India Archives - Page 48 of 79 - Voice from the rooftop

2G accused and bail

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

There is a campaign in the media that 2G accused should get bail. I see a lobbyist behind it.

Radia tapes revealed a lobbyist connected to politicians, bureaucrats, industrialists and journalists. In an Anil Ambani versus Mukesh Ambani case when the judgment went in favour of Anil Ambani she asked Vir Sanghvi to write an article attacking the judge. Barkha Dutt was ready to do her bidding.

The campaign began with Jaswant Singh appearing on CNN-IBN and saying the 2G accused should get bail. TV discussions followed. Ex-CJI Vishwanath Khare and Ex-SG Harish Salve sent unsolicited legal opinions to CBI. On 6/7/2011 the Supreme Court told CBI lawyer K. K. Venugopal â€œDonâ€™t take these legal opinions into consideration. You reject them outright.â€

Athletes and doping

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Indian athletes are in news for doping. Mandeep Kaur, Juana Murmu, Tiana Mary Thomas, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji, Priyanka Panwar, Sonia and Hari Krishnan failed dope test at 11-14 June Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bangalore. There is blame game going on. No athlete has publicly admitted of knowingly taking anabolic steroids. Saina Nehwal has claimed that athletes and weightlifters had told her that they take drugs. Coaches and other officials are sacked or suspended. Indian Olympic Association blamed Sports Authority of India for the mess.

Padmanabhaswamy Temple Treasure

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Government should not take over Padmanabhaswamy temple property and any private property without paying market price unless the property is without owner.

Telangana resignations

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 4/7/2011 many MPs and MLAs resigned demanding formation of Telangana. MPs belonged to Congress. MLAs belonged to Congress and TDP. Congress had promised Telangana in 2004 and in December 2009 Home Minister P. Chidambaram had announced the beginning of process for the formation of Telangana. Then Andhra MLAs resigned and there was opposition to…

Curious case of Khaled Chisti

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 22/6/2011 on NDTV 24×7â€™s Left Right and Centre the issue of showing mercy to Khaled Chisti was discussed. PM had written to Rajasthanâ€™s Governor Shivraj Patil to release Khaled Chisti and Shivraj Patil had decided to seek legal advice. The question was whether India should show large-heartedness and release him on humanitarian grounds. The discussion led to some revelations.

Nidhi Razdan first asked audience members. One person said there are many Indians in Indian prisons in similar condition to that of Khaled Chisti. Nobody writes to PM about them. There should be common rule for all. One woman said she was fighting for justice and Pakistanis have carried out many terrorist activities in India. That meant he should not be released.

Corruption at top and bottom

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

There are people who say Lokpal Bill targets corruption at top and does not make any difference to corruption at bottom. They do not know corruption at bottom is very often due to corruption at top.

A home minister takes four crore rupees as bribe to appoint a police officer as commissioner. The commissioner recovers that money from his juniors who in turn recover money from their juniors and so it reaches the level of constable. This also results in criminals going scot-free due to acts of commission and omission by police.

A chairman of a Public Service Commission takes 75 lakh rupees as bribe to appoint DSPs and judges. They recover it from their juniors and others.

Tyranny of the unelected

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Some Congress members refer to the demands by Anna Hazare group about Lokpal Bill as tyranny of the unelected and unelectable. They are against fast as protest and call it blackmail. Congress has a history of tyranny of the unelected.

In 1939 Mohandas Gandhiâ€™s candidate Pattabhi Sitaramaiah lost and Subhash Chandra Bose won the election to become Congress President. Mohandas Gandhi said Pattabhi Sitaramaiahâ€™s defeat is my defeat. It became difficult for Subhash Chandra Bose to function as Congress President. He had to resign some months later.

In January 1948 India was fighting a war with Pakistan over Kashmir. India had stopped transfer of 55 crore rupees to Pakistan as that would have been used against India. Mohandas Gandhi went on fast against government decision and the government that had Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel agreed to Mohandas Gandhiâ€™s demand.

Colleges and cut offs

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

It is time for admission to colleges. Delhi University introduced common admission form for its colleges and allowed colleges to fix cut-off percentages. Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) fixed 100% as cut-off percentage. Some have criticised it. P. C. Jain, principal of SRCC, defended it. Science students who do not get admission in SRCC can go to IIT or IIM. Best way to do away with stress is to have no marks, no examinations and no evaluations and have lottery to select students.

Some other colleges had cut-off percentages in the range of 95%-99%. Students who do not get admission in the first list may get admission in subsequent lists.

Anna, Baba and Congress

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Veerappa Moily must be a happy man. When four ministers went to meet Baba Ramdev at airport he was not one of them. It was interpreted as he was losing favour. By 5/6/2011 the tide had turned, the pendulum had swung, Kapil Sibal was under attack.

Anna Hazare led a fast for Lokpal Bill and was successful. Baba Ramdev was unhappy about the composition of the drafting committee for Lokpal Bill which had Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal among others. He said, father is chairman, son is member and the secret of Arvind Kejriwalâ€™s seat. Shanti Bhushan replied drafting committee needs legal experts not yoga guru. Anna Hazare spoke to Baba Ramdev and Baba Ramdev muted his criticism.

Sheila Dikshit and sanitary napkins

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Delhiâ€™s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has said that Delhi government will distribute free sanitary napkins to school girls. May be the money she and her colleagues made during the run-up to Commonwealth Games has run out and other sources have dried up and sanitary napkins contract is a way to make money.

Sanitary napkins are not a necessity. Till few decades back women did not use sanitary napkins. Around 70% of women in India do not use sanitary napkins. It is not the job of the state to provide sanitary napkins. After sanitary napkins it may be the case of free distribution of fairness creams, talcum powders, lipsticks, scents, perfumes and such things.