Let Us Corporatize Religion !!!

In my blog of April 19th The Church vs Mammon (see link below ), I had talked about the fraying  lines between the  church vs mammon. I have just received confirmation that the line has finally dissolved. I recently read a  news item about a Chinese Buddhist shrine Putuo, which also has a mountain resort , testing the waters for a Initial Public Offering of Dollars One Hundred and Eighteen million .

Around about the same time, news items started appearing about  The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) or The Vatican Bank as it is commonly known, trying to clear its name of involvement in money laundering. This is not the first time that the God's bank has been under a dark cloud. In the 1980's also there were similar rumors which supposedly lead to the the death of a senior Italian banker Roberto Calvi ,who reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a bridge in London.

This is not a isolated incident. Religious institutions from around the world  have been involved in questionable financial deals. The Bishops of  Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi  in Greece were implicated in a real estate scandal not too long ago.

There are numerous incidents of the Muslim Wakf  Boards in India (among the largest holders of real estate in India on behalf of charity) entering into  special deals with businessmen, real estate developers and politicians .According to the Tehelka magazine, in Karnataka state alone, about 20,000 acres out of a total of 54,000 acres of property  owned by the Karnataka Wakf Board  worth approximately forty billion dollars has been encroached upon . Even if it is one-tenth the estimated amount, it is quite substantial.  These are not isolated incidents. In almost every religion , there have been such scandals.

All this is not surprising.Religious institutions are among the largest holders of real estate and other forms of wealth, gold, precious stones or art, in almost every single country.This  results  from either purchases or gifts received from  the state or by donors over the centuries.The latest Economist magazine reports of efforts underway to compensate the church in the Czech Republic for properties sized when the communists came to power in 1948. Prior to that the church was the largest holder of real estate in the country.

As countries develop and prosper, the value of these properties appreciate.You will have conniving  administrators working closely with  businessmen and politicians, to find a way to dislodge the ownership,  especially since historical records of these properties tend to be fuzzy.

The Putuo shrine has  now opened the door for the religious institutions to become more transparent and maybe create liquidity in the market place.Considering the daily income received by the temples, mosques, churches, some creative investment bankers can perhaps securitize these income streams. The Tirupati temple in India, generates millions yearly  from the auction of hair trimmed  from pilgrims.Ten year bonds could be issued to build a school or a hospital , with the repayments coming  from income stream from these auctions. This is just a small revenue stream for the temple. 

Perhaps the Vatican can incorporate itself and become the biggest corporate in the world. Its entire holdings of art, treasures,property and other holdings  will  have to be disclosed and marked to market .It  will  also have to publish  yearly statements.It will have to clearly spell out how much is spent on charity and how much on defending priests accused of wrong doings.

This could be  a model for other religious institutions such as The Golden temple, Tirupati and other places of worship.Perhaps then the money will be put to good use,rather than lying in bank accounts or invested in gold bars, diamonds, or art lying in vaults.

 This is of course wishful thinking , because it  will then end the battle between the state and the church, with the latter being subjected to the judiciary if wrong doings are found ,whether by priests or the  lay administrators. The mystique of the church would then be removed and that  of course, is not going to be allowed to happen.

For the Investment Bankers, one word of caution, make sure that these deals do well, otherwise you run the risk of excommunication or being literally consigned to hell. 


TheChurch vs Mammon
 http://avib-randomthoughts.blogspot.in/2012/04/chuch-vs-mammon.html

It Is Not Impossible To Succeed In The Infrastructure Sector In India.

In my blog dated February 2011, I mentioned that I did not understand why funding infrastructure was such a problem in India ? Good projects with good sponsors should be able to do that.

Today I read an article in the Asian Wall Street Journal that CLP India Ltd a wholly owned subsidiary of a CLP Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong,  was thinking of listing its India operations. It started its operations in India in 2002 by acquiring  a majority stake in a 650 megawatt gas powered plant project in Gujarat, which it now owns one hundred percent. It also owns a 1,320 Megawatt coal based plant at Jhajjar in Haryana which should be fully operational soon. It runs wind farms totaling 500 MW and expects to raise the capacity by 44% by mid-2013 to 720 Megawatt. It is also looking at opportunities in solar power and other projects.

According to the article, the Chief Executive Rajiv Mishra, stated that "We operate at the lower end of the risk spectrum,” . “We are very conservative that way ". Historically it has raised debt mostly from multi-national lending agencies such as ADB, overseas commercial banks and the  rest of the funds from its own cash flows and from the parent. Selling shares and forming joint ventures for power projects will be a shift in the company’s strategy, according to Mr.Mishra

Now perhaps someone can explain to me why is it that a foreign company with no previous experience in India can very successfully  complete  projects totaling 2,470 Megawatts in different sectors in the space of ten years, without  making any  excuses about delay due to government approvals, or complaining about feedstock prices going up, asking for subsidized coal or the hundred of excuses which the Indian project sponsors continuously make for delaying their projects ? Do they have better political connections then any of the business houses. I would be surprised if Micheal Kadoorie , whose family controls the company, has ever met the Prime Minster, the Finance  Minister, or the Vice Chairman of The Planning Commission  - perhaps  I am wrong ? To the best of my knowledge , which is of course limited,  the only connection that Micheal  Kadoorie had  with India was through his grandfather - originally from Iraq  who first came to Bombay and then moved on to Shanghai where he made his fortune.

Having done deals for CLP during my banking days, I will be looking forward  to buying  their shares when they list locally. It will be the only  power infrastructure  stock  in my portfolio.

Is This The Beginning Of The End Of The Terrorism Problem For India ?

Is the recent arrest of one of the mastermind of the 26/11 terrorist attack at Mumbai ,a signal that the terrorist movement against India is going to start declining ? It is wishful to think  that this will happen over night. However if you view the parties involved in apprehending the Abu Jundal , you have to  come to the conclusion that  the geopolitics of the  sub-continent are beginning to change. According to the news paper reports, it was cooperation between the Indian, the United States and the Saudi Arabian intelligence agencies which lead to the suspected terrorist  being arrested in Riyadh and put on a plane to Delhi. This in spite of the terrorist holding a Pakistani passport.

Would this have happened twelve to twenty four months ago ? The answer is unlikely. What has changed in the meantime? In my opinion the following broader changes have happened which lead to such cooperation.

1. Over the last twelve to eighteen months the squabble between Pakistan and the United States has gotten worse. The latter feels that the former refuses to play by the ground rules and it has reached the end of its patience.It is gradually stepping away from its main ally against its fight with the Taliban. It is openly courting India in every way not just as a sign of its displeasure with Pakistan, but as a potentially ally against China. It is also  encouraging India to play a more active role in Afghanistan.It would not have done that a few years ago for fear of incurring Pakistan's displeasure.

2. The Middle Eastern countries which are among the biggest supporters of Pakistan and among  its biggest financiers, are beginning to realize that the energy geopolitics are changing. The United States which used to be its biggest customer , is going to become a net exporter over the next few decades. This will  result in these countries searching for customers elsewhere. Europe is likely to continue to rely on Russia for its gas,and  if Poland starts exploiting its shale reserve, it will be a big supplier to the European Union market. That leaves China and India the other big and growing potential customers. While they have been buying from the Middle East, Iran has been one of the largest suppliers. Once Iraq and Libya and the other offshore fields in Africa step up their production, competition is going to get tougher.With the United States loosing its interest in the Middle East, the kingdoms there will have to find new friends. Unfortunately it is no longer a case of " my friend's enemy is my enemy ". National interest and self preservation comes first.Over the last few years countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have started re-building  the ties  which they have had historically with India and which had frayed until recently.

3. That leaves Pakistan with China its " all weather friend". It  will continue to support Pakistan - but up to a limit. If some of its ethnic provinces which have large Muslim populations  are infiltrated by the terrorist operating out the Pakistan , China will have to re-consider. Also China's trade with India and the potential to expand is many times more than that with Pakistan. The all weather friend might become a " fair weather friend"

4. Interestingly enough one of the Taliban web-sites actually congratulated India on not becoming a lackey of the United States and for being independent minded. Not quite sure  what to make of it, but  being an eternal optimist, I would take it as a positive sign and think that the Taliban is washing its hand off the Pakistan-India sixty year old squabble and saying we no longer  want to be  part of it.

 If all of  the above happens, the funding taps are going to be turned off, the safe havens of refuge are going to disappear. In today's world it is no longer enough to have passion for a cause and fight for it. You need to have the infrastructure to support the network and that requires not just the financial support, but also the nod and the wink of the authorities. For that to happen, there has to be a political angle or a financial angle.As they say in Hong Kong , no money, no talk.

On top of that Pakistan has its own internal problems both political and financial. On the political front you have the military, the politicians, and the judiciary all battling each other. Its finances are in a difficult situation.  The money pipelines are slowly being withdrawn.What then is the motivation for Pakistan to continue to wage a futile battle with India ? With nuclear weapons it is no longer a case of who wins? Both loose.Unless the leaders themselves together with  their families , are  prepared  to commit jihad , it does not make sense to continue with this effort.

The best way forward is for them to follow  the example of Nelson Mandela ,and Daw Aung Sung Sui Kyi to try and wipe the slate clean.The leaders need to press the restart button on  the pathway to prosperity for the entire sub-continent and re-claim the common culture and heritage.

Globilisation - Elevator Music

It used to be that when you entered a elevator in a international city such as Hong Kong, Singapore, London or New York, you would end up hearing a variation of Kenny G smooth saxaphone but over the last few years it has been changing and becoming increasing global.

During my last years at HSBC when I used to visit the the head office, I used to stay at the Four Seasons at Canary Wharf. It was not unusual to occasionally  hear Bollywood music in the elevator including one of my favorite Chaiya Chaiya. Catering to a international clientele it was perhaps not surprising that it had a wide selection of international music. On a recent visit to Hong Kong  in a shopping mall  elevator,  my wife and I were both surprised to hear Bollyood music. We both looked at each other " Bollywood music in a Hong Kong elevator ?" To me that really means that Bollywood is finally going global.

I  presently have a office in a building in Gurgaon called Signature Towers where the tenant mix is a combination of local and multinational ( including Asian multinationals) companies. Ever since I have been here, the music in the elevators was traditional "bhajans" , Hindu religious music in the mornings and Bollywood during the days. However over the last couple of weeks the person responsible,seems  to have decided that it was time for a change. Since than much to my pleasant surprise and joy, not just the elevators, but lobbies have been piping out country western music.

It is not just a few songs repeated over and over again, but a large selection ranging from Johnny Cash, to Glen Campbell, to the Band. Hearing old favourites such  as Bobby McGee, Down by Cripple Creek, The Gambler that I have to control myself singing along and being stared at. The other people in the elevators  , particularly the young are quite confused and keep asking why are they playing this strange English music. Perhaps Lady Gaga or Seal might be more to their liking , but from my perspective, the elevator disc jockey can keep playing this. Better than Bhajans any day.

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Since my blog posting, I went down to the administration office and  gave them a eight CD set " The Ultimate Rock Collection " which they agreed to play and now I have my own private elevator music.

The Villians In Society

  

 Recent losses incurred by JP Morgan , supposedly due to lax risk management ,has again raised the controversy about bankers.Almost all articles mentioned that the Head of the Department was paid  fourteen million dollars as compensation last year. This has once more  raised the noise pitch of  the media and the social chatter about these wicked greedy bankers.But are bankers any different than most other professionals or business men ? Lets look at the different strata of society and he who is without sin can cast the first stone.

The Indian Medical Infrastructure has been coming apart at the seams. When we were growing up, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences was recognized and still is  probably the best post graduate institute for medicine with a attached  hospital. They have among the best doctors in the country. Unfortunately like everything else in India , the government has not invested in replicating this center of excellence across the country ( except in a few limited locations),  as they are doing for the Indian Institute of Technology.

With the growing population and the increase in income level, this has left a void and private institutions have rightly jumped in .They have built five star facilities with the state of  the art medical devices. India does not produce as many doctors as required. We  have among the lowest doctor per population ratio in the world.

The owners and administrators of these hospitals have been head hunting the best doctors from the government and armed forces hospitals and offering salaries on par with bankers. However the  catch is, like bankers they have to bring in the revenue to be able to make the big bucks. Thus when you go there you will be required to go through a battery of tests ( some of which might be of marginal use and of which I am led to believe that they get a percentage of the fee charges - reminds you of these evil bankers ?) and often be told that you require surgery which might not be necessary. I have been at the receiving end of one of these.

 

Having said that you do occasionally come across  doctors who stick to their Hippocratic oath as I had the experience recently. I had gone to a private hospital  fully expecting to have to go in for  a minor but important surgery, but the doctor  was extremely firm and insistent that it was not necessary and stuck to his guns. This was confirmed by a second opinion I got from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Regretfully these are few and far between. This gets worse for the low income workers, the working classes and in the rural ares,  who regularly get gypped by the doctors to take unnecessary tests. In the villages, they seem to think the panacea for all illness is either getting an injection or being put on a inter venous drip, with the latest being asked to go for a scan.These are the people you rely for your well being and in some of these cases, could be a matter of life or death.

Lets now switch to sports.Cricketers in India are adulated by the masses and the media. The stars are rewarded handsomely when they perform well .  The God of Indian cricket has recently been nominated to the Upper House of the Parliament. But are they all clean? Ever so often there are stories in the media about matches being fixed. Recently one of the television channels conducted a sting on some of the Indian Professional League players where they were filmed talking about how some of the matches were fixed. I do not know whether that is true, but viewing some of the matches of late, I have always had my doubts, when a bowler who does brilliantly in the first three overs suddenly performs miserably in the  second or last over which makes them loose a match. There have been too many of them of late.Perhaps this is just a coincidence and the bowler is tired towards the end. Also there have been allegations of match fixing in other sports as well and what about athletes taking drugs to enhance their performance  The cricket sting accusations also allege that the owners who are among the top business houses in India  are aware of the match fixing

Some of the top business houses are also linked with the numerous scams which involve paying off politicians whether is it for band width or access to iron ore or to coal mines or defence contracts.  Allegations have been made also against the multinational drug companies for not conducting the appropriate drug trials before marketing. On a smaller scale, staff of multinationals find ways to skim on premises for staff or supplies.You hear stories of buyers for stores or retail outlets from the developed world demanding either entertainment or other means of pay offs. Suppliers whether they are garment exporters or other goods suppliers have to do so if they want to get the large volume orders to which these buyers hold the key.

 Tomes could be written about  bureaucrats and politicians.Daily there are news stories about these two being involved in some scam or scandal. From the most junior to the most senior persons in both the category. When you talk to real estate brokers in Delhi or Gurgaon  as to why the market has not adjusted, considering the state of the economy and the high interest rates, the answer promptly is " money from the Commonwealth Games and other  scams is being recycled". Believe it if you want, but I am sure there is some element of truth in it.The politicians and bureaucrats are regularly accused of siphoning off the equivalent of hundreds of millions from programmes meant for the poor and needy as a result of which they starve and in some cases commit suicide. 

I could continue ad infinitum  about movie stars, management consultants, lawyers, policemen, the armed forces, the media and others.You could sift through all layers of society and professions and you will find that each of them have their shares of bad apples. Bankers are no better or worse.

The Church vs Mammon

It is now official. Archbishop Desmond Tutu in an article in the Financial Times of April 4th, says that it is now just as easy for the rich man to pass through the eye of the needle as a camel. There is no contradiction between faith and mammon. You no longer have to live a life of austerity to prove your faith. The Russian oligarchs, the Arab rulers, the hedge fund managers, Donald Trump  and our very own Vijay Mallya, I am sure, will be greatly relived.

I have to confess that I have never seen the contradiction, since the Church ( or the Temple, Synagogue, Mosque, Pagoda or the Gurdwara or other places of worship ) never had any issue accepting donations from the rich. In many religions the tithe or its equivalent is compulsory. You could be a robber baron or just a plain robber, and  still be a man or  a woman of faith  if you donated to the Church. Over the centuries the Church has grown rich through donations from kings and nobles, who were responsible for terrible massacres and rape and pillage as a result of their  conquests.There has always been a nexus between  the rulers ( whether they are kings or politicians ) and the priests ,  who work out an arrangement of back scratching to suit their purposes.

It is not my intention to discredit religion, since it does play a very important role in setting some ground rules for civilized behavior, even if most of them are not carved in stone or  in a golden book . It is also  something  you turn to when you are desperate and have no where else to go.

However over the centuries religion has been hi-jacked by its guardians or interpreters who insist that religion is too complicated for it to be understood by the layman.They become the  enforcers and have  over a period of time enjoyed  the power and privilege that they refuse to let go. There are stories from every religion whether it is the Popes who had mistresses or the Brahmin priests who took advantage of the temple maidens or the Mullahs who extort their flock that jihadism is the only way to salvation , where they will have  unlimited earthly delights in the form of vestal virgins.The priests have created heaven and hell and they have become the gate keepers.

Every religion has parables as to how the various prophets always favored the poor against the rich. I remember my grandmother telling me one about the founder of the Sikh religion Guru Nanak. In one of his frequent travels he was invited to have a meal and to rest  at the house one of the richest man in the province, yet he chose to spend the night  in a poor man's hovel and share his meal. When one his followers questioned him, he is supposed to have picked up the food offered by the rich man in one hand and the poor mans offering in the other. He then squeezed both. Out of one flowed blood and out of the other milk.

Just as the the kings and emperors built huge palaces, the priest have encouraged  their believers to contribute to building larger and larger edifices to glorify God. Look at the holiest of holy places of all religions and you will see the amount of money which has been lavished over the centuries.The religious institutions are among the worlds wealthiest institutions.  And yes while some of them use  part of  the wealth  to benefit society such as  building  hospitals, schools and other institutions, but at the same time large amounts are siphoned off by the minders or in the case of the Catholic Church to defend misdeeds by the priests. A lot more could be done in using the daily collections by these places of worship for the betterment of the society or prohibit the people from making financial or other rich offerings. Raise money only for a specific cause instead of building ever grander edifices.

While the paths might be different, one thing all religions seem to agree on is that God is within you.  If so why do we need to have such ostentatious places to  worship ? I quote below from Kabir one of the mystic poets  who preached the universality of religion.

Are you looking for me?
I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas,
not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues,
nor in cathedrals:
not in masses,
nor kirtans,
not in legs winding around your own neck,
nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me,
you will see me instantly —
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.”

Corruption

Recently we were with some friends and their two sons who are in their mid-twenties. As always the conversation drifted to India and to the moral decay. This is similar to the conversation  we have when our two children come home for holidays as well. It is difficult not to talk about corruption in India when it hits you in your face every day, when you open the news paper, when you switch on the television set, when you drive your car and the policeman pulls you to the side for a make believe traffic violation. It is difficult to have hope when you see daily the politicians and bureaucrats get away with ripping off the country with the equivalent of million of dollars through Common Wealth Games scam, telecom scam, coal auction scam, defense contracts scams and so on. The media highlights these for a period but ultimately they get brushed under the carpet. After all how “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin” ?How many scams and scandals can you fit on a page or a television screen every night ?

From the young people's perspective who want things to change, it is hard to convince them that things will get better and the fact  that these are even being talked about is a good sign. It is difficult to explain to them that all countries go through this phase during economic development. The United Kingdom went through this. You have to read  Charles Dickens  to get an appreciation of the  rampant state of corruption including the judiciary. It was similar in the United States in Chicago, New York and other American cities in the early nineteen hundreds and into the thirties and the forties. It was not all Brideshead Revisited or The Great Gatsby.

However that was then.  It is hard for them to understand that even with modern technologies why is it so difficult to clean up the system. However with a population of one point two billion people and still growing, it is going to be a while for the society to cleanse itself.

In fairness, the government's intention has been well meaning and the funds allocated to meet  the basic requirements has been increasing substantially . However there is a vast difference between what gets allocated and what is actually spent. The development economists euphemistically refer to this as “leakages ". This is a polite way of saying that the money is being siphoned off to the pockets of politicians, bureaucrats and others who are involved in the implementation of these programmes. It is difficult to quote any precise figures but based on anecdotal evidence, the actual number which is actually spent cannot be more twenty five percent , probably  less. It varies from state to state .Some states do a much better job than the others. Even with that I am not sure there is any state which comes anywhere to achieving over seventy five percent implementation.

The question then arises as to what and how is to be done?

First and foremost accept that the fact that you will never bee able to eliminate corruption totally. No country has and no country will be able to regardless of what the government says. Let me give you a few examples of countries which are often quoted and who hold themselves to have high standards of governance.

The United States
The Economist March 15^th,2012
"Rod  Blagojevich, a former governor of Illinois….. was convicted last year of bribery, wire fraud and trying to sell a Senate seat. He is the fourth governor of Illinois out of the last seven to be convicted, and adds to the 1,828 public corruption convictions the state saw between 1976 and 2010. A report by the University of Illinois at Chicago estimates that corruption costs the state more than $500m ( small change by Indian standards )  a year. Two states had even higher numbers of appointees, government employees (and a few private individuals) convicted of public corruption: New York, with 2,522 convictions and California with 2,345 convictions. Of the largest states though, Illinois had the highest per person conviction rate, at 1.4 per 10,000 population. With little over 600,000 residents, the District of Columbia had a rate of nearly 17."

The United Kingdom 
The Mirror News April 2^nd 2012 
“Access on a plate: PM's secret lavish dinners with party donors
DAVID Cameron had a string of secret lavish dinners with party donors in the mansions of rich backers, it was revealed yesterday.The PM was under mounting pressure last night to come clean about ALL his private meetings with donors following fresh sleaze allegations.Labour said he had "incredibly serious" questions to answer after he was accused of covering up a series of meetings with disgraced former party treasurer Peter Cruddas and donors - including an event at the PM's country retreat, Chequers.

Former standards commissioner Sir Alistair Graham said Mr Cameron was "in danger of falling into the sleaze category" by not being straight about his links to big money donors”

Ever so often you have news items about British Parliamentarians raising questions in Parliament if you paid them a few hundred pounds. About Parliamentarians and government officials  fudging  expense accounts. Even the extend royal family has been dragged into scandals about money for access.Of late you had the Parliamentary committee investigating the close ties between the senior executives of News Corp and the Police.

France
In France allegations have been made against  the former IMF chief and who had been considered a potential candidate for Presidential elections for being involved with a prostitution racket.

Hong Kong

Closer to home ( at least for me, since I spent a greater part of my life there) in Hong Kong, the former Chief Executive Donald Tsang was accused of having accepted favors from business tycoons. Also the Independent Commission Against Corruption has initiated investigations against the former Chief Secretary ( effectively the number two after the Chief Executive ) and two of richest real estate tycoons in the world - the Kwok brothers. As an aside when I first reached Hong Kong the clean up process had just started by the then Governor Murray Maclehose, so I am disappointed to see that the clock is being reversed.

China

In China, I think I can sum it up  by quoting a line from a book review in the Financial Times  by Chris Patten, the last British Governor of  Hong Kong " the remark of the old Maoist, Deng Liqun in the 1990s that if the party bosses did not eradicate graft, they would lose the support of the people; but if they did, they would lose party members."  Sounds familiar does it not ? The present leadership is still struggling with it as was evident with the fall from grace of Bo Xilai a princeling in  Chongqing.

I could go on and on, but it is obvious that corruption prevails in every single country. However it is not as invasive as it is  in India. How do we resolve this and how do we minimize it ?

While some amount of corruption is explainable (not condoned) as money  needed to fight elections, lets legalize it as the United States has done, including using the Public Action Committee which is  nothing more than a vehicle used to target a component without the candidate actually spending money.

In India, the reason given to justify corruption among the bureaucrats is that their salaries are low, which is not true , either in absolute terms or the equivalent on a "cost to company" basis. Pay them the equivalent of the  private sector , as they do in Singapore and let them find their own accommodation, pay for their own health care, pay for their own clubs, their own transportation and so on.. Let them commute for hours as the private sector does, but pay them cash up front. If they then don't perform or are caught red-handed, nail them to the wall.

The issue here is not that the laws do not exist. The issue here is that of implementation . Ever so often the stars align, as they are presently and  you have a Chief Justice, a Comptroller And Auditor General Of India, and The Election Commissioner ,  supported by  their peers who take it upon themselves  to do the job of the government. Also you have an increasing number of  individuals who file Public Interest Litigation cases to highlight scandal after scandal.What is needed is to increase the number of courts and also track the performance of the judiciary at the lower courts. Also have a time bound schedule for all cases.

It is difficult to expect  the political parties to take the lead ,because almost every single party is tainted. If the young princelings are serious about making a difference they should set an example and bar any one  with a criminal case pending against them from being given a legislative assembly  or parliament  ticket or making him or her a minister at the state or central level.

None of the above ideas are new and I am sure that there are a lot more out of the box ideas as to how corruption can be minimized. As Gurcharan Das said in one of his presentations, you will see major changes start to happen when the middle class reaches approximately fifty percent. In my opinion it will take a couple more decades where corruption will decrease and will reduce the impact on a day to day basis. Lets look forward to that day. I am not sure it will happen during my life, but I am confident that it will in my children's life time.