VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 210
Date: 17.07.2017
Contents:
1.
Has
‘Retail Inflation’ Figure Been Managed To Show Inflation Is Contained?
2.
The
Killings of Pilgrims Bound for the Amarnath Yatra
3. BCCI: The Times Are A Changin?
4.
Charlie
Chaplin's Modern Times – India
Adaptation
5.
On Venugopal
Appointment As The Attorney General of India
Has ‘Retail Inflation’ Figure Been Managed To
Show Inflation Is Contained?
The papers are full of the news that the June
2017 CPI is just 1.56% higher, the lowest rise in the last 20 years or for more
impact since 1978 as we are told. The fall in CPI as one is led to believe is
linked to the prices of food like vegetables, milk etc. dropping. This index is
being taken as justifying the argument that inflation has been contained. This
is absolutely not true. Why are we talking about CPI since the media reports
carry the information that ‘retail inflation’ has been stopped in its tracks?
This is yet another attempt by government to confuse the issue so that the
common man at the first instance does not link the two. In any case ‘retail
inflation’ is the old CPI indexed to 2012 though the basket of commodities in
it may be different now. Thereafter the WPI figure has been released which
shows just a modest increase of 0.9% thus reiterating the argument that price
rise has been capped.
As for stopping inflation in its tracks, we
have all seen how prices of tomatoes have been spiraling over the last 7-10
days and the same media carry news that this vegetable is being sold at some
places in Mumbai at Rs. 100 per Kg. Not only that just yesterday I bought ridge
gourd and string beans at Rs. 70 per Kg. in Goa which has been shooting up for
the last month or more. So one wonders where this government gets its figures
from about the fall in prices of vegetables. Do they at all visit the market to
cross-check the figures that they are being fed by official agencies to make
the government look good? The traders in the market will tell you traditionally
prices of vegetables go up during the first part of the monsoon with the onset
of rains. Not only that the Chief Economic Advisor has the temerity to
quote that eggs in June 2017 went down by 0.08%. Now is that a figure to
be quoted? What difference does 0.08% make to anybody? Is this government
splitting hairs to support their contentious arguments.
Thus it is clear once again that the CPI
figures have been massaged to support the government premise that inflation is
under control where it is not. On the same page you have the June 2017 IIP
being shown as sluggish and growing at just some 1.7% having been pulled down
by the manufacturing sector among others. In fact this matches the CPI growth
being in the same region sustaining the argument that these seem to be all
‘managed’ figures. Why are they doing this? To put pressure on RBI to cut
interest rates which argument is derived from the fact that inflation is under
control and that investment needs to be stimulated given the sluggish
manufacturing.
The RBI should not succumb to these pressures
like they did at the time of Demonetisation but take an independent decision
whatever it may be which they are able to back with economic data and the past
basis of similar decisions. The Indian economy judged by any standards is in a
shambles what with GDP growth being hit by measures like Demonetisation and
employment growth being stunted. Independent assessors of the unemployment
scene in the country have said that Demonetisation, the H1B issue in the IT
sector and the impact of GST that is still to kick in, are likely to show negative
growth for jobs. The impact of Demonetisation on the small and medium sector
and the informal sector where data comes on a 6-monthly basis and which is more
than due now should show what the measure has done to these sectors and
specifically to job losses and units having to be shut down altogether.
In summary, the Narendra Modi led government
has no clue in which direction the economy is going and is shooting in the dark
by unleashing economic measures one after another which is inflicting miseries
on the common man.
The Killings of Pilgrims Bound for the Amarnath
Yatra
The Kashmir situation is
going from bad to worse what with the killing of the 7 Gujarat pilgrims who
were on their way for the Amarnath yatra. For long it has been known that the pilgrims
on this yatra are a soft target for militants. The fact that the
pilgrim buses were attacked with a hail of bullets shows that adequate
security was not provided and/or shows up the lackadaisical attitude of our
security forces on duty. The focus of the attack once fatalities occur of
innocent pilgrims shifts to the sentimental aspect as covered by the media.
Then like vultures the politicians descend for photo opportunities. We have our
Home Minister waxing philosophical about Kashmiriyat at this time when he
has failed at his first job of protecting our citizens. Every time we have a
terror incident like this our administration and security forces throw up their
hands and say - 'What could we have done? It just happened. Next time we will
take adequate precaution.' This is the ongoing refrain repeated after every
terror attack. And then the blame game starts as to who did not do their job?
Whether it was the intelligence that failed the police, whether it was Centre
or State etc. etc. The main issue of protecting the lives of innocent citizens
is lost in the dust of recriminations that is blown up. This will not do.
Our governments and through them the security forces should follow a 'zero
tolerance' approach towards terror incidents. Where is the Chief of Army Staff
now? Just about a month ago he was talking of giving our enemies a bloody
nose, but he has been outwitted by a terrorist organisation at whose command
the resources are not even 0.0001% of what the Indian Army has. Gen Rawat
should pull up[ his socks and ensure that our Army completely seals off the
borders with Pakistan and PoK. This will limit the number of cross-border
attacks and those that originate in Pakistan. The Indian Army should understand
that it is not enough to camp in a State like Kashmir and seek unlimited powers
under the AFSPA act and still fail to perform their primary duty of keeping the
enemy out of India and protect its citizens. When incidents like the above
killing of the Amarnath pilgrims occurs and watching the
aftermath, one gets the disgusting feeling that all concerned be it the Army or
the other security forces, the State and Central governments etc. etc. want
such incidents to happen to get their two minutes of fame in the arc-lights of
publicity and to lobby for resources, the victims be damned.
BCCI: The Times Are A Changin?
Finally Ravi Shastri
has been appointed the India cricket team coach. One cannot say that the
process was 'fixed' but one can safely assume that it was 'arranged'. The
difference between the two words is that apparently due process was followed.
However, the appointment of Ravi Shastri was a foregone conclusion. What with
Sunil Gavaskar making the right noises once it was known that Anil Kumble was
on his way out and that Shastri was being thought about. There is no doubt that
Shastri has the right credentials for the job. Added to that he gets
along well with the players given that he has had a stint of team director
before Kumble took over as the coach. But the entire process of decision making
though it is made out that they have gone by the rules smacks of the working of
an Old Boy's Club. Consistent with this premise Ravi Shastri’s task as coach
seems to be constrained by the appointment of Rahul Dravid as the batting and
Zaheer Khan as the bowling consultants. Then what is left in cricket, only
fielding for which surely Bangar will be roped in. So what does Shastri
actually then do as coach? In an Old Boy's Club everybody is accommodated to
keep them happy and then if someone becomes disgruntled, then with a wink and a
nudge they are asked to manage! Also deferring the decision of the coach
appointment by a day as Ganguly explained so that the Committee could get the
captain Virat Kohli's views is rather new. Since when have captains been
consulted about coach appointments? Some years ago the captain had no say even
on team composition and had to go in with the playing eleven chosen by the
selectors. But like they say times, they are changin'!
The fact that BCCI is
an Old Boy's Club has been brought home many a time to the discerning thinkers
that follow the game of cricket in India. Otherwise we would not have a
Committee of Administrators managing it at the present time. You scratch my
back and I will scratch yours, is the common rule that is followed in the BCCI.
Ramachandra Guha, one of the members of the above CoA, realised at the point of
his resigning from the Committee when he raised issues of conflict of interest
of some of the ex-cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul
Dravid among others. These personages don different hats for the BCCI while at
the same time involving themselves in the IPL and their own commercial
interests leading to questions of insider trading like situations and playing
favourites to further their own interests in the choice of players etc. When
Guha came out with his missive to the CoA spelling out his views in these
matters, it was Gavaskar who took umbrage since he felt that he was always
doing the right thing and in the interest of Indian cricket. But he forgot that
there could be other interpretations to his work or that others may not see it
the same way as he sees it. Thus Guha's long letter of resignation rocked the
boat but the effect was minimal. Dravid the gentleman that he is and as
reported in the press, was the first to give up his IPL roles and remain
satisfied with his assignment as the coach for the India U-19 team, a BCCI
position. Otherwise nothing has changed at the Old Boy's Club. There was a Guha
ripple but things have settled down to the old normal since he is done and
gone.
What one feels is that
the Old Boys at BCCI are just biding their time until the CoA runs out of steam
or members whichever is earlier and they can come back to the driver's seat and
run their fiefdoms as they please.
Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times – India Adaptation
For those who have seen Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times, there
is a somewhat Chaplinesque spin on what is happening these days in our country.
This has to do with Narendra Modi and his governance supported by his prominent
side-kick, Arun Jaitley. It is a story of incompetents and misfits who are
playing with this country's future and slowly but surely taking it down the
path of degradation and ruin. Take the initiatives highly touted by the BJP
government of Demonetisation, Cashless Society and the latest in this line,
GST. In all this taking a cue from Modern Times,
you will find Arun Jaitley hammering away at a machine trying to fit a peg
into a hole. Not being successful, he continues in exasperation to hammer away
in Charlie Chaplin-style. We have Narendra Modi in the scene looking over
Jaitley’s shoulder scratching his head all the time and muttering to himself –
‘Why is the Gujarat model not working?’. A close-up of the action shows Jaitley
trying to fit a square peg into a round hole! This is evident from the fact
that under Jaitley's instructions the RBI during the first 50 days after
the 8th Nov 2016 Demonetisation issued
more than 50 guidelines to the banking system on how ‘not’ to handle currency
notes. The Cashless Society that is losing steam and the GST the results
on which are yet to come initiatives though laudable are something which India
is not yet ready considering the lack of computer literacy and the irregular
and unreliable computer networking across our wide and disparate country. Given
the present awareness of computers in the country there is a need for a large
amount of hand-holding that
is required for users to get aboard the system networks. You cannot operate on
a Take It or Leave It mode. The exasperation is seen in all this by the number
of threatening strictures and conditions that are being imposed by government
on common people and the trading community. Where the carrot is required to be
proffered, it is the stick (nay, a danda!) that is being shown to a
bewildered citizenry. Back to the Modern Times – India Adaptation, we find
Jaitley trying to justify to Modi about the punitive measures being taken. But
Modi continues to look at Jaitley non-plussed. All the while he is scratching
his head and continuing to mutter to himself, is seen to be walking out of the
room. But this time he is saying under his breath – ‘Wish I had someone to take
Jaitley’s place.’ The End - Modern Times – India Adaptation.
On Venugopal Appointment As The Attorney General of India
Lately we have had news of K K Venugopal having been
appointed as the Attorney General of India. The news reports detail a long list
of his achievements in the legal field and mention that he has been awarded
both the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan. We are also told that he is in
his eighties, some papers put him at 82 while others say 86. If so given his
long and distinguished career as a legal luminary where was the need for him to
accept the post of AG? Considering his age, should he not have gracefully
declined the offer and told the government to give the position to someone
younger and deserving? If people like Venugopal and Ram Jethmalani continue to
be jealously attached to their profession in their 80's where will the younger
lawyers go? At least Jethmalani is involved in private practice while Venugopal
is accepting an official government position and that too following in the
footsteps of Mukul Rohatgi a much junior person of the same profession. There
is no problem in Venugopal in continuing his legal practice and guiding juniors
or even taking up an advisory role to the government but taking up the
assignment of AG seems to be a little incongruous.
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