India Archives - Page 42 of 79 - Voice from the rooftop

Fight against corruption must continue

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

India Against Corruption seems to have lost direction and momentum in fight against corruption. IAC wanted a Lokpal Bill. That did not happen. They wanted right to reject and right to recall. Both are unlikely to happen soon. Anna Hazare seems unable or unwilling to lead the agitation. Other members should resume the fight against corruption.

IAC members need not go on indefinite fast. They can go on chain hunger strike. Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan can fast for some hours every day. Then Shazia Ilmi, Gaurav Bakshi and Manish Sisodia can take their turn. Then some other people fast. Every day the cycle is repeated. The fight for Lokpal should be separate from fight for Lokayuktas.

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.

No negotiations with abductors

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Abductors, hijackers, kidnappers, pirates and terrorists are criminals. Governments should not negotiate with criminals.

Maoists in Kandhamal have abducted two Italians, Paulo Boscusco and Claudio Colangelo. It is too bad that Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik has said Orissa government is open to any kind of negotiation with the abductors.

Abolish Service Tax

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Twenty years ago there was no Service Tax. Constitution was amended and Service Tax was brought in. It began at 5% on some items. Later it went up to 8%, 10% and 12%. After the depression of 2008 it was brought down to 10%. Now it is back to 12%. More items came under Service Tax. Now all items except 17 in the negative list are covered by Service Tax. All Indians pay Service Tax directly or indirectly. Most Indians own mobile phones and they pay Service Tax when they recharge or pay bills.

SBI and Hotel Leela

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

SBI did not get back the loan it gave to Kingfisher. Kingfisher was bailed out by converting the loan into shares. Now comes the news that SBI has referred 4,300 crore rupees loan taken by Hotel Leela to corporate debt restructuring (CDR). It is said that Hotel Leela has not defaulted. It wants interest rate reduced from 14% to 11% and longer schedule for payment. Perhaps the owner of Hotel Leela thinks he can default and get away just like Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher did.

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.

Uttar Pradesh and other elections

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

The results of elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur are out. In UP, SP got absolute majority. In Uttarakhand out of 70 seats Congress got 32, BJP got 31. In Punjab, SAD-BJP coalition retained power. In Goa, BJP displaced Congress. In Manipur, Congress retained power.

Most pollsters had predicted hung assembly in UP. CNN-IBN had predicted SP will get 34% of votes, BSP will get 24%. Headlines Today had predicted 203 seats for SP. SP got 29% votes and 225 seats. BSP got 26% votes and 79 seats. BJP got 47 seats. Congress-RLD got 37 seats. Peace Party got 4 seats, Apna Dal 1, Qaumi Ekta Dal 2 and Ittehad-e-Millat Council 1. CPI, CPI(M), JD(U), TMC and some other parties did not win any seat.

Consenting adults and law

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

There are people who say what consenting adults do in private should not be covered by law. This is mainly in reference to Section 377 of IPC which is under litigation in Supreme Court.

By that logic prostitution, sale and purchase of narcotics and psychotropic substances and illicit liquor, corruption, polygamy, transmission of pornographic material and many others matters that take place between consulting adults will be out of the scope of law. Drug traffickers can claim they have right to life and liberty to sell heroin, marijuana and such things to consenting adults in private and they have right to equality. The state will have no right to legislate on marriage, divorce, alimony and child custody. Also concubinage, live-in relationship and palimony will be out of the legal purview.

Let Kingfisher Go Bankrupt

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

It is a crime on the part of State Bank of India to give a loan of 1,650 crore rupees to Kingfisher. Some of it will be in the form of bank guarantees. It is ridiculous for RBI Deputy Governor K. C. Chakrabarty to say this was a professional decision and may help Kingfisher pay back all its loans. This is a very unprofessional decision. What will RBI do if SBI does not get its money? Print notes and give it to SBI?

Cancel Kingfisher Licence

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

Kingfisher is in trouble again. It has cancelled flights without informing passengers and DGCA and passengers are suffering. DGCA should cancel its licence. Excuse of bird hits should not be accepted. Passengers book their tickets in advance. When they come to the airport and know flights are cancelled there is not much they can do. To get tickets on other airlines they may have to pay more.