On Wednesday after several famous athletes dropped out of the vent and several nations have issued warnings that their teams would not be attending the events unless all amenities were provided and the residences in the Games Village which were deemed as unfit for human habitation were cleared up, India scurried to save the Commonwealth Games.

Canada and Scotland have confirmed that they would not send in their athletes until the condition in the Games Village was considered safe. An alternative plan is being developed by the New Zealand swimming team if the event would be cancelled.

Two really high profile Kenyan athletes have pulled out of the events and the South African sports officials have made it clear to the Indian government that they would not hesitate to retain their team members if there were major problems. Tubby Reddy, the Chief Executive of the South African Sports confederation has said, “The safety and health of team South Africa are of paramount importance to us, and if at any stage we feel that this is compromised, then we will not hesitate to bring the team home”.

Canadian archers Kevin Tataryn and Dietmar Trillus, have also decided to drop out of the events. Dietmar Trillus has said,  “What really concerns me the absolute most is the diseases that are running very rampant right now due to the monsoons, as well as the terrorism threats, which are apparently very, very real things”.

Michael Fennell, the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation is expected to meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to discuss the state of affairs.

India had hoped that they would use the games as an opportunity to display its growing economy and political power; however this mismanaged event is proving to be a “National Shame” as quoted by a leading Indian newspaper.

Scotland’s team said in a statement, “Officials found that building works had fallen seriously behind schedule and that its allocated accommodation blocks were far from finished and in their view, unsafe and unfit for human habitation.”

Michael Cavanagh, the Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Scotland has said  “There have been dogs roaming around the village, the apartments are filthy, there are piles of rubble and right now it’s not fit to receive 6,500 athletes and officials”.

The 12-hour Bharat Bandh called by opposition parties on Monday was near-total in all states except a few. The estimated loss to economy is upwards of Rs 10,000 crore. This includes loss in production, industrial output and business. In addition to this, damage to public property as seen in some parts of the country like Mumbai has to be added to arrive at the final figure.

Scores of long-distance trains and flights were cancelled across Indian cities causing huge monetary loss and great inconvenience to hapless passengers. The Bandh effect was evident in the low volumes of trading seen in the country’s stock exchanges. While trading volume came down by 52% in BSE, NSE clocked 35% less trading.

The Industry bigwigs lamented the state of affairs.  Rahul Bajaj, industrialist and former parliamentarian acknowledged the bandh call as legitimate, even while condemning the effect it has on common man and economy. He said, “It is completely legal for the Opposition to voice its protest against price rise. But, there is more than one way to protest. Any protest which inconveniences the common man should not be resorted to.” The view finds support with Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej group. He said, “Political parties interfering and disturbing day-to-day work is not at all appropriate. The protest is quite odd and absurd.”

While government accepts that the recent deregulation of fuel prices resulting in marginal rise of their prices would worsen the inflation situation in the country, it is termed as an inevitable step in doing away with subsidies. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee points out that this will benefit the economy in the long run by helping in scaling down fiscal deficit.

Despite all the assurances, politics took precedence resulting in colossal damage to the economy.

An increasing and disturbing trend in the agriculture sector of India has recently come to light. The ever increasing population has already lapped up a percentage of the agricultural land. The woes don’t end here though. Even as the cropland keeps shrinking, what is more bothersome is the fact that the agriculture sector is not able to hold a candle to the blossoming service sector. The farms in India have been consistently unable to attract either capital or human resource.

Even those who are studying agriculture in universities, are more interested in taking up private or government jobs instead of taking care of forms or contributing in improving agricultural methods and equipment. Farming is simply not considered an attractive profession.

The green revolution, which helped make the nation self sufficient in terms of food production, may not be able to stand against this new wave. A poll taken amongst farmers has reported that almost forty percent of Indian farmers wanted to give up farming but could not for the want of an alternative career.

The reason attributed to this shift in interest is that even though the green revolution brought in a remarkable change, little has happened in the agricultural sector after it. Meanwhile the other industries have undergone a complete transformation and offer a stable source of income.

If the government doesn’t realize that the current state of affairs has left little advantage in farming as a profession, the country would soon have to face a crises of a different kind.