Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Day 257


I know that I’m irregular these days in writing posts on my blog. Well I do have reason for that. I was engaged in some important engagements. Still those works aren’t complete but today I thought to write a post on the blog. Well, these days, one news is coming up on all the news channels and news papers. It’s regarding Balwant Sing Rajoana, killer of Beant Singh, former Chief Minister of Punjab. Balwant Singh killed Beant Singh on 31 August 1995. The plot of killing Beant Singh was made by Babbar Khalsa, a terrorist organisation. Beant Singh was credited for wiping the terrorism out of Punjab with super cop KPS Gill. These are the some facts which resulted in the killing of Beant Singh. Now his assassin, Balwant Singh has come in the limelight as all the political parties in Punjab except BJP are against the capital punishment awarded to Balwant Singh. He is scheduled to be hanged on March 31. Punjab’s Chief Minister, Prakash Singh Badal went to meet the President of India, Pratibha Patil to demand clemency for Balwant Singh. Suddenly, he has become the centre of the turmoil in the Punjab and a sensation in the whole country.
I’m unable to understand one thing. Why all these turmoil is happening over the death sentence over a killer? All the news channels and news papers are quoting Balwant Singh Rajoana that he doesn’t want any mercy and he is accepting the death sentence. He is waiting for 31 March. I think the political parties are trying to encase the sensitive issues like to gain the public attention and to secure the vote bank. Sometimes, I took pity on them that instead of paying attention for the development of the state and the country, these politicians are trying to divert the attention of people on these issues. 

Friday, March 23, 2012

Day 256


Today morning, I read the newspaper. The main news article which caught my attention was the roll back of the railway fares of the ordinary second class, mail/express second class and sleeper class. AC coaches were left because the majority of the general public doesn’t travels in the AC class. I don’t know what to say about this. Should I call this as the Robin Hood nature of Mamata Banerjee or should I call this as her monopoly? Sometimes, in coalition government, the power of threat to withdraw the support plays a crucial role. Same thing was done by Mamata Banerjee. Actually she is wearing a mask over her real face. She pretends to be pro common man. She pretends that she is concerned about them. But in reality she is against the development of the country and the common man. That’s why she replaced Dinesh Trivedi with Mukul Roy. Now the Railway is going to loose about some Rs 3000 crores due to the roll back of passenger’s fares. This deficit will be met by borrowing from the Finance Ministry which now will pass the burden on the common man in the form of indirect taxes. And this burden would be much more than the burden of the increased Railway fares.
I think that this is just a political game played by Mamata Banerjee to gain some popularity. The general public isn’t seeing the true picture. Let’s take an example. Suppose a person is travelling a distance of 2,500 kilometres, then with the proposed hike of 5 paise per kilometre, he would have paid Rs 125 extra. But now this Rs 125 is saved but with the increment of the excise duty from 10 percent to 12 per cent, he has to pay minimum Rs 500 extra on the consumer durables. Now which one is more costly? Rs 125 or Rs 500? I think you people are common man with common sense who can differentiate the difference. So I would like to ask a question. Would you still say that Mamata Banerjee is concerned about the common man? Or is it her political stunt only? 

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Day 255


In my last blog, I wrote about the impact of general budget on the common man. Yesterday, I was engaged in some other works which led to being absent from writing the post. Well, it’s related to the general budget. Actually, I was going through the impact of hike of the excise duty. The excise duty has been hacked from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. This means every item has become a bit more costly. If we look at consumer durables then every thing has become costlier by minimum amount of Rs 500. This is the calculation based on the least price. Suppose a consumer wants to buy a laptop worth of Rs 25,000 then the hike is Rs 500. Like wise, the extra burden can be calculated on the actual price of the laptop. Generally people buy laptops starting from Rs 30,000 and above. This is just the example of laptop. There are a series of other consumer durable items like television, washing machines, and refrigerators. The impact of the increased excise duty is on every item like gold jewellery, automobile sector and other sectors. If we look in automobile sectors then Honda Company has increased the price of its models in every category minimum by Rs 80,000.
Like I have written in my last post also that Mr Pranab Mukherjee has ignored the common man completely. He has made the budget corporate friendly. He has raised the taxes and given the subsidies and reduction in corporate taxes which will make more burdens on the common man and relaxation to the corporate bodies. If he would have thought about the common man then the scenario would have been totally reverse.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Day 254


I know that there has been a considerable gap between my last post which was on Thursday and today’s post. I was busy in a series of presentation and a test. If I talk in the language of cricket then I was playing one day series and one test match. Well jokes apart, today I want to write on the general budget which was presented by Mr Pranab Mukherjee on 16 March 2012 in Indian Parliament.
There have been various opinions on the budget for Financial Year 2012-13. Few sections are saying that it’s very nice and few sections are saying that it’s bad. Few are saying that it’s perfectly balanced and some are saying that it’s just average. I think its just average or rather I would call it to be the most underestimated budget like the previous Congress governments in the past.
The Union Budget was pre poned from its schedule time due to the elections in few states. I think Mr Mukherjee has missed a chance to do something good for the common man. This year he has totally ignored the common man. Next year, there will be elections in few more states and in 2014 it will be the general election itself. If Mr Mukherjee has considered the common man then he had got three consecutive years to present the general budget including this year’s budget to lure the common man. Indeed he has raised the income tax bar the present Rs 1,80,000 to Rs 2,00,000 for the tax exemption but that will save Rs 2000 only. And on the other hand he has raised the service tax from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. This means that the money which a common man has saved a little from the income tax and paid more on the facilities he will prevail. 
There are many more loopholes in the budget. I think it will carry on for another couple of posts in the coming days. Actually, it’s a part wise analysis. The more I’ll crack the more I’ll write. 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Day 253

Yesterday Railway budget was presented in the Parliament. Actually the railway budget and the general budget were postponed on the account of elections in UP, Uttranchal, Punjab and Goa. This year’s railway budget has seen marginal increment in the passenger fares. This increment has come after nine years. Although the increment is based on the basis of the class in which a person is travelling. The increment is like this: 2 paise increment in suburban and ordinary second class, 3 paise increment in mail/express second class, 5 paise increment in sleeper class and 10 paise increment in AC chair car, 3 tier and 1st class. 15 paise increment is there in AC 2 tier and 30 paise increment in AC 1st class. All the increment is based on the per kilometre basis.
This means if a passenger is travelling 500 kilometres then the increment in the above mentioned categories will be Rs 10, Rs 15, Rs 25, Rs 50, Rs 75, Rs 150 respectively. I have taken 500 kilometres as the base calculation standard because it’s the minimum distance a passenger has to travel to have the break journey. Although the criticism has started pouring in from Ms Mamata Banerjee for the price hike but I would like to say that Mr Dinesh Trivedi has done a good job. He has come above the party politics and has thought about the progress of the Railway. The last time when the passenger fare was increased was nine years ago.
I was wondering that two former railway ministers are criticising the fare hike. Mr Lalu Yadav and Ms Mamata Banerjee haven’t touched the passenger fare in their tenure to have their own political gain or to have the praises of the mass. But they have put the extra burden on the general public. Both of them have introduced new trains and had increased the frequencies of the trains also. Indeed, it was a nice work. But increase in the number of trains or the frequency means the running cost as the cost of fuel of the railway engine, salaries of the staff indulge in the smooth running, coach maintenance cost and various other indirect expenses involved. From where they were bringing the funds to have the smooth running of the trains? Railway requires Rs 45,000 crores for the operations of the entire organisation. Of course, they were taking the money from the Finance department as the Railway Ministers can’t deduct the pays of the railway employees. So the money which they were asking from the Finance Ministry was the taxes paid by the general public.
With this increment in the fare, the Railway is expected to earn about Rs 24,000 crores. This is about half of the money required by the Railway. I really support this price hike as the fuel cost is increasing in every six months or so. If the fare weren’t increased then it would have been tough for the Railway to have the trains running. Railway is the back bone of the Indian economy. Millions of tons of freight is been carried by the Railway daily along with the millions of passengers travelling in the trains.
So I would advice Ms Mamata Banerjee to come out of the pity politics and think about the nation. A real politician can’t do his or her vote politics at the cost of the development of the nation. If she is really concerned about the nation then she shouldn’t react abruptly like she is doing now. 

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Day 252


I know I have been irregular in writing blogs in the last week. Holi’s festive session forced me to stay away from the writing for couple of days. Now I have come back to Varanasi so now I’ll write everyday. While coming I was thinking something. Whenever I go to my home, I feel energetic and happy. I can’t describe the happiness in words which I feel while going to home. But whenever I come back to Varanasi then my mood becomes very dull and sad. I don’t feel happy or energetic while coming back. This is not the case with me only. My friends also feel the same. They said the same thing to me. In February, when I came back to home with my friends then we travelled two hour’s journey in five and half hours. We were irritated but we weren’t feeling low. But while coming back, we reached on the right time but we didn’t felt happy about that. I don’t know what to say about this feeling? I asked this question to myself but didn’t found any answer to it. Can anyone give any answer? 

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Day 251


I know these days, gaps are popping up very regular in my writing. This is due to some workload on me which has increased since my arrival at home. Yesterday, I was so tired that in night I sat to write the post. But I felt to lay down on the bed so that I can write comfortably. But don’t know when I slept and my laptop was on till the morning. Needless to say that the battery was about to extinguish.
Well, my post is about the recently concluded assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. The result was very much expected. I felt that Mayawati will go and Mulayam Singh will come in. But yesterday, Mulayam Singh nominated his son, Akhilesh Yadav to be the next Chief Minister. This is somewhat a surprise change in the rein of command. I was expecting that Mulayam Singh will meet the Governor to claim for the government formation. I think Mulayam Singh is thinking something big. May be, he wants his son to learn how to govern. Nevertheless, the main point which I want to discuss is the changing face of the Indian politics. It’s becoming the youth face of Indian politics.
Now the focus is given on the next generation. Just like Akhilesh Yadav is now going to become the next chief minister. In the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi is project as the real youth icon. But I’m good to say that Rahul’s charisma isn’t working for the Congress party. Simply having Gandhi in the surname doesn’t guarantee that you will have the power to change everything. In Congress party, Rahul Gandhi is being projected as the Prime Minister of India. Congress party has made him a star. They rely on him very much. Whenever he goes for the election campaign, the congress party doesn’t perform well. Let’s go a little back. In 2010, there was assembly election in Bihar. Rahul Gandhi did his election campaign. The Congress party was so much excited that they will form the government. But their performance was very poor. The state Congress president lost from his constituency.
Yesterday, I read the article related to the statement of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi. She said that the result has forced the party to analyse the situation. Win or loose, both the conditions need analysis. I think the time has come for the Congress party to change its style of working. Instead of depending on the dynasty, they should search for the new faces or give chance to the veterans who have got more mass support. Time has come for the Congress party to give preference to merit on dynasty. I agree that there are few states where the Congress party is in good shape. But if we analyse the central government then we will find that it’s a collation government. Congress didn’t had the full strength to form the government on its own. I would like to say that time has come for the Congress party to come out of the illusion. 

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Day 250


I know that it’s not the 250th day of my blog writing. But today I’m writing the 250th post on the blog. Well, when I started writing the blog, my intention was to write the blog daily. But somewhere in the middle, it got broken. My dreams weren’t shattered. The problem was that I wasn’t honest in writing it daily. But thanks to my friends, Mrinmoy, Rajeev, Alok and Kailash, I started writing it again. I would like to say thanks to Mrinmoy again for his support in reading the posts and giving the comments. Actually it’s his comments only which really motivated me to write daily. Actually he made this my habit of writing it daily. Now my day isn’t complete until I publish one post daily in this blog. So the credit of making my dream come true goes to only and only Mrinmoy. Today I don’t want to write on any topic. I just want to say thanks to my friends who really motivated me. Friends, once again, thanks to you people.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Day 249


Now all the seven phases are over for the UP assembly elections, all are waiting for 6 March to come. 6 March is the counting day. Now the speculations are going on as which party will form the next government? All the news channels are showing their own exit polls based on the survey done by them. If we believe the words of the Chief Election Commission of India, then all the exit polls shown on different television channels are nothing but the entertainment things which are to be shown on entertainment channels. I, do, agree with Mr S Y Quraishi.
Mr Quraishi has said the right thing. Take for example, every news channel is showing that SP will form a stable government. But there are at least dozen news channels on the national level, ignoring the local channels. Let’s find answers to few questions. How do these news channels collect the sample for exit polls? Obviously from the voter who came out of the polling booth after using their franchises. If a voter is asked the same question from a dozen respondents then obviously he will get irritated. In this condition, it’s obvious that he or she will not give the right answer. Now the second question is that what’s the surety that the respondent is giving the true answer? Is he or she telling the name of the exact party to whom he or she has casted his or her vote? I don’t think that there is any surety or any thing through which the truth can be found out.
There are many respondents who don’t reply at all. On the basis of above mentioned ways, I can conclude that there is no way to predict that which party is going to lead from which constituency. So how can these news channels predict that which party is going ahead. 

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Day 248


For the last two days, I’m writing about the crisis of Kingfisher airlines. As I was writing those posts, the service tax department under the Finance Department was busy in freezing 40 bank accounts of Kingfisher airlines. Kingfisher airlines has the 40 crore due of the service tax department. Actually the total service tax dues of Rs 70 crore. Out of which Kingfisher airlines have promised to pay Rs 20 crore by February 29. As the Kingfisher airlines is cash strapped and there is no hope of getting any fresh loan and the extension of the present loans, the airlines is unable to pay its dues to the service tax department. This is not the first time when the accounts of the Kingfisher airlines have been frozen. In December and in January also, the accounts were frozen. But that time, the airlines has paid its due over Rs 30 crore and Rs 10 crore respectively. The airlines is in such a mess that it is unable to pay it’s obligations including salaries to its staff. Over 60 pilots have resigned the airlines on the non payment of salaries to them. Due to this, the operations have been severely affected. Previously it was operating 400 flights a day. Now it has gone down to 170 flights a day. Last week, a section of engineers went on a day’s strike for the non payment of salaries. The airlines urgently need Rs 2000 crore working capital to be in the business. 

Friday, March 2, 2012

Day 247


Yesterday, I wrote about the crisis with the Kingfisher airlines. Whatever I wrote yesterday was just the financial figures. There are many other things which are added the worry line to the management of Kingfisher airlines. The civil aviation ministry has directed Kingfisher airlines to operate with 28 flights out of 64 flights. Actually civil aviation ministry is aware that if it issues any fresh order for closure of Kingfisher airlines then it would lead the price skyrocketing. This is the situation which the government doesn’t want to happen. Like as I stated yesterday that one dozen pilots have resigned from the Kingfisher airlines. Others companies are ready to help Kingfisher airlines to take Kingfisher’s passengers in their airlines but not without cash. Kingfisher has to pay some amount of money to them before getting its passengers shifted to other airlines.
All these things combined together are making Kingfisher’s crisis more miserable. Income sources of Kingfisher are going down. Stock prices has gone down, government isn’t ready to bail out the cash strapped airlines, the primary  banker isn’t giving any fresh loan, other banks aren’t in mood to give any financial help until the airlines clears its previous dues. I think these problems are quiet enough for any entrepreneur to have sleepless nights and a long list of illness. But Vijay Mallya is fighting every stroke to keep his airlines high in the clouds. I think he must be praying everyday that the dark clouds over his airlines must get away very soon. 

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Day 246


Since a week, I was trying to write something about the beleaguered Kingfisher airlines. But somehow, I was having other issues to write upon. There is a long list of worries to Mr Vijay Mallya about running the airlines. State Bank of India, the primary lender to the Kingfisher airlines, has clearly stated that the bank will not consider any fresh loan for the cash stripped airline. Now the airline has to raise more equity in the stock market. But I think that will not help the Kingfisher much as the share prices of the airline is moving downwards. Kingfisher airline was incepted in 2005 and since then it’s carrying a debt of $1.3 million. Now the airline has asked fresh loan to the bank of Rs 200-300 million again to run its day to day operations. But the bank is refusing it in the clear way as the airline hasn’t paid its previous debt.
Multiple flight cancellations and resignation of about dozen of the pilots has added more worries for the cash strapped airlines. The bank want the airline to pump Rs 1500 crore equity because the bank has already given Rs 3000 crore to the airlines in past 12 months. Now no other lender is providing any fresh financial assistance to the Kingfisher airlines. The share price of Kingfisher has dropped to Rs 25.05 on last Friday in the BSE. Other banks who have given loan to the Kingfisher airlines has set aside Rs 1000 crore due to the non payment from the Kingfisher. Due to this reason, none of them are in mood to provide any fresh assistant to the airlines. If we believe the report of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Kingfisher requires another Rs 4000 crore or $ 800 million in the next 12-18 months to run its business and return to the business.

Day 496

  JAI SHRI RAM   Actually, I thought to write this post on 22 nd January itself, but I was busy whole day in watching the live broadcas...