Sujavna 3:11

1100am/Sunday 24March 2013

As can be anticipated, the recent Indian Supreme Court verdict on the review petitions in the 1993 Mumbai terrorism case has evoked a mixed response, and has clearly revealed the double-standards that the so-called intellectual middle-class Indian practices (I refer to the calls for a sympathetic review of the Bollywood actor convicted in this case).

But there is one aspect of the 20-year legal episode that calls us all to introspect and work upon innovatively – why should there be a system of blanket “appeals-processes”, and “review-petitions” that convicts and their lawyers with affordable means abuse and waste the time of the valuable higher courts and executive administration?

Could we not innovate to ensure that judgements, in the first instance, are right and, all judgements will be reviewed through an automatic peer process in 3 months time – the peers could be a body of retired judges, who would serve the nation better rather than becoming chairmen of government-appointed committees ; and if the review process reveals a case for retrial or review by an upper court, then such an advice will be provided to the convict and his/her lawyer, who will then move the higher court. Also shouldn’t the Supreme Court involve itself only in cases of a gross-misrepresentation of constitutional rights, jurisdictions,  and privileges for citizens and organisations rather than involving itself in lower matters such as review of quantum of punishment?

What’s your take on this? Signing off for now....

Sujavna 3:10

0700am/Sunday 17 March 2013

Diplomacy is a utility that has been in existence for (I guess) as long as human beings have lived in social groups. Diplomacy, as practised today, could be assessed on, whether it contributes to peace and prosperity amongst nations, or in fact does more to subvert the same! And is there a need for diplomats to undergo some minimum professional training, undertake something like a (Hippocrates) oath for “standards of care” and have a “best-practice” guide book that could be referred to when in doubt??

Why am I concerned? Because of various instances of diplomatic gaffes that keep surfacing from time to time. Take the case of the Italian ambassador’s involvement in extending his good office and his government’s assurance to the Indian Supreme Court on the conduct of two Italian citizens’ conduct, and then reneging on the same. Was this necessary for furthering Italy’s national interest in Asia or for promoting bilateral geopolitical and economic interests with India which could help ease the recession back home?

I think this is a typical case of overreaching by confusing the role and duties of a diplomat. I also think that the Indian side has also contributed to the gaffe by not understanding where it had to draw the line in terms of extending all sorts of privileges in the name of diplomacy and human rights to under-trials. Again, a classic case of confusion amongst those that were involved in the case!

So is there any innovation that can help improve the situation? As I had prefaced, perhaps a mandatory training by a UN agency for all diplomats on benchmarked processes and “best practice” guidelines may be a starting point.

Signing off.....have a great week ahead.

Sujavna 3:9

01000am/Sunday 10 March 2013

Can the debate on capping bankers’ (and financial services sector’s) compensation packages look at fresh ideas that have the possibility of breaking the deadlock of retrenched positions of both sides in Europe and the UK? How about the possibility of not imposing caps but adding conditions that the performance-linked bonuses would need to be equally shared with (a) the customers, (b) the employer (who will hold the income in an escrow account with the regulator)?

On another matter, small retail individual customers in countries such as India continue to face challenges in fast and effective communications with big businesses on matters such as their deposits, the defeciencies in quality of goods and services that they had purchased, nominations for benefits, change of address and personal details. These challenges arise due to language, the confusion on who to address their communications to, the change in names of companies and the addresses of their offices..... In this context, would it be a good idea to commence a service that can provide a reliable communication service on behalf of such clients. This service can ensure that any such communications is fast, reliable and assures that both the sender and receiver benefit. Small nominal charges can be charged from individuals on an advance basis, with volumes and probabilities taking care of the profitability of such services.

Trust you are having a great weekend.

Sujavna 3:8

0620am/Sunday 3 March 2013

And I apologise for the delay in publishing this post which should have been done at 0620 am / Sunday 24 February 2013 / Mumbai.

What if one can go back in time and relive/rework things with the benefit of hindsight? What if this is possible in a limited context of “undoing things” that were not done correctly or appropriately in the first instance? Morally, ethically and philosophically, this can be a great human virtue; and not always impractical. All that is required is to acknowledge that something needs to be changed and then to go ahead and effect that change. The challenge, though, is the often-clouded reasoning on cost-versus-benefits of the change needed.

So, I have started to play an interesting game. This involves marking out some headline-grabbing news that was reported in the last 7 days and fantasize on how the same will be reported if the principal actors undid or acted differently (apologetically or otherwise) what they had done in the first place. My first game involves the Indian Finance Minister and his 2013 annual budget speech. Mr Chidambaram appends a Part C to his speech, which elaborated a green accounting  aspect of each of his major announcements in his Part A and Part B announcements. Another game involves Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Narayanamoorthy and Mr K V Kamat. They have each joined India’s leading political parties (Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi – not necessarily in that order) and are leading the battle for the 2014 general elections.

Can you imagine the probable outcomes? Interesting mind-games, these!

Signing off...