Impressive, no doubts whatsoever…

2009 elections undoubtedly is about emergence of Rahul Gandhi. It is reiteration on values of competence and decency in political life extolled by none other than Manmohan Singh. However there shouldn’t be any doubt on role played by young Gandhi. He must take responsibility. 

This blogger is happy that NDA has not done that badly and remains an effective opposition. Clearly extreme views and actions make people uncomfortable and insecure. They are looking for secure and peaceful life. Fundamentalists of any kind have no space, whether it is religion or market. How congress negotiates minority fundamentalism will be keenly watched as also in the name of development how exploitative system is unleashed for the benefit of few. Equally true how BJP negotiates majority fundamentalism in the next few days, a party cornered can give more voice to vicious elements. Clearly five years from now NDA, or the extreme right Hindu groups, could come back with renewed vigor if mistakes of past are repeated. BJP’s spectacular growth in last few decades need be noted, and how it was able to attract vote has been studied by many scholars. So when Sonia Gandhi says that “people make right choice” the choices of last few decades needn’t be forgotten and shouldn't be taken for granted. Indian voters as also common people in common situation don’t make choices which are disruptive -that is basic nature of Indian society. Hardships of daily life are more than enough. It is some vested interest who generally creates problems.

This blogger expresses grave concern over extreme forms of secularism that is being attempted in recent times. This reactionary approach is dangerous and divisive. Since it works on emboldening the fundamentalists, and remains a threat in future. This is a western construct, an understanding that is alien to us. Also to posit that the election verdict is above religion and caste is quite illusionary as you will gather from the factors that decide the choice of candidates in most (not all but most) seats. Azharuddin wouldn’t have contested from Moradabad if he was Govind Sharma!! Winnability of the candidate has religion and caste as major criteria. Democracy has not percolated, nor democratic values cherished. Primitive society will take time for humanistic values and civic sense and responsibilities to percolate. People are trapped, and are deviously kept trapped. Even those who say they are against caste and communal come from certain strata of society and influence, so it is easy to take egalitarian position for gain and do nothing else to dismantle regressive values. 

Of course Manmohan Singh is an established and scholarly economist with incredible qualifications. But this blogger remains a skeptic of GDP driven macro economic growth as also market pleasing short term measures. I say this as a man on the street- also referred to as common man- with not much understanding on economics nor has any qualifications to show. But seems to have an intuitional understanding that GDP driven growth is not suitable indicator of growth (more than a decade back I was so frustrated hearing GDP every time that I wrote a poem “GDP and bhelpuri”!!. I have started a “poems blog”-go to link. You can read this poem there).

This blogger is grievously concerned about the Left parties. They are effective opposition, and a weakened left is bad for the country. Clearly the Left have themselves to blame. The writings were on the wall for anyone to read. Left parties have a very significant role to play. The elite in left seem to be keen on changing with time. But this changing with time shouldn’t be for convenience or connivance. Market driven growth definitely has some serious shortcomings and this is where Left has to play its role. Left cannot take China as a model since there is no democracy in China. It is a vicious form of coterie driven capitalism that is happening in China, serious repercussions of these socio-cultural unchecked growth will be felt in future.

The Singur lessons: this blogger doesn’t expect Budhadeb Bhattacharya to resign. Threaded types are sturdier breed and when you are a commie the shame is on bourgeoisie. The spin is admirable comrade. Jai ho!! (Incidentally the ad blitz jai ho was regrettable, I gather they discontinued it. It is trivializing common people by using movie song. It is a shame, it was like India shining, but then BJP was worst by decisive crap as ad. These things make mockery of issues. They might influence few thousands in cities but majority only cringe)

The National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) sometime back found that 40% of farmers expressed their desire to opt out agriculture if there is another option open to them. Also note younger generations are hardly keen on farming in rural India. Many years back this blogger interacted with this section and found unpredictability in agriculture is one major factor, government jobs are preferred for this very reason. I wrote a short story many years back on this theme (not a great one but you can try it at my short story blog). But fertile land shouldn’t be allowed to be used for industrial purpose that will threaten food security nor can the land be forcefully acquired by the government. There is a need for rules on allocating industrial land in non agricultural belt only. Also modernization of agriculture and innovations in farming is need of the hour. There is an urgent need for policy framework and technological and infrastructure support to increase productivity in small and marginal farmers. Further steps need be taken to generate employment in non farm that is integrated to post harvest technology. A symbiotic relation between industry and agriculture is needed. The National Commission on Farmers (chaired by MS Swaminathan 2004-06) framed National Policy for Farmers (tabled in parliament 2007) calls for a paradigm shift from purely tonnage based approach to agriculture development to an approach that takes into account the socio-economic well being of the farm families.

its UPA all the way!!!

Never seen a free tiger…

This blogger has been to most of the wild life sanctuaries in this country but has never seen tigers in wild. Recently there have been reports of further dwindling of tiger population making it difficult to see this elusive animal. Seeing these majestic animals in zoo is saddening, they look so defeated (at least Bannerghatta Park provides enough space from them to roam. I recommend this to anyone visiting Bangalore. They have done fairly good job. At least in this safari you are assured to see some tigers unlike tiger reserves- in particular Corbett). About a decade back I suddenly start making lots of money so was adamant about seeing a tiger in wild. Spend a fortune but hard luck (this pic of blogger taken a decade back at one of the w

ildlife sanctuary. Clearly it is not recommended to get out of vehicle in wild. But then when you are younger you tend to be easily stupid, not to mention equally enlightening company!!. In retrospect I think this blogger should have been punished. Any violation of rules in wildlife sanctuary should be dealt seriously. It is dangerous and shouldn’t be encouraged. Most wild life sanctuaries now have safer vehicles). Recently the standards of zoo keeping have also improved a lot.

TV Channels that show wildlife programs are spectacular to say the least. They bring out such spectacular footage that you cannot see in your lifetime in real life. Some of these programs needs months of hard work. Wildlife filming is quite under rated; it needs lots of deft handling. This blogger also had the opportunity to attend documentary festivals on wildlife.

What a show !!

This blogger is ecstatic about performance of girls in Civil service exams. I always thought bureaucracy needs more representation of women, and yes I strongly support reservation for women in bureaucracy (definitely not in parliament it is dangerous and some manipulative people can easily usurp the benefits. Exams are about merit/competence and not manipulations and squatting the power centers). I recall there were some very motivated girls at Maharajas College study circle, some even came to Delhi but dropped out as they found food, weather and other problems related to staying tough to handle.

Bureaucracy is an agency that interacts directly with public and women in authority can be significant in patriarchal society. I recall being very concerned about gender insensitivity in Police force (immediate reason was some of the cases of rape victims and the way they were handled). I thought their should be a member in the interview panel in the selection process to check the gender issues (as also corruption) to the higher level of bureaucracy. Infact one of the first things I did on reaching Delhi was to go to NCW. I recall Mohini Giri was the chairperson, didn’t knew she would be having IAS officer as secretary. He listened to whatever I had to say, wasn’t enthusiastic. That’s about it. I liked those dabhas at ITO. Rajma-Chawal for 10Rs was value for money. It can go wrong one in five that is a good strike rate!!

Needed professional audience …

Every now and then we come across famous (and wannabes) playing professional. They tell us that they are being professional and so on. Professional in its positive connotation is a very significant understanding but what we see in popular medium is selfish and crude behavior to make money. Professionalism is a term that is being used to hoodwink common people. Another interesting fact here is the edifice of professionalism is based on naivety of people. It is time that audiences also turn professional.

Audience should resist buying any product that is promoted by celebrities since they have nothing to do with the product except some fast money. Frankly no ads ever tell anything about any product. So never get influenced by nor take any decision on how to spend your hard earned money while watching these nonsense. It is shocking that edifice of capitalism seems to be standing to a large extend on these superficialities. They spend billions of rupees on these. It is amazing. Funny part here is the moment audience turn professional, the so called professional will find it difficult to survive. They are working on the gullibility of people. India with huge population is an easy target.

This blogger thinks it is the younger audience who get easily influenced, one reason why market is upbeat about youth. Consumerist culture is as much a threat, than probably communalism. Why so much money is paid to players in IPL (or European football leagues and so on) has more to do with these factors. Why Indian premier league is worth billions of rupees than srilankan cricket league could ever be (this tiny war torn nations performance in world cup is substantial)?. It is because India has more population. So it is a mean to attract companies, who pay huge amount of money for ads spot. Now this huge amount of money with profits they intend to get back as people will buy their product as they see ads during the matches!. It is astounding the confidence on naivety of people. Clearly it seems to be working (or it is about converting black money!!. Quite likely that one) otherwise they wouldn’t be investing so much money. This blogger is quite a professional when it comes to buying and yes I always go for value for money, even if the brand is not well known. This “well known” or brand building is another ruse. What has “well known” to do with performance or value for money?. It is a created construct. Audience should look at the price and what it offers and so on before taking any decisions, brands should be coincidence if ever. If they can be professional so can you be. After all it is your money.

Kolkata Knight Riders are incompetent bunch (pisaddi team) but their brand value is highest and are making more money!!. You study this very case and you know what this blogger is talking about. No substance just hype.

Talking about IPL, this blogger did catch up with few matches. It is quite fun to watch, where else can you watch Tendulkar and Jayasuria face Bret Lee while Sangakara keeps and Yuvraj captains!!. They award the guy who hits maximum sixes. Great. But what about the bowler with maximum dot balls?. That too is great achievement considering the format of the game. On a funnier note how about awarding some money to the commentator who says “that is an important wicket” maximum number of times!!

Post script: yesterday I was catching up news (between the matches) in BBC and they were reporting on Tamil Nadu as part of election scene. They got it wrong on Tamils and gold jewelry. Tamilians (except probably the elite sections) are not obsessive about gold like Keralites. Kerala is a sick society in many ways, market has only accentuated it. Gold as investment for bad times is an ancient practice. Since gold doesn’t loose its value and can be pawned easily (I too had a gold ring. I left it, was insistent on no inheritance). But valuing woman through gold and implication of dowry is not insignificant, it is definitely sexiest and regressive however one may try to add gloss. It is a social deviance and a problem that the younger generations are being co opted. Market media by its very nature is incapable to handle such subtleties, nor are they expected to. And yes it is billion rupee business so better join them!!.

Hey Ram: I saw dear Ram in the same very news clip. Yes the same Ram who runs a small family shop down south. Why BBC or for that matter any Britisher will get views from Ram is more historical than contemporary. I leave it there.
Mr.Ram incidentally was in another news channel recently enlightening us on Rahul Gandhi (his verdict is: not impressed). And yes he has few things to say on dynasty politics too. He says the issue “is nuanced” and that “they shouldn’t block others”. Mr. Ram running a family business owes more to his papa, so clearly it is quite “nuanced”. It is easy to understand/predict these people when you put the selfish perspective (I need to thank turd here, even at sixty she can be a lesson). Yes he is concerned being blocked. Some time back he gave elaborate report on his daughter clearing some god damn exam in US!!. Baap ka pyaar. No I didn’t read (I stopped his nonsense few years back. Not worth the three rupees. My verdict: Not impressed dear Ram. I got it from Sebastian Paul’s program on weekly analysis of news paper. Paul incidentally is also a MP, he sometimes is biased -towards Commies- but mostly makes lots of sense, haven’t watched for a long time is he still there?). Dear Ram ever came across this word: HYPOCRITE. I don’t blame him he is doing what is expected in the contemporary world we live in. Poor fellow is running his small shop (increasingly dwindling…nobody is complaining. His downfall is more about increasing insignificance of machiavellian brahminical class in power structure, aren’t we grateful). It has to be nuanced since in a city where thousands of people live in slums and unhygienic conditions he has inherited acres of property in prime location. It has to be nuanced dear me.

Manners are important but unnecessary, undue and repeated stress on that is classiest. Ever noticed some who keep repeating ‘sorry’ ‘excuse me’ more than usual, it is an affliction.

Talking about news analysis program on TV, I have a funny incident to relate. Many years back there used to be patra vishleshnam program (I guess in DD) by one Pillai (not able to recall his name he was quite respected figure). He quoted one Malayalam newspaper that copied the news from Indian express, in the process changed it into juicy stuff. Indian express ran a story titled “Soldier ran amok. Kills colleagues”. The Malayalam version was “Ram amokan chased and killed six soldier”!!!!!!. It is easy to create news!!.

The great Tamil civilization…

This blogger expresses serious concern on the plight of Srilankan tamils caught in the crossfire. It is sad that terrorist group LTTE has become rallying point for some tamilians, as also selfish leaders. It is trivializing Tamils. It is an insult on Tamil culture. It is important to put things in perspective. Tamil is the cradle of Dravidian culture. It is what defines the entire south part of Indian subcontinent. The word Dravida is considered to be distortion of Tamizha. Tamilians are mentioned from 350BC but their roots can be traced much before. There is language in Baluchistan (now Pakistan) that is Dravidian (Brahui) indicating the probability of Indus Valley civilization being Dravidian who were pushed into peninsula by invading Aryans. The highly advanced Indus people are considered as proto-Dravidians or ancestors of Tamils. Tamil is one of the oldest living languages in the world (Malayalam was born out of Tamil during 13^th century). Some time back I saw in TV (I guess it was Discovery) wherein they tried to trace the path of early humans from Africa. The blood sample they tested to get the “x factor” that linked to early human migrations was found in a Tamilian.

Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest works found show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Tamil history is split into three periods; prehistoric, classical (Sangam period) and medieval It is the Sangam era that is considered golden period because of its profusion of culture activities. Another significant aspect was that the contribution was from all walks of life, the society was relatively egalitarian. Most works from sangam era is lost (Tolkappiyam is earliest and significant work on grammar that survived). It need also be noted that the tamilians of sangam era were very much influenced by early Buddhism (Kalabhras) and Jainism.

The best known and respected poet from this period is saint Thiruvalluvar (the statue at Kanyakumari), his book Thirukkural is very popular, and is quoted quite often. The book is a comprehensive manual on ethics, polity and love. Cilappatikaram (by Ilango Adigal) is an outstanding work of literature from this period.

By the medieval period, the Tamilians (Chola kingdom) had established a powerful empire that stretched from the Maldives through much of South East Asia, encompassing the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Thailand and Myanmar. This was also the period of prosperity and spectacular temples were build, the unique Dravidian temple structure and sculpture, art evolved during this period. This blog is not enough and will definitely not be able to encompass the achievements of tamilians during this period, it was height of Tamil creative genius (as also earlier contributions of Pallavas and Pandyas).

One of the great Tamil poets of freedom struggle was Subramanya Bharathi, his works are still very popular for their progressive themes (I recall being taught songs from different languages in school during singing classes that was meant for national integration and Bharathi’s odi vilayadu papaa was quite popular).

These lines from Thirrukural (Thiruvalluvar) “What pleasure it is to human beings everywhere when their children possess knowledge surpassing their own!”. So what has LTTE done to the Tamil children in Sri Lanka in last many decades except teaching hate and training them to kill? There is a lost generation growing up…

Post script: I found these lines by Subramanya Bharathi that I thought was incredible."He who writes poetry is not a poet. He whose poetry has become his life, and who has made his life his poetry - it is he who is a poet.".

A request for declaring May 7th as Poetry day…

Today that is May 7^th is the birthday of great man Rabindranath Tagore (May 7 1861 - August 7 1941). Tagore was an institution in himself. This blogger has read almost all work of Tagore and consider him a tremendous influence. His essays have been particularly elemental on me (his writings on kabir is must read, another person who understood kabir was Osho). Terrific guy. Many countries around the world select poet laureate for the year, it is an amazing idea. This blogger believes that May 7^th should be declared as poetry day and events related to poetry and poets held across schools and colleges.

I think very few who have not read these inspiring lines
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Is there anything called Dynasty politics?

One gets to hear a lot about dynasty politics these days, being election season I guess. I find these discussions amusing to say the least. If the person gets elected in the elections, then where is dynasty or family? It is the people who are deciding. If you look around there are many politicians who are because of their family. What is wrong in that? The politician should be competent and responsible, and if the people think that way they elect them to represent them. Period.

Taking the specific case of Gandhi family, I guess it is more of legacy. And yes a person like Rahul Gandhi faces tremendous pressure that most of us cannot even imagine. Don’t know whether children of high profile politicians like Gandhis or Kennedys or Bhuttos ever had any normal life. In a sense it is tragic. If they are able to negotiate these pressures and are able to take responsibilities then it is admirable.

If media or others have criticism on dynasty politics then its time they do introspection. Agreed that political background gives them upper hand in this career but then who among here is not because of family background or influence?. Competitive jobs are meant for middle and lower middle class. Subjective jobs for suckers and manipulators. Live and let live!!

Why nobody talks about dynasty business (including business of entertainment)?. The whole mumbo jumbo about merit is hollow…since family and influence plays a very significant role. Anything to do with inheritance should be corruption if you look at it in a stricter sense. The reason why caste politics exist has also to do with consolidation through filial/ social bonding what they lack through inheritance. Any guesses why land reforms was never a priority in 1950s (while they were high on Bhoodhan…kind of voluntary patronizing) that should have been the first step towards equitable society.

Why is inheritance not taxed?. That should be the first step towards meritorious society. They put 10% tax on my earning then what I inherit should be taxed 90%. That is merit. If my parents are rich people then where is merit when I inherit the property?. Extending the same logic I can easily conclude that top 5% (also referred to as elite) have nothing to do with merit or competence. Millions of youngsters from elite section in this country have nothing to do with merit, they just inherit the comfort and influence, even if they take risk they have fall back options and rarely face much difficulties. It is the story of every city and every village in this country. The competition is on degree of comfort and greed. It also about mean gene, progenies will be promoted. This blogger has nothing against it but where is merit?

Some very smart IT people have been successful in recent times on their own merit, but what about people who may not have market friendly skills?. So before anyone start to take high moral ground on dynastic politicians, try shut up and do introspection. People staying in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones is an old saying in English. A Kalam, a Narayanamurthy, a Rajnikanth, a Rehman (taking examples from popular contexts) are very few examples from highly successful people who rose on pure merit. In a nation of billion these are very few people whom we admire is a statement on the society. But these examples also hide some seriously incompetent system of positioning and incidental gaining. Incidentally did you note most of these examples are from south India, clearly north part of the country is still feudal. It is the same bunch that is high on merit. Aha…

What was UN satellite doing when this was happening?…

What was UN satellite doing when Israel attack Palestine?. Why wasn’t UN satellite active when US/ Britain launched massive aggression and pounded sovereign state of Iraq ?. Very strange. Very strange indeed.

This blogger appreciates the role taken by UN in Sri Lanka in providing details of atrocities in war zones, in particular on civilians. Any attack on hapless civilians need be condemned.

It need be noted that what is happening in Sri Lanka is culmination of long battle against terrorist group that claims to represent Tamil minority wherein in reality they have been a extremely violent and have even eliminated moderate Tamil leaders over the decades. While what happened in Iraq and Palestine is attack on a country. Sri Lanka is trying to bring peace in its country while US/Britain and Israel have encouraged violence by attacking and bombarding cities. So why is UN so keen on Sri Lanka and not on what happened in Baghdad or Palestine?.

To understand this we might have to think in terms of who stands to gain from what. If Sri Lanka is peaceful then what happens to arms dealers, where is the billion dollar profit? Whereas attacks on Iraq and Palestine will initiate more attacks, this will help arms dealers. Aha.

Clearly in last few years arms dealers in war zones of Iraq has made huge profit. When UN plays into the hands of powerful nations it is actually playing into the hands of interest groups. It is win-win for billion dollar arms industry if civil war is prolonged. Surely Sri Lanka is a golden goose.

The shame is on UN

Here is a nation that has been fighting a vicious form of terrorism for last many decades. Here is a nation whose hundreds of political leaders have been assassinated. Here is nation that is taken on ransom. So finally when they are able to have a control over the situation albeit with no other option but violent actions the UN plays foul. Yes it is important for the world to know what is happening on the ground. But understand when you are fighting terrorists who blow themselves up who even forcefully recruit children, who use civilians as shield it is not easy. This blogger commends and supports the actions of Sri Lankan government and expects urgent humanitarian measures taken as also integration of tamilians into mainstream.

The satellite pictures released by UN are questioned more on the intent than on matter. One would be more concerned about US/British actions in Iraq in recent past and correct me if I am wrong this blogger didn’t see much proactiveness from UN. When it comes to powerful western countries the UN tends to play second fiddle. So what we got from Iraq was some smart US/Britain friendly embedded journalism, bootlickers.

UN seems to be suffering from colonial mindset. This blogger expects UN to be more balanced in its intent in future, and avoid playing patronizing role on the behalf of western powers. To start with how about satellite pictures of western arms dealers who gain enormously from these wars. A peaceful Sri Lanka is clearly a non profitable venture.

Post script: incidentally this blogger has not seen any actions (or even comments) by UN or its agencies regarding tax havens or black money in western banks-in particular banks in Switzerland.

So there is a new disease that is doing the round around the world called swine flue. It seems to have originated in Mexico. It has spread to Asia the latest being Korea. India is safe at this point. But then does it really matters to Indians?!!. We are having so many communicable diseases at our midst. And this blogger has been staying in the most congested (and nosiest) places. And moving around unhygienic surroundings, yesterday only this fellow coughed and sneezed on me, don’t know whether to blame him since he may not be aware about basic hygiene measure like covering mouth and so on (but yes consider myself fortunate to have sturdier immune system). Everyday I see atleast one funeral procession around where I stay (and they have one more reason to make noise!!). People keep dying of all kind diseases swine flue is not entirely unwelcomed!!!.

Swiss bank UBS refuses US on stolen money...

This i took from the BBC news, few hours back. If Switzerland doesn't rein in its banks then there is no reason why it shouldn't be declared a rogue nation. Here i copy the news as reported in BBC :

Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, has asked a US court not to go ahead with a tax case involving more than 50,000 US customers with Swiss accounts.

UBS told a federal court in Florida it would violate Swiss laws on banking secrecy if it provided the information on its clients. The US suspects 52,000 Americans of using UBS accounts to hide almost $15bn of assets and unpaid taxes. Switzerland only recently signed up to global rules on bank data sharing. It decided in March to ease banking secrecy and fully adopt accepted tax standards. The government agreed to begin negotiations with the US and Japan on tax co-operation.

Standing firm

Correspondents say the US case involving UBS is a sign it is stepping up its campaign against tax evasion - and directly challenging the tradition of Swiss banking secrecy.The Internal Revenue Service, which administers tax in the US, has taken out a civil suit to force UBS to reveal the identities of 52,000 American customers suspected of holding accounts totalling $14.8bn. However, the bank has now told the court that it cannot hand over the information without violating Swiss law. UBS says no specific evidence has been presented against its clients, meaning it is unable to waive bank secrecy rules.

"Switzerland's laws prohibit the release of confidential information to foreign governments when the request has not been made through authorised inter-governmental channels," the country's government said.

"If the court were to order UBS to produce evidence from Switzerland, and backed that order with coercive powers, the court would be substituting its own authority for that of the competent Swiss authorities, and therefore would violate Swiss sovereignty and international law," it added.

Earlier this year, UBS did cave in to US demands in a separate case involving about 300 customers. The bank agreed to pay more than $700m in an out of court settlement. US and Swiss officials have begun negotiations on a new tax treaty that Washington hopes will help it track tax evaders.

Swiss officials, who are also under pressure from the European Union, say it could take until the end of the year to reach an agreement.

The revered and traditional Swiss art of living on stolen money…

Swiss bank has a very long and illustrated history of living on people’s misery. This blogger sometime back wrote about trillion dollar black money in Swiss bank. This pint size nation (could be one-tenth the size of Indian state of Rajasthan) has caused serious havoc on nations across the world in last hundred years, though it claims to have anti-money laundering regulations. Frankly Swiss banks are only one major cog in what is referred to as tax havens (billions of dollars come through Mauritius-a small island nation to India as investment!!.Try figuring that one!!!). Swiss nevertheless is an important destination for parking illegal money, and the audacity to claim civilized.

Let me give an example of one of the poorest continent Africa ‘Corruption is one of the most formidable challenges to good governance, development and poverty reduction’ in Africa says 2008 Transparency International Report. According to the Africa Union (AU) around $148 billion are stolen from the continent every year. The recent Forbes’ list of most corrupt nations had 9 out of the first 16 countries coming from Africa. The list is long with names like Abacha, Mobutu, Eyadema, Lansana Conte, Obiang Nguema, Omar Bongo, Mubarak and Arap Moi. I am here taking the first mentioned name Abacha and try to examine how he worked. This will be a case study for us to understand this continent and in the sense the whole world.

Sani Abacha was a dictator of one of the oil rich country in African subcontinent: Nigeria (from 1993-1998). In this very short period he went in for massive loot of the country not only that he commited seriuos human right violations and abuses, well known case includes the hanging activist Ken Saro-Wiwa (who opposed the exploitation of Nigerian land by multinational oil companies); Abiola and Olusegun Obasanjo (who later became President) were jailed for treason, and Wole Soyinka charged in absentia with treason and so on. Abacha was listed as the world's fourth most corrupt leader in recent history by Transparency International in 2004. Post-Abacha government traced $4 billion USD in foreign assets of Abacha, his family and their representatives. $600 million was discovered after high-profile legal action was launched to seize hundreds of millions of dollars of Abacha assets held in Switzerland (in UBS). Nigeria later reached a deal with Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein on the restitution of more than one billion dollars embezzled by the Abacha family and deposited in European banks. In 2005 Switzerland agreed to return Nigeria some $458 million siphoned into Swiss bank accounts by General Abacha. Swiss banks have so far returned $200 million of the $700 million in deposits from Nigeria. Incidentally the deal also gives the Abacha family freedom from prosecution in matters related to the looted funds. Such considerations for murderers and looters. It is amazing.

Few years earlier the Federal Banking Commission in Switzerland had condemned six banks, including Credit Suisse (it is the same bank which posted profit recently and where UBS is transferring its money), for ignoring money-laundering rules when they handled funds embezzled by the Abacha clan. But its investigation at the time did not find flaws or wrongdoing at UBS (any guesses why?!!).

It need also be noted that as an affect of G20, the Government of Switzerland (on 16th April, 2009) said that it would be willing to release the $150 million Halliburton bribe money (that is another story!!) trapped in Swiss bank accounts if Nigeria formally requests for assistance.

I also read in the Net that few weeks back Swiss Mission in Nairobi reported that it was willing to cooperate with the Kenya in unraveling the scam in which about Sh60 billion was stolen between 1997 and 2004 from public coffers through payment fictitious security contracts (Other countries where Kenya’s ill-gotten wealth is hidden include United Kingdom, US, South Africa, Namibia, Switzerland and Australia). This because of the decisions taken after G20.

The amazing story of how Swiss helped the Nazis… Swiss collusion with the Nazis in arms production (Switzerland exported almost four times more to Germany and Italy than to the Allies). is well known Swiss played a much greater role in the rise of Nazi Germany than previously recognized. War materiel produced in Switzerland for Germany, was not paid by the Germans, but by the Swiss government to Swiss businesses -a credit of more than one billion was granted to Germany in 1940s. Under the guise of neutrality, the Swiss conspired with the Germans (Swiss neutrality was a myth-it really was about licking from both camps). Even during First World War Swiss played underhand (also referred to as The Grimm-Hoffmann Affair).

Switzerland profited enormously as a nation by allowing German businessmen to travel in and out of the country without interference and by helping the Nazi regime convert gold stolen from Jews and from the banks of conquered nations into convertible funds Germany acquired hard currency in Switzerland in exchange for looted gold, some of which was literally pulled from the teeth of their victims. Switzerland's border police turned fleeing Jews away and into the hands of the Gestapo. Between 30 and 40 thousand denied entry, majority of them ended at the death camps. Interestingly it was Switzerland which stamped the letter J on Jewish German passports and not Nazis (as I was going through Net to get pic of concentration camp to post in this blog…I nearly broke down).

A report by the Historical Commission studying Switzerland's conduct during World War II paints a blacker picture of Switzerland's links with the Nazi's than previously thought. The report by the Bergier commission says 76% of Nazi gold transactions went through Switzerland and the volume of trade between Swiss private banks and war-time Germany was at least three times higher than earlier estimates indicated. The report says Swiss commercial banks bought $61.2m worth of gold during the Nazi era, the current value would be more than $700m. The commission says the Swiss National Bank, SNB, acquired $389.2m, worth more than $4bn at today's prices. The SNB had previously admitted to buying 1.2bn Swiss francs worth of gold.

The Bergier commission also accuses the Nazis of stealing $146m in gold from holocaust victims, including at least $2.5m seized by the SS from inmates of Auschwitz and other death camps in eastern Europe. Nazi Germany secretly shipped a ton of gold coins to its diplomatic mission in Switzerland in the final days of World War II. Nazis loot from their victims in World War II is being held in Swiss bank accounts. In 1997 a concerted international campaign to shame Switzerland over the issue led to the country's famously secretive banking system opening some of its records to scrutiny. Despite these actions, international criticism of Switzerland is still very fierce and some states in the US, such as California, are boycotting Swiss banks until there is more progress on the issue of dormant accounts held by Holocaust victims.

There are also interesting examples of private companies who not only profited from the war but adapted well too. Take the example of Swiss owned Maggi -a brand of Nestle (yes the one that produces nodules around the world, specifically targeting children). Maggi occupied half the German market with soups and other seasonings during the 30's. You can't say that it had financial difficulties. But it placed Nazis in executive positions to increase its market share. It changed clients. Thus Maggi prospered and now is an international player filling up racks (pulverizing local products) in shopping mall, in the process- I am sure- advocating freedom.

Post script: Interestingly in October 2008 (I read this in the Net), Nestle mistakenly aired an advert meant for Bangladeshi TV on British TV(?!!!!!). The advert made false claims that the noodles would "help to build strong muscles and bone". The British Advertising Standards Authority said that the ad did not abide by the new EU consumer protection legislation, by which advertisers have to provide proof of health claims. They have faced criticism for double standards, adhering to standards in developed countries, but then making misleading claims in developing countries, where the legislation permits it. Maggi Noodles also contains the additives E150d and E627. E627 is partly prepared from fish, and is thus not suitable for vegetarians, in spite of the claim made on the packaging. E150d is sometimes made from maize, which is usually genetically modified.

Humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka

There is a serious humanitarian crisis emerging in Sri Lanka, lives of thousands of civilian tamilians are put at risk in the crossfire between the Army and LTTE thugs. LTTE- a terrorist organization that has caused untold misery- should heed the resolutions of UN to disarm itself and surrender. Prolonging this crisis will only lead to causing further misery to beleaguered tamilians. LTTE should be held responsible for aggravating the situation. This blogger believes that post-LTTE Sri Lankan government would take urgent measures to integrate tamilians into mainstream.

It is a terrible coincidence that elections in India and this crisis are happening at the same time. The reason why politicians in Tamil nadu are taking competitive extreme views so as to be seen as concerned about Tamils in Sri Lanka. This might go out of hand with few self-immolations (quite likely in TN). So whether Prabhakaran is captured or killed there is going to be lots of heat in TN till the election. After the election the scene shifts to Delhi and ensuing struggle to get enough numbers in the parliament…Amen to that.

Pic taken from Net

Time out for thugs in Sri Lanka

LTTE has been strangling not only Tamil people but whole of Sri Lanka for sometime now. Agreed that the movement started with some genuine concern for linguistic minorities and so on (I guess most of us are aware of these) but soon was held ransom by self serving coterie in the name of Tamil people. The recent pictures of LTTE holing up few thousand Tamils in last ditch attempt to save themselves is symbolic statement on what is plaguing this island nation. LTTE is reduced to nothing but bunch of thugs who are causing immense hardship to common people (in particular Tamils) for their power struggle. They have consistently avoided peace overtures and used these opportunities to arm themselves. The indulgent west with high moral ground help them grow militarily and diplomatically till chicken came to roost (ditto for Indians), so after 9/11 LTTE found itself with no takers, correctly so. These terrorists wouldn’t have grown so much and carried blatant attacks without support from outside powers. Few kicks on the butt and everybody seem to have got their lesson. LTTE doesn’t understand the language of peace. Sri Lankan government has taken the right steps to end the tyranny of these thugs. If LTTE has any concern for tamilians they should surrender at the earliest. Thousands of civilians are dying in the crossfire, this has to stop immediately.

Sri Lankan Tamils are facing untold misery; this blogger hopes this to end early into lasting peace. Also despite fluttering by Tamil politicians in India (Tamil nadu) for this emotive issue for votes, Tamil people have started to see the difference between LTTE and common tamilians. As the ground realities of LTTE becomes clear in coming days we will know more on what heinous crimes they have committed on Tamil people. Also Prabakaran is no Porus; he is no hero but a sucker living on the blood of common tamilians. He should be prosecuted for the crimes he has committed over the decades.

At one point this blogger was so concerned about Sri Lanka (don’t know why but it reminded me of Kerala, and I find Sinhalese culturally closer to Keralites) that I spent almost 6months reading everything I could come across on this island nation. Fiction, non fiction, poetry, movies…it was agonizing. From Indian perspective I found JN Dixit (I was aghast by his untimely death, he was a brilliant man. Once during a lecture he started singing a old Hindi song!!. He had that old world subtle charm which is so rare these days) and Anita Pratap (intrepid is the word for her). I did know few artists from Sri Lanka- some of them I found over the top, prone to anglicized sensibilities. Sri Lanka if you observe carefully is a classicist society and the problems of Sri Lanka can be traced to arrogance of this section. The main reason for Tamil problem exploding into a civil war has more to do with nature srilankan elite in the last few decades. Mahinda Rajapakse is basically an outsider, the reason why this blogger expects him to be considerate in his dealing post LTTE. Further I have great respect for Buddhist monks and yes it is expected that they too come forward in integrating Tamil populations into mainstream for long lasting peace. What Sri Lanka need at this stage is someone like Desmond Tutu otherwise LTTE will be manipulated as martyrs by vested interests and keep the divisive agenda alive for personal gains.

Post Script: This blogger at the moment is staying in a locality that has predominant Tamil population, mostly very poor. Few months back there were posters protesting the “atrocities” in Sri Lanka, now nobody is bothered-probably they too have seen the real face of LTTE through media. Most Tamilians I found are peculiarly emotional people prone to outbursts, extreme actions and charming exaggerations. It is fun traveling across Tamil Nadu and yes I am a big fan of cuisines from south part of TN.

This snap I took very close to where I stay.

Post Script of last blog...

There are some TV channels that are tremendous in understanding Nature. I think David Attenborough (the best ever, with latest technology he has gone better), Austin Steven, Steve Irwin as also Bear grylls (some situations are bit contrived but accept it the guy is amazing) are stupendous. There are many more programs showing aspect/glimpses of nature one never knew. This blogger has spent substantial time in national sanctuaries but what you get to see on TV is nothing short of incredible. Also I am able to understand some of these elite section better watching animals or is it other way I am understanding animals better by watching Indian elite!!!. For instance take this guy who can write tonnes of pages on population and so on (even awarded Nobel Prize), but produces four children. Wherein the study which he himself did shows that people of his generation (in Kerala and other places) had started to adopt family planning and had not more than two children (taking Kerala's case the population growth rate decreased from 2.33 to 1.76 in 1971-81 period, that was crucial period for Kerala's demographic shift) . He doesn’t stop blabbering about link between education and population but when it comes to himself ...aha…or have we taken Pope seriously?!!. In animal world it is referred to as mean gene!!. The alfa male humility.

plz visit the video 'Inspiring action' by Greenpeace, i got it in my mail today. Thought of sharing...go to http://www.greenpeace.org/international/getinvolved/inspiring-action?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=ShortURL&utm_campaign=inspiringaction&x.

From Kyoto to Copenhagen

On the Earth Day today I quote Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) who writes that Copenhagen agreement must meet the political requirements of all participating countries. For this to happen, clarity on four key political points is needed this year.

First, clarity is needed on ambitious, legally binding emission-reduction targets for industrialized countries. Without such targets, the international community will not take the necessary action to address climate change, and developing countries will not have confidence that industrialized countries are willing to take the lead on solving a problem that they caused.

There are some positive signals in this direction. For example, the European Union has agreed to a climate and energy package with which it will be able to reach its target of a 20% emission reduction over 1990 levels by 2020 (30% if other industrialized countries follow suit. within the United States, President Barack Obama has indicated his intention to achieve an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and to return US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Other countries, such as Russia and Japan, will announce their mid-term targets in the course of this year.

Second, clarity is essential on the extent to which major developing countries can undertake nationally appropriate mitigation actions beyond what they are already doing. For many industrialized countries, particularly the US, it will be very difficult to conclude an agreement unless their citizens see that major developing countries are also willing to engage further.

A number of developing countries, such as China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, have already developed national climate change or energy strategies that indicate the extent to which they feel that they are able, given their economic constraints, to address the issue. Many developing countries are coming forward with ideas for further nationally appropriate mitigation measures that they could take.

Third, clarity is essential on financing. The magnitude of action by developing countries will largely depend on the effective delivery of finance and clean technology through international cooperative action. We need to know how significant financial resources will be generated to help developing countries both limit the growth of their emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Some interesting ideas have been floated. For example, industrialized countries have suggested auctioning emission rights and using part of the revenue for international cooperation – something that Germany is already doing. The concept also features in the Liebermann-Warner bill, an example of draft legislation on climate change for the US. Norway has put forward a proposal to monetize a portion of industrialized countries’ emissions budgets, generating revenue for international cooperation.

Emissions trading and market-based mechanisms will continue to play a role. However, the Bali action plan addresses the need for developing countries to adopt nationally appropriate mitigation actions. Because the carbon market cannot be the sole instrument, government-to-government cooperation will be needed as well.

Finally, clarity is essential on the governance structure under the convention. If significant financial resources are to be generated for mitigation and adaptation, developing countries will want a representative say in how that money is to be allocated and spent. The governance structures have to function according to democratic principles, founded on equity.