Carbon tax on petrol

As an environmentalist, I am happy that the taxation on petrol has increased a lot in India since 2013. This is an alternate to carbon tax. High petrol price will help people to innovate towards renewable sources of energy.

Keep a keen eye on who is doing lobbying

Lobbying by various industries to curry favor from governments and political leaders is a reality. We, as public, need to keep an keen eye on which company or individual or group is active in lobbying which politician or government department.

If we do not have time or skill for that, we should support activist organizations which do that. OpenSecrets.org is one such organization.

See the lobbying done by various industries in the US. It is no surprise that industries with deficiencies in 'consumer surplus' are lobbying more.

I endorse the candidature of Ravi Krishna Reddy for Jayanagar Assembly constituency

I endorse the candidature of Ravi Krishna Reddy, the MLA contestant for Jayanagar constituency for Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018. He is contesting as an independent in this election.

He was associated with Loksatta Party Karnataka, and then due to some reasons, he moved onto Aam Aadmi Party Karnataka, and then resigned from that party too. Though he was in two parties earlier, his conviction to serve the people is honest. His main agenda is anti-corruption and good local governance.

Please go ahead and vote for him !!

~ Dilip Sankarreddy
29 April 2018

Incentives to states for population control

I welcome this statement from Narendra Modi . Let's hope this will translate into desired change in the distribution of tax money collected by the Center from the States. Less tax money should be allotted to states producing more babies!

Let's hold Modi accountable for this statement. If no action takes place in next few months, he will lose more credibility.

Invite JP for a role in Central Government. Appeal 2.

In the last 6 months, Narendra Modi has become weak. His graph is falling down due to various reasons.

Opposition is attempting to ensure that Modi does not become PM again after the next General elections, even if BJP comes to power after the next General Elections.

One of the biggest complaints against Modi is that he is not a "team player". I believe it is high-time that Modi invites experts such as Jayaprakash Narayan to the Central Government team. This will contain the "damage" of unfavorable public perception to a sizable extent.

Modi knows JP very well. I can personally attest to that. So, it is actually an easy decision for Modi to invite JP to the Central Government team now. But, does he want to???

I have been raising this issue since 2014 General Elections. Refer to the blog post I wrote in March 2016: dilipsankarreddy.blogspot.com/2016/03/modi-should-invite-jp-to-his-central.html

I hope Modi listens to the wise advice.

Concise high-level review of Indian Budget 2018

Overall it's a good budget. I would give 3 out of 5 stars to the budget.

1. The first best aspect of the budget is the fiscal discipline. Though there is some amount of wastefulness, the Finance Minister has not taken his eye off fiscal deficit.
2. The second best aspect is attention given to Universal Healthcare. I am a strong votary of basic Universal Healthcare (though I am against the State paying for expensive treatments for its citizens).
3. The third best aspect is the attention given to poor people. Yes, there is not much for the middle class to cheer about. However, the Government should be prioritizing the basic needs of the poor over the aspirational wants of the middle class.

That said, the budget is not out-of-the-box. May be, the Government lost appetite for risky moves, after the (well-intentioned) adventure of demonetization!

Addendum:
"Indian Government will take all measures to curb use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin" - Budget 2018 by Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister.

This is a bad declaration by the Finance Minister because this crude move will stop innovation that is taking place in this powerful space in India.

Bitcoin and fiat money

All it takes is a major, difficult, damaging, long war involving a developed nation, and then the bitcoin will be more widely used for storing part of assets, as people become a little more wary of the fiat money they own.

White paper from QuietGrowth Tech: In-house versus Outsourced Model for Tech Development

Download the latest white paper from QuietGrowth Tech: "In-house versus Outsourced Model for Tech Development". This white paper is relevant to any team involved in tech development.

Link: quietgrowthtech.com/white-paper-in-house-versus-outsourced-model-for-tech-development

Digitant launches a new initiative: Digitant Talent Solutions

Digitant launches a new initiative: Digitant Talent Solutions (digitanttalentsolutions.com).

The goal is to provide tested, certified, scored and curated Digital Marketing talent to companies.

Good luck Gayathri ! Check out the raison d'être in the words of  Gayathri: linkedin.com/pulse/digital-marketing-talent-gap-far-wide-gayathri-choda