Act " Non - Violent "

All political parties preach " Non Violence "

But , time and again , end up acting violent  !

Mental violence of gallis and abusive language for their opponents

Sometimes even physical

People of Delhi voted for AAP because AAP looked different

It promised to follow the path of Mahatma Gandhi and refrain from abusive language

But two days back , AAP workers turned to violence in front of BJP office

It is unimportant to establish who threw the first stone

If they really believed in non violence , why could not AAP workers tie a piece of cloth around their mouths , walk down quietly to BJP's office - then sit down on the opposite footpath ?  And welcome BJP's stones and lathis  ?

Even sing ,

" Subko Sanmati de Bhagwaan "  !  BJP ko Sanmati de Bhagwan   !

That would have won them the hearts of 814 million voters in April  !

That is what Bapu would have done - as he did in Dandi March

Even though the British Rulers considered Bapu as the Enemy # 1 of the Empire , he never considered them as his enemies  !

That is why , even after he publicly burned heaps of clothes made in the mills of Birmingham and asked Indians to boycott all clothes imported from Britain , he was warmly welcomed by the families of those very British workers who got thrown out of jobs due to Bapu's boycott  !

Bapu believed in the " purity of the means "

For him , the " Means are as important as the Ends "

Unless AAP workers heed what Arvind is saying - and practice it too - , they will lose all sympathy from the general public , who will feel " deceived and cheated "  !

That will be the end of the last ray of hope - the AAP

ASHUTOSH  /  SHAZIA ILMI ,

History will not judge you by your oratory

Only by your Non-Violence

Non Violence of Thought

Of Speech

Of Action

*  hemen  parekh  ( 07 March 2014 / Mumbai )

  

An Indian Summer ?

We have heard about the " Arab Spring " , under which , over the past 3 years,

>  Libyans overthrew Muammar Gaddafi

>  People of Iraq ousted Saddam Hussein

>  Tunisians threw out Ben Ali

>  Yemenese exiled Ali Abdullah Saleh

No doubt , with overt - and covert - help from the Western Powers

But the most important factor was that , in all of these cases , entire population was united in fighting a single , common enemy - their Dictator

Now turn to ,

>  Syria

    where a number of rebel factions are fighting each other for last 2 years , even as they struggle to get rid of dictator Assad ( - who is having fun , since the Western World cannot make up its mind , which rebel faction it ought to support  !  )

>  Egypt

    where pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak ( or Muslim Brotherhood and its opponents ) are fighting each other , while their military Chief Sisi announces his candidature for President's position !

A Dictator disguised as a Democrat  ?  You bet  !

Obviously , Egyptian military rulers are having the last laugh  !

Neither in Syria , nor in Egypt , Arab Spring is succeeding , due to the infighting of those opposed to Assad and Mubarak

That reminded me of the ( in ) fighting that broke out last evening between BJP supporters and Aam Aadmi Party workers in Delhi , Lucknow , Allahabad and Bhopal

Have they forgotten , WHO is the real ENEMY of the People of India  ?

Fortunately , India being a democracy ruled by corrupt politicians of our own choosing ( in 2009 ) , no foreign power is expected to intervene

But the Congress leaders  must be laughing with unabashed joy  !

*   hemen   parekh  (  06  March  2014  /  Mumbai  )  

Why Businessmen Bribe Bureaucrats ?

At a recent CII seminar , Arvind Kejriwal said ,

"  Not all businessmen are corrupt. Quite a few are honest "

Having spent many years in Income Tax department he ought to know that even when a businessman has maintained honest / truthful books of accounts and not indulged in any mal-practice , he is still required to bribe the concerned income tax officer , to get his tax return approved

A Chartered Accountant ( who specializes in filing tax returns for companies ) , once told me :

" I have forgotten my accounting principles . I have been reduced to being a broker between the income tax officers and my client companies

If these tax officers get their ' percentage ' , they could not care less as to how many sets of duplicate account books you maintain  !

Of course , being thoroughly ' professional ' , they do offer a discount to honest businessmen !  "

That bags the question :

" Why do businessmen bribe bureaucrats  ?  "

My take :

>  Dishonest businessmen bribe bureaucrats ,

    #  to obtain some unfair advantage

    #  to keep out competition

    #  to jump the queue

    #  to get permissions / licenses / tariff etc for which they are not eligible

    #  to get orders for which they are not qualified ...............etc

>  Honest businessmen are forced to bribe the bureaucrats , who hold up /

    deny permissions / services etc that are perfectly / legally due to them

     If they won't , they must pay a heavy price  !

Example  :

Some 43 years ago , my company decided to shift a factory from Sion to Madh ( locations , just 20 Km apart in Mumbai )

As the manager of the plant , I applied to all the concerned departments , indicating the shifting date , some 3 months in advance

I also vigorously followed up for all required permissions

Every department granted permission , except the Power / Energy Dept

They wouldn't issue the letter until I signed an undertaking , stating that , in all of our future recruitment , 80 % of the recruits will be " local "

Even though , my company had always followed this practice at the workmen level , it was not possible to follow it at the Supervisory - and above - level , since we ,

> conducted campus interviews all over India to get the best engineers

> advertized our supervisory vacancies , in all national newspapers

> transferred engineers ( job rotation ) across our country-wide factories

Apart from that , there was also a raging debate in the media re this unjust demand , which legal experts had held , " Un-Constitutional "

My management told me not to sign the undertaking

Result  ?

For the next 3 months , my 300 workmen sat idle in the factory  !

We lost production / sales, valued at lakhs of rupees

Looking at our determination , the Government finally relented and connected the power after 2 months

How could we pull this off  ?

Both me - and my boss , the director - were mere paid " Employees " of a large Public Limited Company and could afford to stand firm against this " Unfair / Unjust / Illegal " denial of service

But I doubt if I could have done this if I was myself the owner of a small factory  !

Arvind ,

It is sad to say this , but honest businessmen / industrialists have no choice , but to bribe , when a lawfully due service gets withheld

If all of them were to suddenly stop paying bribes for getting their  due services , then our GDP would dive below 2 % in next 6 months  !

If you come to power - and I hope that you do - please first ensure that no businessman is denied what is legally due to him

*   hemen  parekh  (  04 March 2014  /  Mumbai  )

A Tale of Two Chief Ministers

Yesterday , Nitish Kumar ( CM - Bihar ) , sat on a dharna at Gandhi Maidan in Patna , to persuade Union Government to grant Bihar, a " Special Status "

And what " means " did he employ  ?

>  Enacted drama  by beating utensils

>  Declared Bihar - Bandh ( High Court orders notwithstanding ! )

>  Brought all traffic to a halt

>  Stopped trains in their tracks

>  Forced shops to remain shut

>  Closed down all commerce and trade

>  Took out a huge procession of several hundred supporters from his home,

     escorted by equal number of policemen ( to protect him  ? )

>  Sat near Gandhi Statue for 5 hours ( to shame Mahatma ,re "means"  ? )

>  Caused Bihar , a loss of hundreds of crores of rupees

A few weeks ago , Arvind Kejriwal ( when he was CM - Delhi ) , too , sat on a dharna on a footpath in Delhi , seeking suspension of 2 police officers

How did he go about ?

>  Marched towards office of Home Minister Shinde , with a few supporters

>  On his way , prevented to go further by police

>  Spent the night ( was it 2 nights ? ) on the footpath in biting cold

>  Ate food ( brought from home ), sitting on footpath

>  Did not stop traffic  (  Police did  )

>  Did not stop Metro  ( DMC  did  )

>  Did not shut shops / establishments ( Police slapped Section 144 )

>  Continued to attend to office work - by clearing files/holding meetings

TV Anchors and Congress leaders called him , an Anarchist  !

I must have missed to listen to what TV Anchors called , Nitish Kumar  !

Of course , I did not expect Congress leaders to call him anything - except,

"  Let us make a deal

   You help us return to power and we guarantee special status to Bihar

   Just as we did in case of Telengana

   And just as we will continue to do with similar demands for Bodoland /

   Gorkhaland / Vidarbha etc

   Didn't you notice how we granted reservation to the Jats , last evening ?

   And raised DA for 8 million Government employees  ?

   And cleared projects worth crores of rupees in the constituencies of our

   leaders  ?

   We know , once EC announces elections tomorrow , we cannot dole out

   any more favors  ( that wretched code of conduct will kick-in ! )

   But , our shop is open till today evening  !

   Those willing to strike deals , please hurry  !  "

I believe , Congress leaders must be considering Aam Aadmi  as " Mere Fools "

Not knowing that, at the polling booths, Aam Aadmi will have the last laugh !

*   hemen  parekh  (  03  March  2014  /  Mumbai  )

  

A NARCO Test ?

To bring out " truth " from a suspected criminal , police deliver a NARCO test , by administering , what is popularly known as TRUTH SERUM

It reveals a person's innermost thoughts and feelings

Occasionally , his feelings about others . Feelings that have so far , remained suppressed in his subconscious

Of late , we have heard our politicians refer to their political opponents , as :

>   Maut Ka Saudagar

>   Khooni Panja

>   Shehzada

>   Chor ( Thief  )

>   Criminal

>   Mendhak  (  Frog  )

>   Bandar  (  Monkey  )

>   Napunsak  (  Impotent  )...........etc


Those that failed to receive the full prescribed doze of the Truth Serum , just call their opponents :

>   Corrupt

>   Indecisive

>  Incompetent

>  Insecure

>  Spineless

>  Confused..................etc

I wonder whether , once in five years , our good doctor EC ( Election Commissioner ) , administers a NARCO test to our politicians , by announcing elections  !

What I never knew is that this NARCO test also brings to the surface , all those wonderful / sympathetic   feelings that our political bosses harbored for us - the poor public - always , but were too busy to express all along  ! 

Here is how they describe us - the poor people of Mother India  :

>  Suppressed

>  Oppressed

>  Tortured

>  Maligned

>  Neglected

>  Miserable

>  Starving

>  Suffocated

>  Deprived ..............etc


Such  a glorious show of empathy  !


I almost wish , we had National Elections , every alternate year  !


*  hemen  parekh  (  01 March  2014  /  Mumbai  )

  

Create Wealth to Create Jobs

Our current Personal Income Tax slabs are :

>   Up to Rs 2.0 Lakhs.......................  NIL

>   2.1 Lakh  -  5.0 Lakh....................   10 %

>   5.1 Lakh   - 10.0 Lakh...................   20 %

>   More than Rs 10 lakh....................    30 %

That means , the more you earn , the more tax you pay  !

How does this wrong tax regime hurt our economy  ?

This regime ,

>   Punishes honest people

>   Penalizes wealth creation

>   Encourages creation of " Black Money "

>   Provides incentive for tax evasion

>   Diverts resources into unproductive assts such as cash/gold/land etc

>   Stops people from working harder / smarter

With this regime , people tend to ask :

>   Why should I work hard and earn more , if the more I earn the more I

      pay  ?

>   Why not evade paying taxes by hiding real income ?

>   How will I ever be able to buy that 1 room flat costing Rs 50 lakhs ? I

     need Rs 20 lakhs by way of black money to buy it ! Where do I get that ?

>   For every rupee that the government collects from me as tax , only 15

     paise come back to me in the form of civic amenities .

A few years back , the tax regime was worse  !

One ended up paying , by way of tax , Rs 0.93 from every rupee earned  !

And after heaping on the honest tax-payers , all such disincentives , how much does our government collect by way of taxes  ?

>  Total Tax Receipts ...................................... Rs  12.4  Lakh Crores

>  Personal Income Tax contributes....................Rs   2.47 Lakh Crores

Is there a way to raise that Rs 2.47 lakh Crores to Rs 247 Lakh Crores  ?

Can we raise it by 100 FOLD  ?

I am not an Economist ( my advantage ! )

So , here is my crazy suggestion

" Inverse " the tax slabs as follows :

>  Up to  Rs 2 lakhs..................... NIL

>  2.1 - 5.0 lakhs......................  10 %

>  5.1  - 10 lakhs.......................  8 %

>  10.1 - 20 lakhs......................  6 %

>  20.1  - 50 lakhs.....................  5 %

>  50.1 - 100 lakhs.....................  3 %

>  Above 100 lakhs......................  1 %

What is likely to happen with such " INVERSE  TAXATION  " regime  ?

Following few things :

>  Total personal tax payer base will go up dramatically from current 4

     crores tax-payers

>   Total personal tax collection too , will rise dramatically

>   Today , only 1 % of 4 crores tax payers ( approx 4 lakhs ) , contribute

     nearly 63 % of personal tax revenue ( of Rs 2.47 lakh crores )

     This ratio will change  to , may be , 20 % of tax payers  !

>  with this " INVERSE  TAX  REGIME " , there will be no incentive to  evade

    taxes and to generate " BLACK  MONEY  "

    There will be no resistance to accept ALL payments by cheque / electronic clearance  !

    The more you disclose as your income , the less you pay by way of taxes

>  For a change , we will learn to reward honesty / efficiency / productivity !

    No need to bribe those Income Tax officers  !

>  Suddenly , lakhs of crores of BLACK MONEY , stashed away in bank

     lockers / gold / land - and , of course those Swiss bank accounts  - will ,

     suddenly become " WHITE  MONEY "  !

>  There will be a huge surge in bank deposits ( - even with , the inevitable

    lower interest rates )

>  Banks will be awash with funds to finance businesses / infrastructure

    projects etc , encouraging entrepreneurs / self-employed to set up new

   businesses ( at 2 % interest rates of loans ) and generate millions of jobs

>  There will be a phenomenal rise in Capital Markets

Now couple this " INVERSE TAX REGIME " , with the following " TAX FREE " investment schemes , by creating Special Purpose Vehicles ( SPV ) :

>  NaMo  MEGA-CITY  SPV

    To implement Narendra Modi's ambitious project to build 100 smart cities,

    at an investment of Rs 70 lakh crores , in next 5 years

    This project alone will create 5 million new jobs , every year

>  RaGa  MEGA - JOBS  SPV

    To implement Rahul Gandhi's equally ambitious project to provide jobs to

    50 million youth over the next 5 years , at an investment of Rs 50 lakh

    crores

In my opinion , such " INVERSE TAX REGIME " , coupled with the above mentioned SPVs , will herald  an "  ECONOMIC  ECO - SYSTEM ", which,

>  will create jobs

>  shun tax evasion

>  reduce corruption

>  convert all BLACK MONEY  into WHITE MONEY

>  channelize these  WHITE MONEY  into nation-building projects

To complete this ECO SYSTEM , we  need to think " Out of the Box " in the matter of Corporate Tax Regime , as well

Current trend in industry , all over the world , is to

>  Add highly productive , very expensive machinery to " Automate " all

    manufacturing processes

>  Reduce manpower by increasing " Capital / IT Intensity "

>  Hire low skilled workers by transferring higher " Skills " to machinery

>  Outsource manufacturing to countries where manpower is cheap

>  Move out of " Manufacturing " and shift to " Services "

India cannot swim against this World-wide Trend

We must innovate,  to not only survive but to grow in this scenario

Here is my suggestion :

Set in motion , " INVERSION  of JOB  REDUCTION " regime , under which ,

"  The more jobs a company creates , the less Corporate Tax it pays "

Example :

> Up to employment of 100 persons  ............................... 30 %

> 101  -  500 persons....................................................  25  %

>  501 - 1000 persons ...................................................  20  %

>  1001 - 5000 persons ..................................................  15  %

>  5001 - 10,000 persons ................................................. 10  %

>  Above 10,000 persons .................................................    5  %

Let us celebrate those who provide employment to large number of persons

Let us celebrate BIGNESS

Let us create hundreds of  WORLD SIZE corporations and take on the World

On top of this , provide additional tax - breaks ( discounts ? ) to corporate as follows :

> Average Age of Employees at 30 years.......................  1 %

> Ave age at 25 years.................................................  2 %

> Ave age at 20 years .................................................  3 %



Of course , very strict and transparent rules will need to be framed to

compute,


>  Number of Employees  ( Permanent - not probationers / trainees )


> Average Age ( as on 31 March of Tax year )......etc




But , here is an important aspect of this ,


" Incentivize  Job  Creation  "  Scheme

Today's labour laws make it extremely difficult - if not impossible - for employers to layoff / retrench workmen , if demand shrinks


Hence , to take advantage of this Scheme , employers are unlikely to hire thousands of youth , if they cannot easily trim the workforce , to match the shrinking demand


So , an important corollary of this Scheme is to modify our existing Labour Laws to facilitate layoff / retrenchment , when situation so demands , while protecting the interests of the workmen concerned

And , last but not the least , permit each and every candidate - and the political parties as well - to spend ANY AMOUNT on election campaigns ,

without any restrictions as also accept any amount of Corporate Donations

by cheque

I rest my case  !

*  hemen  parekh  (  27  Feb  2014  / Mumbai  )