Love comes in all sizes and movies comes in all varieties. Ayushman has got another superb script to work on. The best thing I liked about the film was the experience of 90s coming alive on the big screen. The whole set up and background giving true picture of that era where cassettes ruled the music arena and hamara Bajaj was the most common vehicle on the road. Beside the nostalgic 90s, the movie has no nonsense fast moving script and most realistic acting by the whole team. Every character played well and contributed to make it a solid entertaining movie. A must watch for all and a cherishable movie for those who have lived their teens in 90s. There are so many things worth mentioning but dont want to spoil your surprise. A must watch .. 4 star out of 5.
Oil opportunity
The crude oil price is all time low. It is a golden opportunity for an energy deficit country like ours. We must import and store excess amount of crude as buffer stock to meet future demands. This is the best investment for our forex reserves.
We import 80% of our oil and this bill is almost half of our forex reserves. With buffer storage, we can insure against a future price rise. This simple step can not only ensure energy security but also economic security.
We import 80% of our oil and this bill is almost half of our forex reserves. With buffer storage, we can insure against a future price rise. This simple step can not only ensure energy security but also economic security.
I hope some one in the government is already working on it.
Rainbow of income: Lets get rid of poverty line
Poverty line has always been a work in progress in India. It has been a issue of great debate. How to determine it without coming out with an absurd idea of a living standard has been a huge challenge to the panning brains of our country. Last year there was a huge controversy with the planning commission of India coming out with figures of about Rs. 32 per month per head which was later reduced to Rs 27. Though lot of ridicule was invited with such announcement, the reality is that the figure was per head per month for a family of five which turn out to be about Rs 4000 per month. What perplexed me that while condemning planing commission for its insensitivity towards the poor, people easily sidelined the fact that there are more than 20 crore (200 million) people in India actually living with lesser income. So who should be given priority while being careful in drawing such a line which can be a matter of life and death in terms of the facilities being provided to the poor.
Today this idea struck me that why not have a continuum of poverty or economic status instead of a single 'in or out' line. I call it the "Rainbow of income". I have deliberately kept the term poverty out of it to keep it away from all the controversy but at the same time giving the better picture of the economic condition of the people and economic equality of the country as a whole. This is the initial thought and can be developed further.
Here is the outline of the concept of this Rainbow of Income which is like the VIBGYOR of the colours of the rainbow.
LINE FAMILY INCOME PER MONTH PRIORITY
Red line Rs 5,000 or less All basic needs with focus on survival as well as dignified life
Orange line Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000 Food, Water, Health, Basic education, Employment
Yellow line Rs 10,000-Rs20,000 Heath, Housing, Education, Employment, Skill development
Green line Rs 20,000-50,000 Higher education, Income security,Health insurance
Blue line Rs 50,000-100,000 Better services at a fee
Indigo line Rs 100,000-500,000 Better investment opportunities
Violet line Rs 500,000 and above Opportunities and incentive to contribute to the society
As you can see that these can be sub-grouped in poor, middle and rich class. The last line (violet line and Indigo lines) can be called Gold lines and Silver lines also respectively and I have left the Diamond line (billionaires) which is for the super rich. The items in the priority are indicative and can be expanded with due deliberation. The idea of an exclusion list is also very good in terms of targeting the government programs. However, I believe that all services should be as universal as possible. That would not only reduce targeting cost but also give everyone a sense of equality in terms of attention from the government. It is sometimes a little demotivating for a middle class person to know that her tax is funding the welfare schemes and she is not getting anything out of it. Although she may choose not to take those benefits but excluding her from the schemes she herself is funding may sound unfair to anyone. There is seemingly a conflict between individual rights over larger good but that conflict can be transformed in to a synergistic collaboration with due diligence.
The AAPrising
The Aam Adami Party has come out as a face of the aspirations of Aam Adami as well as a reaction to deteriorating trust towards our political class. Its a simple distinction between institutional politics as it has become and instrumental politics as it should be. Politics for the sake of power is an open invitation to corruption while using politics as a tool to serve people and develop the country, no matter who is in power, is what the AAP offers.
The vicious cycle of corruption which starts from politics has to be broken. First someone 'invests' money to come in power and then misuses his power to get the 'return' on that investment. The people and the democracy remain limited only to the ballot box. The politics has become a business while it used to be one of the greatest kind of service to the people. The AAP has given people hope that they won't have to choose between the devil and the deep sea. It has also forced the existing political parties to think again that they can not go on ignoring the people. The politics is not just about winning elections but also about delivering governance to the people.
In an era where honesty and truth does not seem to be valued, this new movement has given a hopeful picture which takes us away from cynicism and actually talk about real participation of the people. Lets hope this movement will achieve it's objective. Otherwise, as Mr. Kejriwal says, it's not the question about what AAP, his party, would do, it's about what we, the people of India, would do!
Natural Disaster vs Political Disaster in Andhra
Who says disasters always cause destruction (though that is the defining characteristic) .The situation in Andhra Pradesh(Telangana + coastal Andhra + Rayalseema) suggests the reverse. The turmoil caused by strike of power sector employees resulted into black out of many cities and no talks could yield any result. And then there comes the unusual rescuer, a cyclone, just the news of whose arrival resulted in at least a temporary break in strike. For such instability, whether in the political weather or in ocean, its the people who suffer, but as they say, it happens only in India where one disaster is negating the other!!! Truly, we are a country full of ironies and shocking surprises. Lets hope that the cyclone does not cause any serious damage, but remains there to disrupt the disruption caused by the political cyclone,which is this vacillation between to protest for bifurcation or for no bifurcation!!!
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