Banning Endosulfan: Should India Dare to Move?

Chemicals and pesticides are generally hazardous for human beings and environment; however, there are certain standard processes and practices are followed for their safe usage. The recent move against blanket ban on endosulfan across the country hardly justifies the reason that some 63 countries across the world have already banned this pesticide and India should follow them blindly without considering its own reasons.

The report on birth defects and other environmental degradations in the Kesargod area in Kerala by certain NGOs is motivated by MNCs in European countries since endosulfan as an off-patent generic pesticide which has impeccable integrated pest control capability (almost protects a variety of 29 crops from 60 types of infestations) and furthermore India leads the production of this pesticide. There are serious conspiracies behind this blanket ban across India, which is evident from the launch of new alternatives to endosulfan by EU companies.

Consider this simple arithmetic, India produces over 70 percent of endosulfan consumed by the world farmers and horticulturers amounting to 12.5 million litres and consumes 50 percent of its own production and, if endosulfan is banned, then any alternative as suggested by EU would cost around 8 to 50 times of the price at which endosulfan is sold. The enosulfan is a cheap pesticide available at a price range of Rs. 250-285 per litre in India. Since India's farm economy is quite strong, the usage of pesticide like endosulfan is endemic across the country.

In fact, Kerala and Karnataka are not the only states in India those are using endosulfan, the most prolific users are Punjab, Haryana, UP, West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh where there is not a single report on birth defect in these states. Forget about the reports published in media, let me tell you a fact that in Punjab there is no such report of health hazards due to endosulfan in last 50 years, and for all factual evidences Punjab is far ahead in farm products in comparison to Kerala or Karnataka.

Moreover, looking at the EU strategies to ban endosulfan and bring out some new alternatives at extremely higher price range is a clear indication of the fact that the drive against endosulfan is a conspiracy of MNCs those want to launch the product in the market soon. So a propaganda against endosulfan through certain vested interest groups is understandable. If India bows down to the Stockholm Convention, then it could be a suicidal move against the poor farmers of this country.

Kesargod incident is an one-off case which hasn't even strong evidences against endosulfan abuse and chances are that the reports published in media or driven by NGOs are motivated by interest groups. Moreover, the way endosulfan is used in cashew forests in Kerala is against the standard operating process. Aerial spray of any pesticide over a decade could have adverse impact on the people around the locality, and this specific case maybe no different. Rather than banning the pesticide, Kerala should learn the right way of using the pesticide. It seems like bad workmen always quarrel with their tools, and this surely fits in here.

The Government of India should take notice of the strong implications due to ban of endosulfan. The immediate impact could be on the farm productivity and pricing. Already the poor people of India are reeling under extreme inflation in all these years and a step towards blanket ban of a pesticide which has no proven adverse impact on the people and environment could be a dangerous proposition for agricultural productivity and economy of this country.

Curbing the free speech

When IT has made India one of the fastest emerging economy in world market, the regulatory move against virtually free online media including blog sites and other social networking sites is a clear indication of the fact that the rotten politicians and bureaucrats in this country are trying to tighten the noose against unbridled free speech, primarily because the ongoing exposures of their corrupt practices in unconventional media like Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, etc., have attracted huge public attentions and reactions, which become a deterrent to their clandestine corrupt practices. In the recent Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption, the social media played a significant role by spreading the awareness across the world, and this became another jasmine revolution.

Now that politicians think the educated, IT-savvy citizens are well-informed and their collective free speech can bring down their supremacy in a society that they have legitimately exploited for decades, which furthermore won't be possible and this fear psychosis has triggered an authoritarian regime like situation to nip any future online revolution in the bud. This is a serious contempt of freedom of speech provisioned in a democracy. No matter how blasphemous or hateful be the views on an individual on any subject, that should be given a benefit of doubts in the ambit of “personal interpretation”, not as interpreted by a motley group of “pseudo-intellectual bureaucrats” who have continuously blocked the social innovations in this country.

Every time when a corruption news breaks out in this country, people blindly blame politicians without analyzing the length and breadth of the crime, but the time has come now to look beyond the lopsided view. The systemic corruption in India is a phenomenon dangerously propagated by the bureaucrats since independence. Their feudal attitude to keep every policy inherently flawed has stumped the progress of this country. If we have witnessed any social, economic or technological revolution, be it market liberalization, IT revolution, or mobile revolution, in this country, that has been possible just because of the sincere efforts of some good politicians, technocrats, and intellectuals. Though there are very few bureaucrats who have helped executing the policies with due diligence, the majority of this power block have continuously manipulated the system on their side, and the recent move on curbing the free speech in a democratic system is again their misadventure to prohibit public reactions, but this act of despot will never succeed. Controlling the internet framework across the world by any local government agency has never been successful, and this wild act of authoritarian governance will rather raise more conflicts in a working democracy.

The Ghost of Chernobyl

Twenty-five years before, exactly on this date, it was just another aspiring day for the people in northern Ukraine who were starting their day with a new goal, a new hope that they normally had like any other day of the year, but it was not as wonted at all. It's meant to be something inconceivably different so that the people of Chernobyl including the surrounding Ukraine and Belarus cant forget even after many generations. An explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, triggered by a testing error, devastated the entire region to a hell of radioactive inferno that burned for ten days and 190 tons of toxic materials were expelled into the atmosphere, making it the worst nuclear disaster in the history of human civilization.

The explosion was so powerful that it released 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Though immediate death due to explosion was not great in numbers, over 30 thousand people since the disaster have died due to ling cancer, leukemia, and cardiovascular disease. Over seven millions of people who lived around the contaminated territories were exposed to the toxic radioactive material such as iodine-131, cesium-137, strontium-90, and plutonium-239 and the repercussion of the exposure was so huge that it widely damaged the ecosystem, and Belarus was the worst hit country in terms of economic loss. According to a report by the Committee on the Problems of the Consequences of the Catastrophe at the Chernobyl NPP, the economic damages to Belarus after the accident over 30 years (1986 – 2015) could be to the tune of $235 billion.

The environment and health impact of Chernobyl nuclear disaster are extremely concerning. Thyroid cancer in children has increased since the disaster. According to World Health Organization report, in this region, 50,000 children will develop the disease during their lifetime, 30 times higher after the accident. Leukemia has increased 50% in children and adults. In addition to thyroid cancer and leukemia, as per a UNICEF report, between 1990 and 1994, nervous system disorder has increased by 43%; cardiovascular diseases by 43%; and bone and muscle disorders by 62%.

After 25 years, the innocent victims of Chernobyl are still in a state of fear and uncertainty. They even don't know for how many generations they would face the burnt of this disaster, which has always been the results of mindless technological progress, often postulated by the agents of callous state machinery. Perhaps, in the name of technological progress the human aspirations for precarious achievements pose the most perilous threats that one day the entire world would be pushed to the brink of extinction.

Let the truth prevail

The worst crime ever committed by a ruler is his or her discrepancy towards subjects while delivering fair justice, but today this crime is being publicly undermined by justifying political mandate in the elections or awe-inspiring partisan economic progress in the state. The perpetrators of these heinous crimes still rule us, lecture us about secular democracy, and even shamelessly claim that they are the legends that the entire mankind should follow their footprints. What could be more deplorable than this side of human hypocrisy that at one point the person who overwhelmingly shows his beliefs in a value, at a different point of time the same person leaves no stone unturned to break that value?

No one can forget that fateful night of February 27, 2002 when a group of terrorists torched a bogey of Savarmati Express in which 59 karsevaks charred to death. But again a matter of caution here whether this act of dastardly terror was a conspiracy of a sinister design of some communal groups is yet to be established under the court of law. Let's now examine the fallout of this dangerous act of crime. The state government rather than promptly deploying law and order machinery to action for nabbing these perpetrators of crime, the leaders of the state orchestrated a malicious design so that the community belonging to the victims can vent their anger against the other community by igniting the sparks of the worst communal riots after independence.

For last nine years the case has been investigated by a SIT being monitored by the Supreme Court. However, nothing substantial has come out through this investigative tribunal. This is the callous state of the judicial system in India where the delivery of justice is always delayed supporting the adage: justice delayed is justice denied. It's delayed so extensively that the incident is forgotten in the public memory. If we explore the high profile cases in India, it's quite evident from the historical facts that no case is ever resolved in a year or two, forget about months, India judicial system is so lethargic that at least a decade or more is passed in chagrin to reach at the verdict, which is again partisan, biased, and dictated by the ruling party.

Can India abstinent from such feudal mindset and rise above the political prerogatives to deliver justice in time? Can the various wings of democracy including legislative, executive, and judiciary act collectively to preserve the sanctity of secularism? Can Indians expect fair justice irrespective of the social stature of the persons involved? Probably these are the difficult questions we have been raising since long, but we haven't yet received any satisfactory response to them. There are two specific reasons that fit here; one, the ruling class carries an inherent inertia as a mechanism to prove its extreme importance; two, the subject close to the ruling class try to tinker with anything and everything to prevail their position in society. Thus the immaculate truth is that one India is exploiting the other India with extreme precision.

The wounds that never soothe

After 25 years of that fateful day at Chernobyl, the chilling trepidation of nuclear disaster still echoes from the ghost town, and never settles to die down in the memory of human civilization. Thousands people died instantly after the disaster, millions fled away after being exposed to high degree radioactive emission and those who survived the death trap of this potentially calamitous revolutionary technological progress are still suffering from the pangs orchestrated by mindless pursuits of mankind negotiated for small comforts of society – the comforts that never reach to those people who for all splendors of human development are forced to bury their lives under the perfidious design of the ruling class.

The spirit of human settlements that once dotted around Chernobyl will never resurrect from that epochal nightmare. The survivors even shiver today when they brood over the consequences of a diabolic nuclear disaster that the mankind can never forget and forgive those people who for all their boundless human greed put the entire human civilization at the brink of danger. Even today the newborn babies inherit the curse of dangerous technology. Physically deformed, mentally agonized, these children of post-Chernobyl fallout are the reflection of our imbecilic hankering for technological progress that has always posed myriads of threats to the sustenance of nature. We forget for a moment that the fascinating advantages of a hugely risk-ridden technology cant overwhelm the piles of danger that it intrinsically bears within.

After 25 years we are still crestfallen. The recent meltdown of nuclear plants at Fukushima, triggered by a series of potentially catastrophic earthquakes and tsunami, has again posed serious doubts on the safety of a hazardous technology that many duplicitous protagonists vouch for its economic importance in a world of acute energy crunch. But the moot question here that slaps on our face is: Can we bargain with a crocodile to get rid of a tiger? This is a catch-22 situation. The imminent dangers of climatic changes due to toxic effluents of fossil fuels used in thermal power plants are equally threatening to the sustenance of this world. Now is the time for a serious contemplation. We must engage collectively to think about a third alternative which could be pro-nature, pro-mankind, and sustain the continuous human progress.

Mr. Obama's “cheap” tactics

In a recent speech at a community college in Virginia, Mr. Barak Obama, the president of US, went a little further down the popular, colloquial political speech on the upsurging healthcare issues in America, living behind world political hypocrisy to its shameful nadir. In fact, what Mr. Obama reiterated was nothing more than a political rhetoric that almost all politicians bank on to woo their voters. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Obama wants the Americans shouldn't leave their country to avail “cheap” healthcare facilities in India and Mexico. There are two aspects what Mr. Obama wanted to explain his citizens: one, the Americans shouldn't forget that “cheap” necessarily connote poor quality service because the “costly” in a capitalist society is undoubtedly reserved for “class”; two, even if the healthcare service in the US comes at a higher price, so be it, anyway it goes to America's economy in a sense that when outsourcing debate in certain states of the US is getting hotter, this could be an absolutely cool, politically-correct statement. We emotional, patriotic Indians shouldn't take it as an offense because our politicians too engage themselves in “cheap” talks to feed us with irrational concepts to drive us to a point where we would be compelled to think how caring these politicians for our causes. After a certain degree of rationality, all politicians across the world are public charmers, they know how to deceive people with gullible talks.

Well, the “cheap” healthcare facilities in India have many fringe benefits that attract patients from allover the world including the US. Apart from availing quality medicare at a throwaway price, the patients also get a chance to enjoy their trip to various monumental sites & tourist places and take part in a pluralistic culture curry, which is a bonus point for them. In fact, the healthcare facilities in India are far ahead than those in the US or other developed countries. Indian doctors are world-class and have proved their mettle in every medical specialty. And the ground reality is that the rate of success in critical medical treatments in India is much better than those in the US.

So, if Mr. Obama really wants to overhaul the America's healthcare segment and promises to deliver a better quality of service at a comparatively cheaper price, no one can stop him doing that; however, he should not just behave like another politician to garner brownie points for vote-bank by resorting to “cheap” talks.

How can India eliminate systemic corruption?

India has been witnessing corruption in public domain since independence. However, in the last few decades the length and breadth of corruption net has been manifold. Literally, in every walk of life one can experience the toxins of carcinogenic corruption. Even today the lowest rung government official doesn't hesitate to ask for few bucks to facilitate a service, which on the contrary is a legal right of citizen though to avail it freely. Analyzing the gravity of systemic corruption, many anti-corruption laws have been enacted in this country and nothing has changed the topography of rampant corruption. And of late the much publicized draconian Jan Lokpal bill draft initiated by a civil society organization and supported by Anna Hazare has been a hot debate not only in media, but also in public domain. There are cynics and optimists as well who contribute their piece of argument to galvanize this bill as the mother of all anti-corruption bills ever enacted by any democratic nation in this world. For some time, I was quite optimistic and elated and was holding my trust in the civil society committee, which is an equal partner in drafting and debating on the Lokpal Bill draft. The irony of the draft is that it's a one-stop shop to handle corruption charges against anybody and everybody in public service.

Given the corruption charges getting rounds against Bhushans, now a fundamental question hammers me is that, can human greed be controlled by the stringent laws of land? Maybe, the charges against Bhushans not be true, but one critical aspect about elder Bhusan's declaration of assets looks unbelievable that how just a lawyer can accumulate the personal wealth to the tune of Rs. 209 crores in his life time? Though most of his legal practicing time has been spent on PILs which are certainly not a high yielding specialty in legal domain, but his wealth amassed speaks the contrary. If at all we seriously think about a committee that would pull off the huge responsibility of drafting a stringent anti-corruption bill, the primary attributes of the composition must hinge on the human attributes such as impeccable propriety other than sharp legal acumen. Of course there is no dearth of finest legal luminaries in this country who are honest and an incorruptible. The civil society should not be restricted to the crony professionalism, rather they should weigh high moral grounds against the skills, which are anyway don't rest within Bhushans only.

Well, that's one part of this anti-corruption drive to design a stringent deterrent mechanism to check corruption. However, if we look at the other developed democratic nations, we find a curious contrast that rather taking preventive measures as others strictly follow, why we Indians still wait a disease to inflict us and then take medicines? Probably, this perspective is inherited from a serious feudal mindset that still we preserve in our biological gene. We need to change that mindset first. We cant rely on the old school of intelligence. We must transform our old believes and think something innovative and out-of-the-box. First, we should pan our vision from curing a disease to preventing it. Let's understand that in an age of IT revolution, nothing is impossible to ensure a thorough transparency in the execution process of governance. Consider this: if the bidding process for 2G spectrum could have been executed through an automated process without human intervention, perhaps this scam could have been avoided. Let me tell you that the corruption is an indication of exponential human greed in a society, rather not a reflection of unavailability of stringent laws against corruption. So, the main culprits in the game of corruption are human beings. The more discretionary power of human beings means the larger chance of making corruption. To deal with this scenario, we need to minimize human intervention of human being in the execution process and promote automation, which would certainly curtail the chance of corruption in public domain.

When India is boasting its IT revolution in international forums and certainly has proved its mettle, then why at domestic front we are reluctant to adopt the best practices in automation to curb the corruption in governance process? The best way to eliminate the corruption is to prevent it. Are our old politicians listening? Or do they need to go back to new-age schools to take lessons on how to lead the nation in a technologically advanced manner? The old time is over, the old thoughts and beliefs as well. If still we believe in the status quo, better forget complaining about the corruption. We cant falsely claim or take it seriously that the most seasoned political leaders in this country are capable enough to guide a billion of youth powerhouse bubbling with ideas and innovations. This is the time for intelligent, dedicated, dynamic, and honest young leaders to take over the governance of this nation. We must challenge the unchallengeable. Then only we can aspire for a developed India, free of corruption.

India is a bundle of political conspiracies

In a period when the entire country is rising against corruption, bringing in a couple of smear campaigns against Bhushans, the civil society representatives in the Lokpal Bill draft committee, to derail the anti-corruption drive could be nothing more than some conspiracies designed by specific political groups. This is a clear indication of immaturity in the conspirator group to deflect the public anger from corruption to character assassinations. Whoever behind this smear campaign are silly, moronic, and self-destructive in engaging themselves on an abortive method of hijacking the plot.

Let me explain here as how both the allegations against Bhushans are false, naive, and unsubstantial. The audio CD in which the elder Bhushan explains to another politician for roping in a judge for 4 crore rupees can be managed by his son, is sandwiched between two abstract audio samples, and hence this cant be a continuum while tapping is done. There are also other interesting drawbacks in the entire campaign. For example, when cob reporters are doing hundreds of sting operations using a spy cam effortlessly, then why this serious act of crime (as conspirators try to establish) was captured through audio only, which was a practice of 80's when visual medium was not so developed. Can anyone believe that in an advance age a mere audio CD could be gigantic enough to topple the nation wide drive against corruption? Only a stupid can trust this CD, not a person with an iota of intelligence. This audio CD is a specific reflection of how archaic our political conspirators are, they still live in 60's and 70's in their thinking capability, sometimes even they act like brainless chickens. Neither they understand the social dynamics or contemporary innovations to keep them ahead of time. After all they are the byproducts of centuries old feudal system, it will certainly take time for their genetic transformation.

The second campaign against Bhushans is related to two large farmhouse plots acquired by them at a throwaway price. I don't understand why so much hype has been generated when the ownership of plots are also been indicated by Bhushans while declaring their assets. Had they suppressed this piece of information in their declaration, then it could have been a bone of contention. And the most interesting point here is that, this is a contention among other applicants who applied for the land then, not a political debate as it has been. Even if some media are acting like PR firms in publishing unsubstantial pieces on Bhushans by the behest of some politicians, that is their standard of professionalism. The public shouldn't be distracted by such concocted stories. It's a clear caution for the public that they shouldn't lose heart and withdraw their support from a patriotic cause like anti-corruption drive. We should stand united and support the crusaders in their efforts to bring in a powerful Lokpal Bill.

A huge lesson for corporates

A lower court in Delhi denied bail to five corporate honchos involved in 2G scam. It's definitely a strong blow to corporates, but on the contrary it's certainly life-time lesson for those big-time corporate executives who always believed that “all is well if end is well”, which is a partial truth. To ensure a successful ending, people choose various means, and the key differentiator of success lies in the means chosen, not the end achieved, and this is quite evident from today's court verdict.

In corporates, smart executives often believe that they can influence the policy of this nation for the benefits of their company and forget for a moment that a business run ethically has a longer sustainability. Quick bucks, instant success and false bravado delude them to cross the wrong side of the fence and then they shun the primary principles of professionalism. A thorough professional always emphasizes on the principles and practices adhered during execution, leading to a successful mission. However, in today's world where everything is available instantly, some corporate houses believe in the fact that faster market turn-around time is more critical than anything else. And this thought process trickles down in the hierarchy affecting the collective thinking channel of the organization.

Now it's the learning time for those high-flying professionals who believe that everything is fair in business is just another myth and fundamentally wrong. What's already in practice that's yielding results doesn't necessarily mean full-proof and one should delve deeper to find out whether a popular perception or theory can withstand the litmus of ethical test. The yesteryear's recession in the USA is a classic instance of the larger fallout of ethical violation and extreme human greed. And both these evils are serious blockade to the sustainability of an organization.

And equally it's a primary task for B-schools to concentrate more on the business ethics and business sustainability. Apart from engaging in the critical functional skill development for students, the institutes should never undermine the legality of any practice or method used to achieve a certain business objective. This is a serious drawback in Indian mindset that going through a legal way will kill their business competitiveness and they should engage in policy manoeuvrings and turn the game to their side. There are ways, and more specifically, ethical ways, to achieve a business goals faster, but again it's a matter of continuous propriety that very few people believe in, and they are the real winners in this world of competition – they always succeed with a differentiating tag.

Is India heading towards another emergency?

Is India dangerously running towards a 1975 like internal emergency? If the symptoms of political instability at the centre due to loads of high level corruption charges against UPA ministers and impeding loss of Congress in state elections are any signification, then probably a forced emergency is not far off from today. There is also another important incident that will also add fire to the fuel is the inability of UPA in passing the Lokpal Bill in the monsoon session, which would anyway erupt the ire of middle class citizens who just took part in the trailer orchestrated by Anna Hazare. The nation will be compelled to watch the whole movie “India rises against corruption”, if the UPA government fails to pass the bill or deliberately stages series of conspiracies in diverting the public attention.

Maybe, there is no pertinent sign yet which can trigger the worst political crisis for the UPA government, but the things are not going well either in governance front, as every other day another scam is being unearthed and ministers are entangled into the larger scheme of that scam. Perhaps, few months down the line some more new scams will catch the headlines and the pressures from each block of democratic setup will be mounted on the UPA government beyond a tolerable limit, and that could be a tempting point for the ruling party to do something unusually gross, but not unprecedented.

If we analyze the political and economic situation in 1975, India was living in a complete dark age, no growth, no aspiration, no citizen empowerment, extremely battered by poverty, state-run sick enterprises, no consumer power, and moreover, sycophant media houses who were licking the boots of the then ruling party leader. However, 36 years after India has proved to be an emerging superpower in many dimensions, be it IT/ITES, telecom, biotech, pharma, R&D, retail, finance, or media, each segment has significantly contributed to the growth engine of this nation. The liberalization has completely transformed the image of India among the first worlds.

An interesting case of highly people empowerment can be drawn from this incident. During 26/11, when the government displayed some false empathy to Ratan Tata for supporting the security of Taj in the aftermath of terrorist attack, the legend of Tata Group snubbed and retorted that he can better take care of his property than what the state can afford to. What could be a more befitting response than this to the political masters of this country who think they are still the epicentre of power? There is much power polarized outside the Parliament. A country with 1.21 billion population coupled with boundless consumer power and 24x7 access to information can negotiate the gargantuan power of state with extreme tact and efficacy, and that's the beauty of democracy. I wish that nothing of that emergency-like scenario would happen again in India, but if that still happens it will be the permanent death of political democracy in this country. People are innovative now and they can formulate a new form of governance in this country with accountability, transparency, and certainly free of corruption.

The Swami Cult of India

India has witnessed the hypocrisy of many spiritual figures when it comes to the scrutiny of their real actions and activities. In the name of spirituality, these cult leaders first attract the most powerful persons of society as their devotees so that the latter can serve as the opinion leaders to spread their message effectively. The nexus of spiritual leaders with politicians, bureaucrats, and other elites in our society has harboured many scandalous incidents that have rocked the faith of millions of people in the spirituality itself. The visible good works implemented by spiritual trusts and their masters may seem however beneficial to the larger interest of society, no one ever gets to know the legality of transactions and how these funds pile up exponentially. These spiritual masters have not restricted their operations in India only, the western followers have helped them to spread their spiritual business outside India as well. So why people do easily fall prey to the magic spell of these swamis? Probably, the trust designed by these spiritual masters through a well-organized publicity exercise becomes so powerful that people start believing in the irrational theories. The gullible followers become secondary brand ambassadors to the cult designed by the spiritual masters. When any spiritual organization reaches a critical mass followers, the degree of publicity turns spiral and whatever illegal, irrational, and unacceptable starts receiving acceptance from anybody and everybody. Under the backdrop of this gigantic delusion many bitter truths such as drug peddling, sexual exploitation, physical abuse, child molestation, money laundering, tax evasion, and you name any crime, start confronting the larger-than-life holy figures of our society. Still their followers keep a blind eye to these large details of reality. Can their be any respite from these predators of society in the guise of spiritual masters?

Human Trafficking: The Darkest Side of India Shinning

Every year thousands of children go missing from the street and they end up their life in sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, begging, drug smuggling, and organ transplants. Sometimes police takes up cases to a certain level and finally leaves the progression getting frustrated because India doesn't have stringent laws yet to deal with the worst crime against humanity with iron fist. How poor girls and women from even industrially developed states of India transit places, change of hands and pass through harrowing experience of physical tortures before they are finally sold into brothels in metros is an indication of our apathy towards human values in modern India. It's not that the racketeers involved in this crime are only from the lowest strata of society, but the alarming fact that people from economically well-off sections are also aggravating the condition. Crimes against children and women are extremely high in India. There is no single passed day when media haven't reported about human trafficking, but hardly any case has reached a logical conclusion because human trafficking has transformed into an organized crime controlled by mafias and terrorist groups inside and outside the country. Even if a case is handled with due diligence, the kingpin of the racket stays at an arms length from the law enforcement agencies.

After 64 years of independence, India still struggles to combat human trafficking in the most immature manner. Though various laws like Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, Bonded Labor Abolition Act, and Child Labor Act are available in India, the sluggishness of judicial system and apathy of law enforcement agencies compound to a more deplorable situation. Moreover, the awareness on human trafficking in India is very feeble and except few NGOs those are working towards anti-human trafficking, the participation of society has been dismal. We as a progressive society shouldn't ignore such a devastating crime against humanity.

Corruption Dichotomy

The great Indian middle class is a manifestation of huge paradox. The people who abuzz with protests and slogans against systemic corruption and align with Anna Hazare to show their solidarity for anti-corruption drive never know what's being cooked at their home front for their upbringing. It's a fashion in India that the same people who castigate others for a crime are often involved in the similar crimes. There is no dearth of armchair theorists here for judging others on a scale on which they stand nowhere. Blaming only politicians, bureaucrats, and judiciary won't be justified if we exclude the potential Indian middle class people who are equally a party to the endemic corruption in India.

Many sociologists and economists have written volumes about the epochal evolution of Indian middle class and their participation in accelerating the Hindu rate of growth, but the sad part is that beneath their glorious contribution to the galloping national and global economy lies a disdainful modus operandi that snowballs into a humongous collective greed, which drives them to achieve the unachievable through whatever means, and from there evolves the systemic corruption.

Corruption is a Frankenstein created by this middle class. If they are facing its brunt now, they shouldn't blame the ruling class only. There is an adage: as you sow, so you reap. If the ruling class is finally behaving unruly, it's you people who have endeavored relentlessly to transform them to this intolerable stage. Your charm for instant success and quick fame has eventually paved an eternal path towards systemic corruption.

Here are few pertinent questions to these middle class people who only know how to complain about others when their interests are challenged and regulated: Why didn't these people control their passion for collective greed? And why are they only blaming a selective few in this dirty game when they are also an indispensable part of it? When these people were enjoying the cake and eating it too, did they ask their parents as how was it possible? Did they ever inquire about the means of all the luxury they have had that didn't commensurate to the honest income of their parents?

And now that Anna Hazare has started fighting for a cause, which is of course genuine in nature, they are now showing their solidarity. Remember, Anna Hazare is truly an honest person. He has no intention for instant success or quick fame. What he desires is to bring in a solid mechanism to deal with corruption in every place and cadre. I have a serious advice to the people who want to be aligned with Anna Hazare: They should go back home and ask themselves and their parents first whether they are corrupt or not, if they get a satisfactory response, then they should come forward to fight against corruption. Till then they should correct their home.

Are we prepared for the worst case scenario?

As Japan escalates the threat level at Fukushima nuclear plant to 7, it clearly indicates that a Chernobyl like disaster is not far from here. Anytime, Japan can face the worst ever nuclear catastrophe after what it had brushed with at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during World War II. The world nuclear scientific community is helplessly looking for a way out like Mahabharat's Abhimanyu who though knew how to penetrate a seven-layer of armors ring, but had hardly an iota of knowledge as how to escape from such dangerous plot. Beyond the sarcasm of irony, I would like to ask those scientists who are basking under the glory of a complex scientific discovery of nuclear fission, have they ever considered the grave concerns of an imminent nuclear catastrophe which could be a serious cause of complete annihilation of mankind from the surface of earth? What have they learned till date from the sequence of nuclear disasters emerged from Kyshtyn, Windscale, Three Mile, and Chernobyl? Even after 25 years of the Chernobyl incident, the nuclear scientists are still not in a position to design alternative processes to absolutely reverse the nuclear reaction, other than the moderation, and still claim they have achieved sky high in nuclear technology. I would like to remind these scientific jingoists that they are still at half way in their journey towards excellence. What's the need of the hour for them is to first come forward and find out as many alternatives to counter an extremely acute situation haunting Fukushima. Fukushima is not a regional case, it's become the gravest global concern given the visible repercussions the entire mankind is waiting for. This is the high time that the political leadership of Japan should shun the cocoon of introversion and act proactively to ask for immediate help from the western countries to evade a potentially dangerous nuclear holocaust, which Japan wont be the only country to witness, but the entire Asia, Europe and surrounding regions would face the brunt. If the international scientific community still doesn't have a fitting solution to counter Fukushima's gravest problem, then it's better to stop marketing a half-baked scientific discovery, which has more dangerous implications than any amount of contribution to economic progress.

Irresponsible Media

This week, a small-time magazine, published from New Delhi, which of course has been infamously known for investigative journalism, carried a scoop on Hasan Ali, the alleged money-launderer, exactly opposing the evidences collected by ED, IT, and other government agencies, and delivered its verdict that Ali is either a conman or a bluff-master and various high-valued transactions carried out from his Swiss bank accounts, as claimed by government agencies, have no corroborative evidences, while yesterday the same convicted revealed that what the black money issue looks from the surface is even much deeper and dangerous. By claiming that Ali also disclosed five other accomplices among which four are politicians and the other one is an oil magnate from Russia. Now the moot question is why that magazine ventured into a falsified media trial and clouded readers' mind with misinformation and plotted a counter-investigative story seemingly motivated by political interests of allegedly involved parties? Doesn't it tantamount to a contempt of judiciary for dissecting a case that is subjudice and overriding the facts, and a breach of trust with readers for publishing an undeniably pulp fiction and suppressing the truth? There are many such fictional stories concocted by media everyday at the behest of political leadership, administration, and even for personal motives. However, the gullible readers hardly delve deeper into the intent of the story because they blindly believe that media act as a watchdog in a democracy and whatever they publish, air, or broadcast are the ultimate truth. Remember my fellow readers, here is a severe caution for you. Next time you see a magazine cover with tantalizing punchline or a television news program tagged “breaking news” or “exclusive report”, don't fail to utilize your own intelligence before being swayed away by the false propaganda.

So why do some media tread this dangerous path and act contrary to their fundamental responsibilities?To understand this, you need to understand the business model of media. Worldwide media entities, be it print, web, or broadcast, bank majorly on the volume of advertisements and partially on selling the content. When ad revenue becomes insignificant then they try to adopt the patronage of political parties, government agencies, and business houses to sustain the running of their business. Then a dangerous nexus gets planted and what comes out from that ally is a deliberate co-creation of consent manufacturing syndrome that contagiously infects the susceptible mind of millions of readers, for the larger vested interest of the patron. And the previously cited Hasan Ali scoop is an illegitimate offspring of the marriage between media and politics.

Let's delve into another exciting scoop of this week. Lancet, a famous medical journal published from UK, carried a revealing story on “superbug in Delhi's tap water”, which has finally attracted the attention of Indian medical and scientific communities and Delhi government as well. The fact of the matter is that Lancet team could able to trace out some water samples being allegedly originated from Delhi and tested the quality in some lab and concluded that the sample contains traces of a superbug. And all this study and experiment was funded by an international pharmaceutical company that has already discovered some drugs to treat this kind of superbugs. By now it must be clear to you as to why that journal conducted such experiments and published that story. This is a classic case of media's illicit coupling with business group. The intent of this story was to create furor among people of the second largest populous country in the world so that an artificial necessity for the remedy can be manufactured via a trusted medical journal. What could be a smart marketing gimmick than this? But all these marketing tricks don't work always unfailingly.

Now the essence of this debate is that those media entities which are constantly hinged on the belief that they can manufacture consent and can work as opinion leaders in society should understand the ground realities of readership acceptance to a plotted story. People are not living in information silos. Every moment they are exposed to various other media to verify information, they are well-informed readers. Bullying the readers or audiences could be a dangerous proposition for their sustenance in media business.

Why corruption is rampant in India?

If politicians and bureaucrats of India think corruption is their legitimate right and they can stash up black money in Swiss Bank to a mind-boggling scale of $1456 billion, higher than the combined black money of other nations, and still expect the citizens of this country will sit back and praise their act of grafting, then they are in a serious delusion. People will rise, protest, and upsurge to fight back corruption in whatever form. The recent country-wide movement against corruption spearheaded by Anna Hazare and supported by public is a result of incessant complacency of law makers of this country in curbing corruption. The citizens of this country are not subjects of a feudal monarchy who would blindly support any wrong act and could not dare to show their spiraling frustrations oozing out from the suppressed informed cognizance. If some pseudo intellectuals in media circus and some politicians brand this act of movement as blackmailing the democracy, probably they need to go back to school to complete their understanding about functioning democracy. A biased version of argument doesn't tantamount the merit of the premise. No protesters who did participate in the crusade against corruption would like to hijack the soul of democracy. Every citizen of this country knows well the benefits of democracy and pursue his or her aspiration to help functioning of it in the most effective manner. If one could minutely analyze the essence of this recent movement, from any angle, it would look like a conspicuous collective consciousness of like minded citizens to voice against the systemic corruption, which has affected their daily life seriously. We shouldn't paint this act of genuine revolution as anti-democratic or blackmailing the government.

After 64 years of independence, India doesn't even have a comprehensive law to tackle the systemic corruption. A Lokpal Bill that was placed before the Parliament 42 years ago has been stalled by successive governments in all these years. It seems no political party in this country is genuinely uncorrupted. Had it been the contrary, our country could have an anti-corruption bill well in place, and the recent movement could hardly been experienced or observed. The most ironic incident is that VP Singh who won the elections by exposing Rajiv Gandhi's involvement in the Bofors scam even couldn't able to pass that bill in the Parliament. The visible fear psychosis of politicians is an indication of the fact that corruption in our country is not bottom-up, rather top-down. A couple of uncorrupted parliamentarians cant check the elephantine corruptions in this country. It requires inclusive and cohesive efforts of law makers and citizens at large to ensure a corruption-free country. If some politicians think that a powerful Lokpal Bill could be a significant degeneration of their sovereign power in looting public money, it's better they should leave politics and do whatever they want to do, India doesn't needs them. What's essential now is a progressive, transparent, accountable, and corruption-free political leadership at the helm of affairs delivering the results as desired by the citizens of this country.

Victory of people

There are times when citizens of a nation rise above the individual conviction, it becomes a collective consciousness, a mass sentiment, a universal perception in driving the human solidarity for a mission towards creating the history. This time it's the crusade against corruption. And the people of India from all sections of society have proved that the state supremacy defined by a wagon of selective elites of this country can't downplay the sovereign power of people in a democratic setup. Finally, the people of the largest democratic country have won a war against corruption by initiating a starting point by shaking the government to bow down to the public pressure that the so called Lok Pal bill which was first initiated during 1966 and put in the Parliament in 1968 for approval, but for some reasons it was not passed then and even by successive governments in last 42 years, has finally taking a historic move with an unprecedented decision in democratic governance. A history is created. And the entire credit goes to those people across the country who overwhelmingly supported Anna Hazare in this incredible journey to support the crusade against corruption. It's the single biggest victory of people after Independence. Undoubtedly, India has witnessed the power of revolution, a revolution that can even bend the toughest power block, as we have seen here, specifically in this fight against corruption, which erupted from a decision by Anna Hazare's fasting unto death, and eventually the people of India joined the movement to take it forward. If it's a historic call by Anna Hazare, the people of India have responded to it overwhelming. This is a triumph of Anna Hazare, and this is a victory of people. Long live the spirit of citizens.

An Open Letter to Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister,

The entire nation is leading to a mega transformation that will metamorphose an extremely corrupt and defunct system you are heading for over seven years. Under your leadership, many ministers have hustled public money so ruthlessly that I have no bad words to narrate their darkest intensity. Be it Raja's involvement in 2G scam or Kalmadi's in CWG, you have been a silent observer to the lowest point in democracy, when a serious horse trading banged the floor of the Parliament during UPA I. In all your heart and soul though you realise what's happening around you, I am not only surprised but equally disturbed and pained to notice your callous behaviour towards the demand of civil society for eradicating corruption, in whatever form, from this country. In all these years, post your entry into politics, you have certainly forgotten your values and ethics that you once carried along till you catapulted from a civil servant to a politician. Probably your greed for the highest position in a democracy has shadowed your conscience and you are in a state of megalomania.

But remember Sir, the luxury of being the prime minister of the largest democracy of world is not eternal. Even the most powerful political dynasty in Independent India has failed to maintain the continuum. The time is not so far from now when the same political party, for which you have ditched your consciousness, will ditch you when their candidate for the top job is ready to take over. You will be then a member of the same pedestrian that a common Indian citizen is treading. You will not be a part of the same power circle that you are enjoying now because primarily you are not a politician and in all these years you have never been elected to the Parliament even once by the mandate of people, secondly, you don't have clout in the system, which will support you even if you are not in power. Remember, you are just a puppet of an empress and this impression is loud and clear in public domain. Your careless attitude towards the grave concerns of civil society during this anti-corruption crusade has made it much clear that you will never be disloyal to a political party despite what may come, but at the same time you can ignore your responsibility to billions of citizens of this country. That's the reason why people don't consider you either an honest politician or a charismatic statesman.

Sir, this is the high time you must come out from the cocoon of power and luxury and just experience an unprecedented movement that's spreading like a wild fire, not only in India, but outside the country as well. Citizens of this country have provided extraordinary solidarity to a cause that your administration should have looked into well before. People of this country don't expect much from you other than a holistic Lokpal bill that will be powerful enough to curb the rampant corruption autonomously.

Sir, fasting over 75 hours the 72-year old Gandhian activist, Anna Hazare, is fighting for demolishing corruption and thousands of people from all walks of life are joining his crusade with the same indomitable spirit, you have given a deaf ear to the rational protests of civil society. And if the echoes are not reaching you yet, this could be a dangerous proposition for the existence of this government and your position as prime minister as well. Wake up Mr Prime Minister, lest the citizens of this country boycott the political democratic system sine die.

Yours sincerely,

An honest citizen

Revolution 2.0: War against corruption

The nation is united again, not to celebrate a national triumph such as world cup 2011, but to fight back the endemic corruption that has affected every citizen in this country. The solidarity against corruption has finally evolved into an unprecedented anti-corruption movement in the post-Independent India. This is a war between two sections of India, a section of India looted and ditched by the other one. So, which section do you belong to? Remember, this war against corruption will not subside until the revolution takes a logical conclusion. A conclusion that will be absolutely disastrous and unimaginably dangerous for the corrupt people in this country, be they politicians, bureaucrats, or the elite entrepreneurs who are bending the law of this land for profiteering and becoming a conduit for larger scams. No one will be spared this time. If any corrupt person is sitting in a cozy cocoon and enjoying his or her life with the taxpayers' money and keeping a blind eye what's happening around today, it's a moment of great caution – your living delights will be destroyed by those oppressed ones that you have ruled them, harassed them in every occasion of intersection, robbed them openly in broad daylight, for decades together uninterruptedly wherever and whenever your power allowed to do so, so brazenly that even today you bloody corrupt ruling class don't have an iota of empathy for them. Your good time is over now. The India has risen. The youth brigades of India have again shown their power of conviction. A conviction that once freed this nation from the British rule, and now from the chain of endemic corruption that has impacted everybody's life.

If Anna Hazare has sparked the war against corruption, the growing solidarity for the crusade will transform this into a gigantic inferno, which will engulf the living monsters of this nation, the corrupt people of any genre. The way the anti-corruption crusade is gaining momentum across the country has eventually impacted every section of society and, irrespective age and class, gender and education, people are supporting this cause overwhelmingly. People's anger is rising like the eruptions of a live volcano. Incredible support, outpouring reactions, and anti-corruption slogans have charged up the ambiance. I wish this emotional solidarity should withstand the test of time, what may come, we must unite to fight back with a strong resolution. A resolution for a corruption-free India, a resolution for transparent governance, a resolution for accountability of the rulers of this nation.

The citadel is crumbling

Enough is enough now. Perhaps this is what everybody in civil society has started feeling off late. The surging corruption in politics and bureaucracy has crossed the limit of human tolerance. If the recent scams in 2G, CWG, Adarsh Housing Society, land acquisition, and mine leasing are any indicator of the degree of collective corruption in a democratic setup, then it's time now to overhaul the entire democratic process that fuels the endemic corruption.

Now that the young India is joining Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement, the government is not only stirred or shaken, it's started crumbling. The tsunami of revolution is so powerful that one of the panel members, Sharad Pawar, has been forced to quit from GoM that is looking into Lokpal Bill. This is just the beginning of the uprising. The way the netizens are united over the corruption row, it seems the fire will wipe out the existence of this government.

Let's understand why Anna Hazare is opposing the content of this bill. Primarily, the proposed Lokpal bill, much touted as anti-corruption bill, is just another bullshit. The bill that proposes a panel to look into the corrupt practices of politicians including the prime minister contains a number of inherent flaws. The panel doesn't even have the capability to initiate an action suo motu. It's merely an advisory body and can give only recommendations, not execute any action. Moreover, it doesn't include the real bad guys of democracy, the bureaucrats, who are the epicenter of all corruptions. The nexus is always designed by the bureaucrats, they are the pimps who make all the deals between politicians and businessmen. And this bill has waived them off. Sounds ridiculous? True. When trillions of rupees are embezzled in various corruptions, the government is making a mockery of the democracy by initiating another bill, which can't even sting, forget about biting.

If the government thinks the erupting nation-wide anti-corruption movement will die down eventually, like any other movement, then it's gambling on the wrong block. This movement seems will shape into the vigour of another Jasmine revolution that has engulfed the entire Arab world. Long live the movement.

Radia Gate: The Kaleidoscopic Spectrum

The mother of all corporate lobbies, Niira Radia now cries foul, evading the hard evidences against her in the 2G spectrum scam. The most interesting fact is that she even doesn't care to call her a “small fry” while she was the queen bee in webbing the most complex nexus in the biggest ever scam in India. Everyone from politicians to bureaucrats, businessmen to journalists were the sober listener of her music, and the miles of tapes capturing her conversation with various big shots at different points are a reminder of her lobby power in the power circle, which she claims now a concoction. But the contrast here is that when her big boss Ratan Tata starts becoming candid about his relations with Raja and implicitly explains the “chemistry problem”, she still thinks to bamboozle the Public Account Committee (PAC), not a bad try at all. She is again spelling the abracadabra and thinks she could start playing her generic PR tricks.

Well, there is something beyond the Radia's lobbying magic. Radia as a PR strategist has played her perfect bit everywhere, whenever she sensed the corruption quotient in an official is at threshold to her lobby trap. She used her PR skills with extreme dexterity, like any other advocate protects a criminal client in the court of law, by swearing his or her professional ethics. Sounds irony, but the democracy has a room for everyone, that's the alluring angle of this system. But the contrast here is that Radia just now tries to disown her profession and even she doesn't bother to claim her a bumpkin who is too small an influential person in this world of networking.

Now I have a piece of advice for Radia: Why doesn't she close all her PR shops and start venturing into politics? I am sure she can be a better contender in this ball game, and certainly she can easily get a ticket from the Congress too. She has done a lot for the party and every citizen of this country knows it well. Never mind, she can even take the role of Pranav Da for managing the numbers for UPA. After all, it's all lobby. Huh!

Public Figure: Private Life

Why has sexuality been the worst emotional vulnerability of the toughest mind? The history has its fair share of garrulous exposition of sexual escapades of many famous leaders of this world. Furores, disbelief, and sensational macabres strike the susceptible chord of a civil society when there is a breakthrough in the deadlocked personal calibration of public figures. Now the moot question is why the sexual habits of historic figures still matter to the collective consciousness of a progressive society? Is it the primordial instinct of a human being that triggers an erotic sensation in the mind or a Freudian tipover that raptures the grey zone of cerebral hemisphere in a response to the sexual misadventure of an influential personality in our society? No psychologist or sociologist in this world has a justified, veritable answer to that, but the facts remain, after millions of evolutions of human being, the basic desires, irrespective of class, position, power, and degree of success, have never been transformed. Perhaps, this is the secret that many famous authors and media persons have understood DNA by DNA and maneuver this technique repetitively while writing a piece on the private life of a public figure.

Let's understand the hypocrisy of these great authors who dissect the sexuality and morality of renowned public figures are equally vulnerable to these basic facets of life, and no one can deny that being famous is not a design of the womb. It's an amalgam of great conviction, indomitable courage, and enterprising nature that can metamorphose a common man to a famous personality.

Whether it's Joseph Lelyveld, a Pulitzer Prize winner, who recently wrote a book “Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his Struggle with India; or Lothan Machtan, a famous German historian, who wrote “Hitler's Secret: The Double Life of a Ditator”; or Helen Rappaport, the author of “Conspirator: Lenin in Excite”, each one has a distinct perspective of private surreality of the lead character. But each narrative is exclusive in itself. How many readers really look into the brighter side of famous figures? In their mind still lies a spark of dormant inquisitiveness to delve into the secret satire through a predefined conduit, and this deepens the suppressed curiosity and ruptures the firewall of civility towards a voyeuristic journey.

Remember, these famous public figures are first a commoner and then by dint of their enterprising pursuits become renowned. There is no offense in being a human being and behave like that only. However, there is a bit confusion in the public perception that great personalities are less human and more godly, and this deformed view creates all confusion. Let's think beyond the private life of public figures, their vision, their endeavours, their leadership charisma, and their immense contribution towards the greater good of society at large. Then probably we can ignore such trivia and smaller details of human side.

New legend is born

The long wait is over. India has conquered the world of cricket after a spell of 28 years, a period that was filled with despair and discontent, at least for the cricketers and their diehard fans across the country. Though India had won many international cups and trophies in all theses years, winning the world cup is equivalent to winning a world war, and with yesterday's triumph over Sri Lanka, India has lived that glorious moment, which once was the most sought-after aspiration. On this remarkable feat of human achievement, India has again united, united in contagious spirit and emotion, united during the highest national glory.

The frenzied fans across the country have risen above all social isms, all man-made limitations, and they are creating a new social order, in a sense that, nothing can surpass the true desire of human being, even the universe will come down to its knee when billions of hopes and wishes amalgam to emerge the most powerful active force in ensuring that any human desire however grand can be achievable.

There is a great learning from the boundless emotions displayed by billions of cricket fans across the country, a learning that confronts all politically correct prerogatives, a learning that dismisses all pseudo-intellectual theories established by the old order, a learning that only Indian youth power can throw upon the aging mentality.

Look, the spirit of youth is so huge that the power of state can be insignificant under its rage, and this fact has been written on the rock. Remember, this infinite glory of India in the Cricket World Cup 2011 is the mass power of Indian youth at large. We have observed mass revolutions across the world at different points of history. These revolutions symbolize the ferocity of youth power. And now we can undoubtedly claim that India's youth have surpassed all hurdles and showcased this world their influential power. This is a special moment for youth orchestrated only by the youth of India. Many cheers to the youth of india. Long live the youth spirit.

India Wins World Cup 2011

This is the brightest moment that no Indian can ever forget in his or her life time, the moment of dazzling glory, the moment of magnificent triumph, the moment of amazing feat, the moment for each Indian to feel proud for the greatest achievement endeavoured by the Indian cricket team, the the moment of winning the Cricket World Cup 2011, despite the gigantic challenges that seemingly haunted Indian team on many fronts in the grand finale. This is the highest achievement ever conquered by Indian cricket team after a span of 28 years. We have made it finally. We are on the top of the world. It's a collective consciousness of the Indian team. A consciousness that has touched every Indian to believe in the mission of Indian team to live up to the expectations of billion plus citizens. And it's official now, nothing can stop the spirit of undiluted team work of Indians.

The unbridled euphoria has now touched the sky. The firecrackers are impeccably electrifying the vast night sky of India, the way we celebrate during national triumphs. The emotions have evaded all rationality, all physical norms. Because if there is one invisible potential force that connects the psyche of every human being, it's the emotion, and that emotion is subtly running high in to witness the greatest achievement by Indians. This is an unprecedented moment to witness and cherish with great spirit, the spirit of human achievement. Tonight is the most unforgettable moment for India to showcase this world that we can achieve even the most challenging and the harshest task because we believe in ourselves, we trust in our team work. Congratulations India. May this spirit of India bring us many such glories.

Mission World Cup: The Grand Finale

The judgment day has finally arrived. Billions of viewers are holding their breath for the grand finale that would certainly repeat the triumphs of 1983. After few hours from now the entire nation will witness the blitzkrieg of Indian cricket team against Sri Lanka, which in all probability, an equal partner in the World Cup 2011, but I am sure now every Indian is earnestly looking for that sky-clasping glory that once we had at the Lord's, with all our legitimate might. The formats of cricket have evolved drastically in all these years and the Indian cricket team has been transformed as well.

The entire nation is on an extreme emotional high because this is the moment when every Indian is chasing just one dream – winning this world cup what may come. That's the patriotic spirit of every Indian, we often notice especially during international cricket matches. At least in a country where political forces are constantly after the mission of divide and rule, the cricket has helped bind them in a patriotic spirit. Cricket is beyond politics, above any religion, and the only unified force that touches billions of hearts. When any event touches the mass consciousness, the entire universe works towards that singular objective.

Though we cant ignore the finest batting and fielding skills of Sri Lankan players, there is still a caution, the Indian players are on their peak performance. This world cup too has witnessed the potential capability of Indian cricket team when they took over two powerful contenders Australia and Pakistan, If anyone thinks, Sri Lanks might repeat its luck of World Cup 1996, there is not much merit in that argument because the parameters of winning today are quite different from what were 15 years ago. Remember, this is the moment for burying the despair of 1996, what could be the better opportunity for Indian cricket team than this. India is all set to embrace the triumphs of the grand finale. All the best India.

Census 2011: Beyond Statistics

Even after India's much touted economic growth in the last decade, Indian mindset is still feudalistic, and this is evident from the provisional census data for 2011. According to the census report, the 1.21 billion strong country has displayed the worst child sex ratio post independence, a reference point to support the argument that the ugliest side of humanity doesn't connote to how filthily rich a person is, rather how he does prefer to enjoy his fatherhood of a male child by discarding the female one by exploring the medical technologies widely available in a consumer world.

This is, of course, not a freedom of social or family choice, but a collective criminal mentality that has been haunting us for many decades. We must admit now that India still struggles to escape from the dark age of gender bias despite increased literacy and emerging economic freedom. Though many startling reports on female foeticide have been highlighted in media, the government hasn't done any significant reformation in policy level to check this social disgrace.

The report reveals that the sex ratio (number of females per 1000 males) for 0-6 age group has dramatically plunged to 914 in 2011, from 927 in 2001. A fact that looks not only dismal, but terrifyingly disgusting. And the contributors to this hall of shame are none other than Haryana (830), Punjab (846), and J&K (859) those score the bottom three. The alarming news is that the female foeticide is unbelievably high among the economically affluent society, a trend needs to be corrected soon, lest it becomes a dangerous proposition for social balance.

However, there is something to cheer about: the population growth rate has been decelerated (a trend essential for the development of this 2nd most populous nation in the world) compared to 2001 trend and the literacy rate been increased, especially the female literacy. The national literacy rate has increased from 64.83 in 2001, to 74.04 in 2011.