Government & Corporate Corruption: Are they related?

During a discussion a friend of mine opined that government and corporate corruption is not related. I beg to differ. Here, I am including public sector companies with 'government' and by corporate I am presuming privately owned companies was meant in the discussion.

If we only try to see a little beyond the obvious, we will notice the invisible link. Why would I pay bribe to the accounts department of a privately owned corporation to get my payment? The answer is that I wouldn't if there is a viable alternative. I would stop doing business with such a company. Period. And in most of the cases I would have had an alternative, had the government owned companies, "the Public Sector", worked honestly.  For example, if the now defunct HEC Ranchi was run honestly, it would have given so much business to other companies that they wouldn't go to other privately owned suppliers. When that happened, the purchase department of private company would not have guts to ask for bribe to place an order. BHEL would have diversified and added family car manufacturing to it's portfolio. Vijay Deluxe (do you remember?) would have produced millions of scooters and people in 1960s-80s would not be waiting for 5 years to buy Bajaj Priya or pay Rs 10K premium for a 5k two wheeler. BEL would be dumping market with fingerprint, face recognition and other bio-metric instruments, ECIL (does it even exist now?) would be making big bucks with PC, Tablets and what nots. By honesty I do not mean just bribes. I mean doing the work they were actually supposed to do, honestly.
The word "Reforms" in industry has become almost synonymous with selling off of Public sector companies. Why have we not been able to run these great public sector companies profitably and innovatively? The lack of enthusiasm among public sector employees is because they are disgusted and demoralized with dishonesty at the topmost management level - who are inevitably hand in glove with corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. So yes, in my opinion, there is a strong connection between corruption in government and corporate world. Moreover, honest governance will create an environment where it will be very difficult for corrupt practices to prosper.

My point in the original discussion was this: we need not worry too much about the corruption in privately owned companies - the oxygen for corruption here comes from corruption in government. If the government is run honestly, the ills of corruption in privately owned corporations would go away almost on their own, automatically.

A Lesson In How To Create Favorable Statistics

The anchor at Zee News channel is arguing that by not forming a government in Delhi, the top two parties BJP and AAP are (a) insulting the voters and (b) betraying the public which turned up to vote in huge numbers this time.

Therefore they are asking viewers to vote ZN A if you think that AAP should take the initiative to form a government or ZN B if you think BJP should do that.

Very conveniently they have ignored the NOTA option, where the viewer may actually feel that re-election is a better option. A re-election gives an opportunity to the electorate to come out of it's muddled thinking and give a clear mandate.

It seems for people working in Zee News, the assurance given by AAP before elections that, post elections, they will neither give nor seek support from others, has no meaning. Perhaps they are so much used to the politics of underhand dealings, it is beyond their comprehension that AAP could actually not be seeking power at any cost. In eyes of Zee news, it may actually be foolishness on part of AAP.

There is another possibility though. The Zee News staff may be banking on these political parties to indulge in some horse trading, which would create spicy news for them while sitting in the comforts of the studio. Without this, they will now have to go out and work for their salaries.

In any case, if you want numbers to show only what you want to see, do take lessons from Zee News. They are amazingly good at it.

 

Skand Bhargava
+971 50 6340258

 

Election Results & Mammohan Singh & Mr. India

Spare a thought for our Prime Minister Sri Manmohan Singh. The Congress party has faced devastating defeat in Delhi and two more states. All TV channels are having a great time discussing victories and defeats of BJP, Congress and AAP. They are talking about and to Gahlot, Raje, Anna, Kejriwal, Rahul, Sonia, Raman Singh, Shivraj Singh and many other politicians. I mean so many different names are being thrown up, but the TV channels are not at all interested in bringing up the name of Sri Manmohan Singh, our Prime Minister! 

 

I wonder how the PM is taking it. Is he happy that no one is holding him responsible for the Congress debacle? Or is he feeling totally humiliated for being totally ignored by media and his own party, what to say of other parties and general public.

 

Anil Kapoor played the role Chief Minister in the movie "Nayak". How I wish Sri Manmohan Singh had emulated him in real life. Unfortunately he chose to become Anil Kapoor of Mr. India

Regards,

 

Skand Bhargava
+971 50 6340258

 

Can We Justify Not Walking As NOT Cheating In Cricket?

In billiards if you touch the cue ball while taking the aim, you will forfeit your chance by announcing that you touched it, even if the touch was so light that no one could notice it. Similar standards of honesty are expected of you in golf.

The rules are clear in cricket. If you hit the ball and a catch is taken cleanly, you are out. So if the umpire has not called a no ball and you can clearly see the catch being taken cleanly, shouldn't you walk?

Let's switch the subject.

You get only one lifetime to achieve something. But if in your country corruption  is so high that unless you bribe every small to big official, nothing moves, should you be called a cheat if you also play along and bribe people to get started in your enterprise?

If in cricket the umpires mistakenly declare you 'out' when you are  not, which may catastrophically result in your team losing or you being dropped from the team or even ruining your career for ever, should you still walk when the luck has played your way this time due to umpiring error?

I am sure everyone has his or her own opinion on this moral dilemma.

Spot Fixing in IPL: Shocked? No. Shamed? Yes, a bit.

Why should I be shocked? A country whose "Leaders" are so corrupt, what else do you expect from the "Followers"? Shamed because when someone of your own is caught cheating, a sense of shame is natural. So if an international Indian player is caught in a spot fixing racket, it is natural that we feel a sense of shame. Not to worry, it will go away in a day or two...

Honesty & PM Manmohan Singh

Honesty is not just about taking or giving bribes. It is more to do with following your conscience about what is ethically correct. In that sense it saddens me to find my PM failing me, for he was one person who I held in high esteem before he became PM.

Who Is Responsible For The Rot That Is Set In India?

Has Indian society suddenly become so rotten with rape cases being reported everyday ? Or was the rot set long back and only now it is being exposed more often? I believe latter is the case.

Simply put, we are a society of selfish people. Recent reported rapes are mere manifestation of these traits of ours. From childhood we are taught to take advantage of others by unfair means, as long as we do not get caught. Doesn't a rape fall into same category?

In schools, on lower classes, children are given projects to do. The purpose behind these projects is for the youngster to use his or her own imagination, resources and skills for self development. It is only fair that these projects are later evaluated and given some marks as well as exhibited.

But what really happens? In many (most?) cases it is the parents who do the projects.

It is evident that the project was not done by the student and yet these projects get higher marks and recognition in the class and school exhibitions. Why does this happen? It happens because the teachers are competing among themselves - whose class exhibition is "best"?! This, to impress the principal or head master or supervisor. Neither teachers nor the parents care if in this "match within a match", wrong values are being imparted to kids!

What do the young minds learn at that tender age?

1. Winning at any cost is ok, if you are not punished for wrong doing.

2. Teachers do not mind you cheating as long as it gives them some benefit.

We are creating young criminals who have lost any sense of fair play. When they grow up, they commit heinous crimes, sometimes in the knowledge that even if they are caught, they would get away by greasing the palm of authorities.

All this has been happening for decades now. It is an open secret that promotions and placements can be purchased in government departments by paying bribes to higher ups and politicians.

Therefore, while every rape case continues to horrify me, I would like to ask all those parents who completed project work for their children in schools and all those who purchased or sold promotions and favourable transfers through bribes, why should it surprise you? You are the ones who created these monsters – the rapists.