Awaiting a Messiah

Just read in newspapers :

With one voice , all political parties ( except Aam Aadmi Party ) , have requested the Central Government to amend relevant laws , in order to negate / nullify the Supreme Court orders , which will prevent persons locked up in jails to contest elections or those MLAs / MPs to contest elections who have been found guilty and awarded a jail term of 2 years or more .

Political parties also want Central Government to amend Right to Information Act , to nullify the order of the CIC , which would make the parties " answerable " to queries of the public

What surprises me is how come no political party has asked for amendment of laws that require them to file Income Tax return under Representation of People Act !

Could it be that this is because they need not provide any details ( or , keep any records ) of donations of less than Rs 20,000  ?

And , Lo and Behold !

None have received any donation of Rs 20,000 or more !

Do not ask how Congress has managed to build up a war chest of Rs 2,000 Crores and BJP , a fund of Rs 1,000 Crores !

Despite all my admiration for the achievements of Narendra Modi , I fail to see any difference between BJP and Congress !

Since I was old enough  ( around 10 years of age - in 1943 ) , I have not felt more cynical about our so called " Democracy " , ever being able to lift our 600 million , malnourished poor people out of their abject poverty

In the remaining years of my life , I await the arrival of a Benevolent Dictator like Netaji Shubhash Chandra Bose or Ironman Sardar Patel

Hemen

The Shape of Womb to Come ?

HTcafe newspaper ( 21 July 2013 ) , carries following headline :

“ Surrogacy shouldn’t become a money making racket – Kiran Rao talks… “

I assure Kiran that I will never launch a web site , to be called, Babies.com or Surrogacy.com ( - may be already existing ! )

But , in not too distant a future , I can imagine some clever Indian youngsters to launch just such a web site

It will have following databases :

Ø  Sperm Database ( with Ethnicity / Age / Health / Location etc )

Ø  Egg Database     ( also add , “ Beauty Index “ )

Ø  Surrogate Mothers Database ( also add , “ Past Performance “ )

Ø  Nearest Clinic Database ( giving details of supervising Doctors )

> Delivery Service ( UPS / FedEx / Drop Box / Hand Delivery etc ) 

Obviously , the web site will list prices / tariffs for thousands of possible permutations / combinations , and enable online payments - in advance of course !

After making a “ Purchase “ , the Buyers ( want – to – be – parents ) would be able to monitor the progress of their “ Order “ online ( Reports / Sono-graphs / DNA / Genetic Aberrations etc )

And since there are bound to be several such web sites within a short period , some more clever Indian youngsters are bound to come up with a “ Baby Price Comparison Shopping Site “ !

Kiran ;

Future is already here – in the form of “ Mass – Customization “ !

With regards,

hemen  parekh

www.hemenparekh.in

Oh Detroit

Oh  Detroit

Morning papers say
You have gone bust
Bankrupt
Though not altogether abrupt ;

Even as I walked those endless miles
Of Grand River Avenue
Past the used car marts
And many noisy bars,

I thought about my own
Future bleak
Sitting on the edge of your waterfront,

But you gave me friends
Who gave me hope
And found KU
To begin a life anew

That was 1956
And though my memories
Are fading and few
I will never give up on you

Oh Detroit

Why Do We need Drama ?

I am all for Preventive Action , when catastrophy strikes and suddenly kills a few people

Eg:

>   Uttarakhand Floods / Landslides

>   Food-poisioning of kids in Chapara ( Bihar )

>   Building Collapses in Mumbai


But many many more people get " killed " everyday  all around us , through ;

>   Malnutrition ( 4383 children every day ! )

>   Breathing polluted gases emanating from Coal-fired Power plants ( 1 Lakh / Year )

>   Car accidents due to bad roads ( 50 , 000 / year )

>   Lack of Health care during pregnancy  (  30,000 /  year )

>   Farmer Suicide due lack of Rain water  (  20,000 /  year )

>   Run over by local trains in Mumbai  (  4,000 /  year  )


But there is hardly a murmur amongst people

Therefore , no preventive action amongst politicians / bureaucrats !

Shall we act only where there is high drama ?


hemen

Is Lokpal Overdue ?

Sunday Times ( 14  July  2013 ) reports following findings of latest Transperency International Survey for India :

>  Who  takes  bribes and  how  often ( Bribe  Quotient )

*    Political  parties  ...........................  86 %
*    Police  .........................................  75 %
*    Legislature  .................................   65 %
*    Education  .....................................61 %
*    Health  Systems  ..........................  56 %
*    Business   ....................................   50 %
*    Judiciary  ...................................    45 %
*    Religious  Bodies  ......................    44 %
*    Media  ......................................... 41 %
*    NGO  ........................................   30 %
*    Military  ....................................... 20 %

And 68 % of the people surveyed say , Government actions to fight corruption have been ineffective

Obvious, isn't it , considering that the Central Government is so busy fighting Lokpal Bill !

hemen

Believe it or Not !

As per Economic Times ( 14 July 2013 ), none of the MLAs of the Manipur 2012 Assembly face criminal charges !

Now compare this with the following :

>    MPs/MLAs who have voluntarily declared criminal cases against them.................  1460

>    MPs who face criminal cases ..............................................................................    162

>    MLAs who face criminal cases ...............................................................................1258

>    BJP  MPs / MLAs who face criminal cases  ...........................................................    31 %

>   Congress   MPs / MLAs who face criminal cases  .......................................................21 %

Believe me , you will see most of them back in their respective legislatures , after the next set of National / State Elections , since , very few have been convicted with a prison term of 2 years or more

Venturesome amongst you might want to place bets with bookies !

Hemen Parekh

A Drop in the Ocean ?

As per Hindustan Times ( 14 July, 2013 ) report, Food Corporation of India [ FCI ] lost rice and wheat worth Rs 2050 Crores in transit and storage , during last 3 years

That was a mere 1.1 Million tons

What is a mere 1.1 million tons , compared to 50 million tons of grains planned to be distributed to 800 million poor Indians , every year , under Food Security Bill ?

( Ans : It is a mere Rs 1,25,000 Crores )

If you go by Mr Tariq Anwar - Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing -,  30 % of food grains supplied thru the Public Distribution System ( PDS ) , is lost every year !

How about replacing the Public Distribution System ( thru elimination of all middlemen ) , with a Poor Distribution System , under which , poor can simply queue up before the FCI godowns / silos and collect those grains for FREE , before they rot ?

hemen