Monday, 26 November 2012

STARVE


With more than a billion people and a growth rate of 6% in which the contribution of agriculture is almost 12-13%, India is considered one of the largest agrarian economies. However, over the past 15 years, the debate about food, under a rights-based perspective, has become increasingly complex. Concerns about famine, emergency relief and technology-driven green revolutions have given way to discussions on the state's failure to deliver public distribution programmes, the discrimination these programmes perpetuate, legal entitlements to land, climate change, price volatility and the role of NGOs. In other words, the debate has shifted from starvation and subsistence to dignity and justice.
With the specter of drought haunting the countryside, speculators, hoarders and black-marketeers are back in business. Prices of essential commodities like pulses, edible oil, sugar and salt are going through the roof. Vegetables are out of reach of the average family with the price of a kilo of potatoes increasing by over 100% in the last month. But the government, preoccupied with its internal squabbles, cares little for the insecurity rising prices and consequent food deprivation causes Indian families. For the government this is collateral damage in its mission to implement pro-corporate reform (PCR) and cut food subsidy.
This approach is now reflected in its policy regarding the surplus food grain stocks it holds. The buffer stock in the month of July, according to the quarterly buffer stock norms India has, should be 3.3 crore tonnes. Current stocks are as high as 8.2 crore tonnes. Instead of distributing these surplus stocks to the millions of families wrongly defined as non-poor, the government has chosen to permit exports "to liquidate the stocks". Most of the exported food grain will be ultimately used as feed for livestock converted to animal products in developed countries.
The government sees nothing unethical about subsidizing grains for foreign cattle but not for its own people. The decision to export is influenced by agribusiness lobbies, which want to take advantage of rising wheat prices in the international market driven upwards by reported crop damage in major wheat growing areas across the globe.
The future will belong to nations with grains and not guns. We have enough grains for all – we need to open and expand our thinking on what can be done, and how to build a future where everyone on the planet always has enough to eat.
Yet, the Indian elite shrieks at the prospect of formalizing a universal right to food. Notwithstanding the collective moral deficit this reveals, it also shows that the millions of Indians whose food rights are so flagrantly violated are completely voiceless in the policy space. India's problem is not only to secure food, but to secure food justice.
What can food justice practically mean? First, to prevent situations where grains rot while people die — a very basic principle of distributive justice. But it has to mean a lot more: people must have the right to produce food with dignity, have control over the parameters of production, get just value for their labour and their produce. Mainstream notions of food security ignore this dimension. Food justice must entail both production and distribution. Its fundamental premise must be that governments have a non-negotiable obligation to address food insecurity. They must also address the structural factors that engender that insecurity. Most governments, however, appear neither willing nor able to deliver food justice. It needs therefore the devolution of power and resources to the local level, where millions of protagonists, with their knowledge of local needs and situations, can create a just food economy.
 What is required is a proper mechanism at the national and state level for co-ordinated policy making. Storage capacities should be built in food deficit regions while developing cold storage chains and food processing to prevent wastage. A plan must be made to improve agri-infrastructure with backward and forward linkages to help boost production, cut wastage and develop agri markets.


Sunday, 18 November 2012

EYE SEE YOU

Eyes, they say a lot of things
Even if its closed or might be open

No one knows the truth behind those lids
So many emotions & so many feelings

Tears roll down when it hurts inside these
So many colours, many many beings
What lies behind these eyes i think

I keep my smile even when im sad
But my eyes say everything about that part

My love always kept looking in my eyes
She could see her face through my eyes

My heart just saw her mesmerizing face
Maybe thats why i couldnt see the deception in her gaze

From that day i keep my eyes closed
Afraid of the next pair of eyes ill see next time
 
What horror & lies it might hold inside
My eyes will soon lose their colour cause its a very dark world outside

CONFUSION

I dont know what to do

My heart & mind are not working together

Which one should i listen

Do i want my past or my future

Afraid i might lose myself to her again

Pain, pain & more pain

Why did she come back

Is it your doing God

Or is it just my destiny

How much more can she hurt me

My heart has forgotten how to live..... how to love

Ill just keep walking the path infront of me

Lets see where life takes me

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

改变


India has always been a democratic and china has always been the authoritarian. Long back during Mao, the ideologies of the fledging communist state and the stomachs of its people clashed, and the stomachs lost. Decades after Mao and YI ZI ER SHI and the TIANANMEN MASSACRE, a lot has changed. China has grown and so have its leaders and the rampant corruption. But at least corruption is efficient in china. It can amount to 20-30 % of the project’s cost; but a onetime payment can fast track local government approvals that pave the way for profits to come in future.
As America saw a powerful and nail biting election, the gaze of the world’s media was focused squarely on Washington. But on the other side of the world, a leadership change of potentially greater significance was also getting under way. For the first time in a decade – and only the second time in history – the men at the top of the Chinese Communist Party will step down, voluntarily, and hand over power to a new generation.
But while American voters had a pretty good idea by now of who their candidates are and what they represent, the Chinese public remains utterly cut off from the political process. Not only do politicians here all sport identical dyed-black haircuts, but they all make identical, impenetrable and interminable speeches. The communist party is assiduous in removing all information about the leaders making it inaccessible for the common public. In modern Beijing, the Soviet art of Kremlinology, which involved scholars searching for hidden messages in reams of official jargon, or counting the use of certain phrases in the party newspaper, remains alive and well.
Indeed, while we knew that the leadership change will happen at the 18th Party Congress, which opened on Thursday, we did not know exactly when the new leaders will be unveiled or when the congress will end. Those in China cannot even search for the phrase “18th party congress” on the internet: it has been removed by the censors.
All we can be sure of is that, at some point in the near future, a group of men – and they are all likely to be men – will walk on to a dais in the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square. These will be the seven members of the politburo standing committee, the Chinese equivalent of the Cabinet, selected (by an essentially mysterious process) from among the 25 politburo members originally elected by the party’s 300-strong central committee. Those who think the U.S. electoral college is a complicated system for choosing a leader should take a look at China right now.
The 18th National Congress will have 2270 delegates selected from 40 constituencies. This represents an increase of 57 delegates and two constituencies from the 17th Congress. 31 of these constituencies represent China's province-level Provinces, Autonomous Regions, and Municipalities. Six other delegations represent: Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army, The Central Party Organization, The Central Government Ministries and Commissions, Central State Owned Enterprises, and Central Banks and Financial Institutions. The remaining three delegations are the subject of conflicting accounts. Hong Kong and Macau may represent two delegations or one delegation or they may be treated as part of the Guangdong delegation. Other delegations that have been identified by various sources include the Peoples Armed Police, units involved in “social management”, the public service sector, workers in private enterprises, and workers in foreign and joint enterprises. No more than 68% of the delegates may hold leadership positions within the party. The remaining 32% will be "grassroots" party members who hold jobs outside of the party apparatus. The number of female delegates will be required to increase. Each delegation will be selected (by the province level congresses) in an election in which there are at least 15% more candidates than there are delegates to be selected. The candidates in these elections are heavily vetted by multiple party organs. In addition to these 2270 delegates, an uncertain number of additional delegates, primarily retired veteran Communist leaders, will be selected. It is designed to assess the country's progress, and set new directions. Every 10 years it selects the new leadership.
The delegates will pick the roughly 200 members of the party's Central Committee, about three-quarters of whom are expected to be replaced, mostly because of their age.
The Central Committee chooses the members of the Politburo, from which the powerful Politburo Standing Committee is selected. The handful of leaders who make up the Standing Committee are China's top decision makers.

There will be no frenzy of exit polls and ballot counting. The major outcomes of the ruling Communist Party's 18th National Congress, as the event is known, have been determined in advance after months of secretive maneuvering and deal-making among senior party figures.
But the result matters for China's 1.3 billion citizens and for countries around the globe like the United States that are trying to decipher what the Asian giant's growing international clout means for them.
The only problem is, nobody's sure exactly what China's new top brass will do once they have assumed power.
During the race for the White House in the United States, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney eagerly brandished their credentials for getting tough on China, with Obama citing trade suits he'd filed and Romney promising to label Beijing a currency manipulator.China is now the world's second-biggest economy and closing fast on the United States.
There have been disappointments and discontent along the way, and Hu's much vaunted "harmonious society" is showing signs of cracking.Chinese leaders have endured a tumultuous year. The veil of secrecy around the party has been lifted, with reports of rifts and infighting. And the fall of Bo brought about China's biggest political scandal in decades.
Bo, once party chief of the massive metropolis of Chongqing, is now in disgrace awaiting trial. His wife, Gu Kailai, is in prison, convicted of murdering a British business associate.
Senior party leaders and their leaders have had to deal with unusual scrutiny of their affairs, with Western news organizations publishing investigations into the wealth accumulated by the families of Xi and Wen.
Chinese authorities responded to the reports by blocking the websites of the news organizations involved: Bloomberg News and The New York Times.
But China's army of censors is having to grapple with the rapid rise of social media platforms on which information moves and mutates at a dizzying pace.
China is treading many fault lines: a widening gap between rich and poor, rising unrest about issues like pollution and land seizures, and a slowing economy that some say is in need of serious reform.
Hu mentioned some of those tensions Thursday along with several other contentious issues like food safety, health care and the criminal justice system -- acknowledging that "there are a lot of difficulties and problems on our road ahead." Another issue Hu's government has struggled to tackle during its decade in power is the discontent and unrest among Tibetans living under Chinese rule.
Authorities were given a grim reminder on Wednesday of the disillusionment and desperation of many Tibetans in western areas of China after four people set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule.
One teenage Tibetan monk died and two were injured after self-immolating in a majority Tibetan region of Sichuan Province, said Penpa Tsering, a spokesman for the Tibetan parliament in exile in Dharamsala, India. And a 23-year-old Tibetan woman died a separate incident in Qinghai Province, Tsering said, citing unidentified people in Tibetan areas.
Dozens of Tibetans are reported to have set themselves ablaze in the past 18 months to express their unhappiness with Chinese rule. And the central government in Beijing is also dealing with other restive ethnic groups, like the Uyghurs in the western province of Xinjiang.
As the whole world waits eagerly for one of the biggest economy to announce its set of leaders, we expect more liberal leaders to come to the forefront. This would decide the relations of china with others.

Thursday, 8 November 2012

The Girl Next Door

Ive always had a thing for the girl next door
Like it or leave it but she never was a bore.

So sweet, so cute but thats not new
Still then everyday i feel shes renewed.

10 years it has been since she moved in
Another 10 it will take for my words to begin.

Call it my love or it also might be my liking
In my dreams she is my queen but im never her king.

No matter how i look, no matter how i dress
Im just not able to make her impress.

Maybe she doesnt notice me, she thinks im not there
Oh God let her know how much i care.

Heaven on earth she is for me
But without her from my Hell i shall never be free.

What if she has a bad temper or a bad mood???
Oh!....... a Slap, that will be very rude.

But no need for all this because it the end of my love, thats right
Because i saw her going out with someone last night.

Heart broken or heart shattered whatever it might be
I can feel something hurt deep inside me.

If he makes you happy then im happy for you
Though tonight i shall cry for you......only you.

I never knew her name, it was not on the door
Forget it, leave it because its time to........TRY THE NEXT DOOR.

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

HERE WE GOA !!!

Its been 3 years since me & 2 of my friends planned a trip to goa but it got cancelled because one of my friends mom thought in goa her son will get into girls....booze ......drugs....etc. So much for our months of daydreaming. Then came last year. I still remember me & about 10 of my friends were standing infront of Big Bazar. One of my friend got his job joining letter so it was sort of a farewell. Soon all were going to leave for their jobs too. At that moment i stood up & said guys lets make a pact, next year 2012 we are going to meet in goa. Everyone got pumped at that time i guess & all shouted yes. I with my creative mind said lets take on oath. We had no burning fire that time so i placed my phone & everyone put their hands on it. We all took the oath that next year we meet in goa........All a bit emotional & senti......it was a touchy moment. The pic below was taken that day.....(We do look like vampires....cell phone pic)

Next comes 2012.....by now almost all my friends had left BBSR. Every phone call would end with some discussion on goa. The excitement & anticipation just kept on increasing day by day.  We originally had planned to go during the winter holidays but we later decided for Dushehra holidays. Planning & preparations were underway. On the 18th of oct i initiated the goa journey. I  think i travelled about 100+ hours on the train for the entire trip including the return. See this is how ot happened. I started from BBSr to Kolkata (alone which is really boring) then from Kol i was joined by 2 friend & we left for Pune on the 19th. We reached pune on the 21st & were joined by 2 other friends. Then we left for goa & reached on the 22nd morning. Our other friends joined us at the station there. 



The moment we stepped on the goa platform me & my friend looked at each other & said we are here dude....we are finally here.We hired a taxi went straight to our resort & boy what a view that resort had......it was worth every penny.


 We went to our rooms freshened up, rented us some bikes, had some breakfast & went straight for the beach. The water was so good & relaxing, we spent the whole day at the beach.. Later that evening we went to a club. We danced & had loads of fun there. 


We did lots of water sports....we tried lots of goan cusines....did some shopping......etc.
The best part was the para sailing ....the feeling of just free floating in the air above the ocean....that feeling of peace & forgetting everything around you....... simply amazing. 


All together we saw both the good side & bad side of goa. I cant go into details sorry. A lot of other things also happened but i cant disclose those because my friends wouldnt want me to so i must respect their privacy. We did lots of new things...experienced lots of new things......both good & bad...... But just like my mass comm mam told me once ""experience everything...... just dont get addicted". I guess what happens in goa.......stays in goa.

But all on all we had a fun & memorable trip\ get-together\ holiday...............& we are planing to do another trip next year but some other place.
Lets see how the next one turns out.