There was a farmer who collected horses; he only needed one more breed to complete his collection. One day, he found out that his neighbor had the particular horse breed he needed. So, he constantly bothered his neighbor until he sold it to him. A month later, the horse became ill and he called the veterinarian, who said: - Well, your horse has a virus. He must take this medicine for three days.
I'll come back on the 3rd day and if he's not better, we're going to have to put him down.
Nearby, the pig listened closely to their conversation.
The next day, they gave him the medicine and left. The pig approached the horse and said:
- Be strong, my friend. Get up or else they're going to put you to sleep!
On the second day, they gave him the medicine and left. The pig came back and said:
- Come on buddy, get up or else you're going to die! Come on, I'll help . you get up. Let's go! One, two, three...
On the third day, they came to give him the medicine and the vet said:
- Unfortunately, we're going to have to put him down tomorrow. Otherwise, the virus might spread and infect the other horses.
After they left, the pig approached the horse and said:
- Listen pal, it's now or never! Get up, come on! Have courage! Come on! Get up! Get up! That's it, slowly! Great! Come on, one, two, three...
Good, good. Now faster, come on.... Fantastic! Run, run more! Yes! Yay! Yes! You did it, you're a champion!!!
All of a sudden, the owner came back, saw the horse running in the field
and began shouting:
- It's a miracle! My horse is cured. This deserves a party.
Let's kill the pig!!!!
Points for reflection: this happens in the workplace too. Nobody truly knows which employee actually deserves the merit of success, or who's actually contributing the necessary support to make things happen.
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Alphonse Minj(1977) passes away
Alphonse Minj (ICSE 1977), who was working at the State Bank branch in North Bengal University had a stroke today (4th November) and passed away at the Medical College. A Mass will be held tomorrow at Bagdogra Catholic Church (behind Good Shepherd School). It may be around 2 pm- but please check with those in Siliguri for details
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The Green Thing
In the line at the supermarket, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."
She was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the factory to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. They were recycled.
But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.
In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.
But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.
Back then, they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in a 220 volt energy gobbling machine - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that old lady is right; they didn't have the green thing back in her day.
Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of a cricket pitch. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. They didn't have air conditioning or electric stoves with self cleaning ovens. They didn't have battery operated toys, computers, or telephones.
Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn fuel just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They used hand operated clippers to trim the shrubs. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right; they didn't have the green thing back then.
They drank from a glass filled from the tap when they were thirsty instead of using a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But they didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people walked or took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?
Sent by Arun Shroff
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."
She was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the factory to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. They were recycled.
But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.
In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.
But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.
Back then, they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in a 220 volt energy gobbling machine - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that old lady is right; they didn't have the green thing back in her day.
Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of a cricket pitch. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. They didn't have air conditioning or electric stoves with self cleaning ovens. They didn't have battery operated toys, computers, or telephones.
Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn fuel just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They used hand operated clippers to trim the shrubs. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right; they didn't have the green thing back then.
They drank from a glass filled from the tap when they were thirsty instead of using a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But they didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people walked or took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?
Sent by Arun Shroff
Positive Thinking
Once there was loving couple travelling in a bus in a mountainous area.They decided to get down at some place. After the couple got down at some place the bus moved on,As the bus moved on, a huge rock fell on the bus from the mountain and crushed the bus to crumbs.Everybody on board was killed.The couple upon seeing that, said, "We wish we were on that bus"
Why do u think they said that??
If they had remained on the bus instead of deciding to get down,the resulting time delay could have been avoided and
the rock would have fallen after the bus had passed ..!!!
Think positive in life always and look for opportunities when you can help Others...
"Many times in life, the opposite of Success is not Failure, its Quitting"
Sent by U Banerjee
Why do u think they said that??
If they had remained on the bus instead of deciding to get down,the resulting time delay could have been avoided and
the rock would have fallen after the bus had passed ..!!!
Think positive in life always and look for opportunities when you can help Others...
"Many times in life, the opposite of Success is not Failure, its Quitting"
Sent by U Banerjee
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Shunned Mizo girl quits Delhi
By Imran Ahmed Siddiqui
New Delhi, Oct. 31: A Mizo woman who was gangraped in Delhi last November was shunned by friends and taunted on the streets, prompting her to quit her BPO job and return to Mizoram a couple of months ago.
Sources who had counselled the 30-year-old said her colleagues avoided her and even her friends, some from the Northeast themselves and thus expected to be a source of emotional support, had stopped meeting her.
"It became very difficult for her to live in Delhi. She was feeling ostracised by neighbours and friends," the president of the Delhi Mizo Welfare Association, B. Lalzarliana, told The Telegraph.
Madhu Chandra, spokesperson for the North East Support Centre and Helpline, said he was "shocked" at the way the victim was ostracised. "Instead of helping such victims with their rehabilitation, our society makes their lives more miserable," he said.
The victim's plight may have been partly aggravated by the way women from the Northeast are perceived and treated by many in Delhi, including criminals and the police. Statistics complied by Chandra's NGO suggest that nearly half the women harassed sexually in the capital are from the Northeast. "Northeast women are always targeted by criminals but the police do not act on their complaints, emboldening the criminals. In 40 instances in the past two years, the police refused to register a case when the shattered victims approached them," Chandra said.
In another 20 cases, the accused are roaming free, Chandra said. He cited how two men recently molested a Manipuri girl inside her home and how Vasant Vihar police refused to register a case when her family approached them.
Ayangla Jamir, who is from Nagaland and works with a BPO, said the capital had become a frightening place to live in. "Women from the Northeast feel very vulnerable. Criminals are on the prowl but the government is least bothered. Even society, which should come to the aid of rape victims, makes their life more miserable," she said.
The Mizo gangrape victim's absence from Delhi, Lalzarliana said, could work in favour of her four alleged attackers whom the police eventually arrested after drawing a lot of flak. The trial is to begin soon. "She has to be present at the hearings. If she doesn't come, it will have an impact on the outcome of the case," Lalzarliana said.
The victim, who worked with a Gurgaon BPO, had arrived in Delhi five years ago and had been living with her sister in a rented flat in Motibagh, south Delhi. On November 23 night last year, she was abducted at gunpoint after the office car had dropped her near her home.
Four men dragged her into their mini-truck and took turns in raping her before throwing her out two hours later. Chandra said the girl's was not an isolated case. Another Mizo girl, a 20-year-old Delhi University student, had been abducted from near the same spot and gangraped in a moving vehicle in 2005.
"She, too, returned to Mizoram. It took her three-four years to come out of the trauma. She got married this year," Lalzarliana said.
Nearly 85,000 people from the Northeast live in the National Capital Region. Some 4,000 northeastern boys and girls enrol in Delhi University colleges every year and a large number works in BPOs.
People from the community had met chief minister Sheila Dikshit last year, extracting a promise to set up a hostel for working women from the Northeast, Chandra said. Such a hostel for 500 women has come up in Jasola, southeast Delhi, but only a handful have moved in because it's located in a remote area and has poor security, he added. "After crimes against northeastern girls, we always remind senior police officers to intensify patrolling in south Delhi, where most of these girls live. We have also given a helpline number to the girls to contact us in distress," Lalzarliana said.
Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said he was not aware of any instance of the police refusing to register a molestation complaint. Figures released by the home ministry yesterday show that Delhi recorded the highest number of rape cases (414) and followed by Mumbai (194) last year.
Is is any surprise that the people of the north -east consider themselves outside India.
This is the treatment meted out to the ladies of the north east states and that too in the capital of the country and a state ruled by a lady chief minister who is supposed to be very efficient.
Delhi it seems is also the crime capital besides being the corruption capital of India as all acts of corruption originate from there.
Does it surprise anyone when people say that when terrorists attacked parliament, they should have killed all the parliamentarians but left the building intact.
That is the view of the general mass
New Delhi, Oct. 31: A Mizo woman who was gangraped in Delhi last November was shunned by friends and taunted on the streets, prompting her to quit her BPO job and return to Mizoram a couple of months ago.
Sources who had counselled the 30-year-old said her colleagues avoided her and even her friends, some from the Northeast themselves and thus expected to be a source of emotional support, had stopped meeting her.
"It became very difficult for her to live in Delhi. She was feeling ostracised by neighbours and friends," the president of the Delhi Mizo Welfare Association, B. Lalzarliana, told The Telegraph.
Madhu Chandra, spokesperson for the North East Support Centre and Helpline, said he was "shocked" at the way the victim was ostracised. "Instead of helping such victims with their rehabilitation, our society makes their lives more miserable," he said.
The victim's plight may have been partly aggravated by the way women from the Northeast are perceived and treated by many in Delhi, including criminals and the police. Statistics complied by Chandra's NGO suggest that nearly half the women harassed sexually in the capital are from the Northeast. "Northeast women are always targeted by criminals but the police do not act on their complaints, emboldening the criminals. In 40 instances in the past two years, the police refused to register a case when the shattered victims approached them," Chandra said.
In another 20 cases, the accused are roaming free, Chandra said. He cited how two men recently molested a Manipuri girl inside her home and how Vasant Vihar police refused to register a case when her family approached them.
Ayangla Jamir, who is from Nagaland and works with a BPO, said the capital had become a frightening place to live in. "Women from the Northeast feel very vulnerable. Criminals are on the prowl but the government is least bothered. Even society, which should come to the aid of rape victims, makes their life more miserable," she said.
The Mizo gangrape victim's absence from Delhi, Lalzarliana said, could work in favour of her four alleged attackers whom the police eventually arrested after drawing a lot of flak. The trial is to begin soon. "She has to be present at the hearings. If she doesn't come, it will have an impact on the outcome of the case," Lalzarliana said.
The victim, who worked with a Gurgaon BPO, had arrived in Delhi five years ago and had been living with her sister in a rented flat in Motibagh, south Delhi. On November 23 night last year, she was abducted at gunpoint after the office car had dropped her near her home.
Four men dragged her into their mini-truck and took turns in raping her before throwing her out two hours later. Chandra said the girl's was not an isolated case. Another Mizo girl, a 20-year-old Delhi University student, had been abducted from near the same spot and gangraped in a moving vehicle in 2005.
"She, too, returned to Mizoram. It took her three-four years to come out of the trauma. She got married this year," Lalzarliana said.
Nearly 85,000 people from the Northeast live in the National Capital Region. Some 4,000 northeastern boys and girls enrol in Delhi University colleges every year and a large number works in BPOs.
People from the community had met chief minister Sheila Dikshit last year, extracting a promise to set up a hostel for working women from the Northeast, Chandra said. Such a hostel for 500 women has come up in Jasola, southeast Delhi, but only a handful have moved in because it's located in a remote area and has poor security, he added. "After crimes against northeastern girls, we always remind senior police officers to intensify patrolling in south Delhi, where most of these girls live. We have also given a helpline number to the girls to contact us in distress," Lalzarliana said.
Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said he was not aware of any instance of the police refusing to register a molestation complaint. Figures released by the home ministry yesterday show that Delhi recorded the highest number of rape cases (414) and followed by Mumbai (194) last year.
Is is any surprise that the people of the north -east consider themselves outside India.
This is the treatment meted out to the ladies of the north east states and that too in the capital of the country and a state ruled by a lady chief minister who is supposed to be very efficient.
Delhi it seems is also the crime capital besides being the corruption capital of India as all acts of corruption originate from there.
Does it surprise anyone when people say that when terrorists attacked parliament, they should have killed all the parliamentarians but left the building intact.
That is the view of the general mass
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu CMs propose,PM disposes
Report on controlling prices gathers dust.
In 19th century Great Britain the most indigent among the country's impoverished masses were provided with shelter and food, or what passed for them, under the Poor Law. And so it was that Oliver Twist, his mother dead and father missing, found himself first at a 'baby farm' and then at a workhouse where he was barely able to keep body and soul together. Food for Oliver and his fellow inmates was a dollop of inedible gruel that was carefully rationed by fearsome beadles.
There were no second helpings. The boys decided that one of them should try and ask for more — a draw of lots ensued and it fell upon Oliver to be the fall guy. Clutching his bowl, Oliver stepped forward and uttered the six words which have proved to be the most memorable of those penned by Charles Dickens: "Please, sir, I want some more." Needless to say, those who were in charge of the workhouse, well-fed, well-groomed and well-empowered, did not take kindly to Oliver's outrageous demand.
In 21st century India we have an expanding underclass, the masses who are wretchedly poor and desperately hungry. The rich live in their plush ivory towers, the middle-classes remain cocooned in their tacky drawing rooms, the rest languish in abject misery. The rich aspire for the moon, the middle-classes aspire to become rich, the miserably impoverished aspire to earn Rs 26 a day so that they can crawl above the poverty line. We have our version of the 'Poor Law', drafted by the Army of the Virtuous also known as the National Advisory Council, headed by Ms Sonia Gandhi, and implemented by a Government which has a surfeit of 'economists', including one who presides over a decrepit and corrupt regime. It's called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It's also the latest means of politicians and babus pocketing cash meant for the poor, a fact established in State after State, including Odisha whose allegedly squeaky clean Chief Minister can reportedly do no wrong.
In this 21st century India, where food inflation hovers at nearly 11.5 per cent and vegetables are beyond the reach of the 'common man', the 'aam admi' for whom the Congress toils night and day, it's only the children of the rich and the middle-classes who can dare say "I want some more" when food is served on the table. Those born into less fortunate families make do with what is available; if there's nothing to eat, they go to bed hungry. Were they to ask for food, the beadles in charge of this wondrous land of ours, including our 'economist' Prime Minister and his 'economist' Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, would be mighty displeased. As for the Congress, its leaders have either never known hunger or have forgotten what deprivation means. It's doubtful they would know the prices of vegetables or milk or fruits, or rice and wheat, for that matter. Such mundane details are not meant for the privileged ruling classes. Their kitchens are taken care of, if not by tax-payers then those who steal on taxes.
The Economic Times provides a good analysis of the latest inflation figures, released last Thursday. Food inflation is at a six-month high of 11.43 per cent with vegetables 25 per cent costlier on an annual basis, fruits dearer by 11.96 per cent, milk by 10.85 per cent and eggs, meat and fish by 12.82 per cent. "This double-digit inflation comes on top of a very high level of price rise recorded in October last year, when it stood at 14.20 per cent — already a 'high-base' comparison. The last time food inflation stood this high was on April 9 when it was recorded at 11.53 per cent." Thankfully, this time we have been spared bogus promises like those made by the Prime Minister earlier. We don't need to live under the illusion that he will rein in prices in two weeks, four weeks or six weeks. He is either blissfully ignorant of what a kilo of potatoes costs or just doesn't care anymore. A Regent has other things to worry about, for example, how to keep the Prince occupied with thoughts other than asking him to vacate the masnad.
Nevertheless it would be in order to demand an explanation from the Prime Minister as to what has he done with the report submitted by the Working Group on Consumer Affairs headed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The other members of the committee were the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The committee was set up in April 2010 to suggest ways and means of holding the price line for essential commodities. By early this year, the report was finalised and it has been gathering dust in some corner of the Prime Minister's Office for the past six months. It's not a voluminous report crammed with senseless data and meaningless jargon. It's a slim report which lists 20 recommendations with 64 detailed actionable points for their expeditious implementation. Here are some of the recommendations:
Future Markets: Considering the lack of strong linkages between spot and future markets at present, it has been suggested that for the time being essential commodities should be kept out of the future markets.
Price Stabilisation Fund: The setting up of a Price Stabilisa-tion Fund by the Government of India has been suggested to help State Governments in the procurement and distribution of essential commodities in short supply.
Agriculture Markets: They should be liberalised for improving the efficiency of distribution channels from farms to consumers, increasing the participation of organised sector and cooperatives in retailing, including farmers' markets, agro-processing, storage and cold chains for wastage control and reduction. This is to be backed by a proactive monetary policy. For evolving a single national agriculture market, the setting up of a Ministerial-level co-ordination mechanism at the national and the regional levels for coordinated policy-making has been recommended.
Expanding Priority Sector Lending: The Modi Committee has suggested the immediate enlarging of the scope of priority sector lending in a manner that agriculture marketing activities can become eligible and the ratio of priority sector lending to the agriculture sector can be raised from the current level of 18 per cent.
Minimising Information Asymmetry: The report calls for establishing a mechanism, if necessary by creating a dedicated agency, to collect and disseminate information to all stakeholders on production, imports, stocks and overall availability of essential commodities through extensive use of information technology.
Unbundling FCI: Since the Food Corporation of India plays a major role in the procurement and distribution system of essential commodities, the committee has called for the unbundling of FCI operations for procurement, storage and distribution.
Among the other recommendations of the committee are:
Preparing a 10-year perspective plan for improving the country's agri-infrastructure to ensure better linkages for farm production and marketing of farm produce.
Making offences under Section 10-A of the Essential Commodities Act non-bailable and setting up special courts for the speedy trial of those found violating the law.
Increasing the period of preventive detention under the Black Marketing Act from six months to one year.
The Modi Committee report on controlling the prices of essential commodities makes eminent sense. Perhaps that's the reason why a cussed and churlish Prime Minister who has utterly failed in managing the affairs of this nation has done what petty babus are known to do. He has filed and forgotten the report.
We all have the habit of saying we should do this or do that.
Rajeev had become famous for that.
At least two of the chief ministers have absolute majorities, Gujarat and Tamilnadu.
How are they using this majority to do what they are asking the centre to do.
Have they done anything on the points they have written to the PM?
Have they done anything to build godowns so that surplus grains are not allowed to rot?
On one thing I agree with them whole heartedly, all food grains should be removed from futures trading.
Futures in food-stuff gives rise to speculation which also causes inflation.
Futures in food-stuff should be banned outright.
In 19th century Great Britain the most indigent among the country's impoverished masses were provided with shelter and food, or what passed for them, under the Poor Law. And so it was that Oliver Twist, his mother dead and father missing, found himself first at a 'baby farm' and then at a workhouse where he was barely able to keep body and soul together. Food for Oliver and his fellow inmates was a dollop of inedible gruel that was carefully rationed by fearsome beadles.
There were no second helpings. The boys decided that one of them should try and ask for more — a draw of lots ensued and it fell upon Oliver to be the fall guy. Clutching his bowl, Oliver stepped forward and uttered the six words which have proved to be the most memorable of those penned by Charles Dickens: "Please, sir, I want some more." Needless to say, those who were in charge of the workhouse, well-fed, well-groomed and well-empowered, did not take kindly to Oliver's outrageous demand.
In 21st century India we have an expanding underclass, the masses who are wretchedly poor and desperately hungry. The rich live in their plush ivory towers, the middle-classes remain cocooned in their tacky drawing rooms, the rest languish in abject misery. The rich aspire for the moon, the middle-classes aspire to become rich, the miserably impoverished aspire to earn Rs 26 a day so that they can crawl above the poverty line. We have our version of the 'Poor Law', drafted by the Army of the Virtuous also known as the National Advisory Council, headed by Ms Sonia Gandhi, and implemented by a Government which has a surfeit of 'economists', including one who presides over a decrepit and corrupt regime. It's called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It's also the latest means of politicians and babus pocketing cash meant for the poor, a fact established in State after State, including Odisha whose allegedly squeaky clean Chief Minister can reportedly do no wrong.
In this 21st century India, where food inflation hovers at nearly 11.5 per cent and vegetables are beyond the reach of the 'common man', the 'aam admi' for whom the Congress toils night and day, it's only the children of the rich and the middle-classes who can dare say "I want some more" when food is served on the table. Those born into less fortunate families make do with what is available; if there's nothing to eat, they go to bed hungry. Were they to ask for food, the beadles in charge of this wondrous land of ours, including our 'economist' Prime Minister and his 'economist' Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, would be mighty displeased. As for the Congress, its leaders have either never known hunger or have forgotten what deprivation means. It's doubtful they would know the prices of vegetables or milk or fruits, or rice and wheat, for that matter. Such mundane details are not meant for the privileged ruling classes. Their kitchens are taken care of, if not by tax-payers then those who steal on taxes.
The Economic Times provides a good analysis of the latest inflation figures, released last Thursday. Food inflation is at a six-month high of 11.43 per cent with vegetables 25 per cent costlier on an annual basis, fruits dearer by 11.96 per cent, milk by 10.85 per cent and eggs, meat and fish by 12.82 per cent. "This double-digit inflation comes on top of a very high level of price rise recorded in October last year, when it stood at 14.20 per cent — already a 'high-base' comparison. The last time food inflation stood this high was on April 9 when it was recorded at 11.53 per cent." Thankfully, this time we have been spared bogus promises like those made by the Prime Minister earlier. We don't need to live under the illusion that he will rein in prices in two weeks, four weeks or six weeks. He is either blissfully ignorant of what a kilo of potatoes costs or just doesn't care anymore. A Regent has other things to worry about, for example, how to keep the Prince occupied with thoughts other than asking him to vacate the masnad.
Nevertheless it would be in order to demand an explanation from the Prime Minister as to what has he done with the report submitted by the Working Group on Consumer Affairs headed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The other members of the committee were the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The committee was set up in April 2010 to suggest ways and means of holding the price line for essential commodities. By early this year, the report was finalised and it has been gathering dust in some corner of the Prime Minister's Office for the past six months. It's not a voluminous report crammed with senseless data and meaningless jargon. It's a slim report which lists 20 recommendations with 64 detailed actionable points for their expeditious implementation. Here are some of the recommendations:
Future Markets: Considering the lack of strong linkages between spot and future markets at present, it has been suggested that for the time being essential commodities should be kept out of the future markets.
Price Stabilisation Fund: The setting up of a Price Stabilisa-tion Fund by the Government of India has been suggested to help State Governments in the procurement and distribution of essential commodities in short supply.
Agriculture Markets: They should be liberalised for improving the efficiency of distribution channels from farms to consumers, increasing the participation of organised sector and cooperatives in retailing, including farmers' markets, agro-processing, storage and cold chains for wastage control and reduction. This is to be backed by a proactive monetary policy. For evolving a single national agriculture market, the setting up of a Ministerial-level co-ordination mechanism at the national and the regional levels for coordinated policy-making has been recommended.
Expanding Priority Sector Lending: The Modi Committee has suggested the immediate enlarging of the scope of priority sector lending in a manner that agriculture marketing activities can become eligible and the ratio of priority sector lending to the agriculture sector can be raised from the current level of 18 per cent.
Minimising Information Asymmetry: The report calls for establishing a mechanism, if necessary by creating a dedicated agency, to collect and disseminate information to all stakeholders on production, imports, stocks and overall availability of essential commodities through extensive use of information technology.
Unbundling FCI: Since the Food Corporation of India plays a major role in the procurement and distribution system of essential commodities, the committee has called for the unbundling of FCI operations for procurement, storage and distribution.
Among the other recommendations of the committee are:
Preparing a 10-year perspective plan for improving the country's agri-infrastructure to ensure better linkages for farm production and marketing of farm produce.
Making offences under Section 10-A of the Essential Commodities Act non-bailable and setting up special courts for the speedy trial of those found violating the law.
Increasing the period of preventive detention under the Black Marketing Act from six months to one year.
The Modi Committee report on controlling the prices of essential commodities makes eminent sense. Perhaps that's the reason why a cussed and churlish Prime Minister who has utterly failed in managing the affairs of this nation has done what petty babus are known to do. He has filed and forgotten the report.
We all have the habit of saying we should do this or do that.
Rajeev had become famous for that.
At least two of the chief ministers have absolute majorities, Gujarat and Tamilnadu.
How are they using this majority to do what they are asking the centre to do.
Have they done anything on the points they have written to the PM?
Have they done anything to build godowns so that surplus grains are not allowed to rot?
On one thing I agree with them whole heartedly, all food grains should be removed from futures trading.
Futures in food-stuff gives rise to speculation which also causes inflation.
Futures in food-stuff should be banned outright.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Former RSS chief, Shia leader appeal people to shun caste politics
Lucknow, Oct 30 (ANI): Highlighting the need for an exhaustive overhaul of the prevailing system of elections, former Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief K. S. Sudarshan and eminent Muslim Shia leader Kalbe Sadiq on Sunday appealed to the people not to vote on the basis of caste.
The two eminent community leaders, who met here, asserted that such polls reforms would rectify anomalies in the nation's democratic institutions.etting aside religious differences, Sudarshan, an eminent Hindu ideologue, and Sadiq, an equally respected and revered Muslim scholar, expressed concern at the growing rot in the nation's democratic system due to graft and also criminalisation of politics and politicisation of religion.
Sadiq appealed to masses to rise above social differences and barriers of faith while casting their franchise.
"Both of us agreed on the issue of poll reforms in the country. This is an absolutely valid demand. Secondly, people should not think about caste, creed and religious parameters while casting their votes. If I am a Muslim and I see an honest Hindu candidate contesting an election, then it is my duty to vote for him rather than for a candidate who may be a Muslim but is dishonest," Sadiq told mediapersons after his meeting with Sudarshan.
"The same holds true for the Hindu voters. A Hindu voter should also vote for a Muslim candidate with a clean image rather than for another Hindu contestant who is tainted and corrupt," he added.
Echoing similar sentiments, Sudarshan urged political parties and parliamentarians to bring about extensive reforms in the electoral process to reinforce India's democratic machinery.
"Today, a contestant is declared a winner even though merely 20 percent of electorate have cast their votes in favour of him. While the rest 80 percent of voters are against him, that candidate feels he represents the entire society in that particular constituency," said Sudarshan.
"However, he is only concerned with the 20 percent of the masses who voted for him. To rectify this anomaly, only that candidate who secures more than 50 percent of votes in an election must be declared the winner," he added. (ANI)
At last we are hearing some sane voices from the religious leaders.
Now what will Diggy Raja say.
He has been blaming the RSS for anything and everything.
I agree with these leaders.
After the Lok Pal bill is passed, the next action plan for Anna should be changes in the electoral system so that the winning candidate has to procure at least 50% of the valid votes cast in the constituency.
Provision should also be made for rejection of all the candidates if the voter finds none of the fit for getting his vote.
Polling expenses should be drastically reduced and closed monitored. At present only the rich can stand for elections. Better still, the state should fund the elections.
And most important, persons convicted should not be allowed to stand themselves or put up proxy candidates.
An appeal in a higher court against a lower court conviction should not negate the conviction and the convicted should remain barred.
The two eminent community leaders, who met here, asserted that such polls reforms would rectify anomalies in the nation's democratic institutions.etting aside religious differences, Sudarshan, an eminent Hindu ideologue, and Sadiq, an equally respected and revered Muslim scholar, expressed concern at the growing rot in the nation's democratic system due to graft and also criminalisation of politics and politicisation of religion.
Sadiq appealed to masses to rise above social differences and barriers of faith while casting their franchise.
"Both of us agreed on the issue of poll reforms in the country. This is an absolutely valid demand. Secondly, people should not think about caste, creed and religious parameters while casting their votes. If I am a Muslim and I see an honest Hindu candidate contesting an election, then it is my duty to vote for him rather than for a candidate who may be a Muslim but is dishonest," Sadiq told mediapersons after his meeting with Sudarshan.
"The same holds true for the Hindu voters. A Hindu voter should also vote for a Muslim candidate with a clean image rather than for another Hindu contestant who is tainted and corrupt," he added.
Echoing similar sentiments, Sudarshan urged political parties and parliamentarians to bring about extensive reforms in the electoral process to reinforce India's democratic machinery.
"Today, a contestant is declared a winner even though merely 20 percent of electorate have cast their votes in favour of him. While the rest 80 percent of voters are against him, that candidate feels he represents the entire society in that particular constituency," said Sudarshan.
"However, he is only concerned with the 20 percent of the masses who voted for him. To rectify this anomaly, only that candidate who secures more than 50 percent of votes in an election must be declared the winner," he added. (ANI)
At last we are hearing some sane voices from the religious leaders.
Now what will Diggy Raja say.
He has been blaming the RSS for anything and everything.
I agree with these leaders.
After the Lok Pal bill is passed, the next action plan for Anna should be changes in the electoral system so that the winning candidate has to procure at least 50% of the valid votes cast in the constituency.
Provision should also be made for rejection of all the candidates if the voter finds none of the fit for getting his vote.
Polling expenses should be drastically reduced and closed monitored. At present only the rich can stand for elections. Better still, the state should fund the elections.
And most important, persons convicted should not be allowed to stand themselves or put up proxy candidates.
An appeal in a higher court against a lower court conviction should not negate the conviction and the convicted should remain barred.
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