India Archives - Page 3 of 14 - Voice from the rooftop

Kanimozhi bail plea

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

There were reports that CBI will not oppose Kanimozhi â€˜s bail plea. The Supreme Court questioned CBI on the reports and CBIâ€™s lawyer Harin Raval said it would certainly oppose Kanimozhi â€˜s bail plea.

Karunanidhi came to Delhi and met Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh on 22/10/2011. On 24/10/2011 CBI did not oppose bail for Kanimozhi, Asif Balwa, Rajiv Aggarwal, Karim Morani and Sharad Kumar. It opposed bail for R. K. Chandolia and Shahid Balwa. On 31/10/2011 Supreme Court judges G. S. Singhvi and H. L. Dattu questioned Harin Raval â€œIs is true that during the hearing the CBI counsel said that he has no objection to bail for five out of the 14 accused?â€ and directed him to confirm the next day. On 1/11/2011 Harin Raval confirmed that U. U. Lalit representing CBI had not opposed bail for five accused.

Seven billion people

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

According to UN the world population reached seven billion on 31/10/2011. How correct is UN is a separate issue as there is no round-the-clock monitoring of population all over the world.

Population growth is slowing down and world population is expected to stabilize when it reaches nine billion. However floods, earthquakes, cyclones and other natural calamities play a part. In some countries there has been decline over the years and they want to increase their population. Russia, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, South Korea and Singapore want more people.

Too much cricket

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

There is the story of a man who killed the goose that laid golden eggs. Similar is the case with BCCI.

Recent ODI series in India against England witnessed large number of empty seats in Hyderabad, Delhi, Mohali, Bombay and Calcutta. There was drop in television viewing. The law of diminishing returns was at work. Within six months of World Cup interest in cricket had declined. During World Cup there were long queues for tickets for matches played by India and in some cases there was lathi charge. For the past four years there have been Tests, ODIs and T20s one after the other and people were bound to lose interest at some point.

USA and ISI

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

For long India said ISI was behind terrorist activities in India. USA was quiet. For some years Afghanistan said ISI was behind terrorist activities in Afghanistan. That included Indian Embassy. USA was quiet. When American Embassy was attacked USA spoke. Americans wanted Pakistan to take action against Haqqani group, veritable arm of ISI, or they will act on their own.

Gang of Four

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Gang of Four originally meant Jiang Qing, Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan who were powerful during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in China. Anna Hazare spoke of Gang of Four in UPA government without mentioning names. One of them is P. Chidambaram. Second is likely to be Kapil Sibal. Who are the other two? Some talk of Digvijay Singh and Manish Tewari but they are not ministers.

Firecrackers and Pollution

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Firecrackers cause air pollution and noise pollution. When firecrackers burst day and night over a month the damage is great.

Firecrackers are meant to be burst during joyous occasions. They are burst during marriages, feasts, when countries win matches and during the opening ceremonies of sports events. Candidates who win elections to Parliament or Legislative Assembly burst firecrackers.

Defence purchases

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

India should have been self-sufficient in all respects of defence. USA, UK, Russia and France sell weapons. In India many years and thousands of crores of rupees were spent on developing main battle tank and light combat aircraft. There was talk of allowing private sector to manufacture what is required for defence but nothing seems to have happened. May be imports are a lucrative way to get bribes, commissions and kickbacks. Foreign companies may be allowed to manufacture warplanes, warships, arms and ammunition in India and India should buy only what is made in India.

CAG and 2G

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

CAG is a constitutional authority. He is not a servant of the government of the day. If he finds any subordinate not doing his job properly he has the right to overrule him. In judiciary there are various courts but the decision of the Supreme Court is final. It can overrule High Court or other courts. High Court can overrule Sessions Court. In Supreme Court judges on the same bench disagree and judgments are by majority. There is nothing strange about CAG overruling DG.

Poverty alleviation

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

There is a debate about poverty line in India. NAC members have attacked Planning Commission. The debate is mainly about Rs.32 as poverty line in cities.

The definition of poverty changes according to place and time. Poverty can be absolute or relative. Absolute poverty may be removed but relative poverty will be there.

Petrol price hike unjustified

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

Petrol price has gone up once again. There is no good reason for the hike. It is a myth that oil marketing companies decide the hike. When there were elections in four states and one union territory petrol price did not go up. The hike happened after voting was over. That time LPG price also went up.