Blog of India » State Of Affairs

India in deep trouble over the CWG

Megha Sharma — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:00:26 +0000

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”.

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Fuel Price Rise or Bharat Bandh – Which Is Hurting the Economy More?

Meena Rani K — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 08:19:04 +0000

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.

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Bad Roads Bleed The Economy Dry

neha — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:47:18 +0000

Though it seems highly unlikely, India’s economy has a new antagonistic presence – that of the country’s throbbing veins – the road network. The plans to expand and strengthen the national highways have so far been over ambitious. Even today, as India strengthens its presence as an international trade entity, the internal trade suffers because of poor quality roads and a sordid state of affairs as far as the national highways are concerned.

A brief look at statistics simply reasserts the worst. While in developed countries, goods carrying trucks are able to cover about 800 km per day, Indian trucks are only able to cover about 350 Km per day on an average. This is because the roads are so bad that the average speed is a mere 20 Km/hr.

There has been some development in this regard. However, poor road conditions continue to wreak havoc for those whose livelihood depends on transportation of goods. Besides the low speed, there are also delays at every checkpoint where not only are truck drivers detained indefinitely, but money is also demanded of them.

A recent study has shown that every year the economy loses out on about $600 million because of the constant delays. This however is not all. One can add about $5 million that is wasted in terms of fuel because of the stoppages and the slow speed.
The volumes of the freight keeps on increasing by about 9.06% every year. However, as compared to the increase in the volume, only about 3.77% of roads are added to contain the volume every year.

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The Indian Food Delimma: Will The Grain Bowl Run Empty?

neha — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:02:30 +0000

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.

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Parakala Prabhakar Resigned PRP, Parakala Prabhakar Caste, Profile

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:42:54 +0000

As expected, Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) founder member and its general secretary Parakala Prabhakar has quit the party on Thursday and made a scathing attack on the party.

Comparing the party to that of an infected tree, Prabhakar said PRP has developed into an unwanted political force.

He was addressing a media conference after submitting his resignation.

“I am quitting the party with a lot of pain because I have failed to convince the party leaders not to go on a wrong track.”

He said the motive behind starting the party seems to be something different. The rumours doing rounds about PRP are true to a large extent, Prabhakar said adding it was his duty to tell the party workers that the party is infected with poison.

“I don’t want to accuse anyone in particular for the state of affairs in the party, but I can say that PRP is like a company and I am leaving it. I am not sure PRP is a forum that is working honestly.”

Prabhakar said he was quitting the party to clean-up his mistakes, but he was not sure whether to continue in politics.

Parakala Prabhakar Resigned Tomorrow :
Parakala Prabhakar , the official spokes person of PRP has resigned for PRP primary membership and the same latter of resignation was handed over to PRP office staff in Hyd today afternoon.

Parakala surprised every one by making serious allegation on PRP from the PRP office media center.

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