VOX POPULI IS BACK : Issue N001

The last post of Vox Populi titled - Modi Should Quit, was on 29 Sept 2020. After that because of the COVID pandemic the blog was discontinued and is now being started again. This post is an assortment of articles for your reading pleasure. From next Monday, 17 Oct 2022, after a span of just over 2 years we will revert back to our weekly issue.

VOX POPULI

by

AAM ADMI

Issue No. : N 001

Issue Date: 11 Oct 2022

Contents:

1. Relegate Modi To The Pages Of Forgotten History: 25 Sept 2022

2. Appointing Lt. Gen. Anil Chauhan (Retd.) As CDS : 30 Sept 2022

3. Of Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh Giving The Enemy A Bloody Nose! : 30 Sept 2022

4. Wearing Seat Belts For Backseat Passengers In Cars : 2 Oct 2022

5. On RBI & The Free Float Of The Rupee : 3 Oct 2022

6. Modi Treading In Nehru's Footsteps : 4 Oct 2022

7. The Freebies Matter Is Not The EC's Business : 5 Oct 2022

8. Nostradamus on India's Chances In the T20 World Cup in Australia : 9 Oct 2022

Nostradamus on India's Chances In the T20 World Cup in Australia : 9 Oct 2022

We have the T20 World Cup commencing shortly in Australia with India's first game being drawn against arch rival, Pakistan on 23rd Oct 2022. India's campaign in this tournament and progress in it, will be again uncertain. Though India has an impressive bench strength and at any moment can put up 2 teams easily for any tournament, the team has basic structural deficiencies for the T20 format. The form of the top order in batting has been random and putting up a sizeable total on the board is dependent mostly on Rohit Sharma and the back-in-form Virat Kohli, coming good. Lower down the order we have the blow-hot blow-cold Hardik Pandya whose recent scores have been encouraging but you cannot really rely upon him when the chips are down. There is no other all-rounder in the team who can shoulder the batting responsibilities now that Jadeja is out with an injury. The wicket-keeper duo of Pant and Karthik, whether one of them plays or both, is agaIn suspect with the former showing indifferent form lately though Australian wickets are on which he thrives as he had demonstrated in the last India tour Down Under. Between them Dinesh Karthik is the better batsman with his consistency lately but his keeping and his judgment behind the wickets need to be improved. Including him in the team gives an option to take an additional player for tactical balance. There is Rahul who on his day can come up with a good cameo, but you cannot rely upon him. There are no other batsmen from whom you can expect another 20 runs at most individually. Surya Kant Yadav - SKY, will also have to prove himself on the bouncy Australian wickets, that is why he has not been assessed separately. Therefore if India has to cross 150 then you need a dramatic innings from Rohit and/or Virat. 

Now we come to the issue of defending a score of 150. How have our bowlers been faring lately? But for one match at Trivandrum, most of our bowlers with Bumrah missing from the ranks, have been regularly taken to the cleaners except for Axar Patel who has shown the application and the penetration. The bite in our bowling attack has been missing. While watching the matches one gets the feeling that they are mechanically going through their given overs. There is no attempt to seriously get wickets or to contain runs which are the 2 cardinal principles for bowling in T20 matches. The T20 is a pressure cooker scenario for the bowlers. You just have 4 overs in which to show your worth for the team. It is not like in the more extended formats of the game where you have a larger number of overs to experiment. Thus your swing, your yorkers should be spot on as also your pace variation should be deceptive. Bumrah with his aggressive attitude and unusual bowling style coupled with his trademark yorkers was the ideal bowler to have for the T20 World Cup but unfortunately due to fitness problems he is unavailable. Among the other senior pace bowlers we do not really have anyone who is a 'thinking' bowler. Even Shami being considered as a last minute replacement for Bumrah is like a bandaged solution. Shami is normally not being used in the shorter formats of the game by India though he has the IPL experience. But straight away putting him onto the big stage of the T20 World Cup may not work. Ultimately Shami as he is used to, will end up as a scapegoat if India exits early from the tournament. The younger pace bowlers except for Arshdeep and to some extent Deepak Chahar do not fit the bill, though Siraj and Avesh could have been groomed earlier, particular the former who has had the experience of bowling on Australian wickets. Arshdeep has a good bowling brain in his head but with the extra bounce on Australian wickets, he will get excited and tend to spray turning out to be expensive. As for our spinners best to use only Axar since Chahal is pedestrian and tends to buy his wickets which with low totals that India may put up will become counter-productive. As for Ashwin, he should give up T20 and concentrate on the longer formats of the game. 

Concluding, we will touch upon styles of captaincy, being competitive and the attitude that we see on the field. Rohit Sharma is considered to be a laid-back captain compared to his predecessor Virat Kohli who was voluble on the field and aggressive. Rohit's relaxed style seems to be rubbing off on the other members of the team. The Indian team on the field looks slack and not on their toes as they used to be under Virat. The number of dropped catches has increased while the number of run-outs has decreased lately. It is not that Virat should be brought back as captain since he deservedly lost that position and is now seeing a return back of his batting form which is his primary contribution to the team effort. While defending low totals, the Indian team on the field does not seem to show seriousness and appears to take a 'chalta hai' attitude like there will always be another game. This is what happened in the recent Asia Cup. We surely do not want to see a repeat of that in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.

The Freebies Matter Is Not The EC's Business : 5 Oct 2022

The mandate of the Election Commission is to be responsible for the process of elections and ensure that they are free and fair in arriving at a public mandate. Thus they should not involve themselves in how and why a vote is being given but limit themselves to control the process to allow a vote to be given by as many citizens as is possible and then manage it to declare results. At the same time they should see that the process of giving the vote is easy, convenient and quick and process it expeditiously to declare a correct result. Thus it is felt that the Election Commission is overstepping its mandate when going into the issue of freebies offered by political parties which may or may not get them votes and how these parties will find funds to give these freebies. As for freebies it is felt that this is a process of re-distribution of wealth where the haves are giving to the have-nots. In socialism terms this is a very correct process. Here the political parties are the givers and the people in the lower economic strata of society are the beneficiaries. Political parties collect funds from the people and industry who are able to contribute and this money goes out to the needy who number much larger than the contributors. Thus you not only have a re-distribution to the lower income levels but there is also a spread in terms of a larger number of beneficiaries. Isn’t this Adam Smith's concept of the trickle down principle of wealth in capitalism also? Getting freebies is not a regular exercise and is given randomly whenever elections are held. Also all freebies do not materialise though the ones given to secure a vote is assured, the ones like free power or education will only be given if the political party wins the election. Sometimes the party after coming to power does not deliver on its promises. Thus believing that all freebies will always happen is a fallacy. Looking at it in another way most funds by political parties are collected as corruption. Thus through freebies ill-gotten money is being used for the public good. What is wrong with that? As indicated earlier the freebies matter is not the EC's business and best left to the government i.e. the Executive to take a call on. In the meanwhile the EC can deal with matters that it is already seized upon like barring candidates with criminal records and more importantly the burgeoning wealth that candidates declare as wealth at each election as a list of Assets. Should not the EC refer this to the appropriate agency like the Income Tax, ED etc. to assess whether such accumulation of wealth is from their known sources of income or acquired by illegal means. Just these 2 matters will go a long way in cleaning up the process of elections which is the EC's primary charter. 

Modi Treading In Nehru's Footsteps : 4 Oct 2022

The other day, Pramod Sawant, the Chief Minister of Goa said after the SCO summit that now Narendra Modi has become a 'global leader'. Sawant unfortunately does not have the mental capacity to understand that India is a global leader in the world today and thus anyone in the position of Prime Minister or President of India, automatically becomes a global leader. To varying degrees this applies to our other ministers depending on their performance in world matters at global conferences etc., however, limited to their area of expertise. In any case, accepting Sawant's statement for what it is worth, one needs to say that Modi may have become a 'global leader' but unfortunately India is a laggard in most performance parameters in world matters today like the Hunger Index, child mortality rates, the Happiness index, economic well-being etc. etc. This list is long and if one goes by the definition that a leader through his leadership has to pull out his country and bring it to the top or at least more higher positions then Modi has miserably failed in his responsibilities. Not only that Modi has often been critical of our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who also suffered from the accusations that he was more interested in his image in world affairs than matters internal to the country then Modi probably does not realise that he is treading the same path. Normally you cannot criticise someone and at the same time follow his precepts. While the country is yet to come out of the effects of the COVID pandemic and the people are suffering from many maladies economic or otherwise, Modi and his party leaders are preening about him becoming a  'global leader'!

On RBI & The Free Float Of The Rupee : 3 Oct 2022

Shaktikanta Das, Governor, RBI is parroting His (Her)Master's Voice, in saying that there is no fixed rate between the Rupee and the US Dollar and that the Rupee has been faring better compared to other currencies against the US Dollar. This is precisely what our Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman had said a couple of days ago. Thus this yet agains confirms that Das is a puppet of the Finance Ministry, his parent department, and has been deputed to the RBI to make it subservient to the Ministry as it was done during the Demonetisation exercise. As for the float of the Rupee, in 2014 when Modi came to power it was Rs. 58 to the US Dollar and today it is Rs. 82. Thus it is truly in a 'free float' mode and are we to take it that if other currencies follow the US Dollar as Pied Piper and jump off the cliff, do we also allow by that example allow the Rupee also to fall into the chasm. Surely not! Thus it is time for the incumbent government to take proper measures and prop up its economy to strengthen the Indian Rupee. If you ask me this government has no clue on what is happening to the Indian economy and only indulging in atmospherics as also the PM involving himself in announcing Rs. 29,000 crores worth of projects in Gujarat as preparatory for the upcoming elections, selling his mementos, riding Vande Bharat trains and announcing 5G to the nation! 

Wearing Seat Belts For Backseat Passengers In Cars : 2 Oct 2022

We have another knee-jerk reaction from our authorities in terms of wearing seat belts for those occupying the backseat in passenger vehicles. This has come about after Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari's advice consequent of the accident near Mumbai in which Cyrus Mistry had died with one another person also dying, both were occupying the back seat of the vehicle. If the recommendation was applicable for travel on highways, it is understandable since in any urban areas there are few roads on which you can drive at high speed. Thus in these matters, it is required to be sensible and practical before formulating rules. It is not that we should give the police yet another rule to harass citizens as also to earn bribes. Not only that if one sees practically in the backseat for family outings or share taxi, there will be always more than three people sitting there. Currently ordinary cars have only 2 seat belts in the backseat and hence these are neither compatible for prevailing travel practice or the rule unless you have 1 seat belt shared between 2 persons! Though Gadkari has said that all cars in future will be required to have 6 seat belts. This is where ministers fall prey to the car lobby to make cars more expensive for buyers under be pretext or other. Today it is seat belts, tomorrow it will be airbags for backseat passengers! As for the accident in which Cyrus Mistry died, the first thing is that the car as reported in the papers was not travelling at 100 Kmph. It was being driven much faster. From the pictures of the smashed car this fact is obvious unless the driver deliberately rammed into the divider. Mercedes are trying to save their skin by claiming that the car was travelling at 100 Kmph. The second thing is that the lady driver should not have been driving at all. She had obviously no experience of driving on a highway let alone an expressway. So it was a family error that she was allowed to drive. Thus this incident alone cannot be held up as an example and because of which suddenly seat belts are made mandatory across the country for backseat passengers also. Safety is important, there is no denying that but issue a cautionary advice and let people decide on what is good for them. There is news in the papers thereafter that the 6 seat belt rule for passenger cars will be effective from Oct 2023. That is good, since it gives time for the authorities to scrap the mandatory wearing seat belt rule for rear seat passengers. In the meanwhile the police across the country may be advised to make their implementation for this rule recommendatory and not mandatory. 

Of Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh Giving The Enemy A Bloody Nose! : 30 Sept 2022

We have had Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, talking at a function in Himachal Pradesh recently and saying aggressively that anyone having designs on Indian territory will be given a fitting answer. This is just plain sabre rattling as we have actually seen in the last few years how China has encroached on Indian territory. Whenever this has happened Rajnath Singh, true to his master, Narendra Modi's reaction to embarrassing or sensitive issues disappears from the public eye for a few days to avoid facing the public ire or  make a comment that may not go well with the masses. Large areas of land in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and in other places of our orders with China, the latter nation has come in and squatted on our land. No fitting reply or bloody nose was given to China but our present government watched silently as the aggressor country made itself comfortable by building fortifications and consolidated its territorial gains. Even in Galwan, our government refused to name China as the first aggressor and to admit that they entered into Indian territory. If China did not step on our land how did we lose the lives of our soldiers? Did we then go into China and they shot down our jawans? This is the doublespeak that our government has to clarify. There is no harm in anointing the dead soldiers at Galwan as martyrs but they died because of the refusal of our government to stand up to the Chinese aggression. This is the irresponsibility and callousness of Rajnath Singh and the Indian Army. Even in the recent disengagement that has been implemented with the Chinese in Ladakh, a De-Militarised Zone (DMZ) has been set up at the area designated as Patrolling Point 15 which is entirely in Indian territory while normally both sides are expected to give the land for the DMZ.  They spew brave words from their mouth but refuse to take action to protect our borders from the enemy. Avoidance has been the policy of our government orchestrated through the BJP leaders. At the same meeting referred above Rajnath Singh said that the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) issue should have been resolved during the 1971 war when Bangladesh was liberated from Pakistan. He is talking about an issue which is around 50 years old and without referring to ground conditions, international atmosphere and logistics issues prevailing then. It is easy to expand on alternative ideas like one makes irresponsible comments during a discussion over a cup of tea. But such comments do not enhance the prestige of the chair of the Defence Minister of India that Rajnath Singh presently graces. Whether he is fit for sitting on that chair is another matter. But the problem is that these BJP functionaries be they ministers in the Central cabinet or party leaders seem to blow their mouths given any opportunity without any consideration of the background or context on the matter that they are speaking about. This has to be curtailed. 

We have had Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, talking at a function in Himachal Pradesh recently and saying aggressively that anyone having designs on Indian territory will be given a fitting answer. This is just plain sabre rattling as we have actually seen in the last few years how China has encroached on Indian territory. Whenever this has happened Rajnath Singh, true to his master, Narendra Modi's reaction to embarrassing or sensitive issues disappears from the public eye for a few days to avoid facing the public ire or  make a comment that may not go well with the masses. Large areas of land in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and in other places of our orders with China, the latter nation has come in and squatted on our land. No fitting reply or bloody nose was given to China but our present government watched silently as the aggressor country made itself comfortable by building fortifications and consolidated its territorial gains. Even in Galwan, our government refused to name China as the first aggressor and to admit that they entered into Indian territory. If China did not step on our land how did we lose the lives of our soldiers? Did we then go into China and they shot down our jawans? This is the doublespeak that our government has to clarify. There is no harm in anointing the dead soldiers at Galwan as martyrs but they died because of the refusal of our government to stand up to the Chinese aggression. This is the irresponsibility and callousness of Rajnath Singh and the Indian Army. Even in the recent disengagement that has been implemented with the Chinese in Ladakh, a De-Militarised Zone (DMZ) has been set up at the area designated as Patrolling Point 15 which is entirely in Indian territory while normally both sides are expected to give the land for the DMZ.  They spew brave words from their mouth but refuse to take action to protect our borders from the enemy. Avoidance has been the policy of our government orchestrated through the BJP leaders. At the same meeting referred above Rajnath Singh said that the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) issue should have been resolved during the 1971 war when Bangladesh was liberated from Pakistan. He is talking about an issue which is around 50 years old and without referring to ground conditions, international atmosphere and logistics issues prevailing then. It is easy to expand on alternative ideas like one makes irresponsible comments during a discussion over a cup of tea. But such comments do not enhance the prestige of the chair of the Defence Minister of India that Rajnath Singh presently graces. Whether he is fit for sitting on that chair is another matter. But the problem is that these BJP functionaries be they ministers in the Central cabinet or party leaders seem to blow their mouths given any opportunity without any consideration of the background or context on the matter that they are speaking about. This has to be curtailed. 

Appointing Lt. Gen. Anil Chauhan (Retd.) As CDS : 30 Sept 2022

Y/day's, 29.9.2022, the papers carried news that Lt. Gen. Anil Chauhan (Retd.) has been appointed as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). He assumes this position more than 9 months after the previous incumbent had died in an air crash. The first thing about this is that a superannuated officer should not be appointed for an operational command post and that too relating to being in overall in-charge of the armed forces of the country. Why, did we not have anyone from the present hierarchy of officers fit enough to hold this post? No! This argument does not hold water since opportunities need to be given to serving officers to assume higher responsibilities and prove themselves. The second thing is that the current Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force all outrank Lt. Gen. Anil Chauhan (Retd.). Thus there is bound to be a problem of reporting in the chain of command. The third thing is why was this appointment delayed by more than 9 months when it is known that the CDS position is critical for the country's security particularly in the context of the conflicts on our northern borders with China and Pakistan. If the position was critical the appointment of the CDS should have come a long time ago. Leaving the chair vacant in view of the prevailing threat scenarios is not prudent. Thus if you see the Congress disease lately of shooting oneself in the foot seems to have afflicted the BJP also in the context of Lt. Gen. Anil Chauhan (Retd.)'s appointment as the CDS in view of the above issues.

Relegate Modi To The Pages Of Forgotten History: 25 Sept 2022

Narendra Modi, our Prime Minister, more often than not seems to reside in the past. The other day he raised the Issue of the Sardar Sarovar Dam blaming the 'urban' Naxals for spreading disinformation about its supposed benefits. This agitation at its peak dates back 20 years though the dam was formally inaugurated by Modi himself in 2017. It is not only this but Modi's favourite whipping horses are Nehru and Indira Gandhi who are both dead and gone some 60 years and 40 years ago respectively. Thus you find him mostly living in the past. Maybe he does this deliberately to avoid the problems that he sees around him in the present. The unmanageable economy, a currency that lately has taken to fly higher and higher against the US Dollar, raging unemployment particularly among women, law and order issues with increasing crimes against women that continue unabated. If one analyses this it is but natural for Modi to try and live in the past and blame everyone but himself for the quagmire of problems that the country is facing today, though he has been Prime Minister close to 10 years now. Thus if his penchant is avoidance and he has a preference for the past, it is best that come 2024 we also relegate Modi to the pages of forgotten history. 

Transport Minister To Hold Bar Owners Responsible for Drunken Driving on Goan Roads!

The antics of our Goan ministers are very much fit for reproducing in Punch, the celebrated UK humour magazine. One does not know if they will accept it or consider it an insult. The latest is the statement by our Transport Minister to hold bar owners responsible for drunken driving on Goan roads with the ostensible objective to limit road accidents. lnstead of catching the drunks driving on the roads with the breathalyser kits and intensify police patrolling in this regard the Minister is asking bar owners not to pursue their legitimate business for which they take a licence and which is their livelihood. One has not heard of such stupidity any time earlier. The Minister further goes to make a statement that abroad bar owners call for taxis to take drunk customers home to prevent them from driving. This is a completely unverifiable claim since in smaller pubs and bars maybe in the countryside abroad, they do this as a matter of courtesy since most regular drinkers are known to the bar owners. But in larger cities such gestures are practically impossible. So also in India where the bars are more crowded than the ones abroad and the bar owners will seriously have to go out of their way to arrange for transport for their errant guests who in most cases will be unknown to them. Take the case here in Goa, during season 90% of the people in the bars will be tourists and these are the people who get drunk. The way to tackle drunken driving is to improve policing and be strict with offenders and throw them into jail for one night from which they will get the message the next morning to be more careful in future. Why are our Ministers lax with our enforcement officials like the police and other agencies and encourage the sussegad life? Have them out on the roads at night to intensify the monitoring of drunken driving? 

All that our Ministers can do is talk with their nose in the air since on similar matters, in the last month or so you have to ask how many vehicles have got stuck on our beaches? Let the Minister and police assess this and even today (11/10/22) there is a post on FB which shows a Tempo Traveller minibus stuck in the sand and claiming it is in Goa. When minibuses and cars, big objects, are not caught while infringing on our beaches when we have regular police, the beach police now and the Dristhi life guard facility etc. etc. , how will our police catch people who are drunk which is less obvious and noticeable from a person's appearance. 

To solve this problem, what can be done is have police with the breathalyser kits 100 meters from or some such suitable distance from the bars and test everyone coming out. Do this by locality 2-3 nights in a row and by rotation cover the whole of Goa in about a month or so. Word will spread like the helmet offenders would signal about the police ahead or about the speed guns when they were once available in Goa and thus the number of drunks on the roads will come down. The relationship of drunk driving and accidents is not really there. People who drink are being made scapegoats and we have always been saying Goans can hold their drink, so where does that statement go now? 

As regards traffic accidents our authorities have created this problem themselves. In the name of development roads have been widened, flyovers have been built and expressways are on the way. People who were used to narrower roads and mind traffic responsibly are now zipping along. Cars have become more powerful which people with money in their hands are buying. With the wider roads it is time for these owners to show what their SUV's can do. These SUV's have bigger tyres and that is why you see these vehicles jump road dividers and hit the opposite lane traffic. These are recipes for accidents and they are happening and will continue to happen. Now the first thing that should be done is to raise the height of the road dividers by at least 2 feet more on a war footing across Goa. However leave the space as already existing where pedestrians are allowed to cross the road. Another solution could be that you install traffic lights linked with CCTV capable of reading number plates and sensors to read speed of cars, like they have in Singapore and other developed places. In city areas have traffic lights every 100 meters or so like in Mumbai where you just cannot speed. In rural areas have the traffic lights at important junctions or places where frequent accidents occur. These also should have CCTV and speed sensors on them. Have rigorous implementation of traffic rules and discipline and serve notices detected by the CCTV and speed sensors to the homes of offenders. This method may be expensive but if you want development it cannot be one-sided and the problems arising out of it needs to be tackled with development again, meaning better technology. 

Goa should also have an independent study of the new roads for highway engineering by an independent body like the IIT's or the CEERI and see if the designs of the roads are proper. This is particularly so for places like Karmal Ghat where almost every other day now trucks are going off the road or toppling over. This has been happening on other hill roads too. Apart from this a public awareness campaign is to be done to reiterate the principle of safe driving and drill into people's heads that - While on the road, you need to take care of not only yourself but also the other person on the road. We have the police going to colleges like the other day to the Govt. Polytechnic in Panaji to brief students on traffic rules and safe driving. These programs should be intensified. For traffic accidents to reduce it will take time but no knee-jerk and publicity seeking decisions by Ministers will help. In fact they will make matters worse. 

There was a time in Goa where driving around was a pleasure on the winding roads lined with trees and great views of the surrounding countryside. People would say that it was great getting lost on the roads of Goa because you would see more of it. Now all that is gone forever. That was the charm of Goa. We need to bring it back albeit in a limited fashion. Everything now is black macadammed roads and concrete flyovers which block the view. You miss nature while driving on Goan roads now. Thus it is best to call a status quo and stop expanding and widening Goan roads from now onwards but improve their quality particularly road surface to make driving pleasant. This will automatically bring in speed regulation of traffic and reduce accidents. For this just like Prakash Muthalik, we may have to ban the entry into Goa of Nitin Gadkari who like the other day told Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh that he will make the State's roads better than the U.S., may come with a similar promise for Goa and our gullible M/s Sawant and Goudinho will fall for it!