Indian- Americans constitute more than a million registered voters in USA. Why majority of Indians in the U.S. continue to support Democratic party? And why Republican party has not been able to draw them into its fold to that extent?
Here is my write-up published in The Times of India on November 10, 2014: http://goo.gl/62ciO1
Mid-term election just concluded in USA. The result: Republicans swung back and are now in a clear majority in the Congress. This has made life difficult for (the Democrat) President Obama who has been reduced to a lame duck status for remainder of his term. Well, do Indians in USA favor Democrats or Republicans? Here is my article on this topic published in the Political & Business Daily newspaper, published from Delhi.
Recently, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi announced that his government will bring in austerity measures for his Ministers and bureaucrats. This is a right step by the Prime Minister and I welcome the decision. But the real economic growth will happen if the Modi govt. focuses on curbing the mammoth corruption that is eating the very foundation of Indian democracy, nabbing black marketeers (they run a parallel economy in India) and by bringing reforms that lead to better governance with more transparency. Create a pro- business environment that stimulates economy. By austerity measures, no doubt, the nation will save some money, but this is peanuts compared to the crooks and criminals milking the system under political patronage. Austerity to me looks like a facial make up! The real glow on face would come only if the circulation of the body increases so that it vitalizes the whole body. In other words, treat the root cause and not merely symptoms!
This issue reverberated in news-papers today. Shocking revelations in an RTI query!
As Narendra Modi Govt took over the reins of free India a few months back, Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called ‘Namami Gange’ was announced by the BJP-led government with much fan fare with an initial sum of Rs 2,037 crore allocated in the Union Budget for 2014-15. Let us be aware, the issue of purification of Ganga Maa is very close to the heart of Shri Narendra Modi and I truly appreciate it.
An RTI query has some shocking revelations about a meeting held by National Mission for Clean Ganga at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi. Whopping sum of Rs 43.85 Lacs has been spent on just the aforesaid meeting!
The money spent on the meetings and accommodation of guests coming for the meeting was approximately Rs 26.7 Lacs, and on publicity it was Rs 5.1 Lacs.
The biggest shocker is the amount spent by the government on floral decorations equaling Rs 75000! Rs 2.3 Lacs were spent on miscellaneous expenses.
Is this not a DISGRACEFUL waste of tax-payer’s money and a déjà-vu of UPA’s austerity drive?
आगामी मंगलवार यानी 4 नवम्बर को अमेरिका में चुनाव होने हैं. इसे चुनाव दिवस कहा जाता है. चुनाव दिवस: अमेरिकी व् भारत की प्रणाली में अंतर.
तथा इबोला का अमेरिका पर दस्तक.
इन विषयों पर आधारित है मेरा इस बार का स्तम्भ (कालम). “वीर अर्जुन” समाचार पत्र में प्रत्येक बुधवार को प्रकाशित.
लिंक: http://goo.gl/ZRiOb9
New Delhi: Today, the Supreme Court while hearing a petition by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that the Delhi assembly should be dissolved and a fresh election should be announced, rebuked the Center and said: ”We gave you enough time but nothing happened and you always make one statement or other on the day of hearing”. It further stated that “in a democracy, President’s Rule cannot go on forever.”
The apex court also observed that “the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi should have taken decision on government formation at the earliest and should not have taken 5 months time.” This statement is enough to question Delhi LG’s role and integrity.
In my view the question that SC asked the Center today that “How will BJP form Govt. WITHOUT the required numbers?” should have been asked by the Delhi LG in the first place! If the Lt Governor Mr. Najeeb Jung has any political morality, he should resign without any delay now.
AAP has been saying what all has been observed by the SC today as regard the Presidents Rule in Delhi from the day one. It is still high time that the LG dissolves the Delhi assembly and paves way for fresh elections. Inviting BJP to form the government in Delhi will only give rise to horsetrading and further political instability.
Decent roads in India that let you drive with dignity: Am I asking for too much? The road network in a city is like circulatory system of the human body that brings vitality to the life. We must understand that good roads are a prerequisite for the ‘promised’ smart cities.
This is the theme this time of my weekly column “Musings from Chicago” published in the ‘Political & Business Daily’ on October 27,2014.
RTI Assessment and Analysis Group (RaaG) and National Campaign For People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) have conducted a study on Right to Information (RTI) act. The study revealed that the Information Commissions are going easy on RTI complaints and almost 96% of the cases where there has been a delay or denial on information on RTI query have not been penalized.
On studying RTI responses from 21 information commissions, the study has found that 2.21 lac cases had been disposed of between January 2012 and November 2013. It was observed that penalty should have been imposed on 1.04 lakh cases (between January 2012 and December 2013) but only 3870 cases were penalized. Rs 5.03 crore should have been recovered from 22 states BUT only Rs 85.57 lac was recovered by 18 states.
Information commissions also have the power to award compensation to a complainant for the loss suffered. Although the number of complaints of delay or denial of information equaled to 3.89 lac, the compensation was awarded only in just 1339 cases. The amount of compensation imposed was Rs 29.68 lac but only Rs 4.07 lac was recovered.
A strong RTI act is crucial for strengthening democracy. It makes the Government more accountable and transparent and is the biggest weapon against corruption. The soft approach of information commissions will only weaken its power and defeat the very purpose of RTI act.
Well, Black money does not lie holed up in the ‘Black Hole’ that it can not be recouped! I hope we Indians -irrespective of our political affiliations and beliefs- understand this simple fact!
October 24: Today is World Polio Day. Today marks the duration of India being polio-free since three consecutive years. It is, indeed, a historic day for our country!
In India, the oral polio vaccine was introduced in 1985 in the Universal Immunization Program at a time when India was reporting almost 200,000 cases of polio annually (as per estimates of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics). However, with the introduction of Pulse Polio Program in 1995, the scenario started changing quickly. But, polio continued to trick us. Until the year 2009, almost fifty percent of the reported case globally were from India. Therefore, looking at the chronology of the polio disease, Pulse Polio program is a truly a success story that we can take pride in.
But, we must not sit on laurels! Continued surveillance is the key. Prevention of the disease with oral polio drops in pulses (that is, Pulse Polio program) must continue nationwide. This is also the right time to introduce injectable pulse polio vaccine (killed vaccine, also called Salk vaccine). The latter is the norm where polio is not prevalent. The killed vaccine is easy to store and the biggest advantage is that it does not cause vaccine-induced paralytic polio disease. With the oral vaccine (which is a live vaccine), the polio disease can actually happen- as an adverse effect- though it is extremely rare.
Polio continues to be a fixture in our neighboring countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This can upset our apples’ cart. Thus, there is also need to continue efforts, collaboration with world health agencies so that we see the end of Polio from the earth. Remember, polio is 100 % eradicable disease. It is doable.