Tag: Laloo Prasad Yadav

Black money in Swiss banks

India
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Wikileaks has made public the names of Indians who have black money in Swiss banks and LGT Bank, Liechtenstein. There are main accounts and sub accounts. Nira Radia has 289990 crore rupees. If she is not an Indian citizen she cannot be prosecuted.

Some account holders are businessmen. Naresh Goyal, Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh are mentioned. Politicians include Rajiv Gandhi (19800 crore rupees), Sharad Pawar, Karunanidhi, Stalin, Chidambaram, A. Raja, Suresh Kalmadi, Laloo Prasad Yadav, H. D. Kumaraswamy and Jyotiraditya Scindia. Rajiv Gandhi died in 1991. Who operated his accounts after that is not mentioned.

TV channels did not report the event. The channels had devoted lot of time for diplomatic cables. Even if they gave prominence to Anna Hazare’s fast for Lokpal Bill it defies comprehension that they did not even mention about account holders. Some months back Times Now was eager to reveal the names when they became public but was quiet when names became known. May be the owners of TV channels have black money in Swiss banks. May be politicians and businessmen have used all means to silence the media.

As per The Sunday Express report dt. 7/8/2011 France had given to India list of 700 HSBC accounts in Geneva, Switzerland. Names of account holders have not been made public.

By this time all money could have disappeared from those accounts and moved to other places like Cayman Islands, Mauritius and Singapore. Rudolf Elmer had given the names to Julian Assange in January 2011. Switzerland will not give details of past accounts.

Since the account holders are in power or have access to people in power it is tough to prosecute them. It will be possible to prosecute them once they are out of power or have no access to people in power.

Government and Imams

General, India
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On 21/8/2010 in Lok Sabha there was a demand from Laloo Prasad Yadav and some MPs that the government pay salaries to imams of government-aided mosques on the basis of Supreme Court verdict in 1993. It is not known how this verdict came about. Laloo Prasad Yadav did not raise the issue when he was Railway Minister and member of UPA. Bihar elections are coming near and that may be the reason for raising the issue.

It is not for the government to give aid to mosques or pay salary to imams. Religious leaders should be supported by their respective communities. If imams are paid salaries by the government there will be demand for payment of salaries to priests of Hindu temples. Other communities may also demand similar treatment.

If a mosque is owned by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and an imam voluntarily serves there or allowed to serve there he is not entitled to salary. ASI owns some mosques due to their historical importance. They are generally parts of tourist places.

Suitable law must be passed and steps be taken so that the government does not aid mosques and pay salaries to imams. Options of review and petitions should be considered.

Candidate for Prime Minister

India
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Lok Sabha elections are coming near. There are many candidates for Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh is the Congress candidate. Lal Krishna Advani is the BJP candidate. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat wants to be Prime Minister. Sharad Pawar has the support of Shiv Sena and Samajwadi Party. Ram Vilas Paswan, Mayawati, Laloo Prasad Yadav and others hope to be Prime Minister.

I wish to be the Prime Minister of India. It is unlikely that I will contest Lok Sabha election but it is not necessary to be MP to become PM. One can become MP within six months of becoming PM. Narasimha Rao and Deve Gowda did that.

If I become PM I wish to do the following:

1) Abolition of taxes.

I will set in motion a process that will reduce taxes by 1% per year and within 30 years all taxes will be abolished. Expenses needed for running the country will be met from licenses and rents from government properties. Imagine a time when you don’t have to pay Income Tax, Sales Tax, VAT, Customs Duties, Excise Duties, Octroi etc.

2) Equality

There will be equality and no discrimination on basis of class, caste, tribe, sex etc. Reservations in government jobs and institutions will be abolished.

3) Rule of Law

There will be rule of law. There will be death penalty for murder, attempted murder, abduction, kidnapping, hijacking, acid throwing and such high crimes. Life sentence will mean the person will be in prison till death. For other crimes there will be suitable punishments. Sentences will run consecutively. At present they are mostly concurrent.

4) TV

Free to air channels will be allowed to show adult films between 11.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m. Pay channels any time.

5) Midnight masses

Midnight masses will be allowed for Christmas, New Year and Easter.

There are many other things I want to do. They will be revealed in due course.