Enemy Within-Corruption in governance

[chaanakya]

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1864199/r ... -principal

An arrest warrant was issued today by a court against the absconding principal of a government school in Bihar's Saran district, six days after 23 children from her school died after eating poisoned midday meal.

The state government, meanwhile, terminated the services of Block Education Extension Officer Satyendra Kumar Singh, who was responsible for monitoring the midday meal scheme at Dharmasati Gandaman primary school in Chhapra.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate Narendra Mohan Jha issued the warrant of arrest for the principal, Meena Devi, after being approached by the Saran police in connection with the midday meal tragedy last Tuesday.

An FIR has already been lodged against the principal under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

Meena Devi, who has been suspended, is absconding along with her husband after the midday meal tragedy which raised food safety concerns.

"Raids are being made at different places based on clues about absconding school principal Meena Devi and her husband Arjun Rai but we have not been able to nab them so far," Saran Superintendent of Police Sujeet Kumar told PTI.

The probe report of Commissioner (Saran) and Deputy Inspector General of Police (Saran range) Binod Kumar submitted to the state government has also blamed the principal for the tragedy.

Confirming the presence of poisonous pesticides in the midday meal, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) said the contaminated food contained monocrotophos, an organophosphate insecticide, after experts examined samples of oil from the container, food remains on the platter and remains of food items in the utensils.

Saran District Magistrate Abhijit Sinha while announcing the termination of Satyendra Kumar Singh from service said the process of termination of the school principal is also underway. Sinha said that in accordance with government directives, the school was being attached to a nearby middle school.

In the state capital Patna, angry NSUI members held protests before the residence of Education minister P K Shahi demanding his resignation.

The protesters wrenched off the minister's nameplate and trampled it on foot and shouted slogans against him for the death of the children.

Superintendent of the Patna Medical College and Hospital Amarkant Jha Amar told PTI that the condition of 24 children and cook Manju Devi was showing signs of improvement.

"They have recovered and will be in PMCH for another 2-3 days under observation," he said.

At some level , there is political protection.

[chaanakya]

Complaint Case Against Bihar CM in Midday Meal Tragedy

A complaint case was filed today against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Education Minister P K Shahi and the absconding principal of the government school where 23 children lost their lives after eating a midday meal served to them.

Advocate Shashi Ranjan Pathak filed the complaint case against the three in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate A K Jha alleging criminal negligence which resulted in the tragedy.

The CJM ordered to tag the case with the one lodged in Mashrakh police station against the absconding principal, Meena Devi, in which the court today issued warrant of arrest against her.

District Magistrate of Saran, Abhijit Sinha, and district education officer of Mashrakh have also been made party in the case.

[ramana]

Some good in the tragic deaths:

7750 Bihar schools pledged new homes

Dont know why the reporters want to print long headlines!

For Better Meals 7700 Bihar schools pledged new homes

Running without a building of their own, 7,746 schools in Bihar will each be "tagged on" to the nearest government school that does have a dedicated building, and whose infrastructure it will share until it gets a building where it can be relocated, the human resource development department said Monday.

The decision is a fallout of the Chhapra tragedy last week when 23 children died after eating a midday meal later found to have contained pesticide. The move is to ensure better monitoring of the midday meal scheme, the department's principal secretary said.

Bihar has 73,591 government and government-aided schools with 2.23 crore students, and 71,200 of these serve midday meals. The primary school at Gandaman village, Chhapra, which was created this year, was being run from the village community hall. The hall, measuring 20 ft×15 ft, served as a school for 185 children while part of the verandah, 20×6, served as the kitchen where midday meals were cooked. On the day of the tragedy, 108 children were present.

"We can no longer allow schools without proper infrastructure to carry on with the midday meal scheme," said HRD principal secretary Amarjeet Sinha. "We will shift them in phases."

The Gandaman school, now closed, will be shifted to a nearby middle school. This will mean a walk of 10 minutes for children of Gandaman. Such shifts can potentially face resistance in some parts of the state. The government stresses the absence of infrastructure and the standards to be followed for classrooms, kitchens and drinking water. As per government figures, 8,111 schools have no drinking water facilities, 35,639 are without a separate toilet for girls, and 20,193 don't have even a common toilet.

"We are trying to find ways to keep teachers out of the monitoring of midday meals," HRD secretary Sinha said. "We are also looking at the example of Tamil Nadu, where an independent agency has been engaged for implementation of the scheme. There are cost factors involved, so the government cannot decide anything straightaway."

The reason why so many schools lacking in infrastructure came up has undertones of caste politics. Though the government cited "the pressure of complying with norms under the Right to Education Act", it also set about setting up many of the new schools in the backyards of scheduled caste and backward class groups.

Gandaman, for example, has 125 households of the Nonia EBC and as many of scheduled castes. The village also has a mixed population of Yadavs and upper caste Brahmins. "It was when the government opened a school here that it should have ensured a proper mechanism to monitor midday meals," said Ramesh Mahato, who lost two members of his family.

Raju Singh, a primary teacher at a Chhapra school, said there are several examples of the government opening schools in areas with an EBC or an SC population even when schools already stood within a kilometre. Ramsharan Rai of Gandaman agreed that setting these up was part of votebank politics.

Bihar has managed to bring down its students-to-classroom ratio from 95 in 2005 to 53 in 2012, but that has meant many schools running in cramped spaces as in Gandaman, often with several classes being held simultaneously in the same hall. At 1:57, the teacher-to-students ratio remains way behind the RTE standard of 1:34.

Sinha concedes a lot remains to be done but cites progress in the last seven years. "We have increased the number of schools by over 20,000 in seven years. Enrolment of students rose from 1.4 crore to over 2 crore now. We have constructed 16,000 new school buildings."

Bihar's allocation for education in 2013-14 is Rs 5,197.71 crore, 15.29 per cent of the state budget. The state has 1.12 lakh areas the government classifies as "habitations", and 1,08,074 of these are covered by a primary school.


AFTER CHHAPRA

MINISTER'S HOME: 30 NSUI workers protested outside HRD Minister P K Shahi's home Monday. When police tried to force them out, they blackened the minister's nameplate and later damaged it. NSUI Bihar president Sumit Kumar Sunny said: "We had gone to submit a memorandum but the police used force." The minister was not at home.

NITISH STATEMENT: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar termed the Chhapra tragedy "very unfortunate" and regretted not having visited there because of a fracture in his leg. He accused a "united" opposition of indulging in politics over the death of children. It was JD(U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan who conveyed the statement. "I have been monitoring the midday meal incident and can stay up nights for the sake of the people of Bihar if required," the CM said.

ARREST WARRANT: The Chhapra chief judicial magistrate's court issued an arrest warrant against school principal Mina Devi, who is absconding along with her husband. Police have searched her house at Gandaman and found an oil container and five wrappers for pesticide. Tests have found a farm pesticide, monocrotophos, in the meal.

CONSPIRACY THEORY: A senior police officer said, "As the pesticide content in the samples was five times that for a normal sample, conspiracy cannot be ruled out. We have questioned two cooks. But it is the arrest of the principal that can be vital." Police have formed an eight-member special investigation team.

Hope no one is sick to poison school children for political reasons.

It looks like a case of corruption gone wrong.

The school prinicpal buying supplies from her husband's shop(conflcit of interest) and taking for granted the quality of supplies from there. And illiterate school cooks who dont know the difference between cooking oil and pesticide.
And how was the pesticide supplied as oil to the school?

[Lilo]

[ramana]

ZeeNews:

Absconding School Prinicpal surrenders

Chhapra/Patna: Eight days after the mid-day meal tragedy which claimed the lives of 23 children, police on Wednesday arrested the absconding school principal and has begun interrogating her.

"We arrested her from Chhapra town," Saran district superintendent of police and head of the special investigation team Sujeet Kumar said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar confirmed the arrest of the principal, Meena Devi.

"The investigation is on. The principal of the school is in police custody.

We will probe the incident from all possible angles," Kumar told reporters in Patna.


State Police chief Abhyanand who was present at the CM's press meet said the absconding principal of Dharmasati Gandaman primary school in Chhapra in Saran district has been arrested and she did not surrender.

He, however, refused to disclose the location from where she was arrested and other details saying these were matters of investigation. Meena Devi was held even as a notice declaring her as a proclaimed offender was pasted at her Chhapra home.

The notice asked Meena Devi to present herself before the police immediately failing which the process of attachment of her property will start, the SP said.

Earlier in the day, she had filed an anticipatory bail application in the court of CJM Chhapra which did not provide her any instant relief.

An FIR had been lodged against Meena Devi with Mashrakh police station in the mid-day meal case and she had been absconding since the incident on July 17 along with her husband, said to the supplier of the food material used on that day.

The FIR has been registered under 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) among others, the DGP said.

A probe report by Saran Commissioner Shashi Shekhar Sharma and DIG Vinod Kumar submitted to the government had found the principal responsible for the tragedy.

PTI

Other reports claim she was arrested. Looks like Police wants to claim success.
The odd thing is she was arrested in Chhapra town itself where the tragedy occured.

There is a need for her to have surrender to avoid court orders to attach her property if she doesnt. Same time Bihar Police has to look sharp after not 'finding' her for 8 days and hence want to claim arrest.

Most likely they were clueless and arrested her from the CJM court as soon as the bail petition was rejected.

[ramana]

Two follow-ups to the Bihar Mid Day Meal poisoning incident:

Absconding husband files for anticipatory bail

Instead of asking the perpetrator to surrender the judge is contemplating giving bail!!!!

A district court in Chhapra on Wednesday directed the police to place before it details of the investigation in in the midday meal tragedy in which 23 children died in Saran district to decide the anticipatory bail plea of the absconding husband of the principal of the school.

District and Session Judge Navneet Kumar while hearing anticipatory bail application of Arjun Rai, absconding husband of principal of Dharmasati Gandaman village where 23 children died after eating midday meal on July 16, called for the case dairy relating to details of police investigation after lodging of the FIR to take a decision on the bail plea.

Rai, whom Bihar Education minister PK Shahi has accused of intentionally poisoning the meal and who along with his brother Dhruv Rai had purchased the deadly poison, Monocrotophos, from Singhulia sugar mill only two days before the tragedy, has been absconding after the incident.

Superintendent of Police of Saran, Sujeet Kumar said that efforts were being made to nab Rai.

Shahi has said that Rai and his cousin Dhruv Rai are active members of a prominent opposition party (RJD).

The SP said that the police has obtained four day remand of the principal of the school Meena Devi, who is presently in judicial custody to take her to Patna for polygraph test.

"We are waiting for arrival of experts from Delhi to Patna for the polygraph test to take her to the state capital," the SP added.


{Guess the police experts from Delhi dont have time for such a minor incident!}

The July 16 incident in a Chhapra school in which 23 poor children had lost their lives has shocked the nation. The state government has pointed to "conspiracy" behind the tragedy to destabilise Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led government.

An FIR had been lodged after the incident at Mashrak police station against the Principal and others under Section 302 (murder) and 120/B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

and

More children fall sick again in Bihar]

Just days after the July 16 Masrakh (Chhapra) mid-day meal (MDM) tragedy, which claimed 23 lives, around 77 children fell ill after eating their meals schools in Arwal and Jamui districts of Bihar on Wednesday. The first incident was stated to be a case of indigestion, whereas 'foul play' was suspected in Jamui.

In one incident, 20 kids were taken ill after taking their midday meal at a primary school at Chamandi under Banshi police station in Arwal district of south-central Bihar, around 85 km south-west of the state capital. Another 57 children fell ill soon after taking MDM in an upgraded middle school in Jamui district of soith-eastern Bihar. All the children were, however, reported out of danger by evening.


The affected kids in Arwal were rushed to a nearby public health centre (PHC) at Kurtha for treatment.

"However, by 7 pm, all of them were discharged after making a full recovery", Arwal district education officer Reena Kumari told HT, late Wednesday evening.

According to reports reaching here earlier, five-six students started complaining of stomachache soon after taking their meal. Soon the number increased to 10 and then to 20. Some of them also reportedly fainted.

The panicky headmaster and teachers immediately informed the higher officials and took the affected kids to the PHC. Teams of doctors were called from Arwal and Jehanabad to examine the students.

Arwal district magistrate Sanjay Kumar and other officials, including sub-divisional magistrate and the district education officer, also reached the PHC to oversee the arrangements.

Headmaster Arvind Kumar said he had tasted the food and found it to be fine. "As per the menu, khichdi-chokha was cooked on Wednesday for 195 students," he added.

Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) Sateyndra Kumar said the condition of six students was 'slightly serious' and they were taken to Jehanabad district hospital for better treatment.

Bihar MDM director R Lakshmanan, however, said the situation was well under control. "It might be a normal case of indigestion. The students did not have any vomiting or loose motion.

"But five-six of them did complain of stomachache. Later, eight others also complained. They were immediately taken to the PHC", he added.

The Arwal district magistrate, "We will try to find out as to what caused pain. The samples of food have been collected and a special medical team is looking after them," he added.

The upgraded middle school in Jamui, 8 kms from Jhajha, witnessed a similar scene. Soon after eating the MDM, several students complained of vomiting and stomach ache. The food in the school is provided by an NGO, Dayawati National Education Trust, Delhi.

"First 17 children were taken to referral hospital, Jhajha, but later 40 more were admitted there," said BN Jha, DEO, Jamui.

Jha said prima facie, there seemed to be some foul play. "It seems somebody mixed rat excreta in the food, which caused food poisoning to defame the NGO. We will inquire the whole incident, but all the students are safe and will be discharged," he added.

Jamui district magistrate Shashikant Tewari also reached the school with other officials.

[Virupaksha]

Two follow-ups to the Bihar Mid Day Meal poisoning incident:

Absconding husband files for anticipatory bail

"We are waiting for arrival of experts from Delhi to Patna for the polygraph test to take her to the state capital," the SP added.


{Guess the police experts from Delhi dont have time for such a minor incident!}

I dont know what is sadder, that or whether the fact that the ENTIRE bihar police doesnt have a single polygraph expert.

[ramana]

They don't need any lie detector test besides it cant be used in court. The issue seems to be taking political turn when its simple criminal case. At worst the husband and his cousin bought the poison to defame the ruling party. The school principal was an unwitting accomplice for she thought how can there be pesticides in the oil from her husband's store? And she did eat one of the sabzis.
At best its pure case of mistake due to storing the pesticides in the food area in the shop.

The guys seem to be low level RJD party members after all Lalu is still a popular leader.

I think the real failure is the whole mid-day meal scheme (MMS!) is fraught with corruption and could be improved.

*BTW there was recent case in TSP where a former minister served poison to some guests and ran away to Gulf country.

[RoyG]

India official tells people to 'loot as much as you can' country's mineral wealth

Published August 01, 2013

An Indian government official has told his constituents to “loot as much as you can” regarding the country’s mineral wealth.
The comment from Azam Khan, a senior minister in the Uttar Pradesh state’s ruling Samajwadi Party, came after a civil servant seized more than 20 dump trucks and arrested several leaders of illegal sand-mining gangs. The civil servant, Durga Shakti Nagpal, was later fired from her position for ordering the demolition of an illegal mosque.
The gangs, which illegally mine sand for India’s booming construction industry, are believed to have political links to Khan’s party, The Telegraph reports.

"Everyone has the right on nature's bounty. Loot as much as you can," Khan said lauding Nagpal's ouster.
The Indian Administrative Service, a civil servant organization, accused the state government of punishing Nagpal to send a message to other honest government officials, The Telegraph reports.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/01 ... z2akHhFLvt

[Virupaksha]

They don't need any lie detector test besides it cant be used in court.

lie detector tests need corroborative evidence. If those tests are the only evidence with no other corroboration, then they are inadmissible.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... apex-court

Narco, polygraph or brainmapping tests cannot be conducted on any person, whether an accused or a suspect, without their consent, the SC's judgement said.

Forcing an individual to such methods of investigation violates the scheme of legal process, it said, adding that even if such tests are taken voluntarily then also results cannot be used as evidence unless corroborated by other evidence.

So yes, it is sad and infact criminal that the entire bihar state doesnt have even a single expert on such tests.

[Philip]

Sadder still that all political parties want the SC ruling on criminal politicos to be banned from parliament to be overturned and legislation that the RTI should not apply to political parties. If all parties behave this way,then what's the difference between them? Corrupt,more corrupt and most corrupt?! No wonder that the Naxals want a revolution.The manner in which the "looters" are
behaving with impunity,it may well come to pass.

[Virupaksha]

Sadder still that all political parties want the SC ruling on criminal politicos to be banned from parliament to be overturned and legislation that the RTI should not apply to political parties. If all parties behave this way,then what's the difference between them? Corrupt,more corrupt and most corrupt?! No wonder that the Naxals want a revolution.The manner in which the "looters" are
behaving with impunity,it may well come to pass.

On this, I am with parties.

All it will take is a corrupt cop with a favorable judge to wink wink and to file a criminal case against Modi or Gandhi and he cannot compete?

Do we really want that?

In the mirage for getting a clean white shirt, let us not forget that the dhobi will have some dirt and soap on him/her. This clean white shirt only or the dirtiest of shirts and nothing in between is the reason for the present state of the country.

[member_23692]

Look at this news item in Hindustan Times today, after yet another attack that took the life of the best among us - the last few of a dying breed - the truly courageous, the TRUE HEROES! ANOTHER FIVE BRAVE YOUNG MEN - SACRIFICED BY US INDIANS ON THE ALTAR OF CORRUPTION- OUR OWN CORRUPTION- LET US ALL LOOK AT OUR FACES IN THE MIRROR TODAY-EACH ONE OF US- AND THE BEST SERVICE WE CAN DO TO OUR BRAVE MARTYRS IS TO - SPIT AT OURSELVES IN THE MIRROR.

India will take steps to uphold sanctity of LoC: Antony

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 04156.aspx

So, what will Antony do to uphold the sanctity ? Have a flag meeting with the PAkistani commander in the area ? Call the Defense Minister of Pakistan and register a protest ? Have the Foreign Minister come out and proclaim that this act by some "rogue" elements (meaning, NOT by the Pakistani Army or Establishment), "will not derail the peace process and the friendly relations between our two countries." After all, how can we let the designs of the "few enemies of peace" succeed, by retaliating violently and escalating ?

When, oh, when, our countrymen, will your blood start to boil?
When, oh, when, will your corrupt soul awaken?
When, oh, when will you feel for your fellow countrymen?
When, oh, when will you feel for your neighbor?
When, oh, when will you feel for your brother?
When, oh, when will you feel for you wife?
When, oh, when will you feel for your children?
and when, oh, when will you feel for your own soul, your own pride, your own self respect?
when, oh, when will you stop sacrificing all of the above, just for a handful of Rupees? a few acres of land? nice furniture? a few high end cars? maybe a personal plane or a helicopter?
Are these enough, to sacrifice your countryman? your neighbor? your brother? your wife? your children? your soul ?
What kind of pact with the devil is this? Selling your soul to the devil for what ? A helicopter, a car, a photo with the local MP ?
or is it something darker, more insidious? You want to lord over your fellow man? and you will do anything even kiss the dirty behinds of the worst of the worst so you could do that? Lord over a few unfortunates around you?
Oh When will you wake up, my countrymen? When will you wake up and stop hiding behind democracy? "at least, we have democracy", you cry, and "the chinese, they live under tyranny"
how lame, how lame
when will you have the guts and courage my countrymen to reject the helicopter and the late model cars and even the photo-op with the local politician
when will you develop the spine, to rise up and say, "i would rather live in tyranny than this rotten democracy"
and rise like a tidal wave and wash this corrupt ruling establishment away, sink it to the bottom of the ocean from where there is no hope of its revival
When, oh, when will you say, my countrymen
Enough is ENOUGH
When, oh, when will you say, my countrymen
I would rather die than live like this
When, oh when will you say, my countrymen
I would rather be honest than this corrupt self
I would rather be honest than this corrupt self
Oh, when, oh when, will our blood start to boil
oh, when, oh when, will our blood start to boil

[ramana]

Two India Today reports:

Writer Arrested for Facebook comments on Samajwadi party

The Uttar Pradesh government arrested a Dalit writer for posting a Facebook update critical of the state government's suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal.

The writer, Kanwal Bharti, was arrested from Rampur in the state, the pocket borough of Samajwadi Party strongman Azam Khan, who is also the UP Minority Welfare Minister. Bharti was booked for promoting disharmony on a case filed by an aide of Azam Khan.

In a Facebook status update on August 5, Bharti said the SP has failed the people not only in Durga's case but also in the matter related to reservation. Calling all SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Azam Khan and Shivpal Yadav as chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, he said people are educated enough to know that the SP government was fooling its people.

Bharti had said that the UP government has turned blind after gaining power and is unwilling to listen to the people of the state.

I don't understand why India Today is trying to put a silo on the writer by callig him Dalit Writer. By calling him Dalit what are they getting? He has raised a legitimate issue and one should be proud for his voicing his dissent. If he had made a statement to press/journalists no one of the media would have printed it. What is the relevance of calling him Dalit?

It shows how castiest the elites are under DIE umbrella.



IAS Officer Durga Shakti did not demolish the mosque wall:Local Intelliegence Unit report


So using the mosque wall as pretext she was suspended for stopping the sand mafia from its nefarious acts.

The Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Zevar, and not suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who was SDM Sadar of Noida, razed the boundary wall of an under-construction mosque, said a report from the local intelligence unit that pushed the Uttar Pradesh government on to the backfoot on Tuesday.

The report was submitted to the state government on July 27, the day when hours later Durga Shakti Nagpal was given marching orders and was attached to the state revenue board.
.........

When the report reached the district administration that the mosque was being built on government land, without requisite permission, SDM Zevar and station house officer of Raghupura reached the construction site at 1 p.m. and after inspection of the construction, ordered the demolition of the wall.

This means that at the time of the demolition, the suspended IAS officer was nowhere near the mosque construction site.

The district magistrate of Noida had earlier given a clean chit to Nagpal in the matter and the chief minister had then taken cited "other reports" including that of the LIU as the reason for suspending the IAS official.

The LIU report goes on to add that in the predominantly Muslim village, the Samajwadi Party (SP) Lok Sabha candidate and minister rank holder Narendra Bhati had inaugurated the mosque three months back, work on which was started with a Rs.51,000 donation from him.

Bhati, chairman of UP Agro, has however been denying the monetary contribution towards the construction of the mosque.

......
It is widely believed that Nagpal was suspended after a string of complaints against her by the sand mining mafia whom she had taken on. As she seized illegal dumpers, ordered arrests, insiders say, the mining mafia, with many being strong party supporters, the SP government was only waiting for an "excuse to do away with the inconvenient official".

[Haresh]

India Link
Notes on the worlds biggest democracy

Thomas Bernhard in New Delhi

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/ ... more-67405

[ramana]

22 Kids from the mid-day meal tragedy released from Patna hospital

[krisna]

<snip>


IAS Officer Durga Shakti did not demolish the mosque wall:Local Intelliegence Unit report


So using the mosque wall as pretext she was suspended for stopping the sand mafia from its nefarious acts.

The Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Zevar, and not suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who was SDM Sadar of Noida, razed the boundary wall of an under-construction mosque, said a report from the local intelligence unit that pushed the Uttar Pradesh government on to the backfoot on Tuesday.

The report was submitted to the state government on July 27, the day when hours later Durga Shakti Nagpal was given marching orders and was attached to the state revenue board.
.........

When the report reached the district administration that the mosque was being built on government land, without requisite permission, SDM Zevar and station house officer of Raghupura reached the construction site at 1 p.m. and after inspection of the construction, ordered the demolition of the wall.

This means that at the time of the demolition, the suspended IAS officer was nowhere near the mosque construction site.

The district magistrate of Noida had earlier given a clean chit to Nagpal in the matter and the chief minister had then taken cited "other reports" including that of the LIU as the reason for suspending the IAS official.

The LIU report goes on to add that in the predominantly Muslim village, the Samajwadi Party (SP) Lok Sabha candidate and minister rank holder Narendra Bhati had inaugurated the mosque three months back, work on which was started with a Rs.51,000 donation from him.

Bhati, chairman of UP Agro, has however been denying the monetary contribution towards the construction of the mosque.

......
It is widely believed that Nagpal was suspended after a string of complaints against her by the sand mining mafia whom she had taken on. As she seized illegal dumpers, ordered arrests, insiders say, the mining mafia, with many being strong party supporters, the SP government was only waiting for an "excuse to do away with the inconvenient official".

This was used to destroy Durga.
according to what I know, Durga was after the sand mafia - majority of them are in SP party. It was difficult to do anything as she was following the law to a T.
Howevr they found a perfect plan, they utilised some muslims also involved in sand mafia. They created this mess- construct mosque which is a big big red flag amonsgt common muslims.
they did it on purpose in an illegal way.
Rest is history- she did what needs to be done- waiting for this akhikesh did the rest.
even here-- mulaah yadav his dad was in cahoots with the rest of the pack. son is s lam duck cm just like rabri devi with laloo.

[Philip]

And another paper reports that a TN Collector was transferred immediately after he went after illegal sand miners in that southern state!

[Haresh]

Many years ago I used to work for an Indian company in the UK, I have worked for two.

The first one was owned by a Doon educated lunatic. He used to employ people based on who their families knew. He employed the daughter of a judge and the son of a senior MEA official. No doubt it was to keep their parents sweet.
They all professed to be Congress through and through. The reality was they were dishonest, corrupt,incompetents who were just trying to get through life with the minimum or no effort and had no morals and thought the world owed them something.

I am curious to ask (because I live in London) in the experience of BR'ites do people in India tend to join a political party out of principle or is it like joining a gang? They will look out for you if you look after them?

[member_23692]

Many years ago I used to work for an Indian company in the UK, I have worked for two.

The first one was owned by a Doon educated lunatic. He used to employ people based on who their families knew. He employed the daughter of a judge and the son of a senior MEA official. No doubt it was to keep their parents sweet.
They all professed to be Congress through and through. The reality was they were dishonest, corrupt,incompetents who were just trying to get through life with the minimum or no effort and had no morals and thought the world owed them something.

I am curious to ask (because I live in London) in the experience of BR'ites do people in India tend to join a political party out of principle or is it like joining a gang? They will look out for you if you look after them?

In India today, there are different organizations at different levels and covering different aspects of life. There are religious organizations, there are political organizations, there are financial organizations (companies and businesses), there are social organizations, educational organizations etc. ALL OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS barring some exceptions, have come to be organized along the classic "mafia" principles and invariably act like mafia. What are classic mafia principles ? 1) Control access to resources by hook or by crook and then coerce or blackmail the people who should legitimately have access to those resources into paying off the mafia, 2) Steal and own resources outright, which they have no legitimate right to own, through the use of gun, power and money or a combination, 3) Use of intimidation or threat to achieve their objectives and terrorize the rest of the population, and 4) There is a hierarchy within these organizations where people are at the top of the hierarchy, middle and lower down. The commonality is that all of them act like gangsters and the lower people "appear" to be more gangster like, because they have the role of enforcers on the street. There is one feature which is not characteristic of a classic or traditional mafia structure in Cicily of other places, which is unique to this Indian mafia organizations. This is that the Indian mafia uses the mob (mob not as in mafia, but mob as in crowds) very effectively to serve its purpose. Indian organizations are able to pay and gather huge crowds to enforce their will.

Indians from the begining have been more pre-disposed to "RENT COLLECTION" mindset than other societies and the mafia organization structure is a very natural outcome of such rent collection mindset and is ideally suited to foster rent collection. The fact that Indian organizations and institutions inevitably become mafia organizations is further evidenced by the results. In a healthy institution or organization, the cream by and large rises to the top (there are exceptions and imperfections in even healthy organizations which also permit scum to rise, but by and large it is the cream that rises), while in India it is the scum that rises (barring some exceptions, which again due to imperfections which exist within mafia organizations too, sometimes unintentionally, cream rises too, but cream rising in India is rare, as in the possible case of Narendra Modi). So, the fact that in India, you will find scum at the top of just about every organization (barring exceptions like his excellency Abdul Kalam and a few others), means that our institutions and organizations are all mafia'ized.

Now the question is, are these organizations criminal in addition to being mafia. Well, in an ideal world, mafia style of functioning by definition will be criminal and outlaw. However, in a total mafia setup, such as India, mafia is not only not considered criminal or outlaw, everything other than the mafia, the anti-mafia, the honest are considered criminal and outcast. So, it is bad enough that India is dominated by all forms of mafia, but what makes it even worse and what is a double whammy is that the other side, the honest, the courageous, the competent, the principled, the good, are considered "bad", and are consigned to the bottom of the society, further disincentivizing these good qualities.

Therefore, if someone wants something done in India, they dont go to the government, the police, the administration, they go to the mafia, whether it be a political party, a street gang, a large business organization or a tycoon. Go to any "big man's" house in India, and you will see a crowd of hangers on there, asking for favors, just like people classically line up outside a mafia don's house or even a consigliari's or a cappo's house.

Why then do we blame the scum that has risen to the top in India ? Why blame Nehru and Indira or Gandhi family or even Sonia. It is not their fault. In Indian system, there cannot be anyone else that can rise. If it will not be Sonia, it will be Sabina. If not Rahul, it will be Ajay and if not Digvijay it will be only Vijay, but rest assured, all will be scum.

[member_23692]

Look at these two articles in today's newspaper, one in Hindustan Times and one in Times of India.

1.

Bihar minister says jawans there for martyrdom, apologises

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 05194.aspx

2. [quote]BJP politicizing national security issue, Digvijaya Singh says
[/quote]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 706819.cms

Singh said the government's hands shouldn't be forced because all political parties in the past got together to fight any external threat.

Quoting former US President Franklin D Roosevelt, he said, "we will have to keep the powder dry without using it,", adding, "Let them (Pakistan) know we are strong enough to defend our borders and we shall."

It is almost as if there is a race, a frenzy, to denigrate and destroy Hindus, India and the few heroes we have left and our good values. The statements by politicians in power in India from various parties on the exact same day as the heroes are being cremated, suggests such crassness, such inhumanity, such treachery, such self-centeredness, and YES, SUCH CORRUPTION.

When will our masses, lead by our intellectuals, rise up against this CORRUPTION and people like Digvijay and The Singh from Bihar, get their comeuppance, El Duce style ?

Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif upset over border clashes, calls for peace

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-new ... px?hts0021

A classic and a very blatant case of "Taquiyya" in action. But will anyone call Mian Sharif on it ? Will the media ? Will any political party ? Where are the statements from the RSS and VHP declaring this as pure Taqyiyya and nothing else - just sprinkling salt on the wounds. "We should keep our power dry, without using it", says Digvijay Singh. Yeah, of course ! The rest of us are idiots of course, and he is probably right about that. We Indians are certainly acting like idiots.

[ramana]

What does badmash mena clashes at the border? Paki soldeirs murdered 5 Indian soldiers on the Indian side of the LOC. Thats not a clash which implies there was == firing.
So his statement is ridiculous and provides cover to TSPA unlike Indian PMO.

Wait Indian PMO also provides cover to TSPA!!!!

[member_23692]

What does badmash mena clashes at the border? Paki soldeirs murdered 5 Indian soldiers on the Indian side of the LOC. Thats not a clash which implies there was == firing.
So his statement is ridiculous and provides cover to TSPA unlike Indian PMO.

Wait Indian PMO also provides cover to TSPA!!!!

And, yet we insist on continuance of "this democracy". We never question the idea of "this democracy". Not only that, we claim bragging rights over "this democracy". We go about telling the world, how we are a "democracy" and "secular", seeking the world's approval, the same world, that is negotiating on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood with the Egyptian Army, the same world which sings peans to the Chinese, the same world that selectively refuses to issue Visa to "democratically elected" leaders who dare to be nationalistic, the same world that wholeheartedly has supported military dictators in Pak and the same world that has no problems with despots and dictators, as long as.......as long as these despots and dictators serve their interests OR ARE POWERFUL ENOUGH IN THEIR OWN RIGHTS TO THREATEN THEIR NEIGHBORS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD.

Other than providing lip service to our face, nobody really thinks of India as a democracy. Nobody takes India seriously and nobody respects India, least of all us, its children.

Whose interest is "this democracy" serving and why should it not be jettisoned by a tidal wave of rising masses ? What exactly are the "nuances" of differences between "this democracy" and treason, not just treason, but treason of the worst kind ? Can you list, forget about listing, even imagine any form of governance, any at all, other than Sharia law, which can be worse than "this democracy" ?

Not confronting treason is like abetting it. Abetting treason is the HIGHEST FORM OF CORRUPTION. A populace that refuse to confront blatant treason and brazen brutality of its enemies and a populace that doesnt do anything about the governing system that refuses to confront it, will also make apologies and excuses when the women in their families are abducted, raped or tortured. WHAT CAN BE BIGGER CORRUPTION THAN THAT ?

[member_23692]

Here is a clear thinking Indian. An Indian holy man who does not obfuscate, but speaks his mind and speaks the truth. A truly clean and non-corrupt man.

LoC ambush: kill at least 50 pak soldiers, says Baba Ramdev
ANI New Delhi, August 08, 2013

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 05420.aspx

Why will the Indian Government not do what Babaji suggests ?

[Philip]

Holy men should stick to spiritual matters preferably.It can unneccessarily rouse passions amongst followers leave it to the IA to deal with Pak.,that is the right institution which should settle scores.

The latest scam from the "familia".
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/va ... 008271.ece

Vadra used falsified documents, sham transactions to collect premium on land deal’

Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka submits 100-page report to government

Ashok Khemka, the Haryana IAS officer who cancelled a land deal mutation between Robert Vadra and real estate giant DLF Universal Ltd last October, has told the Haryana government that Mr. Vadra falsified documents and executed a series of sham transactions for 3.53 acres land in Shikohpur village of Gurgaon, thereby pocketing a hefty premium on a commercial colony license through money that he could account for.

Mr Vadra, who is Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, was favoured and aided in making these ‘sham transactions’ by Haryana’s Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), alleges Mr. Khemka, accusing the department of ignoring rules and regulations “to allow crony capitalists operating as middlemen to flourish and appropriate [the] market premium of a license.”

He has made these assertions in a 100-page reply to a report of a three-member enquiry committee set up by the Haryana government last October to look into the Vadra- DLF deal. The committee had indicted Mr. Khemka for cancelling the deal. Mr. Khemka’s reply, submitted on May 21 and accessed by The Hindu , has been put together with the help of publicly available documents and his own findings, after the government stonewalled his efforts to get the official documents concerning the sale, issue and transfer of the license to DLF.

Though nearly three months have elapsed since his reply was submitted, Haryana Chief Secretary P.K. Chaudhary told The Hindu that Mr. Khemka’s “voluminous reply is being examined and the points raised by him are being looked into.”

Mr. Khemka states that both the sale deed of February 12, 2008 — through which Mr. Vadra’s company, Skylight Hospitality, bought the land from Onkareshwar Properties — and the letter of intent for granting a commercial license to his company issued by the DTCP in March 2008 are sham transactions, executed only to enable Mr. Vadra to collect market premium accruing to him due to state largesse.

“If there was no payment as alleged in the registered deed, can it be said that the registered deed conferred ownership title over the said land upon Skylight Hospitality by virtue of the sham sale?” he asks.

The law defines “sale” as a transfer of ownership in exchange for a price paid or promised or part-paid and part promised. Mr. Khemka notes that “there was no promise to pay in the future in the registered deed. No price was paid as claimed in the registered deed … The “sale” registered in the said deed cannot, therefore, be called a “sale” in the true sense of the term, legal or moral, and it cannot be said that Skylight Hospitality became owner of the land in question by virtue of the “sale” registered in [the] deed.”

According to Section 82 of the Registration Act, 1908, the penalty for making false statements, delivering false copies or translations, false personation, and abetment is punishable with imprisonment up to 7 years, he notes.

Earlier this year, the Haryana government’s committee had concluded that the orders passed by Mr. Khemka initiating an enquiry into Mr. Vadra’s land deals were “without jurisdiction, inappropriate and not covered under any provisions of any statute or rules.” Also, that his order cancelling the land mutation was administratively improper. Mr. Khemka was not permitted to present his stand before this committee.

In his reply to the committee’s indictment, Mr. Khemka states that not just the sale deed through which Mr. Vadra became the owner of the land, but the balance sheets filed by Skylight Hospitality as on 31 March 2008 are also false. These, he says are offences under Sections 417, 468 and 471 of the IPC and the Companies Act 1956. Further, on 5 August 2008, Skylight Hospitality entered into an unregistered collaboration agreement with DLF Universal for 2.7 acres of this land, that Mr. Khemka terms as “an illegality that led to [the] loss of crores of revenue to the State exchequer” because a collaboration agreement of this kind has to be registered.

“It was known all along to the DTCP that the actual developer of the colony would be DLF and the routing of the transaction through Skylight was a subterfuge to remit part premium into the accounts of Skylight Hospitality Private Ltd,” he says.

The DTCP permitted Skylight to transfer the license to DLF in April 2012, and the licensed land was finally sold to DLF on 18th September 2012. Mr. Khemka goes on to say, “By allowing the transfer of license issued in the name of Skylight to DLF, the DTCP created a black market for trading in licenses where cronies are issued licenses which are later sold or transferred with ‘permission’ of the authority for a fat consideration, to the real developers.” He has demanded a white paper on the transfer of all such licenses permitted in the past to “expose the diabolical game of looting public wealth.”

According to Mr. Khemka’s note, the DTCP issued various types of colony licences for a total of 21,366 acres in the last 8 years of Mr. Hooda’s tenure from 2005 to 2012. He points out that if the market premium for a colony licence is assumed to be as low as Rs 1 crore/acre, the land-licensing scam in the past eight years is worth roughly Rs 20,000 crore. At the premium of Rs. 15.78 crore/acre that Mr Vadra earned, this figure would jump to a staggering Rs. 3.5 lakh crore.

Ousted after probing Vadra land deal, Khemka digs deeper

Chander Suta Dogra

Working largely on his own in order to rebut the Haryana government’s charge of having acted improperly in ordering the cancellation of the Robert Vadra-DLF land deal, senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka has sought to reconstruct the precise manner in which the controversial property transaction was put together.

Mr. Khemka was Director General, Land Holdings and Land Records and Inspector General of Registration, Haryana, in October 2012 when he decided to set aside the mutation of Mr. Vadra’s property giving effect to the sale deed in favour of DLF. Mr. Khemka’s decision came in the wake of an inquiry he conducted following the publication of a story, ‘Behind Robert Vadra’s fortunes, a maze of questions,’ in The Hindu on October 8, 2012,

Even as he was completing his probe, he was summarily transferred out of the crucial post. A Haryana government committee subsequently indicted him for acting wrongly in the Vadra case. In a tough and detailed counter, Mr. Khemka has listed out a number of irregularities and illegalities involving the Vadra-DLF deal.

The Corporation Bank cheque bearing number 607251 for Rs 7.5 crores, mentioned in sale deed no. 4928 of 12 February 2008, did not belong to Robert Vadra’s company, Skylight Hospitality. It is “likely that a fictitious cheque number was shown by the company with the full consent and knowledge of DLF to enable it to get legal title of land,” Mr. Khemka states in his submission to the Haryana government. This, because at the time of registering the sale deed, Skylight Hospitality did not have the money in its accounts to pay the Rs. 7.95 crores needed for land cost and stamp duty on the deed. Because no money changed hands as stated in the registered sale deed, and the stamp duty of Rs. 45 lakhs was also paid by Onkareshwar Properties and not Mr. Vadra’s company as stated in the deed, this amounts to making false statements punishable under Section 82 of the Registration Act, he states.

Consequently, in the balance sheets filed by the company as on March 31 2008, the bank balance is wrongly shown as a book overdraft of Rs. 7,94,00,000, because the cheque for Rs. 7.5 crores was never presented, says he.

Within two months of this, Mr. Vadra had entered into an agreement to sell the land to DLF for Rs. 58 crores and began receiving the money in instalments, as advance. The first of these instalments came in June 2008 and Mr. Khemka states that “The payment to Onkareshwar Properties was made from the advance money that was received from DLF Universal.” In other words, Mr. Vadra’s company began receiving money into its accounts without investing any of its own funds to buy the land.

Mr. Khemka goes on to say that the DTCP issued the company an LoI for a colony licence, without verifying the genuineness of the sale transactions or the capacity of Skylight Hospitality to develop a commercial colony in the first place.

At that time the company had zero income with a paid up capital of Rs. one lakh and the expenditure of Rs. 43,000 that it had incurred was met using borrowed money. But, “the capacity of the applicant company was nothing else other than Mr. Robert Vadra. The man became a measure of everything and the entire statutory apparatus a castle of sand,” says Mr. Khemka’s reply. Both the land title and LoI were necessary conditions to enable Mr. Vadra’s company to receive advances and execute a collaboration agreement with DLF Ltd for development of the land. The DTCP helped in other ways too.

DLF applied twice in August and in September 2008 for a commercial licence for this land, which it did not get. Then, on 18 November 2008 (the reasons are not clear, Mr. Khemka writes, because the department did not provide him the documents), Skylight makes a fresh application to the DTCP, and the collaboration agreement is indicated in the application to justify the ‘capacity’ of Skylight Hospitality to develop a colony. The agreement records that Skylight had by then transferred possession of the land to DLF.

“The agreement which was not registered was entertained illegally by the DTCP, even though Skylight had transferred possession of the land” by then. “This in itself was sufficient to withdraw the first letter of intent issued in March. Instead, Licence no 203 of 2008 was granted to M/s Skylight Hospitality on 15/12/2008. … This proves that all transactions entered into by M/s Skylight were sham,” says Mr. Khemka.

Mr. Khemka points out that as per the Collaboration Agreement, the Land Owners contribution was the Land Title and a Letter of Intent from the DTCP for grant of commercial colony licence on 2.701 acres; the rest of the responsibility was of the Developer, including obtaining commercial colony licence from DTCP, development of commercial project/buildings with FAR of 175 and maintenance of the assets created. In addition, the gross commercial area developed (which translates to a staggering 2,05,820 sq ft) was to be shared equally between the Land Owner and the Developer. This shows that Skylight Hospitality had no intent to develop the land.

“The Land Title and LoI for grant of commercial colony licence were sham transactions routed through M/s Skylight Hospitality so that part of the unofficial premium on account of commercial colony licence is remitted in white by the Developer, M/s DLF Retail Developers, to M/s Skylight Hospitality acting as a middleman to the deal of obtaining colony licence from the DTCP.”

Mr. Khemka has further discovered that the authorised signatory of M/s DLF Retail Developers Ltd in their applications dated 21.08.2008 and 24.09.2008 to the DTCP for commercial licence for 2.701 acres is Devinder Singh. However, the same person is also the special power of attorney holder of Skylight Hospitality in the same applications. This means that both DLF and Skylight Hospitality are represented by the same person who has been simultaneously signing multiple documents for both parties.

What prompted Onkareshwar Properties, a company that has close connections with top ruling Haryana politicians, to oblige Skylight Hospitality? Mr. Khemka points out that after executing the sale deed in favour of Mr. Vadra’s Skylight without receiving Rs. 7.9 crores as sales consideration, the company was given two group housing licences in village Sihi Sector 82 of Gurgaon for 6.2 acres and 15 acres. It was granted another licence for plotted development for 4.8 acres in Shikohpur, taking its net assets, which stood at Rs 6783 in March 2005, to a bank balance of Rs. 70.84 crores by March 2011 with a paid up share capital of just Rs. 25 lakhs.

Corporation Bank cheque for Rs. 7.5 crore, mentioned in sale deed, did not belong to Robert Vadra’s company, Skylight Hospitality

“The Land Title and LoI for grant of commercial colony licence were sham transactions routed through Skylight Hospitality”

“The capacity of the applicant company was nothing else other than Mr. Robert Vadra”

[member_23692]

Look at this great column by Mr Gopal Gandhi in Hindustan Times today.

Our 'Jai Hind' is feeble
Gopalkrishna Gandhi August 09, 2013
First Published: 23:43 IST(9/8/2013) | Last Updated: 11:00 IST(10/8/2013)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorial ... 05947.aspx


He says a lot of things in this article, that I have been saying for a while now.

Some examples and excerpts from the above article.

To take electoral corruption first. No electoral corruption is possible without the voter acquiescing in it, one way or the other. We are bought up, we are bussed, we are bull-dozed. We let our brains be washed, our prejudices to be stoked, our hates, fears, insecurities to be played around with.

Injustice is practised by all of us, not just directly as in the way Indian employers treat those who work for them, India’s men treat “their” women, India’s men and women neglect, mishandle, maltreat the mentally challenged, the vulnerable.

If money in its nexus with political power is tyrannical, who is providing that money but us? If our administration is so often inefficient, who is populating it, perpetuating its inefficiency, but us ?

Let us not blame the neta. Or his acolyte. We, as electors, have created and are sustaining both.

Let us not blame the babu or his attendant. We, as citizens, have bred and are nourishing both.

[ramana]

That article is BS especially the last part. Off course the neta has to be blamed and the electors should be blamed in a perfect world. We are not in a perfect world. The article is like blaming the victim in a rape.

[member_23692]

That article is BS especially the last part. Off course the neta has to be blamed and the electors should be blamed in a perfect world. We are not in a perfect world. The article is like blaming the victim in a rape.

In a rape, the rapist is to blame, unless, the society not only does not punish the rapist but keeps elevating rapists to positions of power and keeps rewarding the rapists, time after time, election after election, state after state, village after village. There comes a point very soon, where it stops becoming the rapists fault and more and more becomes the society's fault for not just enabling the rape behavior but rewarding the rape behavior. We are well past that point. In fact, we were well past that point about a thousand years ago, as a people.

You are right in one sense, that the real victims in the long run is the entire society, but in the short and the long run are those minority of the people in a society who have not become perverted, who want to stand up to this rape, who call out the rape and who even put their lives on the line confronting the rapists. That small minority is eaten alive, and it gets smaller and smaller as each day passes. But again, will you blame the rapist for that or the enablers and the rewarders of the rapist ? Just because a people in the end become a victim to their own corruption, doesnt absolve them of that crime and doesnt mean that only the leadership or a small proportion of the populace is to blame for that demise. People can be victims of their own crimes.

In fact, in India, we not just enable or reward the "rapist", we worship them. Have you not seen how people, grown people, seemingly responsible people, pillars of the society, brazenly prostrate themselves in public before even mid level politicians (rapists), leave aside the big "rapists". Just imagine what they may be doing in private. Even if they dont like being raped(I personally think they like being bent over), are these people at least not complicit in their own rape?

Looking at the situation in India objectively and dispassionately, why would it be wrong to conclude that Indians in general like the rapist and like to be raped? Not each and every Indian, after all we just had an example of 5 heroes giving their lives on the border, but most of us ? The rest of us, a small minority that is mentally healthy, just get slaughtered and sacrificed on this altar of corruption and rape, all the time, every day, day after day, week after week, year after year, century after century.

You could argue that that is ridiculous. Which human "likes" to be raped. It is not natural. I would agree, but the evidence proves it, doesnt it. We have become unnatural humans. Maybe it was the centuries of trauma that we suffered, I dont know. But you can't pin the blame for our general condition today on Soniaji, can you, or Rajivji or Indiraji or even Nehru. This rot is a result of a thousand year of depravity, at least, not 50. Last 50 are just more pronounced and more immediate for us, because we have lived through them. It is equally true though, that we have not done anything to reverse the trend, in fact last 50 years, we have accelerated the trend towards depravity and self goals and self destruction.

Why is what Gopal Gandhi says, BS ? Is he not allowed even a cry of pain, to what is happening to him and his ilk in India ALL THE TIME ? Does he not deserve to be outraged or even enraged ? Are only the Islamists allowed to rage - undeserved at that ?

[Philip]

We are caught in a vicious circle.An Indian has to pay bribes every day to politicos,babus,policemen,judges...practically every public servant,if they have to get their normal matters of life in order,like electricity and water connections,building licences (the going rate in one state I was told is 135 Rs./sft,35/- to the CM directly and the rest shared out by the Min. and the babus),school and college admissions.I personally know of one case where the magistrate was allegedly paid off with a car and moolah.He however died within weeks after retiring! This sorry state of affairs exists no matter whatever party you have in power.The least corrupt are supposedly the Commies.I was told that in Kerala,for licences,favours,etc.,all that was required was to take the official to a cafe for a cup of tea.But thesedays who votes for the Commies? Only die-hard Marxist-Leninists.They have to drastically rebrand themselves,as their dhotis and kurtas are still stained red or pink and are accompanied by "the made in Beijing" or tailored by "Marx", tags.

In fact,sadly,ideology these days has been thrown into the dustbin.By ideology I mean dialectics,the philosophic discussions that used to be heard in cafes populated by the student community from the 60s to 80s.After the Cold War ended,out went debate about "Socialism vs Capitalism",the discourse now centred on "how to get rich quick",the "means justifying the ends",and the "devil take the hindmost" who had no cash,power or influence!

I have a bone top pick with Gopal Gandhi though.I saw him years ago at the IIC Delhi when he was in the IAS.Why did he of all people,the grandson of the most humble Indian in living memory,who eschewed pomp and circumstance and lived in the most humble of surroundings,join the gravy bandwagon ,immediately after retirement from the IAS exchanging his babu seat for a gubernatorial throne (Governor of Bengal)that too in the reign of the most controversial govt. of India of all time,engulfed with umpteen allegations of scams?! That most colonial of posts,where the occupants of the "Raj Bhavans",grand palaces of the princes,do nothing but wallow in luxury like the maharajahs of yore,served by an army of flunkeys and fawning slaves,feted day in day out by the victims of the state in which he presides over,and act as spies for the dispensation of the day,looking for misdemeanours of the state regimes which can be used as excuses for ushering in "President's Rule",a euphemism for overthrowing the elected representatives of the people! Some governors,presidents too, are also notorious for pilfering articles from their grand palaces and collecting their "tribute" from their hosts when they attend their onerous duties,attending functions galore and dispensing with favours,acting as "high-class" go-betweens between the govts. of the day and those craving a boon from our latter-day maharajah-rulers.

Now that his days as "Gov" are over,His Excellency can pontificate about the state of affairs from the comfort of his cosy surroundings in Simla,esconsced at "Rastrapati Nivas" as the head of the "Indian Institue of Advanced Study" (IIAS). In case you didn't get it folks,it used to be called... "The Viceregal Lodge",the splendorous Jacobethan palace designed by architect Henry Irwin,residence of India's former Viceroys,like Lord Louis Mountbatten ,Lord Wavell to name just two! Pic here :

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashtrapati_Niwas)

The Rashtrapati Nivas Estate was transferred to the Ministry of Education to be handed over to the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.While the HC and HP Univ. use some of the blgs.,the bulk of the Estate, including its well kept lawns and rich glass-house, has remained in use for the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.What they study is a complete mystery,unless you examine how the institution's current head "advanced" in life! This new "Viceroy" of the Vicregal Lodge has certainly made up in more than ample measure for the discomforts his saintly grandfather the "Mahatama" endured in his lifetime.I wonder what his other illustrious grandfather,Rajaji ,the "Salem mango",whom the Mahatma called "the keeper of my conscience" would've said,who also incidentally took up many a public post including that of being the last "Governor-General of India"! So you can clearly see which side of the family pontificating HE GG prefers!

Can one really ask our latter-day Viceroy from his illustrious career whether he has suffered ever in life the vicissitudes of being an ordinary Indian in post-Independence India? Has he ever had to stand in a queue for hours for water-days sometimes,rations,gas cylinders,kerosene,railway tickets,electric connections,building licences,birth certificates,death certificates,bodies from a morgue...in short every simple act from life to death in modern India!

So your Excellency,please cease forthwith your pontificating from your exalted heights and descend to the level of ordinary Indians and get "dirty".If you really want us to believe your profound concern for our feeble "Jai Hind",why don't you with all your most powerful connections take up the case of your brother IAS officer,victimised for exposing the Robert Vadra/DLF mega land scam which allegedly is worth 20,000 crore!

PS:Edmund Burke said,"for evil to flourish it is only neccessary for good men to do nothing".One can add to this famous line " but pontificate".

[member_23692]

^^^^^^^^^^

The truth regardless of its source is the truth and we should take it. An individual good or bad is not important, unless he is the devil incarnate, what they say is important, particularly if it is the truth. We play in the hands of the status quo forces, if we keep bashing the truth sayer. Nobody is perfect. I certainly am not. If the mistakes I made in my life invalidate ALL my thoughts for ALL times to come, then we really are leaving the field open for the truly evil, as we have so far.

All our heroes, Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Prithviraj, my namesake, Rana Sangram Singh, all of them had flaws. So did Lord Krishna and even Maryada Purshottam Lord Rama. Not that I am comparing Gopal Gandhi to them. I am just trying to make a point that if to confront evil, the good has to be Godlike and perfect, then evil will never be confronted.

Mahabharata and Gita teach us exactly that. That flawed individuals too can perform their "Karma" on behalf of the Dharma and achieve victory for Dharma.

In any case, considering the evil times in India currently, Gopal Gandhi is a relatively decent guy.

[Philip]

Yes he is a "good man"!

[member_23692]

Yet another reminder of what corruption leads to - complete decimation of our defense capabilities which completely forecloses on any military response to any provocation, however serious. No matter how serious an attack, India is hamstrung from responding militarily, because India's defense capabilities are severely compromised. What compromised India's defense capabilities - CORRUPTION. So, until this article today, Indian political leaders at least verbally responded strongly to any Pak provocation, while they concealed, obfuscated, confused via double speak and out and out lied, about any Chinese attacks on India. But now situation is so bad, that the Indian politicos have started lying to the Indian people to protect Pakistan's responsibility for the attack that killed five or our soldiers and the continuing firing by the Pak army which has not stopped as of the time of this post. Antony tried to say that Pakistan army was not involved. I did not hear any such denials from Pakistani government or military officials. It is a strange and comic situation where Pak is not strenuously denying that they attacked and killed Indian soldiers where Indian government is going out of its way to absolve the Pakis of the blame. I think this a a "new low" reached by the Indian government, and I am afraid we have not hit the floor yet, in terms of the lows that the Indian government will keep on hitting as we go along, all because the government does not have the military capability to respond and of course, it cannot admit that it has depleted our capabilities by massive corruption in defense procurements.

There was an article in the Hindustan Times or Times of India yesterday which said that Army Chief Bikram Singh wanted stronger response to Pak firing and had pulled up the area commanders for not responding more forcefully. The article did not say what the area commander's explanation was as to why they did not respond more forcefully. Clearly, this is a case of Bikram Singh trying to score political points by leaking to the press that HE, Bikram Singh wanted more robust response, but it was the area commanders who did not do it. Finding a scapegoat in the poor area commanders, for the corruption of all the higher ups and politicos and babus, including Bikram Singh, who hollowed out our defenses. If the capability is not there, how can the area commanders respond strongly ? Bikram Singh is acting like Caligula, ordering his incapable army to go fight Poseidan - issuing orders in thin air - reminiscent of Nehru ordering the Indian Army to drive out the Chinese from Aksai Chin in 1962. At least the area commanders have more class and judgement, so as not to leak their side to the press. What would they have said ? "We dont have the capability" and further expose our borders, leaving them completely naked. Not that the Pakis dont know of our vulnerability. In another new low and the first, not only did they attack us this time, but continue their attacks as I post this, not worried at all about relations with India and whether the meeting with Sardarji in New York will be cancelled. So sure are they, that Sardarji will meet them, even if the Pak army moves miles inside Indian territory and no matter how many soldiers they killed in cowardly and terrorist acts, that they even "brazenly give India an ultimatum", that "if India does not respond to initiatives by Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan will redeploy their forces from the Afghan border to the Indian border", essentially threatening war. Look at this unbelievable article in Hindustan Times today.


[quote]Brazen Pak violates ceasefire again, warns India of escalation
HT Correspondents, Hindustan Times New Delhi, August 11, 2013
First Published: 23:25 IST(11/8/2013) | Last Updated: 01:14 IST(12/8/2013)
[/quote]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 06712.aspx

Pakistan, meanwhile, continued with its aggressive stance and denied any wrongdoing. Officials in Islamabad warned of a possible escalation in tensions with India if the latest initiative of PM Nawaz Sharif failed.

Military officials said army movements to bring forces to the Indian border may start in the coming week.

"Troops stationed on the Afghan border may be re-deployed if the tensions increase," an army spokesman said.

AND THIS GEM from the Paki High Commission to Karan Thapar on TV

Also, speaking to CNN-IBN's Karan Thapar in an interview to be telecast later, Pakistani high commissioner to India Salman Bashir further upped the ante by blaming the Indian Army's director general of military operations for not informing his Pakistan counterpart about the ceasefire violation on August 6 during their hotline talk that day.

"Our two DGMOs have a hotline. On the morning of August 6, there was a hotline conversation between the DGMOs of the two sides and I am told that the Indian side did not mention any violation of the LoC at that time. So, it seems to me that a lot of constructions are being put on the incident. As I have said, I am not able to put specifics of it," he said.

So it is India's fault that they did not bring up this Paki attack in the hotline. Of course, if Indians did not bring it up, it did not happen, right.

CORRUPTION CREATES HIGHLY PERVERSE SITUATIONS doesnt it ? So much about the victimless crime. Let us ask the families of the five soldiers killed if they feel corruption is a victimless crime. Let us ask the families of the two soldiers who were decapitated a month or two ago, by Paki monsters in a night raid, if corruption is a victimless crime. Let us ask all the Hindus that the muslims have been killing and their families, if corruption is a victimless crime. Let us try to tell them, that Britain too had lots of corruption a hundred and fifty years ago, and see how they react ? Let us then tell those families, that with 10% growth over next 10 years, we will be in a real good position and that right now, they should just maintain a Chanakyan silence - and then see how they react.

[Philip]

Breaking news ,AW scam,kickbacks allegedly worth about "1000 crores",says CAG.Also involves PM's office.

[ramana]

So what is the update on the Bihar Mid Day meal deaths?
By now the police already had the two accused in custody for two weeks. Why did the poisoning of school children happen?

[habal]

So how many scams now:
One must keep it simple for quick recollection:

2G Scam
Coal Scam
Commonwealth Games Scam
Vadra Land Scam
Augusta Westland Scam

[member_23692]

MUST READ

First off, my condolences to the families of the Navy heroes who sacrificed their lives in the service to their country. A Great loss and very sad. My heart is heavy today, as I make this post, just as it was when five of our soldiers were murdered by Paki animals last week.

What does the massively corrupt and even more massively arrogant and even more massively stupid and even more massively devoid of self-respect, Netas have to say about this. Why does the press not press the likes of Digvijay, MM Sardarji, Mani Shankar Aiyer and ALL others of their ilk on this. Gross dereliction of duty. GROSS TREASON!

Another example of corruption leading to depletion of our defense capabilities. The news item below talks about how the explosion on and sinking of the Indian navy submarine in Bombay today is "yet another blow to an already depleted Indian submarine fleet". It is well known that most of the Indian submarines on duty today were purchased in 1970s and 1980s. Why did the governments not care over last 30 years, as our submarine fleet was being depleted ? Elementary, my dear Watson - CORRUPTION

Sindhurakshak fire a body blow to India's submarine fleet
Rahul Singh , Hindustan Times New Delhi, August 14, 2013
First Published: 12:39 IST(14/8/2013) | Last Updated: 16:17 IST(14/8/2013)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 07909.aspx

The explosion on India’s Russian-built submarine INS Sindhurakshak that caused it to sink early on Wednesday has dealt a severe blow to the Indian Navy’s fast deteriorating underwater force levels.

Trapped inside the diesel-electric submarine are 18 sailors, including the warship’s second senior-most officer or XO in naval parlance.

The tragedy — one of the worst to hit the Navy since the sinking of INS Khukri in the 1971 Indo-Pak war — couldn’t have come at a worst time for the Navy as its submarine fleet is currently “in a highly precarious state”, a covert defence ministry report states.

Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi has already reached Mumbai.

This is not the first time that an incident has happened aboard Sidhurakshak: there was a similar explosion when the warship was docked in Visakhapatnam in February 2010 which killed a crew member was left two injured
Top Navy officials are flabbergasted that the latest disaster comes barely seven months after the 2,300-tonne warship was overhauled at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Russia at a cost of more than $80 million (R480 crore).

Even as neighbour China is scaling up its underwater capabilities swiftly, India’s navy’s submarine force levels would be at its lowest in history by 2015, as reported by HT in April, quoting from a confidential defence ministry report.

The Navy currently operates 14 submarines, including a nuclear-powered attack submarine leased from Russia. However, the “viable strength” of its submarine arm is much less, factoring in the operational availability of the boats.

The Sindhurakshak tragedy has dented the Navy’s undersea capabilities majorly, a top Navy official said.

The Navy will be left with only six to seven submarines, including India’s first and only nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant, as it begins phasing out the Russian Kilo class and German HDW Type 209 submarines next year.

The report warned that India had “never before been poised in such a vulnerable situation”.

In contrast, China operates about 45 submarines, including two ballistic missile ones. It is planning to construct 15 additional Yuan-class attack submarines, based on German diesel engine purchases.

The Yuan-class boats could be equipped with air-independent propulsion systems to recharge their batteries without having to surface for more than three weeks, a capability currently unavailable with the Indian Navy.

In what is extremely worrying for the Navy, the size of India’s submarine fleet will roughly be the same as that of the Pakistani Navy in two years.

“As this critical (undersea) capability is eroded, there is an inverse increase in both capability and strength of the Chinese and Pakistani navies,” the report states.

Six Scorpene submarines are currently being built at the Mazagon Dock Ltd in Mumbai with technology from French firm DCNS under a R23,562-crore project codenamed P-75.

But the first of these boats will not be ready before 2016-17, though it should have been commissioned into the Navy last year.

The Sindhurakshak, inducted in the Navy in 1997, was docked in Mumbai when the accident took place. Details are still sketchy as to what triggered the explosions that led to a massive fire, even as the Navy has ordered a probe to figure out what went wrong.

“This explosion on board the INS Sindhurakshak took place when the submarine was docked. Imagine the scale of the disaster had something gone wrong during operational deployment,” a top Navy official said.

Some reports suggest that the explosion could have been caused by the build-up of volatile hydrogen gas during a battery charging, but Navy sources insisted that it was too early to speculate.

The Sindhurakshak is the ninth of a series of 10 Sindhughosh class submarines that were bought from the erstwhile Soviet Union in the mid 1980s.

Defence minister AK Antony had in May acknowledged limitations in the country’s ability to deploy its entire fleet. “There are some operational constraints regarding conventional submarines,” Antony had ten told top Naval commanders.

[member_23692]

Another grand consequence of CORRUPTION WITHIN US. As the say in Hindi, "Dushman to Dushman, Dost bhi Daga De Gaya. Mujhe Apnon Ne Hee Mar Dala". This is what happens to a corrupt entity. No one wants to be their friend. And those few who are friends, turn around and stab in the back. With friends like these, why blame The Pakis and the Chinese. At least they are not hypocrites and claim to be friends.

Hell, if we are corrupt, even our fellow Indians wont like us, which is what is happening. If we are corrupt, even we wont like us. That is the explanation why we Indians keep fighting amongst ourselves and allow everyone and their brother to come around and kick us, whenever they feel like it. Whether it be Gazni, or Taimur or Gori or Nadir or Abdali or the Pakis or Chinese or even the Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans and the Burmese, shockingly even the Nepalese and more recently the Bhutanese and now........the Iranians. Why not, we Indians routinely enjoy a nice kick on our behinds. If we dont get it in regular intervals, we have a bad day.

Iran seizes Indian ship carrying oil from Iraq
Sachin Parashar, TNN | Aug 15, 2013, 03.49 AM IST

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 836778.cms

The government-owned ship was detained in international waters in the Persian Gulf before being coerced into entering Iranian waters. Late Wednesday evening, the ship was on its way to the Bandar Abbas port, guided by the IRGC.

Sources said Iran claimed to have detained the ship because of environmental concerns. Tehran authorities conveyed to India that the ship was polluting Iranian waters, but this is being seen as flimsy reasoning.

The development has shocked the Indian establishment, which on Wednesday evening was still trying to gather information on the incident. Although India has taken steps to reduce its crude imports from Iran, Tehran had never hinted that it could resort to such drastic actions.

I wonder why the Indians are shocked. It is all very predictable. In any case, where is the Indian contingency plan or Plan B. Dont the Department of Defense and our Armed Forces have scenarios already worked out, if any country tries to disrupt our shipping in International Waters? What good is Indian Navy if it cannot protect our shipping in our neighborhood, even if it is International Waters ? When the Indians cut back on oil imports from Iran at the urging of the Americans, did the Indians not seek any guarantees from the US or "International Community" that if Iran took any actions to impede our oil supplies in the Persian Gulf, the "International Community" will protect the Indian interests ?

Chanakya, where are you, when we need you. Please declare without any delay - "India derocognizes Iran".

[member_23692]

Yet another example of daily depravity that goes in in our country and its rulers. ALL BECAUSE OF CORRUPTION WITHIN US.

ALL BECAUSE THEY HAVE HOLLOWED OUT OUR DEFENSE CAPABILITIES TO A POINT WHERE INDIA CANNOT EVEN RESPOND TO PAKISTAN NOW(USED TO BE UNTIL RECENTLY, THAT WE DID NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO RESPOND TO CHINESE INCURSIONS, SO THE GOVERNMENT MADE EXCUSES AND APOLOGIES FOR THESE CHINESE ATTACKS AND LIED TO OUR PEOPLE, TRYING TO HIDE THESE ATTACKS FROM THE INDIAN POPULACE, RATHER THAN ATTEMPTING TO CORRECT THE SITUATION AND STRENGTHENING OUR DEFENSES), SO NOW WE HIDE BEHIND BY OUR PRIME MINISTER PROCLAIMING, "WHERE IS THE PROOF, THAT PAKISTAN DID IT". No it was not Pakistan, we Indians did it to ourselves. In a way it is true isnt it, WE INDIANS DID DO IT TO OURSELVES. Just like those Sikhs in Kashmir, during President Clinton's visit, who killed themselves or was it the Indian army that killed them ? No, no, maybe it was the Kashmiri Pandits that killed them!
Funny thing is that this time, even the Pakis are not denying, not strenuously at least, that THEY DID IT. They are openly and brazenly doing this with no attempt to even "Taqqiya". It seems like their confidence level has risen to such an extent about Indian weaknesses that they dont even consider Indians worthy of the effort to invoke "Taquiya". After the PAkis defeated the US in Afghanistan their morale is very high, and they now consider themselves in the big leagues. India, they can take care of rather easily now, think the Pakis. They are taking vicarious pleasure in "showing up" India. And we Indians shamelessly watch all this and go on with our day to day corrupt lives. IF THIS IS NOT CORRUPTION AMONG US INDIANS, WHAT IS ?

So, here are two articles in today's Times of India which reflect the pathetic state of our people and our country today on this "66th Independence day", I call it, the "66th Anniversary of transition from the Colonial Government of India to the Native based Hindu Enslavement Government of India".

Independence Day speech: PM Manmohan Singh calls for secular India, gently warns Pakistan
IANS | Aug 15, 2013, 11.15 AM IST

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 841097.cms

In comments laced with political overtones, Manmohan Singh, 81, declared that there was no place "for narrow and sectarian ideologies in a modern, progressive and secular country.

"Such ideologies divide our society and weaken our democracy. We should prevent them from growing," he said in a crisp 35-minute speech, standing behind a bullet-proof enclosure at the Red Fort.

"We need to strengthen those traditions of our country which teach us to promote tolerance and respect for thought processes different from ours."

NOW ON TO THE NEXT ARTICLE IN TIMES OF INDIA TODAY

Three Indian Army jawans injured in fresh Pak firing at LoC
PTI | Aug 15, 2013, 02.54 PM IST

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 842733.cms

At around 9pm on Wednesday night, Pakistani troops had violated the ceasefire and fired on Indian posts along LoC in Mendhar sub-sector of Poonch district, defence spokesperson S N Acharya said.

They fired automatic weapons and medium mortar shells. Indian troops fired back, resulting in exchanges that continued till around 11pm, he said, adding that there was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the firing.

There were two ceasefire violations on August 13, when Pak troops targeted Narianpur border outpost along the international border in Samba district and 16 Indian forward posts in Hamirpur, Balakote and Mankote forward areas in Poonch through the night.

Before that, three ceasefire violations had taken place on August 12 when Pakistani troops fired on border outposts and Indian posts along Indo-Pak border in Durga battalion (Poonch), Kothay (Samba) and Hamirpur-Balakote forward areas. In the early hours of the same day, at around 1.40am, Pakistani troops opened heavy fire using mortars, rockets and small arms on 11 Indian forward posts along the LoC in Digwar, Mankote and Durga Battalion areas.

It continued till 7.30am next day, triggering heavy exchanges in Poonch.

There were three incidents of ceasefire violation on August 11 also.

Pak troops, at around 8.30am, 11.30am and 9.50pm, had fired on Alfa Machial border outpost in Jammu, Balakote-Mendhar in Poonch and Durga Battalion in Poonch district respectively.

One Jawan had received bullet injuries in Pak firing at Alfa Machial border outpost, and was referred to AIIMS, Delhi for treatment.

In a similar manner, a BSF head constable Ram Niwas Meena of 200th Battalion was injured in sniper firing on Narainpur border outpost area in Samba district along the international border on August 5.

Meena, who suffered bullet injury in chest, died at AIIMS, New Delhi on August 11.

On August 10, in a major ceasefire violation three days after killing of five Indian jawans in Border Action Team attack, Pakistani troops targeted several Indian posts and fired 7,000 rounds of heavy Pika ammunition and mortar shells during seven hours of firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district.

Pakistan troops, in BAT attack on Indian Patrol near Sarla Post along LoC in Poonch district and killed 5 jawans and injured another.

There has also been 57 ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops this year from January 1 to August 5, which is 80% more than the last year during the same corresponding period

WHERE IS THE INDIAN MILITARY RESPONSE ? OR EVEN A STRONG AND APPROPRIATE POLITICAL RESPONSE ?

THAT WILL ONLY COME IF WE ALL TAKE SOME TIME OFF OUR DAY FULL OF CORRUPT ACTIVITIES AND PAY SOME ATTENTION TO THIS PROBLEM. WELL, I WOULD SETTLE FOR A SITUATION, WHERE AT LEAST WE CONSIDER THIS A PROBLEM.

All this is nothing. We aint seen nothing yet. Wait till the US forces are completely out of Afghan or almost completely within the next few months, India will be visited upon by a HEAVY CURSE comprising of the jihadi animal terrorists, the ISI and the Paki Army. I fear for the months and years ahead. I fear for our people, particularly our children, and I fear not the strengths of the opposition, but I fear our own weakness and corruption.

[Lilo]

Saar spare us the screaming in Caps , that too on issues unconnected to this thread ...


BTW r u from Zimbabwe by any chance ?

[member_23692]

Saar spare us the screaming in Caps , that too on issues unconnected to this thread ...


BTW r u from Zimbabwe by any chance ?

The truth hurts ?

I am sorry if it does, it does me too. But despite that, I try not to hide it or hide from it.

This thread is about corruption. To talk about some minister scamming, without talking about the larger corruption amongst us, which my posts represent, is really hiding from the truth. You really cannot see, that issues of National Security and compromising on them, compromising on our territorial integrity, allowing our brave jawans to be needlessly slaughtered like sheep with no cohesive response, are corruption ? You truly believe they have nothing to do with corruption ?