Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Should civil society groups be made part of government?) that was published in Newsband

Should civil society groups be made part of government?
Governance in a democracy is propelled by two factors: delegation and accountability. Citizens choose their representatives and delegate constituency responsibilities to them. Legislators delegate authority to ministers.
But the process of accountability is not always adequate. If the Public becomes impatient with the quality of governance it cannot easily make the rulers accountable. Hence a rule should be made that every policy action should be referred to the people.
Technology now allows us to access public opinion. It is appropriate, therefore, to use this feedback while framing laws and policies.
Use should be made of opinion polls, text-message or internet-based surveys. In Switzerland, laws passed by Parliament can be challenged and nullified. In the Swiss system, an individual citizen can force a plebiscite if he collects 50,000 signatures. The same system should be used in India too so that people are happy with the way government functions and won't have to hold them accountable.
Civil society groups should be allowed to involve themselves in the election process because they work among grassroots communities and represent popular opinion. As such, they bring to policy shaping a humane heart, while civil servants and political administrators only contribute a clinical mind. Both the Anna Hazare camp and members of the National Advisory Council (NAC) wants such a kind of system to prevail.
But there is one other point to consider. What happens when civil society groups have opposite views? Are they both right?
After the Japan earthquake, some civil society groups demanded India scrap nuclear power plants and focus instead on hydroelectricity. Yet, many projects have been stymied by other civil society groups that have made hydropower - rather than nuclear power - their object of hate. So if every thread of civil society is handed a competing veto, how is India expected to give its people electricity?
The answer goes beyond accountability and delegation. It is about governance, whether global or domestic, and who can deliver it and who cannot.

Dinesh Kamath reveals the reason why he resigned from Indian Customs while he was posted there as Intelligence Officer in SIIB

Just before I resigned from Indian Customs I was working as Intelligence Officer in Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch (SIIB). I was investigating into a very serious case. If I could only solve that case it would become the best piece of investigation ever done by any Intelligence Officer. But I would get threatening calls telling me that I should stop investigation into this case simply because there were top custom officials as well as top celebrities involved in a big way in this case. The caller didn't want the names of these important people to get exposed. But I kept pursuing the case. The reason for my penetrating deep inside the film industry was connected with this case. The fact is I was pursuing this case in the capacity of freelance journalist even before I joined Indian Customs. I continued to pursue this case even after I joined Indian Customs. But I found that the powers of an Intelligence Officer was not enough to get to the root of this case. That is the reason why I resigned from Customs and pursued the case in the capacity of a freelance journalist once again. Today I'm pursuing the same case in the capacity of a staff journalist as well as freelancer. If I succeed in solving this case this story will be considered as the best piece of investigative journalism anytime anywhere. So pray that I succeed in cracking this case. Bye!

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (BCCI should think of the future) that was published in Newsband

BCCI should think of the future
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s influence over cricket has substantially changed the game. India's victory in the 1983 World Cup had widened the interest in the game, increased the sale of colour television and India went on to become conquerors in the world cricket.
The game of cricket has billion-strong fanatical following spread across all continents, Telecast rights for Indian cricket (including tournaments like the Indian Premier League) run into a couple of billion dollars. It is become clear that the authorities of BCCI have shrewd business sense. This fact has given a boost to both the game and finance derived from it in our country.
There are clashes taking place time and again between International Cricket Council (ICC) and BCCI. But one can't help but admit that BCCI has been the brain behind not only promoting the game of cricket but also keeping it alive.
But there are many cricket-playing countries which are not happy with the behaviour of BCCI. Pakistan took issue with India over the extended term for the ICC chief which BCCI had proposed. Sri Lanka is upset over the BCCI's decision not to allow Indian players to take part in the proposed Sri Lanka Premier League. Even England and Australia have started calling India a bully. They say BCCI authorities are arrogant. Maybe BCCI has certain drawbacks. But one can't deny the fact that it is Indian cricket board that gave cricket a tremendous boost and this in turn proved to be extremely beneficial to all the cricket-playing countries in the world. The Indian sub-continent should not have any problem with India because it is India that challenged the status quo which if it had not England would continue to dominate in World Cups matters. Both BCCI and Pakistan should get credit for getting the World Cup tournament to the subcontinent first, and by rotation, everywhere in the cricket world.
But it is true that BCCI must think of the future while using the powers it possesses now. For example, BCCI's refusal to agree to using technology like UDRS (The Umpire Decision Review System) to augment umpiring decisions in spite of majority being in favour of it is an unreasonable behaviour on its part. BCCI should not have shown such resistance to technology. It is true that BCCI has provided virtue to cricket but it should think of the future while taking certain decisions. BCCI is on top today. But the same may not be the case tomorrow. Hence BCCI should care for the legacy it will leave behind when it will no more be in power.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials ('The future of American investments in India' and other editorials)) that were published in Newsband

The future of American investments in IndiaWhen Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George Bush announced the nuclear deal, there was almost no chance of its passage as the Bill necessitated a change in an important law, the 1954 Atomic Energy Act. Only congressional action could enable this change. A major obstacle to making this change was that Bush was quite weak at the time this Bill was presented to the Congress. Some Indians then formed a virtual organisation, the US-India Friendship Council, made up of community leaders from various states, for the sole purpose of lobbying for this deal. The members of this council visited senators and congressmen, held rallies and events in the capital, engaged the media, reached out to other Indians and so on. It was the first time the Indian-American community demonstrated that it now not only had economic power but was also able to influence policy in the US.
The council is geared towards how India can take advantage of the Indian diaspora. The first generation of Indians in the US grew up in India with Indian values. India gave them their lives and the US their livelihood. While you can take a person out of India, you cannot take India out of him. So this generation genuinely wants to give back to India what they received from their motherland. Their attempt to engage second-generation Indians in the US who do not have that emotive bonding with India as the first generation does is laudable.
The future of American investments in India is bright. It was a defining moment in India-US bilateral relations when President Obama came to India in November 2010 and addressed Parliament. Till then Indians were not quite sure what his opinion on bilateral issues was. But his visit to India was a major event and he even got Indian deals. However, after his visit, India has been hit by scandals. But the equation between Obama and Singh is excellent. US FDI will surely come to India but India must demonstrate its ability to be transparent so as to not scare away foreign investors weary of corruption. Regarding outsourcing, it's made out to be a bigger issue than it is. A very influential American has assured that outsourcing is the US's problem and it will look into that, let India take care of infrastructure and other issues which are needed for attracting FDI. There are American-Indians who will continue to lobby for American investments in India, but it's important that the Indian government resolve the corruption issue, otherwise India's great potential may be lost.

Can India surpass China?
In the matter of manufacturing China is number one today. India ranks No.2 among 26 nations. India has a vast, English-speaking workforce and engineering talent. Hence India holds out promise as a global manufacturing hub.
Concerning cost of labour, today we have an edge over China, a traditionally export-led nation now preoccupied with spurring consumption at home. India compared to its neighbour is already buoyed by domestic demand and has an abundance of young, cheap labour. The question is, can we use this fact to our advantage? The answer depends on how much reforms we bring about in the matter of boosting manufacturing and building the skilled manpower it needs.
China has the kind of world-class infrastructure we're still struggling to build. Factories need power, connectivity and distribution chains. We need a new market-oriented policy that trims scope for government ham-handedness in land transactions and links buyers to sellers.
While five out of 10 persons in India's are self-employed, 3.5 are casual labourers, only 1.5 are regular wage-earners or salaried workers. Thus a yawning gap exists between the organised and unorganised sectors. The latter sector provides 90% employment but accounts for less than one-third of manufacturing production.
Labour reform will ensure that employers invest in workers' skills upgrade. This in turn will show up in improved productivity and more globally benchmarked products. That's apart from giving labour market entrants job security and access to social benefits. Without mass-scale absorption of underpaid, underemployed farm labour into factories, we can't match China's success in poverty alleviation.
The answer to the question whether India will surpass China depends on whether our government will take the initiative in bringing about the reforms which are badly needed if we have to give a boost to our manufacturing power.

Hollywood films have solid demand in IndiaIndian fans of western movies will now get to watch some Hollywood releases earlier than US audiences. The upcoming Tintin movie directed by Steven Spielberg The Adventures of the Unicorn - is slated to be released in India in November and in America during December. Similarly, the new James Bond thriller and the action flick, Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol - starring Bollywood's Anil Kapoor alongside Tom Cruise - may also be released earlier in India than elsewhere.
The size and power of the Indian film-viewing public is amazing. Most of the members of our public are passionately in love with cinema, fond of flash and spectacle. Indian viewers are often fine-tuned into originally literary characters like Tintin and Bond. Ian Fleming and Herge's colourful creations have sold like hot cakes for decades.
But side by side there is danger of video piracy flourishing. With early releases in India, audiences flocking to cinemas for that authentic 'big-picture' experience, video pirates could be denied large supplies of illegal DVDs and their scope limited further by tough anti-piracy laws overseas. This could be the beginning to many happy ends.
Hollywood has scored over Kollywood (Tamil Film Industry) and that too on their home ground. A string of Hollywood films have capitalized on the absence of significant competition from Indian films and are raking in the moolah at the box office. While there have been almost half-a-dozen Hollywood films (the fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie, The Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda 2, Fast & Furious 5, Thor, Priest, Source Code) that have become superhits, there has been only one Tamil film that the trade pundits accept as a superhit Ko. The rest, including star-driven fare have done only from above average to ordinary business. The audiences seem to want to explore movies that have a universal appeal, in addition to their regular choice of films. People come to the movies for entertainment and Hollywood movies have delivered on that. Hollywood films had a far better connect with today's audiences.
Sequels and franchises have an in-built audience, who are familiar with the storytelling and the characters and that helps a film in the current market scenario.
Dubbing films in regional languages, more localized marketing, 3D and other cutting-edge technology, the growth of multiplexes, a more globalised audience these are some of the factors helping Hollywood in India. And now that the Hollywood films are releasing on the same day as their US release it is also helping. Not only does it help combat piracy, but the film also profits locally from the international release buzz.

Acting Editor of Newsband Dinesh Kamath's photographs clicked by Reporter of Newsband Pratibha Yadav

Acting Editor of Newsband Dinesh Kamath is to the left. To the right is Employee of Newsband and KD Constructions Pvt Ltd Radhakrishna Dalai. The photographs are clicked by Reporter of Newsband Pratibha Yadav.

Dinesh Kamath's column on 'Movie and TV World' that appeared in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Internal purity is also important) that appeared in Newsband

Internal purity is also importantIt is not enough just to protect ourselves from infections and diseases. We indulge in good eating and clean living habits to prevent ourselves from catching diseases. We take care of our external cleanliness - but what about our inner cleanliness? Is it not out duty to keep our heart, mind and soul clean too?
We pick up so may negative vibrations from the external world that threatens to create negativities within us. They can make our minds and hearts impure. Hence it's our duty to create an immune system by which our sacred mind doesn't get polluted. The only way to achieve this goal is by overcoming jealousy, doubt and unnecessary desires.
We harbour within us both good and bad memories. We should not only blame others for our misfortunes but also give credit to them if they have helped us achieve some success. Also we must not always blame others for our misfortunes because there is possibility of we being personally responsible for our own misfortunes.
Sometimes ignorant people irk us. At such times we should display patience and not get upset. At the same time we must keep our minds open to accept the knowledge passed on by wise people. This way we can create positivity in both our minds and hearts.
We must prevent our children from absorbing negative vibrations since it is these negative elements that make them use abusive words and resort to violence. If these children are ignored at the early stage then their negativity can spread to the whole world when they grow up. This is how terrorism is born.
Hence the young ones must try their best to drop off all their negative traits one by one right from young age itself so that they grow up to become absolutely normal beings.
Thus it is not enough just to remove physical impurities. Getting rid of mental and emotional impurities is also a must. Only this can make us Divine.