COASTAL BUSINESS AND TRADE IN INDIA

     The food inflation has come down mainly due to low demand. There are reasons for the same to come down even further than 3 %. The demand is low due to the low level of consumption among the lower middle class and of course the poor. The consumption level peaked earlier due to the capacity of lower and upper middle classes starting to spend freely on whatever vegetables are available in the market. This capacity came from the exceptional upbeat of the economy in all fronts a few months back. The inflation then was hovering over the double digit mark.
     The upper middle class families and the rich would not have cut down their expenses on the vegetables, meat and fish. But the lower middle class would surely do if their capacity to earn as before fell sharply due to unemployment and job loss due to lower industrial productions and silent layoffs. These people are the most vulnerable both by design and due to their own peculiar nature. In fact, many families belonging to this group would go on a spending spree when the time is fortunate and show withdrawal symptoms the moment they lose their capacity to earn enough money.
      Therefore, the industrial production steadily declining and the capacity of the consumers nosediving the people of India have now before them a brief moment of low inflation or rather low food inflation. The poor on the other hand remain on the basic necessity levels as before and have no cause for any hysterics then and also now.
       However, one spot in India has still woes on the food front as the food inflation has not come down all that conspicuously. Here in Kerala due to the row over the Mulaperiyar dam things are not all that comfortable as there is less vegetable, fish, meat and poultry coming from Tamil Nadu. The unrest would in all possibility show a very high inflation during the X Mas next week.
      This shows that its perhaps high time we thought of coastline trade through steamers for placating the demands of food for the population of Kerala. This would ensure a steady coastline operation of steamers carrying food grains, vegetables, poultry to the people of this state. Security around the coastal areas are a big problem yet if there is proper regulation and licensing of private steamers or speed boats to carry on with trade in food items by procuring them from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa and even Gujarat then the food problem would be solved; Mullaperiyar or no Mullaperiyar. Patrolling and policing should be strengthened such that the trade barrier is overcome in this area.
        In any case this is a must in the future as the modern trade demands such innovative supply chain activities to go into full swing to overcome the burden of the present lethargic distribution system in the whole country. Vigilant border coast guards and vessels and the booming trade between different states would create more employment which is all for the progress of the nation on the whole.
         Remove the shackles of any artificial barriers and let such trade increase.
Galvanizing the interstate farmers to action
    The cross border farmers and even those in the interiors living in states far away from Kerala could benefit out of this. The could make use of the high food prices in Kerala compared to the other states. In fact the prices are too high for the farmers of other states to even dream of. Innovating Government of Kerala should take a step forward in this regard and make use of its distribution network to establish collection centers and depots at other states, preferably in and around the coastline where such steamers or speed boats could make way or anchored at.
     The next thing is pretty good marketing and publicity campaigns which is rather simple. All the government has to do is to place placards or sign boards that clearly gives out the entire list of vegetable, fish, meat and poultry in the language of the respective state. Next to the item will be the prevalent weekly index price list of these food items. The rest will even easier as this by itself would galvanize the local farmers into action as none would never even dream of such huge prices. This is no joke, but can cleverly be done with minimal expenses on the part of the government.
    Ambitious Supplyco offices of Kerala could be utilized to run even boats along the coastlines with refrigerated and deep-frozen food supply and storage facilities for enhancing the distribution network. Others too are likely to follow suit. BHARAT FDI TYPE RETAIL could be an immense possibility here and everywhere else in the country.
Rest of India
The same holds true for the rest of the country including those in the interiors. A little innovative planning and the country can have a great water system running and streaming through its different river tributaries which can be prove to a formidable distribution network in itself. The coastline outlets can act as a stop over and tiny harbors can bring forth the possibility of providing unique trade and transit of goods all for generation of a sound distribution system and surely for employment purposes. The year 2012 can be a year of some kind of progress in this matter. Even the boat manufacturing scene would undergo a rapid positive change. It is not as imposing as the large ship making units, but definitely the small boats manufacturing could create employment to hundreds and thousands in the country. Lethargic Tourism Industry of India can also rise up to the occasion and lend a helping hand in a matter where it has so far not shown enough drive or zest.

FLEXIBILITY FOR INDIAN NATIONAL HIGHWAYS RULES

        Of late the system of extracting money for the government built over-bridges, flyovers and road repairs on the National Highway in India has become a contentious issue. There has been numerous protests, dharnas and road blockades. This is particularly true of places where the density of the population is too high and where the locals have to move about for their daily needs and requirements one way or the other over these areas. Hence, crisscrossing the National Highway toll gates are becoming all too common for those engaging in short hops.
         Enigmatic toll gates rules are yet another thing altogether where the common folks have less of chance to speak against as the Government seems to be doing its best by modernizing the otherwise dilapidated road conditions. Now what is the problem? The main problem is that people or vehicles be it a two wheeler, a car or a truck passing through these highways have to pay toll which is a system of extracting revenue from the people who use it so as to maintain these highways.
          However, this is okay as far as the National averages are concerned where highways appear far away from the actual residential areas. Even if a major accident or massacre or mass rapes take place in such areas in many other parts of the country then it is reported only the next day or even a couple of days later. True, what else can be done with poor communication and absence of any social network. What I mean to say is that these highways are way away from the place where the population lives. In Kerala this is not so. In fact many people in good density live and work near these toll gates.Their livelihood depends on commuting frequently.
         The irony is that they have to do it several times a day. It is okay for the day as the payment to and for through the toll gates are extracted once only, but what about the next day and the next and so on. What can the government do about it? Well, it needs to think along this line for sooner or later urbanization would speed elsewhere in the country as they did in Kerala. The best suggestion would be do as follows:

• The toll gates should be able to extract the amount from long distance travelers as they did earlier. 
• The toll gates should demand something like a 'blue card' or any other card for that matter whereby the people possessing them are allowed free to pass through without any hindrance.
• These blue card ought to be sold by the respective RTO office to residents living within a defined area near to the toll gates or town by extracting only a token amount and renewable every month.
• Every state government should pass the order and come to an understanding with the Indian highway authorities. 
•  Ruling RTO offices of Thrissur, Koch and Thrivanthapuram and others could make some kind of ammendments to the existing rules by involving the National Highway authority into the process of evolving a common program that could remove the anxiety of the people who are going to be worst effected.
• Frequency electronically meters can be conceived so that vehicle numbers that are frequently passing through the toll area can be identified and some concession could be allowed. This again ought to be updated periodically so that vehicle owners do not take any undue advantage of it. 

Why the blue card you might ask? Well, nothing the blue color isn't being used anywhere and the is quite uncommon color. That's all. But it surely would help people passing the tollgates in distress.

APANA ADDHAR OR UIDAI

     The unique identification system is going on at full swing. On the whole this is what one seems to understand. Yet there is a lot of hesitation among the people in general. I know quite a lot of people who have said that you can wait for a few more years after all covering the vast country may even take decades who knows. Now this wouldn't serve the purpose of the UIDAI as this is too slow a process.
      And that is not all. A lot of people are of the opinion (rightly so) that it doesn't seem to have anything for them. Rather it serves the government purposes. Of course, there is a future program of linking passports, ration cards and other smart cards with unique identification yet on the whole this may take some time.
       A lot of people spend almost a couple of days or more in the hot sun trying out their luck to get their fingerprint and photographs. Of course, it is okay if there is something like an incentive to get enthusiastic about, but there is nothing at all for the masses.
       Watchdog AADHAR has not been a benevolent AADHAR which most people can expectantly look for. It has more to do with policing people than any benefits. Of course, there are a lot of promises, but we people have been living with it for more than half a century. I am not saying that with each UIDAI you give a milky bar for people to enjoy, but at least some incentive could go a long way in getting the masses to rush to the booths. Why not a few kilos of rice or wheat as a starter for those getting the identification number.
         In hindi it would be apt to say something like this.

Yeh kiska AADHAR hai, apane liye ya Sarkar ke liye?

Some people have started to receive the UIDAI cards and let us hope that we would get some better sometime later.

NO MORE STATEMENTS BUT POLITICAL ACTIONS NEEDED

        Nowadays we are hearing statements from our Prime Minister every other day. In fact, the rate of frequency is definitely going up. One surely wonders if the Indian economy is not all too well in spite of its previous exemplary performance. But the statements come often enough as you might have seen if you are a avid reader of the daily newspaper. I can't say whether he actually means this or whether somebody or the other prods him to make this utterances. In any case, as far as the wordings are concerned it is rich in meaning and nuances much like inspirational statements made by our freedom fighters during the independence struggle.
       Yet. they don't unfortunately inspire the citizens as they use to do during the past. During those times they had a much larger than life cause. Of course, the present ministry also has, yet with a noticeable difference and that is people now wants less of rhetoric and more of action. Already the inflation is in double digits and there is no substantial increase in development activities in the country. Further, with all sorts of scams playing around the average man is becoming more irritated. And not in least are the picture of the economy and the low expectations in general.
        The people therefore expect things to be rather good for them which ironically isn't true. What they need is a government that has more action and not just lethargy and of course statements like our PN is making.

So, I request Sri Manmohanji in this way.
Aap sirf ek he baath sochiye ki kaisa hum apne desh ko vikas ke raste pe baddaye. Ye tab hoga jab aap vikas ke raste se jara sa bhi peeche na hatte. Aap jo raste abtak chuni voh hi raste se hame age ki aur badhana chahiye thaki aam janata ke hith ho and unko rojguajari and dhande ka kaam mile.

To Sri Pranab Mukherjee I request this.
Pranab dada,
Apni hoi to mone kichu sandeh korchen ki kamun ami aye desher 'economy' aage niye choli. Akhun to bahut kichu kaaj taaj baaki roiche. Kichu barosh aage sab kichu thik thak chol chilo. Kintu akhun kichu na kichu jagaye golmal hoi gache. Aapni jodi desher bhalo chayichen tho aapna ke sabche aage 'employment' thik korte hobe. Tahale to 'maoism' ar 'terrorism' bando hobe. Thayijone Mukeherji Saar,
             Amar Sonar Bangla ebong Amader Sonar Bharat Varha tahelai hobe

Hence, making statements isn't sufficient enough for the people of the new generation.

MORE MAYAWATIS ARE IN THE WAITING

     Mayawati has done it again. She has inaugurated a park with statues of Kanshi Ram, B. R. Ambedakar and of course herself. A lot of people think this is a waste of good money and empty braggadocio and arrogance at its all time heights. But just think. What in the world brought us into such a sad state of things? What were the ideals of our forefathers before the country got independence? After independence we forgot everything or side tracked everything connected with ethics, moral and just rule. Remember how many statues and naming of parks, monuments and other structures were named after the great Mahatma and Nehru and those close to the Congress. Why wasn't there even a generous sprinkling of such names for such structures for dalits or iconic figures belonging to the scheduled chaste or tribes? Aren't the rulers who have ruled the country by whims or fancies been able to remove poverty of the land? Weren't they as arrogant as Mayawati? Perhaps, they were more stealthy in their approach and harboring conceit and crookedness of the worst kind. Surely they did just what she did only by hiding cleverly their devilish intentions. Mayawati was a trifle too showy. In fact, it is rather difficult to identify address and streets due to the plethora of them being named after a few handful of great individuals. Mahatma Gandhi's name is okay as he is the father of the nation, but the names of others could be easily distributed among other greats of our country.
     If Mayawati has displayed arrogance then the other parties are not too far behind. In any case the polity will never look around for they are so engrossed in petty politics. The real power and wealth is actually the common masses who sweat and strain and most of whom don't have passports, credit cards, vehicles or even the basic amenities. It is our polity which should change. Mayawati has taken the cue of the misdeeds by similar parties thinking that this is the best and the right way of expressing herself to gather votes.
      Will this continue for long? I have my serious doubts and something like Egypt, Libya and other countries which we are hearing about every other day, can also abrupt here. The people of almost all walks of life have become fed up with such hopeless politics and no serious efforts for improving the daily life of the people.
       So, Mayawati is right in her own way. Nobody, especially the political class, has the right to protest.

DEMOCRACY IS BECOMING SICK

     There is a news that is doing its round everywhere. And this news although has been reported in some sections of the press in India and abroad is not a front page headlines and that is what is more worrisome. The point is that front page headline grabbing news has a tendency to capture it for the moment or at the most a week and continues only when subsequent impetus is given in the form of more such headlines. When the front page is no more fun to hear you get some lines (as decaying waste) in the inside pages and then given a quick easy burial with tons of fresh news to divert your attention away.  That is how the newspapers work. Well, in the case with less attention grabbing news that are hidden in the middle pages or some indiscreet corner of the paper, there is a tendency for such news to resurface on and on again no matter even if there is no repetitive headlines or a large write up.
      Well, this news that may sound 'no news' to some people is definitely news indeed. It is about the way the world democracies are functioning. There is a lot of reason to state that the health of democracy is fading in the areas or rather countries where there is a lot of assumption that the best form of governance is the democratic way. Sadly enough these very advocates of democracy are now stressing the word in a rather lesser ways than they did in the previous years. Of course it is truly a fact that unlike dictatorships a democracy has to deliver on and on again or simply lose its charm.
        See the case with US with its dual party system all seems like some fantasy. The horrible recession with endless trouble both in the economic and employment sectors. The freedom given to the capitalists now backfiring with them not keeping up to the promise and made a mess of the mortgage crisis and now still failing to deliver in spite of the huge stimulus package.
        The same is more or less in India too with the government not delivering on promises nor aligning with the wishes of its people even for a while. If this is the way then sadly we might see the demise of democracy in places where they sing quite proudly about while the other closed regimes are vying with one another to get some kind of democracy in place.
        Well, what has exactly gone wrong with both of the largest economies of the world. For one the two party system of US has more demerits than merits and the seesaw way is not the best way perhaps. Let some of the hinges come loose then the seesaw hobbles dangerously. The other extreme is India with its innumerable parties. To shorten this article I would suggest that all democracies have a minimum of three parties in a triangular contest while keeping the maximum limit to five.

DETACHMENT EVERYWHERE BUT NOT A DROP OF ATTACHMENT ANYWHERE

        The Indian subcontinent is one of God's great discoveries in several unusual way. Sometime past in its history it detached itself from the continental plate of Africa and made a lone travel all the way to the continental plate of Asia now comprising of China and Russia. It was known as Godawana Land and for millions of years this drift and detachment was within its veins and finally when it touched down on the Asian plate it was as if in great doubt an attachment that it first formed the Tethys sea and later the great Himalayas.
        Did this detachment end there? Not quite. Ever since the time of independence we have been forming and getting used to the principle of detachment and this is particularly true to the political party which is presently running the country. The all prevailing and pervading detachment, if you may call it so, remains both in public and personal life of its citizens. The sense of that impeding gloom that comes with all sorts of attachment has become something like a smart card for the polity. It justifies itself by keeping a widening detachment to almost all things around it. Just look around the country and you will see a sense of this detachment in Telengana, Jammu and Kashmir, the North eastern states, the maoist attacks, the frequent terror attacks and the general apathy of the public system everywhere. Further, there is sense of great detachment in the implementation of proper sanitation, the spiraling inflation, the hikes of the essential items and the decreasing IIP data and the increase in unemployment. Worse still is the sense of detachment within the coalition. It has detached itself from its allies and has seen many of its allied party men in jails. Presently, it has detached itself from all public controversies within the party members themselves and has taken a denial mode ever since.
            Is that detachment of all things except for that immense attachment to the throne alone. One cannot help wondering.

TIME FOR POLITICAL CORRECTION

    There is a lot of news in the country and mainly about how we as citizens would aim to extricate ourselves from the dirty quagmire our rulers would have left us through several of their suffocating means. Existence in India, of late has become a suffocating experience more out of design than fate. Surely, the political class do outwit us every time by stating they are under duress to do any good to us however half wittingly they tried. They obviously are pressurized by naive talks of foreign governments in particular neighboring states which get their busy hands tied up for indefinite periods of time. Then comes those awful unseen hands that try to topple all their moves to bring about some form of running system that could deliver less of evil to the common man. Then not in least are those ghostly apparitions that count their success (as the political class say), due to their special might to tear apart all the good plans they have for their unwary citizens. Take the instance of the continued and recurring train tragedies in the country. It is indeed a wonder that even the best of the technologies in the land couldn't avert such tragic events or even minimize them as a simple good gesture at least. They say that public deserves the government they make. But commonest of the citizens do not anticipate such a muck of things. The wagon tragedy that struck has derailed 20 wagons in Kishangunj district of Bihar out of which 12 was full of diesel and the rest 8 full of petrol. Say aren't the oil prices in the stratosphere to call for some sane monitoring.
     Remains to be seen if the ordinary man has more woes during the coming festival season as gifts or whether there will be a political correction much like the stock market correction where the stocks (defunct ideologies here), have too much of an evaluation during their frenzied run up.

MEMORABLE ANANT PAI

    Today when I logged in to the Google I was transfixed by the illustrative piece of picture cum drawing on the front of it. Of course, as all of you are reading this blog must have instantly realized that it is the 82nd birthday of the Great Anant Pai whom we all know since our childhood days. To put it frankly I knew very little of Indian mythological tales having been brought up at Kolkatta in West Bengal where I studied till college and worked for a few years after my graduation. In fact I learned and was eventually drawn into the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata and other mythological tales through the memorable works of Anant Pai through his now world famous comic Amar Chitra Katha. The Tinkle too was my constant companion then. Eventually, leaving Kolkatta and hunting for jobs at Chennai and Bangalore or rather Bangalaru, I would still try to get hold of a few copies of Amar Chitra Katha from my colleagues or friends or buy them from any local shop.
     These creations of Anant Pai needless to say influenced my perception of my country about its vividness and history all throughout my life. Later on I went on to read and enjoy the great cartoons of R. K. Laxaman, Sudhir Dar, Shankar and Kutty and so on and felt the Indian touch of the realities around us in a way not quite easy enough for the Western mindset to understand. Raja Rao, R.K. Narayanan, Khuswant Singh were trend setters of the Indian fiction and were followed by the present writers who have discovered the art of writing in English with generous sprinkling of the Indian way of life in each of their fiction.
      LET US HOPE THAT MORE PEOPLE FOLLOW THE FOOTSTEPS OF ANANT PAI  TO MAKE OUR WORLD OF READING AND ENTERTAINMENT AN EXHILARATING EXPERIENCE.

MISHAP CAUSED BY HUMAN ERROR

    It is human error that has caused the train tragedy at Tamil Nadu. It is better to name the whole state than particular area for if the things continue to be like this then there wouldn't be much space left for writing about the train tragedies after having duly noted the places where they have occurred. At least you can count the states in India which wouldn't at least feel numerous even though there are trends of Telengana issues and the like that would likely add to the number of states the Indian Union has.
      Now coming to the human error part it has been enlightened by the authorities and promptly reported by the newspapers that it is obviously a human error. Thank God! I was on the verge of writing that the mishap must have been caused by an ET.
       True, the cause of error is undoubtedly a human error. Yet the problem remains whom can we actually blame. We cannot surely blame the Railway Minister for the post has assumed a state of ambiguity since Mamata was at the helm. We surely cannot blame the railway authorities after all they weren't the ones who were driving the train. We cannot for sure blame the rules for the Indian Railway System like our democracy has so much of it that you can get in and wriggle out of it with pleasure. So who to blame. The train driver of course and his kith and kin for not teaching him proper manners and code of conduct.
       This now goes on record that when the next train mishap occurs we can blame the driver and none at the top.

HOCKEY STICKS AND SMEAR STICKS

          It is all over the media at the way our very own Indian Hockey Team was humiliated by a pittance of 25,000 rupees. Later of course, due to the ensuing hue and cry they are going to be handed over 25 lac of rupees. But that is not the issue here. The big issue is that how our political class treats our high performing players especially in the less glamorous sports. To tell the truth the 25,000 rupees was simply a spit on the very face of the enthusiastic players and then later on as if some thing ought to be done to condone off the insult due to huge publicity the incident received a clean handkerchief was offered to wipe the spit out.
           Come to think of those games which hardly ever get into news, but are there and at times contemplated upon just because they have to be tolerated. Something like those erstwhile French rulers who at their zenith of indifference have to bear upon the lesser mortals as if the whole place was contaminated. We too have our own solid examples of such indifference shown to lesser mortals of our country who are in the majority by our political class as they think they have to be tolerated for the sake of just that day of voting only. Frankly, just think of the sports and you will see certain games where a player simply goes on scoring ducks eggs and still manages to become a millionaire.
            Take the case of Kabbadi which is India's national game. During the time of naming the game perhaps the political class thought that they would have a popular poor man's game and then tolerate the sport as most of the poor Indian villagers play it and then later on relegate it into the background. Whatever titbits this sport players earns is not even worth a mention as it would obviously shame this nation. Reminds me how a politician somewhere once kissed a poor beggar child at a gathering and then went to wash his hands and face and all vigorously to keep of the imagined filth that was smeared on him. Something about the lesser sports tells its own sordid tale quite vividly in the Indian landscape. Are we sporting enough? Well, I surely have my doubts. Don't you too?

POOR'S DREAMS SHATTERING AWAY

     It has been reported in the New Indian Express dated 14th September, 2011 page 15 that the inflation affects the poor more than the rich people in India. Apart from the statistics that has been provided this is not news as we Indians have tried our best to live with inflation since a long time. The problem with the poor people is that they tend to avoid all the good food which they consumed during the non inflationary periods. However, with the economy on fast track especially for India which like other emerging economies this has become quite serious issue. This is more so with the weak IIP data that has in fact made the burden even more cumbersome as there will be unemployment and labor layoffs which is likely to exacerbate the difficulties of the poor man.
     Now with recession being experienced by US and other European countries this pain in the poor man's budget is going to remain for quite a long time. Sadly, our political class have not only goofed up the country's distribution network, but even all the projects that have been planned so far have remained only in the planning stage. Well then what else can a poor Indian do in such times. Call the Almighty to do his best.
     
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