Petrol's not going to be cheap anymore!

After 7 long months of deliberations, the Central government raised the prices of petrol and diesel by 2.5 Rs./- and 2.0 Rs./- respectively. The whole country seems to have gone in to tribulations over that. Many political parties have come openly against the government while the people themselves are raising their voice against this move. The common sentiment seems to be that ' the price hike is a gross injustice and a heavy burden on the purse of the public'.
But it has to be realised that the price hike was necessary and imminent and any responsible government cold not have walked away from that decision. Sometimes good economics come directly in confrontation with popular politics and the former suffers. When prices were last hiked in november, the world crude oil prices were nearly 35$/barrel, but over the past 7 months it has jumped manyfold to close to 59$/barrel and how long can the Petroleum marketing companies suffer losses? The hike has to be shared to an extend by the consumer also. There has been an argument that the oil companies are the largest profit making companies in the country and thus they can take this eating up of their bottomline. But it has to be remembered that it is from this same profit that these oil companies make huge investments every year to increase the energy security of the country. Moreover, the dividend paid by the oil companies form a significant part of the non-tax revenue of the government.
Thus the price hike was an inevitable move and it is high time that the consumers realised that the age of cheap fuel is over. A strong supply constraint is eminent in the oil sector and that will only spiral the crude oil price to the 100$ mark as predicted by Goldman Sachs.

Left Wrong Left

Left is not right. That holds atleast for Kerala.Even in the midst of the startling victory of the left parties in the municipal elections of Kolkata, there is a general animosity towards the Left parties in Kerala. Atleast among people who believe that Kerala has the potential to be an economic superpower, but has lagged behind due to archaic social and political overtures. The remnants of an anachronistic socialistic mindset continues to haunt the state, where the policy of the Left seems to be to stall anything even distinctly progressive. I was left flabbergasted reading the insane attitude of the party towards the infusion of technology in kerala.
In the 1960's they protested against the use of tractor in farming as they claimed that it would lead to loss of job and was thus a 'capitalist's' ploy to exploit labour and accrue profit. Weirdly the same party let out vociferous protests against the computerisation of government offices, citing reasons of job loss. They even claimed that radiations from the monitor would lead to serious ailments including birth defects! Their other popular struggles include movements against mechanisation of farming, mechanisation of the coir industry and movement against privatisation of education.
The paradox of kerala is all too evident. Hailed as having social standards comparable to the developed world (with high literacy, low infant mortality, almost nil population growth, excellent medical care facilites etc.), the state remains to be one of the least industrialised in the country. Trade unionism is at it's fiery best here. Common lore goes that the red flag comes up the very next day a factory is started in kerala. Many investors have preferred closing their establishments rather than fighting it out with the trade unions and continuing investing money.
The latest controversy is regarding the establishment of an IT park in Ernakulam by the Dubai Internet City authorities. The left says that the project is mired in controversy and that the government is giving away prime land to the foreign company. A hug investment potential in the state hangs in mid air. The project will generate about 30,000 jobs and will give a fillip to the economy of the state.
Two days back, normal life was disrupted due to a 'hartal' called by the BJP to protest against the petrol and diesel price hike. Interestingly Kerala was the only state to go on a total hartal, nothing happened in even BJP ruled states! I wonder what the officials from Qatar who were at Kerala to discuss a multi crore investment project would have thought seeing the whole state come to a standstill at the call of a miniscule political party which does not even have a single MP from the state!
When West Bengal has moved forward from its rigid communist ideologies the Left in Kerala is still hanging on to an outdated philosophy which will only pull the state back from developing. The problem is that there is no viable alternative party in the state. The UDF (lead by the Congress I) is too busy sorting out internal party problems and it's off shoots themselves will make sure that the party won;t come to power in the next elections! That leaves us with the LDF (Left parties) as the clear winner in the next state elections. But I would prefer tattered yet forward looking party not afraid to move ahead with development plans. Left is surely not right.

Had Coffee with Karan, Thomaskutty and Mariakutty?

Karan,Thomaskutty and Mariakutty were not there, but we did have coffee. The waiter over the counter served authentic south indian 'kaapi' vouching that its 'simbly funtastic'. But none of us thought so. The rugged vendor in a second class compartment in the train serves me better coffee. I just looked around and wondered, they've put up a wonderful outlet, superbly creative interiors and lot of space right in the middle of the town, but serve pathetic food. That's the Coffee Club at Kottayam for you. There is an alarming dearth of hang outs in kottayam. Well, the 'achayans' would prefer to roam around in their rubber estates, the 'kochammas' would vile away their time in their social circles, the local 'dudes' hang out whereever they can, but what happens to people like us, who come home once in a while and want to spend some quality time with friends in a decent outlet ? We do miss Anns. The perennial haunt of all of us, where we could sit for hours sipping water, chatting and even listen to the music we wanted. But even they closed half the shop last year. Now its more like a take away shop with hardly any space to sit.
Then came the Coffee Club. I loved the concept at the very onset, with a logo closely depicting that of Starbucks (it is a traditional south indian filter coffee glass) they have tried to provide a different coffee experience. The theme is 'local' and 'south indian', from the menu (filter coffee, all kinds of dosas, delicacies like bonda, appam,stew etc.) to the creatively designed interiors (the men's toilet door has the carricature of Rajanikanth, common malayalam usages are written on stained glasses). And the first thing that catches your attention is the huge space of the outlet with one side open to a fountain outside. It should have clicked in kottayam. But my head count tells me otherwise. The first time I went we were the only ones there, the second time just three tables were occupied. I hear the experiences of others have also not been different and their comments on the food also match mine with striking accuracy. Another enterprise in kottayam (a real enterprising one in that) failing to take off. Well, I hear that they have plans to start the same outlets in the metros and bigger cities. And I put my money on them, incase they improve the quality of food. Because, their concept is strong enough to be a runaway success. A quality alternative to the CCDs and Baristas. Hmm, my friends will murder me for that!