TIME, Wikileaks are words of God!

Long time back, a friend of mine had forwarded a mail with a scanned copy of an old document. It had pic of a British Gentleman, who was deputed by the British to study the Indian society and how can they easily conquer India and rule whole country. 

He wrote- "I traveled across this country and I am amazed to see that I couldn't find any beggars. People are rich, self-contended and happy and their greatest strength is their culture. If we want to rule them, we will have to change their education system and make them believe that whatever is foreign is better than the Indian."

British successfully implemented this and same feeling has percolated deep inside our genes after centuries of slavery. We believe- All that glitters is Gold and even though politically we are independent, mentally and culturally we are still the slave of the Europeans and the US.

Even till today, whatever people and media of Europe and the US say, its like words of GOD to us, let is be from TIME Magazine or Wikileaks recently. We very well know media has also become a business only to gain power and money and it has been misused by politicians and businessmen like Mukesh Ambani for selfish interests. You will find "Friends of BJP or Congress", Journalists and Newspapers who blindly supports and work for either Congress or BJP and their trolls try to hijack the debates on Social media and influence the Indian mindset.

Ultimately what happens is obvious to us- all of them enjoy and common man suffers and is taken for a ride.

In the same way, news magazines like TIME and agencies like Wikileaks are used by the US to influence the whole world and create an atmosphere which suites their selfish motives and even to destabilize a country by spreading biased information as the people in developing countries neither have knowledge nor time or resources to verify the authenticity of their news/ views. Infact the more unfortunate part is, our own people carry forward their agenda and hype that information further and make it more flashy for selfish motives and use it against their opponents within the country - self before Nation. All of us do this, let it be Congress or BJP or regional parties like National Conference, Samajwadi Party , or Akali Dal. These politicians further misguide the innocent and ignorant people of the country and misuse them for selfish interests.

US has been in deep trouble from past many years and their economy still doesnt show any confident signs of desired recovery. Their expenditure exceeds their income, especially after their interference in Iraq and Afghanistan. (please read -Why things in US might be worse than Europe - http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-special-why-things-in-us-might-be-worse-than-europe/20120628.htm )

We must remember that Americans are among the most selfish and cheap people on this earth who would go upto any extent for their personal interests. They are just like our Mukesh Ambani, who has amassed wealth by all possible means and now portrays a clean social image by running Reliance Foundation. He owns more than 25 News Channels, then who would expose the misdeeds of Reliance and its bosses? The Americans  are there to loot oil from Gulf and Iraq, minerals from poor countries like Congo, create and breed conflicts to sell weapons and what not. Their media supports and legalizes their interests as their intelligence agencies do the ground work.

The recent cover story of TIME showing our Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and giving him a tag of an UNDER-ACHIEVER is a part of their such strategies. No doubt UPA 2 regime has been the most corrupt till date and we all, including me, hate them for that but that doesn't mean we should let anyone to further misuse our sentiments and take us for a ride. May be for more penetration and hold in the Indian Markets, the US needs them to be more open which our Government didnt do till date and such a story can be an attempt to create pressure on our Government to do so.

Even during the Economic Turbulence across the World from the year 2008 till now, India has been among the least affected countries and growth rate has been among the best in the world.

No doubt corruption has been the most painful side of the present government but that doesnot mean corruption never existed in the Indian system before? It existed at every walk of life, even 25- 30 or 40 years back and has definitely increased over the period of time.

But one positive development over past few years is that corruption is being exposed more frequently, even the ministers have been jailed for the first time recently and the credit goes to the honest and clean man, Dr. Manmohan Singh.

This was my gut feeling which was supported and confirmed by comments of many of  esteemed readers on my blog for the article - If you are appointed as PM? To quote Mr. Deepak Budki's comments on my article (Twitter- @deepakbudki) - 

"I attended NDC course in 1992 alongwith Gen Vij & AM Krishnaswamy. Manmohan Singh delivered a lecture on Hawala Market & corruption and gave his analysis as to how to eradicate this evil.During the question hour, I asked him a question after reciting a couplet.Nasheman ke lut jaane ka ghum hota to kya ghum tha; Yahan to lootne walon ne gulshan loot dala hai.The question was;The corruption starts from you and filters down.By u I do not mean Manmohan singh but the Politician.In such a scenario I do not think you would be able to curtail or eradicate corruption. His reply was;In the given scenario when I am surrounded by all corrupt politicians, I have two options,One, to take them head on in which case they are so many and will eliminate me and my job would not be done. In the second case, i become one of them and slowly and steadily clip their wings and curtail the opportunities to earned money illegally thereby shall be able to bring down corruption heavily if not eliminate it. I was convinced and in the rest of my career was guided by his advice.Over a period I find he kept using this method quietly and exposing all others while sitting quiet and laughing at all of them.But at times I get a feeling that they have overwhelmed him and tarnished his good image and he has become helpless. As they say nothing succeeds like success, only time will tell who is the winner."

Finally I just want to say that lets not spare anyone who is wrong and we should put the interest of the Nation first. How many of us do this in our day to day life? Those who do only have the right to raise figure on others and blame them. Lets set ourselves right in our day to day life, rest will fall in place.

Secondly, lets not allow anybody within India or outside to misuse our sentiments or exploit our situation for their personal benefits.Its high time that we grow up and be India and love what is Indian and apply our own brains and logic before acting or reacting. We are equally human and intelligent like others. Lets prove it and not just write "Proud Kashmiri, Proud Hindu or Proud Indian" under our DPs on twitter.

DTDC - managed by "Complacent Pranksters"

When I was doing my engineering from Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Bidar (small town in Karnataka, 140km from Hyderabad), DTDC was the only good courier service which was available there at that time and so my association with them is for quite a long time and overall satisfactory.


This courier service has grown very well with time and now they are a force to reckon with in this industry. Recently they categorized their services like DTDC Blue, DTDC Plus, etc. With DTDC Plus, they are trying to compete with Blue Dart, which offers premium service with guaranteed faster and timely deliver. 


Though Blue Dart also cant always be perfect, but mostly they deliver what is promised and if they don't, at least they are very quick to answer customer's queries and try to solve the issue then and there itself. But massive growth over the years have made DTDC guys complacent and unprofessional. If you have an issue, write a mail to their zonal office or head office in Bangalore, they hardly bother to reply and even if they do, it wont solve the purpose. It will be irrelevant and a generalized answer.


With the launch of DTDC Plus, their premium service, they promise faster delivery. But due to that and to promote the same, they have started delaying the delivery of the courier if its through their normal service. This is to compel the customer to pay almost the double amount for the same service, which they used to give mostly for half the amount. For example, if I send a courier from Jammu to Noida, it reaches DTDC's Delhi office at around 12pm and to Noida office by 4pm. At times they used to deliver the courier in Noida by 6pm but now a days, they have started delaying it and delivering it the next day. If we ask for probability of being delivered the next day, their staff in Jammu office now straight-away denies that.


My friend sent me a bundle of books from Delhi on 2nd July 2012. It weighed 6.5 Kg and she had to pay Rs.900 to DTDC. I waited for 3 days for the courier to reach from Delhi to Jammu and on the 4th day afternoon i.e., on 6th July 2012, I went to their office to ask for and pick my courier.


Only one elderly person Mr. Dogra is the reliable person in their office, who coordinates everything and keeps the things going. I always find him on his toes and most of the others are in a very relaxed poses though office has almost 4-5 employees apart from Mr. Dogra.


Today when I went there, unfortunately I couldnt find him there. When I asked for my courier, one guy was asking other to find, who inturn tried his best to depute the third. One of them finally tried to search for my parcel in their shelves and told me that it hasnt reached Jammu. Since repair work was going on, power was put off. When I insisted, they asked the electrician to put on a connection so that one PC could be put on and they could check the status of my parcel.


One guy put on the PC and without entering the password, he went and sat for lunch and 2 others were still telling me that PC cant be turned on. When i took them other way round the table, then the guys started struggling to enter the correct password. After all this drama, I was finally told that courier had arrived 2 days back i.e., on 4th July 2012.


Then for next 15 mins they started searching every nook and corner of the office, even the big poly-bags which looked as if dumped from ages. Inbetween someone said that check if the delivery guy has taken it today for delivery. Others guaranteed that it was not possible, he didnt take any. I asked them to call that guy but nobody did. After waiting for another 5 minutes I had to raise my voice and ask for that guy's mobile number. When I called him, he confirmed that the parcel was with him and he was at a location which was on way to my home from DTDC office.  


Finally I asked him to wait at a point and collected my parcel from him. Before going to their office, I had mailed about the delay to DTDC's Delhi Zonal Office and Bangalore office, but didnt get any reply till now.


They are surviving because in the country of blind, one eyed man is the king. There are few reputed companies in this industry and courier/parcel volumes are enormous. With the growth of business over the years, they have become complacent and that shows at every level of their hierarchy.

Jammu Refugees have been neglected!

Jammu refugees are the people who migrated from other parts of Jammu division, they are victims of militancy and had left their homes in the early 1990s.


Parts of Jammu divisions like Doda, Bhaderwah, Rajouri, Poonch, etc were among the worst affected areas of the Jammu & Kashmir state. The recent decision to revise the PM's package for "Relief & Rehabilitation" of Kashmiri Pandits has not gone well with the Jammu migrants. They are justified when they say that the government never thought about them and didn't provide them any relief or accommodation. The whole attention was on Kashmiri Pandits and this discrimination has always been there.


The PM has announced Rs.1600 crore package for Kashmiri Pandits in 2008 under which they would get jobs and Rs.7.5 lakh for each family for their return. The package has recently been revised by the J&K State cabinet and sent to the Central Government according to which each family will now get Rs.20 lakh for construction of houses in valley. 


Even the refugees who moved to India in 1947 from the areas now in Pakistan didnt get anything till date and have been living in misery. 


"The Kashmiri Pandits are being given jobs, accommodation, and cash relief but no one talks about the other migrants. We too are the victims of militancy and too have left our homes for safety and security but the government is least bothered about us", said Rajiv chunni, chairperson of SOS, an organization of POK refugees, while talking to The Tribune.


He further said,"the government is trying to create a gap between the Kashmiri migrants and Jammu migrants. If the government does not speak about others, then we will protest against it".


It is sad that our Governments have proved that they understand the language of the bullet and that's why all attention is being given to Kashmir region and people belonging to that part, let it be Muslims or Pandits. Does our Government want the people of Jammu region to ask for separation and then only it will treat them equally? Why should people of Jammu or others across the country pay cost for being patriotic and true to the country?


Under the PM;s package, the Kashmiri Pandits have been provided 1,400 jobs and a township in Jagti (13km from Jammu city) for rehabilitation. This township consists of hundreds of flats, which have been given to Kashmiri Pandits, free of cost. 


The government has proposed 3000 more jobs for them, enhancement of cash relief and Rs.20 lakh for each family for reconstruction of houses in the valley.

Worst Roads, No Rules, Who is responsible?

Bylanes Turn Death Zones
Tragedy waiting to happen as illegal parking rampant across Jammu & Srinagar Cities


The authorities in Jammu (and likewise in Srinagar) seem to be waiting for a big tragedy to happen on the Kunjwani- Narwal highway, for all bylanes and interior roads connecting Channi and other adjoining localities with highway have turned into virtual death zones. Even worst is the condition in road stretch from Bohri to Jewel Chowk, which is the worst stretch in Jammu city, so far as traffic blockage, illegal parking is concerned.


Blame Game - All departments concerned, including the Jammu Municipal Corporation, the Jammu Development Authority and the Traffic Police, have resorted to blame game and have failed to take corrective measures despite repeated requests by residents.


"It is the duty of the JDA to look after the parking slots in the city. We have very limited role to play as far as parking slots are concerned." - Senior Municipal Corporation Official


"It is the duty of the traffic police to keep a check on illegal parking of vehicles on roads. Our job is confined to residential colonies.. We can deal sternly with the violators if they encourage illegal parking in residential colonies" - Sarita Chouhan, Vice-president, Jammu Development Authority.




Dug-up roads make city a War Zone
With the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) missing several deadlines to complete the laying of sewerage system in Jammu, chaos continue to prevail on the city roads leading to long traffic jams and inconvenience to general public.


Under the centrally sponsored project, 48,220 houses of Srinagar City at a cost of Rs. 132.01 Crore and 30,400 houses of Jammu at a cost of Rs.129.30 Crore are expected to be connected with the modern sewerage system, when completed. However even after 4 years, the project is far from completion resulting not only in cost escalation but a huge problem for the city residents in both capital cities.


The size of the pipes that are being laid seems to be insufficient to cater to the sewerage needs of the cities for next one decade and one wonders if the government agencies will again start digging the roads just after this project will almost get completed.

Why Petrol & not Alcohol, Tobacco Products?

Is increasing petrol prices repeatedly the only option left with Government of India? That too when petrol is the most essential commodity for the common man, who cant even think of earning his livelihood without it. Cant there be other better options which would not over-burden the common man in fulfilling his daily needs for survival and at the same time, reduce the risk to his life and reduce his expense on medical treatments in a country without most basic medical facilities for the common man?


Unfortunately we live in such a country where it takes death of almost 1000 children in GB Pant hospital, Srinagar for Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad (resident of J&K state) to wake up from his sleep and visit the state and from years together, the projects of first ever Super-specialty hospitals of J&K state are hanging in complete uncertainty.


Present Liquor Consumption in India- 6.7 billion litres. If the government charges Rs.20 extra year on year, extra annual revenue for present year will be Rs.134 billion (Rs.13,400 Cr).


Alcohol consumption is increasing in India at a whooping rate of 30% year on year. Projected consumption for the year 2015 is - 19 billion litres. By then government would be charging Rs.60 extra per litre above present taxes and thus the extra revenue collected will be Rs.1,140 billion (Rs.1,14,000 Cr).


At present, there are 180 million (18 Crores) tobacco consumers in India and tobacco consumption will account for 13% deaths in India. 1,11,487 million cigarettes were consumed in India in the year 2010- 11.


If the government charges just Re.1 extra per stick, extra annual revenue collected will be- Rs.11,148 Cr and cigarettes account for only 20% of the tobacco consumed in India. Even if 50 paise are charged per unit of other forms of tobacco, government will be able to collect Rs.22,296 Cr more on other tobacco products. Total extra revenue from all tobacco products put together can be Rs.33,444Cr.


Consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco products is increasing in India at the rate of 4% annually. So by the year 2015, government will be earning an extra revenue of Rs.1,50,433 Cr from all tobacco products if the government keeps charging Re.1 extra every year on each cigarette and 50 paise per unit of other tobacco products.


By charging the above mentioned extra amounts on harmful products, that are not a necessity and are cause of deaths, heavy health expenses, the government can collect an extra amount of Rs.2,64,433 Cr per year by 2015.


Similarly, taxes on luxury (not a necessity for survival) and still harmful products like fast foods, soft 'pesticide' drinks, etc must be increased.


Above all, according to conservative estimates, corrupt officials in India are cornering around Rs.1,00,000 Cr every year and corruption is increasing at a rate of over 100% every year. So if the government shows some sincerity and tries to reduce corruption by just 20%, it will be an extra saving of more than Rs.1,20,000 Cr in next 3 years. 


Since I am not a economist and my calculations are a layman's estimates, government has better people and can take care of other repercussions of such decisions like effect on growth, employment in these sectors, etc and work out something thats a win win situation for every Indian. But its not rocket science and needs just a pinch of sincerity while drafting policies and planning.

World Environment Day - Lets make difference together!

Our school, G L S Public School, Jammu was founded by my father in the year 2000. It is named after his uncle, Gyani Lal Singh Ji (G L S), who was a great visionary, social worker and a wonderful human being. In 1947 at the time of partition, he along with few of his friends sold their Trucks, Buses and used that money to feed the hungry people who moved in to India from the present Pakistan. They distributed their land free of cost to as many people as possible so that they could construct shelters for their families. Throughout their lives, those people stood by the needy and helped in every possible way.

My father has been managing this school with the same spirit and though we dont earn huge profits yet, still there are many kids who are given concession in admission fee and some study free of cost. We have tried our best to give them all the facilities which includes well educated faculty, well ventilated and spacious classroom, Computer Lab, Art & Craft room, Library, green, clean and noise/pollution free campus with lot of space to play, games and sports facilities and also Educomp Smart Class.

Apart from studies, we have always tried to uphold moral and social values and ethics among our staff and the students and try our best to prepare them to contribute to the society throughout their lives. One important initiative in this direction has been the "World Environment Day"  (WED) Celebration. We have been celebrating WED from last 3 years. It includes Cultural Programs, Fancy Dress competition, Drawing Competition, Essay Writing Competition. The theme of all these programs and competitions is "Save Earth", and we try to make students aware of causes and effects of Global Warming and how can we fight with this ever growing problem.

Apart from this, we organize an "Awareness Rally & Plantation Drive". One plant each is given to our 250 students and staff of 25 odd people. At the same time, we distribute around 150- 200 plants, free of cost, during the rally, along with the informational pamphlets.

This year again, we will be doing the same and new additions will be increase in number of plants distributed and along with it, we will start distributing 4000 WED stickers (2 different stickers, 2000 each) with pictures and message on them and our school name and address below.

We have also formed "Environmental Club" in the school with 15 students as its members. We will be taking up "Green Project" in the school and will try to generate electricity using a wind mill and solar energy.

Lets all make it a habit to plant one tree on our and our beloved ones birthday. It wont cost more than what we spend for 1 soft drink or french fries at McDonalds. Lets spread the message across the world, to everyone we come in touch with and take measures to reduce Global Warming and emission of Greenhouse Gases. Its our earth, our home and we have only one.

 

"Mother Earth" is calling - Please dont keep her on hold!

Why is the Earth referred to as mother? Do we really treat her like our "Mother"? 


Our body is made up of constituents of this earth and its atmosphere. We are alive because it gives us food, shelter, air to breathe and water to drink, exactly like a "Mother nurtures a child".


As the mother cleans a child, the Earth absorbs our waste in it and again provides clean atmosphere to us.


Unfortunately, as we misbehave and disrespect our own "Mother" now a days and are "Thankless" towards her, our values have similarly eroded in every sphere and we are even worst in the way we treat the "Mother Earth".


Like a mother loves her child and forgives all his/her mistakes and tries to give as many chances to the child for improvement as possible for her, "Mother Earth" is still nurturing us, the "Most Thankless Creatures" in the universe.


A child can never give anything to the "Mother" and she never expects anything. She cries and begs the child not to give her a painful death and let her live so that she continues to serve/nurture him/her.


If we cant behave better and have become slaves to our greed, lust, lets atleast ensure that our "Mother Earth" remains alive and keeps nurturing us. If not for her, lets atleast be "Enough Human" to do it for our coming generations. If we dont have even that much of common-sense left within us and we have become such weak slaves of our greed and ill-habits, are we worth being called humans.


Lets all atleast plant a tree on our birthdays, once in an year. It wont cost us more than a McDonalds Burger or French Fries. 

Lets celebrate World Environment Day and make it a habit to be a bit Human towards "Our Mother".