Notes of Nagesh

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Mohan Guruswamy  Echoing Prime Minister Modi CJI N V Ramana recently acknowledged that the impact of freebies promised by political parties on the country’s fiscal health was “ a serious issue” but said he was not in favour of derecognising any party over it because that would be “anti-democratic”. I think the CJI is on loose ground here. What is a freebie? Is education a freebie? In these days of distance learning is a laptop a freebie? Is giving farmers free power a freebie? Is subsidised rice or wheat a freebie?  There are merited subsidies and unmerited subsidie s. Economists classify them this way because free  or subsidised healthcare and education contributes to the national good in economic and social terms. But giving a retired president or prime minister a paid for existence in a government house is certainly a freebie and the most unmerited of subsidies. Is 100% MSP procurement of paddy and wheat in Punjab a merited subsidy when it is denied to other states? I...

MOHAN GURUSWAMY: The Prime Minister finally took the bull by the horns and announced the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Bipin Rawat, to fulfil something that entered the strategic discourse way back in 1996, when it appeared in the NDA manifesto.  Thus, when the BJP first came to be at the helm of affairs in 1998, one of its two main promises was to enhance national security by integrating the three services into the Ministry of Defence and also to integrate defence planning and operations. This was meant to pave the way for a new system that would have given the military a greater role in making policies pertaining to national security as well as in managing itself. This did not happen for 21 years. Then it happened but not for long. Gen.Rawat’s helicopter went CFIT- controlled flight into the ground. Now we are back where we were before the CDS was appointed.  Now there is more delay.  Much of this blame for the delay must fall on the services thems...

The hypocrisy of casteist Indian society is they are painfully mourning #Rakeshjhunjhunwala’s death like he gave his money to them, but are quiet about the fatal beating of little boy #inderMeghwal for simply drinking water out of his UC teacher’s pot. #JusticeForInderMeghwal https://twitter.com/IncognitoCynic/status/1558789370525536256?t=VWAj5cM2oiwTS6nl1ZZJpg&s=19

By Mohan Guruswamy POPULATION CONCERNS. There was a fellow on an ET Now discussion on population who was all for an integrated national labor market, and not concerned about uneven population growth. He called any concerns "uneducated". He has good reason. He has made millions as a labor contractor providing low cost temps to employers. Nevertheless the uneven growth of population must cause us concern.  There are two sides to population growth. The good news is that the TFR is now 2.2 just a fraction over the ideal 2.1, which is when population is stable. We will get there soon. But the bad news is when you look at who is growing and who is not. Now look at who is growing. In Bihar, UP, MP and the rest of the cowbelt population will keep booming till  closer to the  next century. This latest data also show that seven states — Uttar Pradesh (3.0), Bihar (3.2), Madhya Pradesh (2.7), Rajasthan (2.6), Assam (2.3), Chhattisgarh (2.4) and Jharkhand (2.5) — that account for abo...

. VP Menon had become indispensable much before he began unifying India. He worked under an unbelievably punishing deadline in 1947 to put together a plan for transfer of power - proposing that power be transferred to two federal governments in India and Pakistan - on his typewriter. This became the basis of the settlement under which the British left India three months later. The canny Menon, working as Patel's envoy, fought a carrot-and-stick battle with the rulers. They were offered a privy purse, or a pension in compensation, and were allowed to retain their palaces and titles. But when things become difficult, the stick came in handy. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62422428

"While in the school I knew that children of the touchable classes, when they felt thirsty, could go out to the water tap, open it, and quench their thirst. All that was necessary was the permission of the teacher. But my position was separate. I could not touch the tap; and unless it was opened for it by a touchable person, it was not possible for me to quench my thirst. In my case the permission of the teacher was not enough. The presence of the school peon was necessary, for he was the only person whom the class teacher could use for such a purpose. If the peon was not available, I had to go without water. The situation can be summed up in the statement—no peon, no water." Ambedkar  http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/txt_ambedkar_waiting.html