Should India have a two-party system ?

In my opinion, both the systems, multi-party system as well as two-party system have their positives and negatives whose effects ultimately trickle down to the common man. The two-party system restricts the options of the citizens of a country to only two parties whose devotion to the welfare of the general public cannot be guaranteed and one cannot be sure if it will stand the test of the time. Both the parties may become used to snubbing each other every other day on minor issues ignoring the genuine concerns of the masses. In case, the voters aren’t satisfied with the government, they have no other option than to vote the other party due to lack of a viable alternative. The second party may come to power but may not be any different from the previous government. Thus, the progress of the nation is stalled and its development and security is held ransom to a bunch of people. US which has a two-party system, recently experienced a financial shutdown due to the deadlock between the two parties. The immaturity shown in making this decision affected the US economy badly. This could have been avoided. Recent bandhs in India sometime which are sometimes called by opposition are adhered to only in some areas. This saves the Indian economy from getting stalled. Thus, two party system limits the vision to look beyond petty political agendas.
A multi-party system on the other hand is representative of democracy in the true sense. It consists of various regional parties as well as national parties. In case a voter feels dissatisfied that a party is not addressing his concerns he has a lot of other options to choose from, and this competitive politics leads to parties appeasing people in spite of snubbing other political parties. The main opposition party which is the runner-up in the elections, scrutinizes the policies and actions of the government critically, thus giving advantages of the two-party system. But, multi-party democracy has its disadvantages too. During elections, In the event of lack of majority, the parties form coalition governments like UPA and NDA.The parties forming these coalition governments time and again threaten the Centre of taking away the support if their regional concerns are not met. Thus, the government gets embroiled in appeasing these parties and hence, is unable to take decisions in the larger interest of nation. Recently, it was visible in the inability of Prime Minister to attend the CHOGM meeting in Sri Lanka due to opposition by DMK.
An alternative that may be considered is the political system being followed in Bhutan. It invites multiple parties for elections and then based on the first round of elections, two parties with largest number of votes get shortlisted. During the second round of elections, one of the two parties emerges as winner and the other party sits in opposition. Thus, all parties get a chance to form the government but ultimately only one party independently forms the government.
Thus, to conclude, I think it would be wise not to discard the multi-party system altogether but take out the good things from it and adopt a mixed form of government. This change cannot be sudden but can be gradual and tailored through improvement to suit Indian conditions.

An Article I Wrote in my 2nd Year at College (2010)

MNCs : Behind the curtains

‘There was a time when Blackberry and Apple were just fruits.’ – A Facebook Group.

A decade ago, we welcomed the new millennium with great enthusiasm and hopes, and as the time flew by, our living standards grew exponentially. But, the most significant change, which is visible all around us, has been, in our mindsets. Today, our choices are highly influenced by the brands we believe in, the brands that carry value, that guarantee service, that have had a remarkable history of sales to boast of. The youth today, is not satisfied by just owning a branded product, but also dreams to be a part of this brand, part of this revolution which has added a new dimension to our lives: the MNCs’ revolution. Let’s look at what exactly are these MNCs, that the whole world is going gaga over ?

Google, Apple, BMW, Adidas - today, these labels are no different to an average citizen of a country. The story would have been an altogether different one, if a particular ‘idea’ hadn’t originated. Thus, the founder of the company is the most important person in an MNC and generally continues as the CEO, as he has the required vision. Had Steve Jobs not got the idea of digital music software from an internet pirate, we would still have been alien to the word ‘iPod’. Also, the Ikea wouldn’t have been among the leaders in low-cost furniture, had Ingvar Kamprad not stumbled upon an opportunity to manufacture flat pack furniture. On the other hand, there exist companies who play exception to the above rule. For instance, Eric Schmidt, is appointed as the CEO of Google, founded jointly by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, so as to oversee operations in a more efficient and professional manner.

Managers, which are generally different for different host nations, are responsible for chalking out the strategy of the company’s operations as the strategy is the key to a flourishing business. Different criteria are considered for classifying managers in a company. They are organized on the basis of product specialization, consumer specialization or region specialization. Each manager in a different nation needs to develop different strategies e.g. Tata Nano, which is yet to be sold in some countries like USA, is being modified according to the emission norms of that country. Also, Google has recently decided to end its operations in China due to the various censorship issues, and the no. of growing hackers whom it had to confront there.

Further, the operations of a corporation are divided into certain fields namely finance, marketing, research & design (R&D), production etc. This division of tasks allows the company officials to focus better on enhancing their respective outputs. Each field has the capability to act as a twist and turn around the fate of the company. Google guys deserve accolades for financing their operations through an innovative bidding operation for advertisements, in which the second bid goes only one cent lower than the first one. Similarly, other fields, like production, with Adidas and Nike getting their shoes manufactured by more efficient workers i.e. Taiwanese, may work wonders for the company.

Apart from the above mentioned officials, a significant share of the success tasted by a company is attributed to exterior supervisors, which include The Board of Directors, Auditors and the Company Lawyer. The Board of Directors is a body of elected or appointed members, who jointly oversee the activities of a company and are answerable to the stakeholders for the company’s performance. Auditor refers to the person or a firm responsible for the audit of a company. Audits are performed to ascertain the validity and reliability of information and also to provide assessment of a system’s internal control. Fresh in our memories, is the recent Satyam Saga, which is suspected to be initially propagated through a loophole in the operations of its auditing firm, Price Waterhouse Coopers. Then, the last but certainly not the least, is the Company Lawyer, who, by applying his corporate law knowledge to the best, streams the company out of the courtrooms, flawless as ever.

Thus, to cut a long story short, the MNCs are much more than just their brand name and logo. It is the magnified version of a dream that a common man cherishes in his childhood, and is turned into reality, by the hard work of a large pool of ambitious people. So, the next time you plan to buy a branded item, keep in mind that a whole lot of employees and managers out there, are awaiting your positive response eagerly.

Origin of the Universe

Reading an article on the evolution of universe has always been a fascinating experience as it deals with our origin. The fundamentals of our very own existence are time and again argued upon, with each group of debaters concluding in their own way. But, the latest one presented by the renowned professor and scientist, Mr. Stephen Hawking may weigh heavily on others. It is the one that may settle the dispute between the believers of scientific evolution of humanity and those supportive of a religious action. Mr. Stephen proposes that, though it is an inevitable fact that our lives and, origin to some extent, are governed by various scientific laws which can be traced back to their basic ones, but he adds, that these basic laws were initially formulated by the God for the synchronization of human beings with nature. Any slight imbalance would have tilted the scales on either side, thus, resulting in disastrous consequences. The protons, stars, carbon and other scientific drivers of human life and the solar system, might have initially been a part of the God's creative pattern, which has kept the researchers on their feet for many decades. The scientific discoveries have lead to formulation of theories but still the basics are taken as guaranteed. Those 'guaranteed basics' are recognized as the creation of God by Hawking. Well, this may settle the dispute for a while, but curiosity is a trait of a human being which is hard to suppress and hence the search for basics-of-basics is deemed to continue.