Politics & Society

Rail Budget 2009-10 – A comparison with Rail Budget 2008-09

By Ritika at 5 July, 2009, 11:53 pm

The Railway Budget 2009-10 presented by India’s Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has a lot to offer for the common man. Right from a no increase in passenger and freight tariff, to new trains, proposals for world class stations, improvements in ticketing system, it looks like a popular budget made to please the masses. Nothing wrong with it except one small glitch, it is all on paper. How much will it take for the paper to turn into something concrete, is a question that somehow gets lost in the Budget euphoria.

Railway Budget 2009-10 or a Boxing match

By Ritika at 5 July, 2009, 11:51 pm

If you have never seen a boxing ring match between a former champion and a challenger, you can view the recent video of the Railway Budget 2009-10 of India being presented in the Parliament. The former champion was our ever entertaining Lalu Prasad Yadav, erstwhile Railway Minister, and the challenger, our ‘didi’, Mamata Banerjee, the current Railway Minister. I can’t tell you who won which round and the whole match, as I don’t think we have seen the end of it. The match will definitely go on.

Rajiv Gandhi Setu or Worli Bandra Link – What’s in a name?

By Ritika at 1 July, 2009, 2:44 am

Rajiv Gandhi: That makes my count to 561. I am coming close to you Gandhiji.
Gandhi: Son, Whatever you do, you will never be able to beat my record. I stand at 1000000.
Veer Savarkar: This is just not fair!! I am still crawling at 201. Rajeev, you should have given this one to me. You or [...]

Bandra Worli Sea Link - Will it work?

By Ritika at 30 June, 2009, 11:31 am

The Worli Sea Link is finally up and ready to go. Though its five years late than its original estimated time but as the old adage goes, ‘Better late than never’. The Link is meant for reducing the time taken for a 10 km distance from 50-90mins to around 8 mins. The bridge which is rightfully celebrated as an engineering marvel did not have an easy race to the finish line. It was bogged down by environmental issues by fishermen and residents, the litigations resulting thereafter, the great Indian bureaucracy and finally the recession that dried up funding resources. I must admit that I had my doubts if the link would ever be completed. I am happy to be proved wrong but I am still skeptical about recovery of the investment which stands at Rs 1,600 crore ($325 million), more than 3 times the estimated cost of Rs 450 crore.

The White Elephants of Uttar Pradesh

By Ritika at 29 June, 2009, 4:45 am

Wikipedia describes a white elephant as a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness. In financial terms, maintaining a white elephant is just a cost centre which will never incur any revenue. And in political terms, it means running the current government in Uttar Pradesh by Mayawati.