Prime Minister Modi and his foreign visits

Narendra Modi’s rivals have started attacking him for undertaking frequent foreign travel. Incidentally, Rajiv Gandhi was also criticized for his foreign travels. But Rajiv Gandhi achieved more by his foreign visits than he did in India. The Prime Minister is not a Chief Minister or a Zilla Parishad chairman. The main job of the Central government is safety, security and economic stability. These can be assured only through great diplomacy. Charles Talleyrand the French diplomat did more for France than Napoleon. Machiavelli did more for Italy than its Dukes.

Obama New Immigration Policy Helps Indians

The engine of growth for the Indian economy has been the lakhs of Indians “ techies” and millions of Indian workers in the Gulf and Middle East . It is their hard earned foreign exchange that keeps the Indian economy going. The big words of Indian big  business  are really peripheral to foreign exchange earnings. India earned  nearly  US $  70 Billion in foreign exchange in 2013-14 from remittances  made by Indians  working abroad.

Slowing European, Japanese economies and Chinese economies will negatively impact India

While the GovernmentofIndia and PrimeministerModi have been taking steps to revive the  moribund Indian economy, alarmingsignals have come that indicate  that  the European Community,  Japan  and China are now ona downward spiral. Strong indications have also come out that the Chinese  economy is also slowing down to over-investment and excessive investment in their infra- structure.

Manohar Parikker and Prabhu will join Jaitely as Advisers to Modi

One immediate consequence of this cabinet expansion is that Arun Jaitley has automatically lost his position as being the only Adviser of Modi. New Ministers Manohar Parikker, Suresh Prahbu, Birendra Chowdhury are not followers of Jaitley and they are direct selections of Modi. The inclusion of independent political entities in the Cabinet automatically means that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will listen to them.

Narendra Modi's first cabinet reshuffle

Instead of going into names of Ministers, their castes and regional backgrounds, it might be better to have a general over-view of the positives of Cabinet expansion and the limitations that Narendra Modi faced. Barely 5 months have passed and Prime Minister Modi had to go in for a major re-shuffle of his cabinet. There is nothing wrong for a Prime minister in a parliamentary system of government to re-shuffle or expand his cabinet. It is obvious that in the last 5 months some weaknesses have become obvious in the functioning of the government. The existing cabinet was in-adequate both in numbers  and quality to deal with the problems.

Modi's first expansion of his cabinet

Modi, Indira Gandhi and “Imposed“ Chief Ministers; The electoral victories in Haryana and Maharashtra of BJP has had two consequences. All the critics of Narendra Modi had to shut up. Then the second more controversial consequence is that Modi  has become an all powerful political figure in India and therefore can appoint anyone he likes as Chief Ministers. The selection of two total novices as Chief Ministers of Haryana and big economic state of India Maharashtra has caused shock and an anticipation that things will definitely go wrong. Who are Chief Ministers Manohar Lal Khattar of Haryana and Devendra  Fadnavis of Maharashtra? The BJP says they are new faces, clean and generally wonderful fellows. No one has heard of them before. Neither of them has any experience in running any part of a state government. Narendra Modi might like them. But is that enough to be Chief Ministers of two most important states, where the BJP has never formed a government?

Congress Should Avoid Mistakes to Survive

The surprising election results of Haryana and Maharashtra Assemblies have thrown Indian politics into confusion. The results are a great victory for BJP and terrible defeat for Congress. Both Maharashtra and Haryana have been ruled by Congress for a long period and are very important States economically. The BJP had never ruled either Haryana or Maharashtra. For the first time, BJP is going to rule Haryana and Maharashtra. The BJP will become a major force and the Congress will have to find new strategies to survive.

Indian Political Dynasties Can Adopt Indonesian Dynasty Model

There is one solution for Indian political dynasties. Their survival is being called into question. The recent elections have shown that if there is an opportunity, then people will vote against dynasts, unless there are pressing reasons. According to the law of Genetics, eventually the genes of any family will deteriorate and there will be sharp deterioration in the fortunes of all. This affects politicians too. The original founder of a dynasty is usually a very sharp person and has the grit and hardiness to succeed. Then he wants his progeny to succeed him and take-over his political empire.   This is where the trouble starts. Many a time, the heirs are very mediocre and sustain office only by accident or due to the general lethargy in the Indian system.

Diesel Oil de-Regulation

On October 18,  2014, Govt. Of India announced that it was totally de-regulating diesel prices. Before this announcement, government followed a policy of increasing diesel oil prices by 50 Paise per litre every month. Whatever the international price of crude oil, the idea of having a monthly increase of  50 paise  per litre would be to reduce the gap between the subsidised diesel prices and the international  market prices.

Impact of Falling Diesel and Petrol Prices in India

For the last four months, India has enjoyed the surprising benefit of falling crude oil prices. When crude oil prices fall, there is an automatic decline in prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene, LPG gas and a host of hydro-carbon prices. Four months ago, the price of Crude oil was nearly US$ 115 dollars per barrel. Now the price is around US $ 88 per barrel. This steep fall has had some benefits for India.

Reserve Bank of India and the latest monetary policy

All those directly interested in the   Indian economy were eagerly waiting to see what the Governor of the Reserve bank of India Dr. Raghuram Rajan would do on Sept.  30, 2014.  It was the day when the RBI would announce its latest monetary policy.  The RBI would determine the lending policies of banks and also the quantum of money available for business activity. Ever since Dr. Raghuram Rajan became the Governor of the RBI, he maintained that he would be a tough anti-inflation fighter and that he would not swerve from this objective.

BJP had no Option but to break Shiv Sena Alliance

The elections to Haryana and Maharashtra are on October 15, 2014. The most un-expected things have happened. In Maharashtra, the 25 year old iron alliance with the Shiv Sena was broken.  This sudden situation has surprised everyone.  You see, the BJP did not act   as it was expected. The BJP refused to be insulted and refused to succumb to threats. The problem with threats is sometimes threats do not work.  

Ideally, BJP which is in power in Delhi needed to have Shiv Sena in Maharashtra to win state elections.  If the Congress party forms a government in these two states, it will be a major setback to BJP.

Narendra Modi and the USA

THE way peoples' fortunes change suddenly is astonishing. Just a 100 days ago, the USA refused to give a Visa to Narendra Modi. Now by Sept. 25,Modi is in  the USA as an honored guest. In fact Modi will be hosted by the US President Barack Obama. Who would have imagined barely a few months ago that Modi would be the Prime Minister or going to USA? Remember that prime minister  Modi was denied a US visa for 12 years.

Prime Minister Modi had met the Prime Minister of Japan, the Prime Minister of Australia, the President of China and the President of Russia at the BRICs meeting in Brazil. The only important person in the world stage  whom he has not met is President Barack Obama of the USA and this gap is being filled now.

Will Narendra Modi’s “ Make in India“ work?

Prime Minister had launched yet one more campaign on sept. 25, 2014, titled

‘Make in India “. The  objective is to encourage Indian industry and entrepreneurs to produce in India. Right now, manufacturing sector contributes only 15% of GDP. The objective is to raise it to 25%.

If manufacturing contributes 25% of our GDP, then obviously there will be the benefits of more employment and also higher incomes and reduced import bill. We may even reduce our gap with the Chinese which is biggest trade partner. The benefits are many. But can we achieve it ?

Hurdles to achieving the target of 25% contribution by manufacturing to GDP.

Pullarao Pentapati - Different friends : Japan and China

In the last month, India has seen our Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit Japan and completed a very successful tour. Immediately, we find that the Chinese President. Xi Jinping is in india and he also had a very successful visit. It has been rare to have two such events and visits take place rapidly in the same month .

Pullarao Pentapati - The Chinese President Xi Jenping's visit to India

The Chinese President XI Jenping’s  visit to India is historic in all ways. Never in recent memory has a Chinese President visited India. Normally, the Chinese  have a tradition of visiting countries where they really have no issues or arguments. India and China have long-pending disputes and they feel not resolved. The Chinese also have sided with Pakistan and hi ex a lot floor territory from Pakistan on ladKh.

Pullarao Pentapati - Antony Report and future of Congress

Smt. Sonia Gandhi asked senior Congress leader Shri A.K.Antony to enquire why the Congress lost badly in 2014. The general expectation was that Antony would in some way blame Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh directly and Antony did not do that. But he mentioned 3 major causes and it was clear that he held the leadership to account.

Pullarao Pentapati - Andhra Government should be cautious in selecting new capital

Chandra Babu Naidu says: “I will make the new capital of Andhra a “Singapore”. I will make Andhra Pradesh better than Singapore, Switzerland and America. Instead of saying such things, Chandra Babu should try to get immigration visas for the entire Andhra Pradesh to migrate to Singapore, Switzerland and USA. That would be more realistic.

Indian Budget: A view of some aspects

The biggest surprise in the Arun Jaitley budget is that there is no surprise. Over the years, one has heard the learned Finance Minister Arun Jaitley talk about inflation and the suffering common people so many times. . Yet, when it came to his turn to do something, it is regrettable that he did nothing. In fact, prices started rising strongly and the government seemed helpless. The lack of a direction and time table to control prices has led to deep disappointment. In fact, the Government seems to have blamed the weather for everything and say we cannot do anything about the Monsoon.

Pullarao Pentapati - Recent Railways Budget:

The recent railway budget seems to be a continuity of the last many railway budgets, After the wonderful promises of the election that there made, one expected the railway Minister to present a very un-usual budget. But the budget has been very ordinary and nothing new in it.

Pullarao Pentapati - India inflation unique in Asia

The comparative figures and data related to Indian inflation were made available in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in reply to a question,   on July 18, 2014. The data reveals that the inflation problems of India are its own-making and there is no such trend in other Asian countries. The Indian government for the last 4 years has been blaming international factors for the persistent Indian inflation. This blame seems to be at odds with the factual data.

Pullarao Pentapati - Central Government fanning disputes on River Godavari

It Is –unfortunate that a major issue has broken out between the new states of Andhra Pradesh and Telengana over the addition of 7 Mandals which will be affected by submersion by the gigantic Polavaram dam.   It is reflection of things is being handled.  Instead of bringing states together, one finds that rivers are dividing States and creating enduring animosity between them. This is not healthy for Indian democracy. When parliament passes a law, it should mean that there is wide consensus and that the law will be respected. As soon as the Andhra Pradesh Re=organization Bill was passed, we find that Telengana has said that it is going to  court  This is not a healthy  tradition since  every state will then go to court,  using the vast financial resources of a  state government.

Pullarao Pentapati - Is Prime Minister Modi Keeping Foreign Economic Advisers at Distance

Prior to the elections and the assumption of office by Narendra Modi, there was talk that he was a willing recipient of advice by diverse foreign-based economists.

Prominent among these names were Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati of Columbia and Prof. Arvind Panagariya. The former London School of Economics Professor Lord Meghnad Desai was also viewed as a potential economic adviser. There were many other names too.

Pullarao Pentapati - New Telugu Governments damaging Telugu pride

There is a consensus that after 45 days Narendra Modi’s prestige has gone up and he is performing better than expected.  It is nearly two months since the two new States Telengana and Andhra Pradesh have been formed.   It is time to examine how they are faring.  One can definitely assess the two Chief Ministers and their interactions with Narendra Modi and his government and what Delhi thinks of them.

Pullarao Pentapati - The coming Budget on July 10, 2014

Within a day, we will know whether Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is any different from   Congress Finance Minister.  I would like to warn Narendra  Modi that he does not  have  5 years time.  Many advisers say that for two years there must be harsh measures and then after that, government can show progress and give people benefits.

Pullarao Pentapati - Government should DUMP the UIDAI. ( Uinque ID)

There are disturbing reports that the BJP Government is hanging on to major schemes and policies  of the last UPA Government. Of course, the same government officials continue and naturally, they convince the new government that the policies wee excellent and that only it’s implementation was faulty.

Pullarao Pentapati - BJP Government should not be obsessed with LPG subsidies

The Congress government of Manmohan Singh was totally obsessed with the LPG cylinders and its’ price. The UPA government  created a sentiment in the country that the economy was in shambles only due to the fact that the LPG cylinders were subsidized. The UPA Government fashioned a huge fiscal deficit, whose causes were elsewhere. But the government only targeted LPG cylinders.

Pullarao Pentapati - The Coming Budget and The Indian Economy

There are a lot of expectations in India that the coming Budget on July 10, 2014 will somehow tackle all the serious issues in the Indian economy. The serious issues are inflation, stagnation in the economy, the fiscal deficit and the wide gap between exports and imports. These four issues are also related to each other.

Pullarao Pentapati - Land acquisition must be handled sensitively by Government

There is talk that the  Land acquisition Act of 2013 is going to be amended as state governments and industry eel that the law is too strict and  land availability  will become  severe hindrance for industry purposes .In my opinion, the new law of 2013 is actually anti-farmer. 

Pullarao Pentapati - Photographs at All India Radio

 

 

Pullarao Pentapati - Shri A.K. Anthony is always right

Along with late KamarajNadar ,LalBahadurShastri and other great post-IndependenceIndian politicians , we can definitely list  the former  defence Minister A.K. Anthony. Thrice Chief ministerofKerala and the firststint at the age of 33 years…well, he is a   legend.

In his nearly 50-year political career, A.K. Anthony never got involved in any sleaze or corruption. In the last few days, A.K. Anthony has hit the news for his highly incisive remark that

Pullarao Pentapati - The new Government and Foreign Affairs

When the new BJP –led government took over, there were instant apprehensions that it would adopt a muscular tone and would be very assertive. Initially, it was also expected that the government would send some cold signals to various countries. All trough the campaign, the BJO touched the feelings of most Indians that our foreign policy as not successful and the old methods and policies might have to change.  Indians generally felt that a country the size of India was not getting due respect from neighbors.

Tree – Planting Around Highways and Roads Dangerous

On June 13, 2014, Nitin Gadkhari, the Roads and Transport minister of India announced a new idea. Actually, it is a very old idea and perhaps, he might have heard of it for the first time and then naturally in his enthusiasm or “Eureka moment “he thinks it is very original and new idea and thus far, no one in the universe thought of it.

Pullarao Pentapati - Low – Cost Airports: No-Frills Airports

India has 4 deluxe private airports   at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Approximately, 70% of all air traffic either originates at these 4 airports or lands there These 4 airports are very expensive and that is the reason flying is very expensive in India.

Pullarao Pentapati - Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Just a year ago, no one would have believed Narendra Modi   would become Prime Minister. There were many hurdles and no one expected that the BJP would win this election so well. Many politicians bet that there would be a Hung-Parliament and both BJP and Congress would not find numbers to form a government   and regional players would play the big role. A thing turned out differently .There was no room for manipulations and Narendra Modi became Prime Minister on May 26, 2014.  Ambitious Naveen Patnaik and Jayalalitha went humbly to Modi and bowed.   The neglected AAm Admi   and middle classes have the highest expectations.

Pullarao Pentapati - India Needs a Sovereign Wealth Fund

Most countries in the world with natural resources have established a “Sovereign Wealth Fund.” A major portion of the wealth derived from royalties, auction revenues or any other such revenues derived from natural resources or sale of telecom spectrum is deposited in the Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Pullarao Pentapati - Can Modi avoid a Jumbo cabinet?

The entire country applauded Narendramodi for having avoided alarge cabinet at his swearing-in ceremony. There was satisfaction that a compact Cabinet will be there and it will be carefully watched and that there will be severe performance standards. It was expected that a non-performingminister will be punished and Ministers whodeliver willberewarded.

Pullarao Pentapati - Ministers Need Common Sense, Not Degrees

In the last few days, a  major controversy broke out  that the newly –appointed  Human resources Minister Smt. smriti irani was only a high-School educated person and hence  was not qualified for the Human resources Ministry . It is odd that Ajay Maken, a former Minister in the Congress government, should make a comment on other people’s educational qualification. Not too long ago, when Ajay Maken was the Sports Minister of India, his Congress colleague Mani shankar aiyar made public fun of his degree froma non-elite college of Delhi.

Pullarao Pentapati - Can Narendra Modi's Big Four in the Cabinet perform?

Narendra Modi has succeeded for the moment in having a small government. Modi has been consistently saying that he will give  " Minimum government.Maximum government ".

He has given a reasonably small cabinet. But it can be smaller definitely. However, there are now many worries on whether the Cabinet has the talent and shrewdness in meeting the erected and existing challenges.

Pullarao Pentapati - Modi Should Have a Small Cabinet

There are good signs that Narendra  Modi  will settle for a small cabinet. In the last 30 years, particularly since the fall of the Congress government in 1996, we have had gigantic cabinets. The maximum limit set by law is that the Government will not have more Ministers than 11% of the combined strength of the two houses of Parliament.

Pullarao Pentapati - Congress Helped Narendra Modi by its Mistakes

 After  10  years of un-challenged rule,  Congress stares at defeat. Defeat in politics  is a certainty for everyone . The   British politician  Enoch Powell  famously said  “All politics  ends in failure  unless they are cut  off midstream at a happy juncture, because that is the nature of politics  and  life “. There is a  lesson for Rahul Gandhi in this statement. Whatever excuses are made for Congress and Rahul Gandhi,  blame is at his door.  Along with Enoch Powell, Rahul Gandhi should also  remember  that the American president John Kennedy said “Victory has many fathers and  defeat is an orphan”.

Pullarao Pentapati : BJP Prospects And Risks in Andhra and Telengana

There is no doubt that BJP has revived itself across the country. Whether  BJP will form a Government or not, we will know by May 16, 2014 and whether it will  a stable government or it will be the kind of 14-day Vajpayee government in 1996. But whatever the prospects of the BJP across India, We BJP will face a severe test in Andhra Pradesh, in both regions of Andhra and Telengana.

Pullarao Pentapati : Election Commission of India ignores wholesale purchase of votes in Andhra Pradesh

There have been a host of complaints to the Election Commission of India and the Election Commission of Andhra Pradesh regarding two major violations of the entire process.  The State Election Commission is supposed to be the eyes and ears of the Election Commission of India, which is based in Delhi. Here we find that both the ECI and the Andhra Pradesh Election Commission have ignored the frauds being committed don’t he election process.

Pullarao Pentapati - Can Jobs Be Created By a New Government?

The major failure of Dr. Manmohan  Singh's government has been inflation and the in-ability to create jobs. Inflation can be controlled since there are clearly identified  economic policies Which can cool down an economy. The policies might be painful, but they work.

Pullarao Pentapati - Election Commission Has Failed The Country

Ever since the election process has started, I have had a close and direct opportunity to see how the electoral process works. No doubt, on May 16, the Election Commission will pat itself and congratulate itself for conducting elections to the largest democracy in the world.

Pullarao Pentapati - Consequences of TRS ( Telengana Rashtra Samithi)

Consequences of TRS ( Telengana Rashtra Samithi)  win in Telengana.

The elections to the Telengana are over. Results will be out soon. By all accounts, the TRS  looks to win. Naturally, there will be different results for various people.

Pullarao Pentapati - Narendra Modi's First Challenge

This is purely speculation and it might never come to pass that Narendra Modi will become Prime Minister. But if he does form a government, the first problem will be his Cabinet formation.

There are about 40 people who were Ministers in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government of 1998- 2004 vintage still around. They will expect to become Ministers. Then there are other seniors like Kalyan Singh who will expect to be made Ministers.

 

Pullarao Pentapati - Both Gujarat Model and Congress Model are Useless

The media has been carrying all kinds of views from nondescript people that the Gujarat model is not good. This could very well be so. Narendra Modi is no redeemer. Neither can one predict whether he can manage Delhi. Time will tell.

Pullarao Pentapati - Challenges Before Narendra Modi

The Worst part of a Journey is when you finally reach the destination.  The election survey machinery in India says Narendra Modi will form the government.  Assuming that happens, then the most difficult part of the Journey begins for Narendra Modi.  His own party leaders will be seething with Jealousy and rage.  Every BJP  leader knows that they are dwarves before Narendra Modi.  Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not pull off such a Victory.  The BJP leaders would like to see Narendra Modi cut to size.  To that end, they will definitely try to sabotage the Narendra Modi Government in every way.

Polavaram Dam is anti -people Project

Polavaram Dam across the River Godaveri in Andhra Pradesh, is perhaps the best example of the worst type of public waste. Such a dam was conceived nearly 80 years ago. The site for the longest dam in India was imagined or vaguely contemplated at Polavaram , keeping in view the level of science and technology of that time. Dams took decade to be built.