Daring escape by IAF officers from Pak jail - Part 1

My friend M P Anil Kumar's gripping account of a daring escape by three Indian Air Force officers from a Pakistan jail. More

Shutting petrol pumps and #MoilyIdeas

Petroleum minister Veerappa Moily's idea of shutting down petrol pumps at 8 pm in order to save fuel consumption, shows how befuddled the central political and administrative machinery in the country is, on improving the economy. (The original story in Indian Express & in Epaper). It's difficult to even understand the logic behind this bizarre thought.

Very few petrol pumps are open late in the night, and fewer open round the clock. Most petrol pumps anyway shut by 10 pm. Never heard of people filling up petrol and going on long drives in the night just because they saw fuel stations are open after 8 pm. Wonder how much Moily thought the oil companies would save by closing these pumps 2 hours early.

If at all such a restriction comes into place, one, people will fill more petrol in the hours when the pumps are open. Two, people who need fuel on emergency will be put to great hardship. Three, a remote possibility of vested interests hoarding petrol and selling it near stations illegally at a higher price for people who are caught unawares and need fuel urgently after 8 pm.

Moily's remark has led to a flood of comments on Twitter with the hash tag #Moilyideas. It was trending for a while yesterday. But the tweets are still pouring in here.

Here are some of them:

Nikhil Narayanan ‏@nikhilnarayanan
"Boss, I need to leave by 7 today. Gotta fill fuel" ~ Possible office-talk, thanks to #moilyideas 

Mocking Bard ‏@Spooferman_ 
People are getting fat. Please shut down restaurants between 8am and 8pm.

IndiaFirst ‏@NiketNabriya1
Government bans sex from 8pm to 8am to conrol population explosion! 

Faking News ‏@fakingnews
BREAKING: ATMs to close down by 8 PM to arrest the slide of rupee

Gaurav Sabnis ‏@gauravsabnis
After 8 pm, women traveling alone in cars should walk on the streets instead.

Now Moily says the idea to shut down pumps came from the public and not from the government.

Everyone, including people in government, know that there's not control on fuel consumption for government vehicles. The common logic is that since it comes free, why bother. That attitude has to change, because that's where the maximum wastage occurs.

Secondly, limit free trips and travel allowances for government functionaries.

Thirdly, remove the subsidy for diesel. Or if that could add to inflation, then have differential pricing mechanism for it.

I am sure people are willing to take the hard measures, provided they see that the government itself is setting an example.

Elections will end political uncertainty

Rupee for now seems to have stabilized after the precipitous fall. The fears that it may not fall further haven't eased. The GDP figures paint a depressing story. 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- irrespective of his eminence as an economist and a crafty politician who has survived many a storm in the portals of power -- ironically is the weakest link in the economic chain. 

He gave a statement in Parliament. But it came too late and didn't offer any solutions. He merely said get ready for hard days. But he should have announced some measures that would have infused confidence in people. I don't think a few steps now will be able repair the economy damaged over many years.

The biggest problem now is the seeming lack of control authority in Delhi. Foreign investors have pulled out money precisely because of the evaporation of confidence in our country. 

Dissolving Parliament and calling for elections will bring to an early end the policy drift. But Congress will not do it but will hang on for as long as possible and try their best to salvage the situation.