WHERE THERE IS A SINGH!

SUNNY THOMAS

To prove one’s impotence, one doesn’t have to contest a Presidential election, as Purno Sangma did! But the real loser of the Presidential election is not Sangma but his sponsors, Jaya Jayalalithaa (which ironically means the victorious) and Naveen Patnaik (which, I think, means a new general). Shakespeare in his dramatic wisdom foresaw the vicarious defeat of Jaya and the humbling of the general without victory and asked, `What’s in a name?’

  

The Bengal tigress, Mamata Banerjee, tried to remote-control Delhi from Kolkata and did not quite succeed. But she is not a loser by any reckoning, and she lost nothing except her face. Politics is a long-drawn battle and she has many more battles to lose before she learns the right lessons and win. 

   

Will you be surprised if Congress does a hat-trick by winning 2014 not because of its performance but because of the total disarray of its ideological enemies, some of whom go out of their way to help the GOP? BJP is finished if they don’t project Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. And BJP is finished if they do. Not projecting someone is even worse. BJP is in a trap of its own making, where outsiders cannot help. Just as ambition got the better of Jaya and Mamata, it has now got the better of Modi.

Strategy comes before ambition, pals; that’s the lesson of politics. Credit must be given to Dr Manmohan Singh and his mentor Sonia Gandhi for outplaying their allies and enemies. As they say with a pinch of salt, Where there is a Manmohan Singh, there is a way (take it with a pinch of salt, if you disapprove of the blue murder)!  

Whatever Pranab Dada does, the credit always goes to Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi! Mercifully, it is happening for the last time. The greatest contribution of Sonia Gandhi to Indian politics is in putting the right people in the right place. She elevated the least likely man to the Prime Minister’s Office, and in doing so she did in effect right the wrong done to the Sikh community which happened at the beginning of her husband’s tenure following her mother-in-law’s tragic assassination. And now she has elevated the right man to the right place. It must be said that her motives are far nobler than her detractors’, and now one can expect a Dr Rajendra Prasad in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.   

   

He expressed my passions on the screen far better than I could ever imagine; he shed my tears far more dramatically than I could ever do; he flashed my smile far more romantically than I could ever do; and he broke the hearts of a million girls with my smile, and it was my smile that mesmerized them and made them swoon. The world will never know me, but they knew him as Rajesh Khanna. It was my smile, my tears and my passion, and hence my passion for him that made him a super-star, the first of its kind, you might say.    

President Obama has every right to speak, especially before the election. If he doesn’t Governor Romney will. He will turn the anger of millions of jobless Americans against Obama, and disastrous will be the consequences. To pre-empt Romney turning the American anger, Obama spoke to turn the same anger at India. `Hate India, not me’ encapsulates the spirit of Obama’s message. Intelligent Indians know that and pity the predicament of the President, who has failed to do a Franklin Roosevelt in creating jobs.

It is sad that India’s cultural heartland is degenerating into a land of goons and obscurants courtesy Akilesh Yadav. In his victory, people saw enormous potential in the youth leader. But, alas, true to his kangaroo education in the land of kangaroos, he has failed to display a national vision and character worthy of admiration – character is a rare phenomenon in politics, though. Groomed in realpolitik by his father, he would ever remain a regional satrap and a powerful chieftain, but unfit for Delhi.   

  

   

MONEY NEVER SLEEPS!

SUNNY THOMAS

I create nothing. But I own. We make rules. War, peace, famine, upheaval.  We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you are not knave enough to think that we are living in a democracy, are you buddy? It’s the free market. And you are a part of it. Stick around pal, I’ve got a lot to teach you.   

That’s Gordon Geeko, the god of the Wall Street. He may never have lived but echoes the truth of the time. Time magazine, especially! To Time, all American Presidents are achievers, whether their achievement is one of sending American troops to a foreign land in search of weapons of mass destruction and finally finding none, or pursuing a stupid economic policy that granted tax benefits to the super rich (5%) by snatching health benefits from the less privileged (70%).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel who is hated across Europe is an achiever. So are the British Premiere David Cameron and the fallen French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But Dr Manmohan Singh, who navigates the second fastest growing major economy, is an under-achiever!! Who said it? Gordon Geeko.  

To understand the enormity of Time’s misrepresentation, have a realistic look at the Indian economy. True, the growth rate in the first quarter is a mere 5.3 per cent, the slowest in nine years. The RBI has hiked the interest rates from 4.25 per cent in January 2010 to 8.5 per cent in January 2012, to check inflation. This undoubtedly led to the slowing down of the pace of investments in infrastructure and the manufacturing sector.

The worsening trade deficit because of increased consumption of oil and coal, accompanied by spiraling prices on the international market, made prudent economic management difficult. During the fiscal year ended March 2012, India did extremely well as on the export front: Shipments grew by a stellar 21 per cent to a record $322 billion. But, alas, imports, too, grew even more sharply—by 32 per cent, to $489 billion.

What irked the foreign investor is the proposal to impose a “retroactive” capital gains tax on indirect transfers of India-based assets between foreign buyers and sellers. The government’s backtracking on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail aroused their suspicion.

India has emerged as one of the world’s biggest grain producers but because of an extremely weak supply chain infrastructure, an estimated 40 per cent of the grains rot before it reaching the consumer. An open door policy for foreign direct investment in retail would help eliminate the rot, permitting higher compensation to farmers, lower prices for consumers, and an even more robust export performance.

Major global economies are nervous on a Euro Zone implosion, while India would remain the least affected. For one, India’s exports to the Continent account for only 3 percent of the country’s GDP. In fact, it would lead to a significant moderation in oil prices, which would benefit India immensely. Even a 10 per cent drop in oil prices would reduce the import bill by an amount large enough to compensate for the likely reduction in direct or indirect exports to Europe.

Every major economy—Europe, the U.S., China, Russia, Brazil—is slowing down, while even at its current pace, India retains its ranking as one of the two fastest-growing large economies in the world. India’s fundamentals remain strong. India’s rate of savings and investment (as a proportion of GDP) remains one of the highest in the world.

Indian labour is nine years younger than China’s, pointing to a lower wage inflation. Adult literacy has risen sharply during 2000-10. With the spread of 3G connectivity and inexpensive tablet computers, India should overtake China in the next 10 years.

India’s private sector remains vibrant, innovative and competitive, judging from the number of billion-dollar acquisitions made in Europe and the U.S.

Seen from foreign investor’s perspective, three things are important. First, the government should open more industries to foreign direct investment, especially in retail and aviation. Second, the government should implement a national Goods and Services Tax (GST) to replace state-level taxes. Third, the government should eliminate the uncertainty on retroactive capital gains tax.

With a slowdown in China, and economic turmoil in Europe and the U.S., this could be a golden moment for India’s economy.

THREE MEN IN A BOAT!

SUNNY THOMAS

Arun Jaitley does not relish making mistakes, unlike some of his party colleagues. His statements seldom carry any faux pas that needs clarification upon clarification. He commands respect across the country, more respect perhaps outside the party than inside the party that has failed to make the best use of his leadership qualities. Jaitley is Vajpayee in the making, acceptable to all sections of society and ideological spectrum. 

Akhilesh Yadav’s transformation from a gangster kingpin to a mature statesman overnight deserves our attention. It speaks of his enormous latent potential, and the advantage of a good education abroad and his innate adaptability to UP politics. He, too, does not make any faux pas, nor meddle in other people’s affairs. With UP in his pocket and with the right alliance, Delhi is not out of reach for the young Yadav.         

Rahul Gandhi is strikingly different from Jaitley and Yadav in that the latter two are cautious players while the former is prone to making mistakes. Yet Rahul commands more goodwill than Jiatley and Yadav put together, though the goodwill has yet to be translated into votes. On Rahul lies the onerous responsibility of keeping the hopes of his party alive, a party that is fast disappearing from many parts of India. It will take a miracle for Congress to retain a respectable margin in the next general election – an economic miracle where prices are brought down to a comfortable level for the middle class who determines their next rulers. Nor just prices but jobs for the millions who pass out of educational institutions and teaching shops, with hopes and fears. Not just jobs but sops for the poorest of the poor living in squalor and misery, who could be cannon fodder for Maoists. If Manmohan Singh skilfully fine-tunes his economics to make it middleclass-centric, Congress can hope for a hat-trick in 2014 (however dismal the chances may look now).  

The three men have one notable distinction: they defy Didification, Ammafication and Modification – the three mine traps of Indian democracy. All the three are very young, intelligent, articulate, and have a future vision. If only these three men could meet and blueprint a common vision for India 2022, it could signal a Renaissance in Indian politics. The destiny of this nation cannot be entrusted to one political party alone, however well-intentioned it may be. Thinking the impossible and creating the impossible is what good politics is all about. And the people should be constantly on their guard so that they don’t entrust their children’s future to a pack of demagogues and power-hungry wolves!   

Leander Paes is stabbed! Imagine this headline is screeched at you by your favourite anchor of your favourite television channel. You take it with a pinch of salt. No Indian in his right sense would venture to assault a star about to participate in Olympics. Then how come we hear of betrayal and back-stabbing of Leander Paes by his fellow tennis players? All we know is that Mahesh Bhupathi and Paes have not been at peace with each other, rather they were not eve on talking terms for several years but played their match together. Their animosity is their private affair but broadcast to the nation by TRP-hunting television channels. But what’s intriguing is the lack of enthusiasm of two tennis aces – Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza, one of whom refused directly and forthrightly while the other indirectly and forthrightly expressing her wrath at the All-India Tennis Association which has not even bothered to congratulate her on her recent victory but use players as pawns of its convenience

The Tennis Association deserves congratulations for upsetting four top players at one stroke! But one is reasonably certain that the reluctance of the three players has less to do with sports and more to do with their chemistry. Tennis buffs may recall how Monica Seles, at the height of her career, was stabbed after a game but escaped death almost miraculously. Fame and fortune invites not only bouquets but also knives!    

A Presidential ordinance asking Bhupathi and Mahesh to patch for Olympics would turn sports into politics. Good luck to Peas, good luck Bhupathi, Bopanna and Mirza!

Mrs Malaprop is looking for a tutor to teach her daughter geography so that she could get good marks in Maths. While sifting the grain, she got a kidney stone which she removed herself and put it into the dustbin. Her husband saw a gynecologist for his gastric problems. Her omniscient younger daughter failed in science because her thermometer went up due to fever. Even as you are reading this column, Mrs Malaprop is taking myopia to get her vision rectified!