Monday, May 18, 2009

Elections Over:Clear mandate by people

Finally curtains have been drawn to the biggest election of all time. We can all proudly say that this has been a fairly conducted election and kudos to the Election commission for making this happen without any glitches.

My only worry before the results were due was that what if Congress and BJP both end up having almost same numbers say 150 - 155 and then it would have been difficult for anyone to have had a successful govt for the next 5 year since each would feel they have a chance, but good thing has been that the difference in seats between 1st and the 2nd largest party is 90 seats and the pre-poll alliance of UPA has been given clear mandate by the people to form the govt, this is really a very good development, if the same had happened with NDA also I would have been happy; finally all we need to see is a stable govt to run for 5 years without anyone pulling them to the left or right of them.

This election has put forward so many tough questions to the political parties, all most all candidates with criminal background have bitten the dust (even though they were staging proxy candidates), those who wanted to do good things in the fag end of the 5 year term have been sent home to cool their heels, those who involved in mud slinging at others have also been shown the door; all the parties should have a proper agenda and fight for them rather than trying to pull some other party/person only then shall we see India on the rapid growth path.

I always believe if there needs steady and proper growth, then a strong opposition party is very much needed, I wish that people continue to give a similar mandate they have given this elections ensuring that no single party will get absolute majority and thus needing support from regional and other small parties, so there is a check within the govt and not only the opposition party; Till BJP became a super power, there was no one to question Congress, hence there wasnt much progress for nearly 40 years of our independence, only after BJP making inroads and established itself as a major party that can and eventually displace Congress, which made it to wake up from its slumber and we saw economy revolution, infrastructure growth and moving away from the slogan roti, kapda aur makan to Bijli, Paani aur Sadak, I wonder where India would have been if we hadn't had a major party like BJP which can challenge Congress and take away the vote anytime; for the better of India I wish we continue to vote so that we not only have one party as the clear leader, we also have a second party which can become the leader anytime.

Nandan Nilekani delivered this talk on TED - Ideas for India's Future, a worth watching one which clearly defines the growth path for India and also mentions why India cannot be and should not be ignored.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Number portability - Consumer is the King, Airtel would be biggest loser

Just waiting for the number portability to come into effect and I would be the first one to move to BSNL from Airtel. Till around 2 years back Airtel service was better and for them customer was king, but now they care a damn!.
I have a 249 plan (I live in Hyderabd) wherein I get 600 units free and some 200 sms free and when I am at office, I usually dont make calls, so I usually make calls when at home, but in my house only Airtel network doesnt work, I have tried Vodafone and BSNL both work like charm, I registered complaint with Airtel in Jan this year and even after 5 months nothing seems to have happened, neither they call and let me know what is the status and when it would be fixed, but the moment I stopped paying my bill, I got 2 calls everyday religiously asking for the non payment, and a week back my connection was temporarily take out of service, I wish I could also take Airtel out of service for not working on my complaint for last 5 months. Today I checked the online portal and see that they have deleted the complaint I had registered 5 months back... I am really flabbergasted how a company like Airtel would do this....

Airtel you suck and BSNL is much better anyday, number portability am waiting for you.

IPL Saga continues

As IPL reaches its fag end of its season 2, more than the cricket it is the other things that have taken the centre stage, first and foremost whether one agrees or not, defnitely it is this blog - http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com/, which has made all the noise that is required for the marketing, there are many people who are watching just to see what the fakeplayer is mentioning in the blog, well to me it has certainly been a very entertaining affair.

I sincerely feel even now that the IPL could have been held in India by working out with the goverment, IPL boss thinks he and IPL and bigger and better than India and its democracy, well he is wrong and it would be proven. To ensure that spectators are present in the stadium there are so many stupid things IPL is doing, like choosing bollywood queen, sms game to predict the score in the over, giving money to schools (well I have nothing against it, my only grudge is what was done to schools here during last year season, nothing!!!!, this is purely a master marketing stroke by IPL to have more SA people come to ground for emotional reason)

I had written an year back during the last year about how IPL will change cricket and I see it happening, other thing that has struck me is the sheer lack of control on IPL by ICC, IPL is governed by its own law and whatever they may argue I believe that this is nothing but minting money and not cricket talent development. The owners have the right over the team, they can force anyone to play or drop and thus shackling a upcoming players confidence and BCCI cannot do anything, with less than 2 months for the t20 world cup, there is no effort done to keep our prime players fresh and they would be worn out (take Ishant Sharma for ex, he is playing for a lost cause, BCCI could do itself good to ensure that he gets the right break). 

I wish ICC has more control on IPL and rather leave it to just BCCI, else cricket wont be cricket.