Massive Rapid Transport Systems of India

As cities grow in size, the number of vehicles on the roads road goes up. This creates a necessity to discourage private modes and encourage public transport. This typically happens once the level of traffic along any travel corridor in a particular direction exceeds 20,000 people per hour.

Adding buses is not enough. Buses do carry many people at a go, more so in India looking at the fact that buses in India rarely go empty and most times are full to the brim; travel in one and you’ll come out half suffocated to death. However buses are still slow and lord knows in India we know they slow down the rest of the traffic. Autorickshaws and taxis are another public transport option, but they’re no better than the private cars in the sense that they too add to the burden. Plus all these options are for the road. The underground passes and the space above the roads are left unutilized.

Therefore Introduction of a rail based (MRTS) Mass Rapid Transit System is something that countries have looked towards as a useful solution to this growing transport “menace”. Of course politicians instead of building these systems are more interested in blaming “migrants” for the added burden on the city’s road infrastructure. Mass Rapid Transit Systems are not simple to build anywhere- they’re more complex in a country like India where even small stretches of Roads take forever to build. Additionally this is a capital intensive exercise and usually and has a long gestation period. It has been observed that in developed countries, planning for mass transit system starts when city population size touches 10 lakh; the system is in place by the time the city population is 20 to 30 lakh and once the population exceeds 40 lakh or so, planned extensions to the Mass Rapid Transit Systems is vigorously taken up.

In developing countries including India, because of paucity of funds planning and implementation of rail based Mass Rapid Transit Systems has been lagging far behind the requirements. Delhi’s MRTS system (built by DMRC) was built only when the city’s population reached 1 crore. Mumbai has had a Mass Transport System (can hardly call it rapid) running through a North-South corridor in the city. However the city’s west-east corridor has been under tremendous pressure especially in the suburbs. Mumbai has recently started building its first MRTS system (with the city’s population touching 1.4 crore) in the west - east corridor.



The project is being built by a company known as Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd. According to their website:

Mumbai Metro One Private Limited is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 to implement the Versova- Andheri- Ghatkopar (VAG) Metro corridor in Mumbai. It is a Joint Venture Company formed by Reliance Energy Limited, a Reliance ADA Group Company, Veolia Transport, France and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

This does bring about a question in my head. We already have had a Metro in Kolkata for ages. We just had a very successful MRTS being built in Delhi. Is there any collaboration between these? Was any advice taken from Delhi’s DMRC ? After all they have the recent experience. I wouldn’t place a bet on any collaboration taking place between these inter-state companies. Of course the contract would have to be awarded to Reliance, which has tremendous clout in the state and off course, we needed expert (read expensive) consulting from a French company. The company has recently raised Rs 1194 Cr that it needed for creation of the first corridor. I wonder what took so much time since one of the members of the joint venture is MMRDA, which is sitting on a treasure chest of Rs 12,000 Cr in cash.

Even after the project being allotted to the company, work is almost non-existent. Roads sections have been barricaded and left as is. Work, if any, either does not happen or carries forward at a pace that leaves the viewer wondering whether they’ll see it complete in their lifetimes.

I have a few major questions, amongst other minor ones:

1. Why was the project allotted to this “Special Purpose Vehicle” newly formed company when there existed companies within the country (like DMRC) that have done this kind of a job before?

2. Are companies like DMRC being consulted with regards to their experience? And if yes, what’s their extent of involvement?

3. Why do we need consulting from a foreign company every time we build one of these? Couldn’t we have documented the findings of the “consulting work” done during the Delhi MRTS development? “Experts” and compulsive arguers would undoubtedly argue that Delhi and Mumbai are hugely different. Where is the Cost-Benefit analysis report? Why not make it public? Why not display it on the company website?

4. Why is it that the work is happening at such a slooow rate? Yeah right - its complicated work, land needs to be acquired, things like this take time ..blah blah blah… Just let us know how long will this work go on for?

5. What is the role of the Government in making sure work happens as planned? Are there any monthly status reports? Who in the government reviews them? Is the government kicking some ass in making sure this project goes through as schedule? Or for that matter what is the schedule?

I suppose these questions are ones that every citizen is asking? So how do we get the answers? I’m thinking - maybe an RTI?

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Malegaon Blasts: Did he or did he not?

Lt Col Shrikant Purohit was arrested day before yesterday by the ATS in connection with the Malegaon blasts. Purohit is a serving Lt Col in the Indian army.

This is probably the first instance of an army officer being held in connection with a terror attack.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) placed Lt Col Srikant Purohit under arrest after of questioning him for over a period of time for his alleged role in supplying money and explosive material for the explosion that killed six persons.

Purohit yesterday has admitted that he was the mastermind of the Malegaon blasts

This statement was given by him to the ATS. Purohit admitted he had masterminded the blast as ”revenge” against the other blasts that had happened in the country. Revenge against whom? Apparently the revenge was against Islamist groups who had allegedly orchestrated other blasts in the rest of the country. Lt Col Purohit felt it would be a fitting reply if a blast took place in a Muslim dominated area. Apparently he thought killing of Muslim innocents was a fitting reply to Islamic terror groups.

However this statement that has been given to the ATS is not admissible in court. The police will still have to prove that he did it as Purohit may do a u-turn and deny everything. When contacted ATS officials are mum about the issue, their spokesperson even denies that such a confession ever took place. Which keeps the question alive in our head – did he or did he not do it?

The Indian Army is worried about its image. The army had come under the scanner a few years back when it was claimed that the percentage of the non Hindus in the army was very less. And now with a serving Lt Col being arrested for spreading communalism, is the Army is afraid it will be looked upon as a Hindu unit? Well I don’t think the army has anything to worry about. The people of India are aware of the sacrifices made by members of the Indian Army and fully support it.

The whole country has seen a wave of terror in the last few years when multiple serial blasts have ripped through the country. While Islamic units are usually the first people who accept responsibility and are considered the pioneers of terror in India, the Malegaon blasts and the subsequent arrests of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Purohit has shown us that there are others in the race to attain glory by blowing up innocents. Whether Hindu or Muslim, may they rot in hell forever.

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The best our MPs can do is resign?

Everyone seems to be a North Indian messiah now. Everyone from Mayawati to Amar Singh to Laloo to Nitish Kumar are “rooting” for the cause of North Indians being targeted by Raj Thackeray and his MNS goons for disrespecting the “local culture” of Maharashtra.

According to an Indian Express news item:

It seems like resigning is the biggest threat that these politicians can make for making the situation better. If their hearts are so with the North Indians in Mumbai, why don’t they go to Mumbai and work with the rickshaw driver to make his life better? Is threatening to resign the best they can do? This is divisive politics being played here and is no better than what Raj Thackeray did.

Whatever happens in Mumbai is no business of politicians in Bihar. The NCP government with Vilas Rao Deshmukh is responsible and should do what is necessary. Who is Nitish Kumar and why does he want to get involved? These politicians are of the worst kind. They appear to be friends, but are of the same dirty pedigree.

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Barack Obama makes History !!

Ladies and Gentlemen, History has been made. Barack Obama has been elected as the 44th President of the United States.

This has been a monumental moment both in American Politics and in terms of the impact this can have on the way the world works. The race to this day has been extremely interesting. This was an election which had many firsts. Hillary as competition to Obama would have become the first woman president if she had gone all the way. John McCain would have been the oldest president if he had won. If for some reason he had died while in office, Sarah Palin (also a woman) would have been the first woman president. And of course with the way things have evolved into now, Obama is the first Black president.

Obama’s speeches have been inspiring having drawn hundreds of thousands who have been thrilled with the hope for change in a country that had started detiriorating under Bush’s regime.

Out of the 535 electoral votes counted till now, Obama has won 367 with McCain winning a paltry 168.

What does it mean for India? Guaging the impact immediately will be difficult. Off the top of my head:

1. Pakistan

Obama is probably the only American politician who has gone on record saying Pakistan is the actual hub of terrorism and needs to be dealth with. While a full fledged military strike by the US on Pakistan is probably not going to happen in the near future, it does put India in a better position.

2. Offshoring

Obama has spoken against offshoring and for keeping American jobs in America and making it difficult for companies to outsource to low cost countries like India. But then so had McCain. What needs to be seen is how this affects India.

Whether Obama is successful or not, this election was a competition between the America that has been and the America that wants to be. The world will watch closely over the next few years what America will be.

Watch Obama’s victory speech below:

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Shoot on Sight: A lame film on the crime of being a Muslim

Ok, so another movie on terrorism? They just don’t stop do they?

I just love it when art makes an attempt to imitate life. Either it succeeds, if success in such a field may be defined OR it falls short by miles and we get a Shoot on Sight. So what aspect of life does the film look at depicting? The film makes a feeble attempt at representing the racism Muslims faced post the 7/11 blasts in London tube stations.

The film revolves around an incident and a character. The incident is the beginning of the film where a Muslim youth (or rather a youth who looks like a Muslim) is shot down on suspicion of being a terrorist. The first 10 minutes are an insight into what a clichéd approach the film would take. I mean, what does a Muslim look like anyway? Do all Muslims look the same? I would officially brand this as Lame Moment No 1.

Anyway, enter Tariq Ali (a character played by Naseeruddin Shah). Shah depicts the character of a devout Muslim from Pakistan and is the only Asian officer in Scotland Yard. Amidst departmental politics and the media crying out loud over the death of an innocent, Shah takes over the charge of investigating into the killing of the youth and to find out whether charges of racism against the police department hold any good. Strangely the investigation supposedly happens in the background because the only thing viewers see any of it is a five minute shot of an interview that Shah has with the deceased mother and sister.

Most of the film focuses around Shah’s life. He is shown happily married to a British wife, has a football loving (possibly gay) son, a rebelling sixteen year old pot smoking daughter and spends time everyday with a butcher friend (Gulshan Grover) reminiscing their childhood days in Pakistan. Not long into the film enters Zaheer, Shah’s nephew from Pakistan who comes to stay with the family. Zaheer is a poor young man who after the death of his father due to natural causes, was convinced to become a terrorist. What? No friends or family who were killed by American bombers? Why would the guy suddenly develop affinity for millions of “Muslim brothers” supposedly killed by the Americans, Israelis and the British? Muslims are there all over the world right from Malaysia to India to Pakistan to the middle-east, to Africa, the European nations as well as in the Americas. To think that all Muslims regardless of their country of residence or lifestyle or education always think alike, act alike and have feelings of brotherhood for people of the same faith irrespective of background - would be naïve and downright stupid. As is evident, this branding of the Pakistani youth would be the Lame Moment No 2.

Shah’s wife is in the film is interesting. She is British by birth and born into a liberal family. She has had no difficulty in adapting to the Muslim way of life (whatever that means). So much is her deep rooted devotion towards a culture her husband is supposedly into, that she does not even bat an eyelid when someone suggests a wedding between her daughter and Zaheer. She does the swinging between being suspicious of Zaheer for being a terrorist and looking at him as a future son-in-law very effortlessly. On occasion she is even seen looking at the interaction that happens between her daughter and Zaheer with a little more than a twinkle in her eyes. A far cry from any Western woman I’ve known. Lame Moment No. 3

Strangely enough, the film deals with the issue of racism against Muslims in only bits and pieces. There are two 10-second shots where the sister of the person who was wrongly shot down, screams at the media that her brother was not a terrorist. And then there is one scene when Gulshan Grover becomes nostalgic of a time after the blasts when he boards a bus and people he traveled with daily refuse to acknowledge him on account of him “looking” like a Muslim.

Asians do face racism in the western parts of the world. Brown happens to be the new black. Shoot on Sight, even though it makes an attempt to depict this situation, does so in a very haphazard manner. I would give the file two stars out of five, mainly because of Naseeruddin Shah’s acting. The guy manages to excel even in such a boring film.

If one sentence would describe the movie, I would say it is a combination of the Brad Pitt- Harrison Ford starrer Devil’s Own entwined in the subject of terrorism with a dash of racism thrown in. These are too many diverse subjects for a two hour film. It is a very good example of the fact that not every serious movie is a good one.

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Raj Thackeray Arrested - Mumbai watches closely

A day after Raj Thackeray’s MNS workers went on rampage beating up North Indian students who were appearing in a Railways examination, Mumbai police received an arrest warrant for him yesterday. This non-bailable warrant had been issued by a Jamshedpur court after a case was filed by a lawyer against Raj for making derogatory statements against North Indians and “biharis” and thereby hurting sentiments of a particular section of the society. This warrant summoned him to be present in the Jamshedpur court before Nov 17.

Following the warrant received from a different state, Mumbai police which was sitting tight lipped on the issue till now has jumped up and arrested him. Raj Thackeray was arrested today afternoon and presented at a Bandra court at around 1:00 PM. Till the moment of writing this article, Raj is still in court.

At the time of the arrest Raj was in Ratnagiri (outside Mumbai) which is where he was arrested and brought to Mumbai. Certain other MNS activists have also been arrested. One might wonder why the arrest happened only after Raj was summoned by the Jamshedpur court. In such a situation one might wonder if the arrest is an attempt by Mumbai police and politicians to keep him in Mumbai – maybe a diktat from Shiv Sena.

Meanwhile the city is on a state of high alert. There have been sporadic incidents of minor violence throughout the city, but the Mumbai police does seem to be doing a good job. About 20,000 CRPF personnel have also been deployed in Mumbai. The situation is overall tense with small shops preferring to stay closed and many office goers either did not turn up for work or left home early.

Update at 4:30 PM Raj Thackeray has been denied bail and is to be kept under judicial custody for two weeks till 4th November.

Update at 9:00 AM - 22nd Oct, 2008 After Raj Thackeray was remanded to 14 days judicial cusody yesterday, his lawyers moved a bail application and he was granted bail by the Bandra court for a sum of Rs 15000 (only?). He was advised by the judge to avoid creating any similar situations like the ones he has done in the past. Basically he was told to keep his trap shut. However after he was given bail, the police immediately took him back in custody for a similar case in Dombivali, Thane and whisked him away. Raj Thackeray spent the night in Kalyan jail and will appear before a Kalyan court today. MNS workers took to the streets in different parts of the state creating havoc. The government is considering banning the MNS. How about banning SIMI and Bajrang Dal as well?

Update at 11:30 AM - 22nd Oct, 2008 Kalyan (where Raj Thackeray is supposed to appear in court) has been clamped down with preventive curfew. Tight security measures have been put in place outside the court. MNS activists had gathered outside the court, but were driven away by lathi-charging policemen.

Update at 5:00 PM - 22nd Oct, 2008 Raj Thackeray has been given bail. He has also recieved anticipatory bail till 24th October, which means he will not see the inside of the jail till that date. I hope he goes back home, celebrates Diwali and uses this experience to knock some sense into his head. I guess it’ll be a wait and watch game for us at The Angry Indian. Guess this was one “Heart Breaking News” that wasn’t so heart breaking after all.

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Ratan Tata moves from the bad “M” to the good “M”

“Good M?” Is that what Narendra Modi is now? I guess Ratan Tata with one quick sweep has proved that in the business world profit is above everything else.

After the Nano project being beaten to death by Mamata Bannerjee in West Bengal, Ratan Tata will be moving to Gujrat for the Nano project. Today’s newspaper carried a photograph of Tata hugging Modi.
Isn’t this the same Ratan Tata who made this comment?

And isn’t this the same Narendra Modi who can’t seem to shake off the ghosts of Ghodra?

Given the trouble Tata had to go through in West Bengal, people don’t really blame him for moving out of West Bengal and into Gujrat. But then is this not contradictory of him to embrace Modi who is allegedly the epitome of Hindu communalism?

I personally am willing to give Ratan Tata the benefit of the doubt – let’s make it a case of his personal opinion and professional justification. Also what has Gujrat done wrong? If Gujrat welcomes Tata with open arms and provides a better enviroment than WB did, should Tata really hold out because of what his personal opinion on certain actions of its Chief Minister?

Here’s Tata’s speech on development in Gujrat

Updates from the Angry Indian

Tatas have been a gem of the nation, one of the only few businesses that refuse to cow down to the demands of the politicians. Would have been easy to pay off the dissenting politicans in Singur for Ratan Tata. I believe the decision to move into Gujrat was driven out of the need to move out of West Bengal. Though Tata could have selected any another state - there were other states willing as well, Maharashtra amongst them.
I would call Tata more of an ethical businessman rather than a philanthropist. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have set the bar very high for philanthropists, be kinda hard for Tata to beat that.

Even in Bengal the land being given was for free. Every state government who gives land for free acquires it first and then gives it. It’s just that the locals protested against the same in Bengal, as they did in AP. I hope this leads to the industry demanding a clean and clear cut land acquisition policy from the government and make state governments look inside and determine how they balance the needs of the industry and the locals whose lands are acquired.

And be under no doubt that the Nano project is profitable. A $3000 car is a direction to go towards not a target to achieve. I would expect the actual price when the car hits the road to be higher and hope Tata makes a profit.

It’s good to see difference of opinion amongst readers of Angry Indian- keeps the spirit alive. AI is after all a dialogue and not a monologue.

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Security in the Hands of Headless Chickens?

There was an interesting debate being shown on TV today. Karan Thapar was holding a discussion with three (presumably) constitutional scholars/lawyers on whether the central government has the right to interfere in the states’ law and order duties when it comes to terrorism. Their argument revolved around the fact that the constitution places the right to control matters related to law and order within the purview of individual states.

Two things struck me about this debate. First, the debate was labeled ‘Does India needs tougher anti-terror laws?’. There is no doubt that anti-terror laws may help police forces, anti-terrorist teams, and intelligence agencies gather useful information. However, to me, this seemed to be jumping the gun just a bit. Because the first thing that occurred to me was where the hell are our police forces, anti-terrorist teams, and intelligence agencies? Some of them are doing good work to keep us safe, and I appreciate that very much. But for the most part, (a) the police is too busy making money through bribes to spend time on much else (according to a study by Transparency International India, the police is the most corrupt public service in India, and that’s saying a lot! And there’s no guarantee that they refuse take bribes from terrorists or terrorist-helpers), (b) it needs to be verified whether there really is an effective, coordinated and generally on-top-of-things anti-terror team apart from those shown in fictional hindi movies, and (c) our much touted CBI seems to spends way too much time prosecuting people at the government’s will, so we never really hear what they’ve done on the terror front. In fact, just a couple of days ago, we were regaled with news of how the state and national security teams are not even coordinated enough to get together for a team meeting. So to talk about whether we need tougher anti-terror laws when we don’t even have anyone to make use of them (and make sure they’re not misused) is kinda like trying to hit the bull’s eye on a dartboard without a dart. The fact that bombs are being strewn happily all over the place does not increase my confidence one teensy little bit.

Second, terror has been recognized as a worldwide phenomenon. Countries are forming partnerships to tackle this threat, and some are even speaking at how to strike at the root of terrorism by addressing what breeds extreme Islamism, which requires coordinated efforts by all countries. And we’re still stuck debating on whether this is a national-level or state-level concern? In fact, one panelist in the show was arguing heatedly that the constitution needs to be amended before the center can get involved. Red tape alert! This guy is actually suggesting that a bill be proposed, introduced, haggled over, and voted on (most probably, in several recurring cycles) before the center puts its might and resources behind keeping Indian citizens safe. With intellectuals like these, who needs politicians and enemies? Just the FACT that several dozen bombs have exploded or been found in three different states within the space of a week should be enough to convince anyone that this is an immediate threat that needs all the resources it can get.

Its not just this past week with all the bomb scares that this issue has arisen. Our country has been under near continuous terrorist attacks for the past several years. By now, there should be some viable force in full readiness to immediately tackle the recent threats. Instead, we have a bunch of headless chickens running around blaming everyone but themselves for this mess. All I know is that given the current circumstances, the last thing if I get is a feeling of protection from our government.

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Will Lip Service save this country from terrorism?

11 July 2006, Mumbai blasts – over 200 killed, 700 injured.
13 May 2008, Jaipur blasts – 80 killed, 200 injured.
25 July 2008, Bangalore blasts – 2 dead, 25 injured
26 July 2008, Ahmedabad blasts – 45 dead and 160 injured


Ladies and Gentlemen, India has officially been under attack for the last two years. Terrorists have been attacking our major cities, blowing people up. Indians are dying, many more are crying over the loss of loved ones.

And what do our leaders do? Get into a debate over the Nuclear deal, rant about communist ideology, throw around crores of Rupees to buy out other politicians and finally bask in glory when the government wins the trust vote. While one eye looks at New Delhi and the other at the sensex, look what happens in the rest of the country.

According to Manmohan Singh’s speech during the trust vote on July 23rd:

Very commendable indeed Mr. Prime Minister. In less than a week after your big words, two serial blasts have rocked two cities. You have won the trust vote, but sadly have lost the trust of the nation.

Maybe we need more action and less lip service?

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Old Child labor in a New Bottle?

Such were the words of the reality show anchor, the show on which a 16 year old girl, Shinjini Sengupta was allegedly humiliated by the judges. The fear of failure and humiliation was something the girl could not take and went into a state of shock and subsequent paralysis.

Still in the same state as she was, doctors are desperately trying to figure out what is medically wrong with her. You know what’s wrong with her?

She made the mistake of being born into a family that without thinking of the consequences, shoved their child into what they thought was the path to “fame and fortune”. Oh they could see it all, their daughter a reality show winner, would probably go on to become an actress or a famous dancer.

She made the mistake of participating in a reality show, where participants are not made to go through a healthy competition, but rather humiliation has become a marketing gimmick, popularized by Simon Cowell of the American Idol fame and more recently by our own Anu Malik in the Indian Idol.

I remember as a kid, whenever I used to participate in a competition and if I lost, the lesson was: “You lost, but don’t worry, at least you tried”. The lesson has now changed o one of scrutiny and fierce judgement. One of the judges of the competition allegedly said:

Oh how noble. She’s a 16 year old kid for Christ’s sake. I suppose the days of mentoring are over and kids need to be rebuked on live TV for a better TRP (sic!)

And finally the mistake that Shinjini did was to be born in a society where our talents are considered to be merely skills that need to be cashed in. Not restricting themselves to adults, TV producers are now going after kids. In the highly unregulated entertainment industry that we have, does a minor have enough know-how to survive? Does she understand that the rebuke she got was not directed against her, but to invoke emotions of the millions of viewers watching, who would feel sorry for her and in some weird manner would be hooked to watching the show? Can’t we wait till a child turns 18 and starts understanding these things?

Is this not Old Child labor in New bottle?

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