"In the carriages of
the past you can't go anywhere."
—Maxim Gorky (Russian,
1868-1936)
Word for the day
Bombinate (v)
To make a humming or buzzing
noise.
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Malice towards none
Hillary Clinton: "Donald Trump is a Hindu right wing Intolerant, and a
disciple of Yogi Adityanath".
First random thought this morning
Indian economy has survived
70yrs without GST. It can surely do so for another seven years.
If serious, BJP should call the
bluff of Congress and withdraw GST Bill from the Parliament. Instead, NDA should
ensure that all the states under their rule (MP, Rajasthan Gujarat,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Goa) follow uniform
indirect tax and local tax law that allows free borderless movement of goods
and services amongst these states.
One may say it's difficult. But
so is GST.
Money or happiness - make a choice!
Visiting the clinic of a pediatrician friend last evening was a
revelation. The doctor, not a very famous one, runs a clinic in a middle class
locality in West Delhi. At 19:30hrs in the evening, the waiting room of his
clinic was full to the brims. Some 30 odd coughing and sneezing kids and their
manifestly bothered parents were impatiently waiting for their turn.
Already inundated by the information and news over poisonous Delhi
air, I was not surprised to see so many children suffering from allergies and
respiratory diseases.
What surprised me was the discussion of parents. All of them were
cursing and making fun of the Delhi government's experimental effort to reduce
air pollution. Ostensibly, no one was liking the idea of not being able to use
their cars 3 days a week.
The discussion immediately reminded me of the tribal people of
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim I had
have a chance to see and meet during my travel in past few years. I found them
to be extremely sensitive about their environment and nature. Most of them have
Mother Nature as their sacred deity. Forest, Mountains, Rivers, Air, Fire all
are scared gods. No one would trade money or materialistic comfort for their
deities.
On my way back home, when I tried to compare the attitude of
middle class Delhites with the tribal people - the results were confounding.
Through recent floods in Uttrakhand, J&K, Gujarat, and Tamil
Nadu - Mother Nature has manifestly expressed her displeasure over the current
model of economic development and compromising attitude of people over
sustainability issues.
I feel, it's only a matter of time when everyone would face the
following questions and be liable to search for honest answers.
(a) Is the present debate
on climate control meaningful? Is this logic valid that since the developed
countries have already damaged the global ecology, therefore the developing
countries should also have the right to further damage it? Or the formula
should be based on transfer of benefits (technology and wealth) made by
developed countries so that developing countries need not damage the ecology
further.
(b) Should it not be a
fundamental duty of all citizens to ensure sustainability of their life style?
Why pollution control should be the responsibility of the State only?
(c) Fundamentally, what
should be the core objective of the economic planning? Is it sufficient to set
quantitative targets of production? Or should the primary objective of economic
planning be set in qualitative terms, e.g., to improve the quality of life,
sustainability of economic activity, social harmony and cultural revolution?
My answer — sustainability should be the primary concern of
development.
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