General Archives - Page 2 of 8 - Voice from the rooftop

AITA and politicians

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

The role of politicians in the controversy surrounding the selection of tennis players for London Olympics has not been debated much. The debate has been mostly about players and AITA.

AITA selectors picked Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati for menâ€™s doubles. Mahesh refused. He should have been banned for life for refusing to play for Indian and asked to refund the amount spent on him. That would have sent a message to all players that AITA will not tolerate players dictating terms to AITA. AITA did not do that. They selected Rohan Bopanna. Rohan also refused. Mahesh and Rohan wanted to play as a pair and said two teams could be sent.

Burkha ban in college

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

St. Aloysius’ College is in news for its rule that students should show their faces in class rooms. Students who come wearing burkha have to show their faces. The rule is in prospectus. Some have called it Burkha ban. Muslim clergy is said to be opposed to the rule. St. Aloysius’ College has come to…

Return of Bofors

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Bofors returned to news on 25/4/2012. TV channels reported former Swedish police chief Sten Lindstromâ€™s interview to Chitra Subramaniam on thehoot.org.

In April 1987 Swedish Radio reported that kickbacks were paid in Bofors deal. After that some newspapers had reported on it. Chitra Subramaniam worked for Indian Express. Sten Lindstrom had leaked many documents to her. Sten Lindstrom revealed himself as the source.

Why did Sten Lindstrom go public now? Perhaps he thinks he will not live long. He reminds me of W. Mark Felt who was informant in Watergate scandal.

Tuesday the 11th Terrorist strikes

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

There are people who oppose death penalty to a terrorist even when the terrorist does not challenge his conviction and does not file a mercy petition. The jailor refuses to execute courtâ€™s order to hang him. The state government files a mercy petition.

Imagine a situation. A terrorist enters the studio of NDTV when We the people is telecast live. He shoots Barkha Dutt, Colin Gonsalves, K. C. Singh, Praveen Swami, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Ram Jethmalani, Majeed Memon, Naresh Gujral and so on. The terrorist goes to Kashmir, kills Governor, MLAs and High Court judges. The terrorist goes to Assam, kills Governor, MLAs and High Court judges. The terrorist goes to Tamil Nadu, kills Governor, MLAs and High Court judges. The terrorist goes to Punjab, kills Governor, MLAs and High Court judges. When MLAs are killed chief minister and other ministers are killed.

Stop corporate debt restructuring

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

There is a conspiracy of silence about money lost to the people of India due to corporate debt restructuring (CDR). TV channels donâ€™t talk about CDR. Companies borrow crores of rupees from banks and financial institutions and when they say they are unable to pay the loan they are referred to CDR cell. Over the years more and more companies have defaulted on payments.

In F. Y. 2009-10, 256 companies defaulted on payment of 1,15,990 crores rupees, 215 of them got CDR for 1,04,299 crores rupees. In F. Y. 2010-11, 305 companies defaulted on payment of 1,41,158 crores rupees, 242 of them got CDR for 1,10,914 crores rupees. In F. Y. 2011-12, 389 companies defaulted on payment of 2,05,692 crores rupees, 286 of them got CDR for 1,50,286 crores rupees. CDR cell rejected requests of 56 companies for CDR of 19,589 crores rupees and decisions on requests of 47 companies for CDR of 35,878 crores rupees are pending. For three years CDR amount is 3,65,438 crore rupees which may go up to 4,01,316 crores rupees.

FIRs against 14 ministers

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

IAC wants FIRs against 14 ministers. The ministers are P. Chidambaram, Ajit Singh, Farooq Abdullah, G. K. Vasan, Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal, Sharad Pawar, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Sushilkumar Shinde, Vilasrao Deshmukh, M. K. Alagiri, Virbhadra Singh, S. M. Krishna and Praful Patel.

Kapil Sibal reduced fine on Reliance from 650 crore rupees to 5 crore rupees resulting in a loss of 645 crore rupees to the country. He should reverse his decision or pay 645 crore rupees.

President of India

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Election for the President of India is due within a few months. There is a possibility that UPA government may fall and Lok Sabha be dissolved. The election will be valid even if Lok Sabha and all Legislative Assemblies are dissolved and only elected members of Rajya Sabha vote in the election. Nominated members of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies do not have the right to vote in presidential election.

Modesty forbids me from mentioning the best person who should become the President. I will mention some good and better persons.

Church and Better India

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Catholic Bishops of India had met in Bangalore on 1-8 February 2012 and after having reflected on â€œThe Churchâ€™s Role for a Better Indiaâ€ have given their message. They have quoted the Preamble of the Constitution, talked about Indiaâ€™s condition, what the Church has done and what the Church intends to do.

Bishops should know that the words Socialist Secular were not part of the Preamble when the Constitution was adopted on 26/11/1949. They were added by 42nd Amendment in 1976 which came into effect on 1/3/1977. Bishops should be inspired by the Bible and not the Constitution.

Forgery is not a joke

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Bombay High Court Justice A. V. Nirgude dismissing a case of forgery and cheating saying police officers have lost their sense of humour could have been dismissed as a bad joke but is not a laughing matter and has serious implications and grave consequences. Versova police had registered a case on 1/3/2012 against Sanjay Gupta, Balaji Motion Pictures and glamsham.com for forging the summons from Police Commissionerâ€™s office to promote the film Shootout at Lokhandawala. The forged summons had the subject, â€œBriefing on the current crime scenario in Bombay.â€ It had stated â€œThis is to inform you that the Commissioner of Police requests your presence on the 29th of February at 3.15 pm on stage No 2 of Mehboob Studio to address the sudden and dangerous rise of organised crime in the city.â€ When the journalists landed at the place they realized it was an invitation for press conference. The journalists were not amused. The police were not amused. The sessions court rejected Sanjay Guptaâ€™s anticipatory bail plea. Sanjay Gupta had moved the High Court. A. V. Nirgude heard the case.

Murderers are not victims

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Last year during riots in London and other cities of England, many young boys committed crimes. Prime Minister David Cameron said the young boys will face full force of the law. If you are old enough to commit a crime you are old enough to face the law.

On 9/2/2012 a student murdered his Science and Hindi teacher Uma Maheshwari, St. Maryâ€™s Ango-Indian Higher Secondary School, Armenian Street, Madras. He was angry with the teacher for informing his parents about his behaviour and lack of study by her remarks on his school diary.