Government - Caution Goondas at work - grid failure

It was nothing but political "goondaism" that caused possibly the world largest power outage possibly earning India an infamous entry into the Guinness book of records.

Local politicians threaten the grid people to allow them to overdraw which causes the grid to trip. the last time this happened was in 2001 when it lasted between 11 to 48hrs. this time it was 9 hrs and 6 hrs. but it never need happen if:
1. power is fully priced
2. power thieves are jailed &/or their properties auctioned off
3. overdrawals are automatically cut off by a computer - thus eliminating any human involvement.

nothing more nothing less.

media reports "showed" off that it was to India that the US turned to when their grid collapsed in 2003 & 2008. one of the readers comments kinda nails it - " possibly because India is more experienced with power cuts?"

jokes apart the setting up of the Power Grid as a separate entity back in 1996 (in the teeth of union and political opposition - conceived and ordered by narsimha rao) was the cornerstone on which the discipline in the power management of the nation has been steadily being built up.

But it is miles to go in the filed of babudom not bowing to political pressure that is the call of the hour and maybe it is this moral corruption that the old man is actually fasting against in Jantar mantar. we hope that his health holds up in this latest struggle to awaken the spirit of the nation.

Government - Caution crooks at work - EU bank bailouts

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/10/spain-banks-idINL6E8IA9UQ20120710

As per the draft Spanish Bank bailout proposal - the preference shareholders and subordinate capital debt hybrid investors are to take a 90% cut. WHAT I dont understand is that why have the equity shareholders been spared?

Ideally the entire equity shareholders should have been wiped off and then the preference shareholders should have been wiped off and all subordinate capital debt holders to be automatically converted to equity - alongwith the bailout funds - also as equity instead of debt.

Instead of this the crooks in the EU have allowed the equity shareholders to go scot free whereas the debt holders have been penalised before the equity share holders - makes you think which is the risk on and which is the risk off asset!!