Twenty- five Seven

Personally speaking

Recent Posts

  • Mr. Chidambaram in Mr. Jaitley’s clothing?

    Policy of Deceipt

    TaxTax (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

    I have always been a staunch supporter of the BJP only because I thought it was a more realistic political party. At the end of the day, the Congress remains an elitist party with its core members coming from a rarified social atmosphere far divorced from reality. Of course like all political parties they too had their lumpen elements but considering the need for grassroot connections, this sadly is the pool from which all political parties have to draw support and candidates  from. However, the BJP with its Jan Sangh and Janata party roots seemed more down to earth and in touch with the people. I thought they were a more honest group of people who truly had the people’s interest at heart.

    Seems is the operative word because the recent budget of Arun Jaitley turns out to be quite deceptive in its avowed declaration of being a change from the past. After thundering  protests on the regressive economic policies of the UPA Govt, after shouting themselves hoarse with promises of growth stimulating policies conducive to investment from both domestic and international markets, the retrospective taxation on instruments such as FMPs which gained popularity simply because the interest income was non-taxable have proved that this government is no different from the Congress run one.

    Raising taxes or new taxes aren’t in themselves bad but what is terrible is “Retrospective Taxation“. How can the investor choose any form of investment if he is unsure of the tax implications? And retrospective taxation is downright devious and totally unexpected from the BJP government which won the mandate purely on the promise of being different from the UPA. But are they really?

    Sorry Mr. Jaitley, you have proved to be no better than Mr. Chidambaram and I am beginning to believe a Congress MP who once addressed an electoral meeting exhorting all those present to vote for him saying that all politicians are crooks so you may as well vote for the known devil rather than the unknown one!

    Is the BJP going to continue the Policy of Deceipt ? 

    Plus ca change, plus ca change pas.

  • What is more frustrating : iPad or Vodafone?

    Ever since I got this iPad my frustration levels have gone up because I can’t for the life of me understand why I cannot connect to the internet. iPad fresh cleverly comes without an instruction book and one is supposed to know how to use it instinctively. Unfortunately my instincts aren’t well developed and I am merely floundering in an ocean of incompetence as I struggle from one issue to the next.

    My first issue was the frequent updates that one has to install. Sadly the updates can only be installed over wifi which for me is a major problem since I don’t have wifi in the comfort of my home. Then when I do manage to hook up to a wifi network, the speed is so pathetically slow that nothing gets downloaded. Or if it does, it is only partial. Hence the bug which is meant to get fixed remains unfixed.
    The second issue is Internet connectivity. My first service provider was MTNL which assured me speeds that were mind boggling. My mind was boggled by the extremely sluggish speed especially since I live just 200 m away from the telephone exchange that is the broadband provider.
    Out of sheer desperation I switched to Vodafone which is not exactly the best but which I thought would be easier to communicate with. Alas that too is a dead loss and I continue to pay subscription charges for an Internet speed that is sub optimal if I manage to connect at all.
    With my limited mobility, I don’t know where to go. Should I approach the Apple store or Vodafone? Perhaps I would be better off just junking them both!

  • Why do countries need to issue visas ?

    The other day I had to apply for a Pakistani visa, a task which took me all of three hours and left me with a distinct soreness that prevented me from doing Yoga all of last week . The whole application was a veritable thesis which ran into several pages with the required number of copies.

    All visa application forms are like attempting lie detector tests with the strange questions you have to answer to prove the genuineness of your intent to visit for peaceful purposes. I mean this is outright ridiculous . Did Kasab and gang apply for Indian Visas? Not at all. Yet these men managed to make an entry into Mumbai harbour , enter the poshest hotels in town and do exactly as they pleased. In fact every terrorist manages to get into whichever country he wants without the slightest hitch.

    I would have thought that countries are dying to have people like me visit them : the ones who actually stimulate their moribund economies by consuming vast quantities of food if not other consumables. We are the people who want to visit every nook and cranny, who actually support the local  arts and crafts by buying kitschy knick knacks for either ourselves or friends and relatives back home.  If it weren’t for people like me, there wouldn’t be any Hop On Hop Off Buses on the road. Nor for that matter would there be tour guides and touts not to mention the hospitality industry run by small entrepreneurs with their cute B&Bs. 
    So why do countries need to issue visas ?  The people who are out to create havoc in the world are definitely not going to announce their intentions to do so. Nor is any criminal going to answer questions relating to his imprisonment, crime etc.  So why do ordinary tourists have to answer such questions?  As for personal information, what difference does it make what my mother’ name is and what her profession is? 
    And why can’t the process be more streamlined ? Each country asks for photos of different sizes, some countries require the applicant to produce IT returns as proof of solvency or a bank certificate verifying a minimum balance that runs into hundreds of thousands…..
    Granted we do need permission to enter countries but surely the process of applying for a visa can be less painful. 
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