India Archives - Page 49 of 79 - Voice from the rooftop

ITBP Bill and Maharashtra

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has sent a bill for Rs.10.87 crores to Maharashtra government for providing security to Ajmal Kasab for the period from 28 March 2009 to 30 September 2010. Maharashtra government says it does not have the money and has discontinued ITBP protection to Ajmal Kasab.

There was no need to deploy 200 men to guard Ajmal Kasab. The trial was inside the jail. There were other expenses that were unnecessary like constructing a hospital ward for him at the cost of 2 crore rupees which was not used and a tunnel at the cost of 50 lakh rupees which was rarely used.

Terrorists delisted

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Indiaâ€™s Home Ministry has delisted 142 terrorists from the list. The list had names of 169 Sikhs. Somebody filed a petition in the Delhi High Court and pleaded that the list should be reviewed as it has led to unnecessary harassment of those individuals at airports and embassies across the world as their passports were not renewed. The Delhi High Court ordered the Home Ministry to take a decision. The Home Ministry consulted Punjab government and security agencies and deleted 25 names in August 2010 and 117 names in April 2011.

Land acquisition

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

The protests by farmers against land acquisition in UP and support to them by politicians belonging to Congress, BJP, SP and RLD have raised questions about land acquisition. The central government has announced introduction of a bill in the monsoon session. Politicians oppose land acquisitions in states where they are not in power and justify land acquisitions in states where they are in power.

Election Results 2011

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Election results for Legislative Assemblies in four states and one union territory are out. In Assam it is third time successively for Congress and allies. In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee led TMC-Congress defeated Left Front which was in power for 34 years. In Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, Jayalalitha led AIADMK and partners to victory over DMK-Congress coalition. In Kerala, UDF won, LDF lost.

CPI-M and CPI lost power in West Bengal and Kerala. They are in coalition with ADMK but did not contest many seats. Congress was in the winning combinations in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments have changed every five years for the past few times. BJP lost seats in Assam and did not win seats in other states. Congress is happy that BJP did not do well.

Commando operation

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Many Indians want India to send commandos to Pakistan to kill Indiaâ€™s Most Wanted in Pakistan. Operation Geronimo by USA is the inspiration. When asked by journalists army chief and air force chief have said that India is capable to commando operations.

The idea is fine but needs to be tested. India is not USA. India does not have the technology that USA has. In Indiaâ€™s case there is no room for error. Every commando operation is not a success. USAâ€™s attempt to rescue hostages in Iran in 1979 was a disaster. Operation Geronimo was a success in that it achieved its aim of catching Osama Bin Laden dead or alive but one helicopter could not fly back and had to be destroyed. USA has inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that can hit any country in the world. Pakistan does not have ICBMs. India and Pakistan do not need ICBMs to hit each other. India does not have stealth helicopters that can evade radar detection.

Helicopter crashes

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

In India helicopter crashes are more than passenger plane crashes. Many people have died in helicopter crashes including G. M. C. Balayogi, Madhavrao Scindia, Y. S. R. Reddy and Dorjee Khandu. In April 2011 there were two helicopter crashes in Arunachal Pradesh. In both cases helicopters belonged to Pawan Hans and Tawang featured in the flights. The crashes can be due to various reasons. The helicopter could be old and not fit for flying. The pilot does not have sufficient experience. Bad weather and poor visibility make flying difficult.

It seems there is no check on airworthiness of helicopters. Either DGCA does not do its job or the owners of helicopters continue the use of unfit helicopters without the knowledge of DGCA.

Plots and song

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

â€Bhushans get two prime farmhouse plots from Mayatwati govt for a songâ€ said the headline of Indian Express on 20/4/2011.

What song? Munni badnam hui? Sheela ki jawani? Dum maro dum? Did Bhushans sing the song in front of Mayawati?

The cost of the plot is Rs.3.5 crore. At the time of allotment 35 lakh rupees were to be paid. The rest to be paid in 16 instalments over 10 years. Is 3.5 core rupees a small amount? If it is less than quarter of the market rate what is the market rate? Sometimes the campaign against someone has motives other than exposing the wrongdoing. As Dom Moraes wrote in his book the campaign against Abdul Rahman Antulay was because Ramnath Goenka did not get cement.\

Banks and loans

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

In 1953 or thereabout the government of India nationalized Imperial Bank and changed its name to State Bank of India.

In 1969 the government of India nationalized 14 banks. In later years more banks were nationalized.

Some years back there was a proposal to nationalize those banks as they were making losses. The employees protested saying there were not responsible for losses.

The banks had lent to many industrialists who had not repaid the loan and that was the reason for losses. Many industrialists in India would have gone bankrupt years ago if banks had insisted on payments.

India and Singapore

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Singapore was once a backward country. It has made progress over the years and has controlled corruption and has low crime rate. India lags behind in many respects. When comparisons are made some say Singapore does not have free press, popular sovereignty and equal moral status of citizens.

How free is Indiaâ€™s press? Corporate houses control many news TV channels and newspapers. Journalists working for many others are influenced by lobbyists who work for various interests. Newspapers and channels that want ad revenue enter into agreements with corporate houses not to say or write anything against them. Columns of writers who write about misdeeds about corporate houses disappear.

NGOs under attack

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Ever since the notification of the formation of the drafting committee for Lokpal Bill, NGOs have come under attack from several persons. Someone wanted them to be included in Lokpal Bill. Someone made vague accusations of corruptions against NGOs. It seems to be an attempt to divert attention from the real issue of corruption by public servants.

The accusations are NGOs are not accountable to anyone, one can declare oneself an NGO and can become very rich very quickly and you need not explain how you got the money and how you spent it, nearly all the NGOs who set out to save Indiaâ€™s environment are frauds, NGOs set to save poor spend time and money on international conferences and senior government officials become NGOs after retirement while politicians use NGOs to hide black money.