6th CPC : Planning on Paying, or Planning on improving Citizen Services ?

On March 2008, 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) came out with their findings and suggestions. That was the only CPC, which held after the Right to Information act (RTI) and Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM). The Government machinery on the light of this new changes, expected to perform better both in fiscal discipline and delivery mechanism. The objective of sixth CPC had a wider scope. It was to provide a plan of structural changes in Government. That could transform the Central Government Organization to a modern professional citizen friendly entity . .

The Governmental Organization hierarchy was also expected to be more flattened in order to address the need of better delivery of services to citizen .The Commission Chaired by Justice B N Sri Krishna made recommendation on deletion of the superfluous layer that exist in the level of Government , which holds back the decision making process. Obviously, release of report, brought extensive highlight by media on payment and allowance structural changes along with facilities and benefits. However, the overall purpose of the planning exercise of the sixth CPC, to provide a solution on reforming the Government into a highly professional organization, which will respond faster to the needs of Citizen throughout the Country is not that well highlighted in Media.

The success of CPC will be, to give a planning solution on the organizational structure of Government, which could address the citizen needs. Not so well highlighted, sixth Pay commission made an recommendation on Performance Related Incentives (PRI). That makes sense in present global situation. Indian economy is now closely integrated with Global economy Government have a vital talent acquisition war, against the Global Commercial Institution, and Non-Commercial institution. It has to not only the raise pay structure, but to improve the citizen service as per the services of this Global institution, that are operating in multiple nations in order to stay competitive. However, the good news is Sixth Pay Commission is a good planning move on that direction. If implemented properly it could make a highly professional and citizen service oriented Government Institution. These also will go a long way, on creating a long-term sustainability of Indian Government Institutions. We have to realize as a Nation, that even the most influential Roman republic, which existed for 1200 years, could not survive with the lack of proper institution , by an large, which could make incremental development towards Citizen services.

Social Sector Banking: Proper treasury services could create the accountability for treasury replenishment goals. ?

Treasury services include different types, of financial instruments not limited to treasury management, foreign exchange, short-term credit facilities, trade finance, and global liquidity management. The most important part of the services is treasury planning. Bank of America with GTS (Global Treasury Services) provides a robust technology based planning for businesses and institution with integration of supply chain finance technology and supplier outreach service with further enhancing its trade-discounting program. This enables them to reduce working capital requirements, finance cost through their supply chain, strengthen operating margins, and develop stronger supplier relationship.

Replenishment program for the future days is the key parameter for treasury service planning in social sector banking. For example, International Development Agency (IDA), which is an arm of World Bank, gives credit to the poorest-of-poor countries. After every 3 years, this body goes through a replenishment program where it asks for more funds, from its donor countries. Only proper Treasury services could create the accountability to realize the Treasury replenishment goals for social sector banking.

Bloggers made Institution, weaker than individual ?

Individual has been always weaker compare to institution. Bigger the institutional framework, lesser is the power of individual. However, in the information highway of internet, the rule seems to change, quite a lot. This is where the individual, can have more power then institutions. Just by use of opinions on different subjects, the web surfer can instrument positive transformation in every dimension of society. In the world of media, this is a radical change. Globalization has made this change possible, where communities are formed, across the world that will play an activist role, in number of issues. One of the most common platforms, which have witnessed this rise of individual power over institution, is weblog. .Blogs, earlier known as weblog, has played a pivotal role on helping every individual, to express their thinking and sharing it with other people. There are other instruments also which includes community site like mouthshut.com where all the Brands and Institution , are reviewed and commented by Individuals . The problems with the trouble make institution, are brought to public notice instantly, which makes some of the organization, to take pre-emptive steps to satisfy their customer. Faisal Farooqui the CEO of Mouthshut.com recently wrote to me about a story how an individual using mouth shut, force an institution to make righteous behavior . An Excerpt from the mail .

“Pradeep Chopra is an IIT Delhi Graduate who co-founded OmLogic. I am also privileged to count him as a friend. Pradeep shared the following in an email (certain portions underlined for emphasis): Recently, I had a terrible experience with Apple MacBook and Apple India. I posted a review at your community and only then Apple listened and actually gave me a new laptop. Thanks to your community and its power...Fortunately, around 6000 people are reading the review and people have been writing to me whether they should buy Apple MacBook.

Oligarchic Democracy – The Journey from Ancient Rome to Modern US

The concept of an "oligarchic democracy" is one, which some scholars attribute to Ancient Rome and the United States. It conveys a truth about U.S. politics every bit as telling as its application to ancient Rome. It is no accident that the Founding Fathers of the U.S. Republic looked to Roman models for inspiration. Like Ancient Rome, Americans today still have a representative body called the Senate. The Roman eagle still watched their republic. Faced with the distasteful specter of democracy, they sought ways to redefine that unpalatable concept to accommodate aristocratic rule, producing a hybrid, "representative democracy," which was clearly meant to achieve an effect similar to the ancient Roman idea of the "mixed constitution," in fact, an "oligarchic 'democracy."' However, the constitution and state laws have been modified, with the removal of the original property requirements for voting, as well as giving the vote to women and blacks.

In May, 2008 a Malaysian blogger has been convicted on the charge of sedition. Raja Petra was the voice of modern Malaysian politics and society. There is interesting trend, now, to put sedition charges on every kind of blogger. However, Journalist facing sedition charges is nothing new. Even Bal Gangadhar Tilak faced it during the repressive British regime. As the editor of 'Kesari', Tilak on May 12, 1908, titled his editorial 'The misfortune of the country', castigating the ruthless bureaucracy. British Government arrested him on May 25, 1908. They convicted him, by jury trial on July 17, 1908. This lead to a sentence of six years' imprisonment in the case for Tilak . The case is popularly known as 'Second Sedition .

Sedition, as Section 124-A reads, has to be an act - doing something diabolic against the ''government established by law". The trend of bloggers facing sedition charges is something new. In Article 19 of Universal declaration of human rights it was mentioned that “Everyone has right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek receive and impart information and idea through any media and regardless of frontiers “. Are people practicing the freedom of right to express? Reality seems to give a negative answer Following are the links, which informs about arrest and prosecution of bloggers in different parts of world.


http://committeetoprotectbloggers.org/2008/07/08/russian-blogger-sentenced-to-probation/

http://committeetoprotectbloggers.org/2008/06/27/irish-blogger-facing-charges/

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/95168/

According to a new report by the World Information Access Project, 64 independent bloggers are arrested since 2003, suggesting governments around the world are growing more aware of blogs and more likely to act to silence .

Are they silencing bloggers through seditious trail or the right of every human being to have the freedom of his speech?

Violation of Enviromental Justice ?

The principle of environmental justice as originally conceived states that regardless of race, culture or income, all people should enjoy the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards. This idea emerged from the thinking of grassroots activists and academics in the United States in the 1970s, in response to increasing evidence that minorities and the poor in the United States were disproportionately affected by certain types of environmental harms. It was later adopted by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a principle to guide domestic environmental regulation.

As global trade and investment has risen dramatically over the past two decades, the concept of environmental justice has taken on international significance as well, for with the growth of trade overseas has come the transfer of polluting industries, wastes, and ecologically destructive practices from developed countries to the less developed world. In these cases, the potential violation of justice is even greater because those who receive disproportionately large shares of environmental harms have even less financial ability to benefit from the processes that cause these harms.

In recent G8 summit , it was asked for the developing countries to make effort , on aligning themselves on Global climate concerns . Yes , the developing countries should be aligned to it . But they are the victims of the enviromental injustice done by developed countries .

Is it an just system, to ask the victim, to pay for the evils which is done by the violators ? Obviously , if the word justice is put out from this context , it could be somewhat better !!

Should Adultery law must be applied equally to men and women ?

Some years back Justice Malimath Committee suggested a radical change in the law on adultery. The legal reform, has been recommended on amendments to provisions of the Indian Penal Code that disallow prosecution of women for the offence.

"The object of this section (Section 497 of the IPC) is to preserve the sanctity of marriage. Society abhors marital infidelity. Therefore, there is no reason for not meting out similar treatment to the wife who has sexual intercourse with a man (other than her husband)," the Committee said in its report submitted to the Centre.

It therefore suggested that "section 497 be suitably amended to the effect that whosoever has sexual intercourse with the spouse of any other person is guilty of adultery."

The Fifth Law Commission had in 1971 recommended similar changes, though it was never implemented.

The IPC, when in took form in 1860, was silent on the punishment for adultery with Lord Macaulay observing, "There are some peculiarities in the state of society in this country which may well lead a humane man to pause before he determines to punish the infidelity of wives."
The circumstances he referred to included child marriage and polygamy. Macaulay, hence, advised that it would be enough to treat it as a civil injury.

Will that tradition continue or will we have the end of discrimination with adultery laws being applied equally to men and women?