What do you expect in a political party?

Transparency, Accountability, Humility, Democracy, Respect for each other, Knowledge, Wisdom, Solutions?…Well, there are far too many qualities that we expect out of a political party, but trying to see everything in one may be being foolhardy.

It is a no brainer that the current political parties in India are a consortium of the good, the bad and the ugly with the latter taking an active role and deciding the fate of billions. It has almost become a standing rule that every party in India has to have criminals in their party.

Criminalisation of Politics is THE buzz word, in Indian politics these days. Apparently, the 14^th Lok Sabha will see more criminals than ever before.

During these times, citizens like you and me look for HOPE somewhere, dreaming of a resurgent India where Indian politicians are respected all around the world. Well, some say it is a distant reality, some think it is a childish joke and some call the height of optimism.

I couldn’t have agreed more until a few days ago, when one of my friends told me about a particular party that was working at the grass root levels. I decided to delve more into what was seemingly a utopian concept initially but after doing my bit of research, I changed my mind.

As a result, I wrote my first article on this political party which is envisioning to change the complete electoral image of the country.

The party in contention is Lok Satta which is led by one of the most able and admirable administrators of our time – Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, a Physician turned Civil Servant turned Social Activist turned Politician.

Lok Satta promises Transparency, Accountability, Humility, Democracy, Respect for each other, Knowledge, Wisdom, Solutions and much more – all that you would dream of an ideal political party.

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan seems to preach and practice all of that. What started as a concept in 1996, has transpired into a political storm, a movement of sorts in Andhra Pradesh with the party spreading its wings to neighboring Maharashtra and Karnataka and with tens of thousands of people supporting him, his ideals and his way of tackling issues.

Finally, there seems to be a glimmer of HOPE in India. More of Lok Satta, Dr. JP, his vision, strategies etc in my next article.

Change in Indian Politics is definitely on its way…

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Popularity: 29%

Mahabharata has been one of the greatest sources of knowledge and wisdom for time immemorial. It has been one of the greatest epic which was the base for the most scared book, the Gita. With this period dawned the current era of Kalyug, when treason, treachery, corruption etc. were born.

As the times become hard it is difficult to find solutions to all the complex issues surrounding our lives. We are so lost in our daily activities that we have lost focus on the purpose of our existence.

As we move on in life, our expectation from life increases, at times they may be quite irrational; this draws my attention to an incidence which finds credence in the epic.

This is when Arjun wins over Draupadi in a ‘Swayamvar’ and returns with his newly wedded wife and his other four siblings, where his mother, Kunti is waiting for them. As a daily activity the Pandavas used to go out in search of alms and donations to make both ends meet. On their way back home, Arjun was advised not to mention Draupadi as part of alms to their mother; however Arjun insisted that they could always play a prank with their mother and surprise her later.

They declare their arrival to their mother and inform about having returned with alms received during the day, not breaking the news about Draupadi at all, who was not part of the donations. There is a surprise in waiting when Kunti promptly directs them to divide ‘it’ equally amongst themselves, without being aware of the contents of the alms they bring.

Obeying one’s elders religiously was one’s duty in those days and there was no way they could disobey this and overturn the directive. Kunti is surprised and speechless on knowing this and is clueless about handling this. While they are trying to find a fitting solution to the grave mistake, Krishna arrives and finds a place in their discussion.

Apart from warning them of playing prank with their mother, he also draws their attention to one of Draupadi’s irrational blessings, where she had persuaded Lord Shiva for a husband with all the qualities that could not be found in one person, but in five separate individuals only. Hence to make good his promise, she is awarded with Pandavas as her husbands.

Drawing another leaf from the epic, which narrates the story of the birth of Shishupal, who is Krishna’s cousin. “Shishupal was not born normal and had scary features, (with 4 hands and legs). On the night he was born, the voice from the heaven predicted that his additional hands and legs would vanish as soon as he is cradled by an individual. It also went on to prophecies that Shishupal would be killed by the very same person. One of those days, Krishna happens to visit the house of this beleaguered mother, and as prophesied, the babies extra hands and legs vanished as soon as Krishna cradled him.

Emotions overpower Krishna’s aunt, who begs for his son’s life and to forgive him, if at all he deserves to be killed, any time in the future. Towards this, Krishna with his charming skills appeases his aunt by committing to forgive a hundred death penalties of his son, however not promising to spare him thereafter and kill him if need be.”

A few years later, Shishupal meets his end in the hands of Krishna, as soon as he has insulted and loathed Krishna for the hundredth time.

At times we do forget our sins & offences, worthy of dire consequences, as these may not have attracted the wrath of the heavens at that moment. And assume to have been spared and continue with it, and enacting a pigeon & a cat story.

It would be exuberance of verbosity to mention the need to ponder upon and set the house in order, before it’s too late.

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Popularity: 36%

After the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, pressure is building up on Pakistan to take action against the terror camps operating from its land. Investigations carried out by Indian, US, British and Israeli officials proved that the attacks were planned by the Lashkar-e-Taiba   supported by ISI .

In spite of Pakistani denials (just for giving the impression that Pakistani Government doesn’t give in under pressure), United States, and other countries have applied a lot of pressure, and have urged Pak to take action failing which they will act.

Now what should be the course of action?  How should we respond?  Can we trust Pak when it says it will take action against any terror outfits operating from its land.

What should be done ?

Our politicians are highly gullible.  Even after it was proved that the terrorists are Pakistanis, what did they do? They spoke to Mr Zardari and asked the ISI chief to come to India.

For what?

If at all we want to call anyone we could have called the CIA, a few investigators from Britain and Israel who can give us credible evidence that this was masterminded by terrorists from Pakistan. They would have substantiated it as an act of war (they are very good at it and we all know that).  Mr Zardari promised to send ISI Chief to India to help investigation but took an about turn overnight.

Can we trust such a man?

Time has come for India to take strict action.  Resignation of Shivraj Patil or others is meaningless and a political stunt.  It’s the Government and Prime Minister’s actions that will speak on India’s position and strength in the International community.  Since we have proof that this was sponsored by Pakistan,  the Ambassadors of USA, UK and Israel should be summoned and presented with these.

India should make it clear that we take this as an act of war by Pakistan against India and we would deal with it in a similar way US or UK has dealt with.  As far as US, UK and Israel are concerned their citizens were specifically picked up by the terrorists and they should take it as an act of terrorism against them.  This would have forced them to declare Pakistan as a Terrorist State and deal with it accordingly.

“Give thousand chances to your enemy to become your friend, but don’t give a single chance to your friend to become your enemy”. This doesn’t hold well with Pakistan.

In 1974 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists during Munich Olympics.

What did Israel do?

It hunted down each and every one of them.  It showed the world that nobody can escape by attacking Israel.

Now look at what have we done – engage in a dialogue with our neighbor!  Discussions will not provide any solution with Pakistan. If it did, it would have provided long ago.  Pak has neither neighbors nor friends; they just use the situation and time to act.

They are one of the best friends of America and in another way they are the biggest threat as well. They are damn smart. Remember they have used Americans to act against America.

So with such a country how long will you keep discussing?  How many more blood baths will we have to face to learn?  Indian politicians and media have to change their mindset. Media is getting worse than the politicians.  Every news channel / paper seems to be backed up by one or the other political party.

In Pakistan democracy is nothing but a proxy of the military.  Military always holds the reins of that country and it is not possible to delink both.  It was born after a bloodbath, it is continuing the same way even now.  Army, Islamic Radical Groups,  ISI,  Elected Government,  Taliban – every group is a power centre. No one is responsible for anyone.

Everyone has their own beliefs, system, and agenda.  Terrorism is a business for them.  Look at the amount of aid they got from US for fighting against terrorism which was created by them.

We must step up pressure on Mr. Zardari until the following things are done by Pakistan;

1. Handover the terror suspects to India including Dawood Ibrahim,  Masood Azhar who was left free in exchange of Kandahar  passengers.

2. Stop financial and moral support to radical fundamentalists who propagate hatred against non Muslims.

3. Change the think tank of ISI

4. Stop training Islamic militants

5. Stop inducing venom into Muslims in India.

Pakistan knows for sure that in an open offensive against India they will be wiped off. Hence they continue this proxy war. They will never stop till we wipe out terror camps that are running in POK and in Afghan borders.  Time has come to say “Enough is Enough”.

Mr Prime Minister – Don’t just give statements.  Let’s get on with this war and finish off before this proxy war finishes us.  At least let our future generations live in a peaceful India.

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Popularity: 21%

On Tuesday – September 2^nd, 2008, businessman Sanjeev Nanda was found guilty of committing a crime. No prize for guessing the right reasons – Drunken driving leading to culpable homicide.

It took nine long years to provide justice. Justice was delayed but yes – eventually delivered.

Sanjeev Nanda, grandson of a former Navy chief Suresh Nanda, was allegedly drunk when he mowed down three policemen and three bystanders on January 10, 1999, in South Delhi.

A Delhi court found Nanda guilty under the Section 304 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), dealing with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The law prescribes 10 years of imprisonment as maximum punishment. In most cases, the conviction is under Section 304 (1) – causing death by rash and negligent act – in which the maximum sentence is two years.

Now the key questions

If he has taken the lives of 6 people and is found guilty, is 10 years sufficient ?

Do we have strict rules and regulations in India where the guilty are punished severely ?

Are the penalties good enough ?

I think the law in India relating to traffic violations, road crimes, drunken driving etc needs to be relooked at.

When I lived in New Jersey and I had applied for a license, it took me one full month to read the whole book prescribed by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission to understand and be ready for the test. The rules are so strict that I could not even take out the car even with a permit, unless I was supervised by a fully licensed driver sitting by my side. This went on for 3 months until I was given a provisional license. The provisional licence lasted only a year. And for every offence, the penalty was so high that it made me really cautious while driving.

No wonder the accidents are very rare in this part of the world and everyone here enjoys a drive down the road.

Of course – we did not have pavement dwellers or pedestrian policemen waiting to be killed.

I think as much it is the responsibility of the individual drivers to be responsible for their actions, the solution also lies with the government in providing shelter to the pavement dwellers, restricting mid-road midnight outing etc.

Time we changed the obvious !

Popularity: 6%

Company Information

ICSA (India), headquartered in Hyderabad, is an ISO 9001:2000 company providing applications, infrastructure solutions etc for power and pipeline industries. Some of their products for the power industry include Theft Detection Device, Distribution Transformer Monitoring System, Intelligent Automatic Meter Reading, Remote Street Light Control System etc. For pipeline solutions their products include Intelligent Telemetric Unit, Off PSP Logger etc. The company has been in the news for the last couple of years. In April, the Government of Singapore picked up 5% equity stake in the company and in June, Deutsche securities increased their stake to 7.16%.

What does this tell you ? – Most definitely shows a lot of confidence amongst the investors.

Company Website : ICSA India

Price History

In January, the price was around 600, today it is hovering around 375. If you are a long term investor and you know what the potentials are, then I don’t need to tell you what kind of opportunities does this mean to you.

Picture Credit : Moneycontrol

Quarterly Results

For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, the company posted an impressive 96% growth as compared to the same period last year with a 71% increase of PAT (Profit After Tax) over corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Verdict

With such promising results in a very unfavorable market conditions, speaks highly of the quality of the management and its vision in transforming this company to a blue chip magnate. There is a huge scope to move upwards and even a price of 600 seems to low for a company like this. Expect the stock price to touch Rs.1100-1200 in 2-3 years from now ….

Hold on, think about it for a minute…that is over 200 % in about 2-3 years – Needs some serious considerations. Don’t you think ?

Disclaimer : The author may have position in this stock. All investment advice is solely by the author of this article. The views expressed in this article does not represent that of India Special. You may or may not follow this advice. Discretion is only yours

Popularity: 10%