Author: Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Vincent Augustine D'Souza is a blogger, author, novelist, and quiz master. He writes on politics, economy, corruption, terrorism, current events, sports/games and many more topics on his blog Voice From The Rooftop (http://voicefromtherooftop.com). He has written four novels — King, Pope, Dream and Trump. They are available in ebook format. His major non-fiction work is English Konkani Dictionary (https://englishkonkanidictionary.com). He has also written Model Constitution for India and Model Constitution for United States of America. His quizzes appear on his quiz site Go 4 Quiz (https://go4quiz.com). Amazon Page: https://amazon.com/author/vincentdsouza Gumroad Page: https://gumroad.com/vincentdsouza

National Advisory Council is unnecessary

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

National Advisory Council is back with Sonia Gandhi as chairperson holding the rank of Cabinet Minister. In effect she will be Super Prime Minister.

Sonia Gandhi was chairperson of National Advisory Council after UPA came to power in 2004 and she had to resign in 2006 following office of profit controversy. Congress had targeted Jaya Bachchan for office of profit and had her disqualified. Then Sonia Gandhiâ€™s post came under scrutiny. After resignation as chairperson and MP Sonia Gandhi contested the election and became MP again. Law was amended to exempt 56 posts as offices of profit. President APJ Abdul Kalam had returned the bill to Parliament for reconsideration. Parliament had passed it again but Sonia Gandhi did not become the chairperson. National Advisory Council lost its importance and after two years ceased to exist. Now National Advisory Council is revived.

Amitabh Bachchan and Congress

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

If Congress is serious about its opposition to riots it should expel Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler.
When Amitabh Bachchan faced problems from MNS the law did not take its course in Maharashtra which had a Congress chief minister.
Ashok Chavan faced criticism from some Congress members for sharing the dais with Amitabh Bachchan at the inauguration of second Bandra-Worli Sea Link. After that Congress members avoided Amitabh Bachchan at Marathi literary festival, Poona. Narendra Modi called Congress members talibans of untouchability.

Baba Ramdev and BJP

Posted on March 27, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Baba Ramdevâ€™s decision to found a political party and contest 543 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 has the BJP worried. BJP President Nitin Gadkari has appealed to Baba Ramdev not to go ahead with the project. BJP is worried that Hindu votes will be split.
BJP and Baba Ramdev have some things in common. Both want Hindu Rashtra. Both talk of getting back black money in foreign banks.
Baba Ramdev knows the political parties in India. He has seen BJPâ€™s rise and fall. He does not expect much from BJP.
BJP has alliance with various parties. It has no plan to contest 543 Lok Sabha seats in 2014.
Baba Ramdev wants death penalty for corruption, rape, dowry death, cow slaughter and terrorism. Many in India will oppose death penalty for cow slaughter. BJP would not like to have death penalty for corruption.

Indian democracy is a joke

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

There is more to democracy than elections. In democracy all are equal. What happens in India is what George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm.
In India some are more equal than others. They have reservations in government educational institutions, government jobs, rural and urban bodies, Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies. Students in general category who have 92% marks do not get seats but in reserved category get seats with 45% marks. The reservations were meant for 10 years but continue after 60 years and more categories are added. People who are pampered claim they need empowerment.
When something needs to be done for equality no effort is made. Law allows Muslim men to have four wives. Champions of womenâ€™s equality have done nothing against it. Married men who are no Muslims have become Muslims to enter into second marriage without divorce.

Cut motion and government fall

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

rollback price hike. UPA allies have opposed price hike.
If a cut motion is passed the government falls. Many have commented that no party wants elections and cut motion will not be passed. Some parties may not like to vote with BJP. They are wrong. The unity shown by the parties on budget day may repeat. Left Front has said the price rise is not a political issue, it is a peopleâ€™s issue. They will remind people that Congress voted with BJP to pull down V. P. Singh government. In politics there are no permanent friends or enemies.

Catholic Church and sex scandals

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Sex scandals involving Catholic priests are making news with regularity. USA, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Holland, Germany, Austria and some other countries have reported sex scandals. Some scandals are cases of paedophilia. One case refers to a priest who was in Munich when the present pope Benedict XVI was then Joseph Ratzinger, archbishop of Munich.

Pakistan Cricket Board and cricketers

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 10/3/2010 PCB imposed bans and fines on seven cricketers: Mohammed Yusuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Rana Naved, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal. This followed Pakistanâ€™s disastrous tour of Australia. During the tour Pakistanâ€™s performance was poor and it appeared some players did their level best to lose the matches.
Was there match-fixing? ICC anti-corruption unit was present during the tour but that doesnâ€™t mean much.
Did the players lose the matches because they did not like each other? Was there groupism? Whatever be the reasons the players had to be disciplined and PCB acted.

Rajya Sabha and reservation for women

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 9/3/2010 Rajya Sabha passed womenâ€™s reservation bill 186-1. Before that seven members were suspended. They refused to leave the house and marshals lifted and carried them out. BSP members walked out. TMC members abstained. BSP and TMC are headed by women. Congress, BJP and Left Front had issued whips in favour of the bill.
On 26/2/2010 when budget was presented members of all opposition parties had walked out in protest against the rise in petrol and diesel prices. If the intention of passing the bill was to break opposition unity the government succeeded.
Interestingly in the bill Rajya Sabha does not have reservation for women.
During TV discussions some people who favoured womenâ€™s reservation mentioned that Pakistan has 27% reservation for women and Afghanistan 20%. Do these people want India to end up like Pakistan and Afghanistan which have many terrorists? Possibly the reservations are one reason for terrorism. Men who could have become legislators were deprived of their chance and took to guns. In that case India with 33% reservation can become worse than Pakistan.

India out of Hockey World Cup 2010

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 28/2/2010 when India defeated Pakistan 4-1 in a league match of Hockey World Cup 2010 there was hope that India will win the cup. After the match tournament director suspended Shivendra for three matches for injury to a Pakistani player. Shivendra had not received any red, yellow or green card from the referee. After appeal the suspension was reduced to two matches.
England had defeated Australia. Indians were hoping for a victory against Australia. Australia defeated India 5-2.

Iceland referendum on debts

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 6/3/2010 Iceland had a referendum on whether to use taxpayer funds to pay off Icelandâ€™s substantial debts to UK and Holland. Icesave internet bank had collapsed and UK had paid $3.5 billion and Holland $1.8 billion as compensation to 3,40,000 nationals who had lost their savings in Icesave.
Icelandâ€™s population is almost the same as the number of depositors in Icesave. Most of the people said no. Many said taxpayers should not pay for the folly of a private bank. Some were against interest payment on debt. Iceland had nationalised private banks that had gone bankrupt in October 2008.
Many people had deposited in Icelandâ€™s banks because of high interest rates they offered. With high interest comes high risk.