Nirbhaya... Lets relive her a thousand times

BBC documentary on nirbhaya has divided the opinions sharply across the nation and I must say that both the sides in favor of the ban and against the ban have in no way the intention to show women in derogatory way or to show India in bad light or any intention to give the rapist a platform to give a hate speech and just like the divided opinions across nation I have myself walked from one viewpoint to another thinking various point of view in last 2 days … but since the ban was hardly of any use as the material was available on internet outside India as well as in India easily I did watch the program and I must say that it was worth watching …”I am sorry mummy , I gave you so much trouble” these were the last words of that girl seconds before she breathed her last , you cannot stop tears rolling down your eyes thinking of those moments and you don’t need to be a parent to relate what would have the parents of nirbhaya gone through… I mean how can any parent bring  up a child fighting all the odds in life to be left down on roads dying with her intestines and every organ pulled away from her body because someone thought it unworthy of a girl going out at night.

However to my own surprise the maximum amount of disgust and repulsion I got watching that episode went to some rather unusual candidates and they were the defense lawyers of those rapists. I could still understand the background from which those rapist came from and the reason they thought what they thought but my head hung in shame hearing what the defense lawyers said. And it was then I realized why it is important for this episode to be telecasted across India. Because What they said was no different than what we hear sometimes from people of various religious organizations across different religions, sometimes openly and brazenly by head of police departments across different states, sometimes by head of village panchayats, sometimes by some sitting judges and MLA’s and MP’s, sometimes we see these same biases in the dictats of Khaps and sometimes we see these biases in the skewed sex ratios in states like Haryana, sometimes we see this dirt in the human trafficking resultant of a skewed sex ratio in different parts of the country, sometimes we see this in the growing number of illegal abortions clinics running in every corner of this country, sometimes we see this in the dowry system prevalent in almost every household of this country, sometimes we hear that in our own circle as we move in different sections of society from a normal hairdresser in a hair salon to a vendor in vegetable market and we have heard that all sometimes said openly and sometimes from the most educated and literate people not so openly but with an undertone where the logic of their arguments try to color the  truth of the bias we have against women.

And it is to fight and confront this ugly truth of our society that we need to watch this program. It tell us how in so many ways we all carry or become the carrier of some of the same thoughts and same biases in our society. And this is not a small battle which can be won overnight, it’s a battle of beliefs so deeply ingrained in our society that it takes decades to fight it through. But not to take away any credit from what our society has achieved in last century is no less a feat in its own. It is not as we are not fighting it or trying to change but the pace at which things have changed over past few decades that the desire of the evolution of our beliefs have not travelled at the same pace. And it is this haft hearted attempt that is the biggest threat to our society. That people who believe in equality still don’t believe it fully, that time has come when this halfhearted effort won’t do us any good anymore.

But what about the other view which is in no way against any of what I have written above but has some legitimate concerns regarding the image on the country taking a beating due to such news broadcasted across the world. They are questioning us just as we are proclaiming it is right to understand a rapist’s mindset will tomorrow we will have to hear a hate speech to understand the mindset of rioter. Probably it was the thought that whether this program is giving the rapist a platform to set a misogynist agenda across the nation was what forced the govt to seek a ban to this documentary. However complicating this question any further is not helping us anymore. A country’s image is not just formed or broken by a documentary, neither does it give any kind of satisfaction to find solace in the number of rape cases in other western democracies. Ultimately it is the question of more than 600 million women who have given birth to every man present in this country. And the welfare of these 600 million women goes to add to the welfare and the image of this country. A century back women were burned on pyre of husbands, banning news or film on that would not have served us any purpose, it was the collective effort of the govt and people which took us out of that abuse. Today we are again reminded by this program how deep in our mind are biases against women. And it is not impossible to fight it out, a well-intentioned effort by all sections of society can actually see us winning through this within few decades. Also another important point is that while a few may understand that such a program may bring bad name to the country but does the youth of the country which is 18,19,20 really cares about that? Is he/she really ready to buy this argument of country’s prestige coming in the path of the fight against overcoming these biases? Is politics not about doing the art of what people really aspire to achieve or are we ready to do a politics in a vacuum of our own imaginations? The truth is that what happened with Nirbhaya should not happen with anyone else, Let this one story be played again and again and let us relive that horror a thousand times so it doesn’t take us millions of nirbhaya to recognize that we have a problem which needs to be addressed. 

Budget 2015: Looking ahead

A budget with its feet firmly on ground and eyes on future, a budget which is pragmatic but has lots of ambitions... a budget which builds the ground for a strong and prosperous India ..a budget which is path breaking because of the basic structural changes it brought about the philosophy of how the distribution of wealth has to be done , an amazing budget for the futuristic thought of building a social net of pensions and insurance for all but that coming not as freebies but coming as an instrument of savings which will fuel further growth and will at the same time secure the lives of 100's of millions which will start aging in coming decades... a pro enterprise budget where the impetus of building a new India lies with 57 million entrepreneurs and not in the hands of few corporates.

Understanding the challenges?

Coming down to specifics the union budget had some basic challenges to go for the big bang reforms. Some of the big reform ideas that were looked in the budget by different sections of society could be broadly divided as following

Corporate Angle: The corporates were looking on how the government will go ahead for implementation of GST, labor reforms which improve the ease of doing business and how govt would go for kick starting private investment in infrastructure projects

Electoral Angle: politically the budget would have to be viewed on some of the promises that Modi Sarkar made during the elections which were around the issue of black money

Common Man- Middle class: From the perspective of common man the budget would have been looked on how much does the finance minister leaves in the hand of middle class. How the FM would go about creating an environment where more jobs can be created and entrepreneurship is encouraged.

Poor and Labor class :  This part of society had apprehensions if the govt would move away from the subsidy and dole raj which the earlier regimes had built and if that taken away immediately would have had a catastrophic impact on their livelihood

How the govt did?

So let’s evaluate how did the government did on all these aspects and did the govt made any progress on any of them or showed the intent with a roadmap to address each one of them.

Spending on Infrastructure

In the early months after taking up charge in May 2014 the Modi Sarkar moved away from an era of policy paralysis and swiftly gave clearance to projects worth billions of dollars. However years of paralysis had made most of companies invested in infrastructure projects sick. So when things started moving in May 2014 it was a welcome change but it came a little too late. More was needed to bring back life to economy. It was a realization that private investment will not come in the immediate future to bail out Indian economy, the only option left was government spending on infra projects till the time the investment climate in country improves and brings down rate of interests when private companies can get a breather and the investment cycle can begin.

It is in this context that the 70,000 crores on infra projects by the govt will be a great push which will act as a catalyst for reaching near the goals of trillion dollar investment on infrastructure.

Ease of doing business – GST, Labor reforms

Labor reforms and GST will be the pillars on which ease of doing business can be improved in India. However both are easy said than done. GST would require the economy moving to an indirect way of taxation rather than the current way to direct taxes which covers a very small percentage of Indian population. It requires a lot of talking to the states and convincing them of the share of revenues that states get will not get affected even when GST is in place. It is in this context that the increase of net proceed of states to 62 percent should be looked upon. If the states are convinced of their fair share in taxes the opposition to GST will go away. The increase of service tax to 14 percent is also a step in that direction where the govt is slowly preparing to reach to an indirect tax level which may be near to the GST tax levels.

Labor reforms is another tricky subject which may create the same amount of opposition that the land ordinance bill is doing now. The trick therefore is to prepare the ground for labor reforms, it is here where the creation of national pension scheme will play its role.

Reducing corporate taxes, moving away from an era of corporate exemptions which will make the domestic industry competitive against global industries, easy of filing bankruptcy are another few important steps that the govt has taken to kick start the domestic manufacturing and other industries.

The implementation of GST and labor reforms therefore all look to be in the budget of 2016, ground has been prepared for that.

Black Money

Bringing back Black money has been a huge issue politically and BJP has delivered on this front. Right from setting up of SIT on the first day of govt to bringing back up to 20000 crores till this date has been good moves. What was pending was making this a prosecutable offence which will make getting up black money information from other countries easier. The govt has lived up to its promise on this which was a big political promise they had done. In coming future we will start seeing the benefits out of these steps.

The salaried class

First in the interim budget and now in the current budget the FM has given huge tax savings to the salaried middle class by first increasing tax slabs from 2 lakh to 2.5 lakhs and now giving further tax saving tools in pension, higher health care deductions and conveyance allowance. Just in this budget a total of Rs 14338 is saved in taxes by the salaried class if they opt for the various tax saving schemes the govt has provided.

The poor

As I mentioned earlier there were apprehensions on one side by the poor and expectations on the other side by the economists on the direction that the Modi govt will take on the subsidies. Taking away the subsidies would have had a catastrophic impact on the rural farm wages. The Modi govt has however played a masterstroke in this field. By achieving a target of 12.5 crores bank account in the Jan dhan yojna the govt has ensured that every penny of subsidy it provides reaches to the actual beneficiary. Therefore without increasing in actual terms the subsidy amount the govt has continued with the same allocation. In coming few years with an improving economic scenario the amount spent on subsides will come to a realistic level. The govt has therefore acted pragmatic and has shown off its pro – poor side even when its share of funds had reduced drastically after increased share of the states.

There are other good news where the govt has put a lot of focus like innovation, electronics industry , creating an startup fund and making it much more accessible to entrepreneurs , creating 6 crore toilets taking up preventive health and swach bharat seriously. It is now left to implementation of these ideas, there is another hint that this govt keeps giving is the thought that not all actions will come in budgets which are often highlighted events. In coming months we will slowly and gradually see India moving to the blueprint given by the Modi Sarkar ..ache din are a work in progress and India has exciting time ahead in coming days 

De-Mystifying the Aryans Arctic Connect

Mahabharata is back on television, story starts with Bhīshma … makes me nostalgic reminds me the story of his sacrifice. How Bhīshma kept lying on a bed of arrows pierced through his body .Finally breathes his last when Hastinapur gets safe into the hands of Yudhistra and sun set for utarayana. When I had seen this for the first time it had puzzled why did he wait till utarayana for his death?

Discovery of Saraswati

Meanwhile in India at the start of 19^th century John Marshall discovers the ruins of an ancient civilization around the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, Later it is identified as the Mohenjo-Daro - Indus valley civilization. Along with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia it was one of three early civilizations of the Old World, and of the three the most widespread. It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, one of the major rivers of Asia, and the Ghaggar-Hakra River, which once coursed through northwest India and eastern Pakistan.

The find of the civilization grew from around 40 sites in 1947 located mostly in Pakistan’s Punjab province to thousands of sites now (around 3700 sites ) located across  India’s province of Punjab , Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The area covered by this civilization was around 800000 kms. While the civilization was named after the first location it was discovered recent excavations point out that the name does not describes the geographical extent of the civilization. With thousands of sites found around the dry bed of a river which has now been identified as the Vedic river Saraswati and more evidence coming from satellite imageries and research’s it proves that once there flowed a river around which the civilization of Harappa flourished .Looking at the amount of sites found around this river it becomes more appropriate if this is called by the name Indus-Saraswati civilization.

For years Saraswati was considered as a mythical river though the river was mentioned in Rig Veda as many as 72 times in 45 hymns and has been described as the mother of all rivers. Evidences now point to an indeed an existence of such a river flowing much before 3500 BC up to 2100 BC which due to seismic activities or other geological activities ceased to be a mighty river and disappears around 1700 BC.

Aryan invasion Theory

The discovery and disappearance of the river saraswati and few other discoveries like (lost city of dwarka re-discovered) however has a huge impact on a different debate and that   is the Aryan invasion theory long ago put by Max Muller who proposed that Vedas were composed by invading Aryans around 1200 BC. However with Vedas describing saraswati as a flowing river which ceased to exist long before the dates given by Muller for Aryan invasion it is now clear that Vedas were composed much earlier when saraswati was flowing. Also there is no evidence of any kind of invasion on ground as suggested by Muller. In fact in his book “the lost river” author Michel danino gives an account of how from mehrgrah which is an site from the Indus-saraswati  civilization around 7000 BC to the modern India there is continuity in the traditions , religion , gods ,rituals common local weights etc. Thus the debate is more or less getting settled that Aryans or the early inhabitants of Indus-saraswati were indeed local indigenous population and there was a flourishing civilization between river Indus and saraswati around the end of last glacial age. This also brings us to the conclusion that Harappa /Indus-Saraswati civilization was the Vedic Civilization.

Arctic characteristic of some Hymns in Vedas

However there are some interesting evidences which still leaves few questions unanswered. One of them is rooted in Vedas and was proposed by none other than Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a great scholar of Vedas himself. Though Tilak did not had the benefit of the recent discoveries of thousands of sites along the dry bed of river saraswati we can still take his work which points out to the arctic connections to early Aryans. Tilak in his work “The Arctic Home in the Vedas” point out to hymns in Vedas which are characteristic of someone located in arctic while composing the Vedas.

 For e.g. If an observer is stationed at the North Pole,the sun will rise there only once a year, — it will be constantly visible for 6 months and then there will be a continuous night of 6 months.6 months of night may make us feel that the place is inhospitable but the night of 6 months may not be completely dark as Tilak explains how in nights there will be the electric discharges, known as Aurora Borealis, filling the polar night with their charming glories, and relieving its darkness to a great extent. Then we have the moon, which, in her monthly revolution, will be above the polar horizon for a continuous fortnight, displaying her changing phases, without intermission, to the polar observer. But the chief cause, which alleviates the darkness of the polar night, is the twilight before the rising and after the setting of the sun. With us in the tropical or the temperate zone, this twilight, whether of morning or evening, lasts only for an hour or two; but at the Pole this state of things is completely altered, and the twilight of the annual morning and evening is each visible for several days. The exact duration of this morning or evening twilight is, however, still a matter of uncertainty. Some authorities fix the period at 45 days, while others make it last for full two months.

The Polar climate is at present extremely cold; but in the Interglacial epoch or just before the last ice age it was different, and thus must have been capable of supporting humans. The Avesta which is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, and is composed in the Avestan language also contains of passages which very clearly mentions of things characteristic of arctic.

 So Did in Mahabharata when Bhīshma waited for utarayana he was actually waiting for the day to set in the northern hemisphere which must have been a tradition followed by his ancestors long ago who may have waited for day to set out before they cremated their dead and the same tradition must still have had left its traces.Tilak suggests that It seems,  very probable that the Devayâna and the Pitṛiyâna originally represented a two-fold division of the year, one of continuous light and the other of continuous darkness as at the North Pole; and that though it was not suited to the later home of the Vedic people it was retained, because it was an established and recognized fact in the language, like the seven suns, or the seven horses of a single sun.

Another interesting point if that at the Pole the twilight of the yearly morning and evening lingers on for several days. The sun, in his course through the ecliptic, would take more than a month to reach the horizon from this point; and during all this time a perpetual twilight will prevail at the Pole. Long dawn and long evening twilight are, therefore, the principal factors in shortening the darkness of the Polar night and if we deduct these days from the duration of the night, the period of darkness is reduced from six to two, or at the most, to two-and-half-months.

A close examination of the dawn-hymns in the Rig-Veda finds out the  fact that Ushas, or the deity presiding over the dawn, is often addressed in the plural number in the Vedic hymns, and that this could be accounted for only on the supposition that the Vedic dawns were a closely connected band of many dawns-a supposition, which was found to be fully borne out by express passages in the Vedic literature, stating, in unambiguous terms, that the Vedic dawns were 30 in number and that in ancient times a period of several days elapsed between the first appearance of light on the horizon and the rising of the sun. We have also found that the dawn is expressly described in the Rig-Veda as moving round like a wheel, a characteristic, which is the true only in the case of the Polar dawn.

Avesta

There are more details which Tilak take us in Avesta and in Veda but the question is if we take further this theory where does all this leaves us, did Aryans originally inhabited the arctic and later moved from arctic to Iran to India? The evidence on ground however does not suggest any such movement but then how do we explain the arctic characteristics of some hymns in Vedas. In this regard a recent discovery of arkain in Russia needs to be mentioned

Swastika City of Russia

Constructed on a circular principle around a central square, with about sixty semi-dugout houses built within its ramparts, the settlement was situated in the southern Urals, near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. It was defended by two concentric ramparts of clay and adobe blocks on a wooden frame, and could only be entered via four intricately constructed passageways that would have made the entrance of enemies extremely difficult. The inhabitants and the common central square were thus well protected by Arkaim’s defensive, inward-turned ground plan. The town was found to be closely aligned to several celestial reference points, and is therefore believed to have been an observatory as well as a fortress, an administrative and a religious centre.

In order to gain publicity, the early investigators described Arkaim as "Swastika City", "Mandala City", and "the ancient capital of early Aryan civilization, as described in the Avesta and Vedas". The swastika description refers to the floor plan of the site, which (with some imagination) may appear similar to the swastika symbol, albeit with rounded arms (similar to the lauburu) attached to a central ring instead of a cross.

According to many experts, the Arkaim and related sites could be created by ancient Indo-Iranians long before their separation, relocations over the Eurasian steppe and traffic corridor to the south of Iran and India.Some of the scientists have drawn parallels between the circular fortified settlements such Arkaima and the city of the legendary king Yima reproduces the model of the universe and described in “Avesta” – the sacred book of the ancient Iranians.

However some scientist believes Arkaim was an ancient observatory, somewhere I too get inclined to this idea... the architecture of the city and the small population it supported makes you pick it up as an observatory rather than a town in thick of trade and investment. It also has remarkable similarity to Stonehenge in UK.

Where does it leave us?

The question comes back to the same place did Aryans moved from arctic to India , a century has been spent working on this idea it does not however gives you sufficient evidence as nothing on ground shows a population movement from arctic to India. However what if we invert the prism and see the other way round things start to make sense. Aryans were extremely exploratory in nature and had satellite colonies and towns established in ancient world across different civilizations like the Egypt and Mesopotamia.As the author of “the lost river” Michel danino puts “it is fascinating to note that essentially no material remains have been found in an Indus setting with certain Mesopotamian origin. Why do Indus artifacts appear in Mesopotamia, but not vice-versa? " The best explanation to date is that the Indus peoples traded for perishable materials. But it is still not completely convincing. It is therefore not impossible that Aryans while prospering along the bank of river saraswati set out observatories in arctic which they used to study the sun and its movement? The findings of those observatories have been reflected in Vedas. There was never a movement of complete towns and cities but a small set of population could be travelling to gather the findings across the globe. We do this these days by setting up observatories in Antarctica or other places, did the ancient Indians did the same .With around a couple of site across the globe and around 3700 sited of Indus-Saraswati civilization situated around the length of now dry river saraswati this does looks possible but only more research on this can prove it beyond doubt.

Taken from a range of work you can access it here

Peshawar Attack: Nothing will change

As 3 days of mourning gets over in Pakistan so will be the hopes that this tragedy is going change anything in Pakistan or will this change anything for the sympathizers of terrorism across the world. The ranting will go on and the lovers of jihad in the name of religion will find new reasons to kill and spread mayhem. And for them they will keep finding some reasons to keep going, sometimes the reason will be Iraq, sometimes Israel, and sometimes Kashmir, gujrat etc. That Pakistan will now be using terror victim card more than ever and will play politics over these dead kids is no guess. The narrative will change but not the agenda. For distortion is so deep into their psyche and hatred so rooted in their thoughts that no less than a messiah will be needed cleanse that. But even a messiah needs someone's call and no one is complaining here, it will be business as usual. This was coming and will keep coming in the coming years for when a nation names its missiles as gauri and ghaznavi they forget that the piece of land they live on was tyrannized by same ghauri and ghaznavi's. That when a nation on the banks of Indus tries to find out its root in the invaders coming from foreign land who plundered their land you don't know to laugh on them or cry for them. For who will stand against the terrorists when the nation is ferried in special run trains to hear Hafez saeed.

16th Dec was no ordinary day. On this day in 1971 it became clear that east Pakistan would become a new nation , After millions of rapes and massacre Bangladesh was born, if they didn't learn then what they will learn now.  They choose to believe in conspiracy theories then and even now it will be easier to live in denial because truth has the tendency to ask difficult questions. Taliban says we did this because you killed our families, isn’t this the same reason they give to support terrorism in India to kill innocents. Is it not the same poisonous theory they used to feed in the minds of their kids? Today that same poison has taken them away. Did they had any sympathy for the yazdis that were massacred in Iraq, were they not children of anyone were they not innocent, were the 166 people killed in Mumbai not innocent. They will have many more of such uncomfortable questions, and to arrive at an answer they will have to answer each one of them, it will therefore be better to live in denial. People had warned them that when you keep snakes in your backyard one day they do come to bite you but who cares. The army owns the nation and the nation do not seem to care, who are we then to reason them? When even a hockey match win is celebrated as a war between civilizations and when no reason is a reason enough then what happens is a tragedy.

And back home in India there were candle light vigils against Israel earlier but then now against whom those candle light vigils will be taken up ... Taliban, Pakistan, ISI or terrorism in name of religion. But let’s not worry they will find out an answer to this also. An attempt will be made by the so called secularists to draw a line between Good Taliban -bad Taliban, Pakistan and terrorism and blur the line between freedom of speech and freedom to spread the agenda of hatred. Men from congress were crying for the rights of free speech of Mehdi Masroor Biswas, they will have more job at hand.

The question is should we sympathize with them when they themselves don't sympathize with themselves, well we can't avoid we want to live for hope, we want to stand with them in this hour of grief, we don't want to pose these uncomfortable questions at this moment, we don't want them to answer this to the world but then they do need to ask these questions to themselves and get a clear answer in their hearts because only that could be a true tribute to the innocents who never lived long enough .And somewhere in our hearts we want to believe that things will change , it’s our dream but before we start believing in our own dreams that this will change something and waste too much of time on that lets make our border stronger because the moment the mourning will be over the firing on the borders will start.

Some experiments on road worth doing

For 3 years every time I drove in Hyderabad from Miyapur where I lived to Hi-tech city where I worked I had just one question in my mind, why is there so much traffic even though the roads are so wide. Yes it is true, after staying in Bangalore for years when I came to Hyderabad the roads looked amazingly wide and yet the traffic did not seem to move. However my recent stay in US gave me some clue as how could we look to solve some traffic problem in India. Another realization I had is that most of the solutions to traffic problem in India does not need extremely costly solutions. Hardly 10-15 percent of extra investment on our roads can make our roads extremely safe and can substantially increase the average speed of the traffic. Coming down to specifics below are some of the points I felt we can introduce in our roads to make them world class.

Issuing of Driver licenses

Yes this should be the number one issue which we should address. The whole system of awarding a driver’s license is flawed in India and it urgently needs radical overhaul.

Comprehensive booklet/CDs/Recorder

What is needed is a small but comprehensive guide/booklet (50-60 pages at most) with all the traffic signs and rules compiled in it. Recently a video went viral on Facebook where vehicles were seen not giving way to an ambulance, while people’s apathy is one reason for that behavior a more important reason for such behavior is ignorance. Most drivers in India will fail to answer the question as to which side should they move the vehicle in case they hear an ambulance siren behind them. And the reason behind that are the poor training programs when they were granted the license. We must therefore strengthen our program and fix the knowledge gap among drivers. A well-documented book with all the rules and signs , with rules telling where to park , what do in case of hearing an emergency vehicle or an ambulance behind you , who has the first right to take a left turn or a right turn, how to merge on a highway , what to do in case of a crash or break down, what to do when you see a school bus  and numerous such issues will go a long way to make the driver well informed about the decision he is taking on road and will also increase the general safety and speed of all vehicles. Once the temporary license exam is fixed next we need to go ahead and fix the way permanent licenses are awarded. While like in US in India also we have the two level exams where we first get a temporary license and then get a permanent license the way it is implemented on ground leaves a lot more to be desired.

Temporary License

The first level of temporary exam should be made a comprehensive knowledge test of all the rules, regulations, signs etc. all of which should be addressed in the driver’s guide/booklet. The test can be conducted online on various private authorized prometric centers. The govt should simply move out from the business of conducting exams so that no one in the country gets a license based on influence. However conducting such a test in India throws lot of challenges, a lot of our population is uneducated and therefore online written objective type tests may not be suitable for all. However for such candidates the govt can come up with visual CD’s and recorders in all regional languages which the candidate can listen at home and then come prepared for the exam which can again be a computer based test but where the candidate listen to the questions and then an interactive computer program can help the candidate to find out the correct answer.

Permanent License

What I admired in US was the way they take the permanent license exam. In a two-step process the candidate is required to either clear a maneuverability test or a parallel parking test (both these require extensive practice with parking cones and by the time the candidate learns to do these he/she actually gets a very good grip of the handling the car in both forward and reverse directions). In the second part of the test the instructor asks the candidate to drive on road where instructor observes the candidate if he is following the rules or not. On successful completion of both these steps the candidate is cleared to drive independently on road. Getting a license in US or any other developed country is a moment to cherish, we get it after a lot of hard work and the strong training programs before getting the license is one of the reasons we see such a disciplined traffic in developed countries.

STOP sign and Speed Limits

Signs, signs and signs … signs are key for smooth movement of traffic and some signs like the STOP sign have immense value. Accordingly to me it is one of the most important signs when on road. Initially I didn’t recognized the value of this sign and it rather looked insignificant, it was only when I started driving on US roads I realized that how this sign helps to regulate traffic. You can find this sign in every street. When an incoming traffic sees this sign it comes to a complete halt, looks around and then move again when safe. This sign is therefore very useful when we are coming from a street to the main roads or at crossings with no signals. What it does is it forces the traffic to stop and then look around and then move when it is safe. It therefore reduces the chances for an accident due to blind spots on the roads, most of which happens in our streets because the incoming vehicle could not see a vehicle coming from another side as none of them stopped to observe the traffic. The placement of this sign is also extremely significant, I don’t see this sign usually on the main streets rather I see them on lanes which are coming and merging to the main street. It therefore allows the traffic on the main street to continue with their speed and at the same time forces the merging traffic from narrow lanes to look around and merge to the main street traffic or take a turn only when it is safe.

Another important thing is the very clear speed limit signs placed right at regular intervals on streets and highways. So when the driver is moving within populated areas the speed limit comes down from 45-70 miles on highways to 25-35 miles.

Lane driving

Center Lanes

Also on roads with traffic in both direction and without a divider there is usually a center lane where the traffic which needs to take a turn (left in case of US) can wait for clear road on the other side of the road. This is exclusive for such purpose and it saves so much on traffic jams as it keeps traffic running on both sides of the road. Such a small thing but such a big impact. Even on the remotest of places we will find proper markings done for driving on both sides with a distinct divider lines.

   

Highways – Exit Ramps

Till now we discussed some ideas which were relevant to streets , coming to highways even they need lots of design considerations to avoid congestion during peak hours, or to be able to provide free flow of traffic at the maximum permitted speed. If we look at the picture below we can see how an exit ramp is designed in US and other parts of the world. Instead of signals managing the traffic, the place where vehicles need to take exit an exit ramp is provided. Much before the ramp sign boards indicate that an exit is coming and any vehicle looking to take that exit move to that lane. It is also to be noted in picture below how when an exit approach an extra lane is provided exclusive for the exit ramp. There are then signs that tell the traffic at what speed should they take turn on the ramp. Similar ramps or merge lanes approach is used to merge vehicles coming on the highway using. Again this is not an extremely costly solution , India for last few years is building huge network of roads , what we need is just application of mind thinking for every inch of road that is built thinking of all possible scenarios.

Fencing the highways

All of us must have sometime in our lives faced the scenario when a cattle jumped in front of our vehicle while we were at high speed on the highway. To avoid such a scenario it is extremely important to fence the highways. With a high density of population staying next to the highways govt can even plan to make sound walls which can both act as protection against some intrusive element on the road and provide a peaceful life for the people staying around the highways.

Mannerisms on road – awareness campaigns

Last but not the least are the mannerisms we follow on road. After all the techniques and methods the truth is that every part of the world is facing traffic jams during peak traffic hours. And here the role of good mannerisms make such a significant impact that it is difficult to explain till the time we have not experienced it ourselves. Every day In US I face huge traffic jams during peak hours, much worse than I saw in Hyderabad but due to good traffic mannerisms the traffic jams never results in deadlocks. People give you space to change lanes when you need to do so, people do not honk at each other, people move to the exit lanes much in advance so that they do not obstruct the traffic going beyond that exit point, if an accident happens the individuals involved in accident immediately move their vehicles on the shoulder lanes and allow others to move, If someone gives you space to move between the lanes you wave off as a mark of thanks, such small gestures but they leave you with a much better driving experience and far less stressed than what we face on Indian roads. Govt can look to run awareness campaigns to achieve the same. With a dynamic PM like Mr. Modi such a task is more doable than any other time in recent history. Social media can be used effectively to spread such awareness.

I have often heard expatriates/foreigners describing the cultural shock when they visit India, frankly speaking the filth in our cities and the madness on our roads are what people call as cultural shock. With Swach bharat and safe roads we can just not make traffic move smoothly we can also make India a better place to live in. Not all ideas that we see elsewhere in other countries may work for us but then these are some of the points I think are worth trying on Indian roads.

Redeeming Ganges: Is it about us or about the river?

Prime Minister Modi has taken up an ambitious target of redeeming Mother Ganga. His intentions are noble but talks to redeem Ganga are not new, around 20 thousand crores has been spent since 1986 under the Ganga action plan but the fate of the river never changed. From a layman’s point of view it looks like reducing the sewerage going to the river and removing the silt from the river basin will solve the problem as it will let the river flow naturally and restore its pristine glory. It is only after a while when we go deep in the problem and realize that ganga lacks one important thing for this plan to work out and that missing element is….WATERR….And once we understand that our approach to the problem begins to change.

Meanwhile A little before 1 month India was facing drought like conditions, and from last few weeks when rain gods started coming down in plenty our cities could not handle those showers and came to grinding halts. This is not new we have been seen this years after year. Droughts if there is no rain and flood like situation the moment it starts to rain. Who can forget the 1000 lives lost in the financial capital Mumbai few years back when Mithi River flooded due to incessant rains? PM Modi has also tapped into the aspirations of young India to build 50 new smart cities. The question is are all the problems or challenges stated below are interlinked or are they separate issues.

·         Reviving our rivers

·         Building new smart cities

·         Making ourselves prepared for uncertainties of monsoon

I feel all the above stated objectives are in a way interrelated to each other. When I tried to explore why did the revival work of Ganga fail I went into a journey where the garbage disposal problems of Bangalore, the floods in Mumbai or flooding of any city after a few hours of rain, the receding underground water levels across India, the floods and landslides in Uttrakhand/Kashmir and the dying ganga or say any other dying river they all seemed to be interlinked.

Reasons for failure – Dams, sewage

The most important reason for failure of Ganga action plan or say any other river cleaning plan must have been the same

·         The core of problem lies in unscientific extraction of water from river for irrigation and other purposes.

·         By design, dams alter the natural flow regime, and with it virtually every aspect of a river ecosystem, including water quality, sediment transport and deposition, fish migrations and reproduction, and riparian and floodplain habitat and the organisms that rely on this habitat get impacted.

·         The other big reason of river decline is the disposal of untreated sewage and industrial waste into the river in much greater quantity then the river can actually take with it. Here too the problem of diverting all the water from rivers results in drastically reduced capacity of river to naturally carry these pollutants.

·         As per some data on Ganga and its tributaries there are at least 34 barrages/structures functional in India and Nepal.  In India, barrages control all of the tributaries to the Ganges and divert roughly 60% of river flow to large-scale irrigation. There are around 558 dams on the Himalayan Rivers, including those complete, under-construction and still others that are proposed. The river Bhagirathi and its tributaries has 85 projects dotting its flow. Of the other major rivers, Bhilangna has 19 dams, Alaknanda and its tributaries have an astounding 91, Dhauliganga and its tributaries 19, Pindar and its tributaries 23, Gauri and its tributaries have 27 dams.

·         The Ganga and the Yamuna, along with their tributaries, have 55 ongoing projects.

·         Apart from that the govt sometime back came with the idea of setting up barrages at every 50/100 kms on the Ganga. Just imagine how would a river continue to flow if its water is diverted at every 100 kms .How do we expect to revive the glory of a river without leaving the minimum amount of water in it that which is essential for maintaining the amount of flow to carry out the sediments and then worsening the problems by releasing more sewage in it than it can carry with that current.

However once we identify the problems the question is how can we minimize the requirements of those necessities or is there an option to eliminate it altogether?

Looking Beyond Dams

Pundit Nehru called Dams as the temples of modern India. But as India catches pace in the new millennia a very little is now left of the Nehruvian legacy. Dams will probably be another legacy which needs to be looked into thoroughly. In order to address the question of restoration of river we will have to evaluate the requirements of Dams and how much waste can be disposed of in the river. If we come to the conclusion that dams are essentially at the core of the problem then we need to find out is there an option to remove the dams. The truth is that a large part of the country is getting its irrigation requirements from Dams and therefore removing them altogether is not an option. However across the world this realization that there is a requirement to look beyond Dams and identify ways in which we can reduce our dependence on dams is gaining traction. In a report in “Beyond Dams: Options and Alternatives” done in US it lists out the options on how can we look to alternatives to achieve the same benefits which Dams provide.

Broadly Dams are used for the following purposes

·         Flood controls

·         Irrigation

·         Energy/Power generation

Flood controls

While many of these alternatives are not quick fixes, they are real solutions that can be implemented with long-term planning.  The following are some alternative approaches to dams for flood management:

·         Reducing runoff by Low Impact development

·         Riparian & in-river flood management

·         Separating the people & the threat

Reducing Runoff by Low Impact Developments (LID): The principle behind runoff reduction measures is to increase the proportion of precipitation that infiltrates the soil and decrease the amount that runs off directly into rivers.  On undeveloped land, typically less than 20 percent of the volume of rainfall becomes direct surface runoff that drains into rivers. With development of buildings and paved impermeable surfaces, and the use of conventional piped drainage systems, direct runoff can increase to over 80 percent of the volume of rainfall.  By reducing the amount of runoff, the stream flow levels during storm events will be reduced, thereby reducing flood risk and the need for structures such as dams.  

It is these new techniques of Low Impact development that will redefine the way future cities will be planned. It is here I can relate the flooding of Indian cities after an hour of shower. It is because there is no place for water to go anywhere. If the Smart cities project take up these approaches of Low Impact developments they would release much less water into the river around which they are located. It will also help keep the ground water levels at much higher levels.

Restoring meander: Many flood management measures constructed in the past reduced the natural live storage capacity of river channels.  When engineers cut off meanders to straighten rivers and increase flow velocities, the storage provided by the longer, meandering river channel is lost.  Levees constructed to keep rivers within their channels prevent floodplains from storing and slowly releasing flood flows.  As a result, in some cases peak flood flows have increased and caused greater flood risk downstream of highly controlled river reaches.  This transferring of the flood creates a feedback loop of escalating flood risk and flood management actions that propagates downstream. By restoring the natural flood-carrying capacity of rivers and/or their riparian buffer regions, the need for a new or existing dam is reduced.

Separating the people & the threat: An important component of floodplain management is controlling the development of floodplains to place people and flood intolerant land uses in areas with relatively lower flood risk (i.e., land at higher elevation or greater distance from the river).  Land with greater flood risk is used for more flood tolerant activities, such as agriculture.  This type of zoning or resettlement has the biggest impact on the need for an existing or new dam aimed at flood management.  

If property and people cannot be located out of flood prone areas, flood proofing or some of the “natural” flood management measures discussed above can prevent floodwaters from reaching areas at risk.  While it is not likely that flood proofing alone will lead to the removal of a dam designed for flood management or delay a proposed flood management dam, it can be a useful tool when used in conjunction with the alternatives discussed above.  We have seen in Uttrakhand floods last year how unplanned development around river side leaving little or no buffer land resulted in around 10000 lives lost and property worth of billions being just washed away. If we do a cost-benefit analysis of those lives and billions worth of property we will realize that some of the Dams are not giving away so much of benefit.

Energy generation: Across the globe the energy generated by Hydel power is slowing being questioned to be counted as renewal source of energy. Instead the cheapening of solar energy is opening up new ways to harness renewable energy in a more ecologically sustainable way.

Irrigation: In India Dams are a major source of diverting water for irrigation purposes. It is here where the choice lies between the Devil and the deep sea. While the alternatives discussed above do reduce the dependence on Dams, a majority of them would still be required to feed the requirements of a growing economy and increasing population. However new techniques in agriculture using drip irrigation , creating structures to store the monsoon rains and reducing the rain water run-offs in both urban and rural areas have the potential to make a significant impact reducing the requirements of new dams.

The Verdict – Holistic view is the need of time

Where does all this leave us? Are these ideas new? Are the suggestions that are coming up are new? Probably not, they have been discussed and recommended again and again by different committees? So what has changed this time, Modi fought a bitter battle in Gujrat for the sardar sarovar dam, it is therefore quite obvious the direction new govt is likely to take. But the question is has anything changed during last few decades that desires a change in our approach .The answer is Yes , a lot has changed in India. Unlike in past the cost of floods, disasters and lost lives are exponentially going up. Soon we are reaching the level where a big disaster will nullify decades of development gone around in the region. In the age of social media one such disaster can revive the memories of the anti-corruption movement and the govt in New Delhi could be on stake. It is in this light that the new govt has to take up a new approach to solve the problems rather than working to remove the silt in the river bed. In the end if we summarize river restoration has to be a combination of these steps.

·         Identify the cities around the banks of all major rivers to be developed as Smart cities, focus on Low impact developments in those cities which in turn may reduce the dependence on any new Dams and will act as model cities for other existing cities

·         While the requirements of dams cannot be looked away totally there should be a proper cost – benefit analysis of the long term environmental impacts versus the benefits it brings to the community.

·         Restore the river by reducing the number of dams required, maintaining the minimum level of water in the rivers around the year.

·         Restore meanders, levees which provide natural protection against floods and helps to increase the storage capacity of the river naturally.

·         Work on latest techniques like Infiltration Galleries & Wells, Screened Intake Pipes, Seasonal Dams, and Consolidated Diversions to achieve the same benefits as of Dams. These techniques provide the same benefit as Dams while taking away the negatives out of building large dams.

·         Use latest dredging machines to remove the silt from the rivers. It has to be done in multiple phases. Each phase of dredging leaves behind some amount of contaminated sediment. Only after multiple times it gets to the point where it gets restored with the fresh sediment brought down by the river. Proper arrangements have to be done so that the contaminated sediments do not flow back to the river.

·         Promote commercial navigation and develop river fronts promoting economic activities around the river

·         Develop sufficient sewerage treatment capacity so that the amount of pollutants going into the river get reduced.

In the end all that is suggested sounds extremely challenging. So was it when it was proposed in other parts of the world. However there were about 3000 dams removed in US using these techniques and many rivers have been restored since then using a combination of these techniques. There was a lot of resistance and indifference initially for this approach until they realized that it was not about us it was about the river but ultimately what is good for river today will be good for us in the long term.

Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan & Myanmar- The road to North East?

Under PM Modi India has started a slew of initiatives meant to bolster India’s ties with its neighbors.  However the dialog with Bangladesh has opened up a Pandora ’s Box. BJP has raised the issue of illegal immigrants time and again and also have raised the issue as how the illegal immigrant population from Bangladesh is being used to alter the demographics of north eastern states and have been used dangerously by other political parties to create a favorable vote bank out of these immigrants. It is this issue of illegal immigrant which has not gone down well with many a well-wishers of BJP as this new approach of reconciliation and talks have not spelt out what will be the status of these illegal immigrants. It is therefore important to discuss and debate what all options New Delhi has when dealing with Dhaka and what all benefits does it get out of resolving all by standing issues with Bangladesh.

Good relations with neighbors have a dominos effect where in relation with one country can be used to show the benefit of being in good terms with India to other neighbors. It is in this context that the relationship with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Srilanka becomes extremely significant where peace with them can sometime be used to convince other hostile neighbors like Pakistan to have a more practical relation with India. However relationship with Pakistan is not the only benefit that India gain out of this good relationship with other countries.

North East as India’s Electronic Manufacturing hub?

PM Modi in his election rallies talked about 9 percent growth rates however even after removing the current policy deadlock and bringing in more reforms clocking 9 percent of growth could be a tough task at hand. Modi will have to search new avenues of growth, he will have to lookout for new regions which can contribute to overall higher growth rates. It is here where India’s North East becomes extremely critical. Just like Nepal is a landlocked country, India’s northeast are landlocked states. The north east of India is connected with the rest of the country by the vulnerable siliguri corridor also called as Chicken’s Neck - a very narrow strip of land linking mainland India to its north-eastern states. The Siliguri Corridor is at one point less than 14 miles and has therefore limitation using it to connect to the rest of North east. One of the far most and the biggest benefits that India can achieve by having a good relationship with Bangladesh , Nepal ,Bhutan and Myanmar is India will have the opportunity to unleash the potential of India’s north eastern states.

Modi did gave an insight into this when he talked about his vision to develop Kolkata as an important port city and claiming the status of regional growth engine. However he understands that developing Kolkata will not be enough as well as possible without a good having a good relationship with Bangladesh. India will have to look at developing at least couple of megacities in North east. With plenty of fresh water and good availability of cheap hydro power can North East be developed as the electronic manufacture hub for India as well as for India’s neighbors? Can Bangladesh here provide the critical land route to connect north east to rest of India as well as provide alternate sea routes to export the goods to other parts of the world?

Pakistan-Terrorism & China

While India’s borders on the western front are marred with terrorism and unstable regimes, the borders on eastern front are far more stable and much more favorable to Indian interests. It is this opportunity India needs to tap. The significance of having Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar not being used for anti-Indian activities is well known. However Bangladesh holds lot more promises .It is trying to avoid going the fundamentalist route Pakistan has gone. It is showing the will to fight the fundamentalist elements and therefore a secular moderate Bangladesh will always be beneficial for Indian interests.

The relationship with these countries are also significant from the Chinese point of view. As soon as Modi govt came to power they did a significant policy reversal in terms of China-North East issue. As per the new policy India will now be looking to encourage population settlements in border areas of the region. Again supporting such activities require a thriving economy in the region. A thriving northeast will bring many positives to Indian economy, India’s defense as well as reducing the isolation of north eastern people towards mainland India.

Illegal Immigrant problem

While Bangladesh has the capacity to unlock the north east out of its current isolation it is also true that some of the worst ethnic riots going on in Assam are a result of this immigrant population. A change in demographics not just undermines national security in the long run it can threaten India’s unity and integrity.

However India’s attempt to send back illegal immigrants have had little success in the past. Illegal Migrant Determination Tribunal (IMDT) which was designed especially for Assam State, became the biggest hurdle and was the main impediment or barrier in the identification and deportation of illegal migrants before being stuck down by Supreme Court.

Even deportation under the Foreigners Act also remained problematic. In 2003, the then Home Minister L. K. Advani ordered all states to deport illegal immigrants. A few weeks’ later 265 people were sent to the border, but authorities in Bangladesh declined to accept them. In fact India’s Border Security Forces (BSF), and its counterpart the Bangladesh Border Guards (then called the Bangladesh Rifles), came to the point of violence over the issue. There is no database of the actual Bangladeshis who have sneaked in Indian Territory. Any high handling of the issue in absence of such a list may only worsen the situation.

Reluctant Bangladesh

There is another aspect of this discussion. In the past Bangladesh has been extremely reluctant to give any transit to India via its territory. Well this is not new. With all neighbors India find extremely hostile responses most of the time. Sometimes it is due to timid responses to any issue, sometimes due to unclear policy begetting such responses. And the root cause of such weak responses are again back to economical reason.

Solution - An incremental approach with multiple options?

The biggest hurdle holding India-Bangladesh relationship is the illegal immigrant problem. And the real reason for this immigration are economic factors. The question therefore is that can India afford to think itself in isolation anymore? Being one of the top economies of the world India cannot ask to be integrated with the world economy and isolated from its neighbors at the same time. Then what are the solutions to India? Could an incremental approach with multiple options towards this problem may have a better chance of working out. While these countries can unlock north east potential, holding the growth of north east on only these factors can be detrimental

The approach therefore should be to work simultaneously to develop multiple options. Increased focus on north east development via development of new industrial corridors should be the focus of new govt whether India has a transit via Bangladesh or not. It was important to notice the 5000 crore allotment in rail budget given for development of railways in North-East. Is the Modi govt thinking on same lines where it is opening up talks with Bangladesh but at the same time not limiting itself to it?

Identify Illegal Immigrants and convey the enormity of the issue

As part of incremental approach the first step should be on getting identified all the illegal immigrants. This is easier said than done. There have been conflicting reports on the number of people coming from Bangladesh and till the time we India does not complete the exercise of identifying these people it will be impossible to move to any solution. The Assam accord which lays out the rules to identify foreign citizens should be used to arrive at such a list at the earliest. Only when India has a comprehensive list ready handling over of such a list to Bangladesh can be done. While immediate deportation of so many may not be possible immediately once New Delhi brings the enormity of the issue on the tables of discussion it can always help India in bargain at other places. The enormity of the situation could also be used to explain Bangladesh the urgency to push for a land and river transit through the region which may help bring prosperity on both sides of the border containing any further migration. Shying away from such discussions have not helped India in the past and any future discussions should always be done in the core interest of India.

Simplified Visa Regime

The second step to the incremental approach may lie in having a simplified visa regime and allow limited number of Bangladeshi nationals to earn their livelihood in India. Should the existing illegal immigrants who have been identified be provided temporary work permits identifying their foreign origin till the time proper arrangements are not made to send them back?

Making this movement legal will have the benefit that it will not alter the demographics of the north eastern states of the country which is the root cause of unrest in Assam and other parts of north east. Can this approach therefore fulfill the BJP’s pledge of safeguarding the interest of communities living in north east as well as give govt the capability to regulate this movement. However with labor still cheap and surplus in India allowing even limited number of people on the other side of border to earn livelihood may not be an easy idea to sell.

However sending back people when the govt across border is not cooperating is easy said than done. Bangladesh has in the past refused to take back immigrants accusing India of pushing back its own people inside Bangladesh. It was this reason which forced the Vajpayee govt to think of granting temporary work permit to all illegal immigrants till both the countries arrive at a solution. Will Modi govt take a leaf from Vajpayee’s govt? It is important to understand that only when there are enough opportunities in Bangladesh such a movement can be curtailed.

Increased Investment in Bangladesh

The third step of this incremental approach addresses the problem of opportunities in Bangladesh. The solution lies in India increasing its investment in Bangladesh manifolds. As India plan to spend trillions on its own infrastructure it can also look towards increasing its investment in infrastructure projects in Bangladesh something which may increase opportunities within Bangladesh as well as that investment can be looked as a part of the overall investment in north east development. Any moving back of illegal immigrants back to Bangladesh may have to deal with their rehabilitation. Could the investment in infrastructure be used to rehabilitate those moved back, could the labor used on those projects be the immigrants who are moved back?

The above approaches may help in reducing bad blood between both governments and the same time convey Bangladesh the enormity of the situation India faces. Well does that all sound extremely radical, it may indeed be like but only a favorable solution to all parties will have a chance to succeed.