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The Great Indian Tamasha of Indian Railways

by D. Dhanuraj After a long time, I was standing on the queue to book my Tatkal tickets. I was at the reservation counter of Chennai Central Railway Station Reservation counter to reserve my return journey ticket from Chennai to Ernakulam.  Luckily I had Tatkal booking forms with me, which I had taken along with me from Ernakulam to ensure that I can afford to be there at  the Tatkal counter at  9.50 am equipped with the filled Tatkal form.  It was not a long queue (I am surprised; may be off-peak season) and I was probably 6th or 7th in the queue. I could sense a kind of excitement and curiosity on everyone's face as the counter opens for Tatkal reservation at 10 am. There were chairs for 5 or 6 to sit and relax before the crucial booking starts. As the clock ticked 10, everyone stood up.  I was not able to see the booking agent (not sure what is the designation of the officer; officer, inspector or agent?) at the counter. As I was lurking at the window, the booking In

Can Inflation Index Bonds replace gold as a safe investment....???

              India is the world's largest consumer of  gold , accounting for some 20 percent of the world's demand. In India gold is historically and culturally tied to the concepts of wealth and prosperity. The demand for gold has been increasing drastically in India which lead to a current account deficit of 4.3%.  Govt tried to reduce the import of Gold by imposing 75% import duty. But still the demand for gold is not reducing, so to curb this demand the govt introduced Inflation Index Bonds in this year's Union Budget. Inflation Index Bonds have been recommended in the Economic Survey Report of 2013. RBI soon going to issue the IIB''s on 4th June 2013 to protect the savings against the rising prices. The reason why these bonds are launched because Inflation erodes the purchasing power of money and people are investing in gold as a hedge against inflation. The advantage of IIB is that adjusts its interest payments depending on the inflation rate. As th

ONCE AGAIN A SCAM....!!!!

                                                    By Sneha Baby, Intern at CPPR Saradha scam in West Bengal which came out on April 23 rd  lead to the loss of small savings of the poor people and a full stop to the life of many agents who worked for the company. Who is responsible and whom should be blamed for scams like this. India has seen many scams but still not learnt from the mistakes. Why always poor people are targeted or becomes the prey of such fraudulent companies. The article looks through the reasons and tries to find a solution to put an end to it. Background As per the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) notice, Saradha group collected money from the public promising either land or flat or to refund the money with a return of around 12-24 % .The Saradha group was able to attract people to be the agents for collecting the money as they were promised  a commission of 15-20% of the fund mobilised by them. This never came under the purview of RBI

Kerala- withering away of an educated society

By D.Dhanuraj This year also, as per the custom, Minister of Education announced SSLC examination results in Kerala. He announced the results and took the credits away from his counter parts of the previous years for the highest pass percentage in the history,"  94.17% " .   Looks like 100 meters race where the studies have shown that the world record in 100 m would be difficult to be broken as it might be a humanly impossible task. But at times, I tend to think that in Kerala, SSLC results may even touch 100 % unlike the impossible 100 meters sprint record. But then, what would be the implications of such a record breaking pass percentage? I see a Tsunami waiting for Kerala in another 4 to 5 years. It would be largely because Kerala is producing a dishonest new generation who does not believe in merit as a virtue. Passing SSLC through learning is no more their concern, its a matter of pride for the Minister of Education and he will do his best to make sure that

Labhaprabha –The Illusion???

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By Mary Honey, Research Associate, CPPR I am not a typical cynic who always opposes new government initiates by providing false and useless statements. But sometimes I have raised questions to get a clear cut answer. I was wondering the durability of the efforts done by the ‘most efficient’ Kerala State Electricity Board in bringing out the new initiatives for energy conservation. Recently on 23 rd March 2013 the Kerala State Electricity Board switched to “Labhaprabha” the brand new name set up for its energy conservation scheme which lasts till 31 st May through its first phase . This scheme which was meant for domestic consumers, guaranteed gifts and other incentives for saving electricity. The first step towards participating in the scheme was to get oneself registered. For this one need to send the SMS with the following details , KSEB <space> Section code <space> Consumer number to 9287088808. The participant will immediately be informed of his/her aver

Kerala Budget 2013 - An Open Letter to FM

Dear Minister, History reckons with you for the most number of Budgets presented in the world. You are an experienced craftsman presenting the budget in a mercurial way. Your experience in politics and administration are unparalleled and presents a unique opportunity for researchers and practitioners to delve on the language, intend and vision of your Budget Speeches. You have seen generation after generation  not only on the floor of the House but also the Political turbulences' since independence. As a Public Policy Student I have great admiration for your skill sets as a Minister and a Politician.  I am sure this letter may not surprise you on its content side. I wish to share my specific thoughts in certain areas on the upcoming budget of Kerala. These thoughts are based on my readings, interactions, observations and experience working with different clients over the years. I do not have to spend time on explaining Kerala Model of Development to you. Those who studi

Future of KSRTC in Kerala

by D. Dhanuraj Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) in the news again! This time, many believe that KSRTC will be grounded like Kingfisher airlines. Media reports that it incurs a loss of 8 lakhs rupees every day. The reason they cite is that of the recent hike in the Diesel Price. It was told that KSRTC has to shell out more money compared to the domestic car users as they fall in another category. It looks like the policy of the Government is NOT to promote public transport but the private vehicles. In that case, I do not agree with the Government prescription for more Sales Tax on Diesel for KSRTC as it breaks the rules in the game and having a level playing field with the rest of the competitors in the sector. Rather, Government should have lessened the Sales Tax to facilitate and support the public transport. This incident shows that private transport and private vehicles are encouraged while the public transport is neglected. At the same time, I wonder wheth

WINNING OVER FAKE LOTTERY SMS AND CALLS

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By Madhu.S and Nichu Willington* “Your Mobile number has won 750,000 Pounds FOR ongoing ICC World Cup T20 Award. To claim your prize, (Send your name, Address and Mobile#) Via Email :crkdraw@hotmail.com”. This tempting SMS has been received by millions of mobile users in India. However, there are no estimates on the number of people who got induced by such sham messages and lost money. Unfortunately, those who get cheated by these tempting SMS do not have much relief and are forced to repent. Many of them even do not report such incidents because of the shame, which has allowed the perpetrators, become habitual about faking people.  The people are always at the receiving end as the offenders or perpetrators often operate from outside and escape the clutches of the law. The only thing Government can think of is to give a Statutory Warning as in Cigarette packets “Please don’t attend or reply to frisky calls and SMS” being issued for each call and message !!  The telecom ser