Tamil Nadu Power Crisis - Analysis

Tamil Nadu is facing unannounced power cut (brown out) for past few years. This impacts industrial sector and public alike. There was no clear policy from DMK Government. There were allegations that kick backs were involved in purchase of power from private sector and hence Govt were neglecting its own power generation. The planned maintenance were not co-ordinated aggravating the problem. It wouldn't be unfair if we attribute this as failure for DMK's election loss.

The new CM, J. Jayalalithaa is taking some positive action. She promised to add 10,000MW generation capacity to the system over next 5 years. There are no clear indication whether it includes current projects. In my view it is in right direction but does not go far enough. I hope she and her Electricity Minister aggressively pursue this matter.

According to TN state government's policy document, the current capacity including its share from central pool is10,214 MW (this is excluding renewal energy sources as they are unpredictable in peak loads). The projected demand for 2011-12 is 14,224 MW and for 2012-13 is 15,517 MW. The current average deficit is 2500 MW. It is expected that demand will double in next 5 years based on the projected growth. I hope this explains why I am saying promised 10,000 MW generation is not enough. The Government should develop short term (up to 2 years), mid-term ( up to 10 Years) and long term (up to 30 years) policies. This is not just planning but involves huge investments are needed.


In the short term, Jayalalithaa's pursuit of asking 1000 MW of power for next one year make sense. She is expediting the projects such as the Vallur 500 MW capacity. She is also requesting the Central Government to expedite Neyveli and Koodangulam projects.However this is not under her control. Hence current deficit and projected deficits not likely to go away anytime in near future.Any new project ground breaking now will take couple of years before it is added to the Grid. This forces us to consider saving energy which is good thing in long-term as well. Here are somethings which will impact positively.

- According to policy document from TNEB, the transmission loss is 18%. Reducing it to 15%, to their target will save over 400 MW of power. Apart from bridging the gap, it helps bring down the cost.

- The Government should encourage public to use energy efficient lamps such as CFLs. It can even give couple of them free through PDS. Typically this saves 75% energy cost and produces 75% less heat.


- The Government buildings can adopt similar approach and can meet portion of its demand from Solar Energy generated in that location. Significantly reduces the transmission loss.


- State Government can enforce energy efficient products such as fans, AC, etc in steps. Sales tax can be higher for non compliant energy efficient products.


- Industries can be asked to reduce their usage by following the best practices such as using energy efficient products and meeting portion of their demand from solar energy produced in that location.


- Smart switches/meters can be installed in stages. This will allow the Government to charge premium rate for peak usage (may be restricted for business) and any excess energy generated can be sold back to Grid. This is win-win for both.


- Encourage public to use Solar energy for water heating and part of their needs such as lights, cooking, etc.


- Should enforce other conservative measures such as turning off the street lights on time, turning off unnecessary lights in Government building. This habits should be encouraged to public through proper ads.


- Unplugging electronics such as Mobile Phone adapters save money. Government should initiate ad campaign to achieve this.


- Government should aggressively enforce power theft prevention. This should include political rallies. (Spl. Thanks for ppl who reminded me on this)



The emphasis should be on Renewal energy generation closer to consumption location. The traditional energy resources such as coal, water, Gas, Diesel, etc are limited in natural resource. Depleting them is not a good idea. In a decade or so, we will be having hybrid/electrical cars driving the demand. Government needs to get prepared for it. This is just a sample on what can be done. Hopefully Government addresses these ones and come up with more ways to meet the demand.

Tirumala Temple - Historical Background - Update

I received quite a few emails and tweets asking for the source related to usage of revenues from temple during English and Nawab of Arcot period.  I mentioned one source in my previous blog. Further investigation confirms the same. The following are the exact text from the book, "History of Tirupati" by T.K.T. Virraraghava Charya published by TTD re-print 2003.

"The Diary and Consultation Book and the Country correspondence after 1758 do not yet appear to have been printed by the Government yet. A reliable history relating to the further period cannot therefore be written until they are available. It is however seen from a report made by Pigot to the English at (F.S.G.) dated April 8, 1762 that after the surrender of Vellore by the French, the English army marched to the Nellore country. Nazibullahkhan, Kallidar of Nellore was attacked and he took refuge with Poligar of Udayagiri, who out of fear delivered him up. Bangaru Yachama Naik, Poligar of Vengatagiri compromised for 2.5 Lakhs rupees; Damarla Venkatapati Naik, Poligar of Kalahasti made peace for 1.5 Lakhs and Boomarazu settled in a few days. Tirupati was thus rendered safe and secure for the English. It continued to be the sure and unfailing source of income for them even till September, 1800, as we have seen from Lord Clive's letter to the Nawab of Arcot in connection with the arrangements to be made for the pilgrimage of Raja Raghottama Rao to Tirupati although the temple along with pergana of Tirupati was nominally the property of the Nawab of Arcot. The revenues stood assigned to the English."

Tirumala Temple - Historical Background

I recently read The Tirumala Temple by Dr. N.Ramesan. This book is published by TTD. I would like highlight some interesting facts from the book.

1. Ramanuja visited Tirumala/Tirupati thrice. On First occasion, he spent about a year with his uncle, Tirumalai Nambi learning the esoteric  meaning of Ramayana. The second visit was for settling a dispute that arose between Saivites and Vaishnavites regarding the nature of the image set up in Tirumala temple. During the last visit, which was at the advanced old age of 102, Acharya installed the image of Govindaraja and laid the foundation of the present town of Tirupati.

2. The Tirumala-Tirupati region was saved from ravages of the Muslim invader because they took a south-western direction and did not march south of Warangal through the heart of the Andhra country.

3. In 1327 A.D. (as stated, some say 1310 A.D.), Malik Kaffur attacked SriRangam. The sanctum of the temple was walled up and all jewels are hidden. The processional deity (Utsava Moorthy) of Sri Ranganatha was smuggled out of Sri Rangam by Pillai Lokacharya and other devotees. After wandering in various places, they reached Tirumala. It was placed in Tirumala Temple along with Venkateshwara later date.

4. Gopanna was a Brahmin general of Kampana and Governor of  "Senji". He went on a pilgrimage and found the idol of Sri Ranganatha of Sri Rangam worshipped along with that of Venkateswara. With the consent of the priests of Tirumala temple, he transfered the image first to Senji and then to Sri Rangam.

5. In all probability,  the Ranganatha procession image was removed in or about 1368 A.D. Harihara II is mentioned in an inscription from Tirumala.

6. Maratha ruler Siavaji,  passed through the Kallur pass, near Tirupati in 1676 A.D.while on his way for the conquest of Arni, Vellore and Ginjee (Senji).

7. In 1710, Carnatic Nawab adviser, Todar Mal, visited Tirumala and installed three statues of himself, his wife and his mother.

8. Safdar Ali who succeeded to Nawabi (about 1733 A.D), paid fifty thousand rupees from Tirumala treasury which was under his control and got rid of Marathas.

9. In 1744 A.D., Anwaruddin became the Nawab. Later Mohammad Ali, son of Anwaruddin who was championed by the English for the Nawabi, sent two lakhs of rupees from the treasury of the Tirumala temple to the English Commander Clive who was besieged at Arcot.

10. The revenues of Tirumala had for many years been paid to the ruler of the district within which it situated. The Nawab of Arcot, Mohammad Ali, who thus received nearly two lakhs annually, assigned this value source if income to the English in consideration of the assistance rendered by them in establishing his power in the Karnataka.

Here is just few facts. More to follow.

DMK 2011 election Manifesto - discussion

The ICC world cup which was taking limelight for past month ended with Team India winning the world cup. The TN assembly elections which were at back burner for past week or so came back to lime light. Both DMK and AIADMK manifesto filled with freebies. I am not a believer and supporter of freebies. I view this as bribe to get votes. I would prefer to vote based on Good Governance and future wellness of the state in mind. We will review the DMK manifesto in this post.

DMK Manifesto is 66 pages in length. The pages 42-45 provides the highlights of their policies. The first 10 pages provides the back ground of DMK and other regular propaganda. The pages 46 through 66 is past achievements and Annexures. I focused on the highlights and referred to the appropriate pages for additional information.

Loans to women self groups: The loan amount to this group will be increased to 4 lakhs from  2.5 lakhs out of which 2 lakhs will be subsidy. Political parties figured out they can leverage these women in election time and secure their votes. . This will be 5000-10000 per women. This is socializing the corruption

Low rental housing scheme This another bad policy without addressing the fundamental problem. The real estate boom makes housing unaffordable. This growth is not sustainable. The Housing Board was created to address this problem and we need to see where we went wrong and correct it rather than creating a new problem.

One kilo of iodized salt every month through PDS: I am shocked to see this. Is this acceptance by government that inflation is so high and salt is not affordable? I am not a big fan of freebies and it is a bad policy.

Maternity leave will be increased from 3 months to 4 months:  I am not sure whether it is applicable to all employees or only for who work in Government. I think we should stay with 3 months and provide up to one year non-paid leave if the women choose to. This can be applied to every one working in Tamil Nadu.

 Free bus pass for senior citizens:   Government transport corporations are running in losses. The estimated loss is over 1000 crores and it is struggling to perform maintenance and buy diesel. This is going to add stress to the system. Rather public will be happy to pay for good service at reasonable price. I am positive this free pass will be limited to specific services by tricking people. Another Election gimmick?

Increase the income of people who are below poverty line to above poverty line: This is false promise in the back drop of freebies. Given the policy of the DMK government, this is absurd. The only way they can achieve this with current policy is distribution of DMK leaders wealth to the people who are below the poverty level.

Waive non-farm loans and their interest in stages : This is another bad policy. This will create a culture where people don't want to pay back the loans hoping that Government will come to their rescue. This also penalizes the good citizens who pay the loan back on time. This should be used only in extraordinary situation and it became common thing which is dangerous policy.

Extend the free electricty to coconut farm and horticulture crop: Framers will be happy to pay if they get the uninterrupted service and service for new request is processed in timely manner without expecting bribe.  This is one another bad policy.

Conversion of agricultural land to other purposes will be prevented without permission: We have enough laws to stop them. Inspite of it, this happens due to corruption and political influence. Adding new rule will facilitate corruption further. Is there any hidden agenda behind it as MK family accumulated so much land?

Continuously strive to alleviate Eelam problem:  DMK government already watched one of worst genocide happening in eelam. They haven't done anything to stop except writing letters and sending telegrams in spite of being part of the Central Government. This is nothing more than political statement.

Find a solution to stop atrocious usury (Kandhu vatti): The ADMK government passed the strong laws to stop this. There is no need for new law. It is matter of administering law and order. Also educating the public.

Kalaignar Housing Family Scheme subsidy increased: The subsidy of housing scheme will be increased from Rs 75000 to one lakh. Government could have achieved the similar things through TNHB (Tamil Nadu Hosuing Board) with some subsidy and loans. The current system forces people to come up with the balance money which will be difficult. Officials and DMK functionaries are milking the innocent poor to deliver the benefit which could have been avoided through TNHB by defining proper rules and eligibility criteria.

35 kilos of rise for poorest of poor: In the past five years we have seen smuggling of the rise to neighboring states and sold it in black market. It is failed policy and should not be extended. This will help smugglers and politicians.

Free Grinder or Mixer: This is hang over from last election. Free color TV promise during the last election put them into power. So DMK wanted to buy vote for Grinder or Mixer. ADMK also promised similar things to counter DMK. The bottom line is it's a bad policy and this money should be used for infrastructure & growth.

Benefit increase to the schemes:  The DMK promised to increase the old people pension, financial assistance to pregnant women and marriage assistance. These are the couple of things which make sense given the status of women in the society particularly in lower end of economic scale.

Conclusion: I read through the complete manifesto couple of times in search of any growth related policy. None is found. The promises in the manifesto are intended to create popularity and get back to power using cash/benefit for vote. Absolutely no policy towards growth of the state or uplifting of the common people. This will make sure all the revenue will be spent on the freebies and reckless policies. It will ensure Government will borrow money for each and every growth related project putting undue stress on treasury. We can assured that the TN debt will cross 2 Lakh crore in next five years and state will be in the brink of bankruptcy.

AIADMK List and associated mishap

On Wednesday,  160 AIADMK candidates list was unilateraly released. The list was released even before the seat identification process is complete with its partners. Shockingly many of the constituencies figured in the AIADMK list were in the wish list by their partners. Some of them had their sitting MLAs. Even AIADMK candidates were allocated different constituencies than they requested.

For example, Gokul Indira was assigned Anna Nagar while she requested Thirupattur. The list also figured P.Valarmathi who is not in good books of AIADMK supremo in recent past. Dissolved Sasikala Peravai founder, P.Needhipathi got Usilampatti (As of Friday night, this seat was allotted to its partner AIMMK. a devar outfit.)

This alliance was put together by AIADMK supremo painfully over one year period. Some element within her residence/office attempted destroy everything in one press release. She is not stupid to release the complete list without finalizing with partners. If it was done for the auspicious day reason, she would have released few prominent names but not the complete list. I do believe this is happened without her approval.  There are several theories going around why and who did this. The bottom line is she should find out the group/individual and take action on them. Otherwise more trouble on the way.

On Friday, she called the leaders of AIADMK front over phone and spoke to them. This pacified them and seat identification process continued and in some cases it was finalized. After the identification is complete we can expect some change in the AIADMK final list. Hopefully the deserving candidates will get the nomination. This may mean the nomination goes to different individual than the one in the first list. She has ability to make this change and our hope is she does.

In 1990, her resignation was released (handed over to police and they released) by someone from her residence. As a follow up, Sasikala's husband was kicked out of her residence later citing him as reason. I hope some one pays the price for this mischievous behavior.

Tamil Nadu Election landscape

The long expected Jayalalitha-Vijaykanth meeting happened today (March 4th, 2011). At last DMDK decided to join AIADMK front and they got 41 seats in return. Now AIADMK needs to finalize the seat sharing with other partners like MDMK, CPI, CPIM.

On DMK side, Congress is giving enough heart burns to DMK. After three rounds of talks, no deal yet. Congress is trying to gain maximum out of 2G scam. On the DMK side, they are pressuring Congress by allocating to other partners such as PMK, VCK and others. There are whispers that partners may give up few seats in case there is a need. I still believe DMK will settle with Congress and go as single front. Both parties aware of this, particularly after AIADMK-DMDK confirmation.

In the past when a front which polls around 45% of votes returns to power with majority on its own. This elections is not going to be different. Based on the previous elections in 2006 and 2009, the ADMK front should poll closer to 48-52% range. In case of ADMK front crossing 50% threshold is going to be advantage to them.  The 2G scam should be an advantage to ADMK front as well. In this secnario AIADMK should win over 180 seats.

AIADMK - 33%
DMDK -    10%
CPI       -    1.5%
CPI(M) -    1.5%
MDMK -    3%
Others  -      2%
_______________________
Total - 51%

DMK    - 26.5%
Congrss - 8.5%
PMK -     5%
VCK  -    1.5%
Others -   1%
___________________
Total - 42.5%

BJP- 2%
Independents - 3%
Others - 1.5%

The wild card is money and power during the election. As one of my fellow Twittery pointed out, I could not imagine the consequence of DMK-PMK-VCK cadres occupying the polling booth in Northern districts. It is going to be challenge for Election Commission to conduct fair election.

Gap between DMK and Congress is widening and it will show up in the election as well. This is the status as on today and more than a month before election. There are bumpy raids ahead. BUCKLE UP !!!!!

Tamil Nadu Assembly Election - Alliance Shaping

 Surprising to many, alliance and seat sharing is not finalized yet. Usually AIADMK will swiftly move ahead which is still struggling. Here is the status

AIADMK block - AIADMK,  MDMK, CPI, CPIM, PT,  MNMK and other small parties

DMK block - DMK, Congress, PMK, VCK and other small parties.

The biggest wild card is DMDK.  DMDK stance on DMK is very clear and DMK cannot give DMDK enough seats. This option is ruled out. The question is whether it will align with AIADMK or go alone in some form. There are contradicting statements on this. I still believe DMDK will contest with AIADMK. This is mutually beneficially and its clear from J.Jayalalithaa's  unusual patience.Going alone is suicidal for DMDK. 

It looks like AIADMK is not able to accommodate DMDK demands (at least that is the perception). Recently Vijaykanth brother-in-law (Sudeesh) visited Delhi and reportedly met Congress leaders. There are rumours that Congress is keeping the communication channel open with DMDK. The suggestions are Congress can go with DMDK dumping DMK. I do not believe this will happen for two reasons.

1. The Congress needs DMK's support in Central. Absence of DMK will weaken UPA possibly  bring down the UPA Government.

2. M.Karunanidhi understands that breaking away with Cong will bring CBI to his door steps and will reflect in election.

There are arguments Congress will benefit from Vijaykanth and develop alternatives to DMK/AIADMK. May be they are thinking him like Chiranjeevi.  Vijaykanth also benefit financially from this. It is interesting to note that Panruti S.Ramachandran has close association with Congress from MGR days. In my view, Congress is playing this to get more seats (possibly 60+ seats from DMK) and power sharing arrangement. In my view even if this happens, it will advantage for AIADMK block as they hold close to 40%. It will be miserable for DMK block. DMDK/Congress can do well in some congress strong holds.

My prognosis:

DMDK joining AIADMK - 75% chance

DMDK going alone - 15% (may be because of threat and money)

DMDK+Congress - 10%

Tamil Nadu Debt - Irresponsible answers

Tamil Nadu debt crossed one Lakh Core and it was reported by media. I blogged about it on 3 Feb 2011. As expected it was raised in Tamil Nadu Assembly opposition.

The  fact Tamil Nadu debt was doubled in last five years from about 50, 000 crores to one Lakh Crore. We need to understand 100% increase of 10,000 Crore is not same as 50,000 Crore. This is serious problem and we expected some responsible answers and action plan. However, the answers from the Ministers were irresponsible.

The Finance Minister told the Assembly that there was nothing wrong in going for loans to implement projects and welfare measures. In fact he was proud of what they have achieved. It was disapponting to hear this answer. He was also attributed the increased debt to global slow down. As usual they compare with other states like West Bengal, Maharashtra.

The Tamil Nadu Law Minister Durai Murugan joined the discussion saying no one will loan the money if it cannot be repayed. In my view, The question is not just on repayment. How the revenue is spent keeping the long term grwoth in mind.

The Deputy Chief Minister argued that even developed countries like USA borrows money so nothing wrong in borrowing money.

The reality is States debt is over 20% of GDP which is close the maximum allowed by Central Government which is 25%.  Any downward trend in state economy or additional borrowing will break the limit easily. At the current debt level it works out Rs15,000 per individual.

As my mentioned in the previous blog, the Government revenue is spent on welfare and other fixed costs such as salaries. The borrow money for all the development projects. This limits the number of projects and critical projects are moving slowly.  This is not a healthy trend. General practice is to make some investments from revenue and borrow the money for rest. It is also important to make sure the projects pays for itself from its revenue. Government may able to subsidize portion of the regular expense based on the project.  This Government wants to make money for their family and policies are framed around it. It is unfortunate.

The Welfare projects implemented by this Government are short sighted and questionable which I am planning to cover in coming week.

Ratan Tata Letter

Ratan Tata was leading business and highly respected person in India. When he mentioned about the alleged bribe asked by Union Minister for starting an airlines and  forced him to abandon the project made me proud of him. It all started changing when the  Nira Radia tapes was leaked.

Indian Express released the hand written letter by Ratan Tata to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi.

The letter was written on November 13, 2007 about five months after Dayanidhi Maran was forced out. of cabinet. There were reports that Dayanidhi Maran wanted 30% stake from Tata Sky DTH service at par value for Sun TV. Obviously Tata was not happy with this demand and was being cornered. The Karunanidhi's internal family fight forced Dayanidhi Maran out of cabinet which came as relief to Tata.

A. Raja was appointed as Telecommunication Minister as successor to Maran. This was great relief to Tata. Ratan Tata wrote this letter praising Raja less than six months since Raja took over the new role in Sanchar Bhavan. Certainly this is a great relief to Tata and DMK internal family fight helped him as well. In this letter Tata praised Raja saying "rational", "fair", "action-oriented" leader. He went on to say, on most part Raja's policies on spectrum are "legally sound" and "rational". (We now know rational to whom and how much it is legal).

Ratan Tata also praised Karunanidhi by saying, the history praises the vision, creativity, high growth achieved by Karunanidhi and his party. (The Vision is to make money for themselves, Creativity  in investing the looted money, high growth in Kalignar TV). Tata mentioned that DMK possibly can take credit for the great achievement and significant contribution to the country (Certainly Rs 1760000000000 crore loss to exchequer is great achievement and reinvesting them in other sectors through back channel is significant contribution).

Ratan Tata praised  Karunanidhi for his great vision (may be Free TV which is expected to help Tata Sky) and great equity (may be refering to Dalit card to support A.Raja as Judicial fairness ).He also confirmed that Raja works under the direct instruction of Karunanidhi by saying "can be delivered under your leadership by Mr.Raja". He also requested Nira Radia to deliver this letter in person.

It is very clear that Ratan Tata is happy with Raja and do not want Dayanidhi to get back in Sanchar Bhavan. It is obvious that Tata lobbied for A.Raja since it benefited in 2G spectrum and want to keep it that way. Tata gifted Voltas land to Rajathi Ammal to achieve this goal. I hope CBI extends his investigation to Tata group as well.

Your comments and suggestion are most welcome.

Is PMK abandoned?

Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) is  (Vanniyar) caste based party from Tamil Nadu. Over decade they had the habit of switching side between AIADMK and DMK led fronts . They successfully negotiated more seats each time by switching sides. This increased seats helped them to show they have strong vote base contrary to eroding base particularly to DMDK.

In 2006 TN Assembly election, they won 18 seats by contesting 31 seats. In spite of strong campaign against DMDK president Vijaykanth, he won in PMK strong hold. In last parliamentary election, as usual they switched back to AIADMK front from DMK-Cong front and lost all the six constituency it contested in its strong hold. This is a major blow to PMK. The political pundits believed that DMK selectively targeted PMK to discredit them. Now in upcoming Tamil Nadu election, it wanted to contest with DMK. PMK sent his MLAs' and it leaders to meet Karunanidhi multiple times to seal the deal.

In Delhi, Karunanidhi wants to temper down Congress expectation. He announced PMK will contest with DMK front. Ramdoss wanted to get more seats in negotiation and said no decision was made yet and will be decided by General Council not expecting Congress reservation against PMK. During Meeting with Karunanidhi, Sonia was keen in keeping the PMK out of the alliance. DMK support did not received well by Sonia Gandhi. On return to Chennai, Karunanidhi said PMK chance of joining DMK is ruled out. This was shock to PMK.

PMK  was also kept the channel open with AIADMK to see whether it can get better deal. AIADMK is keen in bring Vijaykanth's DMDK into AIADMK front. For AIADMK, PMK is only fall back option. This was another shock to PMK Leader S.Ramdoss. He delegated his son to Delhi for a patch up with Congress. He could not meet Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi so far.

As expected Congrees goes with DMK front and DMDK goes with AIADMK front. He is pretty much stranded or go with other small parties. This is good omen for Tamil Nadu politics. If PMK can convince DMK and Congress to accept PMK in to UPA, he need to accept lesser number of seats.

The following are hypothetical scenario. Congress comes out DMK front (unlikely considering central situation), contest with DMDK. This will attract both DMK and AIADMK towards PMK. Another option, DMDK goes alone (Viajykanth indicated against this), PMK can get a good deal from AIADMK.

As of this writing, PMK is in limbo. I do not see more than single digit representation in new Tamil Nadu Assembly at the most (Likely ZERO if they go alone). I believe this is good for Tamil Nadu. May be fall of PMK (Dr. S. Ramadoss) opportunism starts now.

Kalaignar TV - Unanswered Questions?

A.Raja arrest has given a new dimension to 2G spectrum scam. Media reported 2G spectrum money invested in Kalaignar TV and CBI is investigating the money trail. In my view this goes much beyond this and proper investigation will bring them out. Here are some unanswered questions.

1. Kalaignar TV went live from concept (to live) in less than four months. Is it possible without misuse of power? (Note that Maran resigned from Cabinet on May 16, 2007 and Kalaignar TV inaugurated on Sep 15, 2007) It is also important to note that A.Raja was replaced as communication Minister after Maran's resignation.

2. The initial investment made to Kalaignar TV is mere one crore rupee with Dayalu 60%, Kanimozhi 20% and Sharad Kumar 20%. Is it sufficient capital? Where did they get the rest of the investment without equity interest? If they acquired non secured  loan and what the loaners got in return?

3. Nira Radia alleges that Maran brothers paid 600 Crores to Dayalu. Maran brothers haven't denied this yet. Is that money found the way into Kalaignar TV?

4. DB Realty funneled money to Kalaignar TV through three legged transactions of 294 Crores  for 30% stake which was latter converted to non secured Loan in 2009-10 which was paid back. Note that 294 Crores figures is reported by various media in wide range of 210 crores to 294 crores). DB Realty is beneficiary of 2G spectrum should be noted here. Why is this?

5. The 30% stake for 210 Crores (lowest number picked here) puts the Kalaignar TV value at 700 Crores in 2009-10. The deal fell through because they could not reach the agreeable price as per report. It may be because the valuation from Kalaignar TV side is much higher. This means one crore investment grown over 700 folds in two years time. Wow, how may of us will get this opportunity. In general, it takes few years to see any profit in high capital business like this.

6. Raj TV helped them to put together the infrastructure. They did not get any equity stake. What Raj TV got in return?

7. The Kalaignar TV bought the Rajinikanth movie "Sivaji" in May 2007 for 4 Crores even before TV was inaugurated.  They bought Kamal movie "Dasavatharam" in the same year for similar amount. This is again with One Crore initial investment.

8. Kalaignar claims he owns only the house in which he lives. Dayalu Ammal is a house wife. If Karunanidhi did not provide her money, where she got the money for investment?  Is it a Benami transaction? If so for whom?

9. Karunanidhi spent lot time defining the programs. If he is not having any vested interest, why should he do that. Chief Minister role is highly time consuming job and requires lot of time to administer. Is he investing time for his personal/family not focusing on public interest? Is it ethical even if it is legal?

Reforms for Corruption Free India

Corruption is the major issue facing India at present. This could potentially derail our growth and put us decades back. As stated by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, corruption engulfing India like cancer. This must be treated before it turns into terminal disease. I believe the following reforms are needed to treat this cancer as a starting point. I welcome any comments and suggestion to improve this proposal.

1.       The punishment in India for corruption (for that matter any criminal activities) are less in comparison with developed nations. The law must be strengthened to deter anyone from being corrupt.  The punishment should be in the range of 20 years to 35 years. Multiple counts should be sequential instead of parallel. This will pretty much lock them for life. Any ill earned asset should be recovered.

2.       The punishment should be progressive. Meaning that higher official such as police officers, judges, ministers will attract highest punishment in comparison with lower level employees.

3.       All the corruption cases should be completed within one year.

4.       The appointment of anti-corruption wing should be based on their service records. The individuals must be impeccable. They should be independent from any interference from political appointees or higher ups from external organization. Any such interference should able be reported to CVC for action. CVC should be empowered to take action.

5.       The appointment of constitutional positions such as CVC, Election Commissioner and others should be vetted thoroughly. The Committee should vet the list in open forum and recommend three names to Selection Committee (current setup). The appointment should be on consensus. In case of consensus not achievable, selection committee can recommend one name based on majority for up/down vote to parliament/assembly.

6.       The Prime Minister, Chief Minister, President, Vice-President and Governors terms should be limited to maximum of 10 years.

7.       The State and Central Ministers should also be limited to maximum of 15 years.

8.       There is no term limit on MP, MLA and MLC. However they must reside in their constituency. Ministers are exempted from residency requirements as they need to stay in capital.

9.       The MP, MLA and MLC should spend half of their time during non session period in their constituency.  Violation of this could lead to disqualification.

10.   Any corruption allegation against PM, CM and Ministers should be investigated by CVC. If CVC recommends filing a FIR and/or approved by Governor/President, the law should mandate the resignation of the individuals to face the charges.

11.   The Nepotism is one of the root causes for corruption. The law should prohibit immediate family members succeeding to current constitutional positions such as President, vice-President, PM and CM for next three years as minimum.

12.   The PM, CM, Ministers, Judges, MP, MLA and MLC should declare their assets every year. CVC should investigate if there is disproportionate increase.

13.   Appointments of High Court and Supreme Court judges should be vetted properly may be in an open forum.

14.    The PM, CM, Ministers, MLA/MP/MLC, Class 1 officers’ information should be available online particularly any information pertaining to assets, pending/past actions including favorable outcomes. This enables general public to know about the officials.

15.   The current suggestion/Complaint process does not work well. The new process should allow them to email/mail to higher officials at central location for action. In case of corruption should be referred to Anti-Corruption Wing.

16.   e-Governance should be implemented which should prevent subjective decision making.

17.   Typically corruption comes into picture to get a favorable decision for their cause. This can be minimized by reducing the burecracy and make the process simple. For example, stamp duty can be charged purely based on Government assessed value. These values should be adjusted annually based on market condition every year. The adjustment can be done based on previous year sale price, inflation and other factors as determined. This will reduce the corruption as the rates are fixed and people can use the original transaction amount as it will not impact their stamp duty.

18.   The above transactions must be through banking system eliminating /minimizing the cash payment.

19.   The similar approach in Regional Transport Office, Collectorate, etc should follow the same process.

20.   All police stations must be video monitored and record the video digitally in central location. This could clean lot of mess in Police stations.

21.   The President, Vice-President, PM, CM and Ministers should not be doing any other job which require significant effort even if it does not involve financial benefit. For example, Board of directors/trustee in Charity which demands few hours of work every week/month. The reason is the above position requires lot of effort apart from serving their constituents. In real world, it is not practical to perform multiple roles at same time. May be holding party position such as President/Secretary while being CM could also be another scenario.

22.   The age limit to serve in Assembly/Parliament should be set to 80 years.

23.   The CVC should advertise the downfall of corruption to educate the public.

24.   The Election commission should set realistic limits on election expenses for candidate (for Assembly 1 crore and Parliament 2 crores) and should be adjusted for inflation. Violations should be dealt seriously.  Election commission should ensure integrity of election by preventing distribution of money and freebies during election.

25.   Any report of Ministers’ Family/friends benefiting directly or indirectly should be investigated by CVC using appropriate resources. If proven Ministers’ must charged with misusing their power.

Why Karunanidhi (DMK) protect A.Raja?

The media speculated DMK to strip party positions from A.Raja. Instead DMK passed resolution praising and supporting A.Raja. Media started attributing this to Kanimozhi's support to A.Raja. I believe it goes much beyond that. I am sure Karunanidhi and his family does not want him to talk freely with CBI. This will be problem for them. He is not just close and trusted associate for Karunanidhi. He is much more than that and  helped them in many ways. Here are few key factors

1. Kalaignar TV was operational in 45 days. This was impossible without A.Raja particularly against Maran brothers. He was a Telecom minister and cleared all the paper work swiftly.

2. One of the 2G spectrum beneficiary SWAN is allegedly linked to Karunanidhi family particularly Kanmozhi and her Mom.

3. A.Raja was Environment Minister before he moved to Telecom Ministry. Every big project needs ministry approval. This is considered cash cow portfolio. If it is investigated more scams should come out. He was key figure in blocking any critical project from previous AIADMK Government such as desalination plant. Current DMK Government completed the same project. This is apart from money making machine and profit sharing.

4. CBI suspects 2G spectrum funds might have been invested in spiceJet through Maran.

5. It is also suspected Kalaignar TV might have funded by 2G Spectrum money.

6. CBI suspects Tamil Mayyam involved in this scam. Kanimozhi is one of the Board of Directors. CBI raided their premises.

CBI could offer him to talk about beneficiaries in return he can get reduced conviction and his family members can be spared. This is common practice by investigating agency across the world including India. These could be crucial in DMK backing in spite of additional baggage during upcoming assembly election. Stay tuned for updates!!

Tamil Nadu - Debt Load increasing

Tamil Daily Dinamalar reports that state debt reached One Lakh Crore. This is not larger than 2G spectrum loss but gets alarmingly closer 25% of state's GDP which is the maximum allowed by Central Government. The sad thing is DMK Government wastes its revenue for freebies and borrows heavily for any development. Growing debt will eventually increase borrowing cost and hinder the future growth. This could be painful.

Let us see  the debt load for past few years.

2009 debt -  74,858 crores

2010 debt -  89,149 crores

2011 debt - 1,01,628 crores

 The major revenue sources

Liquor tax - 7,508 crores

Petrol tax - 6,000 crores

Commercial tax - 26, 851 crores

Stamp duty - 4,096 crores

Motor vehicle Tax - 2,400 crores

Other Tax - 41,438 crores

Non Tax revenue -  4,101 crores

State share from Central - 10, 401 crores

 

The total revenue is about 1,02,795 crores.

The Government spends about 51% of its total revenue on salaries and pension alone. This is pretty much fixed cost and cannot back down on this. The rest of the money is spent on Free TV, Free Gas, One rupee rice, Pongal gift, Free electricity,etc.

The Government spends money on Karunanidhi dream projects such as new assembly building, Housing for cine workers (BTW, it is free),  World Classical Tamil Meet, etc. The Government heavily borrows for visionary projects such as Metro Rail, Oganakal Water Project, etc. This restricts Government ability to borrow further and current projects move slowly. This also impedes any new project which could be beneficial to state.

The unfortunate fact is current Government spends its revenue recklessly without any longtime vision. (There may  be  family financial goal to reach) If the  trend continues, the debt could easily double (2 lakh  crores) in next five years with a conservative estimate. This will happen without any significant growth. This will be disastrous to the state welfare. The only solution is fix the mismanagement of Government funds which will  include some painful decisions.

The current five year plan mandates the following

Overall GDP growth of 9%

Agricultural related growth 4%

Industrial growth 9.2%

Service sector growth 10.1%

20  lakh new jobs.

None of the above goal achieved towards the end of 4th year of current five year plan.

It may be interesting to compare how much Karunanidhi Family assets grown while Government is borrowing. We should also consider how much wealth is accumulated by those MLA/MP/Ministers during this period as well.

Can the public wake up and change the trend?

A.Raja arrested - What's next?

A.Raja was arrested today related to 2G scam along with his secretaries.  NDTV reports that he was arrested based on the facts collected so far. Raja is evasive on key matters. The question is why now? DMK and Congress tried to cover this up. Supreme Court intervened and condemned CBI and made Prime Minister to file an affidavit. He was untouched.Kapil Sibal recently said there is no loss.

The Central Government appointed one man commission submitted its reports. There are indications that officials and A.Raja indicted on this report. The CBI needs to submit his interim report to Supreme Court on Feb 10th. Tamil Nadu election around the corner. DMK and Congress alliance is sealed. Both need to offload the extra baggage. Parliament Budget session is next two weeks. Government needs to deal with opposition on JPC. Congress considered these factors and decided to take advantage by arresting A.Raja.

On Feb 10th, CBI is submitting its interim report to SC. Without concrete action, CBI may be condemned by SC.CBI and Government may want to  avoid embarrassment. Congress can use this to pressure DMK to get more seats and power sharing agreement. In return they can spare Kanimozhi and company, later continue weakening the case. It looks like DMK will yield as there is not many option for them. It is DMK turn to be at receiving end. Congress can argue now against JPC claiming case is pending in court and A.Raja is arrested.

We need to understand this 2G scam is much larger than A.Raja. The complete network must be exposed along with individuals and corporates. In my view, only JPC will be have enough power to investigate all aspects. Precisely this is the reason why JPC provision is added to our constitution. There are alleged involvements by corporates, Sonia Gandhi and her sisters, Karunanidhi and his family, etc. These aspects must be investigated as well. The best way we can find resolution for this is JPC investigation in an open forum.

CVC appointment

The Prime Minister and Home Minister recommended P J Thomas in spite of pending criminal case against him.The Opposition leader registered her dissent against the appointment in selection committee meeting.  So far Central Government defended the appointment as usual. Recently Attorney General G E Vahanvati told that Supreme Court that selection committee is not presented with the facts during their review. I am not sure whether AG things Supreme Court and Citizens are dumb.

It is unbelievable that selection committee will review the file without all the facts in front of them.It is common practice that Service Record of individual official will be reviewed for even a normal promotion. It is unbelievable this was not presented to the selection committee. In a ethical selection process, P J Thomas name should not even been considered for this position. The Home Minister and Opposition Leader confirmed they discussed this issue. Will Central Government will ask AG's resignation or court will condemn him for providing false information to SC? He should be punished for misrepresenting the court and larger public.

Home Minister confirmation of Opposition Leader dissent shows that Prime Minister and Home Minister was keen in appointing him to cover up 2G spectrum. From Nira Radia's tape and other sources clearly shows Dr. Manmohan Singh is a dummy Prime Minister controlled by Gandhi family. He was not able to make his own decision on any key issue which was obvious in 2G scam. Whether  Prime Minister and Home Minister acted on their own or not. They are responsible for the decision. They should resign for making this poor choice. At least they should fix the problem by asking P J Thomas to resign. In case if he refuses, the cabinet should recommend The President of India for his removal.

In the future to avoid this mistake and embarrassment, (should be followed in all constitutional appointments)

1. The selection process should be openly vetted before it goes to Selection Committee. This could be done by Group of Ministers or Parliamentary committee.

2. The Selection Committee (comprising of Prime Minister,Home Minister and opposition Leader) should select the individual on consensus basis. i.e. The decision must be unanimous.

3. When the unanimous decision is not reached, it must go to Parliament for confirmation for simple majority at least. This will give opposition leaders to register their concerns in open forum.

I hope someone pays the price for this mess.

TN Assembly - Opinion Poll

Loyola College conducts opinion poll around election time and publishes the result along with their analysis.  DMK Government using Police Intelligence Chief  M.S. Jaffar Sait to pressure Loyola College not to release the data. This news was reported by http://www.savukku.net/ .

The Tamil version of the website has this information and summary is provided below.

Center of Public Studies, Loyola College conducts opinion polls on various issues. In similar fashion, they conducted opinion poll related to Tamil Nadu Assembly Election in November 2011. It determined the AIADMK alliance will win the majority. DMK Government and Intelligence Department pressured Loyola College not to release the results then. Loyola College did not release.

Recently they conducted the similar opinion poll. The results indicate that AIADMK alliance will win 181-185 seats and DMK alliance will win 51-55 seats. They are again putting pressure not to release the results. This time Loyola College determined to release the data. If not the website assures they will find a way to publish the results.

DMK - Internal Family Politics Update II

DMK first family tried to force Rajathi Ammal and Kanimozhi out of political arena. Alagiri took the lead as usual but in my view he was doing it for his own hidden agenda. Karunanidhi understood this and supported Kanimozhi and her Sangam festival in open. This put the first family in defence. I am sure compromise is reached after that. Otherwise he wouldn't have met MK.  Alagiri is going to get what he wanted. This become obvious Alagiri met Karunanidhi in Gopalapuram and his interview after that. In the recent interview (after meeting Karunanidhi) he mentioned he will not ask for power and he will take it if it's given to him.

DMK general council is meeting on 3rd February. I expect Alagiri to get party post equal to Stalin. I expect him to be appointed as Deputy General Secretary (Stalin holds this title now) or Deputy President or Treasurer. He will also going to get more seats for his followers. I am sure Stalin is not going to like this. Now Maran brothers are trying to neutral between Stalin and Alagiri. It will interesting to watch them as they can tilt the balance.

As long as Karunanidhi is alive, Kanimozhi will be taken care. I do not believe Kanimozhi or Rajathi are a match to Stalin/Alagiri/Maran brothers combo. Eventually they will be out of DMK if not politics.

Dr. Manmohan Singh - Should he go?

I admire Dr. Manmohan Singh for his work as an Economist and Finance Minister. His policies during 1991-96 put us in the path of growth which we are benefiting for past decade or so. In my view he failed miserably as a Prime Minister. The difference is he was reporting to P.V. Narasimha Rao then and Sonia Gandhi now. Can we attribute his failure to his boss? I believe so. He was given enough freedom to fix the economy and which was his strength. Now he does not have that freedom and in that case he should step down.

The following things shows how he is compromised his integrity for the power. This is not a complete list of his failure anyway.

1. Nira Radia tapes revealed how UPA-2 cabinet was decided. It was big corporates, power brokers, media personnel, etc except the Prime Minister. As per consititution he has full authority for deciding the cabinet but we know what happened.

2. There was clear indication that things were wrong in 2G selling process. He himself indicated auction process should be followed. Law Ministry and TRAI recommended the same. In response to Prime Minister's letter, A.Raja responds (with the help of then Solicitor General) to Prime Minister, he was going ahead with his approach. Prime Minister ackonwledged his letter without any comment. Who forced him to stay away from this?  Why A.Raja was allowed to stay in Cabinet even after his officess were raided. Even after all this Raja was given clean chit by PM. why?

3. During the 2009 election, he promised to bring back the black money from foreign banks in 100 days. Now it is over 18 months from dead line. Nothing much happened. Contrary to his statement, they are protecting the names which they received from German Government using some IT rules. These individuals and Companies are not just tax evaders. They are criminals and parked their illegal money in those accounts. They must be exposed. Why he is hesitating?

4. His handling of Bofors is miserable. ITAT says there is enough evidence to prove that commissions were paid. CBI contradicts saying there is not enough proof. They are under PMO and he is responsible. Why he is supporting the coverup?

His job is not just to give pose with foriegn leaders. He is obligated to serve the nation and not just Sonia Gandhi family. He failed in these obligations and time for him to go. He must resign, otherwise he and his party must be voted out.

Nepotism in Indian politics

Founding fathers and our freedom fighters sacrificed so many things including their life and wealth to achieve the freedom we enjoy. It is slowly slipping out of our  hands. Corruption is every where. In my view Corruption and Nepotism are related.. Recently Nepotism reaching to a level where our democracy become mockery. Every politicians wants to bring in their kids into politics to protect their interest (meaning assets acquired illegally). It is become accepted phenomenon. It was started slowly when Nehru brought Indira Gandhi into lime light. I would not be surprised in the future over 75% of elected members of our Government are nepotist. It must stop. Otherwise we cannot control the corruption and looting.

I thought of covering  from Nehru Family at national level, YSR family in Andhra Pradesh, Pawar family in Maharashtra, Karunanidhi family in Tamil and list will go on.  We were waiting for leaders to come and fix our political systems. I think we lost our core value by copying the British system. We must revist our old democratic system put together by Chola Kings. We should incorporate the relevant ones in our constitution. That may be a challenge but not impossible.

During my research I stumbled upon this video. The video below gives a sample from one family (Sonia Gandhi) and how they control the puppet PM from behind and their cronies. It talks volume and it is worth watching.

Free Color TV - Receipients

 The electronic waste cannot be thrown out in garbage particularly television sets without proper care. This  could contaminate the environment and hazardous for individuals handling it (particularly if it is not properly handled). I was searching google on recycling television sets. I landed here.

The following paragraph in the article captured my eyes.

"By December, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu hopes that around 1.63 crore households would have received free colour TV sets, implying that more than six crore people would have benefited. This is nearly 90% of state's projected population of 6.8 crore". This costed exchequer Rs 4000 crore.

Typical life of the television set is 7-10 years. It will take at least Rs500/- (this is very conservative estimate and it costs over Rs 1500 in wester countries) to recycle each television set properly. This will cost Rs. 815 crores to recycle those television sets. Who is going to pay for this? Government or pubic? If it is not handled properly, we are waiting for huge environmental disaster in Tamil Nadu. The cost will be double if you consider the privately purchased TVs.

Over 70% of the cases, the Government distributed color Television is second TV to the family. The Times of India article highlights this. As per original plan, it was meant for people who did not have color TV. In reality, I have seen people who are Engineers in Government, Teachers (both Husband and wife work, kids are working in IT), Bankers who fall under upper middle class are receiving these freebies (BTW, they all have larger Color TVs or LCDs).

This money could have better spent if it was invested in power generation making electricity accessible to more people for more time, distributing energy efficient lamps which could alleviate demand, provide better education for kids, clean water, etc. It is sad to see Government spending money inefficient way to cause another environmental disaster.

Wake up Tamil Nadu. Otherwise your kids and/or grand kids will pay for this in terms of their health.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Election - Alliance in Making

Tamil Nadu election around the corner in May 2011. Except in 1989, political alliance played a critical role in deciding the winner for past three decades. This time will be no different. DMK is spending lot of money on welfare programmes. In my view those were not welfare programmes instead freebies for luring the vote. Opposition is taking the corruption in their hand particularly 2G spectrum scam.

In Tamil Nadu, AIADMK and DMK are the two major parties. Each is having about 30% vote. One of the two party can pull about 5% more (about 35%) based on various factors. I believe anti incumbency and 2G spectrum scam will be advantage to AIADMK this time around. Last assembly election, free Television set tilted that advantage to DMK. I would not discount DMK yet as four months to election and trend could change. It is clear that, these two parties will be leading their respective alliance.

AIADMK already brought in CPI, CPI-M, MDMK and other small parties in their alliance. DMK currently has Congress and VC and I expect them to stay.

DMDK and Congress are two other major parties has some significance throught the state. DMDK already made stance against DMK. With this backdrop DMDK can join AIADMK camp or form a third front. Forming a third front will be sucidal unless it brings Congress onboard. Even with that, they cannot win the majority but can play spoiler role in splitting anti-DMK vote. Based on Vijay Kanth speech, this is unlikely. This will also discredit him in the future. He is likely to join AIADMK alliance and may be trying get maximum seats from them. My sources are confirming this.

Congress did not contest election (except in 1989) on their own in past three decades. During this period, its cadre base is eroding. It is party of more leaders and may have relatively stronger  presence in southern districts. If they go alone or put together its own alliance, it may be a repeat of Bihar in 2010. Considering DMK strength in paraliment, it is unlikely to break away from DMK. DMK support is more important in the backdrop of Andhra Pradesh crisis. Their were indications from local congress leaders that there may be breakaway from Congress to support AIADMK like 1996. I do not beieve that will happen. I do not expect smooth relation between their party cadres at local level though. Congress and DMK need each other in post election whether they win or not. Having said that, Congress will use its 2G scam to get more seats and cabinet positions if they win.

PMK is another force which could poll about 3% vote in northern Tamil Nadu. They were loosing their base because of frequent switching of side. They lost all the seats they contested in 2009 election. Karunanidhi said, they signalled PMK to join DMK. In return Ramadoss, PMK leader said he did not receive any signal. As per sources, they are keeping the channel open from both sides. It will be difficult to predict where they will be at the end. My gut feeling is, they will be with DMK or left out (which I prefer to teach them a lesson).

As expected, DMDK joins AIADMK alliance and barrning any unforseen event, I beieve they will win 150-170 seats. DMK alliance can win 40-60 seats. DMK alliance expected to project "Election Manifesto" as their hero and spend lot of money. DMK government started pushing their welfare programmes beyond the needy people to get the votes. We need to see whether it can be converted to vote at the end. Inspite of all this, there is anti-incumbency trend but can change as we near the election.

Fisherman killing - Government inaction

India wants to be a developed nation and one of the super power by 2020. It is excellent ambition and every Indians should work towards it. It should be recognized, we are growing our economy which will help us to get there but not without any risks. Indians should recognize we cannot achieve leadership position just with the help of economy. We should develop our diplomatic influence and power. Unfortunately we are lacking in that.

We are having border issues with China such as giving stapled Chinese visas for Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh residents. Recent Chinese incursion into Kashmir played down by our military and Government. I am not suggesting we should go for a war but we need to make our position clear. If needed, we should issue similar visas to Tibetans for the same reason. We need not say about Pakistan. Sri Lanka is being added to this list.

It became very common for Sri Lankan Navy to shoot at Indian fishermen particularly Tamil fisherman. They arrest and torture them for months before deporting them. Indian Government has responsibility to protect its citizens. Our Ministers both in Central and State made comments such that putting onus on the fishermen (One such comment was fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters to catch large amount of fish and paying their price). These fishermen are not sophesticated carrying high tech gadgets to know the borders. It is International law that these fishermen should be treated with dignity and returned to their mother land. Instead they shoot at fisherman for threating eventually killing some. They used LTTE name (In my view LTTE should go but Tamil interest must be protected) in the past for this. We cannot accept those excuses anymore. It must be firmly dealt with.

It is widely known that we provided arms and funds to eliminate LTTE. Later we promised crores of rupees for Tamil Rehabilitation. No progress so far. Sri Lankan Governments is not keeping its promises on rehabiltation. China and Pakistan now has larger interest in Sri Lanka which  is not good for India. It is time for India to use its diplomatic power to achieve our goals. Indian Government should make it clear that it is not acceptable to kill or torture Indian citizens. We need to protect the fishermen livelihood by providing proper protection through our coast guard and navy. This is mechanism used by China in South China sea and other developed nations elsewhere.

Tamil Leader Karunanidhi sent a telegram to PM for his intervention. In his world, this is very urgent otherwise he would have written a letter. In this electronic world, email and Fax is much faster. I hope some one around him will explain about these technology (He has foremer IT/Communications minister around him for that). For Karunanidhi, this is not as imporatnt as getting a Cabinet position or threat to his family bussiness empire. In that case he would have deputed DMK ministers or leaders to meet Sonia Gandhi or Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Jayalalitha should not stop just issuing a statement. She should fight for people rights. I do not believe retaking "Katcha Theevu" is the solution. Rather we should come up with safe zone for fishermen. In cases they sail out of the zone, we should have proper mechanism to deal with this.  It is time to unite (across political spectrum) and protect our interest.

Doctorate like Freebies in Tamil nadu?

Traditionally Honorary Doctorates are awarded to the distinguished people for contribution in their field or for the public service. In Western countries it is also awarded for individuals who made significant contribution to the institution which awards it. Now it is being awarded to individuals who do not fit any of the above criteria.

We started seeing this degree being awarded to political leaders couple of decades back.  In my view it was not correct but can be justified to some extent. I would say individual likes Anuradha Koirala , Narayanan Krishnan and many others deserve this. They were changing life of many individuals for good. Our Indian Politicians public service is typically self service or family service and would not meet stricter rules.

The recent recipients of Honorary Doctorates took it to another level. Dr.  MGR Medical University conferred honorary degrees on seven doctors, including the CM and Governor's physicians. The Madras High Court questioned the manner in which it was decided. Chief Justices observed  "Merely because one person is a private physician of the governor or a private physician of chief minister, he cannot be awarded the degree. We can't accept that," when hearing public litigation petition filed by advocate G.Velu.

I do not know how to say this other than cronyism. Appropriate regulatory authority such as UGC should implement tougher rules. Otherwise, ministers, MLAs, MPs, mayors, councilors, ward members, their doctors and others should able to get the Honarary Doctorates like freebies.

Kapil Sibal statement on 2G spectrum

Kapil Sibal issued a statement today saying CAG Rs 1.76 lakh Crore figure is erroneous and went on to say there is no loss to exchequer. This clearly shows Congress intention to coverup. In my view, Mr. Sibal owes answers to the Citizens for the following questions.

1. Why Raja changed "first come first served" to "first payed first served"?
2. Why Raja overruled PMs advice? SC made some adverse comments against Raja on this.
3. How come the letter pad companies got the licenses and are able to sell it for huge profit in few months? How come those companies able to get the necessary documents/DD ready while others scrambled? Dr. Subramaniyam Swamy presented compelling case/documents against those companies and their political ties.
4. When there is nothing wrong, why CBI raided Telecom Ministry?
5. Why Delhi HC observed that it sees prima facie in Dr. Swamy's case against Raja?
6. Pranabh Mukerjee mentioned that BJP also used similar process and presented some large number as loss during BJP period as well. Why this contradiction between two senior ministers? One of you must be wrong at the least. Can you or Finance Minister apolgize for providing wrong information to the public?
7. Why SC did not believe in the Central Government and wanted to monitor the CBI investigation? If there is no loss why Government and CBI agreed for investigation?
8. Why Mr. Thomas is appointed as CVC overruling Opposition leader concerns?
9. Why Mr.Thomas is continuing as CVC even after the SC adverse comments on his appoinment?
10. Why Congress is hesitant on appointing JPC if there is nothing to hide? Why would Pranab Mukerjhee counsel against PM's offer to appear before PAC?

There may be a dispute on how the final figure is arrived. However it is very clear that there is a loss to exchquer and individuals benefited from the transaction. It is sad to see educated and intellectuals like Mr. Sibal trying to cover up Himalayan Scandal. I am afraid that next time, Government will pick their cronies for CAG as they did in case of CVC. They learned from Bofors how to stop additional investigation and coverup things. That is being used now. Probably this learning will be useful in sometime in the future.

DMK - Internal Family Politics Update

Tamil Nadu is gearing towards assembly election in less that five months. DMK looked stronger until Parliament was  stalled by 2G spectrum scandal and A.Raja was forced to resign. This along with Nira Radia tapes brought the simmering family feud to open. End of December,  I blogged about how the Karunanidhi's first family was teaming up against Kanimozhi. It was proved to be accurate from recent Media reports.

M.K Alagiri eldest son of M.Karunanidhi and Dayalu Ammal reportedly submitted his resignation as Organization Secretary of DMK and from Union Cabinet to MK. It is also reported that the following conditions should be met to withdraw his resignation.

1. A. Raja should be suspended from DMK
2. Kanimozhi should be kept out of Politics and DMK
3. Sangamam organized by Tamil Mayyam (raided by CBI and Kanimozhi is one of the director) and funded by State Government should be stopped.

Alagiri and Stalin do not want to carry the extra baggage through Assembly election. It was obvious from the meetings organized by DMK in support of Raja. Brothers do not support this and asked their men to stay away. Karunanidhi on the contrary don't want to accept the fact and possibly by pressure from Kanimozhi and Rajathi.

Kanimozhi is not significant figure within DMK. The intention (by Alagiri) may be to remove Kanimozhi from their equation and gain more political power in the state for himself. He was sent to Center by Karunanidhi to keep him away from state politics which was reserved for his younger brother M.K.Stalin. It was clear he was not comfortable in Delhi due to his lack of knowledge in English and Hindi. It is natural to go back where he is comfortable meaning returning to state politics.

Alagiri returning to state politics is not straight forward. His brother Stalin is not going to be happy since he is currently Deputy CM and Deputy Secretary of the DMK.  Alagiri's return will weaken Stalin's position within the party. Alagiri may be doing this to gain more seats for his men in up coming assembly election and to get powerful post within the party. He boycotted the DMK working committee meeting which confirmed the media reports.

Karunanidhi is not yielded to his pressure yet. He made it clear by saying,  Kanimozhi's service is needed. The game is not over yet. It is expected Dayalu will mediate between Alagiri and Stalin. If that works out he will get considerable seats for his men and party posts like Deputy President of DMK. If the deal is not ironed out, we will see statement from Karunanidhi saying he is going to retire from politics after this term. This will put Alagiri in tough situation. Alagiri may not want to loose his current clout and Karunanidhi's statement will force him to accept the deal.

In DMK, party leadership is powerful. This will help his men to get the plum post both in party as well as in the Government. It will also enable him to control DMK trusts as a trustee. On top of that, he do not want to get kicked out of party and loose control within party as in the earlier election. It is more of tactics to get what he wants and Karunanidhi understands that.

It may be interesting to see who Maran brother's going to support. They burned their fingers earlier by publishing the poll results. May be they wait out on this one. Next few months will be interesting to watch DMK and MK family.

Dharmapuri and Madurai - two different outcomes

These are two similar incidences and two different outcomes. The clue is in the title. I am talking about burning of three students alive in Dharmapuri after J.Jayalalitha was convicted in Pleasant Stay Hotel case by special court in 2000. The next one is three employees of Dinakaran (Tamil Daily owned by Maran brothers) at Madurai office after publishing the poll result (which one of M. Karunanidhi kid is popular).

In the first case, AIADMK men from Dharmapuri district burned down the Agriculture University bus killing three students. This is in reaction to J.Jayalalitha's conviction in Pleasant Stay Hotel case (later it was over turned). This is violent attack on innocent people. The culprits must be punished and there cannot be different view on this. The CB-CID enquired this and prosecuted the culprits (Jayalalitha wanted CBI investigation which never happened). The Salem court sentenced death penalty for 3 people, seven years of rigorous imprisonment for 25 individuals and two were acquitted. It was disappointing that it took 10 years to get the culprit punished. There were lot of hurdles thrown on the way. However Supreme Court confirmed the sentencing and victims Families can have some relief at last. This is typical in Indian court system particularly in cases involving politicians. Justice delayed is Justice denied.

In the second case, DMK family feud turned violent. Dinankaran published poll results showing M.K.Stalin has larger support than his elder brother (M.K.Alagiri) and step sister Kanimozhi. This was published due to internal family politics inspite of M.Karunanidhi's opposition (He confirmed it). This sparked violence in Madurai and Alagiri's supporters violently attacked Dinakaran's office killing three employees. Kalanidhi Maran vowed culprits will be brought to justice. Dayanidhi Maran forced resign as cabinet minister from Central as aftermath. Tamil Nadu Government headed by Karunanidhi ordered CBI enquiry. CBI prosecuted Alagiri's supporters. During that period Karunanidhi's first family patched up the differences and called truce. Dinakaran backed off and eyewitnesses turned hostile. All the accussed were acquitted. It is important to note that Sun Network had video tapes showing the culprits in both the cases.

Kalanidhi Maran who promised his employees that he will bring the culprits to justice whoever it may be. Sun Network (also owned by Maran) directly accused Alagiri's involvement. The family patch work conviniently erased them from his memory. Where is the justice for the victim and their family? This also shows how CBI can be politically manipulated.

Justice system is very important pillar of our constitution. Weakened justice system may end up in lawless country. It is time to find out what we are doing wrong and fix them.

Law of the land should prevail. Justice must be served without any discrimination.

Indian Politicians - Justice bought or delivered?

I hardly know any Indian politician convicted on corruption charges. We have seen that in cases like Bofors, Fodder Scam, Pleasant Stay Hotel, Cremation Shed Scam, dhoti scam, etc. and various disproportionate wealth accumulation cases. It is unblievable that most of the cases politicians were acquitted (at the most censured). It is true across the political spectrum. The reason could be either the case is politicaly motivated or weakened by the people who are in power. As I mentioned earlier, this pattern fits across the political spectrum. I am trying to highlight the few to show the pattern but no means a complete list.

Bofors: This is one of the largest scam before 2G spectrum. It costed Rajiv Gandhi's job. JPC was setup and it did not go far enough. Later Media exposed the links between Rajiv Gandhi's family and brokers. CBI started its work late, filed the FIR, frozen the assets and tried to extradict Quattrocchi. During the process many of the accussed died. Congress came back to power, during UPA-1 it slowly dismantled the case systematically. Released Quattrocchi's assets. Yesterday ITAT determines there were kick backs. Government is in limbo and cannot recover the money now. Who is going to take responsibility? It is important to note that Quattrocchi is close to Sonia Gandhi defacto PM.

Cremation Shed Scam: T.M.Selvaganapathy DMK MP and former AIADMK minsiter and others involved in this case were acquitted. He joined DMK in August 2008 and he was acquitted in lower court in Jan 2009. In Jan 2010, he and others involved in this case were acquitted by CBI court in Madurai. Remember this is 15 year old case.

Dhoti Scam:  This was considered by lawyers one of the strong cases against AIADMK ministers. Former AIADMK minister Indira Kumari joined DMK in 2006. She also was acquitted from this case in October 2006.

The list goes on.  The following are the some of the former AIADMK ministers who are with DMK (some of them joined back AIADMK after their acquittal). It is important to point out DMK brought the cases against these people when they were in opposition and got them acquitted after they joined DMK.

1. Sedapatti Muthiah:Speaker. Property acquisition case.  (He was force to resign from Vajpayee Cabinet because of this. He abstained from no confident motion vote against the party whip. He was sidelined in the party after that)

2.  S. Kannappan: Minister for public works and electricity. Rs 117-cr coal import case. (He floated his own party after quitting AIADMK. Later joined DMK and elected to Tamil Nadu assembly through DMK ticket. In 2009, just before Parliamant election he joined back AIADMK)

3. S. Muthuswamy: Minister for health. Property acquisition case and fraud in giving the nod to set up 261 private paramedical institutions  (He is currently in DMK however he was acquitted from those case before he joined DMK)

4. K.P. Krishnan: Agriculture minister. Land acquisition, contractor scam.  (He floated his own party and allied with DMK. Later he joined DMDK and recently joined back AIADMK)

5. V. Sathyamurthy: Commercial tax minister. Placing orders with nonexistent industrial cooperative societies for supply of steel doors under Indira Awaas Yojna Scheme. (He joined DMK in Feb 2010)

6.  R. Indira Kumari: Social welfare minister. Rs 100-crore scam in the distribution of footwear and clothes to schoolchildren. (She joined DMK in Oct 2006)

Other former AIADMK figures like Anitha Radhakrishnan (CBCID was enquiring about disproportionate asset case when he joined DMK), Jyothi and others joined DMK for various reasons but certainly not based on ideology. This could mean only one of the two things.

1. The casees were brought based on ploitical vendetta with no merits.
2. Government did not fight well to prove the allegations which has merits.


In either case, Government has some explanation to do. We haven't heard any comment from TN CM and Opposition don't want to talk since the accused switched party.

I let you decide whether justice is bought or delivered based on the above facts.

One thing is for sure. Our politicians claim against fighting corruption is not credible. Particularly AIADMK, DMK, Congress and BJP do not have moral authority. In fact corruption become epidemic. The people in power get this infection quickly and letting them stay longer does not help. It is high time for citizens to vote based on their consicous and policies. It may mean selecting  lesser of an evil.