BP's oil spill catastrophe

BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been spewing about 25,000-30,000 barrels a day for the last 50 days. That would be close to one million gallons per day. The damages resulting from the oil slick are estimated to be more than $10 billion. But how can one put a value for the death of all those sea animals. This has been a catastrophe of unimaginable proportion and the solution to cap the oil spill is still evading BP.

The irony is that this is not the first time that BP is involved in such a fiasco. There have been similar oil spills and one would have thought that BP would have at least learnt a few lessons from it. However, they have been fooling the world by stating that they have geared themselves to facing such crisis. It is now evident that the company is totally ill-equipped for such eventualities.

Now, it has become such a global disaster that problem is no more BP’S alone even though they are fully responsible and accountable. The “top kill” operation has not been successful and the experts are putting their thinking caps to come out with a solution. One hopes that the solution comes sooner than later.

This is a warning bell for all oil exploration companies and research efforts will have to focus on preventing such eventualities and also to finding quick answers if such a calamity happens. This also leads one to reiterate that the Governments world over will be better of to channel their efforts away from oil and focus on other forms of energy like solar, wind etc..

The damage this disaster has caused to the species in the ocean has to be evaluated. It is quite possible that some of the rare species are close to extinction. Already there is media news that some rare and endangered species of sea turtles are washed ashore dead. Pelicans have been spotted in Louisiana covered with the oil slick. It would be a big tragedy that the humans have brought forth to the Bio-diversity.

Let us hope that we learn from our mistakes.

Crown for Viswanathan Anand and Brickbats for Team India in cricket

The victory of Viswanathan Anand and the crushing ouster of the Indian cricket team from the world T20 championships remind me of Charles Dickens’ “The tale of two cities”. The outcome of the two events was like chalk and cheese- One reaching the zenith and the other touching the abyss. Cricket in India has been so revered that the country goes ga-ga when Team India wins but the fans also throw brickbats when the Team does bad. No other sport or games attract so much attention which is unfortunate. Anand has done so commendably right thro his career but has failed to get the accolade and adulation from the Indian people as much as his cricket counterparts.

Anand has won four world chess titles, out of which three were undisputed world champion in 2007, 2008 and now in 2010. A remarkable achievement by any standards and it puts him among the all time greats in chess history.He is the first player in chess history to have won the world championship in three different formats: knockout, tournament and Match.Consistency has been his hallmark which is sadly missing with our cricket team. The level of commitment and hard work Anand puts in before his world title match should be an eye opener to our cricketers. His focus is so much that for the six months prior to the title match, all he thinks of is his opponent and how to tackle him and nothing else. Most of our cricketers don’t know how to handle the short pitched deliveries on the field nor the late night parties off the field. However, they behave like they are the Gods. It is the Anands, Federers, Tendulkars who are the true greats of the modern sports and these people are humble. The lesser mortals wag their tail when they should actually be going to the drawing board and practice.

The world chess crown rests majestically on Anand’s balanced head. Chess is such a mental game involving tremendous amount of stress. Anand had to travel 40 hours by road (due to the volcanic ash) to reach the playing venue. He lost the first game to Topalov but regained his composure to come back strongly to win by 6.5-5.5.

It is high time we realize who the real greats are who bring laurels to our country consistently. We should acknowledge such achievements, admire such people and reward them suitably.

The IPL broth is boiling

Lalit Modi must now be wondering why at all he tweeted mentioning about Sunanda Pushkar. That was the fodder for the media and all hell broke loose. Shashi Tharoor who claimed to be a mentor of the IPL Kochi team and a “close friend” of Sunanda was dragged in the melee and charges and counter charges were traded. The Government was visibly embarrassed both inside and outside of Parliament with the Opposition gunning for them.

Tharoor was forced to resign and the Government now began to show their vendetta on the opposition and on Lalit Modi and the IPL fraternity of office bearers, Franchisees and just about everybody even remotely connected to them. IT raids were happening on dime a dozen offices every day. Politicians and other cabinet Minister’s names were falling out like nine pins. Now everyone wants to keep away from Lalit Modi.

In support of Lalit Modi, one would say he was a “go-getter” and a person with a tremendous drive and energy. The way he shifted IPL 2 to South Africa and conducted it with clock work precision was taken note of by the world with awe and astonishment. He was a no-nonsense person and would even trample on his detractors to achieve his end. He built up a lot enemies in the process but even his worst enemies will not undermine his abilities.

However, Lalit Modi went overboard in presenting IPL as an entertainment. Yes, with Bollywood celebrities, late night parties, wine and women in plenty, there was no dearth for entertainment. Everything pointed for the can of worms to be opened and that’s exactly what happened.

The Government’s investigation and the media’s news are throwing up a lot of names both in the political and at the ministerial level. The probe will have to be done thoroughly and not by a joint parliament committee (JPC) as the opposition parties claim. The JPC will only ensure that nothing will happen.

One hopes that through all this mess will evolve a clear direction. IPL should not be killed but the administration should be made accountable and governed by a clear set of rules and guidelines.BCCI and IPL will have to abide by corporate rules and political interference should be removed.

The Mumbai Express derails in Chennai- IPL 2010

Mumbai Indians (MI) was having a run too good to believe. So, it had to happen sometime and on the 6th April 2010 it took place. The Mumbai Express derailed in Chennai. It was a combination of good bowling by CSK and Hara-kiri committed by MI batsmen.

With Albie Morkel sitting out due to injury, the team management took a rather bold decision to bring in Thushara and Hussey and dropping Muralitharan. It was a gamble but as it turned out Thushara played a crucial role by claiming two wickets and a very good catch.

The score of 165 by CSK was a par score for Chepauk. The Chennai team would have felt that they were about 10-15 runs short but Harbhajan and Pollard bowled very well to contain CSK.

MI started off with a bang with Sachin and Dhawan putting on 46 runs in quick time. More than the guile of the CSK bowlers, it was the Chennai heat and humidity that was taking a toll on Tendulkar. The Master had to retire due to dehydration with MI score reading 62. This probably proved the decisive factor of the match. In a space of just over five overs Mumbai collapsed from 62 for 1 to 89 for 7. The spinners Ashwin, Raina and Jakati used the slowness of the wicket splendidly but it was unimaginative batting from the Mumbai players and poor shot selection. Even a Tendulkar returning at 89 for 7 couldn’t change the course at that time.

It was a much needed win for CSK to regain momentum and look positively for the matches ahead. CSK should take one match at a time and not look at the semi final berth now. The return of Bollinger has really added value in the bowling department. CSK will do well to go with Hayden,Hussey,Bollinger and Muralitharan as the four foreign players in the next couple of matches. Albie Morkel can replace Hussey or Hayden depending on circumstances.

Go Chennai go.

Introspection time for Chennai Super Kings(CSK)

Five down and nine matches to go for CSK in the league stage in the IPL 3. With just two wins so far, they are not exactly in the comfort zone. Experienced heads in the team will come together to analyze and evolve a strategy for the games ahead. But let us be proactive and look at the positives and negatives that have emanated so far and see where exactly CSK have gone wrong and the corrective actions needed.

The positive take from the five matches so far has been the brilliant bowling of Murali followed by Morkel and to a lesser degree by Balaji. In batting Dhoni (till he was injured) is in form, Hayden is shaping well and there has been bits and pieces knock by Raina, Badrinath.

The negatives so far have been a handful. Bowling at the “death overs” has been a major cause of concern. Against the Deccan Chargers and the Royal Challengers (RCB), CSK gave away close to thirteen runs per over in the last five overs. The other area of worry is the way batsmen get into panic mode. This was visible in the last two games. Against Kings X1, Punjab, needing just 5.4 runs per over in the last eight overs with nine wickets in hand, CSK blew it away. CSK fans would have really missed Dhoni’s cool temperament in these times. Surprisingly, fielding has let the team down in some of the matches especially against RCB.

The road ahead requires clear planning and execution. The return of Dhoni shortly would be a great morale booster. That would really strengthen the batting and exert a calming influence on the players. Depending on the team composition, Morkel /Murali /Kemp should be used in the last five overs to avoid big leakage of runs and Balaji /Ashwin /Tyagi to finish their quota before.

India goes big ticket for womankind

India made history of sorts on 9th March, 2010 when the Upper house passed the Women's reservation bill reserving 33% seats for Women in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies. This would be the 108th change in the constitution. They might have symbolically missed it by a day to commemorate the 100th anniversary of International women's year but in a country where decisions are male dominated and male centric, this move comes as a giant leap for womanhood. The Upper House witnessed unruly scenes of opposition from the Samajwadi Party, RJD etc and the abstinence of the Trinamool congress. Seven members were suspended and physically removed from the floor of the House. But the Congress and the BJP, Left parties and other UPA allies should be commended.

There is still a long way to go as the Lower House will have to clear the Bill. Here it might be more difficult and would witness more protests but finally it would make it through.Before the Bill is passed into law, the pros and cons like which are the seats reserved for women, what is the quota for minorities etc.. will have to be discussed. These issues are more likely to bring out problem areas. But, a good beginning is made and it will be a red letter day for India.

The real gender equality comes when it is truly implemented by the letter and spirit. It will take some time before the hurt male ego is redressed and the real transfer of power goes to women instead of back seat driving. The ball is set rolling and now people will have to work towards achieving the intended end.

Budget India 2010-11

On 6th July,2009 when Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee finished his 2009-10 budget presentation, the stock market had tanked by more than 5%. Even though, given the economic context it was a good budget as reported in my earlier blog of July 8th, 2009. However, this time around when he presented the budget today, the market went up by 1.3%. The general pre-budget opinion was a mixture of caution with fear. People were expecting that the Finance Minister would roll back all the excise duty cuts he made during pre- election as part of the economic stimulus package. But Pranab Mukherjee turned the tables on them by coming with another balanced budget.

He has promised to bring the fiscal deficit from 6.8% of GDP in 2009-10 to 5.5% in 2010-11 and has made a road map to bring it to 4% in the third year. Also, he has promised to implement the direct tax code(DTC) and goods and service tax(GST) by 1/4/2011. He has provided more money to the poor thro' National rural employment guarantee scheme(NREGA).

He has managed to increase the 10% i/tax slab from Rs.3 lakhs to 5 lakhs and similar enhancement for 20% tax slab from Rs.5 to 8 lakhs. This would really help the salaried class. However, he has made no changes in the base exemption limit of Rs.1.6 lakh. With inflation going thro' the roof, one would have expected relief in this as the value of the money has been eroded. The other surprising proposal was to roll back the duty on crude and petroleum products. Also he has enhanced the excise duty on petroleum produts by Re.1. This would increase the petrol rate by Rs.2.7 and Diesel by Rs.2.55. this will have a ripple effect and spiralling inflation. This brought uproar from the opposition who staged a walkout.

My first impression of the budget is the Finance Minister has by and large kept his earlier promise and has looked at the future pragmatically taking India to the 9% GDP growth era. Well done. i would give 7 out of 10 marks.

God- thy name is Sachin Tendulkar

In India, cricket is a religion and Sachin Tendulkar is God. For twenty years he has held onto this exalted position where people revere him. In his playing years, cricket has undergone lot of changes like most things have. We have the longer version in the form of test cricket which most cricketers believe is the ultimate test of skill, endurance and patience. Then we have the capsuled version of the 50 over one day . In the last four years we have the slam bang variety of the 20 over game what with the IPL which has progressed leaps and bounds.

The greatness in a person hovers around how he adapts to all these types of format and comes out tops in all the three versions. That's exactly what Sachin has done. For twenty years his body has taken the grind in all forms of cricket and he has surpassed all obstacles to be in top.

More than 31,000 runs in international cricket( tests + ODI), 93 centuries, several world records including the aggregate number of runs in test and ODI, maximum number of centuries in tests, ODI . On 24Th February, 2010, he created another world record when he became the only person to score a ODI double century which he got against South Africa in Gwalior. Records are meant to be broken they say, but i have a strong belief that there are certain records which are going to be his own.

He is an icon in India. His fans would say " we have seen God and He bats No.4 for India". For all the adulation, Sachin is a very unassuming person. Both on the field and off it, he is mild mannered, no touch of arrogance, has respect and admiration for fellow players and mixes with people freely. This is another great hallmark of this person. Success has not got to his head as it had with so many sports persons who ended up in the dumps. The balance and poise he displays are remarkable and worth emulating by present day sports persons.

At 37 years now, some people might have thought he should lay down his boots. But he is probably having the best season of his 20 year career in 2009-10 with an average of 78.3 in tests with six centuries. What he plans to do, only God knows and he is God.

Save the Tiger

Look at that majestic animal in the picture. The most graceful of the cat family, Tigers were considered as " endangered " species as early as 1976 by "convention on the International trade in endangered species" of wild fauna and flora ( CITES). India launched " Project Tiger " to save the animal from extinction in 1973. Now there are 29 Tiger in India. However, if one sees the situation today, the plight of tigers leaves much to be desired. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were 100,000 tigers in the world and India boasted of 40,000 of them. By 2002, India was left with only 3642 tigers and now it has reached an alarming and precariously low level of 1411 tigers only. If the situation is not highlighted and awareness brought to the people, it may become too late to protect these big cats.

Hunting of Tigers is legally prohibited but poachers have either managed to hoodwink the authorities or colluded with them and escape the law. In earlier years, Tigers were hunted for their fur but with the global ban on tiger skin and fur, poachers are now eying for other organs like eyes, teeth and even testicles which is said to have aphrodisiacal effect. Tiger bones are much sought after in China for medicinal purposes.

It is time that the Government, media and all like minded people come together to create awareness among public and also tighten the security in the reserves to prevent poaching. Tigers are one of the top predators and by keeping the prey population in check they maintain the overall health and balance of the nature's food-chain and ecosystem. If tigers are lost, pretty soon forest will also go and as forest cover acts as water catchment area, it will result in insufficient rainfall. The complete ecosystem will be in imbalance. We will be doing a great disservice to the cause of a green world.

Apart from poaching, the other threat to tiger conservation is deforestation, fragmentation of habitats and human-tiger conflict. With urbanisation, settlements in forest areas and industrialization through mining and quarry, grave danger to tiger population and other animals have become a reality. The Government and ministry of environment will have to come out with stricter rules that will preserve our forests and have corridor of habitat connectivity to increase tiger population.

Let's join hands and save the tiger from extinction. Else, they might be a thing of the past and our future generation might only know through stories and pictures.

The year 2009- A quick recap

The year started with the then chairman of Satyam computers divulging that the company's accounts have been fudged. The Government acted quick by forming a new Board to go into the irregularities and Raju finding himself behind the bars.

Cricket also became the target of terror when the Sri Lankan team was attacked in Pakistan. Fortunately there were no casualties but International cricket in Pakistan was put in cold storage.

The Global economic meltdown continued for most part of the year and the G-20 came to some sort of understanding on regulatory crackdown . With countries spending huge sums of money to prop up the economy, most nations showed signs of recovery in the last quarter of the year.

India went to polls and the Congress party came out thumbs up thanks to infighting in the major opposition party BJP.

The IPL cricket jamboree moved to South Africa as the Indian Government pleaded inability to provide security for the tournament as it was coinciding with the National polls. IPL Chairman Modi and his team did a wonderful job in shifting the venue at such short notice and coming out trumps. The tourney was a huge success and the " Deccan chargers" came out winners over the "Royal challengers", Bangalore. These two teams literally turned the tables on the other sides as these two were just about making up the rear during the inaugural IPL season.

Sri Lankan Government went hammer and tongs against the LTTE and virtually wiped out the organization and their supremo Prabhakaran.Innocent human lives were the casualties in this Government crusade against LTTE.
Racial attacks against Indian students in Australia was common place and by the year end it was gaining momentum. The Australian government seem to be incapable of arresting the turn of events. Ominous signs indeed.

The world lost Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop" music in June 2009. The world of music will be that much poorer.

Roger Federer created tennis history when he won the 15th Grand slam title upstaging Sampras' record. But in a different sport- Golf- we had Tiger Woods exposed for his "sexcapades" causing severe family problem and personal embarrassment.

The year ended with the Copenhagen accord on climate change. An accord devoid of any teeth and failed to meet Global expectations. Cutting on emission levels involve huge costs and the developed nations failed to reach a consensus on how to share this cost and fund the developing nations. This proved to be the biggest stumbling block for a brave and challenging target.

The world economy is trying to put it's head out of water and one hopes that the year 2010 would be lot brighter for planet Earth.

RBI Monetary policy- a balancing act

The monetary policy 2010 announced by the RBI Governor Subbarao this week clearly is a balancing act. 2008 and 2009 were difficult years for global economy. However, India has handled it's cards well even during this recessionary period. The RBI has been a watchdog which prevented Banks getting muddled up with the mortgage and derivative problems. With less dependence on exports, India could weather the storm well. RBI has made an upward revision in it's GDP guidance for India from 6% to 7.5% for the year 2009-10. In the same vein, RBI has also revised its inflation target from 6.5% to 8.5%.

The rampant inflation is what has made RBI act by increasing the cash reserve ratio (CRR)
by 75 basis points from 5% to 5.75%. By keeping all the other policy rates like Bank rate, Repo and reverse Repo rates unchanged, the RBI has sent a clear message. This act of RBI will not increase the interest rates but will suck up Rs.36,000 crores ( Rs.360 billion) from the system. Hence sustenance of growth coupled with capping inflation has become the focus for the central Bank.

India is now moving from an era of managing growth to sustaining growth. This has to be handled effectively without letting inflation go out of control. Full marks to RBI for keeping this in mind in it's policy formulation document.

Indian economy will roll forward and the central bank will have a role to play.

Haiti hit by natural calamity

The earthquake that hit Haiti probably caused the worst natural calamity in history. Close to 100,000 deaths and more than three million people affected. The pictures and news coming out from Haiti shows the dastardly devastation . Coupled with the total breakdown of the administrative machinery, the relief operations have been severely impeded. World aid is pouring in and so is individual contributions. But it is going to take some time before any meaningful alternate solutions can be arranged for the affected people and families.

Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the western world and this heart breaking disaster would severely impair their development process. It would require a concerted effort from social organizations and world Governmental agencies to come to the help of Haiti over a longer period to sustain the momentum of development and growth.

Let us wake up to this cause and help our brethren so they may live a life with self respect and dignity

Australia bites the dust and hands over the "Ashes"

England have done it. They have regained the Ashes from the Aussies. Ask any Englishmen or an Oz and they will tell you that they value the "Ashes" more than their life. So, it was no surprise to see the English players in seventh heaven after inflicting a crushing defeat to Australia in the final cricket test at the Oval on Sunday the 23rd August 2009.

As expected, this series was also a close fought battle but failed to reach great heights qualitatively as the 2005 series did in England. Statistically, the Aussies did much better in batting and bowling- six of the top seven run- getters were the Aussies and the three top wicket takers were also from their team. But, as the English skipper Andrew Strauss said" when we played bad, we played very bad and when we played good, it was good enough". The crucial period of the games which counted was won by the English team and that turned the tide.

The Australian media and the critics are trying to find the scapegoats in the form of selectors and the captain Ricky Ponting. It would be better if they introspect instead and start building a new team for the future. The arrogance of Hayden, the solidity of Langer at the top of the order, the belligerence of Gilchrist, the nagging accuracy of Macgrath and the guile of Shane Warne were missing. Add to this the genius of Andrew Symonds who was sacked on disciplinary grounds, you are left with a team which is woefully short on experience. But there need be no panic but a clear plan and time frame for rebuilding a team.Cricket Australia will have to concentrate on this and one can see the resurrection of the Australian team.

The final test also saw the talismanic Flintoff bidding farewell to test cricket. Injuries have shortened his career but he was very much instrumental in England winning the Ashes this summer.
It was good to see the Series bringing in lots of crowds in all the five tests. It is high time the ICC starts thinking in grouping the strong teams together and the minnows in another group. For test cricket to survive it has to provide intense , tough and quality cricket. Otherwise, it will be a matter of time when test cricket would be a " has been".

Budget India 2009-10

As the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rose to present the Budget in Parliament at 11a.m on the 6th of July,2009, the stock market shot up in hope and expectations. 90 minutes later, when he was winding up his Budget speech, the Market fell by more than 5%- the biggest fall ever on a budget day-. An analysis of the Budget would reveal that it is a well balanced budget aiming for growth through increased expenditure and satisfying the social sectors as promised in the UPA's manifesto.

Then why did the market tank? Firstly, the market movement should not be taken as a yardstick to judge the overall budget. Probably a lot of hype was built around this budget by the media stating it to be the "Big Budget" especially after the ease with which the Congress won the Elections.The media made it look that without the "Left party", there was no hurdles left. The Economic survey report which was tabled a couple of days prior to the Budget day did not help matters as it laid out a grand vision for India but without any time frame or road map.

The Budget per se tried to increase domestic demand by putting money in the hands of the rural people and allocating spends on Infrastructure. The NREGA scheme(National rural employment guarantee scheme), abolition of Surcharge in income tax, abolition of the fringe benefit tax etc.. would create wealth in the hands of the people and would increase spending. For the first time, the Budget provides for Rs ten lakh crores(Rs 10 trillion) expenditure. The revenues at Rs six lakh crore(Rs 6 trillion) makes the Fiscal deficit at 6.8% of the GDP( Rs.58 trillion). This obviously is a huge figure which is to be made up by borrowings.

Certain facts emanate out of this deficit. The huge borrowings would push the Bond yields up and the interest rates to harden. With the Government borrowing so much , will it elbow out the private sector borrowings? The growth can never fructify without the private sector participation. The government's stated policy is also to go in for public-private sector partnership(PPP).

It was also praiseworthy that the Finance minister did not take the retrograde step of rolling back the excise duty cuts he unfolded just prior to the elections as part of the economic stimulus package. What was missing was a clear road map for disinvestment in PSU's and the participation of FDI's(Foriegn direct investment) in Banking and Insurance sectors. One is pretty sure the Government would go in for disinvestment to raise the necessary fund but Pranab Mukherjee could have articulated this better.

Of course, the choice before the Finance Minister was to either please the FII's(Foriegn Institutional investors) with deep pockets or the 1.2 billion Indians. The Minister chose the latter and rightly so.

Roger Federer creates history

July 5, 2009 and history was created at Wimbledon when Roger Federer went past Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand slam titles. For a fleeting moment after the 2008 Wimbledon loss to Nadal and during the earlier part of this year, Federer had this strange churn in his stomach that he might have met his nemesis. He took a break from the game to get over his back problem and came back all the more stronger to win his first French open title which he was craving for. He had to prove it more to himself that he could win in all types of surface.

15 Grand slams titles, 20 Grand slam finals, 80% all time win record. What else can one do better? Looks virtually impossible for anyone to match this performance, let alone surpass it and mind you, he is still not through yet. The statistics by themselves are mind boggling but even for a purist, Roger stands out as the best the game has ever produced. The grace, elegance and poise he brings to the game- both on and off the court- can hardly be matched. He demolishes his opponents with such grace that they hardly seem to notice it and more so don't seem offended by the ease with which it is mostly done.

The moment he won the French open, the arguments on who is the best ever tennis player ceased to exist. It is almost as if God created him to embody all that tennis is. The greatness in his play is how he positions himself to play the stroke. In that remains the secret of his success.

Andy Rodick was the most unfortunate person on July 5, 2009. He played a game of his lifetime. Actually, he was better than Federer that day but it was not his day. Federer had a date with history and the Lord of grass made it his own.

"The King of Pop" is dead

Michael Jackson-"The King of Pop"- is no more. Newspaper reports suggests that he died of cardiac arrest on Thursday the 25th at L.A. Whether persistent use of painkillers and drugs had any effect on his death is a matter of speculation and it will be sometime before the facts come out.

His was a story of rags to riches and possibly culminating in financial troubles towards the end. As a child,by his own admission, he was at the receiving end of "child abuse" by his father. Strangely enough, in his later years he was to be embroiled in "child sexual abuse" case from which he was acquitted.

He started his performance when in the early teens with his siblings in "Jackson 5". Later he broke away and opted for solo performances as people spotted his enormous talent. Albums came in plenty with "Thriller"(best selling album of all time), "Billie Jean", "Beat It" etc..An entertainer par excellence, his "moonwalk" on stage would send millions of fans into delirium and frenzy. But fame and money came at a price. Stardom could never give him happiness. He was in his own world with a strange and unexplainable fear. Health and stress was taking a toll and he took to drugs and painkillers.

His image took a beating on alleged "child sexual abuse" and towards the end had to sell his house to partially overcome financial problems. He was planning for one last tour of London during early July09 where he was to have given fifty concerts. But death knocked early to spoil the party.

Michael set a trend like no one else . An icon by any standards, he redefined music to the world like never before.

Beware Australia, thou shall be the loser

Australia has been a country where racism has been always simmering within for many years now. Asians and Indians have been at the receiving end but what has happened recently to the Indian students is deplorable. The month of May 09 has seen several incidents of brutal assaults on Indians. If a foreign tourist is raped or robbed in India, the Indian media highlights the issue to such an extent that proper attention is given to rectify the deeds. However, one finds the Australian police, media and even the Government is underplaying the dastardly events that have happened to the Indian students. It is abundantly clear that these are racial attacks by a bunch of hooligans and thugs and the Indians are singled out. It is shameful that incidents of violence happens in public places like trains or railway stations and the public are mere passive onlookers. The gang is rejoicing and celebrating this as " Indian hunting month". Under these circumstances, it is shocking that the Australian authorities are treating these as "one of those incidents" and putting the blame on Indians being "soft targets".
The Australian government is more interested in preserving their "tourism image" and the fund flow to their educational institutions. There are approximately 100,000 Indian students in Australia to further their studies and they cough up Rs. 20,000 crores( Rs.200 billion) as their tuition fees and living expense. It is high time the Australian government takes sterner measures against the perpetrators of violence and ensure such incidents do not recur. Else, there won't be any takers for the courses that their Universities offer. They shall be the loser. A strong campaign is now going on in India not to go to Australia for higher studies thanks to the racism being perpetrated by some gangs there.
The Indian goverment is bringing a lot of pressure on their Australian counterpart. The sooner they bring about a permenant solution, the better it is for Australia. People talk about human rights violations. The western world act like big brothers to point out flaws in human rights violations in India, China and the developing world. But not a whisper is raised when such things are happening in developed countries like Australia. Different rules for different people. If this is not a sham, what is it?

LTTE Supremo Prabhakaran dead

It's official now. The Sri Lankan Government has confirmed that the LTTE Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran has been shot dead. With his death the final frontier has come down and the LTTE has been flushed out. The Sri Lankan army was bent upon wiping off the LTTE from the face of their country.In the process lots of innocent Tamil civilians lost their lives due to indiscriminate bombings. Lots more have been rescued but what is more important now is to see their rehabilitation.

LTTE was a terrorist organization. Even though they started as a product of the Tamil problem in Sri Lanka, they lost their way down the line in their demand for Tamil Ealam. The leaders of the LTTE promised their cadres the moon and in the process the pressure mounted on them.It became apparent that there could not be a negotiated settlement.

The war is over but for peace to return, the SL government will have to find a political settlement for the Tamils.Without this, the government will give governance a go by.The sooner this aspect is sorted out the better it will be for all parties concerned.

Indian voters give thumbs up to Congress

The biggest democracy in the world-India- went to the polls and gave a clear verdict for a stable government. 350 million people cast their votes and much against the predictions of the psephologists, the voters gave thumbs up to the United Progressive Alliance( UPA). The voting was conducted over five phases through electronic voting machines and the results were out in a flash on the 16th May.

In the last UPA government, the left parties( communists) were the stumbling block for any reforms. The voters this time around probably realized this and gave the present UPA( with congress being the main party & without the left parties) a clear mandate.The congress can celebrate the verdict but along with the victory comes a lot of responsibilities. The Indian public would now expect the government to go ahead with its reforms and take the country forward.

The immediate areas to be looked into would be Infrastructure development,handling of the huge fiscal deficit, Rural development, poverty alleviation through job creation and skill development. The government will have it's hands full but also has a great opportunity to prove it's worth.

IPL gets underway in South Africa

IPL T20 cricket-Edition II- kicked off in the Rainbow country South Africa on the 16th of April.Funny that the Indian Premier League had to be played outside of India. Can anyone imagine Wimbledon being played in, say, India? But, considering the fact that the dates for the "slam bang" version of the game clashed with the Indian polls,the security arrangements for the elections obviously took precedence over IPL.

Full marks to the IPL commissioner Lalit Modi for making all necessary arrangements in three weeks time to shift the tourney to South Africa. The host country also deserves full praise.The response to the tournament in South Africa was fantastic.The atmosphere was carnival and the players were taken out in motorcade in Capetown. These were superbly organized and so was the opening ceremony with the African drum beats and the fireworks.

The initial matches have not evoked that much interest in India. Maybe because the "emotional connect" was missing but more so due to the poor weather conditions curtailing even the already curtailed version of the game. Also,some funny innovations have been introduced to the game which breaks the momentum, eg, the seven and half minutes " strategy break" after 10 overs is a big sham. Most players have objected to it and rightly so. This break is mainly created for the benefit of sponsors who can use it for TV ads for product promotion.

I hope that the matches get tight and have close finishes. That would enhance viewer interest and the TRP ratings. There is still a lot of matches to go but from what i have seen from the early games, my pick for the semi-finals would be Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Deccan. My winners pick would be Mumbai. I believe they have the most balanced side.
Lets wait and watch. we will know in a months time.