsidy amount needed ……………………….$ 370 billion

• Subsidy amount budgeted ……………………$ 121 billion

• Subsidy amount short ……………………………$ 249 billion

Isn’t that a strange coincidence that , as per Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG ) , India’s coal-mafia has usurped the same amount ( approx $ 260 billion ) , year after year, when 2,348 children have been dying from mal-nutrition every single day ?

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH