One Year Appraisal

A couple of years ago I wrote this post where I laid out my expectations from my government(s). One year is a fair time to access the performance of a government and comment on its effectiveness. In my previous post I had indicated my preference for the BJP as the party to govern India and I was glad that they got the opportunity last year. I keep having arguments with some of my closest friends (who are staunch Modi-haters) that a fair amount of time needs to be given to a government to show results and now that 11 months are gone am making an objective attempt to evaluate their performance against my expectations.

Expectation no 1:  Focus on development of infrastructure (Highways, Canals, Ports, Airports).
Result: No real progress has been made in this field. The latest budget has increased the allocation to infrastructure by more than 40% but we need to see some serious progress in this field. Ideally I would want us to go back to the 10kms per day last seen in the Vajpayee era. It would be a shame if we cant achieve this in the absence of Mr 10%.

Expectation no 2: A foreign policy which is focused on preserving our national interests and  not influenced by idiotic concerns of allies.
Result: A success on all fronts according to me. Am just going to ignore the so called U-Turns on the Nuclear deal with the US (it deserves a different post). In my last post I argued that the UPA govt had spoiled our relationships with friendly neighbours like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, the new governments has taken many positive steps to undo the damage caused by the previous regime. A lot of work still needs to be done to build trust with Sri Lanka on the fisherman issue (my understanding is very limited and is restricted to basic facts) but the new regime there has made the right noises so I remain hopeful. 

Expectation no 3: A will to fight both internal and external terror and not politicize the issue.
Result: I am informed by very reliable sources that the main difference between the NDA and UPA regime is that the border forces no longer need to show restraint under orders from their political bosses they can retaliate in a way they deem fit when the Pakistani army fires at us. This is the single biggest achievement of this govt on the defence front. A lot of work still needs to be done to tackle internal terror but am sure that a patriotic officer like Ajit Doval who puts the country above everything else (sadly the same couldn't be said about all his predecessors) will do everything to tackle this menace.

Expectation no 4: Fair and transparent allocation of national resources like oil, gas and airwaves.
Result: Full marks on this front. The biggest achievement of this government is the fair and transparent coal auctions. Even the recently concluded telecom spectrum auctions yielded more than expected revenue. Am glad that these ministries are headed by honest and able ministers unlike the scamsters in the UPA era. The Oil dispute with RIL still drags on but as of now I see no sign of the govt favouring RIL. Please read my post about the Gas Wars to see how the UPA govt favoured RIL and acted against the interest of the country.

Expectation no 5: Rationalization of stupid schemes like NREGA, Food Security Bill and Direct Cash Transfer.
Result: Nothing has been done to rationalize NREGA but the government has taken steps to rationalize the Food Security scheme. This is despite the humiliating loss in Delhi to a political party which rode to power on the basis of unreasonable populist promises. This is an indication that the government is committed to reforms.

Expectation no 6: No more reservation on the lines of caste or religion. Affirmative action basis economic status.
Result: No political party (including AAP which was born out of the IAC movement) can help us on this front. It is an unreasonable expectation to have. But I still dream of an India where merit will rule supreme.

Expectation no 7: Modify or repeal regressive laws which curb freedom of speech and expression.
Result: Absolute pathetic failure on this front. Instead of supporting the calls for repealing section 66A of the IT act the government actually supported it in the SC. We only have the judges in SC to thank. After criticizing the UPA government again and again for curbing freedom of speech this government has done nothing at all to ensure an environment where people express their views without fear.

Expectation no 8: Ensure sufficiency in foodgrains and not allow our food to rot in government godowns.
Result: I do not have any data currently to comment on this. We will be able to see the intent and commitment of this government only in the unfortunate event of a bad monsoon.

So go summarize out of the 7 (lets forget the reservation point because it will NEVER happen) expectations, we don't have enough data to judge the government on 1, the government has taken concrete steps in 4 of the remaining 6 points. Which is not bad at all.

However the above expectations were set assuming a coalition government will come to power. Given the historic mandate the BJP led NDA has been given it is fair that we have much higher expectations and the government should exceed them.

Let me spell out the 3 most important things I expect from the government in the next year.

1. 7.5%+ economic growth
2. Complete the promised economic reforms (Land Acquisition, Multi Brand retail etc)
3. Concrete steps taken to counter the illegal immigrant problem in WB and the North-East.

Gas Wars and Crony Capitalism

I just finished reading 'Gas Wars and Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis' by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Subir Ghosh and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri. Have been following this issue closely over the past few years and have been reading extensively on it. A lot of stuff in the book is debatable (especially the case about higher gas pricing) but a few facts stand out clearly.

1. The Production Sharing Contact (PSC) initially allowed the government to fix the price and allocate supplies of its own share of gas and allowed the contractor (RIL in this case) the freedom to price it's own share and sell to whoever it wanted to.
2. As per the PSC terms assuming that it was free to price and sell its own share of gas RIL participated in competitive bidding to supply gas to the power plants owned by NTPC and won the contract by the virtue of being the lowest bidder at $2.34 per mmbtu.
3. The Ambani siblings had a fallout and their business interests were split. MDA agreed to supply gas to a ADA controlled company at the same price at which it was going to supply to NTPC. This was documented in a family agreement endorsed by both the brothers in the presence of their mother in front of the media.
4. RIL later approached the government and asked it to fix the price at which it could sell gas. It is not very clear according to the documents in the public domain whether it was for the governments share of gas or the entire gas which RIL expected to produce from the KG basin. If it is the later case it is indeed strange and weird because the company should not have participated in competitive bidding earlier if it always intended for the government to fix the price. It might not be illegal but is certainly unethical.
5. MDA's legal team later claimed that the family agreement was invalid because it was not endorsed or seen by the board of RIL. Once again, signing the agreement by MDA and later claiming that it was invalid was not exactly illegal but definitely unethical.
6. ADA challenged this and won in the High Court but MDA appealed and the case went to SC, the  government joined in saying the gas belonged to it and it should be a party to any quarrel over the rights to price or use the gas. The stand taken by the government was correct because technically it does own the gas on behalf of the people of India.
7. The  government argued that it reserved the sole right to price and allocate the natural gas as per national interest. It also argued that only the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) had the right to decide the pricing at which RIL could sell the gas and to whom could RIL sell the gas. This stand was completely against the terms and spirit of the PSC but  surprisingly RIL did not oppose this and agreed to the stand taken by the  government. It portrayed itself as a mere contractor who just extracted the gas and was obliged to supply to whomever the  government asked at whatever price it asked and hence was unable to sell it at previously contacted price to ADA group company (RNRL) and NTPC.
8. Again the above stand was not illegal but definitely hints at some sort of collusion between the  government and RIL to deny cheap gas to RNRL and NTPC. In asserting it's rights to price and distribute a national resource the  government had unknowingly (or maybe knowingly) harmed it's own company.
9. RIL chose not to contest the  government stand on the pricing and supply of gas but did contest many other provisions of the PSC later which related to the recovery of its capital investment in developing the has fields. It did not go to court this time but chose arbitration. Again RIL selectively agreeing and disagreeing with the government when it suits it is definitely not illegal but just raises the question about it's motives.
10. The actual cost of developing the gas field is debatable given the complexity of the terrain. The logic to link gas prices to international rates is again debatable because by definition the  government is the  custodian of the national resources of the nation and should use them for the welfare of the state, this makes a strong case for lowering the has prices but again there is also a case to be made for linking them to international prices to attract foreign investors and be fair to them. It is definitely bad for the reputation of the country among foreign investors if the government were to invite investments but not allow investors to make a profit.
11. The SC did make a very fair and pertinent observation on the governments claim that bids were invited to outsource the gas production because the government does not have the money or the  technology to do this itself. It observed that if this was the case then the bidding should have been restricted to PSUs which have the money (like ONGC) and can buy the technology (if they actually do not have it, which is very hard to believe). If the government genuinely had the best interest of the country in mind and wanted to ensure cheaper  electricity and fertilizers for the people it should have given the contact to PSUs and directed them to sell at a low price.

Conclusion:

• It will be very tough to prove that RIL or the government acted illegally, it is very clear from the documents available in the public domain that RIL supported the  government when it suited it and opposed it when it's profits were in danger, which again is not illegal, being a publicly traded company it has a responsibility to maximize profits for its shareholders.
• ADA did get a raw deal and RIL / MDA acted in bad faith, the government also indirectly supported MDA in this corporate battle. Nothing illegal done so no case here and if we are taking about unethical behavior than RIL is not the only corporate to behave in such a manner, scores of companies across the world would do the same to protect their profits and maximize them. ADA's lawyers should have read the fine print or thought of various eventualities. 
• The government definitely didn't act as a responsible custodian of the national resource (gas in this case), if it had acted in the interest of the nation then the gas would have been priced cheaper and the production from the KG basin might have been higher (debatable again).
• Because RIL has acted unethically and in bad faith earlier it is giving the impression that it is deliberately delaying / reducing production from the KG basin to maximize its profits. This is an unproven allegation but past behavior and current circumstances point to the fact that it is indeed doing this and has the active support of some elements in the government. I doubt if any of this can be proven in the court of law.
• RIL is an extremely smart operator and has covered it's bases very well. It has taken advantage of the grey areas in policy and legal contacts and turned them to it's advantage. If I were an investor ( I do not own any shares in RIL), I would be very inclined to invest in the company (provided I look at the situation objectively).

Your views and comments are welcome.

Note: I have read many articles written by renowned experts which argue for the case for lower gas pricing. I have also had a heard a highly respected former head of a PSU who sits on several government committees regarding hydrocarbons and energy talk on this matter where he argued for linking gas prices to international rates. I am hundred percent convinced that he is not pro RIL and his view was an independent one. I still remain confused on the matter and hence didn't delve into it deeply.

Khobragade and the Chamber of Secrets

Am sure most of us have read enough on this issue. Am trying to add my two bits of wisdom.

Issue no 1: Devyani Khobragade was arrested on charges of violating US labor laws and Visa Fraud. She was handcuffed, strip searched and allegedly a body cavity search was also done. According to India this is not how a diplomat should be treated according to the Vienna Convention. India insists she has diplomatic immunity (US state department begs to differ), however it is clear that she was treated like a petty criminal. This is the most important issue currently.

Issue no 2: Kobragade's maid (Sangeeta Richards) was underpaid (as per US laws). When she complained, a case was filed against her family (including her) in Delhi. The High Court passed an order against her and for a short period of time her husband and son were detained (I could not come across any source which confirmed that they were arrested). This is a separate issue and I definitely feel that it should be investigated, if she (Richards) was illtreated then she deserves justice. But it should not be confused with issue no 1 nor should we form opinion basis this.

Issue no 3: There are allegations that Khobragade and her family illegally acquired properties across the country. They were also allocated a flat in the infamous Adarsh Housing Society despite the fact that they owned a property in a MHADA housing complex. Assuming for a second that this is true, how exactly does it make the allegations in Issue no 1 less serious is something I cant understand. And those who say that 'She deserved it because she is corrupt', I think you have extremely low IQ and cannot distinguish between issues.

Basis whatever I read on this subject, am drawing a few conclusions and have a few questions which I would like to ask the US and Indian governments.

 - Khobragade was mistreated, this was NOT in sync with her position and they way a foreign diplomat is to be treated in ANY country.
 - It is not very clear if this is she had complete diplomatic immunity (she was a Consular officer).
 - Her maid's passport was revoked by the Indian government and she is currently living in the USA illegally. As of now USA has not granted her formal asylum, so her status is illegal.
 - Khobragade did NOT submit any of the so called fraudulent documents personally, they were submitted by her maid in her visa application. The maid is claiming that Kobragade instructed her to lie and faisify documents.
 - There are reports that officers in the Russian embassy took part in a medical insurance scam, some of them were junior consular officers (as compared to Kobragade), however no action was taken against them by the US government.
 - Mr Preet Bharara believes that this falls under the category of a heinous crime,
 -  US government granted visas to Richards' family and made them come to America, so that they do not have to face persecution in the case filed against them in India. This is a blatant interference in India's internal issue. Mr Bharara goes a step further in justifying it.

Some Questions for the US Government:

1. One of the allegations against Khobragade is Visa Fraud and falsification of documents, what document did she falsify and submit to the US government?
2. Is violation of US labor laws is a heinous crime, under what category would you classify living illegally in USA? What actions have you taken in cases where you have discovered that a person has been staying illegally in USA for 5 months?
3. Have you in any previous instance granted visas to family members of people who have been staying illegally in the US to reunite them with their family?
4. As per the State Department, what is a greater crime: defrauding the money of US taxpayers through medical insurance schemes or paying low wages to a foreign national (which are much higher than the standard wages paid in Asia for such jobs)?
5. There are media reports that Richard Davies was granted full diplomatic status AFTER he murdered a pakistani citizen, still US insisted on full diplomatic immunity for him. Why exactly is the US State Department saying that since Khobragade has been given full diplomatic status after her arrest, it wont be considered?
6. Does the US government justify the act of assisting foreign nationals escape their country so that they do not have to stand trial in the cases filed against them in their home country?
7. A request was made to the State Department in September-2013, informing them that Sangeeta Richards' passport has been revoked, hence she should be extradited to India immediately, why was this request not honoured?
8. A complaint was lodged with NYPD by Khobragade against her maid claiming theft, was this investigated, if yes, what was the outcome?
9. There are a lot of Indian and Mexican workers in USA who are not paid as per US Labor laws, are all their employers arrested? Are all the families of these workers given US visas? If not, then why was Khobragade singled out for such treatment?

Questions for the Indian Government:

1. Was a full background check conducted on Khobragade before she was appointed to represent India in USA?
2. The State Department claims that India was informed 3 months ago about the case against Khobragade, what actions were taken at that time?
3. Why was Khobragade not given full diplomatic status 3 months ago, when GOI was made aware of this case, to prevent this into escalating into such a big mess?
4. If media reports are correct why were the husband and son on Sangeeta Richards detained / arrested by Delhi Police?
5. Why is there a disconnect in the statements made by the US State Department and Mr Salman Khurshid regarding a discussion between Mr John Kerry and Mr Khurshid?

The Unforgivable Sins

It is very hard for the citizens of India to like their government. In a country of a billion people there are bound to be many problems and it is impossible for any sort of leadership to address them effectively. I have been very vocal about my dislike for the present government and think it is the worst ever in the history of this country. My yardstick for comparison is the previous NDA regime and other Congress governments, none of the previous governments were perfect and they had their share of flaws but the sheer magnitude of screw ups and mistakes made by the present regime ensures that all previous instances of misgovernance in this country pale in comparison.

It is nearly impossible for me to write down various instances where the government has taken wrong decisions which are not in favour of the general well being of the people of this country. However, I would like to point out 5 simple areas where the government has failed us completely. These sins are unforgivable in my opinion and it will take a long time before any regime manages to undo the damage done by UPA here.

5. Mismanagement of Foreign Affairs: I am not even going to mention the episode where the idiotic foreign minister (Mr S M Krishna) read out the speech of his Portuguese counterpart by mistake at a UN gathering. It was just a silly mistake and does not compare to the huge blunders made by the UPA in all areas. With an aggressive China flexing its muscles all over Asia and Pakistan up to its usual tricks in Kashmir it makes sense for India to engage its traditionally friendly neighbors like Sri Lanka and Nepal with whom we have a shared history and heritage. We go ahead and vote against Sri Lanka despite a specific request from them to not interfere in their internal matters to keep the stupid old man from Tamil Nadu and his bunch of corrupt spoilt kids happy. We ignore Nepal and give mixed signals to its Maoist leadership and ensure that it embraces China and willingly allows its land to be used for anti-India activities. Even in Maldives, first we sit quietly when a hostile government takes over, we ignore the previous India-friendly regime which requests help and then we cry foul when the hostile government takes decisions which harm Indian interests.
Our foreign policy and be summed up in a single sentence: 'Clueless and corrupted by idiotic coalition compulsions'.

4. Rewarding mediocrity: Just 2 examples are more than enough to explain how we are endangering the future of this country by having such people in top offices.
Sushilkumar Shinde: Claims that he has 2 biggest qualifications to to be the Home Minister: 1. He is a Dalit and 2. He is loyal to the Gandhi family. Before becoming the Home Minister his main accomplishments were being involved in the Adarsh scam when he was the CM of Maharashtra and presiding over the biggest power failure in the country when he was the Power Minister.
Pratibha Patil: She has singlehandedly lowered the dignity of the highest constitutional seat in the country. From stealing artifacts to sponsoring free trips for her family members the lady has done it all. To add a nice cherry to the cake she pardoned mass murderers and child rapists while refusing to act on the petitions of known terrorists like Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru who continued eating biryani at the taxpayers expense.

3. Punishing Protests: From beating up sleeping women and children in the anti-corruption protests to beating up students in the protests in the Delhi gangrape case our government has matched several other countries like China and North Korea in snatching away democratic rights of the citizens. To top it all NSUI goons hijack the protests and the government ensures that the news of 'students' meeting Sonia Gandhi and she promising to take strict action is plastered all over the media. Simply put the UPA government has mastered the art of killing popular protests by using every dirty trick in the book. Anna, Kejriwal and the students protesting the rape have all been effectively marginalized.

2. Unparalleled Corruption:  Let me first state that I do not think that there has ever been a completely honest government in this country and I don't expect it in another 50 years. The problem here is that that not only is this government completely corrupt, it is also shameless and arrogant. It laughs at you in the face and says that 'we will continue looting you, do whatever you can'. People like Sibal and Chidambaram mock the CAG and the people of this country by claiming that there has been no wrongdoing in various scams and no public money has been lost. Time and again the world laughs at us because of our greedy politicians. From screwing up the Commonwealth games to selling away precious natural resources of this country taxpayers are being taken for a ride everyday. But apart from indulging in large-scale corruption in the name of stupid schemes like NREGA, Right to Food and Direct Cash subsidy our government actively shields corrupt alliance partners by calling off the IT and CBI teams whenever they get too close for comfort. Using these teams as a tool to achieve their devious means is another topic which we should discuss in detail sometime.

1. 26 /11: I stay in Mumbai and this attack took place a stones throw away from where I work. I visit these places regularly and I was lucky that I was not at CST station that night. I am not blaming the government for the attack, I am blaming them for what happened after the attack. Apart from hanging Kasab after protecting him and feeding him on our expense for 2 years there is almost nothing the government has done to secure justice. Forget securing justice, none of the promises made 3 years ago about having an elite anti terrorism squad or enhanced security have been fulfilled. And to add insult to injury we invite the leaders of the country which did this to our country and gush about their designer bags. Our response to almost every terror attack which has taken place in this country has been lame-duck. It follows a simple 3 stage process formulated by the Congress think tank. 1. Strongly condemn the attack 2. Make promises to retaliate 3. Blame internal elements or the RSS for the problem and go back to looting the country.
My home was attacked, the attackers still roam free in their country and threaten me again and again on TV. My leaders address them using salutations which denote respect (Ji or Sahab). My leaders ignore my protests and need for security because they want the entire police force to protect them and their family. My leaders also make idiotic statements from time to time on TV which makes my attackers happy and tweet their concurrence. Should I be angry? I risk getting arrested if I express my anger on Facebook or Twitter.

What I expect from my Government

I keep ranting on twitter about the bad state of governance in the country and criticize almost everything which our Congress led government does. Some people say that I hate the government just for the sake of hating it. Maybe its because of a deep rooted bias against the Congress in my mind. The idea to write this post came to me after having a conversation with a some friends and colleagues who generally had no clue what would they expect from a government except for the usual need for less corruption and economic development.

I am a very practical person, I know corruption cannot be eradicated from our country. I am guilty of bribing several government officials many times in the past and wont shy away from it in the future if it means my work gets done faster. A small service charge or a facilitation fee is not the problem according to me, the problem is at the highest levels where taxpayer money is being squandered on frivolous schemes and shady deals which benefit a few corrupt politicians. With this post I am trying to clarify what exactly do I expect my elected representative to do t make my life better. These are the issues on which I will go out and vote.

At Municipality level:
The lesser I expect from the BMC the better it is for me. A useless organization full or idiotic people working for it in my opinion. My expectations can be summarized in just 2 points:
 - Better Roads 
 - Cleanliness

At State Level:
I do not want to sound pro-BJP or pro-Modi here but since my dads family is from Gujarat I have no other state to use as a reference. I used to hate going to my village when I was a kid. It used to have power cuts for 10-12 hours, no roads, 2-3 televisions in the entire village and water for just 4 hours a day. In comparison my house in Mumbai had 24 hour electricity, excellent approach roads and 24 hours water. Today after 15 years when I compare my village to my city, my village has decent approach roads, 24 hours electricity and water, excellent cellphone and cable connectivity. My house in Mumbai has a really bad approach road which is full of potholes, we have electricity round the clock but for the past 3 summers there have talks of a power cut due to the bad power problem in my state and we get water only for 4 hours a day (supplied by BMC, building has a water tank so no real problem). It is very difficult to ignore the progress made by my village which has a population of a thousand people against the steadily deteriorating quality of life in my city. 6 simple things which I expect from my state government are:
 - A solution to the power problems in Maharashtra
 - A solution to the water problem in Maharashtra (both irrigation and drinking water)
 - Ability to assure citizens of their safety and continuance of business during sensitive situations (riots, deaths etc)
 - Better educational infrastructure in the state
 - A responsible and friendly police force whom the citizens are not afraid to approach.
 - Reduce duties on petrol and diesel.

At National Level:
My wishlist is really really long here. It is very difficult to support one political party because on many issues all of them have the same regressive views (reservations, caste based politics etc). I have tried to be as objective and practical as possible in shortlisting the below mentioned issues which I think should be the topmost priority for any government which comes to power in the Centre.
 - Focus on development of infrastructure (Highways, Canals, Ports, Airports).
 - A foreign policy which is focused on preserving our national interests and  not influenced by idiotic concerns of allies.
 - A will to fight both internal and external terror and not politicize the issue.
 - Fair and transparent allocation of national resources like oil, gas and airwaves.
 - Rationalization of stupid schemes like NREGA, Food Security Bill and Direct Cash Transfer.
 - No more reservation on the lines of caste or religion. Affirmative action basis economic status.
 - Modify or repeal regressive laws which curb freedom of speech and expression.
 - Ensure sufficiency in foodgrains and not allow our food to rot in government godowns.

These are just a few basic things which I would want my leader to look at. I would be willing to give my vote  to any national leader who is committed to focus on these issues. What I have seen till date is the absolute failure of the current UPA government on all the above fronts both in Delhi and in Maharashtra. Some leaders from the opposition have repeatedly spoken about a few of these issues, it remains to be seen if they can translate their words into action. As of now I am inclined to give a chance to these leaders who are at least talking about the right things rather than trust a government which has repeatedly ignored all the above issues for the past 8 years.

Why I still admire Lance Armstrong

I do not know if Lance Armstrong doped or not. Present evidence overwhelmingly points to the fact that he doped to get an unfair advantage over his competitors. I do not support cheating and I agree that cheaters in any sport should not be allowed to compete.

As I had mentioned in my previous blog posts, Lance Armstrong is the reason I started following cycling as a sport. Over the past 3 years I found it to be a really interesting team sport. Here is my two bit take on Armstrong and his career.

The first reason I admire him is because he is a cancer survivor who overcame the disease and went on to compete at the highest level in one of the toughest endurance sports in the world. That itself is quite an achievement. He started a foundation which spread cancer awareness and gave hope to millions of patients across the world. All this was obviously funded by his sponsors but his influence and charisma furthered the cause and gave it much more publicity.

He was the face of cycling in the first half of the last decade. He was one of the inspirations for a generation of young riders to enter the sport. He might have been a dominating and bullying teammate but he always delivered the goods when it mattered the most in July every year.

Now coming to his Tour de France titles. The Tour de France is arguably the toughest cycling races in the world and is the most popular of the Grand Tours in cycling. It consists of 21 stages with at least one third of them consisting of mountainous routes through the Alps or the Pyrenees. It is obvious that the race is won or lost in these mountains and the Time Trials. No individual can singlehandedly conquer these peaks. A team effort is needed to ensure that the team leader (Armstrong in this case) conserves his energy, stays at the front of the peleton and is a part of all the decisive breaks in the final kilometers of the every stage.

So to win the Tour de France a rider needs to do the following things and have the following attributes:
 - Exceptional bike handling skills (to avoid crashes, handle the technical TT course, descend without crashing)
 - Peak at the right time (follow the right training and racing regime to ensure that the body is in peak physical condition in July)
 - Avoid Injuries (healing from a fracture or a cracked bone may take months and even after healing riding competitively may be difficult)
 - Stay away from crashes (one bad crash and the race is over)
 - Have the right amount of power to excel in Time Trials
 - Have the right weight and power to conquer the summits
 - Stay at the front of the peleton at most times (to ensure that you make all the decisive breaks or be in the front if the wind splits the peleton)
 - Have a strong bunch of domestiques (who can bring in the attackers, shield the leader from the winds and deliver him safely to the base of the major climbs)

Doping can help you only in a couple of areas above by giving you the right amount of power and stamina to conquer climbs and Time Trials. Now getting all the above things right in one season itself is a tall order. A lot of things need to fall in place both for the leader and his teammates. The course also needs to suit the strengths of the rider, his teammates also need to be in good physical condition, he should be in good health etc. That is the reason why most major teams design their entire program towards conquering this race and ensure that their leader is on the podium. Just take a moment to consider the sheer magnitude of Lance Armstrong's achievement, for 7 consecutive years he got all the above factors right and won the race.

Doping might have helped him in some climbs, but was it luck which kept him in peak condition or ensured that he avoided all crashes for 7 consecutive years? Doping is of no use if your body and mind is not in the right condition for the race. Doping cant help you plan the strategy for race nor can it tell you when to attack or sit back. Recent reports indicate that most riders were doping at that time and it was a dark period for the sport, so by that yardstick he doped and raced with a bunch of similarly equipped riders and beat them for 7 consecutive years!!

On paper he has not had a single positive test in his career though there are many reports of hushed up positive tests and rescheduled tests to help him escape. The larger problem here is not him but the system (read UCI which governs cycling internationally), if UCI indeed knowingly covered up his positive tests then it has done the greatest damage to the sport. For a few extra million dollars in sponsorship money they have demoralized an entire generation of young riders who want to race and win cleanly.

What is astonishing is the single mindedness with which USADA pursued this case and painted the picture of a well organized cheating machine. Although I have not read the report and evidence submitted to UCI, I find it very tough to believe that almost everybody: coaches, fellow riders, team officials, doctors, administrators and lawmakers willingly helped one man cheat repeatedly to achieve glory. Everything worked with clock-like precision to enable Mr Armstrong get his much needed drugs right when he needed them and then hide / destroy the evidence right when it needed to be and all this went on for almost a decade!!

We all love heroes because they inspire us, we also like the examples of fallen heroes because they tell us what not to do. It is easy to call him a fallen hero and discard all his memories in this case but you cannot deny the popularity he brought to the sport. You cannot deny his social work or his spirit of survival.  Most importantly you cannot deny the single minded pursuit and conquest which combined all elements of strategy, power, planning and teamwork and delivered 7 consecutive Tour de France titles. In my book Lance Armstrong will always remain a cancer survivor, inspirational figure, a world class athlete and 7 time Tour de France champion.

One Year Later - Part 1

In the past I blogged about my experience of selling my old house, shortlisting a new one, getting a home loan and finally buying the dream house where I stay currently. Thanks for all the feedback regarding my earlier posts. Now that I am settled in the new house I thought it might be a good idea to write a bit about the experience of living in a big housing society. These are a few simple issues which are relevant to most new / 2-3 year projects which have been completed in Mumbai.

Quality of construction:
No matter what the reputation of the builder, you will NEVER get world class construction. Although my builder is a smaller guy, I spoke to friends who bough houses in complexes constructed by Rahejas, Hiranandanis and Runwals, and all of them had the same issues. In the age of increasing interest rates and high costs of conducting business most builders cut a few corners here and there. Most try to do it in a manner which is not very visible. One year down the line you will have peeling paint in your house, a few leakages here and there, nothing serious which threatens the building structure but lots of small issues which will need to be addressed in the long, if not short term.
Most builders will send maintainence people to attend to your complaints (at least till the time the society is formed), but these people will just do a cover up job which will mask your problem and not actually solve it. The aim of the builder here is to procrastinate as much as possible and avoid buyers till the time the society is registered and he hands over the day to day functioning of the building to them.
Nothing much you can really do here, if you are still looking at houses and close to shortlisting one, please insist that the builder fixes all the visible flaws BEFORE you get possession of the house. If you have already bought the house the your best bet is to highlight these flaws to the builder AND the provisional / managing  committee of the building society, you will need to do a lot of follow up to actually get some work done.
Parking:
The thumb rule here is that most builder force you to buy 1 parking at least for a 2bhk house and 2 for 3.5/4 bhk houses. If you want more than one parking while buying a 2bhk house, the builder will discourage you by saying that you can buy it later or that some open parking is available. Here lies the catch, the builder has limited parking spaces for sale and by hoarding this precious commodity he is trying to maximize returns for himself. When you actually approach him later on for that additional space, he will quite a price 1.5-2 times the original rate.
Another common problem you will face is that the open parking (which is supposed to be free to all residents / visitors) is sometimes much smaller that what was actually committed, because the builder hardly earns any money from this he is not really interested is providing this facility. A scarier version of this problem is when your builder runs out of covered / basement parkings and starts selling open parking spaces. Technically this is illegal according to BMC, but rarely is any action taken against builders. The only option here is that you and your managing committee take this issue up with the builder aggressively and threaten legal action. I don't predict a very high success rate with this action but it worth taking a chance.
Society Formation / Managing Committee:
Am sure most of your will agree that the most entertaining part of living in a large building complex is the society meetings. Usually when people start coming to stay in the building/s the residents form a provisional committee amongst themselves to coordinate with the builders office on various issues and to pass on information to other residents.
Most of the times, the initial committee will find itself at loggerheads with the builder. This is mainly because the builder takes advance maintainence for 12 / 18 / 24 months from you at a particular rate but the actual maintainence cost is much lesser. Secondly in most cases this advance maintainence money is supposed to include property tax for the first year at least. When the committee brings this to the builders notice, he will come up with some opaque explaination which usually does not make any sense. Then the builder will question the validity of the committee and ask if they enjoy the full confidence of the members of the society. I saw the same script being repeated at 3 different building complexes.
Most common area where the builder cons you are:
 - Not paying maintainence for unsold flats
 - Not paying  / negotiating the property tax with BMC and leaving the residents with a high bill in the end.
 - Claiming that the money for maintainence is over and trying to pass on all responsibility to the society.
 - Not paying any maintainence / tax for the flat in the building which he uses as a sales / admin office.

In the end there is nothing really which you can do to force the builders hand if he has decided to screw you. Your only recourse is complaining aggressively to your society and maybe taking legal action which will drag on for ages. The bigger builders will be slightly more careful here because they have other upcoming projects, so they would not want negative feedback from present ones to affect them. However that does not mean that they will be completely honest and fulfill all their promises. It is in the DNA of a a builder in Mumbai to take buyers for a ride and he will do so. This is simply because the laws and the administration in Maharashtra are completely skewed in favour of the builder's lobby.
Let this not discourage you, if you keep your eyes and ears open and fight for your rights you will end up with a decent deal.
Hope this advice helps. Feedback most welcome.