Corruption destroyer of GDP and Ecosystem

You may ask, am I serious? Can corruption destroy Earth? Oh yeah! Corruption in any form, in any part of the world, has first and foremost a serious impact on our Eco-system. Why do we need to pay bribes?

1. To create more industrial corridors and emit more poisonous gases. Isn't Carbon credit a form of bribe? It is like failing in an examination and purchasing marks from your friends so that you can pass the examination. In this case, purchase is being made, using Public money!
2. To get something cleared from Government officials. Say for example, Passport verification or Licence examination. You're increasing their social status by illicitly increasing their income. These officials, if they spend on purchasing Goods and Services, they are creating a demand which isn't  natural. This has problem in three folds:


1. The demand created by summation of all such corrupt officers is significant and will create a bubble
2. If these officers decide to hide this unaccounted money, these notes will go mutilated, imagine the amount of Paper which needs to be used for printing currency and the amount a country has to spend on printing. You may curb Black money by removing particular series of notes from your economy. This doesn't solve the ecological problem. Who is answerable to all those trees which were fell to make these notes? coal burnt to keep the press running?
   To met this artificial demand, arising out of corruption, companies will have to produce more Goods and Services, which translates to nothing but more Pollution
3. With that in mind, the real GDP of any country should be
   
   Real GDP = GDP - % of level of corruption in that country
   
   For example, lets say GDP of country 'S' is 10. If we can estimate that level of Corruption is 3. Real GDP is 7.
   This % of corruption should be used to arrive at the real demand too
4. Look at the level of Corruption across the world. Now, are the GDP figures realistic? (Image source: transparency.org)
   
        
5. The above image shows, Five of 10 most Corrupt countries also rank among the 10 least peaceful places in the world
3. As the level of corruption increases, there is ample scope for humans to destroy wild life, fell more trees, increase in dust and pollution
4. Corruption not only increases the income illicitly, but also increases the luxurious needs. This robs an opportunity for the resources to be efficiently utilized. For example, a dishonest officer, earns more, and buys a luxury car, his need to purchase a car is not only dubious, but the GDP he created through the purchase of the car and also for its maintenance should not be accounted for as the purchase in itself is illegal and the most precious natural resource, 'Fuel' is not efficiently utilized.
5. According to transparency.org, BRICP nations and their overall rank amongst 168 nations are, Brazil - 76, Russia - 119, India - 76, China - 83 and Pakistan - 117. With some of the most populous countries having such low scores isn't a good news isn't it?

So, its an urge to all the readers, please do not accept or pay bribes.

(images are not owned by the Author. They are used only for representational purposes. Images downloaded from: http://www.transparency.org/cpi2015)

Impact of Bad infrastructure - a Bigger Picture

If I were to ask you, what do you remember the most and can have impact on you, is it the most happiest moments?  Or the unhappiest moments which tend to leave a scar on you? How much ever, you may deny its the latter which have a long lasting impact on our lives. Just think about it, years of hard work in a relationship, doesn't it usually ruined by one momentary temper lapse? An argument early in the morning, won't it shape your day? Well, how to have a healthy relationship is a topic for another day. Then, what is the correlation between Infrastructure and our relationships?

Let me take an example, over a weekend, you decide to watch a movie along with your family. You had a GOOD time. How long are those happy memories retained? 14 Days or less than that. Now, let's say, you had a very unpleasant experience, how long are those memories retained? Sometimes, a life time isn't it? Whenever you have an unpleasant experience, i.e any experience which deviates from your expectations, you tend to get protective. The natural tendency is to save oneself. In order to do so, you spend more energy and when you spend more energy for an unproductive purpose, your brain stores the information as a warning. It warns you next time, not to visit the theater again, to be-aware of such situations etc., Ever touched a hot stove when you were a kid? Why don't you touch it again? Your brain immediately warns you against such an action. It is for your survival.

The more unhappy moments you accumulate, the more Frustration, Anger, Jealousy, Sadness get accumulated in the system which aren't your good friends. If your life is a Bank account and your daily deposits are just negative experiences / feelings / emotions, what will be your annual / monthly or daily returns?

When we are living in a society, it is the responsibility of the Government to provide its citizens with Good infrastructure and there is an equal responsibility of the citizens to conserve and protect the infrastructure by proper usage and help the Government with maintenance.

Some of the common Infrastructure problems which India faces are lack of Good roads, Schools, Irrigation projects and Health related Infrastructure. Imagine you're struck in traffic for 2 hours and the distance from your home to office is just 10 Kms! Isn't it frustrating? If it happens daily!? Imagine the negative deposits of emotions in your bank account. All these negative emotions kill you slowly, bit by bit. These emotions kill Nations. Its people tend to get more frustrated, they will lack concentration ability, promises will be missed, Accidents tend to increase, Productivity will be decreased, efficiency of vehicles will come down, Corruption and Pollution will increase, citizens will vent anger on innocent people. I could go on.

So, as policy makers it is important to concentrate on building quality infrastructure. Either have no infrastructure or have excellent infrastructure in place. Build excellent roads. Not roads with pot holes. Build excellent Schools. Not Schools with just roofs! Build excellent dams. Not half built walls! Build excellent Hospitals. Not a shed with some beds. If transforming nation into a super power is your aim, with happy citizens dwelling in - Concentrate on Infrastructure.

Passport Reference Letter and other tips (India)

So, my Passport is due for renewal shortly. Most countries require a minimum of 6 months valid Passport to issue visa. I am against paying bribes and had decided to stick to my principles. This post is about my journey.

I had submitted my application for Passport Renewal through Passport Seva Kendra (PSK). Filling form is fairly easy. Let me share some tips:

1. Select a PSK which is close to your home / office
2. Be present at PSK at least 15 mins prior to appointment time
3. Make sure your photocopies are clear and are visible
4. For Date of Birth, you can submit, Secondary School Certificate copy. Note: If the certificate is in your native language and you're submitting an application in a state where they do not speak your native language, you'll have to get an affidavit stating that the information in the certificate is true and get the contents translated into English
5. For Emmigration check not required, since you're submitting Xth class certificate it is sufficient. It is good to carry your highest qualification certificate though
6. Your photo will be captured at PSK, make sure you look clean :)
7. For address proof, your Landline bill / Employer address proof + employee id card copy / Electricity bill etc., could be submitted
8. Application form states that, income tax assessment order could be produced as Address proof, but since orders are sent by email as a go green initiative, you'll have a softcopy. Now, PSK officials insist on originals! Even if you tell them its original, go green, Government of India proof they won't consider (Some officers may consider but you wouldn't want to risk it)
9. If you have changed addresses in last one year, some officers may ask for proof of address of previous address as well. For this most banks send account statements by email every month, take couple of months' statement and keep it handy / any other valid address proof
10. PSK has an sms service with a fee of about INR 40. Please go for it.
11. Your Spouse's / Parents' Passport copy could be used for Proof of Address as well
12. If you're renewing your Passport, do not forget to carry your previous Passport, you'll have to get a 'Cancelled' stamp on it
13. Once they cancel your previous passport, all your document copies will be returned to you

Right after I had submitted, I received an sms saying that, your application has been submitted. Passport was printed in 3 days and got dispatched through Speed post. In case, you are not able to track your consignment, you can call Speed post customer care. For more information, click here: http://www.indiapost.gov.in/SpeedPost.aspx

When the Post man arrives, you'll have to be present at home and produce your original id card. If you're not at home, these guys leave a slip and the local post office Landline (yes may not be mobile) number. Most post offices have stipulated timings for the same, ring them up and visit the office. When I visited the office, post man was out for distribution I guess. Some other kind employee, handed it over to me. To my surprise he didn't ask for any money!

After couple of days, I received sms and email stating that my Police verification is due and I should approach the (stated in sms / mail) Police station with in 30 Days, if there was no response from Police. I had stayed at two places in the last one year so I had to visit two police stations. Mind you the documents asked by Police could be different from what they ask at PSK. Cop has to get satisfied that you're a citizen of India, stay at the current address, work in current city, countries you've visited etc., 

Some tips again

1. Date of Birth - Not much of a hassle. Same documents as above
2. Carry a copy of your company id card
3. Address proof - They insist only on Electricity bill / Bank statement / Gas bill / Landline bill. They ask for the oldest possible bill and the latest. So carry both
4. Two Passport photographs - Carry latest ones
5. References / Reference letter. You might be asked to produce two reference letters if in case, you do not have satisfactory address proofs for last place of stay. I have used below format and it worked fine. (Note: There is no set format)
   

   

   You can print Reference letter on an A4 sheet

   
   
   At both the police stations, I was asked to pay 'fees', which I refused politely. One of the cop let me go. Other insisted that there is 2:30 Hours more work on my file, I mentioned, I will assist him with all the documents / to perform his job well. He is yet to visit my place. Let's see how things shape up.

I currently stay in Bangalore. The TAT per police website is 21 days. But, once you visit a station you realise the volume of applications in cities like Bangalore is quite high. If you see all this as a hassle, you can part with some "smiling Gandhijis". But on the other hand, see the potential Black money you can curb. Anyway, all the best!

www.bcp.gov.in