Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Dec 17, 2016

#DeMonetisation, boon or bane?, India's media, political class clueless

DeMonetisation continues to be in the news all across India. People loosing control at banks reported at BulandShahar in UP and Rourkee.

With Govt incentivising people for using digital mode, change is yet to be seen on the streets.

Political parties are not outrightly opposing the Govt.'s move sensing the people's mood against corruption in the nation. But voicing concerns the way currency has been withdrawn.

The real fact is, no one knows what will be the outcome of the overall process of De Monetisation.

Even the main opposition party Congress has refrained from opposing the Govt's move out rightly in fact is protesting the way it is being implemented.

Given the amount or reports coming from every corner of the nation about how the black money has been converted, people of the nation have their fingers crossed.

Govt is daily monitoring the situation very closely and taking every step it needs to ease the situation.

With pressure mounting on the Govt from cashless or money less people, Govt machinery is working to see things fall into place as quickly as possible. 

Earlier when PM Modi asked for 50 days that is till 30 December, people were tightlipped.

But now Govt slowly accepting the fact that lot of fraud by banks and officials at India's premier bank RBI has left Govt in tight situation, Govt now says by January 2017 situation will be eased.

It is a fact that India's black money holders so to say who had cash unaccounted were able to convert the currency with connivance of banks, hospitals, jewellers, currency exchange agents and real estate players.

Given the fact that wide scale fraud happening, Govt's machinery is stretched to limits in detecting fraud.

India is unprepared to streamline millions of poor people who don't have bank accounts to adopt digital banking. Govt is trying to include all the groups so that they are e banking enabled as soon as possible.

Given the atmosphere in the nation media outlets are just reporting raids and new currency hauls made by IT department. No one has any clue where the country is heading.

Whether the Govt's move will help the nation or not, all the political parties are playing it safe in rejecting the Govt's move outrightly. 

In this mood of uncertainty only time will tell whether DeMonetisation has helped India's most needy people or just ended up filling the coffers of everyone else like all the time.



 


Valleyz.Blog

Dec 16, 2015

China is buying fresh bottled air, where fresh air has become luxury

A Canadian man who jokingly thought of selling bottled air for Chinese residents battling pollution, fog and smog has turned his idea into a successful business venture.

Vitality air co-founder Moses Lam first thought it was simply a joke and then he tried to sell some bottles on e-bay, and there it is.

The first bottle went under $1 and then next sold for $160 he says. He soon realised there was market for fresh air and soon began hand bottling fresh air in Canada's rocky mountains. Bottles are left for 10 hours in pristine environment and demand was so high that he couldn't keep up.

There are customers to be found all across the globe, but China is the best selling market. Other place that have market for bottled air is India, Middle East, and other countries.

Recently Beijing's pollution levels rose alarmingly making the country's authorities to sound an alarm of the highest level. Making it mandatory for many of the factories to shut down, schools closed, invoking other widespread measures.

Along with China, India too home to top 15 polluted cities in the world. That reason made a court in India to note that, it is like living in a gas chamber.

Since then the Government is on the move and formulating a series of measures to curb pollution in the national capital of Delhi and other cities as well.

As recently as yesterday the Supreme Court of India banned the registrations of high end SUVs of 2000 cc volume engine capacity till March 31 of next year, also the court has doubled green cess and barred the entry of  Trucks which are not destined for Delhi and just use it as a Transit hub.

Canadian company selling clean air to China, says sales are booming -CNN 

 Valleyz.Blog

Dec 15, 2015

SC introduces series of measures to curb pollution in Delhi

Supreme Court of India has banned registration of  diesel vehicles over 2000 CC till March 31 2016. The ban applies to NCR regions which include Noida, Gurgaon, Fareedabad, Ghaziabad.

All the trucks whose destination is not Delhi cannot enter the city precincts.  SC has directed Euro 4 Norms must be implemented in the national capital region.

Green taxes are expected to be doubled. 

All the taxis to be run on CNG and should convert to CNG by 31st of March.

SC asks both Centre and State governments to work together to curb pollution and related matters.

Tax increased from 700 to 1400, has put restrictions on burning of garbage openly.

Decision of Supreme Court of India was in response to a petition filed in the Court on the plying of diesel vehicles in the capital city of India.

This judgement could give directions to other cities who are also affected by pollution.

Valleyz.Blog

Pune and Rajkot look hot overnight after successful IPL 2016 bidding

Pune and Rajkot have gone hot overnight after successful bidding for top players in the IPL auction for 2016. 

Both the teams have reported spend 39 crores and 27 crores are remaining. 

All the players who were available after relegation of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings are high performers. Any side having them will be a big big bonus. 

Other teams in the fray will be keeping a close watch on the developments, because they know the quality of the players in the new sides that they have to face now.

 
Valleyz.Blog

Dec 14, 2015

Delhi Secretariat under investigation by CBI

CBI raids Delhi secretariat,  according to media reports, CBI has booked a case against the principal secretary Rajinder Kumar, an IAS officer, who works with the office of the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. 

Aam Admi Party chief and Delhi CM has minced no words to criticize the move by the premier investigating agency and feels the move to raid is due to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instructions, though CBI denies as such.

Arvind Kejriwal's office raided by CBI; Office sealed, says Delhi government - ABP News 

Several of Ministers of the Aam Aadmi party which swept to power in Delhi elections in 2015 with a landslide margin are criticising the CBI's move to raid the CM's office.

There has been lot of tension between the Central Government and the Delhi State Goverment offices over the extent of rule the Centre has on the national capital of Delhi.

 Valleyz.Blog

Dec 12, 2015

India, Japan sign bilateral treaties

India and Japan sign bilateral treaties after the meeting between both the nations in the national capital.

Japanese President who is here on a three day visit will also visit Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of PM Modi.

Bullet train treaty which Japan had promised to implement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan has been signed today in New Delhi. And Nuclear deal has also been envisaged.

The project costing about 98,000 KM to connect Mumbai to Ahmedabad in 3 hours.

Visa on arrival for Japanese citizens from March 1 2016 

PM Modi, Shinzo Abe put bullet train and Civi Nuclear Agreement on track

National Herald Case Development

Shanti Bhushan claims to have some shares in AJL and reportedly has said will question the transfer of shares to YIL. But Kapil Sibal refuted those allegations.

Delhi Pollution

Government schools to be shutdown from 1 Jan till 15 Jan in the national capital according to the latest media reports.

Valleyz.Blog

Dec 11, 2015

Yuvraj Singh, the flamboyant India Cricket star celebrate's his 34th Birthday

Yuvraj Singh who turns 34 today, has already accomplished the laurels one can achieve in a glittering cricketing career where the star batsman has led the nation to many victories in many encounters.

He is a treat to watch in the middle order building on the Indian innings, and giving it all every time he came to the crease. He is a batsmen of huge calibre. Especially the visiting teams used to be scary about him, and always used special fielding arrangements to contain the star. It was very hard to containg Yuvraj especially on the Square leg boundary, the ball simply dissappeared once he sights the ball in the slaught. It was amazing to see the natural free flow of his bat.

Yuvraj Singh won the Man of the Series tournament at the World Cup 2011 edition which India won, it was his allround performance which gave India the strategic depth to take strong teams like South Africa, Australia and Pakistan. 

 Valleyz.Blog

Dec 7, 2015

7.2 magnitude Earthquake hits Tajikistan's Karakul area

7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Tajikistan according to USGS , the resultant tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and Delhi, in India. There's been reports of tremors shaking the Kashmir valley, but no information regarding any damage has been reported yet

Valleyz.Blog

Dec 5, 2015

Delhi needs underground metro, trams and more buses. Cycling should be encouraged for short distances.

Delhi pollution levels rose to astonishing levels this year and the city is engulfed with thick smog, bringing down the visibility too. Delhi's pollution comes from excessive use of private transport, no cycling and pedestrian pathways not enough lung spaces for the vibrant but choking city. PM2.5 at the time of writing this post was 699 at Anand Vihar which is hazardous to health. With PM2.5 in California, LA being about 173 at the same time. Mumbai at 153 and Hyderabad at 136 are the two other major pollution borne cities in the country.

http://aqicn.org/city/delhi/anand-vihar/
 
 Delhi court noted the city's pollution saying ' it looks like a gas chamber' and asked the Government to implement a new strategy by Dec 21. The ruling Aam Aadmi party in Delhi hence introduced the Odd-Even formula, successfully implemented in several other world's big time polluting cities such as China and Bogota etc.,

Delhi's metro system is already crowded and there aren't enough buses on the road for people to consider it as a viable commute to work. There are no trams even in developed areas of the city.

Delhi's main polluters include industrial air pollution, thermal power plants and trucks which ply commuting essential commodities to the city and are the life line. Delhi's compounding problems are the satellite towns and cities like, Faridabad and Rohtak in Haryana, Gurgaon and Noida in U.P., and many other suburbs from where people commute daily for work.

In order for Government to succeed it should take pedestrianization and cycling and usage of Trams and other electric mode of transport for short distances in a big manner. Also the city may not be able cope with the present metro rail. I think the city should go for an elaborate well-planned, feasible underground metro system to plan ahead in to the future, keeping in mind the growth trajectory of the city. Administration should initiate tree plantation also in a big manner and sensitize the citizenry of benefits of using public transport.

Government's woes not only comes from the polluting factors but also from lack of understanding between the state and centre who do not see eye to eye on many public issues and may prove difficult to implement it's strategies.

Valleyz.Blog

Jan 24, 2015

Ex Delhi CM Mr Kejriwal not invited to Republic day celebrations in Delhi

Arvind Kejriwal, the Convenor of Aam Aadmi party, and ex-CM Delhi, has not been invited to Republic Day parade at Rajpath. 

He said he has not received any invite for the event according to media reports, which is to be attended by high profile guests US President Barack Obama and his wife Ms Michelle Obama and other dignitaries.

Speaking to media reporters Mr Kejriwal has said, if there is a protocol, he should get an invite, but doesn't want to play politics on the issue. 

Valleyz.Blog

Jan 23, 2015

Recent Judgement by the Apex Court on Cricketing affairs augurs well for the sport in the country

Recent Judgement by the Supreme Court of India augurs well for the Cricket in India, as the Judgement appears to have addressed the litigation involving conflict of Interest in the sport.

Though another special committee has been formed to look into the specific allegations against players and wrongdoings, it is still a long way to go.

Also the hearing by the Supreme Court laid down clear directions for elections of the Board President of the Cricketing body.

Board has clearly directed the current Board President Mr N Srinivasan to select between the country or the club of which he is a co-owner. 

With several of the issues been addressed by the Apex Court, it should lead to transparency and efficiency in the functioning of the cricketing body. 

  
Valleyz.Blog

Jan 20, 2015

Delhi Elections 2015

Nominations to be filed by all the major political parties today Jan 21. Leaders from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and Congress (I) are going to file nominations today.

AAP is headed by Arvind Kejriwal, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer,  bureaucrat turned activist-Politician who spearheaded the India Against Corruption Movement along with Social activist Anna Hazare of India in 2011.

INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION - WIKIPEDIA 

Aam Aadmi Party was founded to give birth to political aspirations of a movement, which largely appeared to have struck a chord among the general population, on major political issues like corruption and administration.

http://www.aamaadmiparty.org/ 

 Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party with 28 MLA's formed a coalition government  in Delhi in 2013 with the support of 8 seats of Congress(I) in the 70 member house and later resigned due to lack of majority in passing major anti-corruption laws seeking fresh elections.

Election Commission of India after a year on the directions of Judiciary decided to conduct the elections in Delhi for which the dates have been announced.

In 2013 Delhi had 11.9 eligible voters.
Source: Elections.in 
Election Commission of India 

Last Date of Nomination: 21
Election date February 7.
Results Date  February 10, 11, 12.

The elections in Delhi took an interesting turn when Ms Kiran Bedi an  IPS officer (Indian Police Service), also a familiar face with India Against Corruption Movement decided to join the BJP, which is the main opposition to Aam Aadmi Party which had the bulk of activists on its side. 

She  was quickly pitted against Arvind Kejriwal as the CM candidate for BJP which secured 32 seats in the last elections. Ms Bedi after following the track record of political developments, came out in opposition to strategies of AAP and nodded in favor of the policies adopted by the ruling BJP party at the centre of which she was critical on some issues in the past.

Ms Bedi accuses AAP with politics of negativity, accusations and insinuation.

Mr Ajay Maken former Union minister in the UPA government is heading the Congress campaign for Delhi elections. Earlier UPA Chief Minister Ms Shiela Dixit's government is accused of corruption in the conduct of Common Wealth games and not doing much on issues of corruption.   

Another noted IAC activist and a media presenter Shazia Ilmi, after contesting elections with AAP had distanced itself from the party complaining about lack of inner party democracy.

She is the latest entrant in the BJP along with Ms Kiran Bedi, has been of late complaining about lack of inner-party democracy in the party on a TV channel.

The main planks of AAP is about malfunctioning administrations under both BJP and Congress which have failed to end corruption in it's day-to-day functioning. Lack of electricity and water problem in the Delhi metropolitan area. Also it targets the sources of funding of major electoral politics being carried out with black money and manipulation of voters by doling out cash. 

http://www.aamaadmiparty.org/donation-list 
  
Black Money List Submitted to Supreme Court by Govt. - Times of India Report 

Black Money list in Court - BBC 

Congress has largely been passive in the face of large scale protests held by India Against Corruption activists. Even the opposition parties like BJP and it's supporters have cornered the then UPA government on issues like black money and money laundering through large scale protests in Delhi.

Though the current NDA government had formed a list and submitted it to the Supreme Court of India, but there is no further development in the case. 

Switzerland complained to India firstly to bring substantial evidence against the violators, and accepted to provided full evidence thereafter. Now onus is on the Government to prove that the individuals holding money in foreign accounts indeed is ill gotten wealth. 

India must show proof of fraud -Swiss Ambassador . - The Hindu 

Delhi elections will also showcase the mood of Indian electorate which in the 2014 elections voted to elect Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 282 seats, a 2/3rd majority is required to form a popular government in 543 member house.  

National Democratic Alliance - Wikipedia 

UPDATE JANUARY 23 2015 

Shanti Bhushan, eminent senior lawyer, one of the founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party and a lawyer-activist in the India Against Corruption IAC movement, came out in support of Ms Kiran Bedi, BJP CM nominee for the Delhi elections.

Mr Bhushan was of the view that Mr Kejriwal has lost direction and acting in unilateral way in day to day party functioning. He was critical of the way the party tickets has been distributed, with some allegations of tickets being sold to anti-social elements and for money.

In other developments, some AAP members disclosed that many members in the India Against Corruption movement were pro-BJP and there was no secret about it. Even the CM nominee of BJP Ms Kiran Bedi is said to have dissuaded Mr Kejriwal to go soft on BJP policies and target Congress for corruption and other issues.

The acceptance of this fact, seem to have backfired against the AAP itself as it is trying to portray Ms Bedi as pro-BJP since Anna Hazare movement and it is disclosing the same now.

Congress CM nominee Mr Ajay Maken has now demanded a full disclosure by the AAP as well as BJP CM nominee Ms Bedi, to disclose whether the IAC movement was carried out to marginalize Congress and was opposition driven conspiracy against it.

UPDATE 24th January 2015

So, everyone now knows that pro-BJP leaders were part of the Anna movement. One way or the other they may have their influence exerted on some of the functionings of the movement.

AAP in it's 49 day Government tried to solve the people's problems through novel ideas like, people meetings, which went haywire and the meetings had to be abandoned, remedies were sought. This shows that AAP is high on promises but very low on experience and delivery of services to the people.

But off late their are reports the party conducted Mohalla Sabha's, but these are only minor steps in a city which needs to be developed into a truly world class city, where the residents are the first one's to enjoy those facilities.

AAP'S Mohalla Sabha - Public meetings at the level of a simple locality. 

Some links of the 49 day rule of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi

Hindustan Times Report. AAP 49 day rule in Delhi - Achievements and Controversies. 

India exponent - The Good, Bad and Ugly of 49 day Govt, of AAP.

Another moment in the short AAP Govt. at Delhi was the organising of Janata Darbar.

Kejriwal holds Janata Darbar - Business Line. 

Here is another link in which the BJP CM nominee Ms Kiran Bedi flays AAP's failed Janata Darbar meetings in 2014.

Kiran Bedi flays Kejriwal over Janta Darbar - The Hindu. 

 Valleyz.Blog