Nerella Venu Madhav, a famous mimicry artist’s special Postal cover was released by India Post. It was unveiled on Tuesday (yesterday), in commemoration of the maestro’s seven decades of association with the art form.
Long before the present day comedy shows became famous on TVs, he held the audience captivated, with his art, which catapulted him to popularity, and also created a niche for Mimicry in the country. He is one of the stalwarts in his field that brought fame to the country to this specific art. He was the first Indian artist, to perform mimicry in United Nations. He is very good singer and a ventriloquist. He hails from a middle class family from Warangal, a teacher by profession, he has been given many awards and rewards. P V Narsimha Rao as a then CM of AP made him MLC and by then he had already created a place for himself by mimicking all and sundry, noted personalities of the era, including politicians, cinema actors, and he himself acted in few films also.
Most of the present day mimicry artists both AP&TS are his disciples. His role in propagating mimicry is colossal as he inspired many to take it as a profession.
He was instrumental in introducing mimicry as subject in curriculum of Telugu University, and wrote the syllabus also. When V Rajeswar Rao Ex-MP was alive, he was frequent visitor to their house in SR Nagar, and I also used to interact with him. I used to derive lot of pleasure, when used to imitate my father, who is no more, and Sri Rajeswar Rao also used to ask him to imitate my father, which he used to do with utmost precision. I’m very happy to note that the maestro would now be seen on special covers with India Post, from yesterday onwards and now he must be turning 85 years on Dec 28th. I have great reverence for him and his art form and wish him all the best on his birthday.

Now with the results announced, cat is out of the bag as far as Gujarat election is concerned. The two phases of elections in Gujarat having been completed, which witnessed lot of mudslinging, instead of development as the core issue. Moreover Mr Aiyyar’s statement provided a golden opportunity to the ruling party, to garner public sympathy. For Congress it has turned out to be a good battle ground. I’m sure the whole campaign has given Rahul, a different identity, his popularity has definitely increased, and he has emerged as confident leader. As a matter of fact I have been following the electioneering process, that started from day one, both in print and electronic media, during the Gujarat campaign, and the ruling party didn’t miss a chance to polarise Hindu vote bank, for example Rahul’s “temple visit” right from his signing in the register,etc, were blown out of proportions,.

At the outset, the campaign had ended, amidst acrimony and vicious mudslinging, while the main issues concerning people were pushed to the backburner and accusations occupied the center stage. For Congress it heralds a new era under Rahul, in full scale with Mrs Sonia seen no nowhere around. There seems to be a fundamental change in the attitude, approach, and even the agenda of the party. I haven’t seen any appeasement of minorities, and the party, has come nearer to Hindus. Rahul’s temple visits, the TILAK on his forehead, total absence of any reference to Gujarat’s 2002 riots, shows total turn around, in approach. In a state Like Gujarat it must be understood that it can’t come to power by alienating majority community while for BJP it was Modi and Modi alone all the way. His entire cabinet, their MPs, including the PM were totally devoted and surprisingly PM did campaign like a CM of Gujarat, which no other PM right from Nehru to Rajeev, no one did campaign like this in case of a state election, they used to address one or two important public meetings, and rest will be taken care by local CM and more so PM had studiously avoided any reference to VIKAS though it is their own party in power for the last 22 years. The important outcome of Gujarat election, for AmitShah and PM, needs no reiteration. It is their home state and, they are expected to know what the people of Gujarat want, more than anybody else.   Congress has been in shambles in that state for the last more than two decades. No organisational structure, neither gross root level leader ship nor CM’s face, i was told by one of my close old friends from Mumbai, that until 3 months ago, it was just an election, that had to be gone through, to fulfill the constitutional obligation, but that perception had changed very suddenly. Congress which had been found wanting in taking on the government for over three years have suddenly turned very active, on social media, mastering art that Modi’s team was good at and even doing slightly better. Simultaneously Rahul had had a makeover. No more the butt of jokes he was asking the right questions at the right time, and  during the campaign he had repeatedly stated that he would not make any personal accusations against Modi while Modi did the other way throughout. I was surprised to note and find that in one place in Ahmedabad, he the incoming Congress President addressed a press conference for the first time, which Modi could never do it in last 46 months, wherein he said he wants to change the discourse of politics as it has become nasty and ugly, while saying that he wanted politics of love and compassion whereas Modi’s campaign was only about himself, Congress, and Rahul and his visits to temples has done some good for the Congress to pull all anti Modi forces, though what kind of damage Hardik Patel can do to BJP will only be known on Monday. As a matter of fact, the election battle in Gujarat were fought on playing fields of Pakistan to reincarnate Indian nationalism. As all of us had seen  Manishankar Aiyar on Dec 6th hosted a dinner in his house, for the visiting Ex-Foreign Minister of Pakistan Mr Kasuri a fellow Oxonian and next day he shared a common platform to discuss Indo-Pakistan relations wherein carelessly Aiyar referred to Modi as ‘Neech Aadmi’ , which made BJP to empty its barrels against Aiyar. Though he stayed on his feet, but Rahul ordered him to apologise to Modi, and took swift action to suspend him from party’s primary membership, but even then it was claimed that the dinner was conspiracy to subvert the elections of Gujarat and remember the members present were former Army Chief Deepak Kapoor, former foreign minister Natwarsingh, former diplomats Salman Haider, Raghavan, Sharat Sabharwal, ShankarBajpai, ChinmayGharekhan Former PM Manmohan Singh and former VP Ansari. Can we call these above dignitaries as conspirators?

 Exit polls conducted by various polling agencies have predicted that BJP would retain Gujarat with a reduced margin in 182 member Assembly, and one of them even predicted a sweep, and if the projections are correct, that means the campaign of BJP led by Modi triumphed over the Congress yet again and the result will surely have an effect on the future of our economy, and 2019 general elections. Though all exit polls favour the ruling party, Congress and Rahul gave Shah and his team a run for their money. But to me it appears, even though BJP wins, all the reforms may stop now, and Modi may take few leaves from Indira’s socialism to repackage them as the campaign has fully exposed the so-called Gujarat model and I’m sure this campaign game of invoking Pakistan will not work elsewhere. To me it appears, raising Pakistani, bogey PM pictured in poor light. Some of friends may not agree with my view, his speeches were like an astute aspirant of CM post, rather than PM of a nation. Infact, with having NIA, IB, CBI, at his disposal, he could have taken action, but try to woo the voters with such canards, will stand him in very low esteem. Labeling opponents as anti nationals, and stifling the voice of dissent, one may try to score political brownie points. But the fact of the matter is, BJP’s much touted Gujarati model has taken back seat, while the political slugfest only came to the fore. One should remember that success is not permanent and failure is not final in the game of politics. Airing out such baseless allegations against the former PM who is known for his impeccable integrity, is stooping too low to win just a state election.

 November 26th was Varghese Kurien's birthday and I read some really inspiring articles on him so wanted to share them with you all too.  Kurien moved to Anand in Gujarat, at the age 28, in the year 1949 and India could produce only 27 million tons of milk, while 74 percent of  demand was met through, imports around that time. In 2012  when he was passed away, India was producing, 127 million tons of milk. In the past 100 years, a handful of men and women, individually catalysed the transformation, of India diary industry. Indisputably Kurien was one of the pioneers of the milk revolution in India. Yet successive governments have shied away from bestowing the nation’s highest honour, The Bharat Ratna on that true nationalist .
Kurien stayed back at Anand, stuck by the passion of Tribhovandas Patel, who was chosen by Vallabhai Patel to unite the farmers against exploitation, by unscrupulous players, and lead the Kaira cooperative. He found the cause worthy of his rebellious nature and decided to stay back to help people who are helpless.
The problem of milk scarcity was identified in 1928, in a report by Lord Linlithgow who recommend series of steps from upgrading livestock to improving quality of feed, to funding, and organising under a collective. Another surprising fact I found was that New Zealand was the first one to organise farmers, into cooperatives, then building dairy under these cooperatives, to emerge as world’s largest players in the year 1871 .
In 1950s it seems India was facing severe milk scarcity and we were dependent on global charity for milk, baby feed, and other dairy products. Kurien saw it as a national crisis and decided to  address the issue to enable better income for farmers. He had invented a different model, wherein instead of cattle being ferried to outskirts of cities, to be housed and milked in unhygienic sheds, milk was collected and processed to be delivered wherever it was needed.
 This model had been seen by all and had the full support from, Vallabhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru. Lal Bahadur, Morarji Desai, and even Indira Gandhi too. By early 1960s Kurien had created brand Amul, which even challenged multinationals and made waves.
But he had to struggle a lot for funds and in 1968 it seems the European Economic Commission offered its 'excess production' as aid. Using the proceeds from sales of milk products as funding, Kurien could setup a national grid, and triggered Operation Flood in 1970s. In 2015-16 India produced,155 million tons of milk.Today the Amul model, has enabled India, emerge as largest milk producer, enabling a better future, for members of 1.44 lakh cooperatives, and farmers, empowering millions of women.
Keeping all this in view there is every reason to confer Bharat Ratna, on Varghese Kurien, as he played very important role in the transformation of millions of lives.

There is mass hysteria witnessing today over the film Padmavati. It is a fact that none of the protesters had seen the film but people are on the streets in many northern states. With the recent announcement by Gujarat Govt to ban the movie and MP and Rajasthan followed the suit.  Over the past few weeks, the controversy over the film has become our national pastime and constant source of political entertainment. I fail to understand one thing, is it possible for any film or any film maker to appease the sentiment of a billion -plus population?
 It is unfortunate that the release of big budget film like this, is mired in controversy. The protests around the movie have resulted in major law and order problem in few states. Actually, I am really not aware of the history, but gathered here and there that there no historical evidence of Padmavati and also that the film is purely based on fiction and creativity of the Director Bhansali. Courts having been cleared it, the agitation against its release is uncalled for in my personal opinion.  The government’s shouldn’t buckle under pressure to maintain law and order citing there is a real distortion of history but the fact of the matter is, the protests against this film are snowballing. This movie is yet to be seen by anyone, apart from those who made it.
As the release date of the film in the theatres is still shrouded in mystery after Karnisena intensified their protests, and demanded ban on the plea, that history was distorted ,showing Rajputs in poor light. But  SC rightly rejected their plea, saying that none has the right to interfere, in freedom of expression in cinema while disapproving the threat issued by elements to harm Deepika for acting in the film. It is even reported that Rs 10 crores have been fixed for the elimination of actress and Director Bhansali. What does it show? Are we living in democratic country? Though the actual release of the film kept under wraps till the return of normalcy, the ball is in the court of states, as it is their responsibility to maintain law and order.
In my view, I&B Ministry If union government, must ensure that rule of law is enforced firmly without succumbing to vested interests, by making the protesters understand that the artistic expression depicted through films can not be curbed on flimsy grounds.
But in the instant case even CBFC also looks to be biased as in this respect one Marathi film, HALAL was reported, that before giving a certificate, CBFC called the muslim community members from various cities, and after taking their suggestions and they suggested some minor cuts and finally certification was given. In that case why not the same yardstick is not followed? Why only Bhansali's film being subjected to unfair treatment? CBFC should call Rajput community elders, so-called Hindu leaders, and historians to have their suggestions.
It May not be good to make on those issues which hurt religious sentiments of the people of any religion. Films should lay focus on more important issues, like poverty, education, healthcare, economic growth as well as service to the poor and needy. But it is easier said than done as who would see such movies without masala?

I'm pained to note that the Govt of India could have conducted Mrs Gandhi’s birth centenary celebrations in a big way. It is a fact that she belonged to the rival party, but in my view, she deserves high regard from all, across party lines and if that was the case, neither Sardar Patel nor Subhaschandra Bose, belong to the present ruling dispensation. As a PM, she steered the country out of the state of food scarcity and registered many victories for India. In fact the credit of breaking Pakistan, and creation of a new country, Bangladesh, goes only to her. We resort to chest thumping for a very small routine things like Surgical strikes, which most governments do as matter of routine, and they normally go unnoticed, but whereas breaking a rival country into half much against the very powerful international community, especially America which supports Pakistan even to this day, was not a small affair. Her one and only wrong step being Declaration of Emergency, the consequences of it, had been reaped in the subsequent election. But whatever it is worth, she left behind her legacy as an able leader. Above all Congress has been criticised, by the present ruling dispensation, for its selective approach in honouring the national leaders. If BJP also follows in the footsteps of Congress, and its wrong doings, then there is no point, for it to make hue and cry, about such things. I agree, even the Congress has no moral ground to question BJP, as it has also conveniently forgotten, the services, of a very great PM Mr Narasimha Rao. Therefore it shouldn’t be a role model, for the government, led by BJP to take cue and ignore Indira.
All said and done, she was India’s one of the most charismatic leaders, and very courageous women PM and not celebrating has not gone down well, with many people who I have interacted with, because she was not only known as “Iron Lady” who lead from the front, at critical junctures with a common resolve to build a better India. She was also a women with high secular creed and stature that remains unmatched even to this day. It is pity that Mrs Gandhi, was far removed from fierce political controversy after emergency, yet it remains imperative or all political parties, cutting across party lines, to imbibe her dedication, to the national unit. And her priority to eradicate poverty, communalism and regionalism.

I'm happy to note that our humble Indian KichidI  would get the national status. Hopefully it would become a staple diet all over India in general and particularly in schools where mid -meals are being served to children.Though Kichidi being the poor man’s food, soon it entered rich people’s homes and even hotels, where probably it may get a fancy name for a fancy price. Incidentally I also happened to read that our PM is very fond of this item. But I'm sure it can’t be the reason for it to get a national status and I would pray that it shouldn’t turn into another sparring between ruling and opposition. I appeal to all political parties, not give political colour to this.

Last week November 8th (exactly a year since demonetization) saw re-ignition  of debate on demonetization and its effects on the society positive and negative.  Both BJP and Congress marked the occasion for different reasons.  In this regard I read a report in one all India level English News paper which I personally feel, it is pro-Government, had conducted a survey among five southern states, and the result, it seems not encouraging.when asked about whether Demonetisation was a good decision, 44 percent said “yes” while 47.6 said “no” ,with an error margin of 3 percent, .However when it came to the two stated objectives of Demonetisation, — curbs on black money and tackling corruption,-respondents,it seems, emphatically said both of these goals have been belied. It is also reported that some 59 percent, said that Demonetisation didn’t succeed in bringing down, the circulation of black money while 28.5 percent said it has.

After watching and reading different media outlets I found the arguments of ruling party is found to be empty and has only slogans than convincing statistical points for people to agree upon.T he status of Economy is not encouraging but deteriorating compelling PM and FM to discuss the measures to be taken on war footing. The fact as it stands today is that due to demonetisation the affluent stand unaffected, while the common man who had to bear with all its ill effects like loss of employment, reduced wage, closure of small industries, and businesses firms, money crunch and so on.
In this connection it is also pertinent to mention that we have all forgotten those who died amid the chaos,of Notebandi. It was officially stated that more than 100h ad died.Wire listed names, and locations of 90 including a bank peon in Pune, who succumbed to stress, handling large number of crowds, 12 hours a day and many elderly people who simply collapsed, waiting in the queues.When Manmohan Singh said in Parliament that it is  a ”legalised blunder “ he didn’t cut much ice, because he was a congress Ex PM and his record as PM had been pathetic. But whatever it is worth, with in an year he was proved right.
FM Jaitley dismissed all this as ”initial inconveniences” and said that the absence of social unrest and any significant economic disruption showed that DeMo was a great achievement.
On disruption I had read an example that Surat and Tirupur, very famous textile export centres, were devastated over night. It was 400 crores a day business in Surat, while Tirupur it was 50,000 crore a year, backbone employing about 10 lakh workers. Tirupur dependent wholly on textiles unlike Surat which had diamonds too, was reduced to a graveyard. My question is, are theses initial inconveniences.?
To my mind it is not clear whether move DeMo, met its intended purpose. Leaving the black Kuberas aside, for the time being the hardships and sufferings caused by this move, to the poor and middle class it is indeed, a backbreaking. I agree ,The this is a well intentioned move ,but it is executed very shabbily.
Therefore it would be honourable on the part of the government to accept the fact as fact, and take corrective steps to restore confidence.

It is very heartening to note that RBI has taken some steps and some special schemes for the benefit of the senior citizens. Issue of digital life certificates for the aged people and easy methods of transactions will benefit them a lot. RBI has made a special appeal to banks to make their services available to challenged and senior citizens at their door steps. I hope banking people would heed RBI’s suggestion as soon as possible.
The whole exercise of going to bank each time is not only cumbersome but also very risky now a days, if they carry cash. Even ATMs are not safe as many attacks on women and senior citizens are reported from time to time. Even submission of Life certificate every November is made easy by thumb impression through biometric machine. In this connection I would like pour out the woes of public sector retired employees. As is well known PSU retiree’s staff won’t have pension facilities.The pension on EPF is very meagre, that is to say, an employee retired in the position of a senior manager, is getting Rs 10806/. The lump sum amount on retirement after meeting of expenditure for children’s marriage, education, and clearing old debts, is deposited in TDRs and the interest thereon is only the source of livelihood. However to our misfortune every year the interest rates are dwindling and retired PSU employees, are unable to make both ends meet. It is a very serious matter . The RBI should look into this suo-motto, and enhance the interest rates for senior citizens of PSUs employees.

After three years, of the present government, the economy is back to where it was, in the last days of Manmohan Singh government and for the same reason it was rejected by the people of India in 2014. Our present PM rode to power on the twin planks -- growth in jobs and eradication of corruption. If you see the today's report there is no sign of 10 million jobs promised over five years, and now even the growth also crippled. The latest RBI figures, suggesting that 99 percent of the banned notes 1000 & 500 denominations have come back to banks, have raised the questions over the rationale and efficacy of demonetisation. Critics argue that the economic objectives of Demonetization have not been achieved. If the quantum of banned currency notes, returning to the banks is taken as measure, of black money in the system, the the figures reflected by RBI show it is a total failure. The Oxfam international's global inequality report, last year stated that the richest one percent in India owns 58% of country 's wealth. The disruptive move should have hit this one percent hard. But we have noticed, is that the other 99% went through torturous time lining up in serpentine queues before banks to take out their own money. Instead of taking up demonetization they should have gone for healthcare improvement and revamping of Education systems which is the need of the hour.
Through series of tweets former Finance Minister Chidambaram has criticised demonetization in strong words. His sarcastic comments have drawn the attention of the nation,.people have supported the government of its bold move with the hope that black money will be unearthed and economic offenders will be brought to book. But lack of followup measures and negligence in implementation of this move made even neutral analysts to suspect the motive and its catastrophic effects on every sector significantly outweigh any obscure benefits it may have in the long run. The objective of reducing the counterfeit currency seems unachieved and neither has the government tackled terror funding nor corruption. Ofcourse government takes credit for promoting cashless economy, but was that the main objective? If it was , then lives of more than 100 people and loss of thousands of jobs must be huge price to pay. Infact, this move was clever strategy before the Assembly Elections in five states, in which it succeeded.
Here I must say that Mr Krishna Sagar BJP spokesman wrote an article defending the action of the government, which I too read it fully .He was only struggling to justify the shock of demonetisation administered on the common man. While defending the action he showed three objectives::weeding out fake currency. Unearthing black money, and closing the funding channels to terrorist outfits. These motives were not achieved and what Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram said had come true. The fact is that the circulation of fake currency has not stopped, while fake currency of 2000 rupee notes still in circulation, .the second objective of unearthing of black money and bringing back the 80 lakh crores of black money stashed away abroad, and depositing 15 lakh rupees in every account, must be only a dream as poor people are eagerly waiting for that day. The third objective of destroying terror funding channels .If this is achieved, then why do we see so many terror attacks,and why hundreds of innocent people are loosing their lives? 
The fact of the matter reported by RBI is that it had gained 16000 crores, but lost 200000 crores, in printing new notes. Itis also reported that there is slowdown in Industrialisation and Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing, while the Construction sector had slumped. Of course, both Krisnasagar and FM Arun Jaitley are supporting it still, as the government is coming out with new reasons for Demonetisation and making the honest common man to live in fools paradise.

In the month of August Governments of Telangana and AP celebrated 154th Anniversary of Harikath Pithamaha "Adibhatla Narayana Das". Harikatha is reminiscent of 1950-60's era for me. I was in my teens and thermal power project was just coming up in my native place Ramagundam. And the place was bustling with all kinds of people as establishment activities were in full swing around that time. My father who was sarpanch of that area facilitated the construction of a 'Veeranjaneya Temple". In this temple festivals like Ganesh Chathurthi, Dasara, and Rama Navami were organized by the locals with full fervour. During these festivals they used to call 'Haridasus' from Vijayawada, Guntur and Vemulawada. Couple of popular names popping up in my mind are Bezwada Nagarajakumari and Kesinagri Rajanna. The most popular art form at that time has almost vanished these days and current generation is totally unaware of this art form. 
Harikatha is an excellent blend of storytelling, music and dance, spiced up with jocular comments on the contemporary political and social scenario of the by-gone era. Infact it is an unique art form that reflects the culture and heritage of India in general and Telugus in particular. The Haridasus with their marvellous performance not only entertained but also educated and enlightened the people with with stories from our epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavatam and also lives of great Indian saints. It was delightful to watch Haridasus sing Padyams so mellifluously, dance so rhythmically narrating the stories so skill fully laced with relevant humorous anecdotes. And also commenting incisively on the contemporary social and political affairs of the state and nation, enthralling the audience. I still cherish those pleasant memories and now feel quite sad, about the disappearance of this great art form from our modern lives. It is time for both state and Central Govts to revive this art form through the Department of Culture and save it from extinction.

I had high expectations regarding the quality of food served in trains. My hopes were also high as Suresh Prabhu took over the as union minister for railways.
But my hopes dashed when I saw inferior quality food being served on my trip to shiridi.
Later I also read reports of adverse observations by CAG. Railway teams and CAG inspected 74 railway stations and 80 trains. Their joint report states that the food being served is unfit for human consumption. We all are very well aware that the railways as such is India'slife line for more than 8.6 billion passengers every year. We all are aware that corruption in awarding the contracts to private players for food supply and callousness of officials are responsible for the poor quality of services. Successive Railway Ministers, have traditionally focussed on populist measures while basic issues of passenger amenities cleanliness,and quality food, have been neglected over the years.
.IRCTC manages catering services but it doesn't cook or supply food that is served to passengers. This is done by private firms which run on contacts after having got in an open tender.

Railways have improved its efficiency in certain areas in the last few years. It has attracted massive investments ,undertaken projects with private participation and made efforts to reduce the cost of transportation affordable. However safety, hygiene, Quality food, and punctuality are of primary importance.

One of my cousins who was very senior officer retired from Railways told me that the same set of contractors would manage to get the contracts every year. But Suresh Prabhu known for his dynamism and no-nonsense approach tried to break this contractor nexus, by encouraging E-catering business but it is yet to take the shape fully. But I feel travelers safety, hygiene, quality food, and punctuality of trains, are the issues the Minister is expected to keep a watch.

On the 1st July, we stayed at our village Ramgundam. There I just wanted to go round to see, and in the process I also went to see my old government  school where I have studied up to 4th class, then from 5th class onwards we all went  to the only school at Ramgundam Zilla Parishad High school which is about 2 km away from my village. After seeing the school in my village, some stray thoughts have come to my mind, and I feel  some of my FB may also appreciate it.  The village school is now a High School but  after seeing the students studying there in that school, I strongly feel that the reservations are required for the students studying in only such government schools. Every one should ask oneself which category of children need reservations? It is the children who are studying in convent or corporate schools or children studying in government schools? Well nourished children studying in well furnished schools or malnourished children studying in ill furnished Govt schools? The children who study under strict supervision in private schools or those children studying under no supervision in government schools? We all know rich sections send their wards to international schools in cities including Hyderabad. Do they need support of reservations just because they belong to so-called OBCs, SCs & STs or minorities? 

Reservations should be given to those who are socially disadvantaged, economically deprived educationally discriminated. But where do you find them? After seeing the school, I felt, no surveys are needed or statistics are required to identify them as they are found in government schools and these are the children who need the support because in government schools the academic standards the less said the better it is as the parents of these children come from lower strata of society and they show little interest in their children and take no interest in functioning of the school. They are voiceless sections of the society.  The Ramagundam school lacks infrastructure, and it may the same case with other schools in other villages as well. Some schools that have infrastructure, there will be no strength and in some schools might have strength but there may not be sufficient number of teachers.  After looking at this case in particular I strongly feel that these children studying in these government schools do need the support of reservations. Maybe its time to rethink caste based reservations to economic condition reservations.

Indian judiciary is respected world over ,for its independence, fairness and impartiality while enjoying unflinching public faith. But of late, the unsavoury episode involving a confrontation between judge of Calcutta High Court, Karnan and the Supreme Court, has created, severe embarrassment to the institution and exposed the deficiencies in The collegium system of appointment of judges. The judges of higher courts, trading charges, and pronouncing jail sentences against each other, has shocked the legal fraternity.  The seven judge bench of Supreme Court ordered arrest of Karnan, and sentenced him to six months imprisonment, for contempt of court, and also issued a gag order preventing the media, from carrying any statement by the defiant judge.

A High court judge being punished for contempt of court is unprecedented in the history of Indian judiciary. Such indecent internal battle will only erode the dignity of judiciary. If you really see the sequence he made charges of corruption against his own fellow judges of High Courts and Apex court stayed his own transfer order, issued strictures against Chief Justice of Madras High Court, and on the top of it, ordered the arrest of seven Supreme Court judges including the Chief Justice.

The unpleasant situation arising out of the judgements vis-a-vis the behaviour of Karnan, should serve as wake up call. It is not enough to think, in terms of enforcing rules and regulations as it would be viewed as strangulation of freedom of speech. The more fundamental problem that needs to be addressed is sound procedures in selection of judges. We have already seen the dissent, note of one of the judges in the collegium, Justice Chalameswar, who said that he will not be attending the meetings of collegium as it lacks transparency in selection of judges. Taking cue from the systems used in the selection of administrative jobs, police, Railways, and Revenue  services, similar approach is required in judicial administration as well.  I feel "Indian Law service" must be put in place, with meritorious Law Graduates,. These Law Officers can be promoted over a period of time based on certain criteria to become judges across the country. The selection of judges could be from the pool of meritorious Law Officers. If we can make judiciary stronger we can arrest the growing erosion of faith in judicial system.

In the instant case if Karnan, who was once a polling agent of AIADMK, and later for some time associated with Congress, is a product of defective Collegium system. His elevation as Judge raises many questions because he had virtually no known practice at the Madras Bar. By ordering his arrest and imprisonment, the Supreme Court might have sent a strong message against those making all sorts of attacks on judiciary but what is required is the correction of system. There is need for introspection and transparency in selection mechanism.

There is lot of discussion on Indo-China bilateral relations and media showing the pictures of movement of arsenal by China, which is very disturbing.The confrontation has been raging for over here 3 weeks at Doklam plateau in Bhutanese territory which forms a tri-junction between Sikkim, China and Bhutan. As I understand from the reports that China has violated the Bhutanese territory and Indian soldiers obstructed this move of China. And this is supposed to be the cause the tension. Later Army Chief Rawat made statement that India is ready for two -half -front war , and Chinese media warned India of consequences citing 1962 war. India is at a disadvantage, but the situation may not be that bad. Drunk with economic and military power China seems to be moving with terrorist mindset. Their designs in Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh will not succeed by holding out threats and it's ways are always unpredictable, for example closing the route Nathulal-pass, for our Indian pilgrims to go to Mansarover shrine. The new Yatra route was apparently opened by Beijing to show mark of respect to Hindu religious sentiments and deepen ties with new Government under Modi, and it is not surprising that Beijing has now taken a U-turn, on the issue and stopped our pilgrims which shows how unpredictable they are.

  I have read in one of the articles, that during the period when communism was at ascendency, the then king of Sweden had remarked that "if one is not a socialist till the age of 21 it shows he /she has no heart, and if he/she continues to be a socialist after 21 years it shows the person has no head." It has back - stabbed India by occupying our Aaksaichin area, and it is hand in glove with Pakistan, and opposing India at every stage on many issues concerning India, like Entry into Nuclear Suppliers group and the UN ban on Masood Azhar have soured our relations with China.

 Both the countries have escalated the matters to undesired levels. We all know India and China put together makeup one third of humanity and do you feel can they afford to be neighbours at each other's throats? Whatever may be postures and provocations, the standoff has to be resolved by diplomatic means, but even today's morning news bulletin also says, the alarming situation on the order and it was announced that the Modi-Xi jinping meeting at G20 summit in Germany also ruled out which was not in good taste seeing the border situation. 

  India and China may have many boundary disputes but  to avoid casualties of men and material both need to pursue peace talks through bilateral efforts. India must be sticking to Mc Mohan line, and disputed areas which we have lost and efforts should be made to reclaim but not at the cost of lives of our people.

June19th, 2017, was a memorable day, in the world history of space science as our Mars-Orbitary Mission MANGALYAAN,-successfully completed 1000 Earth Days.It is a pride of the nation. ISRO has gained reputation in the International space field after the success of Iconic Mangalyaan Mission, and successful launch of GSLV Mark3. This success has taken Indian pride to greater heights. With this we will be able to attract foreign investments, .

It is indeed a matter of deep satisfaction that the launch of GSLV-Mark3, which was nicknamed as "fat boy" by the space scientists, and "Bahubali " by Telugu media. India has shown to the world that its space program is cost-effective, and that it can plan future programs Chandrayaan 2 or Mangalyaan 2, to Moon and Mars. It is now time to seriously think of a manned mission, to space, the only segment in space science where China has an added advantage over us.

I congratulate ISRO for the success of GSLV which has enabled India to occupy a pride of place and recognition among scientifically advanced nations. In fact, an year ago, I remember to have read a comment that it was necessary to indulge in the luxury of this costly mission ignoring the deplorable conditions of millions rural population as the money spent on this mission could have been used for the development works in rural areas. But let us understand that the investment in space research has to be continued because it is like a goldmine where mining has just begun. It needs patience and foresight. Those who look for immediate returns on investments may fail to see the long term benefits which include opening new vistas, for a better living. Kudos to ISRO scientists.

Who will be our next President of India? This question is on everyone’s mind these days as the Election Commission kick-started the process by which India will get its 13th President and BJP's President Amit Shah constituted one committee with Rajnath Singh, Jaitly,and Venkaiah Naidu, to discuss with all stakeholders to arrive at a consensus. Congress leadership has already reached out to parties such as, TMC, DMK, BSP, SP, RJD!NCP, CPM, CPI,JD(U) and JD (s) etc. However their coming together looks difficult because of internal contradictions, as many of them had fought against the Congress in the past. I feel it is not the arithmetic, but the political chemistry that matters. I have heard names of Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Mahatma 's grandson, Maharashtra's strongman Sharad Pawar, but as usual it seems there is no agreement on any candidate as of now. But the opposition camp, has thrown the ball in ruling party's court, to build a consensus. On the BJP's front, the Presidential ambition of Advani, now lays shattered in the wake of Supreme Court reviving charges, against him in Babri Masjid case. Draupadi Murmu's name (Jharkhand Governor) also being suggested as first ever tribal President, while elevation to either, Sushma Swaraj or Sumitra Mahajan, also seen as possibility. We cannot rule out a surprise too.

Our Prime Minister has been invited by the President of America, and immediately even dates were also announced for the US visit by our PM.  US has always been an unpredictable in its foreign policy towards India and Donald Trump takes this unpredictability to the next level. Of late, there is feeling that India is drifting towards US which is placing strains in our relationship with Russia which has been a reliable ally throughout. Our PM has visited Russia few days ago to maintain balance. With my little understanding what I feel, we should follow a simple rule that in foreign policy we do not have permanent friends or permanent foes. Peace in Afghanistan is still elusive so there is possibility that that US policy towards Pakistan is going to be more or less same,and therefore India should tread cautiously.
The Trump's ban on immigrants from seven Muslim countries is a symbolic gesture on his tough stand on terrorism. As such US will not be safer from Islamic terror, than before because he has left out countries like Pakistan, Saudi, and Afghanistan which breeding grounds for terrorism. US needs to address gun violence which is also a form of terror, which we notice many incidents in the recent past. The stalwart President from same Republican Party Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation to free the slaves, risking his own life, in 1863 but now Trump who occupies same chair has signed an Executive Order to stop immigration of seven Muslim countries basing on unfounded religious prejudices. It is going to be a great disservice to his own country and to the civil world as well.
While Trump's patriotism is understandable he shouldn't forget the truth that US IT industry owes so much to the millions of Indians but for whose penchant for innovation, creativity and tireless undaunted efforts it might not be what it is today. After all Indian brain power cannot be ignored.

It is totally horrifying to see and hear these food adulteration stories day in and day out.  All the basic items like milk, ghee, pulses and cereals, fruits etc consumed by common man are being adulterated. Even the daily used bread and food are seemingly harmful for the health. Normally the doctors advise their patients to take milk, bread and fruits, while recovering from illness. But now it is certain that the heathy may become sick, if we take these food items. The fruits are being ripened with carbides, the milk is found with harmful chemicals like Urea, while it is reported that the breads and buns, in the market are found with carcinogenic chemicals like potassium bromate and iodate. The food adulteration is nothing but an act of giving slow poison at massive scale. It turns out to be hazardous at individual level, while it is a financial burden also, which is avoidable.

 It is alarming that poisonous ingredients are found in cheese, jam, and jelly, which form the toppings in the bread taken daily as breakfast by many people, not only abroad but even in India now. I even came to know that the latest one where the toppings for bread are laced with dangerous substances in the name of preservatives, have sent jitters, that no foodstuff is safe, despite proud proclamation by the manufacturer. Even reputed food product manufacturers have come under close scrutiny of the food authorities due to various unscrupulous methods used to get flavour, and increase in shelf life of a product. We all know that the doctors have already been warning against consumption of junk food due to health reasons.
Even the leader elect are so corrupt that they keep their voters busy by raising other issues which have nothing to do with what they eat. Every other day we come across reports highlighted by media. I really do not know whether our rulers ever take up such issues seriously until few people die so that the issue could be politicised. Here again let us not forget that our leaders also adulterated as they mix up issues to keep people confused and to keep them away from core issues.
We have heard the words blood cancer, lung cancer, throats cancer etc. But now even our bread is cancer.  It started with Pepsi cola, fruits, vegetables, then noodles, and now bread. Now with all this people are left in lurch unknown whether to consume such food items at all or not. It is ironic that at a time when people leaning towards eating healthy, the most basic healthy foods we are getting are contaminated. I feel its time for local governments and central government to step up to make sure that public gets only pure and healthy food. Maybe establishing a authoritative body to disseminate correct information to people cautioning them and guiding them of current problems with food available in the market. 

Today I wanted to share an insight into a book titled "1991 How P V Narasimha Rao Made History" by Sanjay Baru. Sanjay Baru was a Media Advisor to Manmohan Singh, an Editor of many economic daily newspapers, taught in University of Hyderabad and author of many books, including "The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh.

 Sanjay Baru mentions that his acquaintance PV Narasimha Rao began when his father B P R Vithal was a collector Karimnagar and PV represented Manthani, a part of Karimnagar district at that time. 

June 21st 1991, was a momentous day for India's political history. It was on this day that Narasimha Rao was sworn in as first non-Nehru Gandhi family, Prime Minister. In 2017 India is the fastest growing Economy but let us remember that half of India's current population, however was not even born in 1991 and would scarcely know of an India where the consumer choice was dictated by the state. It was a time when parents booked scooters at the birth of a girl, for dowry, cars, was limited to black Ambassador, or White Padmini, or Red Maruthi800. A time when people waited for years to get telephone connection, where travellers were left stranded between delayed flight and cancelled flight.  All this was dismantled with the stroke of a pen dismantling the licence-permit Raj, opening up the Indian economy from 21 June 1991.
Before PV four senior political leaders tried leading non-congress governments, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, V P Singh, and Chandrasekhar and all of them failed. Most of them were in office for less than a year, but PV however demonstrated his political acumen within a year.
Sanjay mentions in this book that in that one year 1991, he offered quiet, sober and competent leadership to the nation. From Vanaprastha he was on the verge of taking up sanyasa and to Head the  Courtallam Peetham as pontiff. He was called upon to be a Karmayogi. The author observes that for the leaderships PV provided during that fateful year PV deserved BHARAT RATNA.
   Coming back to this subject, if I have understood it properly, I feel, this is more about the stupidity of Rajiv, than the greatness of PV, and I have also read that this book coupled with ""Half-Lion""of Vinay Sitapathy, end up forming two halves of PV story .But all said and done, it is an excellent book which describes 1991 political and economic situation in India, and how PV handled it. A good introduction to1991 crisis that changed India for ever. We find good internal information of politics and economics, but somewhere in the middle I found some repitations ,and then it ends abruptly too. Overall it is worth a read to gain understanding of what actually transpired in1991. How an almost a retired politician changed the economic direction of this country.
Before concluding I would Iike to make a personal  note with regards to Bharat Ratna for PV. After Congress leaderships  abandoned him, most party members kept a safe distance from him. Now that a fair amount of time has elapsed since Rao passed away, many party leaders are talking admiringly about him, and the bold steps he took to usher in economic reforms. It was also reported that a close confidant of Gandhi family, a former Minister, suggested to Manmohan Singh then PM to award Bharat Ratna to PV but obviously his proposal didn't draw any response. Today we are reaping benefits of his acts so I think its  high time his contributions are recognized by Indian Government too. Jai Hind!