The Persecution of India's Finest

India is a strange country. We like our films to show conscientious police officers fighting for just causes, but when this happens in real life, we stand by and watch as they are persecuted by unscrupulous politicians.
The Gujarat government is a case in the point. Narendra Modi and his rabid, Hindutva spewing henchmen shamelessly presided over a government that ignored, and as new evidence suggests, perhaps condoned, brutal acts of communal violence and mob fury that swept across Gujarat in 2002. Subsequently, in 2005, there was the alleged cold blooded murder of Sohrabuddin Shaikh (who was no saint himself, but that does not justify quietly bumping him off without due process of law) and his wife, Kauser Bi (killed to hide evidence of the first illegal killing), and then the alleged 'encounter killing' of Ishrat Jahan, a 19 year Mumbai college student along with her companions. Three outstanding officers of the Indian Police Service have taken courageous stands to expose these criminal acts of the government or officers like DG Vanzara who may have killed people without legal sanction, to independent judicial commissions.
Sanjeev Bhatt, Inspector General of Police was suspended for various 'omissions and commissions' like unauthorised leave and use of official car, after he testified to the Supreme Court that Narendra Modi had asked his Police Officers in 2002 not to intervene when riots broke out in 2002.

Rahul Sharma, DIG, who was SP Bhavnagar in 2002 was one of the few Police officers who honourably discharged their duty and their oath to defend the Constitution and the law of the land by minimising communal violence in that city. This is a man who should be honoured and feted for his commitment to the people under his charge. But no, there are no awards for him. This 34 year old conscientious IPS officer is being charge-sheeted for giving vital call records to the Nanavati Commission probing the Gujarat riots that give evidence of the call traffic between key elements who led the riots, including political leaders and those holding important positions in the state government and police force. The government contends that he should have taken its permission to give this evidence. It is quite clear what the government would have done if he had tried to seek permission. It would have refused permission and promptly destroyed them.

While I earnestly hope that the centre (Mr. Chidambaram, the Union Home Minister, has evinced some interest in the case) and the judicial system, which he was trying to defend, will intervene and stop this blatant abuse of state power, there is no doubt that this young Police officer is having to go through a lot of trouble for doing what he was sworn to do.

The third IPS officer who is suffering because of his principled stand is Rajnish Rai, who had his Annual Confidential Report (ACR) downgraded because of his unbiased investigation into the Sohrabuddin case, which led to the arrest of D G Vanzara.

I wish our Supreme Court, (I am not mentioning the Gujarat High Court here, because it has already rejected Mr. Sharma's plea on the pretext that other forums of appeal exist. Perhaps it is my lack of legal training that I fail to appreciate the importance of procedure over natural justice!) would take suo moto action to quash these baseless cases that the Gujarat government is cooking up, to persecute its finest officers. I wish I could tell my Lordship, the Honourable Justice Kapadia, that the image that ordinary citizens like me have of the Supreme Court is tarnished when I see Police officers who have truthfully deposed before court appointed commisssions being persecuted for doing precisely that. The people expect this of the Court, and the Central Government: that they will not sit mute witness as Modi tries desperately to hide his mis-deeds. As Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker in Spiderman: "with great power, comes great responsibility" .

Also, these cases underline the crying need for a good, central law on Whistle-blowing (applicable all over India) that is being contemplated.

And finally, Churchill had said that it will be the eternal shame of the German people that they accepted a man like Hitler as their leader. I hope my fellow citizens in Gujarat vote Narendra Modi out before history passes a similar verdict on us.

Belling the Fat Tailed Cat

Though a useful statistical tool to simplify things and arrive at broad 'ballpark' conclusions, the normal curve, I believe, has been mistakenly used in contexts where it needs to be 'tempered' or adjusted, or where it should not be used at all. The normal distribution curve is called the bell curve because it looks like a bell (please refer to figure 1).

The 'Gaussian Probability Function' is based on the 'Normal distribution' (which presumes that the mean of a distribution is also its median and its mode)---which in plain English means that the number of values less than the mean of a given set of values (let's say test scores) is exactly equal to the number of values greater than the mean and the highest number of values flock around the mean. It is a tenet of the central limit theorem that any large distribution of variables (e.g. number of children per family, or CAT Test scores) tends to cluster around the mean value.

Applying the curve

To standardize and use the the Normal Distribution in different contexts (heights, stock market returns, test scores, IQ scores, number of stars in a constellation) it is applied to a probability density distribution ( a graph showing the frequency or probability of different values occuring). In this, we ascribe the value of zero a 50% probability, i.e. we now can have a 50% probabilty of values more than this and less than this respectively. Then values are ascribed to different points on the curve, based on the formula z=(x-m)/σ where x is the actual value, m is the mean and σ is the standard deviation. Each value on this normal distribution curve signifies a corresponding percentage.

Using this simple mathematical tool, given the mean (average) , standard deviation and the value of the variable, we can calculate the approximate frequency of its occurence. E.g. if the mean test score is 50, the standard deviation (SD) is 20, and the test score of a student is 80, z=(80-50)/20 = 1.5. Using a normal distribution table or the =NORMDIST function on an Excel, this corresponds to a frequency of 90% cumulative---which means that about 10% of students would get more than this score, and about 90% would have got less.

The assumptions, and the pitfalls

What people often forget while applying this beautiful piece of mathematics is that the real world, unfortunately, does not always have the simple purity of the bell curve. Moreover, the bell curve makes some very simplifying assumptions, which would not always hold true in real life. For example, it is presumed that 68% of the values of a distribution would occur within +/- 1 SD of the mean (please refer to figure 1) and 99.9% of values would occur within 3 SDs of the mean. Which means that we don't expect too many 'outliers', or statistical events at the far end of the curve on either side. The presence of outliers or extreme values, leads to 'fat tails', or in statistical terms, kurtosis values of greater than 3. If the Standard normal bell curve is used ot model these events, it can lead to 'model error' (figure 2 shows a 'fat tailed' curve).

Belling the Cat with the fat tail

When the standard normal curve is simplistically used in risk management, to forecast market returns and accordingly predict capital requirements (i.e. how much own capital do I need to tide over a worst case scenario, also called 'Value-at-Risk), it can lead to disaster, as risk managers have found out as a result of the recent financial crisis. The problem is not with the concept of Value-at-Risk (VaR), but with applying the bell curve to all markets and situations. Using data from bullish markets, mean and SD values were computed. These values were then juxtaposed into the normal bell curve, further aggravating the error factor in the model. The result: many banks were undercapitalized, vis-a-vis possible (but as per their models, improbable) trading losses. Lehman Brothers is a case in the point, which went under, with just USD 6 billion in losses, though it had overall assets of...

Moreover, the bell curve is a probability distribution of independent events (e.g. test scores, where there is no cheating). Real life may create correlated events (e.g. market sentiments across asset classes are often correlated; similarly cheating in an exam can cause one bright pupil to cause the marks of numerous pupils arounf him to get good marks).

Another area where the bell curve is often purportedly applied is employee performance. This application presumes that 70% of the employees will form a category, around the average (roughly +/- 1 SD if one is to apply the normal curve) and that the top 20% of the employees will perform beyond this. It imputes these values to populations of employees. However, what should be understood that in a given 'universe' of employees, there can be plenty of exceptions. Hence, more often than not, this becomes an arbitary, relative ranking---in which case, it is a method loosely based on the bell curve (or the central limit theorem, to be more precise), but by no means is it an application of the curve itself.

Falling out of the Curve

Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book "The Black Swan" has also written about the pitfalls of using the normal curve to predict market returns, where the actual markets may have 'fatter tails' or more returns that may be considered 'extreme' . Chris Anderson, in his book "The Long Tail" wrote about how internet marketing companies create demand for 'out of the ordinary' products---e.g. retro music. Ian Bremmer and Preston Keat have recently come up with a book called "Fat Tail - The Power of Political Knowledge for Strategic Investing" which refers to the frequency of political instability affecting investment envornments and our tendency to think that they are rare events, whyen actually they may not be that rare.

So though the bell curve is a useful tool, it must be carefully 'stress tested' to verify if the variable being 'fitted' to the curve indeed matches it. The variable must also be tested for 'trending' or external correlations which may affect it, before proper models can be drawn up. Otherwise, it may actually be better to simply chart out historical data and draw inferences on that basis, presuming everething else remains the same (as with most other things, the Romans had a pithy latin phrase for this too--- ceteris paribus).

The Issues and non-issues in this election

In these 'General' elections, unfortunately, both the 'national' parties in India have not highlighted the real issues that blight milions of people in India. One party (the BJP) has been parroting the 'terrorism threat' ad nauseam and has propped up a doddering octagenerian as India;s 'Iron Man' (लौहपुरूष ). Now, with young Mr. Varun Gandhi ( rising star of the saffron brigade and of 'यह गाँधी नहीं, आंधी है' fame) making vitriolic and unabashed communal statements, they find themselves with a lot of dust in their mouths. With push coming to shove, the communal and sectarian fangs of the BJP have been bared.

The Congress is stuck to its 'One family rule'. It would be laughable---if the joke wasn't on us, the Indian people--- that India's largest, oldest and most secular party, the 'crucible of the idea of India', cannot find or groom leaders outside the 'Nehru-Gandhi' familyin the world's largest parliamentary democracy. This fact stands testament to our feudal psyche (which has been Pakistan's undoing too). Mr Rahul Gandhi is young, earnest and fairly charismatic. But he has not said, let alone done, anything of note as yet that would mark him out as a candidate for high office, other than the fact that he was born to Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi. Moreover, the BJP and the Congress have of late been locked in an unseemly personality battle between Mr. Advani and Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The regional parties have not been able to build a credible third front, primarily because of the very poor quality of people that most of them throw up. While many of them have a relatively high representation from marginalised or 'non-elite' groups, and in that sense are a toast to India's thriving democracy, it takes a very high level of competence to run a country as large and complex as India, and I am not very confident of how well uneducated local rabble rousers would be able to do the job. In any case, most of them stand on thin foundations of local caste, communal and linguistic equations.

I think the biggest tragedy with India's polity is the fact that we are unable to generate the right kind of leaders. The reason is that in the last two post independence generations, the educated, the most competent people in India have somehow looked upon politics as something obnoxious and unfashionable. They have concentrated on studying hard to crack competition, land 'respectable jobs' (the Civil Services or in the private sector) and then retire quietly to do their gardening and reading. When I told my wife that I aspired to join politics some day, she recoiled at the idea--- "How will I say that I am married to a politician?" she asked in horror. It was almost as if I was planning a career in drug peddling. This has been the bane; the apathy of the educated middle class. My own example is a case in the point - I could not even find time to register myself for voting in Mumbai. I am still registered in Kolkata.

The Real Issues

Politicians have been raking up issues relating to language and religion that have assailed the multi-ethnic fabric of India and sometimes, torn it to shreds to create a constituency for themselves. They have polarised people and distracted them from the real issues---like hunger, poverty, education, healthcare and infrastructure - roads, power and storage facilities for agricultural products. While the BJP is giving disproportionate importance to the issue of security (it is an issue, but I think Naxalism is a greater threat); people like Mr. Narendra Modi, Mr. Raj Thackeray and Mr. Varun Gandhi have been perniciously trying to divide the populace to create constituencies for themselves. And in feudal UP, Ms. Mayawati has been playing her old caste card and using the government as a personal fiefdom and a source of illegal patronage for her cronies (all as per local tradition). The alternative---a Mulayam Singh---is even worse; not only is he corrupt, he is also avowedly anti-development.

The Return of the Jedi

It is heartening to see a resurgence of interest among the educated middle class in political affairs. Groups like AGNI and Jaago Re (launched by Tata Tea) in Mumbai and Janaagraha in Bangalore have been creating awareness and have launched voter registration dirves and 'know your candidate' campaigns. People like Capt. Gopinath, Meera Sanyal and Mallika Sarabhai have jumped into the fray. If not anything else, they keep a Syed Shahabuddin or a Varun Gandhi out of Parliament. However, the Prime Minister (Dr. Manmohan Singh's) contention that independent candidates like Ms Sanyal tend to divide up the vote and do not really make a difference is partly right. It makes sense to join a party. Just making it to Parliament is not very effective in the curent reality, where government formation and even voting in Parliament tends to be driven by party lines. It should be the same Mantra that drives the private sector: optimum utilisation of scarce resources.
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The Glacier Moves

I think I had read in the Economist once that "The Indian Government was like a glacier---you know it is moving, but you can never see it move". However, perhaps partly because this is election year, and given the seriousness of the issues, the governemnt has moved quickly and fairly effectively on a number of issues.


6th Pay Commission Anomalies
The Ministerial committee has made some welcome recommendations on the anomalies in relation to members of the Armed forces, vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts: Lt. Cols and equivalents have been moved to PB 4; the pensions of other ranks (Jawans) have also been rationalised; and it has been announced that the Armed Forces will have a separate pay commission from now onwards. Whether this will be of any use or not, is left to be seen. I would rather have more representation from the Armed Forces in the existing Pay Commission so that such anomalies do not creep up in the future. However, the government made no commitment on pay parity between the Armed Forces and their civilian counterparts for all grades between Lt and Brigadier and placement of Lieutenant Generals in Higher Administrative Grade Plus pay scales. The Armed Forces must remain under civilian control in a democracy, but they should definitely be paid the same at the same level of government. Few bureaucrats have to face bullets in another day at the office.

Economic Stimulus - "We are all Keynesians now"
As would be expected from a Prime Minister who was the chief architect of India's economic liberalisation in the early 1990s, and a Finance Minister who has presented a budget widely touted by the press as the 'Dream Budget', the government has taken both preventive and curative action to stave off, or at least reduce the effect of recessionary pressures looming over the economy. As Richard Nixon once said, "We are all Keynesians" now. Lord Keynes showed that in a pessimistic economic environment, where there is a 'crisis of confidence', monetary policies are less effective, as banks are less inclined to lend (there is enhanced risk aversion) and consumption-led demand falls as businesses fail, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of depression. The way out seems to be for governments to spend on creation of infrastructure and other real goods, thereby creating value and at the same time, providing a stimulus to domestic demand in by job creation.

A Difficult Time

This has been a difficult time. The USA, India's largest trading partner, is officially in recession and is seeing the largest number of job losses since 1945. Effectively, we are witnessing the biggest slowdown in the US economy since the Great Depression of 1929-33. The Credit markets have seized up and the great giants of Wall Street---the venerable big 4 investment banks, have either gone belly up (Lehman Brothers) , or sold out (Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns) or copped out to become plain vanilla commercial banks (Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs), protected by the FDIC and the Fed. For the first time since WWII, Euroe and America are slowing down at the same time. India, with 35% of its economy dependent on external trade, can obviously not remain immune to this meltdown. There was contraction in our manufacturing growth for the first time since 1983---in October 2008.

The government and RBI have fired on all directions---both monetary and fiscal to prevent this crisis from getting worse. The RBI has coinsiderably loosened its monetary strings, with phased reductions in the cash reserve ratio---the CRR--- (from 9% in September 2008) to 5 % in January 2009. The repo rate at hich the RBI lends to banks, has been reduced to 5.5%, reducing the cost of funds, and the reverse repo rate which the RBI pays for deposits, has been reduced to 4%, again creating incentives for low interest loans by reducing the rate of risk free investments. It has been estimated each percentage cut in CRR releases about Rs. 40,000 Crore in the system. However, as the good ol' Lord (Keynes) had predicted, this is not necessarily leading to banks going out into the streets with sacks of money , asking people to borrow. A lot of banks have been parking the extra funds in government securities driving down the yield of the 10-year government bond to an all-time low of 4.86% . Yields and bond prices have an inverse relationship. So demand for these instruments was obviously quite manic.

To salvage this situation, the government has come out with strong fiscal measures in order to inject liquidity into the system and create jobs and demand. The corruption-ridden National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which aims to provide 100 days of employment to BPL (below poverty level) families is, forever whatever it is worth, already on. Moreover, the government also announced a slightly cavalier Rs. 70,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme at the time of the last budget in 2008. However, on top of these measures, the government also unvelied two stimulus packages in December 2008 and January 2009. In December 2008, the government unveiled a package of measures worth about Rs. 30700 crore including across the board excise duty reductions and increased spending on infrastructure (Rs. 20,000 crore). In Jan 2009, a further suite of measures was announced: rates on external commercial borrowings (ECB) were decontrolled, Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) were allowed access to ECBs for infrastructure projects and government controlled IIFCL was allowed to raise Rs. 30,000 crore in tax free bonds for infrastructure spending.

The glacier, finally, has moved. Now let's hope we get to see the fresh water flow in the form of additional liquidity and demand in the economy.

Terror strikes, brazenly

After the terrible attacks in the last week of November in Mumbai, where 10 heavily armed militants who came in from the sea virtually held the city to ransom for almost 3 days, and in which more than 180 civilians and a few of the best Police Officers in Mumbai were killed, I was dismayed that the top leadership of the country is thinking of setting up one more intelligence / security organization - this one apparently to fight terrorism. We should move away from such knee-jerk reactions. Having more organizations will only add to the overall confusion. The fact is that India has enough institutions to gather intelligence and thwart organised attacks on our people and our way of life. There is RAW for external intelligence, there is the Intelligence Bureau for internal intelligence, and then there is the local Police force in each state. Even within the Police, cities like Mumbai which are prone to terrorist attacks have anti-terrorist squads (ATS). But now we know just how effective this squad was, with its top cop laying down his life bravely defending the city. For us to protect ourselves effectively, the following steps need to be taken –

• As one correspondent in the Mint has pointed out, we need something like a SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) team within the Police. This could either be done by keeping resident NSG commandoes in India’s big cities or, alternatively, the ATS can be split into two parts – one should be an intelligence wing, which will carry out investigations and intelligence; the other should be a group of trained anti-terrorist commandoes who are suitably trained and equipped to act in situations like this so that we do not have to rely on mobilizing Naval commandoes / central forces wherein precious time and lives are lost.

• Police reforms are imperative. The service conditions, equipment and training given to our Policemen in most of the states in India is abysmal. Political meddling further demoralises the Police Force, and what we are left with are corrupt, ill-equipped and brutal police forces which are feared by ordinary citizens and derided, or even worse, patronised, by organised criminals, many of them having politcal connections. As a society, we need to train our Policemen (especially the 'men'; the officers are of fairly high mettle, thanks to the tough competition that they have to crack just to get into their uniforms), arm them properly with weapons and communication equipment and ensure that they are paid well enough to hold their heads high and live with dignity without begging from traffic violators. This would also mean better facilties, like housing, medical facilities, life and health insurance and English Medium schools for their children. At the officer level, this would translate into freedom from political interference in the matter of postings and appointments. As Police reform Commission after Commission has recommended, we cannot have a professional Police force which can enforce the rule of law impartially, unless there is fixity of tenure; and postings of Officers of, and above, the SP level, are decided by a professional committee. This committee should have representatives from all the key stakeholders - the State Home Ministry, the Police force (like the DGP of the state) and a retired Judge of the High Court or Supreme Court to preside over the deliberations. Decisions can be taken by majority. Junior appointments at the city / District level can be made by the Police Commissioner / SP with appeals (which should rarely be entertained) lying with the DGP of the state. It was heart rending to hear how our Policemen rushed at the terrorists with sticks (Lathis) when the latter were armed with automatic weapons. Today we have managed to catch a live terrorist because of the tremendous bravery shown by ASI Tukram G. Omble in holding to an AK47 pointed at him even as bullets riddled his body.

• Actionable Intelligence: One point that has often been mentioned recently, is 'actionable intelligence'. For far too long, we have ignored the importance of an intelligence network. It appears that RAW had even intercepted messages that referred to an attack on Mumbai, but these did not reach the Mumbai Police. The way I see it, this is a failure of the IB and the National Security Advisor (NSA). Having a doddering old NSA, however competent a Police officer he might have been, definitely didn't help.
• Stop the infighting - we fell once to the British and lived through close to 200 years of slavery, because we could not come together as one; let us not repeat that folly again. We must reject political leaders who attempt to divide us on linguistic, caste or religious lines, trying to keep us from focusing on the critical issues and powerful external threats, and creating a false constituency for themselves.
• Good people in government - finally, for all the shrieking by News anchors, all the candle light vigils, all the furious typing in blogs like this, nothing is going to be really achieved, unless there are good, competent people in government who do something to change things. Whether it be setting up of SWAT teams or equipping forces with better bullet proof jackets, it is the government that will do it. And we have to ensure that good, sensible people make it to the government, by entering the political process or by entering the bureaucracy. The least we can do is to participate in the political process by voting for the right people.
• Jettison the soft state image - We should declare that we will refuse to negotiate; whether with Pirates in Somalian waters, or with terrorists holding people hostage. We should take the stance of 'shoot first and then talk'. A country that aspires to be a world power cannot be held to ransom by Pirates and small bands of armed militants. And the next time China stakes claim on Arunachal Pradesh, India's foreign Minister shouldn't just say that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. He should first challenge China to come and take it from us if they dare to. Moreover, we should declare that if China lays claim on Arunachal Pradesh again, then India would like to stake its claim on Shanghai !

The Significance Of Barack Obama

So Barack Obama finally managed to become the first Black President of the United States. And convincingly so, thereby demonstrating the disillusionment of the American people with the muddle of aggression and complete lack of respect for justice that the George W Bush regime had come to represent. The fact is, more than a rejection of Mr. John Mccain, this was a vote for Obama, against the policies of the Republicans and against an unnecessary war in Iraq that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives. As one correspondent wrote - it had almost become shameful for Americans to say where they belonged to, such was the loathing that greeted them in foreign shores. They have almost redeemed themselves and hope to regain their pride by this collective action.
However, the election campaign clearly brought out the fault lines in American society, in a world integrated by 24X7 Live TV. The questions of race, and whether Mr. Obama was a practising Christian or Muslim should not have been relevant in a society that holds all men to be equal. But that is an ideal---people, with their petty prejudices, are often less than perfect. Hence, there were worries that the 'Bradley effect' (where people are embarrassed to accept that they would rather vote for a white man purely for the reason that they are white, named apparently after a black Gubernatorial aspirant in the 1970s who led in opinion polls and ultimately lost in the hustings) would rob Mr. Obama of crucial votes on D-Day. Thankfully, that did not happen. America voted with its heart. It voted not for expedience, not for skin tone, not for experience, but for the man who stood for change. A change from fear, divisiveness and 'stuff happens' to hope and optimism.
The Bush years, were marked by Bushisms (which were funny) and by a shameful contempt for all norms of justice, international law and human rights---that was not-so-funny. Institutions like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay don't sit well with the Declaration of Indepedence and the Gettysburg Address. Martin Luther King's prophetic words " Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" were drowned out by the aggressive rhetoric belted out by the Bush Administration. In an environment permeated by fear and insecurity in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Bush Administration created further paranoia by citing the looming threat of 'Al-Qaeda' and linking them to the 'Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) with the rogue military regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Whereas American intervention in Afghanistan against a regressive, fanatical and cruel regime is welcome, and perhaps even justified (even though it creates a dangerous precedent in international law and peacekeeping), the same cannot be said of its invasion of Iraq. Whether it was for oil contracts or to teach a dictator who thumbed his nose at America a lesson, it was an invasion launched on a foundation of falsehood.
Mr. Obama, hopefully, will take America away from this path by first, closing down the illegal and repressive Guantanamo Bay prison where foreigners are being held without trial and then either bringing them to justice or letting them go; and then concentrate on the really important issues like healthcare and the domestic economy.
People have been debating about whether Barrack Obama's election will be good for India in terms of his views on outsourcing (he has promised tax benefits for American companies which keep jobs in America), his ambivalent stand on Kashmir and the traditional Democratic leaning towards protectionism. However, these people are missing the significance of this event: Mr Obama represents---as his own book so succintly says---'The Audacity of Hope'. He represents the victory of a decent, educated man in politics----which often attracts, well, not exactly the kind of people you would like to marry your daughter to. And like Abraham Lincoln, his is an unlikely victory---as men of Finance like me would put it, a statistically 'tail event', an 'outlier'. The product of a brief union between a Kenyan student and a white young lady; abandoned by his natural father, Barack Obama Jr lived a fairly Bohemian and nomadic life that brought him to Asia for a considerable period of time. He then managed to educate himself in Columbia University and topped it off with a Masters in Law from Harvard. Even his political career started rather unremarkably---apparently he failed to even gain entry in to the Democrat convention in 2004.
But then, there he is---the first black President of the United States. I have heard him, and yes, he speaks well. After long years, here is a man in public life who seems to be saying more than rhetoric---whose earnesty seems to come through. Let us wish him well. He is an ideal for every voice of reason, every patriot who wants to, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, "Dare mighty things" , anywhere in the world. Like a slightly odd-looking, tall, top hatted gentleman born about 200 years ago.

Defending those who defend India

The 6th Pay Commission, led by Justice Srikrishna, was appointed to review and revise the salaries of close to 4 million civilian central government employees and about 1.5 million members of the defence forces.
Whereas the government's decision to revise the salaries of government employees to ensure parity of standard of living in a regime of rising inflation and some kind of benchmarking to the market is commendable, it is unfortunate that it has done a great injustice to the members of the armed forces, the men and women who have promised to lay down their lives in the defence of India. It is perhaps another sign of the lack of vision both among our political masters and among the mandarins who would have assisted Justice Srikrishna, that in the same scale of service, a member of the defence forces, putting his or her life and limb on the line to defend the country, would get paid less than a Civilian Babu fattenening himself in some government department.

The whole issue was exacerbated because the Armed Forces were not given any representation in the 6th Pay Commission. It just shows the shameful manner in which a myopic, complacent and arrogant administration has treated its most powerful wing - which thankfully, has not given in to the temptation of seizing power from the Civilian Administration, a phenomenon fairly common in our neighbour, Pakistan. However, when the 6th Pay Commission recommendations came out, the top brass of the Armed Forces thankfully took a stand against the glaring anomalies and refused to implement the report's recommendations till these were resolved. They are not beggars; they are people who have promised to lay down their lives defending us, and are often called upon to do exactly that; if we treat them shabbily, it hits their morale and would weaken India's whole defence mechanism. One of these glaring anomalies: Lt-Colonel rank officers have been relatively lowered by retaining them in Pay Band-3 (Rs 15,600-39,100), while the civilians and paramilitary officers at the same level have been raised to level PB-4 (Rs 37,400-67,000).
Some nitwits in the print media have been calling this a mutiny of sorts. However, it is far from the truth. This was a very restrained, very just demand by the Armed forces. And the reason was not just money---it was, as Gen Deepak Kapoor, the Chief of Army Staff, rightly described it--- a question of honor. At a time when the Indian Army is some 13,000 short of offficers because young people, with 'Officer-like qualities' are going in for other career options, this could not have been more poorly timed.
The government thankfully, saw sense. A Committee of senior Ministers including the external affairs minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the Defence Minister Mr. AK Antony and Mr P Chidambaram, the Finance Minister, was formed to look into the grievances / anomalies. Hopefully, this august committee will do justice and help to stave off a bigger crisis in the Armed Forces, which are already cronically short of officers at the critical, operational levels.
In the end, soldiers and their families agree to make the 'supreme sacifice' not because they are paid x sum of money at the end of the month (it never really is enough to miss growing old with the man / woman you love and seeing your children grow up and go to college; or miss the thousand other little experiences that bring joy to our lives). It is because they think that it is honourable and glorious to do so. The least we can do, as a nation, is not to dishonour them.