Few Stats to Consider

Earlier this year, Forbes magazine released the list of the Worlds Richest People. It is no surprise that America has the largest number of Billionaires, 396 to be exact. But the surprise was India, which almost doubled the number of Billionaires, to about 47 people.

Now consider a few facts about these 47 richest Indians combined.

1. The combined net worth of these 47 richest Indians accounted for 14.7% of India's GDP. Only Switzerland and Russia beat us in the list of countries with more then 10 billionaires
2. When you consider that India has more then a billion people, we have one Billionaire for every 25 million people living in the country.
3. The GDP per capita in India is $1091. Compare this to the average net worth of these richest Indians, about $4 Billion.
4. Add the fact that 42% of the Indian population falls below the International Poverty Level of $1.25 per day and you get a sense of how one dimensional the growth in the Indian economy is.





Data Source: Forbes List of Billionaires
Population and GDP: Wikipedia

If Only The Queen Was Indian?

Cricket - The Gentleman's Game No More

The most recent allegations of spot fixing (certain aspects of the game are fixed rather then the game itself) against three cricketers from Pakistan have just scratched the surface of what many had suspected. Big money changes hands every-time a bowl is bowled or a run is scored.

There was a time not too long ago, when cricket was played for the love of the game and money and fame were an afterthought. But now it feels like the opposite is true. Fame and fortune are all that matter.

Harsha Bhogle captures this very essence in his article for cricinfo. He writes

India's new generation of cricketers is not just wealthy beyond imagination, they seem to have acquired it without a lot to show for it. I do not know if these young men are looking 10 years into the future, acquiring a work ethic that their solidly brought-up seniors possessed. They seem satiated, two years at the top seems to drain them; the BMW seems more alluring than the sustained effort of a 10-year career. For those that don't want a place in history, the low-hanging fruit can come from many sources.

Whats in a Name?

We have gone from Bombay to Mumbai, Calcutta to Kolkata and Madras to Chennai. Now we have "Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar" to a growing list of name changes.

The honorable Chief Minister of UP Ms Mayawati has won a political victory when the Supreme Court of India decided to favor her in allowing Amethi to be renamed as Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar

Makes you wonder where our politicians and courts spend their time and valuable tax payer money.

The Power of a Tweet

They say, "Pen is much more powerful then a sword". The ex-IPL commissioner Lalit Modi can certainly testify to that.

A few tweets by Lalit Modi aimed at getting even with the now former Indian Union Minister Shashi Tharoor have spectacularly backfired and have exposed the shady dealing in the IPL that include bid rigging, nepotism, tax evasion, black money, bribes and even the dreaded match fixing. The collateral damage in all of this is the IPL and the entire Indian cricket establishment.

Just to give some perspective, MTI Worldwide valued each of the brands at above $10mil in 2009. And I am pretty sure it is much much more in 2010 considering that the two new additions to the IPL paid a whopping $735mil. This is huge considering that IPL did not even exist 3 years ago.

Its rather ironic, that the same social media (Twitter) that Lalit Modi used to build the IPL brand that made him the most powerful man in world cricket, may have contributed to his downfall.

Check out the tweets of Lalit Modi that led to the IPL controversy.

Shashi Tharoor on Soft Power

Be it his tweets about cattle class or his ongoing row over the IPL franchise, since Shashi Tharoor has joined politics in India, controversy and him seem to be inseparable.

Despite of all the recent bad press, Shashi Tharoor is an extremely articulate and accomplished speaker. See his talk on TEDIndia, the rise of India through its soft power.

Bees Attack the Queen - Have a Last Laugh

Looking at a garland, a swarm of honey bees thought they were going to have a field day. But the garland was made of worthless money: at-least to the bees. Realizing that they had been fooled and in a fit of rage, they decided to attack the Queen herself, when she was addressing her loyal subjects.

But little did the bees realize that the power of the Queen can stretch far beyond the human world. With the full force of an army of her cronies, the Queen is attacking back. And she will not rest until she finds out why the bees dared to attack her. As for the cost of this unnecessary war, it will be up-to the human subjects to bear the burden. When mutli crore's were spent on the garland that started the war, who cares about another few crore's.

The bees, which are such resourceful creatures, must be having a last laugh at the stupidity and dissipation of the human subjects.

Paying Zero for Public Services

Corruption is a huge problem in India. Whether be it a matter of joy like a birth in the family or a matter of great sadness with someone passing away, nothing becomes official unless you grease the palm of one of the babu's working in the government office.

To make a dent into this malice, and to raise awareness to the rights of an individual, an organization called Fifth Pillar has come up with a unique idea: Zero Rupee Note.



Read more about 5th Pillar at Paying Zero for Public Service

Want to Drive a Cab in Mumbai - Language Skills a Must?

In one of the most ridiculous news of the day, the Maharashtra government has made it mandatory that cab drivers in Mumbai need to know how to read, write and speak Marathi. If you are rolling your eyes at where the priorities of the state government are, you are not alone.

Look at the bright side: a cab drive who is reading a Marathi newspaper or solving a Marathi crossword puzzle, while driving a cab. If he is involved in the accident, so be it. At-least he had the necessary language skills to be a cab driver.

People Welfare Day - 1, Mayawati Welfare Day - 364

Mayawati, the future Prime Minister in waiting (at least that's what she thinks), wants to celebrate her birthday as "Peoples Welfare Day".

Wasn't she elected to do the welfare of the people throughout the year till the end of her elected term? Now that we know that she cares about the welfare of the people for one day in the year, we can count our good graces that the odds of people welfare in the Mayawati administration are 1 in 365.

So on that hopeful note, I wish the people of Uttar Pradesh a very happy new year.

Realities of Coalition Politics - Everybody is a Kingmaker

If you wanted an reality check on coalition politics go no further then the headline.

Just goes on to show how a small bunch of fringe parties can hold hostage an entire state. For state like Jharkhand, whose vast source of natural resources would be the envy of most other states, it is rather appalling that it remains one of the least developed states in the country. The opposite holds true for politicians.

From Madhu Koda to Shibu Soren, everybody has taken turns to and bilked corers from the state coffers.

Fast Onto Death - How a Non Violent Tool Became a Tool to Blackmail the State

While Mahatma Gandhi used the one of the tools of non violence i.e. fast onto death to further a selfless cause, the same tool has been used by K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) to further his own cause.

For those who are not familiar with recent development, KCR used the fast onto death as a tool to blackmail the central government to agree for the creation of a separate Telangana state

Of course whenever the state is created, it is KCR who stands to benefit from this, as he has become the undisputed leader of the Telangana cause.

On the same issue, I read two very interesting blog posts.

The first one is by TJS George, who writes:

The success of Chandrasekhara Rao’s death-fast threat for Telangana takes the game to parochialism of a negative kind. His objective is personal gain. He had lost his political base, lost his party allies and lost even the recent elections in the state. Now, in one fell sweep, he has assured himself the chief ministership of Telangana State if and when it materialises. A classic case of zero to hero.

This is good for Chandrasekahara Rao and bad for Telengana and very bad for India. It is bad for Telangana because Chandrasekhara Rao is just a run-of-the-mill politician. Any government he heads will be one more exercise in the usual sharing of spoils

The second is by Amit Varma, who writes:

The TRS isn’t just about blackmail, of course—they’re also using standard political gundagardi. I find it delightfully ironical that after Rao broke his fast by having orange juice for health reasons, the “students who had attacked policemen and public and private property for two days to support Mr Rao did not take kindly to this sudden decision.” They might have suspected that Rao was not sufficiently dedicated to their cause, to which I’d respond that no politician is devoted to any cause other than himself. That’s human nature. Orange juice zindabad.

Read the complete post by TJS George From patriotism to parochialism
Read the complete post by Amit Varma Fast Onto Death

HDDG for HDTV

With our humble farmer, son of the soil HD Devegowda endorsing the HDTV, all you TV lovers, its time to get rid of your old idiot box and get set to buy a new one. Look at the upside, you can see HDDG snoozing with crystal clear picture now. Who would want to miss on that.



Link obtained from Son of Bosey

How Many Houses Could a Flood Victim buy for 1.7 Crorers?

In this day when austerity is the buzz word, information obtained from the RTI reveals that the honorable chief minister of Karnataka has spent about 1.7 Crorers to renovate his official residence. This on a house he will stay in for another three years, if the Reddy brothers dont have their way.

While the honorable CM continues to enjoy the perks of his job, or whatever is left of it, people in the state affected by the worst flood in years have lost their lively hood, and places they used to call home.



This begs the questions: Had the money been spent on providing relief to families (like the one shown above) who have lost everything, "How many modest livable houses could be built for the same 1.7 Crorers?"

Picture courtesy Churumuri

Will There be a Lotus Bloom in South India?

The crisis of power and control within the first ever southern state government headed by The Party With a Difference seems to have been averted; at-least for a while. But compromise resolution to the crisis may have come at a cost.

Two excellent editorials, one in the The Hindu and the other in the Indian Express highlight the lack of a strong party leadership, and how for short term gains,"The Party with a Difference" may have crushed the "Lotus" before it could get a good root on the southern ground.

Random Musings of Today

I dont know about you, but thats a lot of snacks for five people. With all the sugar intake, these people must be working 24/7 I would think...

With digital memory becoming so prevalent and cheap, who needs the brain

Is it enough if you become a naturalized citizen of the United States to qualify as an American in the eyes of the few. You can ask Meb Keflezighi, the first American to win the NY Marathon since 1982.

This essay for Outlook India magazine by author and activist Arundhati Roy, asks one simple question: "What is the price of progress and development?"

So Much for Austerity

The central government's austerity drive doesn't seemed to have filtered down. At least in the states which have the opposition BJP in power.

According to the BJP spokesperson,

"The timing of the austerity drive was suspect. It is an election gimmick. The prime minister has said the worst of the economic crisis is over, then where's the need for austerity now? It's all cosmetic. They will go back to their usual ways once the state elections are over."

This is the same BJP whose government in Karnataka spent Rs 1 Cr on a single cabinet meeting. Out of One Crore spent, about 28 Lakhs was spent on flowers alone. I don't know about you, but that's a whole lot of flowers.

And This is the City Which Will Host the Commonwealth Games

Home Minister PC Chidambaram's pleas towards Delhiite's to learn some manners before the upcoming commonwealth games seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
Forget the common man, even the Delhi cops, the enforcers of law and order, don't seem to care. While they are busy fighting over who has jurisdiction a women is being tortured.

Celebrating Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday Google Style

Netizens who visited Google today could see the new doodle celebrating Mahatma Gandhi's 140 birthday. The doodle has the Mahatma's bust intertwined into the word "Google".


Google also has other doodles that celebrate various birthdays, festivals and holidays. To get a glimpse search for Google Doodles, where else, but on Google.

Image obtained from Google website.

Random Musings of Today

Here is a list of some of the most ridiculous things I read today.

1. If the the Shiv Sena - BJP is voted to power in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, voters can expect staple Maharashtrian food including Vada-Pav, Misal, Poha, puran poli and thalipeeth, tax free.
Link obtained from Smoking Signals
2. A reputed university in the United States has released a new policy: No Sex in the dorm room when the room-mate is around.
3. A conservative blogger has proposed a military coup to resolve the Obama Problem. According to the blogger, "There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the "Obama problem." Don't dismiss it as unrealistic."
4. People in Arizona can now carry guns to bars starting from today. A state law approved earlier this year took effect today. Guns and Alcohol seems like a good combination, at-least to the NRA