GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR CHINA

Bikash Choudhury


Chinese great wall stands tall for last 2232 years; which can be seen from the surface of moon that speaks volumes of Chinese ingenuity. The current status of China as emerging global power on the back of stupendous economic growth, technological advancement and scientific progress has not been without pain and perseverance. The loss of lives to Cultural Revolution and sufferings owing to frequent changes in Governance model(one country & two systems--centralized political system with free market economy) to try and find that best suits, now infamous Chinese impatience and insatiable desire for economic growth and prosperity is and would remain an unique and quintessential Chinese invention of recent times. That was also a sweet revenge of a Nation that lost and humiliated by a tiny Asian neighbor in nineteen forties. China has actually come a long way and destined to go much farther in terms of capturing the global mind space; provided, Chinese learn to learn from history and drop their belligerence and court global peace, regional stability, mutual prosperity and a shared destiny for mankind. Unlike the developed World who pursued war, violence and imperialism on the back of economic success; and wasted great opportunity for Global peace & prosperity in last century and sunk huge resources for which their economies are being penalized in this decade. Chinese people would be wiser not to drain their resources in mindless aggressive posturing in their neighborhood; rather invest the valuable surplus smartly to bridge the gap between the rural & urban Chinese people. And, in the ‘infrastructure deficit’ of countries in Asia which will buy them genuine goodwill and much higher return.
The recent visit of Chinese Ambassador, Mr. Zhang Yan to Bhubaneswar and his invitation to Chief Minister of Odisha is an interesting and welcome development. More importantly his statement “China interested for more strategic partnership with India globally in the domain of financial stability, climate change, food & energy security. And, China is for building relationship on principles of equality, mutual respect, political trust, business & commercial ties, cultural exchanges, people to people contact and strategic & cooperative partnership between its provinces and Indian states” is a far reaching foreign policy intent of Chinese which need to be diligently unfolded on the ground. “China and India, the two large countries in Asia with 35% of global population must have multi linear, multi dimensional foreign policy with velocity of progress distinct to each segment complementing the over all relationship in keeping with current times and ancient historical & cultural linkages”. India has a great deal to learn from Chinese experience in overall economic development; chiefly, on technology for faster infrastructure development. Chinese have a huge opportunity in India to modernize the entire transport sector (Road & Rail) while investing capital for much better return in comparison to American Treasury Receipts.
Chinese have shown great maturity in retaining the free enterprise system & governance model in Honkong; just that they need to drop their paranoia on Tibet. As it would be counter productive to keep a civilization and culture under wraps and by force; rather, it would be in the interest of both, to initiate a constructive dialogue for a ‘self rule of Tibet’ with full cultural freedom within Chinese sovereignty—which may facilitate the return of Dalai Lama to Tibet in his life time. With growing Indian might and emerging younger leadership may later demand for a pre 1950 status for Tibet as a neutral buffer region between India & China since the time of English rule; which may be tad difficult to accept for Chinese leadership. But, with cataclysmic changes happening fast in Global economy & politics current opportunity may not hold good for long time and therefore Chinese leadership must have to make a choice soon about a friendly company of India with a complacent Tibetan people; and China looking much better as a Global power.

FDI IN RETAIL--NEED CONSIDERATION

BIKASH CHOUDHURY

The FDI policy in retail of Govt. is a bold step in right direction; which needs careful consideration before announcing the verdict. Opposition for sake of opposing in this case would prove counter productive and would be neither in the larger interest of the country nor in favor of small retailers as the case is being made out to be. There may be a short & medium term impact on small mom & pop shops in cities with one million plus population; but, in the long term the benefits would out weight the short comings due to MNC retail play out. India is currently acutely suffering due to poor logistics and technology for distribution; therefore, our farmers fail to get a remunerative price linked to cost of production with a normal profits and at the same time consumers have to pay a very high price for the products which is much higher than cost of production & the quality delivered. It is common knowledge that inefficient logistic and distribution eats away a lot of resources without much value addition. If no attempt is made now, then the problem could be more acute in future as there would be no innovation in the domain of “logistics & distribution” in the country for a long, long time. The Indian Modern Retail for last fifteen years has been able to make a very negligible impact on the technology of sourcing of goods and its distribution. Therefore, instead of trying to reinvent the wheels once again; the country could at the least encourage the retail biggies of the World to bring their Capital, Technology & Management to make a paradigm shift in the method of consumption in the designated cities, in phase one and unlock value that would hold promise for our farmers, consumers and those who would work (School & College drop outs with gross enrolment ratio being 21%) for modern retails of MNC. The FDI policy for retail has also reasonable safe guards that would protect Indian interest that would attract the best in the trade; as the policy is applicable to cities of one million population, 30 % of sourcing from small & cottage industry, 30 % of fruits & vegetables Govt. retains the first right as supplier, 100 million USD being the minimum capital requirement with 50 % outlay reserved for backend and State Govt. having authority to issue trade license to operate.

The old maxim of economics “nurse the baby, protect the child and free the adult” holds good in case of Indian retail trade which is adult enough to compete and learn to survive and excel in currently globalize economy. With the opening up of retail sector our home grown modern retail industry would have the opportunity to partner or to learn the tricks of the trade from the MNC; which will enrich their experience and help develop innovative new business models in the domain. Though, the small retail stores would experience lower sales in short/medium term under the impact of MNC retail; but, it is unlikely to create a meltdown situation knowing the buying habits & patterns of Indian shoppers. There is a distinct possibility of consolidation among small retails to cut costs and gain advantages of scale which they have shunned till date due to dearth of competition. The other important aspect of FDI retail policy lies in its scope for employment creation (3 lakhs per annum) for new skill sets that is abundantly available among our school & college drop outs policy. Apart from, creating a much powerful demonstration effects and experience for both consumers and producers in a scale and scope not seen or heard before. This policy could not have come in a more opportune time like this when Indian corporate are investing abroad to hedge their bets in the country, FDI flows drying up, Dollars going strong against INR and inflation running high; to help attract 5-10 billion USD per annum. With this perspective in mind; we must and should consider the FDI policy in retail very carefully before accepting or rejecting the Idea.

LETTER TO SHASHI THAROOR:ON PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM

FROM: BIKASH CHOUDHURY


Esteemed Mr. Shashi Tharoor,

Read your article in Tehelka 17 Dec.2011 on Presidential form of Govt. While I highly appreciate your strong arguments on the subject; wish to put across my opinion on the subject for your kind reference and contemplation at leisure.

1. Why go for an expensive surgery while we can manage with a few dosages of strong medicine?

2. The problems with the current model as you have rightly pointed out:

a. Parliamentary paralysis- a few MP holding entire parliament to ransom

b. Quality of lawmakers

c. Politics at the cost of Policies

d. Divisive Politics against Decisive Governance

e. Too many political parties/lack of single party parliamentary majority

f. Emergence of strong regional parties’ vis-à-vis Declining National Party

g. Competitive Politics-little space for collaboration

3. In my opinion all the above problems can be easily dealt with within the current model if and when realization dawn on the two major political formation—how little have we achieved even after 64 years of Independence in terms of Human Development/ Economic progress. While China made 10 times of GDP in 28 yrs. (1978-2006) and other Asian countries progressed much faster. Our politicians are apparently, innocent about the butter in their bread; and, not very sure if they wish to be ruler of a rich & prosperous country or a poor & deprived Nation?

4. The current spate of divisive politics is due to INC desire to regain single party majority and BJP trial & tribulation to regain power at any cost and stakes are so high for both the parties that no body wishes to miss one punch any where to gain in the game of public perception; eventually, which ever party wins India is going to loose.
5. SOLUTION: A GENUINE ATTEMPT TO CHANGE THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Respect for each political party in parliament
• More inter and intra party debate on all issues
• Opposition view point given weightage beyond their numbers
• A permanent mechanism of engagement with opposition
• Private member’s bill for enactment of law
• Filibuster mechanism
• Stronger house rules against frivolous stalling of parliament

Though Presidential model looks alluring; as India currently needs a benevolent dictator and could find one in a directly elected President; but, difficult to predict how the system of division of roles between Executive & Legislative would work in a highly heterogeneous country like INDIA?

China – Bull in China Shop

Bikash Choudhury

The recent cancellation of border talks between India & China due to Buddhist conference in Delhi, apparently convey Chinese mindset about the importance it attaches to such talks and more importantly to the entire engagement with India. Indian Govt. very rightly but with caution and politeness called off the Chinese bluff by canceling the border talks altogether. This event is not likely to register with the hard nosed Chinese diplomatic community; unless and until India learn to brag about its importance and nuisance value with respect to the peaceful settlement of Tibetan issue(India has graciously taken on the responsibility of Tibetan refugees due to Chinese excesses on peace loving Tibetan Buddhist). If there can be a Bonn conference on Afghanistan; identically, Indiacould tacitly initiate a ‘New York conference on Tibet ' with an understanding in South Asia, Europe and American continent. Indian people have an emotional attachment with His Holiness Dalai Lama and a deep cultural link with Tibet and its people; therefore, Indian foreign policy response must evolve keeping in view of the sentiments of Indian people, National interest and ever changing Chinese behavior-“Bull in China shop”. Chinese betrayal of 1962 should just be kept in mind to fend off arguments in favor of ‘status quo’ with respect to policies on Tibet. India should be under no obligation; as China continues to disregard Indian sovereignty on the State of Arunanchal Pradesh and on portion J & K. Humiliation that India suffered on account of staple visa to defense delegation must not be brushed aside. There is a Chinese method to this madness and India could unapologetically copy the strategy by raising the issues of gross human rights violation, poor working conditions for workers and freedom of press & personal liberty as National policy for doing business with China; the same could also be driven into the minds of largest trading partners of China behind the closed door confabulation in the diplomatic communities; which has tremendous potential to hit China very hard under the belt.

A THIRD ALTERNATIVE

BIKASH CHOUDHURY


A regular visitor of restaurants for dinner would know the three emotions that are usually written on the face of people coming out of restaurants; happy, confused and dissatisfied.
The first one for being offered limited but good choice of food with distinct taste; second, for too many recipes on the menu with no knowledge which one would bring a refreshing feeling and the last one offering limited alternative with questionable quality and taste. Just like Indian electorate in the National politicking; being spoiled for choice between two groupings, either UPA or NDA. A third alternative is deserved by Indian electorates of 700 million; third alternative has been tried before many times but summarily failed due to lack of Ideas, Ideology and common program holding them and some for being cobbled together opportunistically against either one or the other political formation on the basis of vaulting political ambitions of some leaders which comes into being just before parliamentary election and melts away just like a flake of butter soon after (Janata Dal & United Front Govt. remain classic examples of failed attempts of third alternatives) General election in 2014 is expected to throw up its own dynamics; therefore, a third alternative political options should be ready by then for the electorate in national interest to offer the country a stable, strong and dynamic administration for Governance;
of course, in a value based partnership with any one of the leading political alliance of the day. But, this alliance should be developed on the basis of Idea & Ideology to be able to offer long term solution to the country and not to capture power alone.

A Social Democratic Alliance can be formed keeping in view the current political dynamics. Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), The Left (CPI & CPI-M & others), Telgu Desam, AIADMK and JDU of Karnataka can make this alliance comprising the north, east and southern belt of the country responsible for returning fifty percent of members of parliament in the lower house and which could turn the electoral arithmetic’s of 2014 on its head if it is able to capture sixty percent of the seats in the region (170/543). Looking at the formidable social coalition, the alliance would come to represent- The middle class, The Labor class, the bottom of social & economic pyramid and the minorities; the numbers would not be very difficult to achieve if this alliance strictly restricted to the National Electoral Politics alone and leaving the politics of the states to the respective stronger partners keeping a decent opportunity for collaboration in State & Local Electoral politics to further strengthen the alliance.

Social Democratic Alliance could be based on strong, prosperous India with equity among its people and happiness which can only happen if our Governance model wish to solve six basic problems of a large majority of our countrymen; i.e., Roti, Kapada and Makan & Bijli, Sadak and Pani in a time frame of ten years. These issues once targeted systematically by a political alliance, will ensure socio economic & political empowerment of a good chunk of people living on the margins of society and also would be able to hold the group together for long long time. The alliance also could pitch for a robust foreign policy on the premise of closer economic union of Indian Confederation and still closer South Asia. As always, a higher national purpose inspires the leaders, the leadership and followers alike. Can our leaders rise to the occasion and sacrifice political ambition for a larger influence over the policies of governance that would drive and shape the destiny of India in this century?

What my India should be?

BIKASH CHOUDHURY



‘Chanakya’, the great Indian philosopher
wished, dreamt and worked for an undivided India; and, a few million
young people of India join me to second that vision of “Sampurna
Bharat and Samparna Bharat”; if not politically; at least emotionally,
economically and culturally. That should save ten billion USD
approximately, a year; by pruning three defence forces (India,
Pakistan & Bangladesh) to 1.5. Visualise an India that could attract
people from all continents for its wealth in art, craft and culture;
as it used to be, five hundred years ago. India with healthy and happy
people full of intelligence, education and skills that should be
cynosure of World. Indian cities, towns and country side full of
greenery. Rivers with crystal clear water that reflects an India that
boasts of World class infrastructure-roads, rail net work, airport &
seaport and a clean India rivalling best in the World.

How would I change my India today? “Man is born free; but, every where
in chains” said Rousseau. Sadly, that is true for India even today; as
India won freedom since 15 th August 1947 a good 64 years ago; but,
Indians find themselves in bondage; politically, economically and also
socially. The Governance model left behind by Britishers does not suit
a free country and that needs a complete overhaul to embrace the
spirit of freedom, creativity and entrepreneurship. Today, Indian
private enterprise has gained global scale and competence; therefore,
in National interest Government should exit slowly but steadily from
commercial ventures to enhance efficiency and minimize bureaucracy.
That should change lock-stock and barrel. India should retain its
natural advantage in “English Language” but, at the same time must
reemphasise and strengthen its reach treasure of Indian languages to
add to the National integration. We must give “teachers/academician”
the highest place in the society that would subsequently attract
talent into education domain and also redefine the quality of
education delivery.

How we can get there? The spontaneous support of young people in large
number across the country in the movement against corruption confirms
that our young people are aware about the issues facing the nation and
are willing to contribute to the National cause. Youths of today are
smarter lot; who understand that money spent in defence is waste of
tax payer’s money; they would rather prefer a chunk of such resources
deployed in the “developmental investment”; which would have a
multiplier effect in the economy of the region and secure their future
and ensure prosperity. They only look forward to a clean and
transparent rallying point and communication backbone. Young Indian
Leaders would emerge and capture the opportunity. Further, Indian
media would create a platform that would connect the young people in
the University/College campus in the region to bring about a change.
Young people also need to be prepared for public life to offer the
country a young leadership to bring about a change in the “Idea” of
India and the way it should be governed in the future. During the
freedom struggle many rich people contributed resources generously to
fight against British Empire; now, we wish 10% of our rich people to
contribute/invest 10% of their net income for 10 years to create World
class infrastructure in the country, conserving our precious water
bodies and paint the country Green; that should help a new India
emerge, of our dreams.

Gotipua Dance Festival

Bikash Choudhury


Gotipua Dance Festival at Rabindra Mandap has managed to mesmerize its audience.Twenty year old's were seen to be swept off their feet and clapping spontaneously & profusely-not a mean achievement;knowing their taste for rock band & reality shows.The festival has been impeccably organized that ran to full capacity of the auditorium.The secretary of Tourism & Culture was monitoring the festival to its minute details;which apparently made all the difference.Time will come when Bollywood choreographers cast classical dance forms like Gotipua in their movies.

SAARC-Building Bridges

Bikash Choudhury


"Building Bridges" very rightly the theme of up coming summit of SAARC at Maldives.South Asia has for some time drawn Global attention and interest for economic, security and strategic reasons.India could take following initiative in this summit if not done already;to hasten & strengthen the process of 'building bridges'.

1.India need to take initiative to convert SAARC into a military block(in 10-20 yrs time) with an objective to improve the security of South Asia while reducing the total cost on defense in the region by 5-10 % a year 10-20 years and deploy the savings in development & Connectivity infrastructure(road, rail & air) in South Asia.

2.India should propose a South Asian rail9in the model of Euro Rail)-a faster rail network to connect all the important tourist destinations in South Asia to build real bridges among the people of South Asia.

3.Indian Govt. should also encourage Think-Tanks, Industry Associations,Top NGO,Corporates and Eminent Citizens to take active interest in the region and help spread soft and moral Indian power across the region in less than American Way.

Prosperous South Asia

Bikash Choudhury


Prime Minister of India, Mr. Manmohan Singh, eloquently spoke about the potential to explore & exploit comparative and competitive advantage in South Asian countries in his speech at SAARC summit at Maldives 9-11 Nov. 2011.It is unclear how the leaders of participating countries consider such a forward looking economic and strategic intent of Indian PM; who is recognized as a tall leader & global economist of repute in international forums. India need to take initiative to study the regional economy and identify 5-10 major items where a 'cartelization' is feasible (identical to OPEC:organization of petroleum exporting countries ) with regional co-operation in South Asia; that could drive better bargain while trading with other countries. A blue print need to be prepared in consultation with Industry to help convince saarc nations to come on board.

Good Politics Precedes Economics

Bikash Choudhury



"Good Politics precedes Good Economics" goes the famous adage. India
is very fortunate to have top economist as top most political managers
of the country;however, unfortunately country suffers from a worst
spell of cascading inflation which does not show any sign of
restraint;in spite of tough & stringent monetary measures of
RBI;which vindicates the hypothesis "Good Politics actually precedes
good economics" as the current turmoil of surging prices are the
result of gross mismanagement politics and governance of the
country.There is actually a limit within which hard earned tax payers
money could be thrown down the drain without pinching the pockets of
ordinary mortals.I guess the inflationary pressure on food items &
other commodities in the basket of (CPI) consumer price index is the
net result or an impact of sum total of cash loss/waste in Govt. and
in the public sector.
1.If govt. version were to be believed " structural changes in
the consumption pattern is the raison d'et'ere of swirling inflation"
then Govt. could have attempted to deal with the supply side
constraints by incentive's "cold chain/cold storage/food supply
chain/logistic"which could have saved daily wastage of perishable
fruits & vegetables and augmented supply in the short term(3-6
months).

2.Further, Govt. could have encouraged urban roof top farming of
fruits & vegetables with suitable technology(Israel type) with an
enabling business model of PPP.
Govt. is in fact running out of Ideas and will and interest to
Govern;at the same time not prepared to listen to saner voices.Thus,
very appropriate time to go?

Chilika Lake Global City

Bikash Choudhury


A thought of “prosperous Odisha developed India and a peaceful
World in a decade” took grip of the mind; a portion of the mind, home, family and the town rise in revolt against the audacious Idea making the limbs go numb, body partially paralyzed and mind restless; where do one find a charioteer who could guide through a uncharted territory. With this thought playing in the mind; saw the charted aircraft preparing to descend when the bird reached less than thousand feet the shellote of the city became visible; it read as CHILIKA LAKE GLOBAL CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT with breath taking beauty of Chilika Lake and magnificent stone statues shooting up from the centre of the lake to three hundred feet into the sky; when the aircraft got closer to the ground the statues became distinctly visible, first one was of Gandhi, second of Madhu Babu, third of Gopabandhu, fourth of Biju Babu. One eight lane Express Highway & a Metro Rail encircled the Chilika Lake. By now the aircraft was taxing on the runway and came to halt near the Aero Bridge number 7; quickly came out to pick up the luggage and straight head for the Tourist counter to collect more info about the City. The beautiful lady at the counter invited to seat on the recliner opposite her and offered a chilled glass of water before starting to narrate about the Chilika Lake Global City. “A brand new city developed in ten years with 100 billion USD for 7 million residents & 3 million floating population annually, with about 75 Km in length and 25 Km in breadth. The principal vision of the city is to attract the top minds of the world, in each walk of life, to collaborate and find solutions for the problems and challenges faced by the mankind currently and for this century. This city wish to prove rural landscape and urban high rise can co-exist in harmony with nature. Here, urban centers are interspersed between rural hubs. Urban districts provide consumers for the products & services in rural farms and in turn consume the technology & knowledge made available by urban centers with lowest transaction cost; while, rural areas thrive with organized farms & cottage industries. Urban districts populated by Education, Research & Development, Industry, Hospitality, Business, Residential, Entertainment, Sports and Religious Enclaves. The city is completely driven by green power-solar & wind and well connected by metro rail. This city has borrowed all good ideas from all top global cities and most attractive tourist destinations; therefore, you would find “Chilika Lake Global City” a very good hybrid of New York, Shanghai, Las Vegas & Macau. You will notice Chilika Lake completely spruced up and protected by a green belt. The embankments developed with promenade, parking bay for Yacht’s of rich & famous, Water sports and Jetties for Cruise. The Islands inside the lake have been developed as rural tourism hot spots while entirely preserving the natural eco-system to attract global tourist spoiled by conventional tourist destinations. The mouth of Chilika has been developed to allow small cruise ships to take a tour of the lake with arrangements to preserve & protect the natural salinity of the brackish water lake. Hostess encouraged me to take a tour of the city in the metro to have a glimpse of the City and the Chilika Lake from the air conditioned comfort of restaurant coach of the metro before joining the co-passengers of Charted Flight at the inauguration ceremony of the City in the evening. Mind you this city is designed by American Architects, supervised by German Engineers and executed by Chinese & Indian Contractors; truly a Global City for this millennium. Parked myself at the metro restaurant coach for tourist and welcomed by two young, beautiful and confident Odiya girls in traditional attire and politely escorted to a window side seat to observe the nature of the lake view and on the other side the brand new elevation of Chilika Global City. Placed an order for a soup and sandwich; and tried to look at the beautiful lake endowed with nature with an ornithologist eye and at the breathtakingly majestic city landscape in turns over spoonful hot soups in between a bite of delicious bread. In the lake side saw very happy faces of young & old in ecstasy on the decks of cruise inside the lake and on the other side Vedanta Global University & Biju Patnaik Institute of Leadership zipped passed in the Education enclave. After some time noticed well designed fishing jetties opposite the rural hubs followed by huge Research & Development Enclave with tall towers occupied by DuPont, GE, Microsoft, Google, Infosys, TCS, WIPRO Technologies and CISR all top end global institutions for research. Business districts populated by office complexes of various size and shapes with huge shopping malls teaming with tourists and shoppers. A tall spherical structure caught my attention in the hospitality district; that was the most expensive and luxurious address for the tourists. Designed with three spherical towers of 55 floors topped by a sky park for five thousand people with trees & flowering plants and complete with revolving restaurants and helipad. (Heard all the descriptions in the public address system of the metro) It took just forty five minutes to cover the seventy five Km. distance of the city from one end to the other; disembarked and took a faster metro to reach the venue of the inauguration ceremony of the city in the Entertainment Enclave; in the auditorium having five thousand seating capacity and took a seat on the front rows facing the dais; soon after, the Chief Minister of Odisha stood up to dedicate the Chilika Lake Global City to its residents and to the World. He said “the city does not belong to the people of Odisha alone; equally, if not more, it is to be shared with peace loving people of the World and would stand for Love, Peace, Innovation, Excellence and Enterprise for sustainable development of the World & Mankind.” A great and powerful thought indeed.

Cultural Festival in Orissa(India)

KAMRAJ PLAN TWO

Bikash Choudhury


History has uncanny habit of repeating itself; it seems the "Kamraj
Plan" of 1963 need to be revisited by Congress Party once again. As
"Policy Paralysis" in Govt. of India and comatose councils of
Ministers hurting the Indian growth story quite substantially. Falling
growth numbers and frequent revised estimates and yet very familiar
pep talks of equally familiar faces in the Govt. about "all is well"
has become a rule than exception quarter after quarter but the reality
on the ground does not bite the policy makers and their political
masters; unfortunately, it only bites the ordinary people on the street
who pay highest patrol prices and ever growing rates of food
items. Recent news report suggest Indian manufacturing sector is
slowing down, Industrial growth remain sluggish under the onslaught of
high interest rate regime; and now, the depreciation of INR against
USD will take the wind out of the Indian sail. On top of it terror
strike and natural calamities in North East and in Orissa and
Telengana imbroglio is going to make the situation much worse for
Central Govt. in coming days. And, the turf war between senior ministers
in the union cabinet is adding salt to the injury. Concerned and
informed citizens have thrown up their hand in air, out of desperation
and despair. Who listens? Who cares?

The apparent drift and free fall of
governance and a feeling of non-existent Govt. at the centre is
principally due to unclear line of succession in Govt. and in Congress
party. If that was not enough; unusual and complete silence of three top
leaders of Congress party on many issues of National importance and
concern not in the best interest of the Country and its Governance.
Apparently it suits the Congress leadership fine. Is there a method to
this madness? Or a very clever strategy at work; to lead by confusion
and confabulation of ruling clique? But, observers, analysits and
experts on governance unanimously and strongly believe "such a care
free approach to governance for such a large country is fraught with
danger".

This calls for a very strong and firm leadership both
in Govt. and in Congress party at the top to lift the gloomy
environment by putting aside the setbacks pertaining to scams with
legal frame work and move on with Governance and socio & economic
transformation both for short term and for the long haul. A KAMRAJ
PLAN TWO is the need of the hour for the Congress Party on National
interest. But, this time around, Congress Party need to draft the old
war horse into party work and allow the new breed of Young leaders
with knowledge, skill and political acumen and maturity into the fore
front in Govt. to bring new and fresh Ideas and a new style &
substance in Governance to speed up reforms, faster turnaround in
policy formulation and above all, a project management led World class
execution of projects in all infrastructure sector. Heaven shake, give
this Country a chance to run along with top Global powers.

Emerging New Geo-Politics of South Asia

Bikash Choudhury




Mr.Asif Ali Zardari,President of Pakistan recently expressed his
desire to have an open border with China;which might have created
consternation within Indian foreign policy establishment and
analyst.Actually, there is no need for agitation in the Indian
side.The wheels of history of this sub-continent is going to turn full
circle by 2020-2025.In view of fast changing external environment and
economy of the region and global financial instability expected to
bring Pakistan and Bangladesh closer to India. Sooner than later,
Pakistan & Bangladesh would be integrated with India;may not be
Politically;but,emotionally and economically with a common foreign
policy and military strategy. The tenets of
"Panchasheel,Non-alignment and Global Peace would under score a new
Geo-politics of the region and also for the World at large.

Therefore, India should rather welcome the initiative of Pakistan &
China open border and increasing closeness;as the same policy could
continue to India's advantage after the integration of Pakistani
polity with India as expected by 2025.There was a very strong bond
between undivided India and China culturally;which was vindicated by
Hueign Sang and Meghasthins report.Indian leaders, Mr Rajiv Gandhi &
Mr.Atal Bihari Vajpayee initiated "a re look China policy" in their
respective tenures;which is yielding dividends now; with growing
high level contacts between Sino-Indian leaders to resolve all boundary
disputes;pending claims and counter claims for a long long time with
occasional skirmishes, both diplomatic and military.There is a need to
fix a date(15 th August 2020 or 26th Jan 2025) acceptable to both the
sides to resolve all outstanding issue to mutual satisfaction;that
will actually speed up the process in both sides and at the same time
make the negotiators and their political superiors more flexible,open
minded and less rigid. If China were to successfully emerge as Global
Power rivaling USA, in this century then it is most likely to achieve
the objective with a friendly Indian sub-continent(undivided India).
In another important development,Indian and
Bangladesh relations going from strength to strength;with recent visit
of Indian Prime Minister to Bangladesh and historic agreement on
exchange of land and on trade should bury the mistrust if
any.And,Teesta accord in future could cement the relationship.There
are other good news which indicate tectonic shift in mindset and in
Ideas in the subcontinent.The prominent one among them was the
scheduled dialogue between Reserve Bank of India and State Bank of
Pakistan to resume the banking services across the borders and
agreement between the commerce ministers to double the trade between
two nations to 6 billion USD in five years.That should be a reason for
a toast in the financial services Industry and and in the diplomatic
community in either side.This is also a proof of new thinking in
Pakistan;as its young,beautiful and dynamic foreign minister Hina
Rabbani Khar said " Pakistan does not wish to carry the baggage of
History and has learn its lessons" and in another statement she said
" Pakistan foreign policy is not driven by Pak Army though Army one of
the important stake holder". One would reasonably wish Indian foreign
policy analyst recognize this change whatever its worth and remain
optimistic in the very interest of the cause, they pursue so
earnestly.The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama said "India should
take the Leadership of the World in the 21 st century" Amin! Let's
Lead the World from next decade.

FIRST BOSS-UNTOLD STORY

BIKASH CHOUDHURY




Just like first wife,first boss always play a defining role in the life of a professional.15th of May in 1990, I received the appointment letter from a Delhi based office automation company at Bhubaneswar after pipping a few MBA's to the job.I was feeling happy and lucky and excited to land the first job just after post graduation result was out in the morning;effectively,avoiding the trial & tribulations for not being un-employed for even a day.The very next day I was supposed to report for work;reached the office on time. The branch manager,
Mr.Kapoor formally welcomed me to the organization and introduced me to to other officers and staffs and all shared sweets carried by me followed by a round of tea.Mr.Kapoor quickly draw up a seven days induction plan for me and gave some reading materials to see at home at leisure. Mr.Kapoor later said, " we are done for the day and have a very important engagement" and left in a hurry with instruction to one colleague to take care of me.Mr.Das, a member of Marketing team approached me and asked to join him;eventually landed near a temple in the middle of the city of Bhubaneswar.I had no clue then what was in store;but, confidently floated along.Suddenly, Mr.Kapoor resurfaced near the temple with a stout, handsome person and said "this is PKB,the smartest marketing person of team Bhubaneswar" smiled at him and had a warm hand sake;found him a very affectionate & humorous person. He formally invited me to his marriage to be performed at the Temple and for the reception in the evening at Keniel Worth Hotel.Little later, Mr.Kapoor and other few colleagues took me to a nearby shop under a Banyan Tree where a few other invitees were enjoying themselves with some drinks(much later ,I came to know that was concoction of sugarcane juice & Old Monk Rum;an invention of Mr.Kapoor).After sipping a few pecs of the drink Mr. Kapoor looked at me and said "Bikash, do you take drinks? for got to ask you in the interview".I replied in the negative and he interjected in a slow voice "people who don't drink not good for marketing job".As usual, first day on the job, I was completely taken aback;but, he put his hand on my shoulder to reassure me-not to worry; "Dhire Dhire Seekh Jayega".Again we all met in the evening at the reception and talked about life, living, business and pleasure with a lot of good food and drinks( soups & cola).Felt very nice to get lot of attention from the new colleagues and from a few good looking guests from the opposite sex;I being the only eligible bachelor colleague of the groom.
Next day my induction program started in right earnest with product knowledge,competitive landscape, sales and marketing.I found Mr. Kapoor to be an excellent trainer that left an indelible mark on my psyche.Then, I took the job as fish to water.Over a period of time forged a very close relationship with Mr. Kapoor both at professional and personal level and immensely benefited.Inherited the love of books and pens from Mr. Kapoor and learned to respect the competitors and how to work hard and play harder.Missed him when he left the organization to start his own business;remained a close confidant for a long long time.The replacement of Mr. Kapoor came from regional office at Calcutta,a lateral entrant in the company from a photo copier Industry;Mr. Mittal was a very incompetent manager without vision and with very little common sense;he soon failed out with his number two-PKB and subsequently sacked by the company for some of his omissions & commissions plus a memorandum of officers and staffs led by me on larger interest of the organization.Mr. Srivastav flew down from Hyderabad office to take over the operations at Bhubaneswar;he was a very charming person with potential of being a head turner;apart from being an ace sales person and dynamic manager;who later took the organisation to greater heights in short time.Mrs Srivastava was a equally good & gracious host and with impeccable culinary skills.The Team Bhubaneswar outperformed with the help of a manger par excellence and gastronomic delights with a few friendly cricket matches thrown in between.Came to conclusion that to become good manger no need for a IIT-IIM tag;but, a lot of common sense.And, to become a good leader you need to have a Vision.

PAKISTAN-A WAY FOEWARD

BIKASH CHOUDHURY


Bombing of US embassy in Kabul,Afganistan seems to have hardened the
resolve of US administration to deal with Pakistan for its alleged
role in the bombing of US embassy in connivance with Haqqani Network;a
very dangerous and motivated terrorist group operating in Afganistan
and NWFP border region of Pakistan.US military chief Admiral Mike
Mullen's tough words "ISI is backing Haqqani Network" and subsequent
US threat of unilateral action against the Haqqani Network inside
Pakistan's sovereign territory(as they did incase of Osama Bin Laden),
speaks volumes about the nature of events unfolding in the
subcontinent of South Asia.
To American's credit, infact US has never been
as forgiving as in case of Pakistan;be it Nuclear Proliferation or
terrorism in India. It is because US has not figured out for itself
how to deal with the large pile of "Nuclear Weapons" of Pakistan and
the danger of its slipping into the hands of powerful terrorist
groups hiebernating in and around Pakistan that can hold the whole
WORLD to ransom.That is what precisely tied the hands of US against
any precipitate action on Pakistan.But, early indication noe points to
likely change and that to a substantial nature in very near future;as
the US Presidential election gets closer and pressure mounts on the
incumbent President to display typical American toughness & fire power
both in words and in kind with Pakistan that appeals to American
electorate-right or wrong.Situation is very grim;that is made out more
than clearly with the 3 hour long interaction of Mrs. Hillary
Clinton,the Secretary of State had with visiting Foreign Minister
Ms.Hina Rabbani Khar.As expected, Mrs. Clinton would have put Pakistan
on notice very sternly;therefore, foreign minister of Pakistan chose
to cut short her US visit and returned to Pakistan to brief the
Pakistan leadership on US stand.But, the irony was the blunt statement
of Pak foreign minister in New York "US can choose to dissociate with
Pakistan on terrorism at its own cost" based on the intrinsic strength
of her country or just for domestic public consumption-not difficult
to guess.Knowing very precarious financial condition of Pakistan with
a 60% debt servicing ratio and a 71% of repayments to disbursement
ratio;in other words, currently Pakistan has to spend 60% of annual
revenue on interest payments and 71% of fresh borrowing goes out on
repayment of old loans-leaving a very thin spread of 29 % for new
public expenditure.A country on such a fiscal state must and should
avoid rhetoric whic is self defeating.
What US would likely to do next? US
administration may like to swallow the bitter pill in Afganistan for
some time till they "comprehensively and completely" design a frame
work to deal with the important irritant "The Pakistani Nuclear
Arsenals";once that is done,US would prefer to act tough and may be in
little belligerent manner with Pakistan;to serve its domestic
constituency as it were with "Iraq or Iran".The consequence could be
very telling and dangerous for Pakistan;again, in view of its current
fiscal health.
What are the options before Pakistan?
Sadly, now Pakistan has ran out of options;Pakistan can't think of
confronting American Fire Power only with tacit support of China;and,
it is very unlikely that, China would overtly support Pakistan against
America.As China already has a huge stake in American Economy with
over trillion dollars worth investments in ADR(American Depository
Receipts) and America being the largest trading partner.Therefore,
Pakistan has only and only one option left to swallow its historical
pride and haughtyness and make peace with India for Good;and, at the
same time integrate its Economy,Foreign Policy, Military and Culture
with India & Indians in Lock Stock and Barrel.Subsequently,both India
& Pakistan together draft a "Peace Plan" for Afganistan to negotiate
the exit of American forces from the region,and, that should save
Pakistan Sovereignty and Economy from further collapse.

CAN INDIA RUN BY CS?

BIKASH CHOUDHURY



Can Country of Indian diversity be administered by an erudite Cabinet Secretary? Or, by Proxy? If a poll was taken among experts in the domain the response would be in the negative and it is most likely, they would favor popular mass Leader than a Harvard educated & seasoned bureaucrat. Even, People would prefer a leader of Mr. DeveGawada's ability who too often used to take a nap amid busy meetings and conferences. However, Political Historians do credit former premier for his success in neighborhood Foreign Policy; conceived and executed largely by his foreign minister Mr. I.K.Gujural.Here, Mr. Deve gawada displayed great sagacity in allowing Mr. Gujural to court all the limelight while serving a very important National purpose. In these circumstances a bureaucratic head of State would have been unnerved at the events and could have scuttled the plan owing to complete lack of vision, than anything else; as the incumbent premier letting important valuable National Institution go to dogs like Air India, Indian Raiways, BSNL and many others, those, could have in fact added to the National exchequer and growth.
Interestingly, famous author & philosopher Max Weber writes “Bureaucrat as someone who exercise judgment and skills as duty placed at the service of a higher authority and responsible for impartial execution of a assigned tasks and must sacrifice his personal judgment if it runs counter to his official duties”*. Many informed individuals across political persuasion strongly believe the afro mentioned definition aptly describe the functions and style of administration of incumbent Premier. Jokes apart, Weber has also said" Bureaucratic administration means fundamentally domination through knowledge"** that strangely corroborates with the famous or infamous quotable quote "Intellectual Arrogance" targeted at union home minister by a senior leader of Congress Party who is otherwise very busy with revival of Congress in UP.
Political Scientist, however, strongly believes bureaucracy as the most efficient form of organization, and even indispensable for the modern State. They also take care to add that the bureaucracy could become a threat to individual freedom as over rationalization of human lives trap individuals in "iron cage" just like "Polar night of Icy Darkness”. It is important and necessary to counteract the bureaucracy and the System needs entrepreneurs, politicians and let's add civil society activist of Anna Hazare's eminence.
In our assessment the biggest failing of bureaucratic Country head lies in very poor Leadership with capital ‘L’; that is desirable & essential to administer Indian hetrogenity, demography and also complexity in Governance. In comparison to popular mass Leaders the bureaucrats hail from a very structured background and therefore fail to cope with unstructured domain of Political Leadership & Management. However, bureaucratic leaders have one advantage; they could withstand any upheavals as they are exceptionally good at paper work; which helps them to draw impeccable cover-up that popular mass Leaders need to learn, of course at the expense of Nation, its growth and the well being of its people. Conventionally "Leadership" as commonly understood is to organize people to achieve common goal. The goal was to achieve consistent growth of GDP at 10 % with moderate inflation, sustainable investment in Physical & Social Infrastructure and reforms in those sectors that would attract FDI & drive additional growth with fresh job creation and development of new competencies; which had potential to shape the country as a Global Power as USA President, Barak Obama prominently mentioned in his speech to the joint session of Indian Parliament. It seems as though, the country has to start afresh.
Leadership is all about communication; which help them to win hearts and minds of people working for them that seamlessly drive human endeavor towards chosen goal. Bureaucratic Leadership choose to visit as many foreign countries as possible in their tenure at the expense of visiting Indian States to connect with young people living in the university/college campuses to know their aspiration and vision of their own country. A popular mass Leader would have chosen to inspire the young people to think about country, its challenges, and opportunities; as the new ideas and out of box solution is going to come from the minds of these youngsters. In contrast, the bureaucratic Leadership prefers nuanced & calibrated written communication to initiate action; which falls in the way side in its efficacy, keeping in view the very long span of control & chain of command in Govt. and further method is devoid of human emotion, passion and personal involvement that buries the bureaucratic initiatives at a huge cost to public exchequer.
It is, now evident and clear as crystal; the Cabinet Secretary Model of Bureaucratic Leadership may not be able to take the country forward and would miserably fail to negotiate the challenges of our time and would also remain incapable to Ancash the opportunities. The Country must elect a popular mass Leader, preferably from the younger generation to take the Country to its right full place in the committee of Nations. And, Proxies should ideally be left to the class rooms alone?
*,**: Reference from Wikipidia

Rahul Gandhi—A Maximum Leader in the making

Bikash Choudhury



India needs a maximum leader to reign over the world, beginning with next decade, of this century and to the next one. American influence over the World and Chinese aggression would wane under the weight of Indian leadership & creativity. India always stood for peace and global peace would be the weapon in the arsenals of India to gain moral high ground and at the same time use as the stick to offer liberal corporal punishment to the current so called Global leaders for wasting common Global, precious resources of mankind in wasteful and inimical expenses that actually ruined sustainable peace & security. India needs to put its own house in order in this decade to grab the opportunity of Global Leadership in the next decade. India lost approximately 2190 opportunity in last sixty plus years (if one day were considered as one opportunity) to come good on freedom, democracy and development. Again, recently India with hundred twenty crore population lost to South Korea with population of five crore in the race for UN Secretary General. Indian students were brutally killed in Australia, diplomats & dignitaries humiliated in USA and Indian fishermen fired upon in its territorial water by Sri Lanka. What more example of a Nation on drift should we witness in our life time? A Nation was betrayed by its Leaders in Govt., Opposition and also in Bureaucracy; otherwise, much earlier this country would have been a financial super power much like China and Singapore, today. Let’s not waste time over split milk. What we need the most; a maximum leader who could bring Govt., Opposition and Bureaucracy in the same page at a given point in time Fortunately, Rahul Gandhi is emerging as the Maximum Leader of the country and he has apparently made up his mind to assert himself; which is a good sign for his party and also for the country. Rahul Gandhi posses all the six qualities of a good ruler as defined by Kautilya (Chanakya) in his treaties “Arthasastra”. Rahul Gandhi hails from the family which has given three Prime Minister and two of them laid down their life for the country and second most influential leader of his party “The Indian National Congress”, arguably the biggest party spread evenly in the country. And, he has the largest following among youth. Again, Gandhi Jr. has assiduously followed a simple strategy ground-up in youth congress and took pain to forge a social coalition among Dalit, Farmers and Minorities, just like a shrewd politician and at the same time open to new Ideas. Perhaps, Rahul believes in the marriage in the Political thoughts of Chanayaka & Gandhi; and therefore his Padayatra from Bhatta Parsule to Alighar spanning over 350 K.M attracted not only million eyeballs but a billion plus hearts by reaching out to ordinary people on an important issue of Land Acquisition for farmers in UP. Rahul Gandhi no doubt possesses charisma of (his own and his clan) of a Maximum Leader; a lakh plus crowd were vying for a glimpse of him at Bhubaneswar public meeting which is seen to be believed. The other aspect of maximum Leadership being the tallest leader in the entire political spectrum; Rahulji is slowly but steadily moving there among the emerging leaders in the country. His much talked about statement at Bhubaneswar terror attack was of a bold leader who does not shy away from talking about a bad news or an inconvenient truth. Rahul as the maximum leader of the country ideally should put his vision for the county to the young people in university and college campuses and inspire them to think about the problems of the country, apparent solutions, on innovation and their wishes for the country .This is important as all new ideas are going to come from the fresh minds of young people. Further, he has to impress upon his party led Govt. to leverage Cities for economic growth, fix the structural problems in agriculture and bring about a paradigm shift in infrastructure sector to put the last three years to good use.

First Time Flier

Bikash Choudhury



Six years ago took the first flight in life to attend a training program at Mumbai; we flew by an Indian Airlines aircraft from Chennai in a group of five- new recruits of the company. I was a green horn in travelling by air and therefore, left the responsibility of transporting us by air to the junior most colleague who had some past experience and we dutifully and very obediently followed his instruction such as screening luggage & handbag, putting the address tag, collecting the boarding pass and proceeding for security check and then craning ones neck for further announcement for boarding the aircraft and occupying the allotted seat; after taking the seat I actually heaved a sigh of relief with a thought, as if nobody has recognised me as a first time flier courtesy our junior colleague, only in age. Now, on 10 of July 2011 when I took a flight to Delhi for some urgent business (some friends joked, if I was going for my swearing in; cabinet reshuffle having scheduled for the day next.), I was trying to recall my first ever experience of travelling by air; but, nothing of importance came to my mind then. I therefore quietly observed how people are going about their itinerary at the airport. Then after some time gained courage to complete the necessary formalities and took a corner seat in the lobby before boarding the aircraft. I wish nobody should identify once again as a first time flier; but, alas our human face most of the time give away a lot of information about our state of mind without any provocation. In that vantage point in the corner seat of lobby I was able to see all the passengers of BBI-Del flight and able to identify all most all the first timers who are negotiating their steps inside the airport with caution and in each step they were trying to reassure themselves that their flight won’t leave without taking them on board and in nervousness taking unusual numbers of sojourn to the wash area, making sure, apparently, nothing unusual happens in the aircraft in the midair as there was no provision to stop the aircraft in midair to attend natures call.While taking the boarding pass, I acted little smart and arranged a window seat at the emergency doors which has little more leg space which is very comfortable for a six feet tall person like me. As the announcement for boarding the aircraft went I quietly took the bus and emplaned for New Delhi in that window seat of mine. Soon after, a beautiful and young hostess came and very politely briefed me how to use the emergency door when asked to. I remain seated with thoughts flooding in the mind about my activity at Delhi and worry to find the address of my host in the city. In the mean time there was announcement in the public address system of the aircraft about the takeoff from the commander of the aircraft. Soon our aircraft took to the skies just above the serpentine course of “Daya” river and green and beautiful Bhubaneswar city; when the aircraft climbed about thirty thousand feet and started to cruise, I saw millions of cloud formation flying past the aircraft in pure white colour which could have a feast for a painter; ordinary soul like me could only freeze the frame in mind’s eye for life Cunningly, I had nearly starved myself in the airport to enjoy the free launch at thirty thousand feet; did have a bite at a big sandwich @ cost of hundred fifty rupees, which was worth it keeping in view the taste and place. I bought a cup of coffee @ fifty bucks and savoured the process of preparing coffee at thirty thousand feets above ground which tasted very strong in the company of white clouds. One hour fifty minutes passed off so easily! It was time for the plane to descend on Delhi at T-3 terminal and it was a perfect landing in a cloudy climate (it was a Kingfisher bird, give credit wherever it is due); happy to be in time to resume the task ahead.

Peace & Happiness is Inclusive

Bikash Choudhury



Orissa celebrates "Raja Festival" in which unmarried girls after liberal amount of dressing up enjoy in Swings in group and all homes prepare typical delicacies and sweets,'Pongal' is the festival of Tamil Nadu;they prepare sweet rice called sweet pongal in a specially designed utensils, Malays world over return home in Kerala to enjoy "Onam" famous for "canoe"competition,North of India and many other parts of country celebrate "Diwali" with various type of sweets and crackers, Bengali are famous for their "Durga Puja".Muslim & Christian community World over celebrate Id and Christmas respectively. Why there is a feeling of Peace & Happiness in the air on all this occasions locally and World over? When, a community together decides to be happy, that day becomes auspicious and happiness spreads across homes like wild fire. One actually gets infected with joy in spite of personal circumstance contrary to the occasion as hearts get filled with spontaneous ecstasy and joy. This proves beyond reasonable doubt, Peace & Happiness will always remain inclusive.But,fail to understand; why then mankind produce weapons of mass destruction and conventional arms, ammunition, so much so that World spends$1.5 trillion USD in defense expenditure; half of such expenses are seer waste and counterproductive to maintain peace & towards security of Nations and World at large. But, when would mankind learn from history of two thousand years and five thousand wars small and big? When will human race come together as one community, at least conceptually? When will the boundary between Nations vanish into thin air, bringing people & Nations together as one indivisible unit on earth?

A GREEN CONVERT

Bikash Choudhury


After marriage, took a flat on rent at Chennai and tried to raise a family afresh.While doing up the living room put a Rubber Plant near the window adjacent to the Divan(mattress on the floor).The rubber plant with regular care and affection, as the third member of the brand new family turned out to be a healthy and strong and beautiful sapling with deep green thick leaves;the sight of which I enjoy while retiring after work at home in the evenings with hot cup of tea with Gazals of Pankaj Udas in a moderately lit setting.Aha..aha those were moments of pure pleasure.Then, I always found that rubber plant more seductive than many beautiful women seen in the day.This was my first attempt to go green.Now, about fifty plants of different species give me company in my living room and two balconies in my flat at Bhubaneswar.Complements from relatives who visit my self proclaimed green home bolstered my courage and I ventured out, to plant17 saplings in front of my flat along the road on the auspicious day of "Cart Festival" Ratha Jatra as called in Orissa;and coxed two of my brothers to do the same.Further, me and my wife had taken great care to restrict our power consumption to 100 units, planning to add a com-poster to convert organic kitchen waste into manure and a solar cooker to reduce LPG consumption.On top of it, started using the envelop covers & one sided papers for my writing activities.(If Gandhian way of using envelop covers were used in Govt. and private offices;we could save half a million trees a day)Deliberately use a two wheeler for mobility in the small city of Bh8ubaneswar which is comfortable to zip in and zip out, no hassles for parking and above all very low on carbon foot print.My next target is convincing my flat association to install a Rain Water Harvesting System(RWH).Recently, quit smoking voluntarily and wish to deploy the savings in plantation.A thought gripped the mind:If the young working people(software Techies & Sales and marketing guys) contain their smoking to 50% and invest 50% of the savings in plantation, then 15 lakhs of saplings can be added every month.(Assuming, every young working persons who smokes, spends a thousand rupees on cigarette, a month and six lakhs of smokers out of two million software Techies and sales personnel on the pay roll and with cost of plantation of a sapling including tree guard @ Rs.100).I wish to appeal to all the girl friends of Boys who smoke--please persuade your future life partner to increase his life by 50% and also put a green Idea in his mind that would help your children and grand children romancing around trees that you plant today.A short story of Neo-green convert who now loves to dream in green.

Jagnathayana:Oriya Cultural Renaissance

Bikash Choudhury



30 June 2011, Ravindramandap woke up to a quite different program; the culture Dept. Govt. of Orissa organized a program called "Jaganathayana".The day coincided with 'Navajaubana Darsan' of deity Sri Jaganatha of Puri. Last month, Jaganathayana was conducted on the background of Lingaraja Temple;which was spirituality with romance of Oriya Architecture. This was an important step of Govt. to rekindle faith in local culture and popularize "Jaganatha Sanskriti".The program started with Bhajan rendition by Sri Patitapabana Tripathy.The master of Oriya music hold the audience spell bound with deeply spiritual and devotion filled rendition of Jaganatha Bhajana--"Khaniki Karuna unaa he Karuna nidhi" And that was followed by an eloquent speech by Dr. Santosh Kumar Tripathy on "Jaganatha Philosophy" and more specifically on "saradha Bali".Mr. Tripathy with his infamous command over Oriya language, explained beautifully “Why the devotees of Jaganatha forget to ask for any favor from lord jaganatha after reaching Bada Danda? Millions of his devotees believe, that they get overwhelmed by emotion after coming in touch with blessings of Jaganatha in form of sand and dust of Bada Danda.He also spoke on folklore & history on the naming of Puri city.One thought denotes Puri as 'Completeness' the other one about 'Mahodadhi' meaning sea and the last one being a 'Divine Place' in the east coast.He also emphasized on historical facts pertaining to noting about Orissa&oriya in the "shilalekha" available in Jaganatha temple even now. Orissa in its current geographic form comprise of three States-Kalinga, Utkal and Koshala.The talk of Mr. tripathy was laced with divinity, extremely informative for those who wish to connect with their roots & history of their land, culture and rich civilization and on top of it thought provoking.
In spite of such a high quality program Ravindramandapa was only 50 % occupied. Reason could be that many people (target audience) was not informed about the program suitably in advance. Culture Dept. apart from conducting such rich program must also make an effort to reach out to the people who should be interested in such programs; namely, the senior citizens and middle aged. Special bus facility from different parts of the city to the venue can be arranged in collaboration with City bus service (Dream Team Sahara).If more people were informed and logistic in place regarding transport, then more people can attend such program and message about Jaganatha Sanskriti reach more homes in the city. Over a period of time, the demand for such programs would be such that people would be open to buy tickets to enjoy local devotional cultural programs. That should be the peak and ultimate goal of culture Dept.

POSCO EMBROGOLIO-WIN WIN SOLUTION

Bikash Choudhury



Second Steel Plant at Paradeep was one of the dream project of Late
Shri Biju Patnaik. Biju Babu wished to add value (Steel Manufacturing)
to abundantly available raw material-the Iron Ore in Orissa; instead of
exporting Iron Ore. That would have substantial Macro-Economic impact
with opportunity for large scale job creation directly and indirectly.
Fortunately, that vision of Biju Babu still holds good and
therefore, ideally, POSCO steel Plant should come up without any further
delay. The extraordinary time lag of six long years has no doubt dented
the Industry friendly image of Orissa and the Country to an
extent. There is an International angle also; as the South Korean Govt.
very keen to see the project through. Therefore, our PMO is backing the
project to the hilt in spite of some genuine concerns of green brigade
of Ramesh & Co. The toughest challenge in POSCO Project has been the
land acquisition in the designated project area of POSCO; in face of
with the organized & motivated opposition from the residents of the
project area. Nowhere in the country the protest against land
acquisition has been as effective as that of in case of POSCO, led by
organization curiously named after POSCO PRATIRODHA SANGRAM SAMITI and
its charismatic & shrewd &Media savvy leader, Shri Abhya Sahu.The
story of their struggle has consumed million pages of Local, National
& International Media. Leader cutting across Party line also supported
their cause vociferously. The face off ask for a win win solution.80%
of the land to be acquired belong to Govt. Therefore, the people of
Dhinkia & PPSS must not hold the Govt. to ransom.Govt. Also should be
sympathetic to its own people. No dispute is as big as to defy an
amicable solution through constructive dialogue. People of Dhinkia and
adjoining area can't live under sanction from their govt. and it is
also equally true, POSCO may not be able to run the plant with
complete Social boy cut in the vicinity of project area. Even if POSCO
manages to run the plant, the cost of operation would be relatively
higher in a emotionally surcharged environment.
Now the moot point is how to acquire the
land peacefully while maintaining social good will for the project in
the area? Social thinker believe, State Govt. & POSCO jointly relocate
the families of project area and their lively hood to any of the
nearby 100-200 villages in the vicinity of 10-20 Sq.Km. with the
consent of villagers; in this method the bounty and pain of the project
can be equitably shared by the community. With input of an ingenious
Architect the old habitat at project area can be identically
replicated at the new location, thereby, reducing the emotional strain
of internal displacement. Creation of conducive Eco-System for
internally displaced people should henceforth be one of the very
important issue for the managers of land acquisition for "The Peaceful
Industrialization" Paradime.The police personnel those who enforce
Govt. policy on land acquisition should & must show empathy towards
people who have to be evicted from their inherited
Eco-System; ownership can't be the sole parameter.
The other aspects of the project are
its "Net Economic Impact" as per the current terms of engagement. At
the moment, there are various shades of public opinion about National
Interest vis-a-Vis Posco Project. A section of people and popular media
believe, POSCO has got it easy. Which has never ever granted to any
domestic player or any MNC before. With 600 million tonnes of Iron ore
mining lease, Captive port, SEZ status and on top of it arrangement to
export Iron ore to parent plant in South Korea.

Orissa would bear the brunt of environmental impact of large scale
mining of the project, pollution generated at the plant and our own
people would have to become refugee in their own land. In exchange our
people get some white collar jobs and some construction contracts at the
max.Is this fare bargain? The provision of SEZ & Iron ore export are
entirely against the interest of people of Orissa; as Govt. would lose
huge amount of revenue in the life span of the project; which otherwise
could have been deployed for uplifting people from bottom of pyramid in
the State. A neutral Economic Impact Assessment of the POSCO Project
would vouch for ten percent equity of State Govt. to compensate
against the Environmental impact and consumption of Natural
resources. If POSCO does not agree, then Orissa Govt. should have the
option to carry on with the project in "Technical Collaboration with
POSCO" in partnership with domestic investors. Time and tide waits for
no Man and no Industry. The FDI perspective and Competitive landscape
has under gone unprecedented changes since the first signing of the
MOU six years earlier; therefore, Orissa Govt. must rethink before
inking the renewal of MOU with POSCO in larger and long term interest
of the State & Nation.

ACCOUNTIBILITY IN GOVERNANCE

BIKASH CHOUDHURY


Lokpal Bill in any form can't be the be all and end all on prevention of corruption though Lokpal would be an important piece of legislation to control the mindset for corruption to an extent.There are much more pernicious "Systemic Problem" that destroys unimaginable proportion of public money & assets on a daily basis;which needs urgent attention,if we wish the taxpayers money actually reach the people who needs the most.Not surprisingly, that would be also in the interest of people living in the top quadrant;as more people migrate from BoP(bottom of pyramid) to middle class, the profit & surplus generated out of additional consumption would go to those who hold the factors of production & services.News report of food grains being destroyed and assets created out of public money going waste is very common and people take that on their stride.Sad, people don't realize more the public money goes waste and assets destroyed more would be the demand for public fund and therefore higher rate of taxes.Question that usually rings in the mind is Why such things does not happen under private sector in such large scale? Other thing that is regularly over looked is more efficient the system of Govt. better would be the quality of public services(Bijli,Sadak & Pani). Therefore, need a system that deal with core structural issues in governance and make a govt. organization responsive & accountable.That should minimize the scope for corruption and indiscretion.
At present, a lot of information on Govt. operation and expenditure related to its performance,assets&liabilities conveniently swept under the carpet.And, that comes handy to stone wall inefficiency, wrong doing,professional lapses and seer incompetence in some cases.What is way out? First of all Govt. also need to have a "quantitative measure" of assessment of its efficiency in line of "profit & loss Account and Balance sheet" of private sector with mandatory public disclosure on a quarterly basis for each Govt. Dept./Office with authority of public expenditure.CAG(comptroller & auditor general) has very recently come out with guidelines for anew accounting system "Accrual based financial reporting system" to track and assess assets created out of public money.This may be a partial solution to the larger problem in public expenditure.As, there is a need to validate decisions of Govt.Dept./Office and evaluate the efficiency of public spending with a numeric tool that reflects clearly and transparently;how the govt. dept./Office has fared compared to the last quarter/financial year.Therefore, Accrual method of accounting must also include a new dimension of "Economic Value Creation" on annual basis for each Govt. Dept./Office.Further, Economic Value should be part of the Annual Financial Statement with complete picture of assets and liabilities and performance ratios like:economic value creation on expenditure outlay, administrative expenditure to operational expenditure,salary expenses to total outlay.(that is feasible within the constraints of public accounting system).
If these wishes were answered soon, then hopefully Govt. sector efficiency would be enhanced greatly and with substantial macro economic impact and GDP numbers.Apart from economics of public expenditure, a revamped system would travel a long way to enlighten the bureaucracy, create enthusiasm in entire administration on the back of information & knowledge;which was earlier denied to them and public under a closed colonial system.Need we change?

SOCIAL CHANGE IN ODISHA

Bikash Choudhury



Thirty year ago, an old lady was reprimanded by gang of her own grand children; the criminal offense of the old lady was, she couldn't pronounce the English word 'Change' correctly and instead she said '' Chende".Kids from English medium school generally make a spectacle of their English pronunciation & diction before their less fortunate classmates from Odiya medium schools; and, their English speaking ability caricatured in the college canteens & near bus stops. But, for 75 long years, Odisha was wrongly written in English language and not a single voice went up or a little murmur heard any where until recently. No other language would have put up with such affront as Odiya language and its people did. Correcting the English spelling of Odisha may or may not bring any substantial change in society or in the economy; even then also, the change must happen as it is the question of pride and reputation of a five thousand year old language and over four crore Odiya speaking people. The amount of time and money in this mission is immaterial.
Not many will agree, emphasis on Odiya language and culture over a period of time, may bring about a change in the "social thinking" in Odisha and in course of time in the "Social system”. The current social practice of Odisha put a lot of importance over academic excellence and on getting into Govt. jobs like I.A.S, O.A.S,Engineer,Doctor,Bank officer and Software Engineer.Odiya people put less premium on extracurricular activity; as such misdemeanor very strictly discouraged inside Odiya family. Therefore, many times, very bright sports persons does not see the light of the day, a singer constrained to the boundary of his or home or at best exposed to the extended family and friends, actor castigated as evil omen for the family. May be, it sounds little exaggerated but if a survey conducted on Odiya family value system the truth will emerge. Individual excellence and passion subjugated to societal model of acceptance which stifles growth of individual and his domain of interest. This could be due to five hundred years of colonial rule which has created a mindset that prefer structured work environment, assured income; therefore they favor routine white collar jobs over Entrepreneurship.
Emphasis on Odiya language, literature and culture would trigger a new and fresh social thinking. As native language/mother tongue connects the hearts and mind of an individual with most efficient conductor available to mankind; therefore, the love for one's own language would create an individuality and pride in one's being that would drive a person in search of his own strength and identity and sooner than later it will propel him in the direction of Innovation-Excellence-Enterprise. Eventually, burying the old antiquated typical Odiya social practices with a more open liberal social system where individual right to pursue his passion would be respected and that will drive Odiya people to excel in their chosen field. However, it is easier said than done to attract Odiya people to their own language; because, English as commercial and Hindi as cultural language has taken deep root in the psychic of an average person living in Odisha.There is actually no harm in developing competence in English and Hindi; but, should not be at the expense of their own Odiya language. If Odiya people don't show passion to learn read, write and speak Odiya language then who will? 'Charity begins at home' and therefore, Govt. needs to take initiative to use Odiya language in administration from bottom-up by creating Odiya language cells in each Dept. and each office in the State to prepare the Babus to learn to use Odiya language in a time frame of 5-10 years. From ancient times, literature and culture flourished under the patronage of rulers and therefore, the current rulers like Ministers and M.L.A must take interest in promoting Odiya literature(Poetry) that will encourage young people to follow Odiya poetry, script writing for movie and create an eco-system for high quality music, feature films in Odiya language; eventually help drawing Odiya people to their own language.Paradox.This piece was written with help of English language owing to poor computer skills in Odiya language; which needs to be fixed in schools and colleges as part of learning Odiya language.

National Energy Policy

Bikash Choudhury



Our lives run and depend on ENERGY to large extent!The room Air-Conditioner in our bed room,geyser & washing machine in washroom,T.V & music system in living room,laptop in the Study,Microwave in the kitchen and of course, the item of our mobility the Car in our drive way--All need energy to run and therefore a large part of our lives.Actually, What will be left off our lives without these gadgets??More importantly what will happen to us without sufficient energy??? and, what would be the environmental impact of meeting energy requirements from conventional sources like Thermal power & hydro power???? There has to be a ideal trade off between the two to have a sustainable;e energy matrix for continuous growth,prosperity,stability and happiness.
The current energy scenario is like this:The peak power deficit in the summer of 2010 was around 10.8 percent. Distribution losses average about 30% across the country.Central Electric Authority(CEA) has set a target of one lakh MW of additional power generation in the period of 12 th five year plan2012-17;if we were to grow at around (% of GDP.The current energy matrix is as follows:Thermal(65%),Hydro(21.5%),Renewable energy(10.5%) and Nuclear a meager (3%).The thermal power is highly polluting with highest carbon foot print.After Japn's Fukoshima disaster the nuclear power does not sound any promising future in the country;knowing, a developed country like Germany having asserted to cap all its nuclear power plants by 2022 on safety grounds.(Indian lives have been treated cheaper courtesy Bhopal gas tragedy.) The hydro power has long gestation period & its scope for growth nearly saturated unless some fresh new technology emerge.The future is in Renewable energy and new source of energy( like Husk & Urban waste Power).While containing the demand side of energy through deployment of better technology both micro & macro with high degree of public awareness for conservation of energy.

The solution to National energy challenges lies in adopting a new Energy Matrix of 40% of Renewable & New Energy and balance 60% from conventional sources with stiff conditions on Carbon foot print guidelines and compliance conditionality. To start with the Govt. can frame a law by virtue of which energy producers from conventional sources would have to produce 20 % of total installed capacity from Renewable & new Energy sources.Identically, the petroleum PSU would have to produce 20% of their production from Bio-fuels.This step alone would galvanize the renewable energy Industry and Bio-fuel sector.Further, GoI & State Govt. need to collaborate to find time bound solutions to Transmission &commercial losses to the tune of 30% of generated power to Internationally acceptable figure by deploying technology available and investing in R&D.GoI can also take further steps for prudent energy usages by commercial organizations & inside homes by mandatory use of equipments available off the selves by launching a very focused campaign across media domains and through the events in schools and colleges to emphasis "conservation of Energy" as a National mission and criminal waste of energy as Anti National. GoI need to earmark much more funds for renewable energy sources like solar power,wind power & new source like Husk power in rural areas and power from urban waste in cities & towns and also wind power from sea in the coast line of 8000 Km and roof top wind power. Govt. both at Center and States need to frame suitable laws to make one Hectare of "Jatropa farming" per Village mandatory with some incentives. That should add six lakh hectare of Jatropa cultivation and make the country less dependent on expensive imported fuel.
The other aspect that need urgent attention by the Govt. is the environmental impact of power generation in thermal plants which generate large amount of waste in terms of Polluted water & fly ash which need to be dealt with by the respective power producers by deploying suitable technology or developing new one by suitable funding of academic institutions and research bodies. In ten years, these measures would make a significant difference to our energy management.

National Energy Policy

Bikash Choudhury



Our lives run and depend on ENERGY to large extent!The room Air-Conditioner in our bed room,geyser & washing machine in washroom,T.V & music system in living room,laptop in the Study,Microwave in the kitchen and of course, the item of our mobility the Car in our drive way--All need energy to run and therefore a large part of our lives.Actually, What will be left off our lives without these gadgets??More importantly what will happen to us without sufficient energy??? and, what would be the environmental impact of meeting energy requirements from conventional sources like Thermal power & hydro power???? There has to be a ideal trade off between the two to have a sustainable;e energy matrix for continuous growth,prosperity,stability and happiness.
The current energy scenario is like this:The peak power deficit in the summer of 2010 was around 10.8 percent. Distribution losses average about 30% across the country.Central Electric Authority(CEA) has set a target of one lakh MW of additional power generation in the period of 12 th five year plan2012-17;if we were to grow at around (% of GDP.The current energy matrix is as follows:Thermal(65%),Hydro(21.5%),Renewable energy(10.5%) and Nuclear a meager (3%).The thermal power is highly polluting with highest carbon foot print.After Japn's Fukoshima disaster the nuclear power does not sound any promising future in the country;knowing, a developed country like Germany having asserted to cap all its nuclear power plants by 2022 on safety grounds.(Indian lives have been treated cheaper courtesy Bhopal gas tragedy.) The hydro power has long gestation period & its scope for growth nearly saturated unless some fresh new technology emerge.The future is in Renewable energy and new source of energy( like Husk & Urban waste Power).While containing the demand side of energy through deployment of better technology both micro & macro with high degree of public awareness for conservation of energy.

The solution to National energy challenges lies in adopting a new Energy Matrix of 40% of Renewable & New Energy and balance 60% from conventional sources with stiff conditions on Carbon foot print guidelines and compliance conditionality. To start with the Govt. can frame a law by virtue of which energy producers from conventional sources would have to produce 20 % of total installed capacity from Renewable & new Energy sources.Identically, the petroleum PSU would have to produce 20% of their production from Bio-fuels.This step alone would galvanize the renewable energy Industry and Bio-fuel sector.Further, GoI & State Govt. need to collaborate to find time bound solutions to Transmission &commercial losses to the tune of 30% of generated power to Internationally acceptable figure by deploying technology available and investing in R&D.GoI can also take further steps for prudent energy usages by commercial organizations & inside homes by mandatory use of equipments available off the selves by launching a very focused campaign across media domains and through the events in schools and colleges to emphasis "conservation of Energy" as a National mission and criminal waste of energy as Anti National. GoI need to earmark much more funds for renewable energy sources like solar power,wind power & new source like Husk power in rural areas and power from urban waste in cities & towns and also wind power from sea in the coast line of 8000 Km and roof top wind power. Govt. both at Center and States need to frame suitable laws to make one Hectare of "Jatropa farming" per Village mandatory with some incentives. That should add six lakh hectare of Jatropa cultivation and make the country less dependent on expensive imported fuel.
The other aspect that need urgent attention by the Govt. is the environmental impact of power generation in thermal plants which generate large amount of waste in terms of Polluted water & fly ash which need to be dealt with by the respective power producers by deploying suitable technology or developing new one by suitable funding of academic institutions and research bodies. In ten years, these measures would make a significant difference to our energy management.

National Energy Policy

Bikash Choudhury



Our lives run and depend on ENERGY to large extent!The room Air-Conditioner in our bed room,geyser & washing machine in washroom,T.V & music system in living room,laptop in the Study,Microwave in the kitchen and of course, the item of our mobility the Car in our drive way--All need energy to run and therefore a large part of our lives.Actually, What will be left off our lives without these gadgets??More importantly what will happen to us without sufficient energy??? and, what would be the environmental impact of meeting energy requirements from conventional sources like Thermal power & hydro power???? There has to be a ideal trade off between the two to have a sustainable;e energy matrix for continuous growth,prosperity,stability and happiness.
The current energy scenario is like this:The peak power deficit in the summer of 2010 was around 10.8 percent. Distribution losses average about 30% across the country.Central Electric Authority(CEA) has set a target of one lakh MW of additional power generation in the period of 12 th five year plan2012-17;if we were to grow at around (% of GDP.The current energy matrix is as follows:Thermal(65%),Hydro(21.5%),Renewable energy(10.5%) and Nuclear a meager (3%).The thermal power is highly polluting with highest carbon foot print.After Japn's Fukoshima disaster the nuclear power does not sound any promising future in the country;knowing, a developed country like Germany having asserted to cap all its nuclear power plants by 2022 on safety grounds.(Indian lives have been treated cheaper courtesy Bhopal gas tragedy.) The hydro power has long gestation period & its scope for growth nearly saturated unless some fresh new technology emerge.The future is in Renewable energy and new source of energy( like Husk & Urban waste Power).While containing the demand side of energy through deployment of better technology both micro & macro with high degree of public awareness for conservation of energy.

The solution to National energy challenges lies in adopting a new Energy Matrix of 40% of Renewable & New Energy and balance 60% from conventional sources with stiff conditions on Carbon foot print guidelines and compliance conditionality. To start with the Govt. can frame a law by virtue of which energy producers from conventional sources would have to produce 20 % of total installed capacity from Renewable & new Energy sources.Identically, the petroleum PSU would have to produce 20% of their production from Bio-fuels.This step alone would galvanize the renewable energy Industry and Bio-fuel sector.Further, GoI & State Govt. need to collaborate to find time bound solutions to Transmission &commercial losses to the tune of 30% of generated power to Internationally acceptable figure by deploying technology available and investing in R&D.GoI can also take further steps for prudent energy usages by commercial organizations & inside homes by mandatory use of equipments available off the selves by launching a very focused campaign across media domains and through the events in schools and colleges to emphasis "conservation of Energy" as a National mission and criminal waste of energy as Anti National. GoI need to earmark much more funds for renewable energy sources like solar power,wind power & new source like Husk power in rural areas and power from urban waste in cities & towns and also wind power from sea in the coast line of 8000 Km and roof top wind power. Govt. both at Center and States need to frame suitable laws to make one Hectare of "Jatropa farming" per Village mandatory with some incentives. That should add six lakh hectare of Jatropa cultivation and make the country less dependent on expensive imported fuel.
The other aspect that need urgent attention by the Govt. is the environmental impact of power generation in thermal plants which generate large amount of waste in terms of Polluted water & fly ash which need to be dealt with by the respective power producers by deploying suitable technology or developing new one by suitable funding of academic institutions and research bodies. In ten years, these measures would make a significant difference to our energy management.

Change in Leadership

Bikash Choudhury




UPA govt. smartly (laid out red carpet initially & once that did not work unabashedly used force) and very tactfully evicted Baba Ramdev from Ram Lila Grounds; eventually stopped a countrywide mass movement against corruption & black money on its track. As for now there is no threat to UPA-II Govt.in spite of strident opposition campaign on the issue of eviction of Baba Ramdev from New Delhi.But,Baba has never the less raised very pertinent issue of National importance and has done very well in his own inimitable style with a lot of substance very unusual for a person claimed to be a Sadhu with millions of ardent follower; however, this has caught the imagination of a large section of our people including those young at heart who have been greatly enthused by Baba and his antiques and other dare devil spectacle.
Some time back, no less a person than Home Minister Mr. Chidambaram conceded with rare candor about the "Governance Deficit" in UPA-II Govt. and also separately talked about his limited mandate being Home Minister; tacitly putting his name into the leadership sweepstakes. Somebody has said before" India is a rich country with poor people" this is precisely because, the National wealth which otherwise would have brought succor to poor people in the country, siphoned out of the country without any checks & balance. And, further counterfeit currencies pumped into the country by same evil forces that run havoc in our money market and entire financial architecture. If Govt. fail to take concrete action now then when? And, to what consequence? While poor of country suffer with cascading effect of price rise on food items and petroleum products. Apart from corruption & black money the UPA-II Govt.is actually very slow on many important issues where alibi of coalition compulsion may not hold good. Both Air India in Aviation & Railways are floundering. Industrial production is taking a nose dive, while economic growth numbers are being revised downwards. What is going wrong with this Govt.and where and what needs to be done to arrest the very visible slide in Governance that calls for immediate decision not another JPC(Joint Parliamentary committee or IMG (Inter Ministerial Group).

Million dollar question that defy answer at the moment is what kind of public perception will go down in the minds of prospective electorate of E-14 and how much of it remain residual for the discomfort to UPA-II, three years later difficult to predict. But, in view of election outcome of TamilNadu; where, demonstrable action against corruption in the form of A. Raja behind the bars and so do Mr. Kalmadi of CWG fame did not help at the hustings.It is now crystal clear, the image of UPA-II Govt. has taken a serious beating in the game of public perception. Only a change in Leadership of Govt. may usher in a fresh opportunity. Congress President may think of giving incumbent PM a graceful exit as time runs out for that and install Pranab Mukharjee as PM & Mr. Chidambaram as Deputy PM to crack the whip on Governance. At the moment Pranabda remains the best bet being from the eastern region and he being the most experienced, shrewd political manager in the Congress who has the stature & necessary skill to drive the Govt. into action with defacto Prime Ministerial authority which is not same as being the top adviser. With Chidambaram as 'number 2' in cabinet will help the team Pranab to deal with complex issues of governance facing the govt. and taking decisions on real time. Both the gentle men have long term aspiration for top leadership in Govt. and that would alone drive them into serious contemplation and action with demonstrable result.Failing which BJP most likely to return to power in the next round;though,the party seems to be in great disarray at the moment.