ASK ME ANYTHING
Dr. Bhupendra Bhandari is the Chairman and Editorial Director at Post Star.
When close relatives were threatened to be jailed by Indira Gandhi, he winded up his prospering textile business in California to become the founder and chief editor of Dainik Pratinidhi, a Hindi daily, as a response to the 1976 Emergency. He has witnessed and written extensively on Bofors, Mandal, Rao, Vajpayee and Modi – how each brought India to the door steps of future glory.
Q: Indian insurance industry is the most screwed up among any modern nations. Its rules are controlled by IRDA which is manned by insurance industry captains who look for ways to deny consumer justice. Consumer courts are overworked. It takes courts 15 to 17 years to get justice if consumer can spend money on lawyers like insurers army of lawyers do. Any thoughts? -- Ragini Mehta, Mumbai
A: There is a word in California insurance law known as “Good Faith” to be shown by insurer in dealing with a case. Any interpretation in case process as malicious bad faith by insurer turns case in favor of insured. Despite some changes India insurance law of 1938 still prevails, that was made to protect Lloyds of London insurers.
Q: Guru and baba business is big in india. So much exploitation and fear. Our educated class also follow astrology feverishly. Marriage is considered to be made in heaven. So many god men end up in jails. How can we teach our fellow men to be more wise, logical in this modern age. Thousands of people protesting in streets, rioting for rapist scoundrels that are shame to our country. -- Rajen Goswami, Bengaluru.
A: Wrong must be punished by law. But modern psychology does attest that the brain is a wonderful machine, and superstitions can be a savior when facing the unknown or what is beyond human control. God men are ok as long as they are not corrupt law breakers for their personal gains.
Q: Face book or whats app and twitter are destroying our social . Porno apps on PC or mobile is tearing our moral fabric apart. What future do you see for us, why can we not control them like China does? They have their own social media. Why cannot legislature or judiciary do any thing.? -- Sajjan Patel, Surat
A: Any one thinking to apply control of technology is day dreaming as the world has witnessed be it Indian courts or Trump and Clinton fight. And India is not China, it’s a democracy.
Q: Our education system is a in total disarray. Parents indebt themselves heavily and children do not get jobs after graduations. Schools and colleges make enormous wealth for their handlers. Educated unemployed youths in millions in number, it is a recipe for tremendous social unrest. -- Kavita Vyas, Gurugram
A: Yes, inequality between rich and poor has grown globally. Robotics in manufacturing is adding to this disparity. But India also suffers from very poor discipline in education from governmental decay in policies to parental expectations. Youth is a great asset to the country to be wasted so freely.
Q: What is the right age for a child to get a smart phone. My son is only 6 and knows all buttons on smart phones already and I feel proud of him. But I am afraid he will drop and break my expensive phone. I want to get him a cheaper phone for video games that make him smarter. All his friends have fancy phones and he feels left out. -- Roshani Aggarwal, Pune
A: There is a big price for a child to pay in terms of cognitive damage by using smart phone obsessively before age of at least twelve according to experts.
Q: Demonization of Indian currency in Nov 2016 has left India limping to 5.7 percent growth as of now. Poor farmers suffered the most. Corruption and black money issues were the target of such bold move but do not seem to have affected those areas. Economists world over say it was a terrible thing for India to do. How does Modi justify this one-sided decision? -- Mohan Sarswat, New Delhi
A: Perhaps this is the only wrong Modi policy makers have done that makes no sense.