Wish you all & your families a very happy & prosperous new year. It has been quite a lazy start to my new year, nonetheless I’m lovin it (am I using this too often? McDonalds gonna sue me :D) What else would you expect when the new year starts with a long weekend?
I personally don’t keep new year resolutions; they perish as winter sets out 🙂 While I was setting some targets for me to achieve this year, a few other things came to my mind which we, as Indians, should all look forward to.
Infrastructure
Population explosion has set an ever-growing need for infrastructure development. This includes much needed road & public transport development projects. Although the number of AC buses in the city has been growing steadily, additional capacity on some routes & a few new routes would greatly alleviate intra-city commute.
The first metro corridor project should continue as planned without further slippage; this will really help save time when switching between central/harbour & western railway lines. But that’s not until another couple of years! For now, the railway ministry should keep a tab on the no of train accidents due to signaling errors & derailing.
On the telecommunications front, I’m awaiting number portability the most! Followed by 3G; Mobile connectivity should pervade this year.
Security
Terrorist attacks have always been the greatest threat since Independence, all the more after 26/11. Keeping a close watch on extremist forums & curbing jihadi activity should top intelligence to-do. Finally, Kasab has to be hanged no matter what he claims; we just can’t afford all that expense to pet a terrorist.
International
We should closely monitor activity by our neighbours on the border. The number of bunkers on the Pak side have increased by several folds starting from the Musharraf era, most development assisted by China. Work on the Indo-Pak samjhauta should move faster leaving some time to settle the Chinese claim of Arunachal. Reports about Chinese occupancy in a tenth of J&K are yet to make a difference to the government & citizens; their ‘crouching dragon‘ and our ‘hidden tiger‘ act will soon prove dangerous.
Politics & Policies
We should all fight corruption in our own little way & not vote for gundas. The BJP should get back on its feet under Gadkari so that the INC has some competition. Raj should find a pragmatic way of fighting the battle for the Marathi manoos. And Mayawati should work towards creating oppurtunities in UP rather than infuriarating Raj from that distance.
Power is called Power because of its Power. Energy is the real measure of progress & independence. The ambitious nuclear deal should get activated & Ratnagiri should make way for a nuclear plant. We should ensure our bit to saving the planet by going green & the nation should have stronger commitment to meet international norms.
Scarcity of feed & exploding prices should be tackled on priority. So far, waving farmer loans has not shown any improvement to agriculture production or suicides; it is definitely not a panacea & someone (possibly TRP hungry media that has airtime for everytime for everything other than news) should investigate root cause. Last, but not the least, kids: please don’t end your lives so soon.