Go India!

A report prepared by an investment commission had forecast that India would require an investment of over $1.5 trillion in the next five years to sustain a growth rate above 8%. One of the most exciting ways of getting there is by creation of 140 SEZs across the country. The country expects an investment of Rs 1,00,000 crore over the next three years in these SEZs. Gujarat would get a lion's share of almost 40% because of the sheer magnitude of some of the SEZs coming up in the state. There are also plans of transforming Mumbai into a global financial center.

One of the best things I have heard in recent times is a corporate like Mukesh Ambani take responsibility in banishing poverty from the face of India. sweet music. India was all over Davos and everything sounded brilliant, but I was skeptical then. Were we over-promising? But there are just soo many positive developments in the papers & on the TV everyday that I can't help but jump in my seat!

I think the media is playing a brilliant role in exposing corrupt practices in the government and other bodies, it's taking people to task, not letting people go without convincing answers, putting pressure on the government, educating a lot of people around important issues. Whatz different about the role that media played in the past? I think it is more positive now and they actually feel that they can make a contribution and they want to expose everything thatz going wrong. There are more than 20 news channels here and all of them seem to be doing well!

So the corporates are doing well, the media is playing a big role, and I think key positions in the government are held by deserving people. Our Prime Minister - Manmohan Singh is the most education & experienced person in the parliament. A lot of people are critical of the split in responsibility between him and Sonia Gandhi, where she is the chairperson of the UPA coalition, and he is the PM. But I think without him, Congress would not have been able to form the UPA government. And with the current set up, Manmohan Singh has more time to take care of administrative duties of the position, which has resulted in a lot of work getting done (or atleast initiated) in a brief amount of time - which I think is very important of the current situation India is in.

Kamal Nath seems to have done a good job at Davos (ofcourse with the Indian delegation and the corporates), and the industry is on a role, and he needs to get his act really wrong to interfere with that.

And our Finance minister Chidambaram. He has come out with a decent to a very good budget. The spending on education has seen a steep increase. A lot of impact measurement studies have shown that the money allocated on education and other social causes has not really caused the intended impact and the money never trickled down. So there is a section of people who do question this steep rise in education. But I guess it was required and they just need to work on better models of ensuring impact.

And lastly, I never thought he would be part of this elite list of politicians, I am proud of - Lalu Prasad Yadav. He did suprise all us with railway budget, his plans for the coming years and most importantly that he delivered on most of the plans of last year - which seemed very ambitions. In addition to all of this he has also generated a huge surplus for the railways. Way to go!

Ofcourse everything is not perfect a lot of work needs to be done. But so far so good.

Some people I would keep my eyes on - the politicians and our judicial system. With only coalition parties forming the government in recent years, parties can only win elections by splitting the country. Congress has been criticized for playing with the sentiments of the minorities, and the BJP for playing the hindutva card. I think this is really cheap - shameful to say the least. In my opinion, LK Advani, leads these group of politicians. He has lost his control over BJP, but hasn't lost his ambition to become PM of India. What I see as his last attempt to become PM of India, he plans to split up the country by fostering communal tension, by organising a rath yatra through different states of India over recent terrorist bomb blasts in Varanasi. Logic?!?! Beats me, and I am willing to bet that it doesn't make sense to him either. But he will organise the yatra, communal tension will increase, innocent people will die - but it will help his party get some extra votes in the next elections and his chances to become PM of India might improve.

And then there is the Left. They refuse to listen to logic and refuse to change their ways. It is as if they are blind to all the developments taking place in India. They are part of the coalition that forms the Government and I can think of a zillion ways how the Left can indulge in constructive decisions with the Congress and come out with 1 government move. But NO, they need to carry out their stunts/strikes and all - slow the pace of the country. Logic? Same, try and get more votes. Give the impression to voters they are actually getting some work done.

I am counting on rationality of the Indian people and the media to play a big role in preventing further harm to the country by such politicians. And most importantly, I think the youth of this country are enthusiastic and ambitious and will play a big role in shaping the future.

In the next 5 years India as we know it is going to change dramatically! I am so excited! :)

Currently I am reading "The world is flat" by Thomas Friedman. I am sure you have heard of it (or have already read it). I think the book is brilliant and a must for zippies (esp. if you have a bent in IT).