1. Auto repair shops will disappear
A petrol/diesel engine has 20,000 individual parts. An electrical motor has 20. Electric cars are sold with lifetime guarantees and are only repaired by dealers. It takes only 10 minutes to remove and replace an electric motor. Faulty electric motors are not ‘repaired’, but re-assembled on an assembly line, replacing the damaged parts. Your electric motor malfunction light goes on, so you drive up to what looks like a car wash, and your car is towed through while you have a cup of coffee and out comes your car with a new electric motor!

2. Petrol pumps will go away
Street corners will have meters that dispense electricity. Companies will install electrical recharging stations; in fact, they’ve already started in several countries.

3. Coal industries will go away
Gasoline/oil companies will go away. All electricity will either be nuclear, or Solar. Once we perfect Cold Fusion, then even Solar & Nuclear Fission energy will not be needed. Drilling for oil will stop. Goodbye to OPEC.

4. As solar gets more efficient, homes will produce and store electrical energy during the day and then use it / sell it back to the grid. The grid stores it and dispenses it to industries that are high electricity users. Eg. The Tesla roof.

5. Personal self-driven cars will go away
As public transport gets better & automatic-driver cars emerge, people will choose one or the other. There will be no more parking areas needed. You can be productive while driving. Most babies born today will never need a driver’s license and will never own a car.

6. This will change our cities, because we will need significantly fewer cars. We can transform former parking spaces into green parks.

7. Look at all the companies offering all electric vehicles. That was unheard of 5 yrs ago. That said, most traditional car companies will try the evolutionary approach and build a better car wherein only some will succeed, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels.

8. Fewer cars, fewer drivers, even fewer human drivers. Fewer accidents. The car insurance business model will disappear.

9. Cities / Real estate will change. If you can work while you commute, people will abandon their towers to move far away to more beautiful green affordable neighbourhoods.

10. Cities will be less noisy because all new cars will run on electricity.

11. Cities will have much cleaner air as well.

12. The Tricorder X has already been announced (inspired by the “Tricorder” device from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your pulse, your blood sample and your breath & analyses 54 bio-markers that will identify nearly any diseases. There are dozens of phone apps out there right now for health purposes. The Apple Watch 4 is also an ECG device.

13. AI/ML is already helping pathologists diagnose cancer, its 4 times more accurate than humans.

14. In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and were responsible for 85% of the world’s photographs. Within 10 years, their business model disappeared. Who would have thought of that ever happening? What happened to Kodak (and Polaroid) will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years… and most people don’t see it coming.

15. IBM’s Watson gives you legal advice (as of now it’s only the basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans. So, if you study law, think about this. There will be 50% fewer lawyers in the future, only legal specialists will remain.

Do remember all this before you get onto the ‘say no to…’ bandwagon:

1993 Mumbai – 800. We said No to War.
2001 J&K Assembly – 38. We said No to War.
2001 Parliament – 7. We said No to War.
2002 Akshardham – 31. We said No to War.
2003 Mumbai train blasts – 66. We said No to War.
2005 Delhi – 70. We said No to War.
2006 Mumbai Train – 209. We said No to War.
2008 Jaipur – 63. We said No to War.
2008 Mumbai – 171. We said No to War.
2016 Uri – 20. We said No to War.
2019 Pulwana – 44.

We have been at war with terrorism for decades now. Latest being that we struck terrorist bases in POK & Pakistan.

Having taken a licking every time they tried to wage an overt war with us, Pakistan has morphed itself into a terrorist state for the past 20+ years & has been engaged in a proxy war with India – through money, drugs, arms & explosives. So, while India is fighting ‘war against terror’ not ‘war against Pak’, Pakistan has been at war with India for as many decades. Hence after India attacked terrorist camps, Pak tried to attack our military assets.

On every single occasion, our every attempt at peace with the democratic state of Pakistan has been met with aggression by the terrorist state of Pakistan. Pakistan will never dismantle the terrorist state within. In-fact, I am not sure Pakistan can distinguish anymore the democratic state of Pakistan and the terrorist state of Pakistan. Decades of existence of the latter, have homogenised the two.

India has always looked at Pakistan as an alienated brother with whom reconciliation is possible. Unfortunately, the terrorist state of Pakistan has always looked at India as a mortal enemy with whom there can be no peace. It is clear that talking doesn’t help. Trade, sports, culture, movies, etc etc don’t help.

With each forthcoming generation, the deadly-ness of weapons at Pakistan’s disposal grows. Who knows what threat our children or grandchildren will end up facing from our ‘democratic’ neighbour? Pak is a nuclear state with highly loose war-morals (putting it mildly). Even if they believe that ‘nuclear’ is too overt an option or if the ‘Western democracies’ somehow cause the de-nuclearisation of Pakistan (which China will never allow actually), what prevents the Pakistanis from using bio-warfare? What would happen if there was a airborne release of smallpox by Pakistan in India?

The only way to end this war is to win it. So, if winning the war means the breaking up of Pakistan or the tricolour being unfurled over Islamabad, then so be it.

Simon Senek is right. This is not a finite rules-based game. It is an undefined, infinite game. And in an infinite game, the only way to win is through attrition. To continue to apply increasing pressure on your opponent until the opponent runs out of resources to fight you.

I would be absolutely OK with my government dedicating XXX resources over XXX years towards the implosion of Pakistan. These resources should go towards exerting both internal & external pressures (military, financial & geo-political) both covertly & overtly, to achieve this goal.

साम has not worked. दाम has not worked. It is time for दंड & भेद to be delivered together.

India needs to shed her BharatMata-meets-Gandhi-meets-GautamBuddha approach and get into a Chanakya-meets-Shivaji-meets-Durga avatar.

Details & Images of India’s India’s National War Memorial.

Structure:
The National War Memorial complex includes a central obelisk, an eternal flame, and six bronze murals depicting famous battles fought by Indian Army, Air Force and Navy. The design of the National War Memorial has a layout comprising four concentric circles, namely, the ‘Amar Chakra’ or Circle of Immortality, the ‘Veerta Chakra’ or Circle of Bravery, the ‘Tyag Chakra’ or Circle of Sacrifice, and the ‘Rakshak Chakra’ or Circle of Protection. It is a fitting tribute to our soldiers who laid down their lives defending the nation, post-independence.

The complex is partly subterranean since according to rules the architecture should be such that it should not disturb nearby vistas.

Param Veer Chakra Awardees:
Busts of the 21 awardees of Param Veer Chakra have been installed at Param Yoddha Sthal which includes three living awardees as well.

A Brick with a Name:
The Tyag and Rakshak chakra are made up of 16 walls with granite bricks. Each brick has a name of a soldier, his ID, regiment and rank. Through a mobile application that will be made available, one can type the name of the solider and find the location of the brick. A provision also exists by which new names can be added. For this periodically names will be compiled.

A Daily Retreat Ceremony
The memorial will also have a retreat ceremony daily and a Change of Guard will take place every Sunday at 9.50 am with a ceremonial wreath laying to commemorate the important days.

The War Memorial will be open daily between 9 am to 7.30 pm in summers and from 9 am to 6.30 pm in winters.

Income Tax reliefs:
* No tax till Rs 5 lakh taxable income for individuals tax payers
* Standard deduction increased to Rs 50,000 from Rs 40,000 for salaried class

Tax exemptions on investments:
* Individuals with gross income up to 6.5 lakh rupees will not need to pay any tax if they make investments in provident funds and prescribed equities
* TDS threshold for home rent increased from Rs 1.8 lakh to 2.4 lakh
* Interest income up to Rs 40,000 in post offices and banks made tax free
* Capital gains tax exemptions under Section 54 to be available up to Rs 2 crore. Capital gains exemption to be available on 2 house properties
* Income tax relief on notional rent from unsold houses extended to 2 years from 1 year

Other tax related reliefs:
* Income Tax returns to be processed within 24 hours and returns will be paid immediately
* Within nearly two years, almost all assessment and verification of IT returns will be done electronically by an anonymised tax system without any intervention by officials.

For farmers:
* Rs 6,000 per year assured income support for small and marginal farmers
* Farmers having up to 2 hectare of lands will get Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalment. The scheme will be effective from December 1, 2018.
* Interest subvention for farm loan takers: Farmers affected by natural calamities to get 2% interest subvention and additional 3% interest subvention upon timely repayment
* 2% interest subvention to farmers who pursue animal husbandry, fisheries jobs through Kisaan credit cards
* Kamdhenu scheme for animal husbandry.

GST:
* Group of Ministers to suggest ways to reduce GST for house buyers
* Direct tax collections increased from Rs 6.38 lakh crore in 2013-14 to almost Rs 12 lakh crore; The tax base is up from Rs 3.79 crore to 6.85 crore
* Businesses with less than Rs 5 crore annual turnover, comprising over 90% of GST payers, will be allowed to return quarterly returns
* Indian Customs to fully digitised exim transactions and leveraging RFID for logistic. Govt abolishes duties on 36 capital goods
* GST collections in January 2019 has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore

Sops for unorganised sector workers:
* Rs 3,000 per year pension for unorganised sector workers
* New Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana for unorganised sector workers with income up to Rs 15,000 per month. Beneficiaries will get Rs 3,000 per month pension with a contribution of Rs 100 per month after the retirement. Govt allocates Rs 500 crore for the scheme.
* Gratuity limit increased for workers

Rural allocations:
* Rs 60,000 crore for MNREGA
* Rs 19,000 allocated for construction of rural roads under Gram Sadak yojana

Defence Budget:
* Govt increases defence budget to over Rs 3 lakh crore. Govt will provide additional funds for Defence, if needed.
* We have disbursed 35,000 crore rupees under #OROP scheme in the last few years

Railways:
*Railway’s operating ratio seen 96.2% in FY19 Vs 95% FY20.
*Railway capex for FY20 set at record Rs 1.6 lakh crore
* Today there is not a single unmanned railway crossing on the broad gauge in India.

Fiscal Deficit:
* For FY19, government has revised the fiscal deficit target to 3.4 percent in FY 19. Fiscal deficit for 2019/20 estimated at 3.4 percent of GDP.
* Government’s stated commitment earlier was to bring down the fiscal deficit to 3.1 percent of GDP by the end of March 2020, and to 3 percent by March 2021
*Current account deficit at 2.5% of the GDP

For filmmakers
* A single window clearance will be made available to filmmakers, anti-camcording provision to also to be introduced in Cinematography Act to fight piracy

Digital India:
*Govt to build 1 lakh digital villages

Nine priority sectors for govt
To build next-gen infrastructure – physical as well as social;
(1) To build a Digital India that reaches every citizen;
(2) Clean and Green India;
(3) Expanding rural industrialisation using modern industrial technologies;
(4) Clean Rivers – with safe drinking water to all Indians;
(5) Oceans and coastlines;
(6) Healthy India;
(7) India becoming launchpad of the world;
(8) Self-sufficiency in food and improving agricultural productivity with emphasis on organic food;
(9) Minimum Government MaximumGovernance, with proactive, responsible and friendly bureaucracy.

– Adapted from a piece by Abhishek Banerjee in OpIndia…

For at least 15 years now, ‘journalists’, ‘academics’ & ‘intellectuals’ have been talking about the supposed ‘charisma, intelligence & political acumen’ of Priyanka Gandhi. What was the basis of that, nobody knew, but it did end up creating this myth of “the smarter Gandhi”.

Since yesterday, for these mythmakers of Indian journalism, the ‘object of their worship’ was suddenly before them, available for public exaltation.

And what a show they put on!

‘Classy, smart, charismatic, aggressive, brahmastra’ were only a few of the platitudes showered on someone who has ZERO political successes to her name.

Some even went on to ask if her entry will ‘ensure a Congress sweep & change the election across the country’.

Others discussed & analysed in detail which ‘card’ she will play: the victim card, the ‘I look like Indira’ card or will the ‘smarter Gandhi’ card?

Which is why this political ‘debut’ of Priyanka Gandhi feels like a parody of Indian politics. Something like a comedy skit on a late-night laughter challenge show, where characters dress up as politicians for laughs.

One prominent TV channel actually listed Priyanka’s “connect with women voters” as one of her many strengths. It is hard to see this as anything other than an insult to the intelligence of Indian women.

The most idiotic point among all this is that Priyanka will succeed because she looks like Indira Gandhi. Its like saying Arbaaz Khan will win grand slams because he looks like Roger Federer.

This feels like ‘the dynasty’ is laughing in our faces, telling us that we as a nation will accept almost anybody as long as she bears their famous surname.

Are we supposed to take this seriously? Is this even for real? Will the India of 2019 – the world’s fastest growing economy, the world’s 2nd most populous country and the world’s 5th largest economy – tolerate this insult to its intelligence???

I surely hope not!
P.S. While this skit from the Congress Party may make waves in the NDTV/Wire/Quint circles, Indian politics will continue as usual. The best this can do for Congress is give Rahul a face-saving excuse to leave Amethi (which looks increasingly unwinnable for him) and scour the country for a ‘safe’ seat somewhere else.

 

The period from 2004 to 2014 was the emergence of the age of electronic media in India. And that enabled an increasing population of the country to have good awareness of the glorious mess that India’s central government was. While the public was aware of what was said on camera / online, we weren’t really aware of the behind-the-scene shenanigans which led to whatever was being said, being said. Sanjaya Baru’s book shone a big bright light onto the despicable dark underbelly of the Congress and, more importantly, the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.  Now, having read the book & knowing the people involved in the film, I was really looking forward to watching it. However, I was disappointed. While excellently enacted, the film really does not do justice to the book.

 

 

The story of the film is common knowledge. What the book brings out, and what the film should have brought out was the evil manoeuvres enacted by Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Kapil Sibal, Chidambaram, etc etc, on the country and specifically on the PMO. The ‘puppetisation’ of MMS was a dark period in India’s polity and the same has been brought out in the book. The film, at best, achieves 1/3rd of the same. The screenplay is actually not so bad and the treatment is very interesting. I love it that the protagonist plays the role of the sutradhaar & breaks the 4th wall often.

Visually the film is just about average. Production Design looks iffy. Cinematography is decent but seems too formulaic. The film is very strangely edited with the interflow between scenes being rather strange & jerky. That said, the background score is actually not bad.

Overall, the weakest link in the film seems to be the direction.

Without doubt, Akshaye is the star of the film. And he performs really well, pretty much carrying the film. Smart people have a glint of that smartness in their eyes. Sanjaya Baru has it. And so does Akshaye. Kudos on a job well done.

Anupam Kher as Dr Manmohan Singh has also done a really god job. While it is almost impossible to be as inert as MMS was, he tries. He tries to bring out the internal conflict of the good-scholar-bad-politician MMS well. And I would say he exceeds expectations.

Suzanne Bernert & Vipin Sharma have got the scheming duo of Sonia Gandhi & Ahmed Patel bang on. Arjun Mathur has embodied the dumbfounded-clueless-entitlement of RaGa brilliantly and Aahana Kumra has caught the sharp smarts of Priyanka Gandhi well. The rest of the ensemble fulfil their roles competently.

All-in-all, one should definitely see The Accidental Prime Minister. But like most instances, please read the book thereafter. It is definitely better than the film!!!

Superhero origin stories are important. They end up establishing fandom and defining the entire narrative of the characters. In the past decade, we have had 2 stellar examples of how origin stories have ended up creating absolute superstars out of  relatively unknown characters – Iron Man & Guardians of the Galaxy. With Bumblebee, we have a third.

Also, this film is the Transformers film with the most heart!

The best part of the film is that the story is simple & straightforward, with no weird offshoots or tangential diversions. It is about an underdog with a singular goal who meets another. The screenplay is as funny as it is dramatic. The action seems more organic and less ‘structured’, which is like a breath of fresh air, compared to the other Transformers films.

The production design, Animation, VFX and cinematography is outstanding, as expected. So is the soundtrack, which is yet another brilliant throwback to the latter quarter of the last century.

Overall, excellently directed by Travis Knight (a great follow-up to his 2016 film Kubo and the Two Strings)!

 

Hailee Steinfeld continues to impress. She has followed up her child / teen roles in True Grit, Enders Game & Pitch Perfect 3 with two excellent roles – in Bumblebee and as the voice of Gwen in Spiderverse. A star of the future, for sure. The rest of the ensemble, including John Cena are competent. The real star performance of the film has emerged from those who have animated the face of Bumblebee. a few yrs ago, Disney showed us how to generate emotional drama from an inanimate in Wall-E. In this film, the makers have demonstrated it again with excellent animated acting by Bumblebee.

All-in-all, Bumblebee is a must-see. Both as an origin story and as an example of what a true Transformers film should be!

The “minorities under threat” diatribe is often thrown up by ’eminent intellectuals’ in India.

Here are some facts about who some ‘minorities’ in India in the last 2 decades:
1. Accidental PM for 10 yrs
2. Real PM for 10 yrs
3. President for 5 yrs
4. 2 Army chiefs, 1 Air Chief
5. 1 Director IB
6. Multiple Chief Justices & Judges
7. Chief Election Commissioner
AND
Perhaps the most important point:
8. All minorities, (muslims being the only exception), have a socio-economic standing higher than the national average. This is unheard of anywhere in the world, anywhere.

Now, Let all that sink in.

This sweeping generalisation of minorities under threat in India is UTTER nonsense. Whether under this government or earlier ones… In fact no other country has undertaken so much minority appeasement in the past few decades as India has.

The real minorities that are suffering are are those that are economically backward – of ALL religions & castes; both rural & urban. It is those people who need the most support & upliftment…

There exists a theory that the human race is alien to Earth. We are not original inhabitants of this planet and have illegally occupied it, even colonised it.

This is borne out by the fact that we are THE ONLY species on earth that consumes the natural resources of this planet in an ridiculously unsustainable manner. We treat our own ‘world’ as nothing more than a repository of resources which we believe we are entitled to use, not just for our need but for our greed as well. Humans are not genetically coded to treat this planet as our own ‘home’ and in some deep dark recess of our genetic code & hence our subconscious, there exists an awareness that sometime in the future, we will leave this planet and go back ‘home.

The really crazy bit is that – based on the behaviour of a majority of humankind, I see nothing that contradicts this theory.

I am continually amazed by the repeated attempts of ‘Dilli’ to try and become the base for the Hindi film industry.

I am currently in the middle of atleast my 50th conversation with a news outlet / cultural group / group of ‘creative’ people / Chief Minister who have asked me how ‘Ballywood’ can be brought to Dilli. Their logic being that since almost 50% of the industry is from North India, that Dilli should be its base, not Mumbai.

Posting here what I just told them – that it just ain’t gonna happen. Ever!!! They should give up the delusion.

In a nutshell, Dilli is way too hot, way too cold, way too non-cosmopolitan, way too unprofessional (‘ho jayega ji’ attitude), way too tharki, way too unsafe & way too pretentious.

Secondly, there’s something spectacular needed in a city to extract this industry from the culture of Mumbai and Dilli ain’t got that X factor. For sure…

So no amount of ‘global’ film festivals or international film delegations or ‘film summits’ will help. Just redirect all that money & energy into making Delhi a little more ‘global’ and their chances may just improve a little…