Howz the New Indian Railway Budget?

Phew!!!! howz the new Indian railway budget? I dont know what to say......Well who knew that Lallu of all people could make such a whooping profit out of the Indian Railway???? Any comments??

Pathetic...

I really don't fell like a proud Indian or rather a proud Keralite today. This is mainly because I saw a certain news segment in the Malayalam news channels today morning. Well every news article does not bring me to tears, but this one did and for a change, I felt sympathetic, furious, helpless and what not.

Now to come to the issue - Kochi (In Kerala) the metropolitan city is undergoing a lot of changes and lots of development projects are coming up. Specially worth mentioning is the Vallarpadam project and Land has to be acquired for the proposed highway connectivity to the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal To do this they will be taking up land and evicting a lot of people from their homes. (Well ya I do know that to do such kind of good projects lots of modernizations are needed but this is too much...)

Today's news segment showed the police evicting a lot of people from their homes. The news showed the police rudely hitting anyone who protested and it also showed them pushing all the ladies who were protesting and crying and also the men who protested. They were then locked up into a house by force and the houses were being demolished at full speed. It was a heartbreaking site to see all the old and young women, children and even men crying openly and calling out to them to stop. Well how can you expect these people to stand and watch when their home and everything they ever had are being demolished right before their eyes?

All those who agreed to sign an agreement about moving were given one week time and many men signed this only because they couldn’t watch their mother's, daughters, little children, wives etc being thrown out into the streets. I saw many men signing documents while they were openly crying and trying to come to terms with what was going on.

Many of the houses were demolished and for those ones that were given time, the electricity connection was cut. I do agree that land acquisition and all that kind of stuff is needed when projects like this come up (after all my parents also did lose land when the government decided they wanted the land for smart city and things like that). But the people who are being evicted (especially since they are very poor) has to be given alternative lands and facilities before they are openly thrown out onto the roads. Where will they go with their ailing parents and young daughters? Where will they live till they can find other means to support themselves? After all they are being thrown out from the land that they have been living in all their lives, which they were born into and that were passed on from their ancestors.

The government can't justify this activity as they are paying the people only the value of the land that was there 5 years back. That is such a pitiful amount as 5 years back these places didn't have much value in terms of money. I felt so furious watching all this, especially because the present government is caught up in one scandal after other relating to shady land deals and so on. They can justify a land worth 500 crores being sold for 90 crores, but they can't pay the money that these poor people deserve nor can they provide alternative means.

I wonder what these people will do. Where will they spend the coming nights? Where and how will they provide any safety to their family? I feel so helpless. What can we do to help these poor people? What can we make the government do?

Vallarpadam Container Transhipment Terminal:
Vallarpadam is a part of the existing Cochin port. The Cochin port became a major port under the Major Port Trust Act 1963 and now has crude handling facilities, containerization of cargo and electronic data interchange facilities, which have put Cochin in the front as far as port development in the country is concerned. The Cochin port has unique geographical advantages as it is near to international sea trade routes which connect Europe and the Gulf to South East Asia and the Far East.

Vallarpadam Container Terminal Project (VCTP) will be a unique project in infrastructure, especially to boost containerization in India. VCTP was inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on February 16, 2005. While inaugurating VCTP, Dr. Manmohan Singh said, "The project would be a role model for private-public partnership, blending efficiently private sector managerial efficiency and marketing acumen with public sector capital and infrastructure planning."
VCTP will be India's first ever International Container Trans-shipment Terminal (ICTT). According to a CNBC report, this project will enable India to move into the top 20 maritime nations. A detailed study of VCTP was done by Frederic R Harris, the Dutch Consultants and the total establishment cost of VCTP has been estimated at Rs. 2,118 cr. Dubai Ports International (DPI) has emerged as the successful bidder for developing and operating the project on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis for 30 years by quoting the highest revenue share of 33.30% to the Port Trust and the project is expected to be completed by 2009. It is expected to be one of the largest single-operator trans-shipment terminals in India. More details are available at this link about Vallarpadam Project: http://www.projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=15219


About Kochi(from Wikipedia):
Kochi formerly known as Cochin is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city is one of the principal seaports of the country and is located in the district of Ernakulam, about 220 kilometres (137 mi) north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram. It has an estimated population of 600,000, with an extended metropolitan population of about 1.5 million, making it the largest urban agglomeration and the second largest city in Kerala after the capital.

Since 1102 CE, Kochi was the seat of the Kingdom of Cochin, a princely state which traces its lineage to the Kulasekhara empire. Heralded as the Queen of the Arabian Sea, Kochi was an important spice trading centre on the Arabian Sea coast from the 14th century onwards. Ancient travellers and tradesmen referred to Kochi in their writings, variously alluding to it as Cocym, Cochym, Cochin, and Cochi. Occupied by the Portuguese in 1503, Kochi was the site of the first European colonial settlement in India. It remained the capital of Portuguese India until 1530, when Goa became the capital. The city was later occupied by the Dutch, the Mysore and the British. Kochi was the first princely state to willingly join the Indian Union, when India gained independence in 1947.

Kochi experienced decades of economic stagnation from independence until 2003, when it entered a period of economic growth, leading to a spurt in the city's development. A growing centre of information technology, tourism and international trade, Kochi is the commercial hub of Kerala, and one of the fastest growing second-tier metros in India. Like other large cities in the developing world, Kochi continues to struggle with urbanisation problems such as traffic congestion and environmental degradation.

Successive waves of migration over the course of several millennia have made Kochi a cultural melting pot. Despite the risk of overdevelopment, the city retains its distinct colonial heritage and a blend of tradition and modernity.

Tata Motors $2,500 car to put India on global auto map

Only 10 years ago, India's Tata Motors Ltd unveiled its first car, a hatchback, that established the truck maker's credentials as a car maker. Tomorrow, the $7.8 billion company unveils its boldest initiative yet, a car that will sell for just $2,500, less than half the cheapest car on the market. Dubbed the 'People's Car', it will determine Tata's place in the global automotive area. They might also export the car as it would sell well in Africa and South and Central America.

There are worries about whether at such low costs it can meet safety standards, whether its a ticking time bomb, whether it will add to the growing pollution rate in India and so on.. Well everything will have to be seen after the car's performance on the road.

In a way i do feel that's its good because now low income, middle income families can also strive to get a car for a family instead of being crammed onto a scooter with luggage and kids and all.(Ya sure the oil, gas, fuel prices are going rocket high, but that is not slowing down or stopping the Indians in buying cars and all that.)

Pakistan: The 'poor' neighbor

This is yet another article from the Kuwait Times..plz check links to read the full article.Everything given below has been quoted from it.

Link: http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MjUzNDExODI0

"Sixty years after its birth, India faces a number of serious problems - not least the growing gap between rich and poor, the criminalisation of politics, and the flourishing Maoist and Naxalite groups that have recently proliferated in the east of the country. But Pakistan's problems are on a different scale; indeed, the country finds itself at a crossroads. As Jugnu Mohsin, the publisher of the Lahore-based Friday Times, put it recently, "After a period of relative quiet, for the first time in a decade, we are back to the old question: it is not just whither Pakistan, but will Pakistan survive?" On the country's 60th birthday, the answer is by no means clear?"

given below are parts of the article:

"On the ground, of course, the reality is different and first-time visitors to Pakistan are almost always surprised by the country's visible prosperity. There is far less poverty on show in Pakistan than in India, fewer beggars, and much less desperation. In many ways the infrastructure of Pakistan is much more advanced: there are better roads and airports, and more reliable electricity. Middle-class Pakistani houses are often bigger and better appointed than their equivalents in India. Moreover, the Pakistani economy is undergoing a construction and consumer boom similar to India's, with growth rates of 7 percent, and what is currently the fastest-rising stock market in Asia."

"Nevertheless, despite the economic boom, there are three serious problems that Pakistan will have to sort out if it is to continue to keep up with its giant neighbour - or indeed continue as a coherent state at all. One is the fundamental flaw in Pakistan's political system. Democracy has never thrived here, at least in part because landowning remains almost the only social base from which politicians can emerge. In general, the educated middle class - which in India seized control in 1947, emasculating the power of its landowners - is in Pakistan still largely excluded from the political process. As a result, in many of the more backward parts of Pakistan, the local feudal zamindar can expect his people to vote for his chosen candidate."

Sixty years after its birth, India faces a number of serious problems - not least the growing gap between rich and poor, the criminalisation of politics, and the flourishing Maoist and Naxalite groups that have recently proliferated in the east of the country. But Pakistan's problems are on a different scale; indeed, the country finds itself at a crossroads. As Jugnu Mohsin, the publisher of the Lahore-based Friday Times, put it recently, "After a period of relative quiet, for the first time in a decade, we are back to the old question: it is not just whither Pakistan, but will Pakistan survive?" On the country's 60th birthday, the answer is by no means clear?

A more confident India

Plz check out this link and read this article too...
It portrays how much India has grown too inspite of all its problems.

Link: http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTA1NzY1Mjc1Ng==

These articles include a lot of things i wanted to say!

I realy liked this particluar article which came in today's Kuwait Times with the title "The Cult of the sex goddess". Sagrika Ghose has wrtten well about many of the problems that India and the women in India have even on celebrating its 60th independence.
I felt that it was well written as i was thinking about so many similar things and was waiting to write about it.

Plz check the link to read the article and do let me know ur comments.
Link: http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NzkyMDU3MDc1