Tuesday 17 July 2012

What a change! (Published in 'The Statesman' on 04/07/12)

Last week, some unusual developments were witnessed. Oil marketing companies cut petrol prices by between Rs 2.5 and 3 (in different cities), the second reduction in June. The stock markets clocked the biggest single-day gain in 2012 so far by rallying more than 2.50 per cent, after the finance ministry unveiled the draft guidelines of the General Anti-Tax Avoidance Rules (GAAR), in anticipation of major changes in the domestic economy under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has assumed responsibility of the finance ministry. It rained in Chennai and the weather was unusually pleasant, making Chennaiites irritable by exposing them to something they are not used to.

“This is shocking. I have been hoarding petrol for the last few weeks in the hope that prices would continue to rise. Such reductions are completely unacceptable,” said Mr Sandeep Patel, a resident of Ahmedabad. A retail investor from Mumbai had this to say about the recent development: “I was short-selling shares last week, hoping that I will be able to make some money as and when there is some bad news about the economy. The unexpected rally has come as a huge shock! I had absolute faith in the government’s passivity. This sudden display of resoluteness by the Prime Minister is uncharacteristic. I hope he doesn’t resort to more drastic measures like pushing forward much-needed economic reforms to bolster investor sentiments.”

Some people in Chennai belonging to a certain group took to the streets protesting against the sudden drop in temperature. The group has organised several such agitations in the past blaming the government for everything from cyclones to tsunamis.

“There should be some predictability in news developments,” said Mr Nayar, a veteran journalist. “When people turn their television sets on these days, they expect to see Yeddyurappa fomenting trouble in Karnataka to regain the chief minister’s chair. People expect news of drunken youngsters driving luxury cars mowing down innocent people in the National Capital Region. They expect to hear about police busting late-night raves involving high-profile people in Mumbai or Goa. They expect to see more scams tumbling out of politicians’ cupboards and sex scandals involving Godmen. Viewers expect chaos in Parliament and the comptroller & auditor-general to tell us more about losses running into several lakh crores of rupees. People brace themselves for reports of crimes committed in the National Capital or Noida. And, they expect political parties to be forever at each other’s throats. What they do not expect is Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa exchanging birthday wishes. They do not expect Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi to share the same dais. They do not expect Mamata Banerjee to be supportive of certain UPA policies or reform proposals. They do not expect the country’s principal Opposition party to appreciate any government policy regardless of how well-designed and effective it is. People expect continuous rise in the prices of essential commodities. When there is a reversal of trend, it surprises people and leads to such adverse reactions.”

Link: http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=415463&catid=39

No comments: