When California reminded me of Bihar

Thefts are quite common in India and one of its states Bihar is particularly notorious for it. And we are not talking of thefts in houses alone but the theft of public property. During my recent visit to my home town in Bihar I found that the grills used around the public playground have started to disappear. People are cutting these iron pieces to sell them in the market as prices of iron soar. Iron bars of that quality sell for about Rs. 60-70 per kg. at todays' prices.

A popular social enterprise called Husk Power Systems (HPS) is facing similar problems in the West champaran area of Bihar. Its transmission wires frequently get stolen. A youtube video captures this well.

However, I was happy (in a sadistic way) to see a recent article in NY Times that covered thefts in the state of California. Almost everything in the open is getting stolen be it tomatoes, copper wires, bee-hives, or batteries. Here is an excerpt from the article "Farm thieves target grapes, and even bees"


"While other states have their own agricultural intrigue — cattle rustlers in Texas, tomato takers in Florida — few areas can claim a wider variety of farm felons than California, where ambushes on everything from almonds to beehives have been reported in recent years. Then there is the hardware: diesel fuel, tools and truck batteries regularly disappear in the Central Valley, the state’s agricultural powerhouse, where high unemployment, foreclosures and methamphetamine abuse have made criminals more desperate, officials say."

Manmohan not the lone puppet - Julia Gillard, Cameron offer company

It seems everybody running a democratic government becomes a puppet to someone or the other. In India the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been called lameduck. He has been referred to as a puppet in the hands of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

I used to find these remarks disturbing since his behaviour was more an outcome of the compulsions of coalition politics. To my pleasant surprise, however, prime ministers being labelled puppets is a very commonly deployed tactic by the opposition/public. Or so it appears in the coalition led governments in three democratic governments - India, Australia, and the United Kingdom (UK.)

In fact i sighed relief at the Indian belittling standards when i saw the picture below (Herald Sun). The opposition leader in Australia (Mr. Abbott) talking to public with placards behind calling the prime minister a bitch and a witch. I am sure Mr. Advani or Sushma Swaraj would never stoop to such low standards.

David Cameron met the same fate (being labelled a puppet) recently after the News of The World (NOTW)/Murdoch scandal on account of his close ties with the Murdochs. (picture from Guardian)

Cosmetologist license or pilot license, all bear brunt of government paralysis across the globe

My friend Ankit Tewari in India has finally managed to fulfill all the requirements for becoming a chopper pilot. He has spent a lot of money, and invested a number of years in trying to become eligible for this elite job. Unfortunately the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which is the aviation authority in India is currently facing a lot of flak for doling out licenses to candidates that were not suited for the job. As a consequence it has temporarily halted the process of granting pilot licenses while it scrutinises and revamps the process. My friend therefore is stuck for no fault of his. He needs to start earning soon to pay his debts but he has no choice but to wait for the current paralysis in DGCA to be over.

Interestingly, this kind of paralysis affects individuals and economies all across the globe. The Associated Press (AP) recently reported the case of Lyda Hanson of Minnesota who couldn't get her dream job at a recognised hair salon because of the government shutdown in the state. Apparently in Minnesota (and i guess the US in general) one needs a cosmetologist's license to be able to do the job. Lyda had been promised the job even before she graduated but because she couldn't get the license the job went to someone else.

India runs a huge deficit for trained pilots and the US in its current state is in dire need of people getting employed. Political, and legacy issues, however, make the situations worse at such times.