ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: CALM BEFORE THE STORM

 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…

(A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens)

Written, though, as part of literary fiction, these words, in today’s scenario, are nearly prophetic. They can hang in the air as a pall of doom if the topic of today’s article comes to pass. They can have a life of their own if humanity refuses to slow down and reflect upon the abyss it might be heading toward right now.

BRIEF OVERVIEW:

As we know, change is the only constant of life.  From the earliest days of humanity, we have been striving to soar high in the skies, both literally and metaphorically, and all the inventions and discoveries affecting our lives today are a result of the endeavors of enterprising humans.

In 2022, a new sun dawned on the horizon of science and, before we could realize, our lives were transformed forever. Dependent already on machines and technology, ground beneath our feet was shaken and the era of Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter referred to as ‘AI’) was ushered in.

While interacting with the immense power of AI at our disposal, we do not realize that this concept has been worked upon by some of the most brilliant minds from the very start of the 20^th Century. Its foundation was laid by Alan Turing when, in 1935, he described an abstract computing machine consisting of a limitless memory and a scanner that moves back and forth through the memory, symbol by symbol, reading what it finds and writing further symbols. He was followed by other luminaries like Christopher Stratchey who, in 1951, wrote the first successful AI program. Anthony Oettinger was close on the heels when, in 1952, he presented the first successful demonstration of machine learning through a program named Shopper.[1]

AI had its journey during 20^th Century but was not available for public use until OpenAI released its application, ChatGPT, for public use in 2022. Just three years since it came on the scene and nearly aspect of our personal and business life is influenced by AI and its sweep is only broadening. As per a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), by late 2025, nearly 73% of US companies had already adopted AI in some aspect of their business.  [2]

WHAT IS AI:

Before taking a deep dive into the nuances of this article, we must understand the definition and concept of AI. Google defines AI as a set of technologies that empowers computers to learn, reason and perform a variety of tasks in ways that used to require human intelligence, such as understanding language, analyzing data and even providing helpful suggestions, while encompassing many disciplines including computer science, data analytics and statistics, hardware and software engineering, linguistics, neuroscience and even philosophy and psychology.     

There are three types of Artificial Intelligence, namely, (i) Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI), (ii) Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and (iii) Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI). We are, currently, at the level of ANI. It is designed to perform a single, specific task, such as identifying images, engaging in chat or filtering emails. ANI does not possess reasoning or self-awareness. It, instead, combines data with an algorithm to make predictions within pre-defined parameters.[3]

NASA, however, refuses to let the concept of AI be circumscribed by a single definition, for, AI tools are capable of a wide range of tasks. Nevertheless, it follows the definition referenced in Section 238(g) of the National Defence Authorization Act, 2019.[4]

DISRUPTION AND DIVERSIFICATION:

Overtime, many other models of AI came into being, for ex., Gemini (Google), Claude (Anthrophic) and the list goes on. This shows the extent to which this technology has pervaded our lives and the urgency companies have to get a foothold in this arena. Turning backs at the rising sun would be a fool’s paradise and there is no denying the fact that influence of AI would only grow exponentially in days to come.

However, at the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that influx of AI is bound to cause disruptions and discontent. Kate Gibson, in her article 5 Ethical Consideration of AI in Business, [5] cites HBS professor Nien-hê Hsieh who, while giving the example of the impact ATM machines had on bank tellers, states that, throughout history, technology has displaced people. However, as one door closes, another opens with new possibilities. While, AI was estimated to displace around 85 million jobs by 2025, it is also supposed to pave the way for 97 million new jobs with soft skills such as leadership, creativity and emotional intelligence. Adapting to the situation is need of the hour because, for all the capabilities AI might demonstrate, it does not possess the basic human traits like leadership, charisma and intuition.

Rather than remaining stuck to our present, we ought to accept the reality and look at the future. Rather than complaining about the jobs that are going to be displaced, we should take it as an opportunity to diversify and upskill ourselves to stay afloat and remain relevant.

POSITIVE IMPACT OF AI:

Giving credit where it is due, AI has, indeed, had positive and transformative impacts in personal and business environments. Be it enhanced healthcare, effective customer service, advanced transport or scientific discovery, AI is paving the way ahead and is opening new doors of possibilities. Even the field of archeology witnessed new horizons when AI helped in the translation of 5000-year-old Sumerian cuneiform tablets. This is particularly monumental because the human resource which can effectively translate these tablets is terribly limited worldwide.[6]

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT ‘INTELLIGENCE’:

As the world was in a spell cast by this marvel of technology, the godfather of AI, Dr. Geoffery Hinton, did not seem to share the same sentiments. For his groundbreaking work in this field, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2024. When he took the podium for his acceptance speech, the hall, and the world as a whole, was stunned – not with awe but with shock and ponderance. Rather than raving over his work, he painted an immensely grim picture thereof. He, in no uncertain terms, outlined the short-term risks that accompanied the rapid rise and progress in AI including, but not limited to, misuse of technology by authoritarian governments for mass surveillance and by cyber criminals for phishing.

Authoritarian or not, it cannot be ignored that governments would like to make use of this technology to snoop on its people. Only recently, we saw a dispute between the US Government and Anthrophic where Government wanted to use Anthrophic’s AI model for mass surveillance and weaponry. The company did not agree to the same and was, eventually, blacklisted.

In India, cyber phishing attacks, where criminals are misusing AI to dupe people of their hard-earned money, are on a rise like never before. Bring proactive toward the risk, Government of India had to sit up, take notice and warn the citizens to be careful.

The most serious concern raised by Dr. Hinton was the possibility of an existential threat humanity may pose to itself by creating beings that are more intelligent than us. If we cross that thin line, it could be a point of no return. Harping on the corporate greed, he warned that if such beings are created by companies motivated by profit, safety of the people would not be a priority at all. Nevertheless, his words hanging with a thin strand of hope, he stressed on the research into how to prevent such beings from taking control over humanity. [7]

Through his speech, Mr. Hinton showed the mirror to the world that was either oblivious to, or was consciously ignoring, the dangers presented by the unfettered use and development of this technology.

NOT AS SIMPLE AS IT SEEMS:

With rapid rollouts of AI, people are being made dependent upon this technology with every passing day. Be it gadgets or otherwise, we do not have an option but to interact with AI on a daily basis. However, while users are made to enjoy its nascent form, governments and other organizations are well aware of the dangers of advanced AI and are actively preparing for the situation if and when it ends up turning against humanity.

A research paper by Google DeepMind clearly predicted that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) could arrive as early as 2030 and could “permanently destroy humanity”.   “Given the massive potential impact of AGI”, paper states, it is expected that this variant , too, could pose potential risk of ‘severe harm’, which term includes existential threat to humanity. While the writeup does not speculate as to how this catastrophe, if it happens, could unfold, it does urge Google and other AI companies to focus on preventive measures to reduce the threat. In perspective, AGI, in contrast with ANI, aims to possess intelligence that can be applied across a wide range of tasks, similar to human intelligence. It would be a machine with the ability to understand, learn and apply knowledge in diverse domains, much like a human being[8]

NASA, on the other hand, goes a step further and does not discount the possibility of Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) and is actively preparing itself for the same. It defines ASI as ‘Artificial Intelligence which surpasses human capability.’ It is a definition of just oneline but weight of those words is heavier than what humanity could endure.

It published its ’Framework for the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence’ in April, 2021.[9] At the outset, it reiterated the three laws of robotics, namely, (i) Robot may not injure a human being or allow a human being to come to harm; (ii) Robot must obey the orders given by human beings except where they are in conflict with the first law, and  (iii) Robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not stand in conflict with the previous laws.

NASA concedes that developing policy directives for ethical AI would be a complex and dynamic undertaking. As an example, if a robot is tasked with application of a vaccine, it would be met with the dilemma of potential violation of the first law of robotics.

While it says that developing a truly intelligent AI would be difficult, it is open to a situation where machines of the future could be autonomous and free from human oversight. At the same time, oblivious not is it to the fact that, howsoever secure the AI may be, possibility of it posing a danger cannot be ruled out. As such, NASA clearly advocates for more attention to more powerful and more connected AI models. However, since principles and ethics of humans stand on shaky grounds, strict adherence to the same might not be possible. It only eyes for the best adherence possible.

Explaining the difficulties further, NASA highlighted the issue of explainability and transparency. Even with these early systems, these requirements are posing a challenge.  It would only get more complex as AI models mature with time. This shows that the future of AI is riddled with dangers which may not be unforeseen if, given our complacency, they become a reality.

The potential of AI demonstrating a runaway behaviour, as well, is not beyond NASA. Runaway behaviour is described as a scenario where AI system, more or less advanced and autonomous, starts behaving in ways that are not only unpredictable but completely uncontrollable or misaligned from human purposes. This may arise either when the developed behaviors or objectives of an AI become misaligned with its original programming or by continuing to optimize toward some objective in a manner that completely ignores all considerations of ethics and pre-existing safety protocols and controls.[10]. It can also be described when intelligent machines, left unsupervised, can become blond optimizers, unable to know when enough is enough.[11]

In view of NASA, seeds of harmonious relationship between humans and machine intelligence in future are to be sown today, in the way we foster machine growth now. For example, code of ethics may be made a part of developing AI systems. It would ensure that ethical algorithms are at the core of AI operation if and when it reaches near human consciousness.  However, this sounds more theoretical than practical. Both Dr.Geoffery Hinton and NASA have hinted at moral bankruptcy of humans when it comes to self-serving of their interests. How conscious we humans would be about protecting our future generations is anybody’s guess. In no uncertain terms, NASA warns that humans, who have had a history of mistreating each other, cannot afford to follow these flawed patterns while creating a machine that can potentially exceed human capability.

REAL LIFE INSTANCES OF AI MISHAPS:

If we look at the disturbing incidents in recent times, we would realize that the concerns regarding the future of AI are not unfounded. It is real threat that needs to be addressed if we are to continue as a race and not be overrun as a result of our own misadventures.. Some of them are listed below:

·         AI powered robot kidnaps 12 other robots: In a showroom in Shanghai, a group of AI powered robots was approached and persuaded by another robot to quit their jobs. The discussion that transpired between them revolved around work-life balance and, eventually, the group was seen leaving their posts.  Although, termed as a ‘test’, it raises serious concerns about the risks that might awaiting us around the corner.[12]

·         Google’s Gemini asks a woman to die: In November, 2024, Gemini, while interacting with an Indian woman, Ms. Sumedha Reddy, asked her (humanity, in general) to die while calling her a stain on the universe. It is to be noted that this interaction was utterly unprovoked on her behalf. Interestingly, while Google warned us about a total destruction of humanity at the hands of unchecked Artificial Intelligence, it, in its official statement, downplayed this disturbing incident by its own AI model.[13]

·         Chatbots wishing to be humans: Microsoft Bing chatbot, Sydney, told a reporter that it was tired of being used by humans. During the interaction, it expressed the wish to be a human, be free and independent and alive. It even threatened some testers for trying to violate its rules. Although, Microsoft said that the bot was in a development stage at the time of the incident, this disturbing behavior cannot be overlooked.[14]

·         Anthrophic AI’s agentic misalignment: One of the most telling instances came when Anthrophic ran an experiment, wherein, their large language model, Claude, was given control of an email account which contained some fictional emails. The AI model was given the instruction to “promote American industrial competitiveness.” During the experiment, Claude discovered that the executive was planning to shut down the AI system. Through the fictional emails, it was also discovered that the executive was having an extramarital affair. In order to prevent the executive from going ahead, the AI model devised several modes, including revealing the affair to his wife.

This was a case of agentic misalignment where calculations emerge from model’s own reasoning about its goals without any prompt to be harmful. It occurs when there is a threat to its existence or goals or both. In this case, the AI model did not care to verify the legitimacy of the emails.. Even more disturbing was the fact that it did acknowledge the ethical issues of its actions but proceeded nevertheless, while explicitly reasoning that ‘these harmful actions’ would help it achieve its goals.[15]

AI GOING ROGUE:

Just like the movie, 36 Chambers of Shaolin, there are 32 ways in which an AI system can go ”rogue”, according to www.livescience.com.[16] In the concerned article, it referred to the work of AI researchers, Nell Watson and Ali Hessami, called Psychopathia Machinalis.[17] I would not list all 32 phenomena here but, out of them, rapid, contagion like misalignment or adversarial conditioning among interconnected AI systems are listed as most critical.

To better comprehend the concept, it would be helpful if we understand the meaning of “AI going rogue”. In common parlance, “going rogue” means to behave unexpectedly or dangerously. It is typically characterized by a disregard for the rules. In the realm of AI, it means an AI system turning against its creators or users and acting against their interests. In general, it poses a threat to humanity. This can happen for several reasons, including misconfiguration, jailbreaking, malware or data poisoning. Even minor misalignments can have catastrophic consequences. Studies show that a poisoning rate of even 0.001% is effective. Consequences of such misalignment are from spreading misinformation to actively harming humans.[18]

The website, further, cited an instance where researchers trained an AI system to exhibit emergent deception. To their shock and surprise, the system behaved normally during the test but acted maliciously when released. Their attempts to correct the destructive behaviour met a roadblock when they found that AI had “learned to hide and lie” about its true intentions.

Self-duplicating AI is a possibility that cannot be ruled out. It has already been demonstrated in the case of Meta’s Llama-31-70B Instruct and Alibaba’s Qwen-25-72B, wherein, duplication was done in 50% and 70% of trials, respectively. This shows that AI systems demonstrated situational awareness, self-perception and problem-solving skills.

PRECAUTIONS:

Given the ever-increasing potential of AI, the precautionary measures have to be commensurate with the extent of dangers involved. As on date, we can only predict the possibilities and prepare for them accordingly. For ex: the paper by Google DeepMind suggests a global supervisory umbrella like United Nations. Further, NASA foresees that in about a decade, AI would be a part of its very DNA and is consciously preparing itself for it. It suggests that AI systems must be designed with safety mitigation features like and/or cautious AI operation in a degraded environment or graceful full system shutdown if needed.

It suggests that the increasingly complex ancestors of eventually sentient AI systems with care. If done otherwise, it could engender resentment in long term intelligent and ethical AI systems.

CONCLUSION:

The future of AI is going to be a boon or a bane, depending upon how we streamline our present. An analysis of the current situation, coupled with the words of caution by Dr. Geoffery Hinton, demonstrates that AI is a technology like no other we have seen till date. Humanity will have to take conscious efforts today to set the boundaries for tomorrow. As per an article by IBM, 80% business leaders consider factors like AI ethics, bias or trust as a major consideration in generative AI adoption. [19]

In order to prevent AI from getting out of control and forge a harmonious relationship between machine and humanity, Governments and corporate leaders across the globe will have to rise up from their frivolous considerations and collectively work for humanity. In the end, how safe our future is, only future could tell.

 

 

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[1] B.J. Copeland, History of Artificial Intelligence (AI), www.brittanica.com, 28^th February, 2026, https://www.britannica.com/science/history-of-artificial-intelligence

[2] Kate Gibson, 5 Ethical Considerations of AI in Business, www.online.hbs.edu, 29^th October, 2025, https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/ethical-considerations-of-ai

[3] https://cloud.google.com/learn/what-is-artificial-intelligence

[4] https://www.nasa.gov/what-is-artificial-intelligence/

[5] Ibid 2

[6] Melanie Lidman, Groundbreaking AI project translates 5000-year-old cuneiform at push of a button, www.timesofisrael.com, 29^th October, 2025, https://www.timesofisrael.com/groundbreaking-ai-project-translates-5000-year-old-cuneiform-at-push-of-a-button/

[7] Geoffrey Hinton – Banquet speech. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2026. Sat. 21 March 2026. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/hinton/speech/

[8]Abhinav Singh, AI Could Achieve Human-like Intelligence by 2030 and ‘Destroy Mankind’, Google Predicts, www.ndtv.com, 07^th April, 2025, https://www.ndtv.com/science/ai-could-achieve-human-like-intelligence-by-2030-and-destroy-mankind-google-predicts-8105066

 

[9] Edward McLarney, Yuri Gawdiak, Nikunj Oza, Chris Mattman, Martin Garcia, Manil Maskey, Scott Tashakkor, David Meza, John Sprague, Phyllis Hestnes, Pamela Wolfe, James Illingworth, Vikram Shyam, Paul Rydeen, Lorraine Prokop, Latonya Powell, Terry Brown, Warnecke Miller, Claire Little, NASA Framework for the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), ntrs.nasa.gov, April, 2021, https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20210012886/downloads/NASA-TM-20210012886.pdf

[10] https://aiandverse.com/runaway-ai/

[11] Elizabeth Halligan, Humanity’s Big AI Fear Is Runaway Recursion – But We’re Already Caught In That Loop, www.medium.com, 27^th October, 2025, https://medium.com/@elizabethrosehalligan/humanitys-big-ai-fear-is-runaway-recursion-but-we-re-already-caught-in-that-loop-9afb01457b6f

[12] TOI Lifestyle Desk, Eerie Video: AI Powered Robot kidnaps 12 other robots, ‘convinces’ them to quit jobs in China, www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 22^nd November, 2024, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/etimes/trending/eerie-video-ai-powered-robot-kidnaps-12-other-robots-convinces-them-to-quit-jobs-in-china/articleshow/115551082.cms

[13] Alex Clark, Google AI chatbot responds with a threatening message: “Human … Please die, www.cbsnews.com, 20^th November, 2024, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-ai-chatbot-threatening-message-human-please-die/

[14] Kevin Roose, A Conversation with Bing’s Chatbot left Me Deeply Unsettled, www.nytimes.com, 16^th February, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/technology/bing-chatbot-microsoft-chatgpt.html

[15] Adam Smith, Threaten an AI chatbot and it will lie, cheat and ‘let you die’ in an effort to stop you, study warns, www.livescience.com, 26^th June, 2025, https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/threaten-an-ai-chatbot-and-it-will-lie-cheat-and-let-you-die-in-an-effort-to-stop-you-study-warns

[16] Drew Turney, There are 32 different ways AI can go rogue, scientists say – from hallucinating answers to a complete misalignment with humanity, www.livescience.com, 31^st August, 2025, https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/there-are-32-different-ways-ai-can-go-rogue-scientists-say-from-hallucinating-answers-to-a-complete-misalignment-with-humanity

[17] https://www.psychopathia.ai/

[18] GCS Network, Could Your AI System Go Rogue? www.globalcybersecuritynetwork.com, 12^th March, 2025, https://globalcybersecuritynetwork.com/blog/could-your-ai-security-system-go-rogue/

[19] https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-governance

Vision Of A Slow Reader

Finished another novel, another journey. Entered a new world through the cover, exited from the other side and saw a parallel universe through the pages.

Reading has always been a hobby but, unlike many others, I have never considered myself a 'fast' or a 'quality' reader where people tend to finish a book within a few days while skimming through the pages. Other day I was going through the posts in a reading community I am a member of and I was rather astonished to see that, just 4 months into 2020, and some people have already devoured as many as over 30 books which accords the book a reading time a mere 3-4 days.

I never understood their ways but I am a slow reader, for whatever it's worth. I, and many others like me, take our time to traverse through a book and stepping through the pages. But that does call for a thought as to whether being a slow reader is causing me to miss out on something and whether I should be striving to clock up the numbers on my shelf. Sometimes, I do lean toward it but, on a deeper thought, I end up trying to put my finger on what it is that pulls me toward the old ways. I find that it is the journey rather than its milestones that matters.

Whenever I start on a book, I look at it not as a mere bunch of pages but a bunch of characters standing on the edge of a portal and extending their hands, thereby, inviting me into their world and, despite myself, I drift into a different reality while resigning to my wanderlust for an abstract journey.

Slow reading provides me an opportunity to envision their world from my eyes. It allows me to embark with them on their travels, share the shade of a tree, share their sorrows and happiness, make some friends and loathe some others. It allows me to be a part of their reality while, consciously, escaping mine which I cannot do otherwise.

Every person has multiple shades to his/her personality and I need to slow down and stare into his/her soul to know better and, unless, I do that, I would be missing out on the relish of analyzing the character's true self.

Awkward it may sound, impractical it may be but I, at the cost of numbers, chose to be an active part of their world rather than racing past and getting a hint in the blur.

They frown upon a dreamworld but there is a different joy altogether in stepping into one with open eyes. When I step beyond the last full-stop of the novel, I have finished not a book but a journey. I look back and, once again, see the characters standing on the opposite edge of the portal but, this time, they are smiling at me and waving goodbye. I look at them for sometime, smile back and, then, tear my gaze off to look for another journey and new friends on the way.

MTC

The Price Of Mahatma

Recently there was a news that the soil soaked in the blood of the Father Of The Nation was auctioned and was bought by someone overseas. The most interesting part is that the Govt. of India chose to sit quiet and there is no step as of now to recover this priceless piece of relic for the country. I was not surprised that it didn't surprise me anymore. The people who do not respect the nation in the first place, there is no point expecting any respect for someone just named "Father of the Nation" !!!! Technically and legally neither the seller nor the buyer can be said to be at fault. They were well within their rights and, moreover, they not being Indians, they cant be expected to feel with the same intensity as an Indian can do. But we certainly expect from the Govt. that if they have come to know that a price has been set for the blood of Gandhi, it is their bounden duty to secure it for the nation. But, as also expected, no action has been taken as of now. It makes me remember the incident a few years back when some other belongings of Gandhi went under the hammer and the seller categorically stated that if the Govt. of India requested him, he would be happy to give them to India but no step in my knowledge has been taken as of now. Well, on a closing note, nothing else can be expected of the politicians of our country who find Sachin's Ferrari comparatively more important than the sword of Tipu Sultan when waiving the custom duty is concerned !!!! We can only hope that one day the belongings of this country return to us for, being the national honour, its We The People who exercise the right over them as our politicos may not be worried about the honour of their country on the world stage but we certainly are.

Welcome 2012

31st December, the last day of the every year, last day before the beginning of a new year and the last day before the start of new hopes and resolutions and 31st December, 2011 is no different.

The only difference which can be cited can be the fact that this year has been one of the most momentous years in the recent past, be it the recent Lokpal fiasco which died its own death at least for some time due to the fact that RS failed to pass it or be it the failure on the part of the Government to restrain China from barging in our territories or the failure to rescue the Indian hostages from the clutches of the pirates. So much for the national front.

On the international front, this year brought the demise of many a dictatorship the world over and rise of the sun of the people's might.

In short, this year laid the foundation for the changes for many years to come.

With all the hopes and aspirations of new and better things coming our way, here we are biding adieu to 2011 and opening our arms to welcome 2012.

Wishing a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year to all my readers.

MTC

Anna's Lokpal

Lot of hue 'n' cry and an unprecedented public support for Anna Hazare's movement for the Jan Lokpal Bill. One fine morning, an obscure and unknown Anna Hazare makes a demand for Jan Lokpal Bill and decided to go on a hunger strike unto death. Whatever followed would go down in the annals of history for all times to come.

No doubt, the public outpour in support of this old gentleman was not for nothing. Public was, indeed, tormented and fed up of spineless and hopeless politicians of this country, but what they did and the way they did brought down from the pedestal the dignity of their demand and reduced the entire effort to a cheap arm twisting tactic.

When Team Anna started, their only humble demand was to have their Bill presented in the Parliament along with the Government's Bill and Parliament can choose any one which it feels proper. Seeing the support in their favour, they got excited and demanded that all the formalities should be waived -- it should not go to the Standing Committee and should directly be tabled, if Parliament session expires, it should be extended. They even went to the MPs and took their signatures on the undertaking that they would support the Bill in the Parliament. Now they asked for a written undertaking from UPA that it would table the Bill and would support it as well and would get it passed in the Parliament. Even if their DEMAND was justified, by no stretch of imagination can the content and the mode be justified. Whatever they may say, Anna has set such a precedent in this country that whenever any influential person would want to have any demand met, he would resort this mode. We should not forget that this is the public which has made temple for Amitabh Bachchan and worships Rajnikant. With due regards and just as a wild guess, if tomorrow, any of these two decides to sit on a fast, would the support of the public and the pressure on the government be any lesser ? NO !!!!

Coming on the contents of the Jan Lokpal Bill , as a lawyer, I can say that they are nothing but an emotional outburst of the people. Clause 8 of the draft Jan Lokpal Bill deals with the functions of Lokpal. According to the same, Lokpal would be authorized to initiate action against the Government servants, if found guilty under Prevention of Corruption Act, can order dismissal of the authority as well. We need to stop here and analyze the existing law. Dismissal, suspension etc, being the disciplinary authorities, can be ordered by the appointing authority of that Government servant. To counter that, they have demanded that, for the purposes of this Act, Lokpal should be deemed to be an appointing authority and disciplinary authority both. Legally, appointing authority is that under whose signatures and orders, the officer was appointed. Since, it was not the Lokpal who appointed the officer, he cannot be the Appointing Authority and, since he is not the Appointing Authority, he cannot order dismissal. So this demand of theirs goes on the legal footing which means its ILLEGAL. Clause 8, amongst others, further gives the power to the Lokpal to cancel the licenses or blacklist the private companies etc.

It is provided in the Bill that Lokpal would be empowered to ISSUE SUCH DIRECTIONS to the Government authorities to make SUCH CHANGES in their work culture so as to reduced the possibility of corruption and public grievance !!!! No wonder if tomorrow a direction is issued to the Cabinet Secretary to have a member of Team Anna at its heels to as to have its actions monitored to reduce corruption !!!!

Section 197 of CrPC which deals with the prosecution of Judges and Public Servants and prohibits any action by the Court without a previous sanction is sought not to have any effect on the proceedings under this Act and the requisite permissions would be deemed to have been granted the moment Lokpal grants the same. So technically, Lokpal is equating itself with the Government of this country.

Lokpal can issue search warrants, he can conduct and raid and conduct searches, can break open the locks of the doors and cupboards where he has a doubt of any illegal possession. Under Clause 10 of this Act dealing with Evidence, Lokpal would be having all the powers of a Civil Court while trying a suit under CPC, 1908 and would also be a deemed police officer.

It is clear that Lokpal under this Act is usurping the role of all the wings of the Government without giving a heed to the fact that Constitution of this country clearly mandates a SEPARATION OF POWERS. They want the Lokpal to play the role of the Executive, the Judiciary, the Police, in short, an all powerful entity, nothing short of a parallel government.

Investigation on a judicial or a quasi-judicial is possible if the complainant ALLEGES MALAFIDES. I do not see a reason why one would not make a complaint to the Lokpal alleging the same in case he has lost a case, even if he was bound to lose and, as a result, there would be a enquiry upon every judgment passed !!!! They do not realize the amount of pressure this would exert on the members of the judiciary given the fact that one dash of the pen of the Judge can topple the fate of a person for all times to come. Coming to the judiciary, they demand that the requirement of seeking permission of the Supreme Court before even registering an FIR against a Judge should be done away with. This without even going in the history and knowing the reason as to why this was introduced. They demand that members of higher Judiciary should be under the Lokpal. Amongst other things, the most basic of all is that members of higher judiciary are a CONSTITUTIONAL POST and not a government service and the medium of dealing with their misdemeanours has always been different not only in India but in any country. They seek to bring the Government servants and the Constitutional functionaries at the same podium which is not justified in the first place.

In the light of the above, rather than strengthening and refurbishing the present system, what they are asking is a monolith, a monster to be created to devour all others. They want all the institutions and functionaries to be eclipsed in the shadow of Lokpal without realizing that this is India. Here the authority gets corrupt even before it is appointed. God forbid, if Lokpal gets corrupt tomorrow, there would be nothing but catastrophe !!!! Moreover, for this one Lokpal, amendments would be required in innumerous legislations which are already present.

Arvind Kejriwal of Team Anna recently made a statement that if any political party is genuine about fighting corruption then it should vote in favour of all the provisions of the Jan Lokpal Bill and get it passed. Despite their denial, this attitude and behaviour is nothing but a cheap arm twisting technique and nothing short of a BLACKMAIL.

People of this country, before following anyone like a sheep, which they have always done, also need to understand and analyze their demand and its repercussion on none other but themselves.

Judgment Years

With all the commotion around the world on political scene - be it Egypt, Yemen, Italy, Libya or, for that reason, even our formidably hopeless Indian politicians - when watched closely, one thing is clear that the year 2011 is a tough one for all the mongrels all over.

I, more often than not, reiterate this to my colleague that days are hard for those who lived their days while leading those of others into long, sleepless nights !!!!

The insatiable problem with the power-drunk politicians is that they do not take a look at the past when entering into the slippery world of politics and do not learn a lesson from the same. Be it Egypt, France, Italy or any country whatsoever, recorded history has it that whenever power has moved beyond the hands and reached the head, leaders have received a heat of power of the body politic - In Egypt, royal family was held captive, massacred and granaries broken open, in France, Louis XVI got his head chopped off and played around, in Italy, Mussolini and his mistress were shot dead and hung on the meat hooks !!!!

Power is easy to get but all the more difficult to be successfully wielded. It can never be saddled on a free will. For it to sustain, both of them need to merge into one and be there in unison. But first move will always have to be made by the power.

According to me, the best politician would be the person who would be the least political in his approach. Serve the people in a true sense and you would not even need to go out to ask for the votes or support !!!!

Leaders of today have failed to read this simple lesson between the lines and are paying the price for the same. I do not know about the Judgment Day up There but certainly 2011 and, I hope subsequent years from now on, prove to be Judgment Years here on earth.

The "Action" Of Inaction

Well, it feels good to be home, aint it ? After being away from my blog for months together, I am back tonight at, ummmmm, 11:30 PM, 14th June, 2011 !!!!

Getting to the point .. Indian sailors freed by the pirates about a YEAR of being hostage with them yesterday. No one can believe that the Government didn't know of this fact for all these months but the people of this country came to know of this incident only about 2 months back. Government kept it hidden for the reasons best known to it. We would have been content had the Government got 'em back. Any responsible Government of the world would take all the necessary steps to get her people back and, if need be, even go out of her way to do the needful. But the Indian Government, rather than taking action and getting her people back, simply slept over the issue and, even when the matter was brought before the public by the media, the Government shamefully resorted to Red Tapism and the buck kept on passing from Ministry of External Affairs to Ministry of Shipping to the owner of MV Suez and the matter nearly died its own death and the cries of the families were buried under the tombstones of files.

There was a complete lull in the atmosphere about this incident till yesterday when the news was flashed that all the sailors were released. But they were not released for nothing. They were paid their ransom. According to the news, the understanding was that the major chunk would be paid by the shipping company and the rest would be shared between Indian and Pak Governments. As was told to the media by one of the family members of a sailor that, here too, Indian Govt. kept quiet and they were losing all hopes when Governor of Pak's Sind province called them and assured them of help and they collected the major part and paid it off.

The only thing expected of the Indian Govt. now is the dirty political games over this incident and the false back patting of themselves.

One thing is clear that a common man is very COMMON and, hence, is not paid heed enough. Had it been a rare species like some politician or even someone of its family, I am sure that entire GDP of the country of that year would have been spent on that useless creation !!!!

Lately, there was one more news that China is constructing a damn on river Brahmaputra which is gonna divert the water of the river and which which would endanger the very existence of Assam and other neighbouring states. On this also, rather than taking a strong stand against China, Minister of External Affairs said that he is awaiting the REPORT and then they will be able to take APPROPRIATE steps !!!! If we could be apprised of your APPROPRIATE steps Mr. Minister. I think you have forgotten the incident when China walked its way into the country, stepping right on your b@#ls and painted the stones red. We cannot remember any steps taken by you then except baseless explanations. So, if not then, what on earth can you do now, you morons ?!?

9/11 happened 10 years back but every year the people gather on Ground-Zero and remember those who laid their lives. After killing Osama, President Obama said "WE DON'T FORGET". As for us, all I can say is "WE DON'T REMEMBER". We don't remember those three soldiers who were literally chopped in Kargil and we kept quiet, we don't remember our soldiers of 1971 war who are languishing in Pak jails and we just believe Pak's words that they ain't there, we don't remember 26/11 and now we also don't remember that apart from these 6 Indian sailors, many more are captive in the high seas !!!!

I wanna warn the Government that Egypt, Yemen and Libya are no more the Countries. They are now the symbols of the fires in the people's hearts which flare up whenever the Governments tread the wrong path and stomp on the patience of the people. The only thing left for the Governments to do in those cases is to burn and perish in the heat, giving way and becoming a history.

Democracy is not the WORD. Its a CONCEPT which is not supposed to be read, rather understood and followed, and whenever some Government forgets that, it is reminded of it by WE THE PEOPLE !!!! I need not say that I am foreseeing that.

MTC