India Archives - Page 5 of 14 - Voice from the rooftop

Fight against corruption

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

The events of the last few days have shown that fight against corruption will be hard and the corrupt will do everything to scuttle the Lokpal Bill.

A nameless and faceless coward sent a CD that caused problems for Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan. The Bhushans have gone to Supreme Court. Some want Bhushans to quit the drafting committee and that seems to be the reason for sending the CD. Not many top lawyers joined Anna Hazare in his fight against corruption. Most of them have taken briefs of 2G companies and various criminals. On TV channels they may talk of probity, integrity and transparency but when it comes to briefs they have no compunction in accepting any brief from anyone whether murderer, rapist, molester, swindler, fraudster or some other high criminal.

Interview with a Pakistani cricketer

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Q: You said Pakistanis are large-hearted, Indians are not. What do you mean?
A: Pakistanis are ready to lose matches for friendship. We lost semi-final at Mohali and showed our large-heartedness. We dropped Sachin Tendulkar four times. We could have scored the winning runs. It was not difficult for us to score 261 runs. We did not score and allowed India to win.

Q: Poor fielding and batting is not a sign of large-heartedness. Kamran Akmal on an average drops two catches in every match.
A: Kamran Akmalâ€™s heart is larger than other Pakistanis. His heart is the largest in Pakistan. Behind every successful man there is a woman. Behind every successful batsman there is Kamran Akmal. But against India other fielders dropped catches. We showed our friendship. About batting, even in the last over we could have won. Misbah-ul-Haq could have hit five sixers consecutively and Pakistan would have won. Instead he did not score a single run and gifted his wicket.

India win Cricket Word Cup 2011

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

On 2/4/2011 India created history by being the first host country to win the Cricket World Cup. India began by defeating Bangladesh, a co-host, on 19/2/2011 and ended by defeating Sri Lanka, another co-host, on 2/4/2011.

No Indian scored a century in a knock-out game. Ricky Ponting and Mahela Jayawardene scored centuries against India in knock-out games. India batted second in matches against Australia and Sri Lanka and won. Australia were stopped from winning the title for the fourth consecutive time and Ricky Ponting was stopped from winning the title as captain for the third consecutive time. Before that Pakistan had defeated Australia in a group match and had put an end of Australiaâ€™s sequence of victories since 1999.

India 121 crore

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

According to provisional figures of 2011 census, Indiaâ€™s population is 1,21,01,93,422. That is more than the population of Russia, Canada, USA, Brazil, Australia, Argentina, Sudan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Greenland, Madagascar, Namibia and many other countries put together. During the decade the growth was 17.64%, lowest since independence.

The number 1,21,01,93,422 includes Bangladeshis, Nepalis, Tibetans and other foreigners living in India but does not include Indians living abroad.

Cash for votes

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Wikileaks cables are making news for its revelations about paying cash to get votes. Candidates paying money to voters or UPA paying money to MPs to survive trust vote is back in news.

Azhagiri is said to have paid Rs.5,000 per voter in Thirumangalam. Previous bribe was Rs.500 per voter. In Sivaganga, Karti Chidamabram, son of P. Chidambaram, is said to have paid voters. Asaduddin Owaisi is said to have paid money to fund worthy requests in his constituency and according to him the legal spending limit of 25 lakh rupees on election was a joke and he spends 25 lakh rupees on polling day alone.

DMK quits UPA

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 5/3/2011 DMK passed a resolution asking its ministers in central government to quit. DMK will have no alliance with Congress and will give issue-based support to UPA.

Congress-DMK alliance was doomed when Rahul Gandhi went to Tamil Nadu, addressed Congress leaders, and said one of you will be the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The die was cast. Bargaining for seats was a ploy by Congress to end the alliance.

US court and India

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

A US court in New York has issued summons to Kamal Nath to appear before it to answer charges of involvement in killing Sikhs in 1984 in a suit filed by Sikhs for Justice. The group has charged Congress with attacks on Sikhs. Why Kamal Nath is summoned and why not Sajjan Kumar or Jagdish Tytler is not known. H. K. L. Bhagat, known for his role in killing Sikhs, is dead.

Aruna Shanbaug and Supreme Court

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

I have some questions.

Who authorized Pinki Virani to file a petition on behalf of Aruna Shanbaug? Aruna Shanbaug did not authorize her. She is not a member of Aruna Shanbaugâ€™s family.

Pinki Virani is not Aruna Shanbaugâ€™s caretaker. Why does she want to become her undertaker?

What is right to live with dignity?

Why is right to die is presented as right to live with dignity?

What should be the punishment for someone who wants to kill someone through starvation?

I have my answers.

Budget 2011

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented Indiaâ€™s budget for 2011 on 28/2/2011. He began reading the budget at 11.00 a.m. Within half an hour many MPs were seen dozing and some yawning. At 12.25 p.m. Speaker Meira Kumar was seen dozing. Veerappa Moily and Veerbhadra Singh were sitting behind Pranab Mukherjee. Veerappa Moily kept himself awake. Veerbhadra Singh dozed sometimes.

PDS and cash transfers

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

There are people who say PDS does not work and cash transfers is the way. Some give example of Bihar where it is said to be 92% effective.

If PDS does not work it should be scrapped. That does not mean people should be given cash. When it is said 92% effective it means 8% ineffective which can become 80% or more. Fictitious accounts can be opened. There is swindling in NREGA and complaints are not investigated. One person in Uttar Pradesh who got an award for his work in NREGA returned it as his complaints were not investigated and swindling continued. Whether the swindling in NREGA is 5% and in road transport 50% as Chidambaram said in Davos or more is a matter of debate.