Manifesto Misconduct ?

In its manifesto released yesterday , Congress has promised to create 10 Crore ( = 100 million ) new jobs in next 5 years , if voted to power

Now , EC's Model Code of Conduct tells political parties ,

"  If you make any promise in your manifesto , you must also spell out , how

   you are going to fund it ; how - and from where - you are planning to

   raise the money to fulfill your promise  "

No such explanation / clarification in Congress Manifesto  !

Only EC can say whether this is a blatant violation of Code of Conduct

Provided , BJP / AAP lodge a complaint with the EC

But BJP / AAP can do better than just lodge a complaint

In their own respective manifestos , they too , can promise to generate 100 million new jobs in 5 years , if voted to power

But strictly , in

>   Organized  Private  Sector

>   Un-organized  Private  Sector

>   Self - Employed  Sector

Now each job will require an additional Capital ( fixed + working ) of Rs 1 million , on an average

That means , these Sectors ( not the Government ) will need to raise ,

>  Rs  1 million * 100 million  ( Rs 10 Lakh * Crores )

If voted to power , we ( BJP / AAP ) will enable these Sectors to raise this amount of funds thru introduction of following schemes :

>    BLACK  MONEY  AMNESTY  SCHEME

These Sectors will be allowed to invest their Black Money ( whether stashed locally or abroad ) in specific , Government - Approved , " Infrastructure Bonds " . No questions will be asked as to the source of the funds and the interest earned will be tax-free for a period of 10 years

>    JOB  GENERATION  SCHEME

Since the emphasis is on Job Generation , companies will be " incentivized " to hire more permanent persons

The incentive will be in the form of reducing Corporate Income Tax ( % ) as a company's employment goes up by setting 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 %  tax

> 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

>  DOWN-SIZE   GOVERNMENT    SCHEME

*  Government is already over-staffed . It is hiring 4 persons to do the work of one  !

Hence , no new jobs will be created in Government or in PSUs for next 5 years

There will be a " Recruitment Freeze " in government - except for the defense services

Government  /  PSU employment will be allowed to shrink thru resignations / retirements / deaths etc , by adopting the rule of " No Replacements "

>  SELF  EMPLOYEMENT  SCHEME

Every unemployed person registering under this scheme will get an interest - free loan of Rs 50,000 / - from any scheduled bank where he / she opens a bank account , repayable in 10 years. Central Government will insure these loan-re-payments

A suitable mechanism will be put in place to prevent misuses such as ,

*  Duplicate loans from different banks

*  Already employed persons applying for loans

*  A loan-taker taking up  a job after availing a loan

>   HONESTY  REWARD  SCHEME

" Inverse " the " Personal Income Tax " slabs as follows :

>  Up to  Rs 5 lakhs..................... NIL  tax

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

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

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

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

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

This will encourage tax-payers to honestly declare their entire income and eliminate tax-evasion / black money generation at the very source itself  !

Under such a scheme , Rs 5 * Lakh * Crores worth of estimated Black Money will return to the official " White Money " banking stream , during FY 2014-15 itself  !

Can you imagine everyone wanting a " Cheque Payment " only  !

And this White Money will get deployed in the CAPITAL MARKET , officially !


With this , we expect SENSEX to cross 50,000 by 2019 !

Listed " Private Sector " companies will be able to attract funds at very low interest rates and deploy these for creating productive assets / employment

These funds will also encourage Private Sector companies to take up long duration Infrastructure Projects - without asking the Governments to guarantee " Viability Gap Funding "

>  CAPITAL  ASSETS  CREATION  SCHEME

Under this scheme , companies will be granted an " Accelerated  Depreciation " on incremental Capital Assets created  during the year

This will encourage companies to plough back their profits into creating manufacturing capacities , thereby improving the contribution of manufacturing to our GDP


Simultaneously , this will give a big boost to India's Capital Goods Industry - the mother of all industries

I hope the Manifesto - Writers of BJP /  AAP  etc examine these schemes and ask of themselves ,

"  Will these meet EC's Code of Conduct  ?  "

And , will these Manifesto Authors dare to promise ,

" If voted to power , we will enact a law that makes each Manifesto , a legally binding Contract between the people of India and the party making the promises - breach of which , will be punishable by a jail term , of not less than 10 years " 

*   hemen  parekh  ( 27 March 2014 / Mumbai ) 

Burn Your Boats

All these days , I had serious doubts whether Arvind Kejriwal will really go through his plan of fighting Narendra Modi in Varanasi

It seemed suicidal

It still is

But now that the die has been cast , the only option for Arvind is to tell his party workers ,

"  Let us burn our boats  "

Much like the Spanish conqueror , Hernando Cortez , who sailed all the way from Spain to the distance shores of Mexico , in 1589 AD ,  to fight the mighty army of the Aztecs

With just 400 soldiers  !

Upon landing , he told his soldiers ,

" Let us burn our boats . Let us not think of retreat / defeat / option to

   return

  Either we win or we die "

 And they burnt their boats to eliminate that option

Then fought like hell and defeated the Aztecs - something no other challenger had succeeded in preceding 600 years  !

Arvind can most certainly defeat NaMo , if his party workers realize that they have no other option but to win

Unlike NaMo , who has an option to win in Vadodara  !

Remember what Bapu told millions of Indians while trying to overthrow the British Empire  ?

"  Karenge  ya  Marenge  "

No other option  !

*   hemen  parekh  (  26 March 2014 / Mumbai  )

Salvaging Life On Earth

The biggest cause for the degradation of environment is burning of fossil fuels

Burning of coal / gas / oil etc produces green-house gases , leading to global warming / floods / droughts etc

Everyone knows that the real long term solution is switching over to renewable energy sources such as wind / sun / tides etc

Can we tap earth's magnetism to produce abundant / unlimited / clean energy ?

I believe so and would request the scientists to consider my following suggestion :

Every school child knows that ,

>  Electricity is generated when a copper wire is 
     rotated in any magnetic field

>   Earth is surrounded by a very strong magnetic
     field

>   This magnetic field is generated by the rotation
     of molten iron deep inside earth's core

>   This magnetic field also protects us from harmful 
     ultra-violet rays / gamma radiations from space

Now , suppose we find a way to ,

>  Construct a hollow cylinder of woven Copper wires  
     to envelope the earth , 100 miles above the 

     earth's surface ( like those thin rings of Saturn )

>  Then , using small rocket thrusts , rotate this

     cylinder in the direction opposite of earth's

     rotation , to cut through its magnetic field

Will that generate electricity  ?

I think so

With international co-operation such a project would take less time - and possibly money too - than the already successful international projects of the International Space Station or the Large Hadron Collider of CERN

It may be exciting to discover the God Particle and understand what makes up mass but I think , it is far more useful to find a permanent / clean source of energy to prevent the extinction of all life on earth by burning fossil fuels


*  hemen  parekh  (  25  March 2014 / Mumbai )
  

LEGALIZE MONEY LAUNDERING ?

In Satyamevajayate TV episode ( 23 March 2014 ) , Amir Khan had one expert present the following fact :

Market value of ALL the fossil fuels + ALL the minerals , lying under Indian soil is ,

A  = Market Value =  Rs  5  *  Thousand  *  Lakh  *  Crores

If we were to extract all of these in the next 100 years , then

B  =  Annual Output  =  Rs  5  *  Ten  *  Lakh  *  Crores

   ( on dividing " Thousand "   by  " Hundred " )

But how much additional investment would we need to get such an output  ?

Let us assume that we need an additional investment of " Rs TEN " to raise an additional output of " Rs ONE "

That is an ICOR of 10 ( " Incremental Capital Output Ratio " , which is now close to 6  in our country )

So , let us divide B by 10 , to get ,

C  =  Additional Investment =  Rs 5  *  Lakh  *  Crores

Bingo  !

If we are to believe sundry Economists ( Baba Ramdev / Narendra Modi etc included ) , then that is exactly ,

D  =  Black Money =  Rs 5  *  Lakh  *  Crores

( Amount locked up / stashed away by Indians in Swiss + local banks + gold + land etc , by way of " Unproductive Assets " )

Now , all that we need to realize our underground resources is a " Magic Wand " that would convert this Black Money into White Money !

Turn our " Unproductive Assets " into " Productive Assets " (Rs 5 Lakh Crores )

And enable people to do so legally  !

Here is my oft-repeated suggestion ,

" Inverse " the Personal 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

>  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 will 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

Amir Khan said ,

" If we divide Rs 5 * Thousand * Lakh * Crores , by 1200 million Indian population , then each one of us , is the proud owner of Rs 40 lakhs  !  "

My suggested Magic Wand would eliminate poverty - something which Congress Governments have been trying to do for the past 60 years !

*  hemen  parekh  (  24  March  2014  /  Mumbai  )

  

  

The More Things Change

It is said ,

"  The more things change , the more they remain the same  "

If in doubt , take a look at the following analysis , carried out by ADR ( Association for Democratic Reforms ) ,

In Current Lok Sabha :

>  MPs facing criminal charges.............. 162 ( out of 542 ) = 30 %

>  MPs facing SERIOUS charges.............  76  ..............     =  14 %

>  MPs whose cases are pending for 10+ years..................      45 MPs

>  MPs whose cases are pending for 20+ years ..................       7 MPs

Does that deter our political parties from giving tickets to candidates with past Criminal records  ?

You would be naive if you believed all those lofty announcements made by our political leaders - led by Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi - that this time around ,

" No one with past criminal record will be given a ticket "

In the first lists of 301 candidates announced for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections , by various political parties , ADR analyzed the  affidavits filed by 188 candidates

And found 56 candidates to have Criminal records  !  56 out of 188  !

Same  30  %  !

Wait till ,

>  final lists of all parties are out in the next 3/4 days

>  ADR find time to analyze (approx ) 8,000 affidavits

>  May 16th - when 542 winners are announced

Once again you will find that 30 % of the " Winners " have criminal cases pending against them  !

Our only hope is Supreme Court directive ( to the lower courts ) that such trials must be completed within ONE year and those found guilty must be disqualified from Lok Sabha / State Legislative Assemblies

It is another matter that Salman Khurshid thinks that our Judiciary has become hyper-active and started taking decisions that rightfully belong to the Legislative wing and the Administrative wing

Agree , this is not an ideal situation

But ,

when the other two wings of the Government simply STOP taking decisions or START / CONTINUE , taking " corrupt / tainted / dishonest " decisions , then someone has to step in !

Long live Supreme Court  !

*  hemen  parekh  (  23  March  2014  /  Mumbai )

  

Myopia Magnified !

It seems Election Commission ( EC ) has issued a notification , banning advertisements by political parties on " Social Media " websites such as Wikipedia / Twitter / YouTube / Facebook and online Apps ( mobile too ? )

With a proviso that the political parties may do so , after getting for their ads , a " pre-certification " from competent authorities

But what about content ( camouflaged ads ? ) posted on internet by general public  ?

EC is in consultation with the Ministry of Communication and Technology , on practical ways to deal with such posts

Whoa !

What a gumption to dare monitor a trillion daily posts on a billion web sites !

Apparently , neither EC nor the Ministry , seem to have heard about the,

INTERNET  OF  THINGS

Under upcoming internet protocol ( IP  V 6.0 ) , each grain of sand on approx 100 earth-sized planets , would have its own unique IP address !

That would translate to a few billion IP addresses for each and every human being on our earth  !

Come 2019 Lok Sabha elections , Congress / BJP / AAP and umpteen other political parties would be delivering their election campaign advertisements ( or donation requests ) , on our ,

> Toothbrushes / Nail-cutters / Wrist-watches / Table cloth / Kitchen wall

Including on plastic lenses in our eyes  !


And wearable Google glasses are already connected to internet 


Scientists have already come up with contact lenses which can see in the dark  !

40 years ago , in his seminal essay , " Marketing Myopia " , author Theodore Levitt wrote ,

"  If you don't make yourself obsolete , someone else will "

May be EC need some advice from our very own Prof Jhunjhunwala , who has succeeded in delivering internet through each and every , humble domestic electric socket  !  Watch out , Internet Service Providers  !

It seems to me , EC is headed for the " Internet Cloud " !  No doubt , against its will  !

If a tiny country like ESTONIA ( population = 1.6 million ) can elect its entire parliament ( may be 20 persons ! ) , ONLINE , without a single physical booth , why can't we  ?

The pessimists among us , will argue :

" It can't be done when you have 814 million voters "

It is this kind of people who are obstacles to India's progress  !

Left to do their thing , they will take India back to 18th Century  !

I urge , Pitrodas and Nilekanis of beloved India , to muster courage and tell EC ,

" Sir , internet is unstoppable / un-controllable

  Don't even try  !  "

*   hemen  parekh  ( 20 March 2014 / Mumbai )

Arvind ( MP ) or Arvind ( Ex-MLA ) ?

Not surprisingly , many people would like it to be ,

Arvind ( Ex-MLA )

One does not need to be a NOSTRADAMUS , to be able to predict that - should Arvind decide to fight against Narendra Modi from Varanasi

Whereas , I can understand , leaders of both Congress and BJP , secretly hoping that Arvind does contest from Varanasi , I just fail to understand why AAP leaders too , want him to carry out a political suicide  !

Do they ( AAP leaders ) , believe that ,

>  a Arvind on the footpath OUTSIDE parliament building is worth much

    more ,

   than

>   a Arvind leading the opposition INSIDE the Lok Sabha  ?

If not , why do they advise him to fight Narendra Modi  ?

To make a martyr out of Arvind  ?

Don't AAP leaders realize that politics is purely a game of " Possible " ?

And one does not need to have mastered , NASH EQUILIBRIUM to see that , a fight between NaMo and Arvind , is a fight between UNEQUALS  !

Mavericks don't win elections .  Money does  !

Election is NOT about heroics / about bravado / about being foolhardy  !

It is only about getting into the Lok Sabha

And , in Arvind's case , it is about getting in there with fair and honest means  !

ARVIND ,

What are you trying to prove by fighting Modi  ?

That you are not lusting for power  ?

You don't have to . We know that

Forget about that referendum of people of Varanasi

Listen to what 814 million voters want

They want to see you lead the opposition in Lok Sabha

Ask of yourself :  What is more important  ?

Fighting Modi for 5 weeks on the streets of Varanasi - and losing ?

Or,

Fighting Modi inside Lok Sabha for 5 years - and winning  ?

So , fight from where people - not money , will vote for you

*   hemen   parekh  (  18  March  2014  /  Mumbai  )

Ides of March ?

In ancient Roman calendar , 15 March is called , " Ides of March "

A few days earlier in 44 BC , a seer had warned Julius Caesar to " Beware of the Ides of March "

On that day , on his way to Senate , Caesar joked to the Seer ,

" Ides of March have come "

Seer replied ,

" Aye , Caesar , but not gone "

Once inside the Senate , Caesar was assassinated !

Caesar paid the price for ignoring the warning  !

Thankfully , 2000 years later , there are no physical assassinations

But , what about political " harakiri "  ?  Self - inflicted wounds  ?

Entirely possible , when ego combines with anger - a deadly cocktail !

Why else should Arvind Kejriwal threaten ALL media by saying ,

" Media are corrupt . They are bribed by political parties and businessmen to air PAID NEWS

If we come to power , we will investigate and send ALL of them to jail "

Of Course , we understand the anger , the enthusiasm , the frustration with the present political system and can forgive AAP leaders for the following :

>  a few hundred people were inconvenienced when Arvind travelled by

    rickshaw / local train in Mumbai

>  some AAP workers misbehaved in their enthusiasm to show their

    support to Arvind's crusade

>  AAP organizers did not  apply for the necessary police permissions

    sufficiently in advance

We can also concede that media will place before the public , not the real / total / unblemished picture - but its " tainted " version , dependent upon that media's political leanings

Eg :

How many TV anchors thought it fit to place Nitish Kumar ( CM - Bihar ) in the witness box , when he brought the entire state to a grinding halt , a few days back  ?

Or when those election rallies of Narendra Modi / Rahul Gandhi disrupt millions of lives ?

Sure , Arvind is given to hyperbole and we could have brushed aside if he were to say ,

" In my perception ,- and I have no proof - , some TV channels are being financed by some people / parties , to tell white lies and to malign AAP

If we come to power , we would investigate such nexus , if any , and try to make media , truly independent of such undesirable influences "

But he allowed his ego to overtake his genuine / well-placed anger  !

ARVIND

It is still not too late to be warned - to militate with decency  !

The Ides of March is here  !

*   hemen  parekh (  15  March  2014  /  Mumbai  )

    

Bribing the Voters ?

Election Commission thinks Narendra Modi is trying to bribe the voters

By offering to voters ,  a FREE cup of tea at Namo Chai Stalls

Obviously , a serious breach of Model Code of Conduct  !

So , EC has asked BJP to stop this " Unfair " practice , right away

But the Geek Brigade of NaMo knows clever ways of bypassing EC strictures by pseudo-compliance with the code  !

By charging Re 1 / - for the first cup

Then offering unlimited free Re-Fills  !

Just bring the original polystyrene cup with NaMo face printed on it  !

No more breaking Code of Conduct  !

After all , aren't BJP " hiring " a Falcon Jet plane from a leading business house at just Rs 1,000 per hour , whereas , going market rate is Rs 3 lakh per hour !

What with this EC guys asking " hisaab " for every little thing  !

I never knew  that the 814 million Indian Voters are so deeply mired in poverty that they can be easily " bribed " with a single cup of tea  !

May be it is high time our Planning Commission revised downward , its definition of poverty from Rs 27 per day ( Urban ) and Rs 16 per day ( Rural )

EC could have done better by insisting that NaMo Chai Stalls use earthen tea cups instead of polystyrene cups

That will save our environment and provide jobs to the community engaged in making earthen pots and pans

Unless , of course , someone's son put up a factory to make millions of polystyrene cups , in anticipation of the forthcoming elections  !

*   hemen   parekh   (  13  March  2014  /  Mumbai  )