www.arasiyal.com » Corruption

DMK-Congress: Hum Aapke Hain Kaun drama continues

anuramas — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:00:29 +0000

New Delhi/Chennai: The Congress and DMK are expected to decide today whether they will stick together for the Tamil Nadu elections or split up over how many seats the Congress should be allowed to contest.

It’s been a hectic morning for both parties. After a meeting with Sonia Gandhi last night in Delhi, senior DMK leaders briefed their chief, M Karunanidhi, who is likely to give his feedback on the negotiations in the next few hours. In a sign that the marriage may be saved, Mr Karunanidhi’s daughter, Kanimozhi, is heading to Delhi from Chennai.

The Congress believes it’s entitled to contest 63 seats which should include some constituencies that have been hand-picked by the party. The DMK had earlier said it would not part with more than 60 seats. Yesterday, it allegedly decided to take three seats from its regional ally, the PMK, and transfer them to the Congress to end the talk of a break-up. But sources say the DMK is concerned about that gesture seeming like total capitulation.

The bluster has been high-volume since Saturday night, when the DMK announced that it was dropping out of the UPA coalition at the Centre over the battle with the Congress in Tamil Nadu. The DMK has 18 MPs and six ministers in the centre, which give the party considerable clout. So after its ultimatum, the DMK waited for the Congress to coax and cajole it to change its mind – that never happened. Yesterday, DMK leaders like Mr Karunanidhi’s son, MK Alagiri, who is a union minister, said all six ministers of the DMK would hand in their resignations to the PM.

Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee staged an intervention, meeting Mr Karunanidhi’s nephew, Dayanidhi Maran, last afternoon. By the evening, the DMK ministers recalled the decision to resign, stating that the Congress had asked for another day. Last night, Mr Maran and Mr Alagiri met Sonia Gandhi, but sources say a compromise remained elusive.

Mr Karunanidhi in Chennai will talk to DMK leaders and convey the party’s decision to the Congress, sources added.

Divorce over 2G scam?

While the Congress and the DMK argue publicly over seats, sources say the real cause for the break-up is the DMK’s entanglement with the 2G spectrum scam. One of the DMKs main men, A Raja, who was Telecom Minister, has been arrested for siring the scam, which saw valuable frequency being given at throwaway prices to private companies. A Rs. 214-crore kickback from the scam was allegedly routed to a TV station in Chennai that’s owned largely by Mr Karunanidhi’s wife, and his daughter Kanimozhi, who is an MP and a close associate of Mr Raja’s. The CBI, in charge of investigating the scam, has raided the homes and offices of people closely associated with Kanimozhi, and she is expected to be questioned in the next few weeks by the CBI. The DMK is getting increasingly uncomfortable with the inquiry and what it might throw up. The Congress, on the other hand, is suggested to be wary of asking for votes with a political partner whose senior members seem tarnished by corruption. (Source: www.ndtv.com)

Spectrum allocation largest scam in independent India: BJP

anuramas — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:07:32 +0000

Arun Jaitley leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha today launched a broadside against the Communications Minister A Raja demanding that he step down and the Prime Minister (PM) institute an independent inquiry into the 2G scam. Siddharth Zarabi reports.

Here is a verbatim transcript of his comments on CNBC-TV18 as seen on www.moneycontrol.com

What A Raja seems top be suggesting is that he took the battle of the first-come-first-serve policy and the entry fee in 2001 to the BJP camp. In his interview, he mentioned the then Communications Minster Arun Shourie by name. He said there were files in which the first-come-first-serve policy was actually followed for one company and for another company which did not fit in this classification there was negative noting on that file.

However, he didn’t name the company. But, it is clear Raja is not going to give up the battle and hours after I spoke to him Jaitley have severe criticism of the Prime Minister.

Arun Jaitley, Senior BJP Leader Opposition Leader, Rajya Sabha, said, “The Prime Minister needs to be candid. The Prime Minister should not have made these comments about a pending investigation and pre-judged the innocence of Raja when his guilt is lit so large. Secondly, pending this investigation the facts are so clear that Raja should be asked to step down.”

Jaitley is now saying that the Prime Minister has given a green signal to Raja even as the CBI probe is on. So the Parliament session will be interesting and we can see both sides slugging it out for who will really nail each other on this spectrum tangle.

வெற்றிக்கு படிக்கட்டுகளாக எடுத்துக்கொள்வோம்: டாக்டர் ராமதாஸ்

anuramas — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:23:58 +0000

சென்னை, மே.17: 7 தொகுதிகளிலும் பா.ம.க.வுக்கு ஏற்பட்டுள்ள தோல்வியை நாளைய வெற்றிக்கு படிக்கட்டுகளாக எடுத்துக்கொள்வோம் என்று டாக்டர் ராமதாஸ் கூறியுள்ளார்.

இது குறித்து பா.ம.க. நிறுவனர் டாக்டர் ராமதாஸ் வெளியிட்டுள்ள அறிக்கையில் கூறியிருப்பதாவது:-

“ஆளும் கட்சியினர் தாங்கள் குவித்திருந்த கோடிகளில் சில கோடி ரூபாய்களையும், தேர்தல் விதிகளை மீறி; ஆணையத்தின் கண்ணில் மண்ணைத் தூவிவிட்டு அரசாங்க பணத்தையே செலவிட்டு வசதிகள் செய்திட சில கோடி ரூபாய்களை செலவழித்ததும் போதாமல்; அடிப்பதுபோல் அடி, நாங்கள் அழுவதுபோல் அழுது எங்கள் காரியத்தை சாதித்துக்கொள்கிறோம் என்ற சூழ்ச்சியில் ஈடுபட்டும் – வாக்காளர்களுக்கு நூறு ரூபாய் முதல் ஐநூறு ரூபாய் வரை வழங்கியும் இந்த வெற்றியை பெற முடிந்தது என்ற உண்மை, வாக்களித்தவர்களுக்கும், வெற்றி பெற்றவர்களுக்கும், அவர்களை வாழ்த்துகிறவர்களுக்கும் நன்றாகவே தெரியும்.” – சில ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு நடைபெற்ற இடைத்தேர்தலில் அப்போது எதிர்க்கட்சியாக இருந்த தி.மு.க. தோல்வியடைந்தபோது, அதன் தலைவர் தெரிவித்த கருத்துகள் தான் இவை.

இப்போது மக்களவைத் தேர்தலில் தி.மு.க. அடைந்திருக்கும் வெற்றிக்கு, அதிலும் குறிப்பாக பா.ம.க. போட்டியிட்ட தொகுதிகளில் தி.மு.க. அதிக “விலை கொடுத்து” வாங்கியிருக்கும் வெற்றிக்கு அவர் அன்று சொன்ன வார்த்தைகள் அப்படியே பொருந்தும். இந்த தேர்தலில் ஜனநாயகம் தோற்றிருக்கிறது; பணநாயகம் வென்றிருக்கிறது. வேறு யார் வெற்றி பெற்றாலும் பரவாயில்லை – பா.ம.க. வேட்பாளர்களை மட்டும் இந்த தேர்தலில் தோற்கடிக்க வேண்டும்; எதை வேண்டுமானாலும் செய்து இந்த காரியத்தை கச்சிதமாக முடிக்க வேண்டும் என்ற கட்டளையுடன் பா.ம.க. போட்டியிட்ட தொகுதிகளில் அமைச்சர்களும், ஆளும் கட்சியின் முக்கிய பிரமுகர்களும் பண மூட்டைகளுடன் களமிறக்கப்பட்டனர்.

தமிழகத்தில் உள்ள 39 தொகுதிகளிலும் சராசரியாக 72 விழுக்காடு வாக்குகள் பதிவாகியிருப்பதாக அதிகாரப்பூர்வமாக அறிவிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கிறது. இவற்றில் ஏறக்குறைய பாதி தொகுதிகளில் 70 விழுக்காட்டிற்கும் குறைவாக வாக்குகள் பதிவாகியிருக்கிறது. சில தொகுதிகளில் 75 விழுக்காட்டிற்கும் அதிகமாக வாக்குகள் பதிவாகியிருக்கிறது.

அப்படி 75 விழுக்காட்டிற்கும் அதிகமாக வாக்குகள் பதிவான தொகுதிகளில் பா.ம.க. போட்டியிட்ட 5 தொகுதிகள் உள்ளன என்பதிலிருந்து பா.ம.க.வை எந்த அளவுக்கு குறிவைத்து வீழ்த்துவதற்கான வி௯கத்தை வகுத்து, கோடிகளை கொட்டியும், அதிகார துஷ்பிரயோகம் செய்தும் ஆளும் கட்சியினர் செயல்பட்டிருக்கிறார்கள் என்பதை புரிந்துகொள்ளலாம். பா.ம.க. போட்டியிட்ட தொகுதிகளில் பணம் கொடுத்தார்கள் என்று சொல்லுவது மிகச் சாதாரணம். பணத்தை அள்ளி வீசி விதைத்திருக்கிறார்கள் – விதைத்த அளவுக்கு அறுவடை செய்திருக்கிறார்கள் என்றுதான் சொல்ல வேண்டும். நடுநிலையாக இருக்க வேண்டிய காவல்துறையினரும், அரசு அலுவலர்களும் தி.மு.க.வினருக்கு துணை போயிருக்கிறார்கள். ஒரு வாக்குச்சாவடிக்கு குறைந்தது 50 கள்ள வாக்குகளை பதிவு செய்ய வேண்டும் என்று கட்டளையிடப்பட்டிருக்கிறது. ஆளும் கட்சி தான் வெற்றி பெறப்போகிறது என்ற ஒரு பரப்புரை இந்த தொகுதிகளில் காவல்துறையினராலும், அரசு அலுவலர்களாலும் திட்டமிட்டு செய்யப்பட்டிருக்கிறது.

கள்ள வாக்குகளை பதிவு செய்வதற்கான முன்னோடியாகவே இத்தகைய பரப்புரை முன்கூட்டியே நடத்தப்பட்டிருக்கிறது என்று உணர முடிகிறது. இப்படியெல்லாம் முறைகேடுகளை செய்து ஆளுங்கட்சியினர் தட்டிப் பறித்துள்ள இந்த வெற்றி உண்மையானதல்ல. அதிக விலை கொடுத்து வாங்கப்பட்ட இந்த வெற்றி நிலையானதும் அல்ல. வாழ்க்கை ஒரு சக்கரம். இன்று மேலே இருப்பது நாளை கீழே இறங்கித்தான் ஆக வேண்டும். பல்வேறு முறைகேடுகளை செய்து ஆளும் கட்சி பணபலத்தால் பெற்றுள்ள இந்த வெற்றியினால் ஏற்பட்டுள்ள தற்காலிக தோல்வியைக் கண்டு பா.ம.க.வினர் சோர்ந்துவிட மாட்டார்கள். நாளைய வெற்றிக்கு இதை படிகட்டுகளாக எடுத்துக்கொண்டு `பீனிக்ஸ்’ பறவையைப் போல பா.ம.க. அரசியலில் மீண்டும் எழும்; வெற்றிநடை போடும்.

இவ்வாறு அறிக்கையில் அவர் கூறியுள்ளார்.

Indian Election Song

anuramas — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:25:37 +0000

The Great Indian Election

Political masters who ruled our nation

Come with folded hands to every citizen

Ragging for votes to win the election

And resume their game of exploitation:

Parasites who never thought of people’s concern,

Suddenly swarm the entire nation

And promise voters everything under the sun.

Neither basic needs nor jobs and education

Engaged their minds while enjoying power and position

Peace and harmony, they shatter in cities and towns

Their crowded road shows, catchy songs and slogans

And filmy eloquence sway the mob’s emotions

Since ‘ helping the poor’ is their generous aim,

They offer liquor and money without shame

‘Business’ with contractors gets them bundles of notes

Openly they bribe the poor and demand votes.

Since they campaign on the basis of caste and creed

Character and morality, they do not need

When they talk of equal rights and democracy

They new generation goes through their hypocrisy

Rampant corruption, nepotism and defection

Have undermined people’s faith in election

Honest voters, with minds young, clean and fresh

Must remove these deadly thorns in our country’s flesh.

Contributed by M.G. Narasimha Murthy, Hyderabad to Kushwant Singh column in The Hindustan Times

Richest candidate (so far)

anuramas — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:12:49 +0000

What a revelation. With Rs 60 cr, Subba is Assam’s richest poll candidate says the news item at www.ibnlive.com. At first, I read the news item as The Richest Candidate – then I re-read it to see the word “Assam” figure there. When we have to wait for the wealth of Messrs. Dayanidhi Maran and M.K. Azhagiri who are yet to file their nominations, how can we conclude the race for the wealthiest parliamentarian?

We have to also wait and see the wealth of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi who is filing her papers today at the family heirloom of a constituency called “Raebareli”. We already know that her son doesn’t even possess a car and for his “unemployed livelihood” has about Rs.7 lacs in the bank. We have to see if Mrs. Sonia atleast owns a car. Else we have to conclude that they take lift from visiting congressmen to move around in New Delhi and rest of India.

Tezpur : Moni Kumar Subba, controversial Congress party MP and nominee for the Tezpur parliamentary seat in Assam, is undoubtedly the richest candidate in the state with cash, assets and investments worth more than Rs.60 crore.

Subba, fighting to retain the Tezpur seat in northern Assam for the fourth straight term, is also insured for a whopping Rs.10 crore.

In his affidavit accompanying his nomination paper, Subba declared investments, including bank balance and cash in hand at about Rs.5.6 crore, more than 95 percent of which are investments in the share market.

Subba and his two wives, Jyoti Limboo and Tilmaya Chong, together possess gold and diamond jewellery worth about Rs.18.5 crore.

The 51-year-old Subba also possesses land and flats in various parts of India worth about Rs.3.5 crore.

“I am sure to win the polls as people of my constituency love me a lot for the work I did for the overall development of the area,” Subba told IANS. “I am the last person to buy votes with money.”

Subba, however, is mired in a blazing controversy with the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) currently probing a case relating to the lawmaker’s citizenship.

The CBI was investigating the case following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Birendra Nath Singh, a resident of Noida (Uttar Pradesh), who alleged Subba was a Nepalese citizen and was a murder convict in Nepal.

During the 12th Lok Sabha elections, Subba in his nomination papers recorded his place of birth as Tezpur, Assam, his date of birth being March 16, 1951.

But his dossier during the 14th Lok Sabha Subba shows his place of birth as Dabgram (Darjeeling) in West Bengal, and the date of birth as March 16, 1958.

The discrepancies in his date of birth and place of birth while filing his nominations are issues that have created doubts over Subba’s antecedents.

“All these things are already corrected and there are no anomalies in my records. I am born at Dabgram in 1958 and have been staying in Assam since 1962 after my father shifted to the state,” Subba said.

There are reports in the media that alleged Subba alias Mani Raj Limbo was a murder convict in Nepal and he was imprisoned from 1971 to 1973 before he escaped to India.

“Mani Raj Limbo is still alive and in Nepal. The Supreme Court of Nepal in its verdict said Limbo was in jail in Nepal till 1982. So how can Limbo and Subba be the same person…these are all stories concocted by the media,” Subba said.

“If I am Limbo then the Nepal government would have easily arrested me by taking the help of the Indian government,” he added.

The Congress leader said the controversy over his nationality always resurfaces before general elections.

“I don’t want controversies but people inimical to me try and drag me into them although these things are indirectly helping me win election after election,” Subba said.

“If I am a Nepali citizen then why would have the people of Tezpur, who are culturally and intellectually rich, vote me to power for three consecutive terms already?” he asked.

Money for votes moving around in vehicles

anuramas — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 07:08:19 +0000

Just read the news item in The Hindu that the Andhra Pradesh police have seized Rs.2.47 crore cash from vehicles as part of their election vigilance to prevent movement of black money for election expenses.

The total amount seized by the police in AP so far has touched Rs.13.48 crore, the report says.

Record sum seized from vehicles

Special Correspondent

Police seize Rs. 2.47 crore during checking of vehicles in one day

The sum was the highest recovery made in a single day, according to police

Total amount went up to Rs. 13.48 crore, says I.V. Subba Rao

HYDERABAD: The police seized a record amount of Rs. 2.47 crore during checking of vehicles to detect funds flowing into election campaign by various parties across the State on Saturday.

The sum was the highest recovery made in a single day. With this, the total amount recovered by police since the launch of the drive a few days back went up to Rs. 13.48 crore, Chief Electoral Officer I.V. Subba Rao told a press conference here on Saturday.

The police seized Rs. 79 lakh after intercepting vehicles with cash at various places in Nizamabad district during the day. The checks were conducted at Armoor, Bodhan, Bheemgal, Kamareddy, Machareddy, Sadasivanagar and Nizamabad town.

In Visakhapatnam city, a Scorpio car with Rs. ten lakh and a scooterist with Rs. nine lakh were detained at Diamond Park junction. Supporters of Praja Rajyam candidate were held while carrying Rs. five lakh in a car at RTC complex junction.

An employee of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was caught with Rs.5.5 lakh at New Gajuwaka. Rs. 2.5 lakh was found during frisking at Agnampudi and later Rs. 1 lakh at Lankalapalem.

Under III Town limits, in separate raids, two cars were seized along with Rs.7.4 lakh.

What is caught in AP is peanuts compared to what kind of money must be actually moving around.

Why is that no such news coming out from other states? Don’t the political parties in other states move black money for election expenses? For example from Bihar, UP and Tamilnadu where money for votes is said to be rampant why no one is caught moving big sums? Or is the police rendered toothless in these States?

One more mystery of Indian politics. I shudder to think how much money will be caught if the police are allowed to do their duty at all parts of the country. We might end up seizing cash much more than our Union Budget revenues.

It is disclosure time for the politicians

anuramas — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:11:49 +0000

Who said only the listed companies need to make disclosures?

Even the politicians are required to make disclosures from time to time. That is, from election time to election time.

Are these disclosures correct and verifiable? Who cares? The Election Commission of India does its duty diligently and publishes the wealth data submitted by the various candidates in its website. The data published is unfortunately is not in a database form. It is in the form of scanned images of the affidavits filed by the candidates.

We do not know if it was a deliberate attempt by the Election Commission so that data cannot be searched and compared. Or it was because of lack of time / resources.

I do not buy the second argument. We are supposed to be one of the leading countries in the world in Information Technology and outsourcing services.

If EC wanted, they could have hired the best of IT companies in India to develop a nice software that will record the information filed by each candidate contesting the elections in database form. And hired another company to do the data entry for even the previously filed affidavits. But, either there is no intention with the Election Commission or there is none to think in those lines there.

If you are a common man and want to take a ration card there are umpteen proofs you have to produce to prove that “you are you” and what you submit is genuine. For politicians such things are not required. They have to just state things in their sworn affidavits and need not prove anything.

We do not also know if Election Commission takes up these affidavits and probes the information through an independent agency.

So, we have politicians disclosing what they feel like disclosing (without proofs) and escaping attention.

Read the below story. It might surprise you that the youngest Gandhi in the Congress side of the election spectrum disclosing that he doesn’t even own a car. May be he should now start saving money for buying a Tata Nano.

Rahul Gandhi doesn’t own a car

SULTANPUR (Uttar Pradesh): The total worth of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is around Rs.2.25 crore (Rs.22.5 million/$450,000), and the young scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family does not own a vehicle, according to an affidavit filed by him Saturday.

Rahul Gandhi, 38, who is seeking re-election from Amethi, filed his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha seat Saturday afternoon. The affidavit filed as part of the documents says his assets total around Rs.2.25 crore.

The Congress general secretary wrote nil against the column asking whether he owns a vehicle.

And the cash deposit that he owns, with the State Bank of India, Delhi, is not much either – Rs.70,000.

He has deposits with financial institutions worth Rs.7,000.

His deposits with non banking financial institution, NDFC (National Development Finance Corporation) is Rs.742,966. With the HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) in New Delhi, he has Rs.341,892. Both are long term deposits.

Rahul Gandhi’s deposits with postal savings, the Life Insurance Corporation and the National Savings Scheme total Rs.1,029,128 (over Rs.1 million).

He owns 333 gm of jewellery worth Rs.150,000.

His assets, including values of claims and interests, are Rs.729,621.

He also owns agricultural land in two places. A 4.692 acre land in Mehrauli, Delhi, of which an undemarcated 50 percent is his share. The value is Rs.986,244 as on March 31, 2008.

He owns another plot of six acres in Faridabad, Haryana, worth Rs.2,822,000 (over Rs.28 lakh).

He owns two shops in the Metropolitan Mall in Saket, New Delhi. Shop no.24 in the mall is 514 sq ft and valued at Rs.55 lakh.

Another shop on the ground floor – 996 sq ft – is valued at Rs.1 crore 8 lakhs (Rs.10,800,000).

Against liabilities, he filed that je had taken a Rs.70 lakh loan from HDFC in 2006, of which Rs.23 lakh has to be returned.

He has paid income tax of Rs.1,120,880 and sales tax of Rs.532,000.

He paid property tax of Rs.78,000 this year.

According to the documents filed, Rahul Gandhi is an M.Phil in development economics from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, 1995. He has done his Bachelor in Arts from Rollins College, Florida, in 1994.

He filed his nomination at the Sultanpur District Collectorate at the office of the additional district magistrate Radhey Shyam, who is the returning officer for the Amethi Lok Sabha polls.

There are no criminal cases pending against the Amethi MP.

Source: www.expressbuzz.com

Here are some comments posted by the readers of this news item at www.expressbuzz.com

since indians are feeding him on tax payers money why will be buy anything!!!
By kk
4/4/2009 9:19:00 PM

By the way when BJP comes to power … Rajanath and Modi will drive Rahul out of politics in their chariot, so there is no need to spend on Nano for now… So soniaji please wait before deciding on a vehicle for Rahul. Incase rahul wins and Manmohan gets a hearth attack and Cong gets AIADMK, DMK, PMK, RJD and even BJPs support, then make Rahul go and come in that shiny new jet selected by Prez Pratiba your first servant of this great nation.
By Ravanaisnorama
4/4/2009 7:35:00 PM

Amma Sonia must think of presenting sonny Rahul a Nano. Not the Tata company itself? indira’s amby? What happened to Donga jeep kept by rajiv stolen?
By Ravanaisnorama
4/4/2009 7:27:00 PM

How very funny, Rahul Gandhi does not own a car!!!, but he owns TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CRORES in his Caymen Islands and other accounts, money he illegally got by manipulating the stock market with criminal finance Minister Chidambaram’s son. With Chidambaram’s unscruplous acts of making the stock markets to rise or fall when they wanted – people like Rahul who dont care about India make millions of people to lose their entire livelihood. Politics of unreal things and not facts, of course Indians are gullible to rhetoric because most of us are uneducated, so we can easily be fooled by harmful parasites like Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and traitors like Chidambaram. It is ashame Congress does not try to have a leader other than Sonia. Sonia is not just some Italian, she is a member of the Italian mafia and is out to bankrupt India.
By Sumi
4/4/2009 7:16:00 PM

How very funny, Rahul Gandhi does not own a car!!!, but he owns TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CRORES in his Cymen Islands and other accounts, money he illegally got by manipulating the stock market with criminal finance Minister Chidambaram’s son. With Chidambaram’s unscruplous acts of making the stock markets to rise or fall when they wanted – people like Rahul who dont care about India make millions of people to lose their entire livelihood. Politics of unreal things and not facts, of course Indians are gullible to rhetoric because most of us are uneducated, so we can easily be fooled by harmful parasites like Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and traitors like Chidambaram. It is ashame Congress does not try to have a leader other than Sonia. Sonia is not just some Italian, she is a member of the Italian mafia and is out to bankrupt India.
By Sumi
4/4/2009 7:15:00 PM

So his assets multiplied 4-5 time is last 5 years. I liked it, at cambridge you can get M.Phil. after BA in one year, without MA. Isn’t it funny?

Advani: bring back Indian money in Swiss banks

anuramas — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:28:52 +0000

BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate has promised to bring back the Indian Money in Swiss banks if BJP comes to power.

Is it just another rhetoric or he really means to do it? I get the doubt because one cannot rule out the possibility of BJP leaders having accounts in the Swiss banks. After all, even they were in power for more than five years at the center and have been ruling some of the biggest states in India.

NEW DELHI: BJP leader L.K. Advani on Sunday raised the issue of bringing back to India the huge amount of Indian money lying in Swiss banks, where secrecy laws were recently undone.

Mr. Advani’s demand came nearly two weeks after the issue was raised by CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat. In fact, the CPI(M) manifesto referred to the need to unearth money in Swiss banks. On March 27, Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav also held a press conference on this subject and his party spokesperson had taken it up.

Quoting Wikipedia, which he described as the “most credible” source of information, Mr. Advani said that in 2007, holdings in Swiss banks by Indians were estimated at $5.7 billion, up from $2.6 billion in 2001. He said a four-member committee had been set up to look into the issue and suggest what a government led by him could do.

The members of the committee were: the retired Intelligence Bureau chief, Ajit Doval; Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue S. Gurumurthy; lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani; and professor at the Indian Institute of Management R. Vaidyanathan.

Mr. Advani listed what a government led by him would do with the vast amount of money to be brought home: Opening internet-enabled schools in all villages, providing a network of all-weather roads in the country up to the level of villages, provision of telemedicine facilities and potable drinking water for every habitation and so on.

Did this mean a government led by him would confiscate this black money or the money related to profit from crime? Or would his government tax the persons who hold these accounts and let them keep the rest of the money? Mr. Advani did not commit, saying he left it to the task force to determine what should be done.

Mr. Advani circulated copies of a letter he wrote to the Prime Minister in May last year suggesting India get from the German government confidential data about those Swiss bank accounts. He added: “I do not expect this government [the Manmohan Singh government] to follow this up.”

Mr. Advani also circulated a letter he received from the then Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, as a response to his letter to the Prime Minister. Mr. Chidambaram informed him that the government wrote to the German tax office in February 2008 — three months before Mr. Advani’s letter to the Prime Minister — to share information on Indian tax payers with it. In March last year, the Germans said they were not in a position to immediately give this information, but would do so “as soon as they had detailed findings about whether and to what extent Indian tax payers were involved,” Mr. Chidambaram wrote.

Mr. Advani admitted that the code of conduct was in force and the government could not do much ahead of the election.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/30/stories/2009033058381200.htm

Active citizenship is the need of the hour

anuramas — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 06:17:36 +0000

I thank Chinmayi Sripada, famous singer, for giving me permission to publish her post from her blog WhatToNameIt.

Chinmayi, apart from being a popular singer is the host of popular Tamil television and FM radio programs. This particular post is thought provoking and leaves us to ponder if we are active enough as Indian citizens.

Is it right to always blame the Government and politicians for things they did wrong or didn’t do something that should have been done?

Are we active enough to question people when we see some atrocity is being committed in front of our eyes?

Do we have the courage and the integrity to go and stop someone blatantly violating a law OR individual freedom?

Read this article of Chinmayi. And ponder.

My Tryst – Chinmayi Sripada

My tryst with Amar Chitra Katha continues. I wonder if there has been any award / recognition given to Anant Pai yet. If not, its a huge mistake. I would know zilch of Mythology or Indian history, if not for ACK. I have probably mentioned this before.

Yes, I did go to school and study history, but the way it is presented in our books, it can be promptly forgotten. I did well and had loved history in school maybe only because of ACK.

I purchased a few more titles recently and was reading about the Indian freedom struggle and so many other things involved with it. The wierdest thing was, I came to infer that the reason for the country being taken away from us, our independance taken away, we have none else to blame but ourselves. Even in ancient history, if great Kings and leaders had fallen, some traitor had been bought over by the enemy. And much later, it seemed to be the case with Tipu Sultan (and a lot more, but this one is on top of my mind because I have just about finished reading it), he was betrayed by his most trusted aide. Even now the reason our country is the way it is, we again have only ourselves to blame. We are not civil. We do not follow the rules. We defile the roads. We allow corruption to thrive. No use blaming some politician or some government servant. We don’t raise our voices against injustice. So many people. One of the most peopled countries in the world. And we remain silent to injustice.

So many times on my show on radio, the defeat of Lok Paritran as a party came up. The point is everyone kept talking about “kalla” vote. A lot seemed to praise the Lok Paritran. But the point is they had a huge defeat. Why?

Sometimes I think that the Indians as a whole are very emotionally stirred and spurred to action, sometimes for the right cause and mostly for the wrong. Especially in the name of religion and more recently, language, its so easily achieved. The Sri Ram Sene apparently has a very powerful leader that he got those part of his movement to do something as appalling as raise their hands on women and some men. And this is the country which says women are to be worshipped. Such hypocricy thrives. And we the people of this country are just plain shameless. Also, someone brought this to my notice. The media was present because they were apparently tipped off or were informed properly that this event was to happen in that particular pub. The police asked why they were not informed. Now what kind of a shameless media was that, they wanted to cover all those people being beaten up, they allowed it to happen so that they can flash it on their channels and make a lot of dough. The police, I hear, said that they’d have prevented the whole thing. Now I wonder whether the SRS actually paid the media for publicity and for not calling the cops. Because like they say, nothing like negative publicity eh? How has this country, with boasts of a huge cultural ethos allow the flourishing of such people? (read: News guys at the Mangalore pub event). Guess most channels are in the race to become headlines themselves. Every channel and its grandfather covered this atrocity. How do they watch AND cover all this. Can they not prevent it? They probably left their spines at home, coz they have to draw a salary? Or go higher in their ranks. Yes I am angry cause there were people who watched the women being beaten, covered it and telecast it on national TV. And allowed shaming the country on a world platform. And I think, it could have been prevented. Sure, correct me if I am wrong. Or if there is some law somewhere, a loophole in the legal system that says that people can watch atrocities.

I must admit that there are several times that I wish God comes down and vanquishes evil and all the wrong-doers. Since a lot of times I have heard that the politicians with honest service in their minds are not allowed to survive.

We had the DGP (Prisons) Sri Nataraj on my show. And so many people called to complain about this and that, about the implementation of the laws and even why people have not stopped spitting. How someone should be posted everywhere to levy a spot fine. Why the hell should the Police come and tell you not to spit and levy a spot fine? Don’t they already have enough things to do? We have read so much about the police force being short staffed and ill equipped. And you’ll be appalled to know about the monthly wages of an average policeman in this country. Have you bothered to know? Have you bothered to even care for the Traffic cop inhaling all the fumes from your cars and bikes, standing all day in the hot sun and you drive like a mad thing, in an A/C car, coming from an A/C house, or a hotel and you hurl abuses at how he cannot do his work. Have you stopped to probably buy a bottle of water for him? Or anything else? Can’t someone in this city follow something that is called the law? Of course immediately the blame game starts on the very next beat. Very Nayagan style. Ask them to do that and then I will do this. Deeper and deeper do the people of this country go into the quicksand of making excuses. The DGP said one thing, which was almost a refrain. “We need the cooperation of the public to create a peaceful, just society”. Is it not our business to make sure that the police have no work to do by being law abiding citizens?

We are not fighting any foreign ruler right now but I think the country, OK let me not say the country, I have not traveled its length and breadth, let me just say that the people of this city are involved in a mass civil disobedience. For what joy?? Search me. I am without a clue.

I also wonder if its because there are several first generation vehicle riders in the city now that they want to show the world that they own it, in their own sort of way by handling their vehicles that way. So should we wait for the insolence of this generation to tide over?

Probably there should be another Independance struggle. And this time, we should probably struggle to be free of the endless coils of crap we have allowed to be spun around ourselves – by others and by us as well, because many a time it has seemed convenient.

When I see someone spit on the road, I tell them not to. Some don’t say a thing, some abuse. Which is typical. After a point its tiresome.

I wonder now, what the people of this city need to behave and be proper human beings instead of acting like the apes. Why insult the apes? Perhaps they are better. I wonder what this city needs. A capable leader or God. I also think the people as a whole have enough in the them to terrorize a God as well. So maybe neither. It seems hopeless sometimes.

So to a certain lot of shameless citizens of India, don’t you dare blame corruption, red tape or the politicians. You are worse than all of them put together because you, the Indian citizen have allowed a crappy society to thrive.

But I think I am going to take the path of this Mr Traffic Ramaswamy and file one Public Interest Litigation case after another. The first thing I am going to see if I can bring about a ban of blaring the horns in the city by filing a PIL.

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An anecdote on corruption

anuramas — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:27:37 +0000

In my previous post, I had posted an email on the huge amount of Indian money, mostly from corruption, stashed away in Swiss Bank.

Today I came across this interesting anecdote on how even well intentioned actions give raise to corruption. This involves that unsung and not much talked about Interim Prime Minister of India Late Mr. Gulzari Lal Nanda – I wonder if any of today’s youth even know that there was such a person in Indian political horizon!

Mr. Nanda, was the Home Minister at the time when this funny incident happened in the 1960s.

A well-meaning man, he was perturbed by the pace at which corruption was spreading within government. He invited the public not to stand on ceremony and post with him personally their complaints about alleged cases of corruption.

A couple of mornings were set aside every week for the minister to have a face-to-face encounter with members of the public.

In no time, long queues formed of people anxious to unload their grievances to the minister. Not surprisingly, it took hours and hours — and sometimes days — to meet the home minister. The impatient crowd and the constabulary assigned to manage the crowd soon came to a deal. Policemen happily accepted a ten-rupee note from each of those who wanted to jump the queue and see the minister before their turn came.

Corruption, so to say, received the official imprimatur.

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