He was considered one of the key architects of an electorally dominant BJP, Former Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley lost a long battle with cancer yesterday, leaving admirers in disbelief and political foes saddened. In 2009, we view both Sushma Swaraj and Jaitley as BJP’s Gen Next, leaders. At one point, he was also perceived as a Prime Ministerial candidate. Both of them were brought to the center stage by the party’s patriarch Advani. But in a twist of fate both of them departed just 18 days apart leaving behind their firm imprints. Arun Jaitley was considered a man Friday who brought Modi Ji to the national scene, will be missed, as he was his chief troubleshooter since his days in Gujarat politics. Except for good health, he had all that he could attain. His greatest accomplishment is GST implementation by absorbing entire shock on both Demonetisation & GST. Probably His indispensability may be the cause of envy among his several peers. I feel he was akin to Pranab Mukherjee in Congress, a formidable strategist, draftsman, Parliamentarian, with a commendable skill in debating with the astute legal mind. He suffered and fought a hard battle with multiple ailments. May his soul rest in peace.

A few days ago I came across a disturbing article titled “Food Democracy.” It was about a customer who cancelled his order for food and has forgone his refund also, for the reason that the person who was assigned to deliver his order was a non-Hindu. Later he even took pride in the fact that he had cancelled the order while forgoing the refund as well.
We know discrimination on the grounds of caste and religion exists in our society, and more so, in rural India where Dalits and tribals struggle even today for social acceptance. However Indian cities are finer examples of secular harmony, where people of all religions, castes, and creeds coexist and mingle freely with hardly a thought to ancient customs based on caste or religious prejudices.
But these days it has become a fashion to misuse social media forum to create needless controversy to create divisions on religious lines. How can such deeply embedded prejudices be given expression to, in this day and age in a cosmopolitan city in the 21st century India is baffling. This supercilious attitude might have been common 100 years ago.
This episode reflects highly polarised times that we are living in. However this is not the first time, earlier also it was reported that one customer had refused to ride a cab since the driver happened to be from a particular community. Imagine what would have happened if people from other communities started following the same? The extreme prejudice of one man has helped put the focus on what is still wrong with our society and how far we must go to erase the lines that divide us. It is also reported that MP police filed a case against the customer but harsh measures should be taken to prevent such religious prejudices.

I finally finished reading a book called "The Insider" written by Late Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. Before I go into the book and its content, I want to thank Mr. V Rajeshwar Rao for getting me a copy of this book. And another candid revelation I would like to make here is that this book was lying in my bookcase unread largely influenced by someone’s opinion that it’s neither an autobiography nor memoir. Not even a real fiction or non-fiction. But it’s a novel that runs into 835 pages in a semi-autobiographical form that reflects contemporary India. Its a kind of a political novel that moves from Bhagat Singh to the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi.
The novel portrays the character of one Mr. Anand who is an alter ego of PV Ji himself. There are many similarities in PVji’s and Anand’s life and character. The novel projects a historical reality in contemporary India and it throws light on socio-political conditions that were prevailing at that time. After reading it, it’s not difficult to understand that Anand is an alter ego of PV Ji.
Amazing to note and find that he didn’t hesitate to criticise the contemporary politicians who work for their selfish ends forgetting about the common good for the country’s development. The part where the protagonist Anand feels that there has not been a good leader in India after Nehru completely resonated with me. The topics discussed in this book in detail are incidents such as Chinese Aggression, War with Pakistan, the problem of Bangladesh refugees in addition to major domestic issues like the states Reorganisation on linguistic basis, Kashmir issue, anti-Hindi Movement Of Madras, Nationalisation Of Banks and Land Reforms. He also condoned bad practices in various sectors like politics and journalism where he felt that reporting was replaced by sensationalism.
While Hyderabad is called Afrozabad, Anand is portrayed as a politician with ideals. The Insider depicts a man’s rise through the ranks of Indian politics mirroring the events of PVs own life, I believe.

Reports of crisis in the auto industry have been rampant past 2 or 3 days.  It is reported that the Auto sector is reeling under an unprecedented meltdown, triggering massive job losses. The numbers are simply frightening. Passenger vehicles sales down by 31% in July, a record 9th-month straight dip, over 3.5 lakh people rendered jobless, and 286 dealerships withdrawn in the last 18 months.
Though the slowdown in the auto sector reflects a general slowdown in the overall economy, that started with Demonetisation, and flawed implementation of GST, the major concern is the loss of a major chunk of jobs, with a further loss of over 10 lakh jobs hovering over the horizon. Last month’s sales were only 2 lakh cars -the worst performance for automakers in the last 15 years, I believe. Even the launch of new models such as Mahindra XUV300, or the Hyundai “Venue” has not succeeded, in reversing the slide. The reports say, that the most worrying aspect is, falling sales of two-wheelers, and commercial vehicles, which are not usually impacted by recessionary trends.
While a combination of factors including external environment must have led to the present situation, one of the major reasons, reported, was, the crisis that has enveloped the non-banking Financial companies (NBFCs) which have been the traditional source of funding auto sector. They are not in a position to finance PVs. Earlier over 30% of cars and 65% of two-wheelers used to be funded by NBFCs. Our Finance Minister could look into giving a push to revive lending to NBFCs that help in creating demand in different sectors. They provide a significant portion of the personal loans to prospective buyers as the banks are still in the process of cleaning up their books. Incidentally one of the reasons for the plummeting of sales is that the industry is not offering attractive variants. This is because of game-changing emission control standards that will come into effect by next year.
Therefore, the solution is a more holistic one; that recharging the economy with more central investment, to create more jobs and higher demand. Till then, I think automakers will probably, have to continue their bumpy ride 

My daughters' father-in-law, Sri BoppaRaju Srinivasa Rao, gave me a book titled “POETRY TO POLITICS .” Tributes to PV Narasimha Rao, which I have finished reading. It is a compilation of essays written by PVRK Prasad, K.Ramachandra Murthy,, Surabhi Vani Devi, G Narayan Chetty (IAS, Rtd), Pendyala Vaman Rao, Adiraju Venkateshwara Rao, etc. It contains a total of 21 essays, very interesting to read, people need to know about this unique intellectual, who was down to earth in approach to the social and political issues. Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao popularly known as PV, he was an astute politician, with extraordinary political acumen, rose from remote Telangana village to become PM of the country who unleashed reforms in the Indian Economy. The country had never looked back since then. All the PMs who followed PV have been following the path shown by him, irrespective of the parties they represented and ideologies they professed.
Dr. Palakurthy Dinakar has brought out an anthology of Essays on Narasimha Rao Ji. I appreciate Dr. Dinakar for the very good work done by him. Mr. Dinakar is an Asst Professor and HOD of English Department at Govt Degree& PG college of Koratla, Jagtiani Dist Of TS.

There is so much hullabaloo about the article 370 removal on TVs, Newspapers and all kinds of social media in the past almost 10 ten days. 
Having full majority on its side, the BJP has implemented a key item in the core agenda of its parent organisation, RSS-the abrogation of Article 370. The Muslim majority state’s accession to India was premised on its special status. Righting historical wrongs may sometimes be a desirable political objective but may not necessarily be prudent. In many cases, if settled issues are meddled with, to put it colloquially if sleeping dogs are disturbed from slumber, consequences can also be serious. In the instant case, the abrogation of Article 370 is required, and "no political party will have any objection” for its removal. But the problem is that a section of people including people of J&K feel that the decision being unilateral to downgrade it to UT. While procedure envisaged in the constitution has been given a go by, which they feel anathema to federalism. This abrogation move will give a lot of benefits, to the people of J&K is all that it is felt. There are many arguments, some feel, the government's unilateral move done without consulting the stakeholders in the state may weaken, if not break, the bond between Kashmir and rest of India and also alter the state’s present demographic profile. For a long now there has been a concerted effort by both sides of the argument regarding Article 370. While on the one hand leaders such as former CMs of J&K believe that the article 370, is only a constitutional link between state and rest of India, there are many from across the spectrum, who insist that Article 370, has prevented the state from True Type of becoming an integral part of India. Some even say, that in abrogating Article 370 of the constitution, is reminiscent of the “precipitous" Demonetisation “exercise that marked the downturn of the economy, which still shows no sign of looking up. In the TV discussion, one gentleman said, that the sudden Bifurcation into 2UTs leaving behind a union of two very dissimilar regions one mostly Muslim, and other mostly Hindu, may end up making a bad situation, worse. Of course, these are all only presumptions or assumptions, having no scientific basis.
It’s ironical that to enable the full implementation of "democracy " the government had to put its two former CMs, under arrest, impose Sec144 Crpc, prohibiting gathering of  more persons, mobilise unprecedented 45,000 armed personnel, especially in the valley, and block internet, mobile phones, and even landline, impose curfews, to keep the people of the state in the dark about the amendments that would change their lives. I don’t know whether it’s unusual or not, but this was what was the way to enable “fully implemented democracy" people have to say whether these actions are as per law, still if people say, this is the only best solution, in democracy, I have no objection, and I leave it to their wisdom, as we have people who blindly take sides, and no dispassionate view.
A radical constitutional amendment without any consultation with stakeholders, despite Governor assuring on record that no major constitutional change was on cards, an utter disregard for the people of the state,and political leaders who represent them, bifurcating the state and reducing its powers is nothing but an assault on federal structure envisaged in our constitution. Today, its J&K, tomorrow, it could be any state, like West Bengal, etc.  The procedure to be followed is to first to dissolve the elected Assembly, put President's rule, to ensure that the powers of the Assembly could be entrusted to parliament, then using its brute majority any legislation could be bulldozed, to pass and any state could be made a UT. Surprisingly a mention was also made about AP&TS bifurcation, but here this only, latest movement by KCR took 12years, where very wide unprecedented consultations took place, all stakeholders involved, all political parties gave in writing agreeing for bifurcation (Except CPM). Its sheer non-sense to compare that bifurcation with this, and it’s not at all unusual.
Now the matter, in any case, will go to SC, and it all depends on the outcome, while the international repercussions are yet to be seen. Pakistan will try to internationalise it, though it’s purely bilateral, it would take immense diplomatic skills on the part of the Indian government to keep the situation under control, and in India’s favour. Even as hard-core ultra-nationalists and,many others in the rest of India may view the timing of the measure as political muscle-flexing in the face of severe reverses facing the economy. I'm afraid, it could also be alleged that the knee-jerk moves like this are propelled by the government’s attempt to induce public amnesia to counter its pathetic failure to handle economic downturns and drastic loss of employment opportunities.
In this situation, there is no winner, but the issue could be resolved only through confidence-building measures for the local populace on the lines of Late Vajpayee’s doctrine “Insaniat, jamhooiyat, and Kashmiriyat”

I read a news article on one Mr. Hamid Ansari, a resident of Mumbai jailed in Pakistan for 6 years was released because of Mrs. Sushma Swaraj’s intervention, and now he says that his mind was not ready to accept that she was dead. Even while he watched the last rites being performed on the remains of Sushma Ji with tears in eyes and he couldn’t sleep the whole night after hearing the sad news.
Another item was that over 600 hearing and speech impaired children and youngsters offered special prayers in the memory of  Sushmaji in Indore. There are many such incidents I was reading about her, since her demise last Tuesday/Wednesday, which prompted me to pay my tributes to that great lady.
The deceased leader had been a forceful parliamentarian and debater of the first rank. Sushma Ji 67, External Affairs Minister In Modi’s first term, was an extremely popular figure in public life even after she had ceased to hold the office, and this was due to her capabilities and gentleness. In a sense, she was more suited to Late Vajpayee Ji’s brand in RSS-BJP, now a rapidly shrinking entity. She was known to be a stubborn and judgemental lady but at the same time was a talented and gifted speaker. I cannot forget her speech in 2017, exposing Pakistan at the UN General Assembly in a rousing call for action against state-sponsored terrorism. Another speech I clearly remember was defending no-confidence motion against the then PM Vajpayee, wherein she was equating her analogies to the Ramayan, and Mahabharata, as she explained why the saffron party had to step down. I don’t hesitate to say that the party took full advantage and rightly so of her ability to speak loudly and clearly with force and conviction. In my opinion, she should have but didn’t become President of the party, which could have been unique but let us understand, that she doesn’t belong to RSS. The invisible glass ceiling just couldn’t be broken.
In various Ministries that she handled-Information &Broadcasting, Health, and Parliamentary Affairs under Vajpayee Ji, External Affairs under Modi Ji. But in the last stint, it appeared that just she did what was required, didn’t exceed her brief, and didn’t do more, but whereas she was much more capable than she was asked to do. Foreign policy is not just about deft handling of issues behind the curtains, it requires clear articulations, but as I understand, she must have done it rarely, because of some extraneous reasons(not going into the details as is not appropriate here). Even I happened to read that Jaswant Singh also faced the same problem with PMO of Vajpayee under Brajesh Mishra. But Sushma Ji nursed no grudges and showed no resentment. A great quality as such.
BJP should be grateful that it had Sushma Swaraj among its Leaders. I remember, there were rare moments when she could overdo the melodramatic gesture when she threatened to shave off her head if Sonia Gandhi became PM in 2004, but that was not her usual self, I feel.
Hours before the fatal heart attack she had expressed happiness at the removal of special status to J&K and tweeted so, I believe, BJP lost a true gem. May her soul rest in peace.

The tragic case of V G Siddhartha, founder of CCD who committed suicide by jumping into the river, Netravati, in Karnataka, exposes the perils of running a business in India. People of Karnataka ‘s Malnad region fondly remember him as he expanded the market for the coffee grown there, and also in the process employed thousands of youngsters. Siddartha, a successful entrepreneur who redefined the contours of coffee businesses in the country succumbed to the pressures and took his own life. In his letter to the Board of Directors and employees of CCD, he spoke about the harassment by DG Income Tax, by attaching his shares and blocking other business deals and how this unfair treatment led to a serious liquidity crunch. His words of exasperation “I am a failed entrepreneur" may well reflect the dark side of entrepreneurship. This is also an ugly example of how agency persecution is wrecking India’s growth story. But we call ourselves, great pioneers in ease of doing business.

I will try to put forth views of some of the top-notch entrepreneurs on Tax Terrorism. According to former Infosys Director Mohandas Pai, "the Tax justice system is broken in India. we must request our PM,&FM to intervene and stand up for us to show that they are there to protect honest tax payers”

Kiran  Mazumdar Sha, MD Biocon, told a TV channel that “India has moved from License Raj to InspectorRaj. There is an effort to clean India Inc, but the pendulum can not swing from one extreme to the other. The government needs to exchange with honest businessman”

Entrepreneurs have for quite some time been pointing out that criminalising business failure is stigmatising it and making the revival of many firms that are in doldrums, more difficult. Siddartha’s Letter to the CCD shows how he was hounded by the IT Department. When a tax officer begins with the assumption that every individual or institution is indulging in fraud, the results will always be unpleasant. Reasons and the invisible hands that ended Siddhartha ‘s life in this tragic way should be unearthed through impartial and fair investigation.