PR Ganapathy

The Anza Deception is now available on Flipkart! While it is listed as "Out of Stock" for now, copies should be available in the next few weeks. Do sign up to be notified when copies are available, and also "Like" that page on Flipkart.

While you're at it, please also visit the book's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/theanzadeception, and "Like" it!

Some great books if you're interested in the same things I'm interested in:

The Srinagar Conspiracy: A fast-paced thriller set in Kashmir, written by veteran NDTV journalist, Vikram Chandra. Not only is the plotline extremely gripping, but the story comes to life with Chandra's (obviously first-hand) descriptions of the scenes in Srinagar in the book. He also successfully gets you inside the mind of a terrorist - and makes the nuanced distinction between the home-grown kind (Kashmiri) and the hard-core (typically foreign) jihadi. You can buy it on Flipkart here.

War and Peace in Modern India: This academic work of the foreign policy challenges during Nehru's time is a great read, if you're interested in how the roots of some of our current problems (Kashmir, for example) were sown. Srinath Raghavan is a highly well-read academic, but still makes the crises of the newly born Indian nation come to life. Click here to buy it on Flipkart.

So Air India's first Dreamliner (Boeing 787) is being assembled in Seattle. The cabinet has just approved the final purchase, and today's newspapers carry full page ads from Air India announcing the eminent arrival of this modern aircraft.

To understand why this is such a ridiculous situation, read this, from Wikipedia:

As of March 2011, Air India has accumulated a debt of Rs. 42,570 crore (approximately $10 billion) and an operating loss of Rs. 22,000 crore, and is seeking Rs. 42,920 crore from the government. For the past three months (June, July, August 2011), the carrier has been missing salary payments and interest payments and Moody’s Investor Service has warned that missing payments by Air India to creditors, such as the State Bank of India, will negatively affect the credit ratings of those banks. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) blamed the decision to buy 111 new planes as one of the major causes of the debt troubles in Air India.

The Board of Directors of any corporation are responsible for prudently managing the affairs of the corporation in a way that serves the best interests of its stakeholders. The problem with Air India is that the key stakeholder who has quietly signed a blank check for all this fiscal irresponsibility is the Indian taxpayer - people like you and me who diligently pay our taxes and withstand the irrational scrutiny of the avaricious taxman.

And the Air India board and civil aviation authorities are having a right royal party at our expense.