By Our Correspondent | www.telegraphindia.com
Ranchi, Dec. 30: An RTI crusader, who exposed misappropriation of Indira Awas Yojana funds two months ago, was shot dead in a Latehar village last evening in a grim rerun of the fatal attack on MGNREGS activist Niyamat Ansari in the same rebel-hit district in March.
Though a hand-written note found beside 40-year-old Pradeep Prasad's body in Salodi, 104km from the state capital, said the PLFI ' a breakaway CPI(Maoist) faction ' was responsible for the killing, police are yet to confirm Naxalite role in the incident.
According to Town police, who exercise jurisdiction over Salodi village, Prasad ' the Latehar block convener of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, a trade union outfit ' was returning to his native Mukka village on a motorbike around 6pm, when he was intercepted. His bullet-riddled body ' two wounds in the forehead and one in the chest ' was discovered around 8am today.
Latehar SP G. Kranti Kumar expressed his inability to name any individual or organisation behind the attack. "Though the PLFI has claimed responsibility for the murder in Salodi, we are yet to ascertain the genuineness of the note found beside the body. Anybody can write it to mislead the police. We are also trying to verify the motive behind the killing," he said.
Local villagers said Prasad often invoked the RTI Act to highlight corruption in government departments and might have made several enemies in the process.
"In October, he had exposed embezzlement of funds meant for distribution among beneficiaries of Indira Awas Yojana in villages here, which led deputy commissioner Rahul Purwar to suspend a panchayat sevak, Ishidor Aiend," a villager said.
On whether Prasad was the victim of a conspiracy hatched by unscrupulous government functionaries, the SP said: "We are yet to ascertain the exact motive behind the killing and are investigating the case from all angles." He reiterated that the PLFI note could be a decoy to confuse police.
Surprisingly, DGP G.S. Rath said he was not aware of the incident in Latehar, but insisted that the PLFI was not active in that district.
"Latehar is the base of breakaway Maoist groups like the Jharkhand Janmukti Morcha and the Tritiya Prastuti Committee," he added.
After Prasad's body was recovered, angry residents blocked NH-75 near Latehar bus stand for two hours from 9am, demanding adequate compensation for the activist's family. Prasad is survived by his wife and five children ' one son and four daughters.
The protest quelled after the district administration provided Rs 10,000 for last rites and assured Prasad's kin of further financial assistance soon.
On March 2, Niyamat Ansari ' a trusted aide of economist and MGNREGS architect Jean Dr�ze ' was targeted by unscrupulous contractors, backed by Maoists, for exposing rampant corruption in the Centre's flagship rural job scheme in a Latehar village.
While Ansari died after being beaten up brutally by a 12-member gang at Jerua, 130km from the state capital, his friend and colleague Bhukan Singh had a narrow escape because he wasn't home when the rebel-backed group came hunting for him.
Both Ansari ' the block convener of Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and MGNREGS Sahayata Kendra ' and Singh had hit headlines on February 20, when they detected financial irregularities in two projects at Rankikala village in Manika block of the district and lodged an FIR against former BDO Kailash Sahu.
More than Rs 2 lakh were recovered from Sahu and his accomplices during raids that followed.
After much dilly-dallying, the Arjun Munda government sanctioned a CBI probe into Ansari's killing in July. The central agency is yet to begin investigations.
This has been going on and on with no respite from the corrupt government.
The latest example being shown in the Rajya Sabha debate of the Lokpal bill.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
First day of school in Quebec:
"Mustapha El Ekhzeri"
"Present"?
"Achmed El Cabul"
"Present"
"Kadir Sel Ohlmi"
"Present"
"Mohammed Endahrha
"Present"?
Chanhira Amarttayaku
"Present"?
"Ala In Ben Oit"
Silence?
"Ala In Ben Oit"
The class remains silent
For the last time!?"Ala In Ben Oit!"
Then, timidly, a young boy in the last row stands up and
says to the teacher:
It's me, but it's pronounced: Alain Benoit
Watch your Language
- 'Name?'
- 'Abdul al-Rhazib.'
- 'Sex?'
- 'Three to five times a week.'
- 'No, no... I mean male or female?'
- 'Male, female, sometimes camel.'
- 'Holy cow!'
- 'Yes, cow, sheep, animals in general.'
- 'But isn't that hostile?'
- 'Horse style, doggy style, any style!'
- 'Oh dear!'
- 'No, no! Deer run too fast!'
This came from a Marine’s wife. It says it all:
I sat, as did millions of other Americans, and watched as the government
Underwent a peaceful transition of power two years ago..
At first, I felt a swell of pride and patriotism while
Barack Obama took his Oath of office.
However, all that pride quickly vanished as I later watched 21 Marines,
In full dress uniform with rifles,
Fire a 21-gun salute to the President.
It was then that I realized how far America's military had deteriorated.
Every one of them missed the bastard.
All the above sent by Prakash Bhartia.
Shows how important, it is to speak in the same sense, not only in the same language.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Lokpal bill waiting since 1968 for parliament's nod
New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) First introduced in 1968, the Lokpal bill is yet to get parliament's nod, and faces an uncertain future with the Rajya Sabha Thursday night adjourning sine die without voting on the legislation.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas bill was first introduced in the fourth Lok Sabha May 9, 1968, and passed the following year.
However, while it was pending in the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha was dissolved, and so the bill died.
A Lokpal bill was again introduced in the fifth Lok Sabha Aug 11, 1971, but was not passed by either house and died upon the dissolution of the Fifth Lok Sabha.
According to parliament's records, Lokpal bills were brought in 1977, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, and 2001 but were never passed.
In December 2011, the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in a special extension of parliament's winter session but failed to make headway in the Rajya Sabha despite a spirited debate.
The United Progressive Alliance government has now said the bill is still alive and it will be passed in the budget session of parliament next year.
During earlier attempts, the bill failed to be passed because of dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
However, this time, it was intentionally scuttled by the Congress and the combination of UP, Bihar parties like SP, JLP and RJD which sends the maximum number of criminals to the Lok Sabha.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas bill was first introduced in the fourth Lok Sabha May 9, 1968, and passed the following year.
However, while it was pending in the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha was dissolved, and so the bill died.
A Lokpal bill was again introduced in the fifth Lok Sabha Aug 11, 1971, but was not passed by either house and died upon the dissolution of the Fifth Lok Sabha.
According to parliament's records, Lokpal bills were brought in 1977, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, and 2001 but were never passed.
In December 2011, the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in a special extension of parliament's winter session but failed to make headway in the Rajya Sabha despite a spirited debate.
The United Progressive Alliance government has now said the bill is still alive and it will be passed in the budget session of parliament next year.
During earlier attempts, the bill failed to be passed because of dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
However, this time, it was intentionally scuttled by the Congress and the combination of UP, Bihar parties like SP, JLP and RJD which sends the maximum number of criminals to the Lok Sabha.
December 29, 2011, will go down in the history of Indian democracy as marking the acme of insincerity, inepti
The government of Dr Manmohan Singh and the Congress party headed by Sonia Gandhi conducted themselves in a manner that confirmed the suspicions of many -- particularly in the younger generation that is the future of this country -- that they have been insincere in their professions of wanting to rid this country of the evil of corruption by setting up an anti-corruption architecture that will fight this evil with determination and competence.
The Lokpal Bill introduced by the government gave the impression of a leadership at long last conscious of the depth of public anger against corruption at the political and bureaucratic levels and determined to meet the demands and expectations of the civil society for meaningful and firm action to fight it.
But the shockingly casual manner in which the government steered the passage of the Bill through the two Houses of the Parliament demonstrated that it was a make-believe legislative measure brought in not because the government and the Congress had realised that was the crying need of the hour, but because they felt that it was the only way of diverting the attention and anger of the people away from the misdeeds of the government and its failure to deal with this evil.
Whatever compulsions and anxiety there were in making the government show even a modicum of determination to have the bill passed were visibly dissipated when Anna Hazare, the leading and moving spirit of the anti-corruption crusade, and his team of young anti-corruption warriors failed to receive the expected measure of public support, when they tried to shift the centre of their protest movement to Mumbai from Delhi.
The failure of large sections of the people of Mumbai -- for whatever reason -- to respond as enthusiastically to the protest movement as the people of Delhi had done in April and August brought out dramatically the insincerity of the government and the Congress leadership. The urgency of action against corruption was lost right across the political spectrum and particularly in the Congress.
This insincerity was compounded by the amazing ineptitude with which the government -- and Dr Singh in particular -- handled even this make-believe legislative exercise.
Ineptitude marked by lack of attention to details, a casual approach to important decision-making and a failure to do the homework efficiently before undertaking important administrative, legislative or policy-related exercises had become the hallmark of the government since it was re-elected in 2009. It was behind many of the embarrassments faced by the government one after the other throughout the year.
One saw it in the controversies that had surrounded the appointment of a new Chief Vigilance Commissioner, the attempted but jettisoned-half-way-through decision to permit foreign direct investment in the retail sector and now in the legislative exercise to seemingly end corruption. The bill was badly drafted and provided for a Lokpal without the required independent investigative capability.
Moreover, under the ill-advised pressure of the Anna Hazare movement, the government let itself be forced to tread into the domain of the state governments by seeking to prescribe in a central legislation the contours of an anti-corruption architecture for the states.
This roused the anger of many regional parties -- even some who were supposedly allies of the government in the ruling coalition. In the face of this anger, the government lost its cool and lucidity.
The anger was the result of a lack of consultations with the regional parties while drafting the bill and the shocking insensitivity of the government and the Congress to regional concerns and nervousness over the way the government had gone about this exercise.
The government got the bill passed in the lower House where it managed to muster the required political support, but it failed to rally majority support in the upper House where it knew it was in a hopeless minority.
By lunch-time on December 29, it was apparent to all that the government would be defeated if the bill was voted upon .
One would have expected a government and a political party with genuinely democratic instincts and impulses to convene a meeting of the leaders of different political parties represented in the Upper House and find a way out of the dilemma. There was no such move by the government and the Congress.
Instead, they blatantly manipulated the proceedings of the upper House in a cynical manner through a mix of filibuster tactics and keeping the other political parties guessing about the real intentions of the government.
In the last hour before the House under the rules was required to be adjourned sine die, it witnessed disorderly scenes -- that many suspected with valid reasons to have been choreographed by the government -- that enabled the chairman of the House to adjourn the House sine die disregarding the wishes of the members to extend the session.
Lack of decorum and gravitas had become the defining characteristic of our Parliament for many years. What one saw on December 29 -- a day of infamy in the history of the Parliament -- was a charade organised by the government in order to wriggle out of the promises and commitments made by it to the civil society of the country.
While the government and the Congress as whole are worthy of total, unreserved condemnation for the way they turned democracy into a cynical exercise in the manipulation of procedures, specially strong words of condemnation are due for the prime minister, Mrs Gandhi and Dr Hameed Ansari, the vice president of India and the chairman of the House.
Initially, the prime minister chose to absent himself from the House, but was forced by the members' clamour for his presence to rush to the House. Subsequently, he sat through the proceedings without any visible attempt to provide leadership and enter into consultations with other political parties.
Sonia Gandhi is not a member of the Upper House, but one expected her as the leader of the party to take over the leadership in the exercise to find a way out of the political quandary in the House. At a time, when her party badly needed her leadership, she failed to rise to the occasion and lead.
Dr Ansari was a batch-mate of mine in the All-India and Central Services. He used to enjoy a tremendous reputation for his straightforwardness, but the way he conducted himself -- as seen on television -- in the final minutes of this charade made many of us suspect that he chose to play along with this charade instead of stopping it firmly.
It was a particularly black day in the history of Indian democracy, the Indian Parliament, the Indian institutions and the Congress leadership. It is important for the public and other political formations which still believe in the importance of political ethics if democracy has to survive in this country to ensure that the government and the Congress are not able to get away with their sins of December 29.
Fresh premature elections are the need of the hour if the reputation of Indian democracy has to be salvaged. All right-thinking persons -- particularly the youth -- should unite behind the demand for fresh elections.
The above is from Rediffmail.com.
It strengthens my feelings and those of many of my countrymen that the Presidents and Vice Presidents of India should never be a political appointments as they will favour in moments of crisis, the party who has appointed them.
I would go further and say, the Speaker too should not be a political appointment. This post should be held by a judge of the Supreme Court under the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India.
We saw how the CPM tried to influence the decision of Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, the Speaker in the last UPA government.
The Lokpal Bill introduced by the government gave the impression of a leadership at long last conscious of the depth of public anger against corruption at the political and bureaucratic levels and determined to meet the demands and expectations of the civil society for meaningful and firm action to fight it.
But the shockingly casual manner in which the government steered the passage of the Bill through the two Houses of the Parliament demonstrated that it was a make-believe legislative measure brought in not because the government and the Congress had realised that was the crying need of the hour, but because they felt that it was the only way of diverting the attention and anger of the people away from the misdeeds of the government and its failure to deal with this evil.
Whatever compulsions and anxiety there were in making the government show even a modicum of determination to have the bill passed were visibly dissipated when Anna Hazare, the leading and moving spirit of the anti-corruption crusade, and his team of young anti-corruption warriors failed to receive the expected measure of public support, when they tried to shift the centre of their protest movement to Mumbai from Delhi.
The failure of large sections of the people of Mumbai -- for whatever reason -- to respond as enthusiastically to the protest movement as the people of Delhi had done in April and August brought out dramatically the insincerity of the government and the Congress leadership. The urgency of action against corruption was lost right across the political spectrum and particularly in the Congress.
This insincerity was compounded by the amazing ineptitude with which the government -- and Dr Singh in particular -- handled even this make-believe legislative exercise.
Ineptitude marked by lack of attention to details, a casual approach to important decision-making and a failure to do the homework efficiently before undertaking important administrative, legislative or policy-related exercises had become the hallmark of the government since it was re-elected in 2009. It was behind many of the embarrassments faced by the government one after the other throughout the year.
One saw it in the controversies that had surrounded the appointment of a new Chief Vigilance Commissioner, the attempted but jettisoned-half-way-through decision to permit foreign direct investment in the retail sector and now in the legislative exercise to seemingly end corruption. The bill was badly drafted and provided for a Lokpal without the required independent investigative capability.
Moreover, under the ill-advised pressure of the Anna Hazare movement, the government let itself be forced to tread into the domain of the state governments by seeking to prescribe in a central legislation the contours of an anti-corruption architecture for the states.
This roused the anger of many regional parties -- even some who were supposedly allies of the government in the ruling coalition. In the face of this anger, the government lost its cool and lucidity.
The anger was the result of a lack of consultations with the regional parties while drafting the bill and the shocking insensitivity of the government and the Congress to regional concerns and nervousness over the way the government had gone about this exercise.
The government got the bill passed in the lower House where it managed to muster the required political support, but it failed to rally majority support in the upper House where it knew it was in a hopeless minority.
By lunch-time on December 29, it was apparent to all that the government would be defeated if the bill was voted upon .
One would have expected a government and a political party with genuinely democratic instincts and impulses to convene a meeting of the leaders of different political parties represented in the Upper House and find a way out of the dilemma. There was no such move by the government and the Congress.
Instead, they blatantly manipulated the proceedings of the upper House in a cynical manner through a mix of filibuster tactics and keeping the other political parties guessing about the real intentions of the government.
In the last hour before the House under the rules was required to be adjourned sine die, it witnessed disorderly scenes -- that many suspected with valid reasons to have been choreographed by the government -- that enabled the chairman of the House to adjourn the House sine die disregarding the wishes of the members to extend the session.
Lack of decorum and gravitas had become the defining characteristic of our Parliament for many years. What one saw on December 29 -- a day of infamy in the history of the Parliament -- was a charade organised by the government in order to wriggle out of the promises and commitments made by it to the civil society of the country.
While the government and the Congress as whole are worthy of total, unreserved condemnation for the way they turned democracy into a cynical exercise in the manipulation of procedures, specially strong words of condemnation are due for the prime minister, Mrs Gandhi and Dr Hameed Ansari, the vice president of India and the chairman of the House.
Initially, the prime minister chose to absent himself from the House, but was forced by the members' clamour for his presence to rush to the House. Subsequently, he sat through the proceedings without any visible attempt to provide leadership and enter into consultations with other political parties.
Sonia Gandhi is not a member of the Upper House, but one expected her as the leader of the party to take over the leadership in the exercise to find a way out of the political quandary in the House. At a time, when her party badly needed her leadership, she failed to rise to the occasion and lead.
Dr Ansari was a batch-mate of mine in the All-India and Central Services. He used to enjoy a tremendous reputation for his straightforwardness, but the way he conducted himself -- as seen on television -- in the final minutes of this charade made many of us suspect that he chose to play along with this charade instead of stopping it firmly.
It was a particularly black day in the history of Indian democracy, the Indian Parliament, the Indian institutions and the Congress leadership. It is important for the public and other political formations which still believe in the importance of political ethics if democracy has to survive in this country to ensure that the government and the Congress are not able to get away with their sins of December 29.
Fresh premature elections are the need of the hour if the reputation of Indian democracy has to be salvaged. All right-thinking persons -- particularly the youth -- should unite behind the demand for fresh elections.
The above is from Rediffmail.com.
It strengthens my feelings and those of many of my countrymen that the Presidents and Vice Presidents of India should never be a political appointments as they will favour in moments of crisis, the party who has appointed them.
I would go further and say, the Speaker too should not be a political appointment. This post should be held by a judge of the Supreme Court under the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India.
We saw how the CPM tried to influence the decision of Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, the Speaker in the last UPA government.
Most Influential Person of the Year
If one wants to acquaint oneself with the most influential person in any given year, the Time magazine provides an excellent clue. And this year too, it does not seem to have disappointed.
With revolutions being the order of the day, it has very rightly chosen the 'Protestor' as its person of the year. Although the word is very generic and does not allude to any one person, it could very well have been a gentleman called Mohamed Bouazizi. Indeed, he was the one whose sacrifice by way of self-immolation produced the spark that eventually engulfed continents ranging from Asia and Europe to the US and Russia. And what was he protesting for? A life of dignity and the ability to earn two square meals a day. That's it, nothing more.
It is certainly the paradox of our times that while we are supposed to live in an era of unprecedented wealth and prosperity, a mere loaf of bread sparked the kind of revolution we saw in 2011 and may even continue to see in 2012. Does anyone have an answer to this anomaly? We believe that most of it has to do with the fact that while we have grown enormously prosperous, welfare of each and every individual has not kept pace. By way of political oppression, lack of property rights and other such inhuman means, the gap between haves and have-nots has only widened over time. And with most pleas to correct the same falling on deaf ears, protests seemed to have acquired the status of the means of last resort.
The above is from "5 minute wrap-up", a news mail I receive from Equitymaster.com
It is ironical that our MPs who were just a few months backs grovelling in front of Swami Ramdeo and Anna have suddenly found their voice just because Anna was not able to carry forward his agitation because of ill health.
Suddenly, they have tossed away the Lokpal bill to the dustbin.
This is the behaviour which causes revolution.
The people have not lost interest in Anna's agitation but the inclement weather has rightly made them think twice before going out.
Our MPs are taking this as a sign of dwindling interest in Anna's agitation, have gone back to their old ways of promoting corruption.
How wrong they are going to be proved - only time will tell.
With revolutions being the order of the day, it has very rightly chosen the 'Protestor' as its person of the year. Although the word is very generic and does not allude to any one person, it could very well have been a gentleman called Mohamed Bouazizi. Indeed, he was the one whose sacrifice by way of self-immolation produced the spark that eventually engulfed continents ranging from Asia and Europe to the US and Russia. And what was he protesting for? A life of dignity and the ability to earn two square meals a day. That's it, nothing more.
It is certainly the paradox of our times that while we are supposed to live in an era of unprecedented wealth and prosperity, a mere loaf of bread sparked the kind of revolution we saw in 2011 and may even continue to see in 2012. Does anyone have an answer to this anomaly? We believe that most of it has to do with the fact that while we have grown enormously prosperous, welfare of each and every individual has not kept pace. By way of political oppression, lack of property rights and other such inhuman means, the gap between haves and have-nots has only widened over time. And with most pleas to correct the same falling on deaf ears, protests seemed to have acquired the status of the means of last resort.
The above is from "5 minute wrap-up", a news mail I receive from Equitymaster.com
It is ironical that our MPs who were just a few months backs grovelling in front of Swami Ramdeo and Anna have suddenly found their voice just because Anna was not able to carry forward his agitation because of ill health.
Suddenly, they have tossed away the Lokpal bill to the dustbin.
This is the behaviour which causes revolution.
The people have not lost interest in Anna's agitation but the inclement weather has rightly made them think twice before going out.
Our MPs are taking this as a sign of dwindling interest in Anna's agitation, have gone back to their old ways of promoting corruption.
How wrong they are going to be proved - only time will tell.
Lawmakers slam Government for not being able to pass Lokpal Bill
New Delhi, Dec 30 (ANI): Slamming the Central Government for not being able to pass the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha, leaders of various opposition parties termed the adjournment of the House sine die a conspiracy.
Talking to reporters here, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader Sitaram Yechury slammed the government by saying that since the government wanted to bring in a weak Lokpal Bill it was not supported by the opposition parties.
"The minister of the Central Government cleared that the government will decide the business of the Parliament and the reason was clear that they didn't have the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, they didn't have majority in Rajya Sabha. They didn't want changes to be made in the Lokpal Bill and they wanted an ineffective Lokpal Bill to work as an institution, so stop all these things, a conspiracy has been hatched and I believe that it is very unfortunate for our democratic country and it is huge defeat of the government," he added.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Satish Chandra Mishra said that the government never wanted to present a strong Lokapl Bill.
"Definitely, the government has completely failed today, because it was in minority, it continued the debate deliberately till 12 O' clock, we kept on insisting, when we smelled the mind of the government, we insisted that it should continue for the whole night, if required," said Mishra.
Trinamool Congress party lawmaker Sukhendu Sekhar Roy termed the whole episode in the upper house as sad day for Indian democracy.
"We wanted the Lokpal Bill to be passed properly but the amendments which we wanted to make on the Lokayukta were necessary and we wanted the government to pass them. We also wanted part three to be omitted from the Bill. This is what we asked for and we also gave amendments but it's very unfortunate that when we were waiting for voting suddenly an atmosphere was created to disrupt the house proceedings and according to us it is very sad for the democratic country," said Roy.
The bill, which was passed by the Lok on Wednesday was taken up for a discussion and vote in Rajya Sabha . But after a marathon debate that stretched until midnight, the vote failed to take place for lack of time.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die late night amid uproar created by several MPs, without voting on the bill.
The anti-graft legislation for which social activist Anna Hazare and his team have fomented a successful mass movement may now be taken up in the budget session of parliament, probably in March. (ANI)
We never know how, God, in His Wisdom, decides to play things.
He made Anna unwell to such an extent that he could not continue his fast.
So one of the things which our MPs were always objecting to is that they would not be pressurized into making laws.
So there, God had removed the pressure - what have our august MPs done.
Made a mess of the whole thing.
Anna has always been saying that the Congress would be responsible for not passing the Lokpal bill.
He has been proved right again.
Right from the beginning their aim was to drift aimlessly so that the bill was not passed.
Since they knew that they were not in the majority in the Rajya Sabha, it would have been proper to have the bill passed first in the Rajya Sabha with whatever amendments could be agreed upon by both the government and its allies on one side and the opposition on the other.
It could then have been given to the Lok Sabha with all the amendments and since the government was comfortably placed in the Lok Sabha, they should have had no problem.
Instead, they got it passed first in the Lok Sabha and presented it to the Rajya Sabha as fait accompli for passing knowing full well the all parties wanted the CBI to be separated from control the government.
The government just did not want to release control of the CBI as that was asking it to give up one of its aces to harass the opposition and anyone who went against the government.
The other point of the Lokayukta was minor and could easily have been sorted out. The main thorn was "control of the CBI"
It is obvious that if any single party is responsible for the failure of the Lokpal bill, it is the Congress party.
Talking to reporters here, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader Sitaram Yechury slammed the government by saying that since the government wanted to bring in a weak Lokpal Bill it was not supported by the opposition parties.
"The minister of the Central Government cleared that the government will decide the business of the Parliament and the reason was clear that they didn't have the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, they didn't have majority in Rajya Sabha. They didn't want changes to be made in the Lokpal Bill and they wanted an ineffective Lokpal Bill to work as an institution, so stop all these things, a conspiracy has been hatched and I believe that it is very unfortunate for our democratic country and it is huge defeat of the government," he added.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Satish Chandra Mishra said that the government never wanted to present a strong Lokapl Bill.
"Definitely, the government has completely failed today, because it was in minority, it continued the debate deliberately till 12 O' clock, we kept on insisting, when we smelled the mind of the government, we insisted that it should continue for the whole night, if required," said Mishra.
Trinamool Congress party lawmaker Sukhendu Sekhar Roy termed the whole episode in the upper house as sad day for Indian democracy.
"We wanted the Lokpal Bill to be passed properly but the amendments which we wanted to make on the Lokayukta were necessary and we wanted the government to pass them. We also wanted part three to be omitted from the Bill. This is what we asked for and we also gave amendments but it's very unfortunate that when we were waiting for voting suddenly an atmosphere was created to disrupt the house proceedings and according to us it is very sad for the democratic country," said Roy.
The bill, which was passed by the Lok on Wednesday was taken up for a discussion and vote in Rajya Sabha . But after a marathon debate that stretched until midnight, the vote failed to take place for lack of time.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die late night amid uproar created by several MPs, without voting on the bill.
The anti-graft legislation for which social activist Anna Hazare and his team have fomented a successful mass movement may now be taken up in the budget session of parliament, probably in March. (ANI)
We never know how, God, in His Wisdom, decides to play things.
He made Anna unwell to such an extent that he could not continue his fast.
So one of the things which our MPs were always objecting to is that they would not be pressurized into making laws.
So there, God had removed the pressure - what have our august MPs done.
Made a mess of the whole thing.
Anna has always been saying that the Congress would be responsible for not passing the Lokpal bill.
He has been proved right again.
Right from the beginning their aim was to drift aimlessly so that the bill was not passed.
Since they knew that they were not in the majority in the Rajya Sabha, it would have been proper to have the bill passed first in the Rajya Sabha with whatever amendments could be agreed upon by both the government and its allies on one side and the opposition on the other.
It could then have been given to the Lok Sabha with all the amendments and since the government was comfortably placed in the Lok Sabha, they should have had no problem.
Instead, they got it passed first in the Lok Sabha and presented it to the Rajya Sabha as fait accompli for passing knowing full well the all parties wanted the CBI to be separated from control the government.
The government just did not want to release control of the CBI as that was asking it to give up one of its aces to harass the opposition and anyone who went against the government.
The other point of the Lokayukta was minor and could easily have been sorted out. The main thorn was "control of the CBI"
It is obvious that if any single party is responsible for the failure of the Lokpal bill, it is the Congress party.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Everybody fights over nobody's bill
By Sankarshan Thakur
New Delhi, Dec. 28: Rumour has it that leader of the Lok Sabha, Pranab Mukherjee, read out the "sense of the House" wrong in end-August. Rumour has it the sense of the House was never to install a "strong and effective" Lokpal, the sense of the House was always to postpone the prospect, as it has been for more than 40 years.
"And rightly, wouldn't you think?" wondered one of the scribes of the bill, assured that there were no flies on the wall as he spoke, the door was shut and a sting-cam had not invaded his space.
"Nehru didn't do it, Indiraji did not, Vajpayee did not and they must have had good reason. And we have now convinced ourselves we have greater wisdom than all of them put together? What travesty!"
It's a rumour that the noveau advocates of Lokpal, this side and that of the Parliament floor, actually endorse the idea; they've been hectored into it.
But that cannot be told as truth because truth, last heard, was still hostage to the dictatorship of political correctness. It has deemed all the institutions of democracy incapable of fighting off corruption and it has decreed that all must agree. It is no rumour that the political class submitted to that decree, against its own will and wisdom.
"The terrible problem is," one member of Parliament said, again strictly off the record, "we are having to applaud the birth of a demon in our midst, we are having to celebrate a damned charter of no-confidence in ourselves."
What makes rumour of patent truth is that nobody ' or very few ' will put their names to the sentiment. Between private conviction and public posturing, between the Central Hall of Parliament and the floor of the House, lies a chasm so deep it balks the collective sense of nearly 900 elected members of the Indian republic.
What is it that has driven them to speak, act, vote against their own sense and creed? A mob moment? A scary siege? An inflamed street? Lack of will ' and spine ' to meet any of that squarely? "Frankly, I can tell you none of the better-known democracies have anything like the Lokpal we have constructed," confessed a junior minister. "But somehow we have got pushed into it. Why only us, even the Opposition, frankly, is in terror of what we might end up enacting, but we have become competitive crowd-pleasers, there will be wages to pay, if not today, tomorrow."
This was a baby nobody seemed to want, but now that it has been forced into fullness, nobody wants to be seen forsaking it. They are competing to wish upon it greater health and vigour, but secretly they are all wishing it dead without, of course, having to take the blame for it; best if it can be blamed on the other.
Witness that no side in Parliament has rushed to embrace the Lokpal; they've all only been interested in inoculating it with correctives of their choosing. This is a flawed baby. Nobody's stepping up to say this is a baby they did not wish in the first place.
Bar a few exceptions like Lalu Prasad, who is himself so politically anaemic he has ceased to effect anything but the odd round of laughter. But give it to Lalu. He stood and said for the record what the rest of Parliament is only able to express in anonymous whispers: "This is a dangerous move, you are signing the death warrant of elected democracy, history will not forgive you for this."
A stealthy masquerade has unfolded behind the clamorous adoption of the Lokpal bill in the Lok Sabha, a deception play that has distorted both reality and perception.
Well-timed walkouts brokered in the backrooms, mock battles devised by rival political managers, amendments inserted last-hour, deals struck between allies and adversaries alike, a whole choreography of pretexts and subtexts aimed at securing one common end: turn the death of the Lokpal into a bewildering whodunit. Kill it, let no one take the blame.
The Lokpal is, of course, not dead, it has just been born, but let that not take away from the elaborate effort.
Conventional wisdom is that the defeat of the constitutional amendment last night is a huge embarrassment to the Congress, especially to its prince charming, Rahul Gandhi, who floated the idea to begin with. But there may be more convention, less wisdom in reaching that conclusion.
Consider this: close to 10 members of Rahul's own band were not present to vote the amendment. Many of them may have been attending the wedding of the granddaughter of Dinsha Patel, a Congress MP, in Gujarat. How did that come to be? There was a whip in place. Are we to believe they defied it? Defied Rahul's own diktat? If they did, they deserve not show-causes and admonishment but bravery awards at the Republic Day parade.
But no, comes the explanation from Congress managers, their absence did not matter because even if they had been there, we did not have the numbers to push the constitutional amendment through.
Cat stepping out of bag and mewing aloud: the Congress always knew Rahul's effort was headed for defeat, the idea to bring it was merely to put the blame on the BJP and secure scoring points. Banish the thought that Rahul or the Congress were embarrassed ' even devastated, as some are suggesting ' by that defeat. Don't be taken by the long faces, the outrage at the BJP's betrayal. They all knew what was coming, the BJP included.
Does it say something that the petulant midwives of the Lokpal inexplicably suspended the chaotic delivery rituals today, leaving the emaciated entity huffed out of the Lok Sabha on the gurney, waiting to be patted to life by the Upper House?
They were meant to attend to it first thing upon recovering from last night's exertions this morning. Then word came it had been parcelled off to Hyderabad for presidential approval. Procedures, the due process. Then the afternoon was set as witching hour.
But that too came to pass with an unstated putting off. It's now meant to happen on the morrow but should you take the midwives aside and ask, you're likely to get a sense they are keener on a burial than on birth.
Each amendment, they'd tell you, is aimed at making that baby stronger, better, but each has a likeness to the bayonet ' send that thing to hell with good intentions!
The BJP has planned a slew in the Rajya Sabha to add to the catalogue of correctives they moved last night in the Lok Sabha. They have now been joined by the Trinamul Congress, rockjawed on securing guarantees for states to fashion Lokayuktas after their own will.
Nobody will say they really do not want a watchdog institution scanning them ' that would mean defying correctness ' but each is trying to divine a way to delay and defer. Just what happened to reservation for women in legislatures ' everybody swears by the idea, nobody will commit to it. That commitment is as well-crafted a rumour as the sense of the House Pranab Mukherjee read out at the end of August.
The above is from the Telegraph.
It conveys truly what has been going on in the MPs minds.
They have been made to swallow their prides and take action against themselves,against their wills.
Like a bird trying to swallow a large morsel which it can neither swallow or throw out as it is stuck in its throat.
We must thank Anna for being able to achieve what he did, with the people's support.
New Delhi, Dec. 28: Rumour has it that leader of the Lok Sabha, Pranab Mukherjee, read out the "sense of the House" wrong in end-August. Rumour has it the sense of the House was never to install a "strong and effective" Lokpal, the sense of the House was always to postpone the prospect, as it has been for more than 40 years.
"And rightly, wouldn't you think?" wondered one of the scribes of the bill, assured that there were no flies on the wall as he spoke, the door was shut and a sting-cam had not invaded his space.
"Nehru didn't do it, Indiraji did not, Vajpayee did not and they must have had good reason. And we have now convinced ourselves we have greater wisdom than all of them put together? What travesty!"
It's a rumour that the noveau advocates of Lokpal, this side and that of the Parliament floor, actually endorse the idea; they've been hectored into it.
But that cannot be told as truth because truth, last heard, was still hostage to the dictatorship of political correctness. It has deemed all the institutions of democracy incapable of fighting off corruption and it has decreed that all must agree. It is no rumour that the political class submitted to that decree, against its own will and wisdom.
"The terrible problem is," one member of Parliament said, again strictly off the record, "we are having to applaud the birth of a demon in our midst, we are having to celebrate a damned charter of no-confidence in ourselves."
What makes rumour of patent truth is that nobody ' or very few ' will put their names to the sentiment. Between private conviction and public posturing, between the Central Hall of Parliament and the floor of the House, lies a chasm so deep it balks the collective sense of nearly 900 elected members of the Indian republic.
What is it that has driven them to speak, act, vote against their own sense and creed? A mob moment? A scary siege? An inflamed street? Lack of will ' and spine ' to meet any of that squarely? "Frankly, I can tell you none of the better-known democracies have anything like the Lokpal we have constructed," confessed a junior minister. "But somehow we have got pushed into it. Why only us, even the Opposition, frankly, is in terror of what we might end up enacting, but we have become competitive crowd-pleasers, there will be wages to pay, if not today, tomorrow."
This was a baby nobody seemed to want, but now that it has been forced into fullness, nobody wants to be seen forsaking it. They are competing to wish upon it greater health and vigour, but secretly they are all wishing it dead without, of course, having to take the blame for it; best if it can be blamed on the other.
Witness that no side in Parliament has rushed to embrace the Lokpal; they've all only been interested in inoculating it with correctives of their choosing. This is a flawed baby. Nobody's stepping up to say this is a baby they did not wish in the first place.
Bar a few exceptions like Lalu Prasad, who is himself so politically anaemic he has ceased to effect anything but the odd round of laughter. But give it to Lalu. He stood and said for the record what the rest of Parliament is only able to express in anonymous whispers: "This is a dangerous move, you are signing the death warrant of elected democracy, history will not forgive you for this."
A stealthy masquerade has unfolded behind the clamorous adoption of the Lokpal bill in the Lok Sabha, a deception play that has distorted both reality and perception.
Well-timed walkouts brokered in the backrooms, mock battles devised by rival political managers, amendments inserted last-hour, deals struck between allies and adversaries alike, a whole choreography of pretexts and subtexts aimed at securing one common end: turn the death of the Lokpal into a bewildering whodunit. Kill it, let no one take the blame.
The Lokpal is, of course, not dead, it has just been born, but let that not take away from the elaborate effort.
Conventional wisdom is that the defeat of the constitutional amendment last night is a huge embarrassment to the Congress, especially to its prince charming, Rahul Gandhi, who floated the idea to begin with. But there may be more convention, less wisdom in reaching that conclusion.
Consider this: close to 10 members of Rahul's own band were not present to vote the amendment. Many of them may have been attending the wedding of the granddaughter of Dinsha Patel, a Congress MP, in Gujarat. How did that come to be? There was a whip in place. Are we to believe they defied it? Defied Rahul's own diktat? If they did, they deserve not show-causes and admonishment but bravery awards at the Republic Day parade.
But no, comes the explanation from Congress managers, their absence did not matter because even if they had been there, we did not have the numbers to push the constitutional amendment through.
Cat stepping out of bag and mewing aloud: the Congress always knew Rahul's effort was headed for defeat, the idea to bring it was merely to put the blame on the BJP and secure scoring points. Banish the thought that Rahul or the Congress were embarrassed ' even devastated, as some are suggesting ' by that defeat. Don't be taken by the long faces, the outrage at the BJP's betrayal. They all knew what was coming, the BJP included.
Does it say something that the petulant midwives of the Lokpal inexplicably suspended the chaotic delivery rituals today, leaving the emaciated entity huffed out of the Lok Sabha on the gurney, waiting to be patted to life by the Upper House?
They were meant to attend to it first thing upon recovering from last night's exertions this morning. Then word came it had been parcelled off to Hyderabad for presidential approval. Procedures, the due process. Then the afternoon was set as witching hour.
But that too came to pass with an unstated putting off. It's now meant to happen on the morrow but should you take the midwives aside and ask, you're likely to get a sense they are keener on a burial than on birth.
Each amendment, they'd tell you, is aimed at making that baby stronger, better, but each has a likeness to the bayonet ' send that thing to hell with good intentions!
The BJP has planned a slew in the Rajya Sabha to add to the catalogue of correctives they moved last night in the Lok Sabha. They have now been joined by the Trinamul Congress, rockjawed on securing guarantees for states to fashion Lokayuktas after their own will.
Nobody will say they really do not want a watchdog institution scanning them ' that would mean defying correctness ' but each is trying to divine a way to delay and defer. Just what happened to reservation for women in legislatures ' everybody swears by the idea, nobody will commit to it. That commitment is as well-crafted a rumour as the sense of the House Pranab Mukherjee read out at the end of August.
The above is from the Telegraph.
It conveys truly what has been going on in the MPs minds.
They have been made to swallow their prides and take action against themselves,against their wills.
Like a bird trying to swallow a large morsel which it can neither swallow or throw out as it is stuck in its throat.
We must thank Anna for being able to achieve what he did, with the people's support.
Health tug fails, Hazare ends fast
Mumbai, Dec. 28: Anna Hazare today called off a protest programme that would have spilled over into New Year's Day after an attempt by his team to whip up sympathy through a steady flow of health alerts failed to make a big difference.
"We had hoped that reports of Anna's ill health will at least inspire people to come and join him. But Mumbai disappointed," said Mayank Gandhi, a member of Team Anna.
Hazare not only called off his fast on the second day but also suspended the proposed "jail bharo" agitation for which nearly 1.9 lakh people had registered themselves. He vowed to defeat the "betrayer" Congress in the Assembly elections early next year.
Hazare, 74, broke his fast at 6.45pm by sipping lime juice offered by Prateeksha Khandale, a girl from his village Ralegan Siddhi.
Asked if poor turnout was the main reason for calling off the agitation, Hazare said: "It is not correct (that he has not received public support). I don't have power, money... yet so many people have come here. Is the crowd not good enough? People across the country have joined the movement. You will get to see our popularity when we campaign during the elections."
The high-decibel campaign on the status of Hazare's health had begun late last evening when it became clear that Mumbaikars did not turn up in strength even after office hours as Team Anna had hoped.
Text messages from volunteers of India Against Corruption (IAC), which organised the protest, claimed that Hazare's condition was so serious that "he will have to be shifted to some hospital on an emergency basis".
Ambulances were summoned and photographs of a listless Anna, lying on a bed with his eyes closed and surrounded by friends and aides, were circulated.
"He is not in a state to speak. We are very worried. What he has done for the country is unbelievable. His sacrifice will be remembered," said a member of Team Anna in the early hours of Wednesday.
Still, when morning broke, the crowd count stood at no more than 600, though it picked up around 2.30pm when Hazare appeared on the dais. Team Anna claimed the turnout was between 50,000 and 60,000 when Hazare ended the fast.
At least one doctor who examined Hazare said that though doctors were extremely concerned about the fallout of the fast on his health, the condition had not worsened to a level that demanded emergency intervention.
"Please remember the state would have intervened if that had been the case. A makeshift clinic was also set up for him on MMRDA Grounds," Dr T.P. Lahane of JJ Hospital told The Telegraph.
"We have medically advised him not to undertake similar fasts in the future as it can affect his kidneys and may have an adverse impact on his health in the future," Dr Lahane said. Sources in the Maharashtra health department said the state government wanted to find out first hand the condition of Hazare. "This is why the Maharashtra chief minister instructed us to send a team of state government doctors to examine Anna on Tuesday night," said the source.
Team Anna also requested a panel of eminent doctors to announce Anna's health status from the stage. "While lying down his blood pressure reads 130/90 but while standing, it is 105/70, indicating dryness and dehydration. He is running a temperature of 100 degrees. There is evidence of dehydration. His sodium levels are low. His creatinine level (an indicator of kidney functioning) is a little worse off than his last test," said Ashwin Mehta of Jaslok Hospital.
Daulat Pote, a doctor who hails from Anna's village, had earlier claimed that the activist's blood pressure stood at 150/90. "He spent a comfortable night. His pulse rate has come down to 72 from 96, and blood pressure is 150/90. I weighed him a little earlier, he weighed 70.5 kg, he seems to have lost about a kg and a half since Friday," Pote said.
Team Anna's search for crowd multipliers also did not yield results. On Tuesday, an IAC functionary had claimed that yoga practitioner Ramdev was expected to join the protest in Mumbai and bring in his followers.
But Team Anna discovered on today, by when the tepid response was apparent, that it could not get in touch with Ramdev. "We could not speak to him. He is still in his Hardwar ashram," the IAC functionary said.
Medha Patkar, who yesterday said that Team Anna needed to review its methods of protest, said she was on her way to Nanded today for "pre-planned programmes" of the Baba Amte Trust.
Kiran Bedi was in Delhi making an unsuccessful bid to garner crowds at the Ramlila Maidan.
I am glad that Anna has given up his fast.
Although he had said that he was ready to give up his life for the cause of a strong Lokpal bill, I for one felt that life was more important. We are given life once my God and we should care for it and not take unnecessary risks to extinguish it prematurely.
India needs Anna more than our MPs. There are many other causes still to fight for before India can raise its head with pride. Presently India leads in the wrong things. Most corrupt nation, least transparency, most female fratricide, most rapes, most criminal legislators in parliament, highest child death, highest poverty. Oh the list could go one.
We saw how the debate raged in Parliament. One and all MPs, irrespective of party affiliations, were making a mockery of this bill which would curb their corruption. Finally what came out was a watered down version of an effective bill.
The BJP was the worst culprit. It tried to postpone consideration of the bill for three months. Why?
Because the did not want the Congress to get any credit for getting the bill passed.
I was really shocked to read Sushma Swaraj's speech.
As I said, there are many other causes for Anna.
1.First and foremost, an overhaul of the system by which criminals and can become legislators.
2. One person should not be allowed to stand from more than one constituency.
3. Electoral expenses of genuine candidates should be borne by the government. Genuine candidates are those who can claim to get more than 10% of the cast votes.
4. Rejection of all candidates, if none are found to be suitable - None vote.
5. A person should get elected only after procuring 50% of the cast votes. For this 2nd, 3rd and 4th preference votes should be allowed. The candidate who comes last should have 2nd preference votes transferred and so on until any candidate crosses the 50% mark. Then only will a candidate be a true representative of the people.
3. EVMs are good step forward but we should have mobile voting. The telecom companies should device a system by which each person can use one Unique Cellphone no for casting his vote. Once his vote is cast that number is disables so that he cannot cast a second vote with that number. This would reduce our Electoral expenses. Further, it would aid us in recalling inefficient and corrupt legislators
"We had hoped that reports of Anna's ill health will at least inspire people to come and join him. But Mumbai disappointed," said Mayank Gandhi, a member of Team Anna.
Hazare not only called off his fast on the second day but also suspended the proposed "jail bharo" agitation for which nearly 1.9 lakh people had registered themselves. He vowed to defeat the "betrayer" Congress in the Assembly elections early next year.
Hazare, 74, broke his fast at 6.45pm by sipping lime juice offered by Prateeksha Khandale, a girl from his village Ralegan Siddhi.
Asked if poor turnout was the main reason for calling off the agitation, Hazare said: "It is not correct (that he has not received public support). I don't have power, money... yet so many people have come here. Is the crowd not good enough? People across the country have joined the movement. You will get to see our popularity when we campaign during the elections."
The high-decibel campaign on the status of Hazare's health had begun late last evening when it became clear that Mumbaikars did not turn up in strength even after office hours as Team Anna had hoped.
Text messages from volunteers of India Against Corruption (IAC), which organised the protest, claimed that Hazare's condition was so serious that "he will have to be shifted to some hospital on an emergency basis".
Ambulances were summoned and photographs of a listless Anna, lying on a bed with his eyes closed and surrounded by friends and aides, were circulated.
"He is not in a state to speak. We are very worried. What he has done for the country is unbelievable. His sacrifice will be remembered," said a member of Team Anna in the early hours of Wednesday.
Still, when morning broke, the crowd count stood at no more than 600, though it picked up around 2.30pm when Hazare appeared on the dais. Team Anna claimed the turnout was between 50,000 and 60,000 when Hazare ended the fast.
At least one doctor who examined Hazare said that though doctors were extremely concerned about the fallout of the fast on his health, the condition had not worsened to a level that demanded emergency intervention.
"Please remember the state would have intervened if that had been the case. A makeshift clinic was also set up for him on MMRDA Grounds," Dr T.P. Lahane of JJ Hospital told The Telegraph.
"We have medically advised him not to undertake similar fasts in the future as it can affect his kidneys and may have an adverse impact on his health in the future," Dr Lahane said. Sources in the Maharashtra health department said the state government wanted to find out first hand the condition of Hazare. "This is why the Maharashtra chief minister instructed us to send a team of state government doctors to examine Anna on Tuesday night," said the source.
Team Anna also requested a panel of eminent doctors to announce Anna's health status from the stage. "While lying down his blood pressure reads 130/90 but while standing, it is 105/70, indicating dryness and dehydration. He is running a temperature of 100 degrees. There is evidence of dehydration. His sodium levels are low. His creatinine level (an indicator of kidney functioning) is a little worse off than his last test," said Ashwin Mehta of Jaslok Hospital.
Daulat Pote, a doctor who hails from Anna's village, had earlier claimed that the activist's blood pressure stood at 150/90. "He spent a comfortable night. His pulse rate has come down to 72 from 96, and blood pressure is 150/90. I weighed him a little earlier, he weighed 70.5 kg, he seems to have lost about a kg and a half since Friday," Pote said.
Team Anna's search for crowd multipliers also did not yield results. On Tuesday, an IAC functionary had claimed that yoga practitioner Ramdev was expected to join the protest in Mumbai and bring in his followers.
But Team Anna discovered on today, by when the tepid response was apparent, that it could not get in touch with Ramdev. "We could not speak to him. He is still in his Hardwar ashram," the IAC functionary said.
Medha Patkar, who yesterday said that Team Anna needed to review its methods of protest, said she was on her way to Nanded today for "pre-planned programmes" of the Baba Amte Trust.
Kiran Bedi was in Delhi making an unsuccessful bid to garner crowds at the Ramlila Maidan.
I am glad that Anna has given up his fast.
Although he had said that he was ready to give up his life for the cause of a strong Lokpal bill, I for one felt that life was more important. We are given life once my God and we should care for it and not take unnecessary risks to extinguish it prematurely.
India needs Anna more than our MPs. There are many other causes still to fight for before India can raise its head with pride. Presently India leads in the wrong things. Most corrupt nation, least transparency, most female fratricide, most rapes, most criminal legislators in parliament, highest child death, highest poverty. Oh the list could go one.
We saw how the debate raged in Parliament. One and all MPs, irrespective of party affiliations, were making a mockery of this bill which would curb their corruption. Finally what came out was a watered down version of an effective bill.
The BJP was the worst culprit. It tried to postpone consideration of the bill for three months. Why?
Because the did not want the Congress to get any credit for getting the bill passed.
I was really shocked to read Sushma Swaraj's speech.
As I said, there are many other causes for Anna.
1.First and foremost, an overhaul of the system by which criminals and can become legislators.
2. One person should not be allowed to stand from more than one constituency.
3. Electoral expenses of genuine candidates should be borne by the government. Genuine candidates are those who can claim to get more than 10% of the cast votes.
4. Rejection of all candidates, if none are found to be suitable - None vote.
5. A person should get elected only after procuring 50% of the cast votes. For this 2nd, 3rd and 4th preference votes should be allowed. The candidate who comes last should have 2nd preference votes transferred and so on until any candidate crosses the 50% mark. Then only will a candidate be a true representative of the people.
3. EVMs are good step forward but we should have mobile voting. The telecom companies should device a system by which each person can use one Unique Cellphone no for casting his vote. Once his vote is cast that number is disables so that he cannot cast a second vote with that number. This would reduce our Electoral expenses. Further, it would aid us in recalling inefficient and corrupt legislators
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
All that din on Lokpal Bill
As the year draws to a close, most articulate Indians would like to believe that the “political class” has received a bashing at the hands of “civil society”; that for once in the life of the Indian Republic, politicians have been reminded of what it means to take the nation for granted.
For the most part, this message will reverberate down the new year, principally on account of the way the media has shot and provided the voice-over for that conflict between the typologies it has created: The Political Class and Civil Society. The only problem is that both concepts are metaphorical; they belong to a discourse cooked up by a media that in turn reflects middle-class angst at the promise of power and, at the same time, the distance from that promise.
MORAL OUTRAGE NO BASIS
Without knowing it, the middle-class Indian, most vociferous on the i-pad and Internet about corruption and the fight against it, might just have become even more alienated from the campaign against it. When Anna Hazare and his “team” rant against the government, what they do is to alienate the masses that they supposedly represent even further from the frontlines of the battle.
They do this by their single-minded focus on the Lokpal Bill or, more specifically, on their version of it, at the cost of the larger campaign that any drive against corruption in public life should focus upon: A fight against an immoral way of life, a struggle against the terms of reference by which modern Indians would like to live or at least, aspire to live. What this would mean then, would be a return to the Gandhian Satyagraha: A struggle not just against the most visible forms of misconduct in political life but against the underlying principles of such behaviour in all walks of life.
“Team Anna's” campaign against anti-corruption, even at its most abstract level, is not premised on codes of morality in public life so much as on a middle class-fed moral outrage. It is the sense of rage at the scale of corruption in a few areas rather than its pervasiveness and deleterious effect on society and nature that infuses the campaign against the government. Fed by an inchoate anger of a middle-class deluded into believing that its own prosperity is not devastating nature or is morally upright, the anti-corruption campaign easily slips into a battle for political power.
At the outset itself, in May, it was evident that the mass movement was a movement in virtual reality. Wearing Gandhian caps, posing for television cameras with V-signs and bright smiles, candle-lit vigils and afternoon-break gatherings at public places in Mumbai may have given the sense of mass support for the anti-corruption drive, but what did they really amount to? What does it mean when the virtual world is abuzz with moral outrage and fierce words in support for Mr Hazare other than an indulgence in the metaphor of commitment to change rather than an engagement with alternative aspirations and modes of development?
Bereft of a moral base fed on outrage that is necessarily short-lived, Mr Hazare and his team may appear to represent that illusory world of “civil society” but, in fact, do not have even the semblance of participatory democracy.
PARTICIPATORY OR REPRESENTATIVE?
Alone among many democracies, India has the arguable distinction of evolving its democratic structure, however anarchic, largely through participatory rather than purely representative means. The Constitution was framed by representatives in the Constituent Assembly but only after some huge amounts of petitions from people across the nation-in-the-making from the Jewish Board to women and tribal organisations, all seeking a place and voice in the new formation.
Lacking that mass base, focused largely on New Delhi and its most apparent forms of the abuse of power, Mr Hazare's campaign has reduced what could have been a reassertion of a moral-based social contract to a fight over a legislation that increasingly seems like a perversion of participatory democracy.
The provisions of the Jan Lokpal Bill threaten that constitutional democracy which holds the nation together however tenuously; equally, the methods employed by Anna Hazare leave no room for dialogue. Fasting is a coercive means, but in Gandhi's case, it was used to arouse a moral consciousness both among Indians and the colonial power not to get the state to do one's bidding.
POLITICS IS ALL
That is why Mr Hazare's campaign is centred around the capital. Reducing the drive against corruption to a piece of legislation turns it into jockeying for political power, and television helps.
For a while, it almost seemed the Anna Team had won the game of realpolitik when Opposition leaders joined them on stage for what appeared, in retrospect, a blundering photo-op.
Muted as their support was, neither the Left nor the Right could have imagined that the government was capable of the brilliance it showed when it tabled the Lokpal Bill in Parliament. Introducing the minority quota in the proposed Lokpal bench, insisting on state-wise Lokayuktas, among others, undid whatever solidarity the Opposition might have shown for Anna, with one party after another slamming the Bill, much to the satisfaction of the Congress.
While Anna ranted with furious, but media-pleasing, rhetoric, what the Congress has achieved is to get the judiciary also into a flap with experts like Soli Sorabjee questioning the constitutional basis of certain provisions contained in the Bill.
Regardless of the way Anna Hazare's next move pans out, it is clear that the campaign has lost much of its teeth. The Lokpal Bill and, more so, the version he and his team insist on Parliament passing, has less of a chance of seeing the light of day than at any other time. The Opposition has stumbled over its own feet; blinded by its opposition to the UPA, it almost shot itself on the foot and will now think twice before posing with Anna on the same stage. The campaign itself becomes more prone to ridicule as was evident when the High Court denied it exemption from fees for the Bandra-Kurla Complex grounds.
If Anna Hazare has to gain the ground he never had, he ought to start from where corruption really hurts: Village India.
I do not know whom Mr. Upadhyay represents, but his article shows that he is a strong Congress supporter.
I don't know from where he got the notion that to fight corruption, Anna should start from where corruption really hurts: Village India.
Anna has already taken action in his village and made it a shining example for the rest of India.
However, to take action in all the villages of India, it would require one Anna for every village in India, a stupendous task.
Instead, he has rightly decided to attack the source of corruption - New Delhi.
The Central government is the Fountainhead of all corruption in India and attacking that is a good start.
Mr. Upadhyay, probably residing in Delhi, is also part of the system which generates this corruption and so he is finding faults with Anna, trying to belittle the agitation.
At least this frail man, without any self interest, has had the courage to draw the people's attention to this scourge which is eating up our national resources.
And talking about Anna Hazare, not having the ground he never had, is trying to speak good English but is divorced from facts. He has more grounds than a thousand no a lakh of Upadhyays.
Anna has time and again stated that he has no political ambitions but these people would like him to have those ambitions. It is easier attacking a political opponent but attacking Anna is very frustrating as Manish Tewari realized. They have not been able to stick any corruption charges against him, inspite of using the ED, Income tax department, the CBI and the member of Parliaments themselves.
For the most part, this message will reverberate down the new year, principally on account of the way the media has shot and provided the voice-over for that conflict between the typologies it has created: The Political Class and Civil Society. The only problem is that both concepts are metaphorical; they belong to a discourse cooked up by a media that in turn reflects middle-class angst at the promise of power and, at the same time, the distance from that promise.
MORAL OUTRAGE NO BASIS
Without knowing it, the middle-class Indian, most vociferous on the i-pad and Internet about corruption and the fight against it, might just have become even more alienated from the campaign against it. When Anna Hazare and his “team” rant against the government, what they do is to alienate the masses that they supposedly represent even further from the frontlines of the battle.
They do this by their single-minded focus on the Lokpal Bill or, more specifically, on their version of it, at the cost of the larger campaign that any drive against corruption in public life should focus upon: A fight against an immoral way of life, a struggle against the terms of reference by which modern Indians would like to live or at least, aspire to live. What this would mean then, would be a return to the Gandhian Satyagraha: A struggle not just against the most visible forms of misconduct in political life but against the underlying principles of such behaviour in all walks of life.
“Team Anna's” campaign against anti-corruption, even at its most abstract level, is not premised on codes of morality in public life so much as on a middle class-fed moral outrage. It is the sense of rage at the scale of corruption in a few areas rather than its pervasiveness and deleterious effect on society and nature that infuses the campaign against the government. Fed by an inchoate anger of a middle-class deluded into believing that its own prosperity is not devastating nature or is morally upright, the anti-corruption campaign easily slips into a battle for political power.
At the outset itself, in May, it was evident that the mass movement was a movement in virtual reality. Wearing Gandhian caps, posing for television cameras with V-signs and bright smiles, candle-lit vigils and afternoon-break gatherings at public places in Mumbai may have given the sense of mass support for the anti-corruption drive, but what did they really amount to? What does it mean when the virtual world is abuzz with moral outrage and fierce words in support for Mr Hazare other than an indulgence in the metaphor of commitment to change rather than an engagement with alternative aspirations and modes of development?
Bereft of a moral base fed on outrage that is necessarily short-lived, Mr Hazare and his team may appear to represent that illusory world of “civil society” but, in fact, do not have even the semblance of participatory democracy.
PARTICIPATORY OR REPRESENTATIVE?
Alone among many democracies, India has the arguable distinction of evolving its democratic structure, however anarchic, largely through participatory rather than purely representative means. The Constitution was framed by representatives in the Constituent Assembly but only after some huge amounts of petitions from people across the nation-in-the-making from the Jewish Board to women and tribal organisations, all seeking a place and voice in the new formation.
Lacking that mass base, focused largely on New Delhi and its most apparent forms of the abuse of power, Mr Hazare's campaign has reduced what could have been a reassertion of a moral-based social contract to a fight over a legislation that increasingly seems like a perversion of participatory democracy.
The provisions of the Jan Lokpal Bill threaten that constitutional democracy which holds the nation together however tenuously; equally, the methods employed by Anna Hazare leave no room for dialogue. Fasting is a coercive means, but in Gandhi's case, it was used to arouse a moral consciousness both among Indians and the colonial power not to get the state to do one's bidding.
POLITICS IS ALL
That is why Mr Hazare's campaign is centred around the capital. Reducing the drive against corruption to a piece of legislation turns it into jockeying for political power, and television helps.
For a while, it almost seemed the Anna Team had won the game of realpolitik when Opposition leaders joined them on stage for what appeared, in retrospect, a blundering photo-op.
Muted as their support was, neither the Left nor the Right could have imagined that the government was capable of the brilliance it showed when it tabled the Lokpal Bill in Parliament. Introducing the minority quota in the proposed Lokpal bench, insisting on state-wise Lokayuktas, among others, undid whatever solidarity the Opposition might have shown for Anna, with one party after another slamming the Bill, much to the satisfaction of the Congress.
While Anna ranted with furious, but media-pleasing, rhetoric, what the Congress has achieved is to get the judiciary also into a flap with experts like Soli Sorabjee questioning the constitutional basis of certain provisions contained in the Bill.
Regardless of the way Anna Hazare's next move pans out, it is clear that the campaign has lost much of its teeth. The Lokpal Bill and, more so, the version he and his team insist on Parliament passing, has less of a chance of seeing the light of day than at any other time. The Opposition has stumbled over its own feet; blinded by its opposition to the UPA, it almost shot itself on the foot and will now think twice before posing with Anna on the same stage. The campaign itself becomes more prone to ridicule as was evident when the High Court denied it exemption from fees for the Bandra-Kurla Complex grounds.
If Anna Hazare has to gain the ground he never had, he ought to start from where corruption really hurts: Village India.
I do not know whom Mr. Upadhyay represents, but his article shows that he is a strong Congress supporter.
I don't know from where he got the notion that to fight corruption, Anna should start from where corruption really hurts: Village India.
Anna has already taken action in his village and made it a shining example for the rest of India.
However, to take action in all the villages of India, it would require one Anna for every village in India, a stupendous task.
Instead, he has rightly decided to attack the source of corruption - New Delhi.
The Central government is the Fountainhead of all corruption in India and attacking that is a good start.
Mr. Upadhyay, probably residing in Delhi, is also part of the system which generates this corruption and so he is finding faults with Anna, trying to belittle the agitation.
At least this frail man, without any self interest, has had the courage to draw the people's attention to this scourge which is eating up our national resources.
And talking about Anna Hazare, not having the ground he never had, is trying to speak good English but is divorced from facts. He has more grounds than a thousand no a lakh of Upadhyays.
Anna has time and again stated that he has no political ambitions but these people would like him to have those ambitions. It is easier attacking a political opponent but attacking Anna is very frustrating as Manish Tewari realized. They have not been able to stick any corruption charges against him, inspite of using the ED, Income tax department, the CBI and the member of Parliaments themselves.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
MAGNOLIAS
I spent the week before my daughter's June wedding running last-minute trips to the caterer, florist, tuxedo shop, and the church about forty miles away.
As happy as I was that Patsy was marrying a good Christian young man, I felt laden with responsibilities as I watched my budget dwindle.
So many details, so many bills, and so little time. My son Jack was away at college, but he said he would be there to walk his younger sister down the aisle, taking the place of his dad who had died a few years before. He teased Patsy, saying he'd wanted to give her away since she was about three years old!
To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. Their luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green eaves would make beautiful arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church.
After the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, we banked the podium area and choir loft with magnolias. As we left just before midnight, I felt tired but satisfied this would be the best wedding any bride had ever had! The music, the ceremony, the reception - and especially the flowers - would be remembered for years.
The big day arrived - the busiest day of my life - and while her bridesmaids helped Patsy to dress, her fiancé Tim walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check. When we opened the door and felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted; and then I saw them - all the beautiful white flowers were black. Funeral black. An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, and on that hot summer day, the flowers had wilted and died.
I panicked, knowing I didn't have time to drive back to our hometown, gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding.
Tim turned to me. 'Edna, can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements.'
I mumbled, 'Sure,' as he be-bopped down the hall to put on his cuff links.
Alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling. 'Lord,' I prayed, 'please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers - in a hurry!' I scurried out praying for four things: the blessing of white magnolias, courage to find them in an unfamiliar yard, safety from any dog that may bite my leg, and a nice person who would not get out a shotgun when I asked to cut his tree to shreds.
As I left the church, I saw magnolia trees in the distance. I approached a house...No dog in sight.. knocked on the door and an older man answered. So far so good. No shotgun. When I stated my plea the man beamed, 'I'd be happy to!'
He climbed a stepladder and cut large boughs and handed them down to me. Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload into my car trunk, I said, 'Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today.'
No, Ma'am,' he said. 'You don't understand what's happening here.'
'What?' I asked.
'You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died on Monday. On Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday . .. . He paused. I saw tears welling up in his eyes. 'On Wednesday I buried her.' He looked away. 'On Thursday most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday - yesterday - my children left.'
I nodded.
'This morning,' he continued, 'I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me. This morning I cried, 'Who needs an eighty-six-year-old wore-out man? Nobody!' I began to cry louder. 'Nobody needs me!' About that time, you knocked, and said, 'Sir, I need you.'
I stood with my mouth open.
He asked, 'Are you an angel? The way the light shone around your head into my dark living room...'
I assured him I was no angel.
He smiled. 'Do you know what I was thinking when I handed you those magnolias?'
'No.'
'I decided I'm needed. My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I could give them to everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over the backyard! I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!'
I drove back to the church, filled with wonder. On Patsy's wedding day, if anyone had asked me to encourage someone who was hurting, I would have said, 'Forget it! It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness' sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today.'
But God found a way. Through dead flowers. 'Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.'
TO EACH OF US, BEING NEEDED IS SO UPLIFTING.
Sent by Arun Shroff
As happy as I was that Patsy was marrying a good Christian young man, I felt laden with responsibilities as I watched my budget dwindle.
So many details, so many bills, and so little time. My son Jack was away at college, but he said he would be there to walk his younger sister down the aisle, taking the place of his dad who had died a few years before. He teased Patsy, saying he'd wanted to give her away since she was about three years old!
To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. Their luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green eaves would make beautiful arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church.
After the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, we banked the podium area and choir loft with magnolias. As we left just before midnight, I felt tired but satisfied this would be the best wedding any bride had ever had! The music, the ceremony, the reception - and especially the flowers - would be remembered for years.
The big day arrived - the busiest day of my life - and while her bridesmaids helped Patsy to dress, her fiancé Tim walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check. When we opened the door and felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted; and then I saw them - all the beautiful white flowers were black. Funeral black. An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, and on that hot summer day, the flowers had wilted and died.
I panicked, knowing I didn't have time to drive back to our hometown, gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding.
Tim turned to me. 'Edna, can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements.'
I mumbled, 'Sure,' as he be-bopped down the hall to put on his cuff links.
Alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling. 'Lord,' I prayed, 'please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers - in a hurry!' I scurried out praying for four things: the blessing of white magnolias, courage to find them in an unfamiliar yard, safety from any dog that may bite my leg, and a nice person who would not get out a shotgun when I asked to cut his tree to shreds.
As I left the church, I saw magnolia trees in the distance. I approached a house...No dog in sight.. knocked on the door and an older man answered. So far so good. No shotgun. When I stated my plea the man beamed, 'I'd be happy to!'
He climbed a stepladder and cut large boughs and handed them down to me. Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload into my car trunk, I said, 'Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today.'
No, Ma'am,' he said. 'You don't understand what's happening here.'
'What?' I asked.
'You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died on Monday. On Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday . .. . He paused. I saw tears welling up in his eyes. 'On Wednesday I buried her.' He looked away. 'On Thursday most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday - yesterday - my children left.'
I nodded.
'This morning,' he continued, 'I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me. This morning I cried, 'Who needs an eighty-six-year-old wore-out man? Nobody!' I began to cry louder. 'Nobody needs me!' About that time, you knocked, and said, 'Sir, I need you.'
I stood with my mouth open.
He asked, 'Are you an angel? The way the light shone around your head into my dark living room...'
I assured him I was no angel.
He smiled. 'Do you know what I was thinking when I handed you those magnolias?'
'No.'
'I decided I'm needed. My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I could give them to everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over the backyard! I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!'
I drove back to the church, filled with wonder. On Patsy's wedding day, if anyone had asked me to encourage someone who was hurting, I would have said, 'Forget it! It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness' sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today.'
But God found a way. Through dead flowers. 'Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.'
TO EACH OF US, BEING NEEDED IS SO UPLIFTING.
Sent by Arun Shroff
A Father, a Daughter and a Dog
- story by Catherine Moore
"Watch out! You nearly broad sided that car!" My father yelled at me. "Can't you do anything right?"
.
Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle.
.
"I saw the car, Dad . Please don't yell at me when I'm driving.."
.
My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt.
.
Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts.... dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil. What could I do about him?
.
Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon . He had enjoyed being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his prowess.
.
The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn't lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn't do something he had done as a younger man.
.
Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing.
.
At the hospital, Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he survived. But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor's orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone..
.
My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust.
.
Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed nothing was satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated and moody. Soon I was taking my pent-up anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue.
.
Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad 's troubled mind.
.
But the months wore on and God was silent. Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it.
.
The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the mental health clinics listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered in vain.
.
Just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, "I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article.."
.
I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a dog.
.
I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon.. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed officer led me to the kennels. The odor of disinfectant stung my nostrils as I moved down the row of pens. Each contained five to seven dogs. Long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, black dogs, spotted dogs all jumped up, trying to reach me. I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons too big, too small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It was a pointer, one of the dog world's aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed.
.
Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hip bones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention. Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly.
.
I pointed to the dog. "Can you tell me about him?" The officer looked, then shook his head in puzzlement. "He's a funny one. Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow." He gestured helplessly.
.
As the words sank in I turned to the man in horror.. "You mean you're going to kill him?"
.
"Ma'am," he said gently, "that's our policy. We don't have room for every unclaimed dog."
.
I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision. "I'll take him," I said. I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me.. When I reached the house I honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch... "Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad !" I said excitedly.
.
Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust. "If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don't want it" Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back toward the house.
.
Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into my temples. "You'd better get used to him, Dad . He's staying!"
.
Dad ignored me.. "Did you hear me, Dad ?" I screamed. At those words Dad whirled angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed and blazing with hate. We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw..
.
Dad 's lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees, hugging the animal.
.
It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne . Together, he and Cheyenne explored the community. They spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at is feet.
.
Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable throughout the next three years.. Dad 's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night, I was startled to feel Cheyenne's cold nose burrowing through our bed covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at night.. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father's room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the night.
.
Two days later, my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad 's peace of mind.
.
The morning of Dad 's funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made, filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed his life.
.
And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this, some have entertained angels without knowing it."
.
"I've often thanked God for sending that angel," he said.
.
For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article... Cheyenne 's unexpected appearance at the animal shelter. . ...his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father. . and the proximity of their deaths. And suddenly I understood. I knew that God had answered my prayers after all.
.
Life is too short for drama or petty things, so laugh hard, love truly and forgive quickly. Live While You Are Alive. Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second time.
Sent by Arun Shroff
"Watch out! You nearly broad sided that car!" My father yelled at me. "Can't you do anything right?"
.
Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle.
.
"I saw the car, Dad . Please don't yell at me when I'm driving.."
.
My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt.
.
Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts.... dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil. What could I do about him?
.
Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon . He had enjoyed being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his prowess.
.
The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn't lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn't do something he had done as a younger man.
.
Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing.
.
At the hospital, Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he survived. But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor's orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone..
.
My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust.
.
Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed nothing was satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated and moody. Soon I was taking my pent-up anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue.
.
Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad 's troubled mind.
.
But the months wore on and God was silent. Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it.
.
The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the mental health clinics listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered in vain.
.
Just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, "I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article.."
.
I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a dog.
.
I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon.. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed officer led me to the kennels. The odor of disinfectant stung my nostrils as I moved down the row of pens. Each contained five to seven dogs. Long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, black dogs, spotted dogs all jumped up, trying to reach me. I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons too big, too small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It was a pointer, one of the dog world's aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed.
.
Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hip bones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention. Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly.
.
I pointed to the dog. "Can you tell me about him?" The officer looked, then shook his head in puzzlement. "He's a funny one. Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow." He gestured helplessly.
.
As the words sank in I turned to the man in horror.. "You mean you're going to kill him?"
.
"Ma'am," he said gently, "that's our policy. We don't have room for every unclaimed dog."
.
I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision. "I'll take him," I said. I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me.. When I reached the house I honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch... "Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad !" I said excitedly.
.
Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust. "If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don't want it" Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back toward the house.
.
Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into my temples. "You'd better get used to him, Dad . He's staying!"
.
Dad ignored me.. "Did you hear me, Dad ?" I screamed. At those words Dad whirled angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed and blazing with hate. We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw..
.
Dad 's lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees, hugging the animal.
.
It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne . Together, he and Cheyenne explored the community. They spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at is feet.
.
Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable throughout the next three years.. Dad 's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night, I was startled to feel Cheyenne's cold nose burrowing through our bed covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at night.. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father's room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the night.
.
Two days later, my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad 's peace of mind.
.
The morning of Dad 's funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made, filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed his life.
.
And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this, some have entertained angels without knowing it."
.
"I've often thanked God for sending that angel," he said.
.
For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article... Cheyenne 's unexpected appearance at the animal shelter. . ...his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father. . and the proximity of their deaths. And suddenly I understood. I knew that God had answered my prayers after all.
.
Life is too short for drama or petty things, so laugh hard, love truly and forgive quickly. Live While You Are Alive. Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second time.
Sent by Arun Shroff
When Insults Had Class
These glorious insults are from an era before the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words.
The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:
She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."
He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second.... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.." - Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder
Sent by Shiba Prasad Dutta
The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:
She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."
He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second.... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.." - Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder
Sent by Shiba Prasad Dutta
HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them'
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Sent by U Banerjee, N P
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Sent by U Banerjee, N P
Monday, December 26, 2011
Team Anna Slams Congress for Linking Hazare to RSS
New Delhi: Team Anna released photographs of some Congress leaders with former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Nanaji Deshmukh as it slammed the party over its renewed allegations about the social activists' saffron links. The Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) also slammed the Congress for raising a ruckus over the photograph published in a daily. The photographs released by Team Anna show Congress leader Motilal Vora sharing the stage with Deshmukh. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Congress leader Balram Jharkhar have also been photographed with Deshmukh. In one of the photographs, Deshmukh is sitting alongside former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Jhakhar. Earlier in the day, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh alleged that Hazare had links with the RSS. Referring to the photograph published by a Hindi daily, Singh tweeted: 'And he denied any association with RSS! Now whom do we believe Facts with Picture and the claim of RSS or Anna? I am again proved right.' His party colleague and union minister Beni Prasad Verma joined the tirade against Hazare, saying he was an 'RSS agent' and 'army deserter'. Congress spokesperson Raashid Alvi said that Anna should come clean on his links with the RSS. 'Which ideology Anna follows is his personal decision. But there should be some honesty about it, people have the right to know what your ideology is. People must know,' Alvi said. But Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal rejected the allegations, saying Hazare was 'an agent of the country'. 'Anna is an agent of our country. When they (government) don't have anything to say, they say these things...Why do they not pass Jan Lokpal bill, why do they want to keep CBI in their hands,' Kejriwal said, adding that the Congress wanted to divert the attention of people. Another Hazare associate Kiran Bedi tweeted: 'Does sharing of the dais make one each other's agent? Next time shud one sit alone? When two persons share a dais do they become each others agents? (sic)' Hazare is slated to start a three-day fast in Mumbai from Tuesday to press for a stong Lokpal bill. His fast will coincide with the expected debate in parliament on the long-pending anti-corruption legislation. Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said Congress was raising irrelevant issues. 'The Congress has lost its mind. And it is because of their frustration that they are talking rubbish and asking inane questions which need not be answered,' Javadekar said. 'Nanaji was a great patriot and activist. All parties had good relations with him. Who made this allegation? Digvijay Singh? He also has many pictures with Nanaji,' Javadekar added.
The above is from Silicon India.
It shows the desperation of the Congress party when it is clutching at every straw to derail Anna's agitation by any means fair or foul.
They first tried Manish Tewari but that failed. Now they are trying to resurrect all those allegations through their ally Sharad Pawar who himself is steeped in corruption charges.
They used the income tax department to send a notice to Arvind Kejriwal for some loan which they and everyone else had forgotten for a certain sum which is normally waived. However that loan amount was paid by Kejriwal's friends with a covering note to the PM to not harass the friends who had given him the interest free loan.
Systematically they have tried to harass Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan but the people have seen through the congress game and stick with Anna.
This morning's paper I saw Vijay Mallya commenting that with five people and a lakh of people Anna is challeging elected representatives.
These lakh of people are just the tip of the iceberg.
If he just cares to put down his drinks he would see that like an iceberg, the other 90% support is under the water. If that 90% too have to come out he and other politicians and capitalist would not be alive. With revolution in the air all around our elected leaders are still not seeing the writing on the wall
The above is from Silicon India.
It shows the desperation of the Congress party when it is clutching at every straw to derail Anna's agitation by any means fair or foul.
They first tried Manish Tewari but that failed. Now they are trying to resurrect all those allegations through their ally Sharad Pawar who himself is steeped in corruption charges.
They used the income tax department to send a notice to Arvind Kejriwal for some loan which they and everyone else had forgotten for a certain sum which is normally waived. However that loan amount was paid by Kejriwal's friends with a covering note to the PM to not harass the friends who had given him the interest free loan.
Systematically they have tried to harass Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan but the people have seen through the congress game and stick with Anna.
This morning's paper I saw Vijay Mallya commenting that with five people and a lakh of people Anna is challeging elected representatives.
These lakh of people are just the tip of the iceberg.
If he just cares to put down his drinks he would see that like an iceberg, the other 90% support is under the water. If that 90% too have to come out he and other politicians and capitalist would not be alive. With revolution in the air all around our elected leaders are still not seeing the writing on the wall
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Team Anna gets a lesson in democracy
Mumbai, Dec. 23: The judiciary today spoke up for the legislature and the democratic process in a far more full-throated and cogent manner than what the executive and Parliament have managed in recent months.
“How is the country’s interest involved? We are a democratic set-up. We have elected a government. Wouldn’t our intervention interfere in the functioning of Parliament?” a two-judge bench of Bombay High Court asked a petitioner who wanted rent on a ground waived so that Anna Hazare can sit on a three-day fast against the Lokpal bill tabled in the House yesterday.
The bench of Justices P.B. Majmudar and Mridula Bhatkar shot off question after question touching upon the fundamental principles of lawmaking, democratic responsibilities and corrective avenues, the supremacy of Parliament, the use of sweeping phrases like public interest and the rights of citizens who do not want to take part in protest programmes. (See chart above)
Displaying striking clarity and logic that seem to often desert the government, the court said: “We can’t allow parallel canvassing when Parliament is seized with debate on the bill. You can propagate the bill sitting at home. Till now, the bill has not been passed. No one knows what form and what features it will have. Is public debate permissible at this stage?”
The questions were all the more striking as they came from the judiciary, which has been giving several anxious moments to the executive over the past few months.
At the root of the dispute was an issue far less profound than constitutional propriety but a habit as rampant as corruption: seeking discounts on assets owned by the public.
Supporters of Hazare had approached the court to get the rent waived for the ground owned by the state-run Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The court not only disallowed the freebie but also raised the larger questions that — had they come from any other platform — would be termed “heresy” in the current atmosphere of drowning out dissent in disdain.
Not that some muted potshots were not taken. Without explicitly mentioning the high court order, film-maker Shekar Kapur tweeted: “Legal tech objections to Anna movement remind me of how British responded to Gandhian movements.”
“If Anna took d streets like Gandhi did in Dandi March, India would come 2 a stop as millions will march w/him,” another tweet from the same handle said.
That forecast — or implied threat — is unlikely to go wrong. Already, more than 33,000 people, including 378 from Calcutta till 9.30pm, have registered themselves to take part in a jail bharo movement that will start a day after Hazare’s three-day fast ends on December 29. It will be a cakewalk for Team Anna to fill the 50,000-capacity MMRDA ground for which it has agreed to pay now.
For seeking the waiver, Team Anna had cited another excuse often misused by many: “national interest”. To which the court asked: “How is the country’s interest involved?”
Team Anna said the money (over Rs 13 lakh), which was deposited with the officials in the evening, would be raised through donations payable by cheques and demand drafts.
Team Anna later conceded that it was a mistake for the group to have approached the court for a waiver or a discount but did not comment on the larger observations. Hazare said he would have dissuaded his supporters if they had sought his advice.
The above is from the Telegraph.
Since the paper is always pro-Congress, it has jumped on this opportunity to shore up the Congress and discredit Anna's agitation which it has been doing with unfailing regularity ever sice Anna started agitating.
I beg to differ from the views expressed by the honourable judges Justices P.B. Majmudar and Mridula Bhatkar.
What the honourable judges fail to grasp is that the crooks are being made to sit in judgement as to whether they should be allow to continue all the crimes they are committing.
If dawn shows the day, then the way the debate is taking place in Parliament with Lalu Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav leading the way, the Bill is going to be watered down to nothing.
Hence, this agitation is necessary to keep the pressures on the MPs that if they do not pass what the general mass of the population wants then they better watch out.
The present lot of MPs who represent us do not represent the voice of the people.
As far as being elected by the people is concerned, our MPs get elected with hardly 10% of the votes of the electorate in any constituency. 50% of the people do not vote as they know that all the candidates are crooks. The balance 50% is divided between the different candidates.
So how can MPs be considered to represent the people.
Anna and his group, although not elected, are actually representing the voice of the people.
People are voluntarily going to their rally, spending money from their own pockets and even giving donations at site.
In any political rally, people are paid money and other incentives or threatened to attend the rally.
“How is the country’s interest involved? We are a democratic set-up. We have elected a government. Wouldn’t our intervention interfere in the functioning of Parliament?” a two-judge bench of Bombay High Court asked a petitioner who wanted rent on a ground waived so that Anna Hazare can sit on a three-day fast against the Lokpal bill tabled in the House yesterday.
The bench of Justices P.B. Majmudar and Mridula Bhatkar shot off question after question touching upon the fundamental principles of lawmaking, democratic responsibilities and corrective avenues, the supremacy of Parliament, the use of sweeping phrases like public interest and the rights of citizens who do not want to take part in protest programmes. (See chart above)
Displaying striking clarity and logic that seem to often desert the government, the court said: “We can’t allow parallel canvassing when Parliament is seized with debate on the bill. You can propagate the bill sitting at home. Till now, the bill has not been passed. No one knows what form and what features it will have. Is public debate permissible at this stage?”
The questions were all the more striking as they came from the judiciary, which has been giving several anxious moments to the executive over the past few months.
At the root of the dispute was an issue far less profound than constitutional propriety but a habit as rampant as corruption: seeking discounts on assets owned by the public.
Supporters of Hazare had approached the court to get the rent waived for the ground owned by the state-run Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The court not only disallowed the freebie but also raised the larger questions that — had they come from any other platform — would be termed “heresy” in the current atmosphere of drowning out dissent in disdain.
Not that some muted potshots were not taken. Without explicitly mentioning the high court order, film-maker Shekar Kapur tweeted: “Legal tech objections to Anna movement remind me of how British responded to Gandhian movements.”
“If Anna took d streets like Gandhi did in Dandi March, India would come 2 a stop as millions will march w/him,” another tweet from the same handle said.
That forecast — or implied threat — is unlikely to go wrong. Already, more than 33,000 people, including 378 from Calcutta till 9.30pm, have registered themselves to take part in a jail bharo movement that will start a day after Hazare’s three-day fast ends on December 29. It will be a cakewalk for Team Anna to fill the 50,000-capacity MMRDA ground for which it has agreed to pay now.
For seeking the waiver, Team Anna had cited another excuse often misused by many: “national interest”. To which the court asked: “How is the country’s interest involved?”
Team Anna said the money (over Rs 13 lakh), which was deposited with the officials in the evening, would be raised through donations payable by cheques and demand drafts.
Team Anna later conceded that it was a mistake for the group to have approached the court for a waiver or a discount but did not comment on the larger observations. Hazare said he would have dissuaded his supporters if they had sought his advice.
The above is from the Telegraph.
Since the paper is always pro-Congress, it has jumped on this opportunity to shore up the Congress and discredit Anna's agitation which it has been doing with unfailing regularity ever sice Anna started agitating.
I beg to differ from the views expressed by the honourable judges Justices P.B. Majmudar and Mridula Bhatkar.
What the honourable judges fail to grasp is that the crooks are being made to sit in judgement as to whether they should be allow to continue all the crimes they are committing.
If dawn shows the day, then the way the debate is taking place in Parliament with Lalu Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav leading the way, the Bill is going to be watered down to nothing.
Hence, this agitation is necessary to keep the pressures on the MPs that if they do not pass what the general mass of the population wants then they better watch out.
The present lot of MPs who represent us do not represent the voice of the people.
As far as being elected by the people is concerned, our MPs get elected with hardly 10% of the votes of the electorate in any constituency. 50% of the people do not vote as they know that all the candidates are crooks. The balance 50% is divided between the different candidates.
So how can MPs be considered to represent the people.
Anna and his group, although not elected, are actually representing the voice of the people.
People are voluntarily going to their rally, spending money from their own pockets and even giving donations at site.
In any political rally, people are paid money and other incentives or threatened to attend the rally.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
21 months after bees flew over Maya, official says still feeling sting
There are official files about this — the ‘Madhumakkhi Prakaran’, caused by ‘Apis darseta’, on March 15, 2010. Records show the honeybees concerned actually didn’t bite anyone that day. However, 21 months later, one man continues to feel the sting: apiculturist Sushil Kumar Mishra, who probed the surprise appearance of the swarm of bees at Chief Minister Mayawati’s rally in Lucknow, and who has been harassed, he says, since he concluded there was no conspiracy in it.
Mishra was at the time posted in the Horticulture Directorate at Lucknow. Along with then district horticulture officer S P Chauhan, he submitted a report saying the bees were of the species Apis darseta, that they were known to migrate in swarms upto 20 to 25 km away between February and April, and that them being at Mayawati’s rally was purely a natural phenomenon.
While Chauhan died some time later, Mishra claims his victimisation continues. He has been suspended once, posted without a vacancy, and now has no idea from where he is going to draw his next salary.
The bees had invaded the rally being held at Ramabai Ambedkar ground, hovered over the stage, and settled down inside the stone ceiling without harming anyone. Suspecting a “conspiracy” by rivals by lighting a fire under a nearby beehive, the Mayawati government had ordered an inquiry.
“Since I was the lone apiculturist posted at the Horticulture Directorate, S P Chauhan asked for my help,” Mishra recalled.
When they examined the spot the next day, they found no remains or possibility of a beehive being where a fire had been seen. After concluding that the bees that had come to the rally were apis darseta, a report was sent to the Chief Minister’s Office. Soon, Mishra says, his ordeal began.
The then principal secretary of Horticulture and Food Processing issued him a show-cause notice on March 25, objecting to him submitting the report to district-level officers without bringing it to his notice (though he officially wasn’t required to).
The next day, Mishra accompanied another probe team to the rally ground, along with the District Magistrate and DIG. Still, on March 31, he was transferred to Saharanpur as senior assistant researcher (entomology) at a horticulture centre, a post that did not exist. On April 3, the joint director of the centre informed the Horticulture Directorate that Mishra would face problems getting his salary.
Six days later, special secretary of Horticulture wrote to the director, alleging there were complaints that Mishra was not working for the benefit of farmers. On May 12, Mishra was suspended.
However, on May 20, the government revoked his suspension and five days later, the department said he could draw his salary from Lucknow. Perhaps for this reason, on June 16, while still posted at Saharanpur, Mishra was asked to look after the work of apiculturist at Lucknow.
However, on November 16, 2011, the Horticulture Directorate asked him to withdraw his salary from his place of posting at Saharanpur. The joint director at Saharanpur told the authorities again that there was no vacant post and, therefore, Mishra could not be paid. On December 16, Mishra was relieved of the additional responsibilities he had been given in Lucknow.
The above action by the woman does not surprise anyone.
She is mentally unstable and suspects a conspiracy in everything.
She also gets food tasters to taste everything before she eats it as she fears she may be poisoned.
I suppose Mishra must be wishing that the recent survey relegating the BSP to third place comes out true.
Mishra was at the time posted in the Horticulture Directorate at Lucknow. Along with then district horticulture officer S P Chauhan, he submitted a report saying the bees were of the species Apis darseta, that they were known to migrate in swarms upto 20 to 25 km away between February and April, and that them being at Mayawati’s rally was purely a natural phenomenon.
While Chauhan died some time later, Mishra claims his victimisation continues. He has been suspended once, posted without a vacancy, and now has no idea from where he is going to draw his next salary.
The bees had invaded the rally being held at Ramabai Ambedkar ground, hovered over the stage, and settled down inside the stone ceiling without harming anyone. Suspecting a “conspiracy” by rivals by lighting a fire under a nearby beehive, the Mayawati government had ordered an inquiry.
“Since I was the lone apiculturist posted at the Horticulture Directorate, S P Chauhan asked for my help,” Mishra recalled.
When they examined the spot the next day, they found no remains or possibility of a beehive being where a fire had been seen. After concluding that the bees that had come to the rally were apis darseta, a report was sent to the Chief Minister’s Office. Soon, Mishra says, his ordeal began.
The then principal secretary of Horticulture and Food Processing issued him a show-cause notice on March 25, objecting to him submitting the report to district-level officers without bringing it to his notice (though he officially wasn’t required to).
The next day, Mishra accompanied another probe team to the rally ground, along with the District Magistrate and DIG. Still, on March 31, he was transferred to Saharanpur as senior assistant researcher (entomology) at a horticulture centre, a post that did not exist. On April 3, the joint director of the centre informed the Horticulture Directorate that Mishra would face problems getting his salary.
Six days later, special secretary of Horticulture wrote to the director, alleging there were complaints that Mishra was not working for the benefit of farmers. On May 12, Mishra was suspended.
However, on May 20, the government revoked his suspension and five days later, the department said he could draw his salary from Lucknow. Perhaps for this reason, on June 16, while still posted at Saharanpur, Mishra was asked to look after the work of apiculturist at Lucknow.
However, on November 16, 2011, the Horticulture Directorate asked him to withdraw his salary from his place of posting at Saharanpur. The joint director at Saharanpur told the authorities again that there was no vacant post and, therefore, Mishra could not be paid. On December 16, Mishra was relieved of the additional responsibilities he had been given in Lucknow.
The above action by the woman does not surprise anyone.
She is mentally unstable and suspects a conspiracy in everything.
She also gets food tasters to taste everything before she eats it as she fears she may be poisoned.
I suppose Mishra must be wishing that the recent survey relegating the BSP to third place comes out true.
How useful are CCTVs? A first hand experience
My son, Jay had gone to the Lake Town Branch of Axis Bank to deposit some cash and cheques.
While filling in the deposit slip he had kept his Cellphone on the counter to jot down the account number from the phone. While writing he just turned to ask a query and when he turned around, the cellphone was missing.
Only person at that time was the security guard of the bank and one other customer.
He complained to the bank but they exclaimed that nobody in the bank had taken it and wouldn't know if a customer may have taken it. jay tried tracing the phone by calling it, but by that time the battery was already taken off and hence the phone was not reachable. Dejected at losing the phone, jay came back home after finishing his regular banking activity.
On listening to the story, my wife suddenly suggested that the bank should definitely have CCTV installed and the theft should have been captured on the footage. I advised him to register a complaint with the local police.
He went back and asked the bank officials to share the CCTV footage for the specific period, to which the bank officials denied any co-operation. However, when he managed to coax them with a threat to involve the police. The bank officials however said that they did not know how to operate the CCTV and hence Jay would have to wait for a day to get the result. Jay submitted a written complaint to the bank officials requesting co-operation. The bank officials said that they would get back to him by two days. It was apparent, that the bank officials wanted to ascertain that none of their staff is involved in the act.
Within 4 hours itself, he received a call from the bank stating that someone had returned the phone back.
I am happy that my son got back his phone. But a few questions worry me.
1) When the bank was covered with CCTV why didn't the suggestion come from the bank to have a look at the CCTV footage?
2) When my approached the bank why were they recalcitrant in sharing the footage giving one excuse or another about the CCTV was outsourced and it would take two days to get a report?
3) How did the bank then get back the phone within 4 hours and inform my son to call on them the next day at 11.00 am and collect the phone?
4) What action have they taken on the person who pilfered the phone?
The matter should not be taken lightly.If one of their employees was involved, as I suspect he should be charge-sheeted and sacked.
Theft is a serious offence as per Standing Orders of any organisation, especially Banks where large sums of money are involved.
While filling in the deposit slip he had kept his Cellphone on the counter to jot down the account number from the phone. While writing he just turned to ask a query and when he turned around, the cellphone was missing.
Only person at that time was the security guard of the bank and one other customer.
He complained to the bank but they exclaimed that nobody in the bank had taken it and wouldn't know if a customer may have taken it. jay tried tracing the phone by calling it, but by that time the battery was already taken off and hence the phone was not reachable. Dejected at losing the phone, jay came back home after finishing his regular banking activity.
On listening to the story, my wife suddenly suggested that the bank should definitely have CCTV installed and the theft should have been captured on the footage. I advised him to register a complaint with the local police.
He went back and asked the bank officials to share the CCTV footage for the specific period, to which the bank officials denied any co-operation. However, when he managed to coax them with a threat to involve the police. The bank officials however said that they did not know how to operate the CCTV and hence Jay would have to wait for a day to get the result. Jay submitted a written complaint to the bank officials requesting co-operation. The bank officials said that they would get back to him by two days. It was apparent, that the bank officials wanted to ascertain that none of their staff is involved in the act.
Within 4 hours itself, he received a call from the bank stating that someone had returned the phone back.
I am happy that my son got back his phone. But a few questions worry me.
1) When the bank was covered with CCTV why didn't the suggestion come from the bank to have a look at the CCTV footage?
2) When my approached the bank why were they recalcitrant in sharing the footage giving one excuse or another about the CCTV was outsourced and it would take two days to get a report?
3) How did the bank then get back the phone within 4 hours and inform my son to call on them the next day at 11.00 am and collect the phone?
4) What action have they taken on the person who pilfered the phone?
The matter should not be taken lightly.If one of their employees was involved, as I suspect he should be charge-sheeted and sacked.
Theft is a serious offence as per Standing Orders of any organisation, especially Banks where large sums of money are involved.
Lesson 1 is easy to understand, Lesson 2 really make its simple
If anyone is having trouble understanding your national debt, then these two lessons will bring you up to speed ! (for the sake of your kids & grandkids)
Why the U.S. was downgraded:
• U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000
Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:
• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• New debt on the credit card: $16,500
• Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
• Total budget cuts: $385
Got it?
OK now Lesson # 2:
Here's another way to look at the Debt Ceiling:
Let's say, You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood....and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings.
What do you think you should do?
Raise the Ceilings, or
Pump out the sewage
Your Choice is coming November 2012
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
Why the U.S. was downgraded:
• U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000
Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:
• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• New debt on the credit card: $16,500
• Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
• Total budget cuts: $385
Got it?
OK now Lesson # 2:
Here's another way to look at the Debt Ceiling:
Let's say, You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood....and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings.
What do you think you should do?
Raise the Ceilings, or
Pump out the sewage
Your Choice is coming November 2012
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
Friday, December 23, 2011
The thumping irony
New Delhi, Dec. 22: The irony of political predicament beat a tattoo on the venerable desks of the Lok Sabha today.
The majority of members lustily thumped the piece of furniture before them whenever somebody attacked or ridiculed Team Anna, under whose pressure the Lokpal bill was introduced today though the government would not say so.
Almost all MPs, with the exception of BJP members, showed signs of unease with the haste in cobbling together the legislation and certain provisions in it. They cheered an incisively critical Lalu Prasad who claimed the mandate of "all MPs" to speak on their behalf.
Most senior leaders cutting across party lines, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, thumped the desk as and when any speaker spoke of Team Anna's attempt to dictate to Parliament.
But the government's formal response came neatly wrapped in a miserable irony as the leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee, confronted charges of "undue haste" and sought to take credit for tabling the Lokpal bill.
Asserting that there was no question of acting "under duress", he reminded the House that work on the bill started way back in April and the deadline was born out of the parliamentary commitment given to the nation.
However, even Mukherjee could not suppress his true feelings for long. He emphatically declared that laws were not made on the street and only the will of the majority in Parliament will decide the contours of Lokpal.
Responding to CPI's Gurdas Dasgupta who taunted Mukherjee for surrendering to Team Anna, the Congress veteran said: "Those who advise me to be strong should ask their leaders why they joined the agitators' dharna manch. They should advise their leaders to be strong, not me." CPI leader A.B. Bardhan, along with CPM's Brinda Karat and some NDA leaders, had gone to Anna's stage to debate Lokpal.
The majority of small parties firmly opposed the inclusion of the Prime Minister, evoking another round of frenzied applause from the treasury benches, which left few in doubt that the clause was added under duress despite claims to the contrary.
Strong sentiments like Lokpal weakening the institution of the Prime Minister, undermining the nation's prestige and creating perpetual concerns about stability drew loud cheers. Still, the Prime Minister has been included, no less ironical.
The government contested the contention of the leader of Opposition, Sushma Swaraj, that the bill be withdrawn because of unconstitutional provisions like reservation for minorities and violation of federal spirit. Mukherjee said Parliament should leave these issues for judicial interpretation.
While the Shiv Sena was the only party that rejected the very concept of Lokpal, parties like the Janata Dal (United), BJD, TDP, AIADMK, CPI and the CPM raised concerns about encroachment upon federalism because of a clause that requires states to set up Lokayuktas.
A fierce debate broke out as the government had deleted minorities from the quota list following the BJP's objection, which pointed out that the Constitution did not allow reservation on the basis of religion.
But parties like the SP, BSP, RJD and NDA ally JD(U) kicked up a storm, forcing the Congress core committee to revisit the subject and restore the minority quota through corrigenda which curiously corrected 46 errors ' another sign of the haste.
The BJP's Yashwant Sinha objected to an amendment being passed off as a correction but Mukherjee shrugged it off, pointing out the minority provision figured in the original bill.
The bill was finally introduced by minister of state for personnel and training V. Narayansamy and will be taken up for discussion and passage on December 27. After the Lok Sabha passes it, the Rajya Sabha will take it up.
Although the government is hoping that the bill will be passed before December 29, many members expressed doubts and wondered what would happen if the parties did not issue whips.
When Lalu Prasad dared Mukherjee not to issue a whip, he retorted: "Who is issuing whips?" But whips will be issued by the ruling parties as well as others.
A related Constitution amendment bill to grant the proposed ombudsman a constitutional status was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Some Congress leaders expressed surprise at Swaraj's strong opposition to the introduction of the bill and wondered whether the BJP planned to scuttle the passage on the ground that it was "unconstitutional and patently illegal".
Sushma said the language, "not less than 50 per cent" reservation of the Lokpal members, is unconstitutional as this would mean five of the nine slots being reserved whereas several Supreme Court orders laid down that the quota limit would not exceed 50 per cent.
It was known long ago that these crooks who call themselves MPs would not allow easy passage of the Lokpal bill.
How could they?
It would be asking them to give up their licence to loot the country.
It is going to be a long drawn out battle.
I think Anna will have to undertake his fast once again.
The MPs are making a mockery of the assurance they themselves had earlier given to Anna.
With hardly 10% of the votes of a constituency, they think it gives them the licence to do what they want, overriding the feelings of the people.
An amendment to the constitution is urgently required which will allow an MP to be elected only after he gets 5o% of the votes of a constituency, whether it be second or third or fourth preference votes.
Further, there should be provision for rejection of all candidates if we find none of the scums suitable.
In such case the President should appoint suitable candidates to represent that constituency.
The majority of members lustily thumped the piece of furniture before them whenever somebody attacked or ridiculed Team Anna, under whose pressure the Lokpal bill was introduced today though the government would not say so.
Almost all MPs, with the exception of BJP members, showed signs of unease with the haste in cobbling together the legislation and certain provisions in it. They cheered an incisively critical Lalu Prasad who claimed the mandate of "all MPs" to speak on their behalf.
Most senior leaders cutting across party lines, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, thumped the desk as and when any speaker spoke of Team Anna's attempt to dictate to Parliament.
But the government's formal response came neatly wrapped in a miserable irony as the leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee, confronted charges of "undue haste" and sought to take credit for tabling the Lokpal bill.
Asserting that there was no question of acting "under duress", he reminded the House that work on the bill started way back in April and the deadline was born out of the parliamentary commitment given to the nation.
However, even Mukherjee could not suppress his true feelings for long. He emphatically declared that laws were not made on the street and only the will of the majority in Parliament will decide the contours of Lokpal.
Responding to CPI's Gurdas Dasgupta who taunted Mukherjee for surrendering to Team Anna, the Congress veteran said: "Those who advise me to be strong should ask their leaders why they joined the agitators' dharna manch. They should advise their leaders to be strong, not me." CPI leader A.B. Bardhan, along with CPM's Brinda Karat and some NDA leaders, had gone to Anna's stage to debate Lokpal.
The majority of small parties firmly opposed the inclusion of the Prime Minister, evoking another round of frenzied applause from the treasury benches, which left few in doubt that the clause was added under duress despite claims to the contrary.
Strong sentiments like Lokpal weakening the institution of the Prime Minister, undermining the nation's prestige and creating perpetual concerns about stability drew loud cheers. Still, the Prime Minister has been included, no less ironical.
The government contested the contention of the leader of Opposition, Sushma Swaraj, that the bill be withdrawn because of unconstitutional provisions like reservation for minorities and violation of federal spirit. Mukherjee said Parliament should leave these issues for judicial interpretation.
While the Shiv Sena was the only party that rejected the very concept of Lokpal, parties like the Janata Dal (United), BJD, TDP, AIADMK, CPI and the CPM raised concerns about encroachment upon federalism because of a clause that requires states to set up Lokayuktas.
A fierce debate broke out as the government had deleted minorities from the quota list following the BJP's objection, which pointed out that the Constitution did not allow reservation on the basis of religion.
But parties like the SP, BSP, RJD and NDA ally JD(U) kicked up a storm, forcing the Congress core committee to revisit the subject and restore the minority quota through corrigenda which curiously corrected 46 errors ' another sign of the haste.
The BJP's Yashwant Sinha objected to an amendment being passed off as a correction but Mukherjee shrugged it off, pointing out the minority provision figured in the original bill.
The bill was finally introduced by minister of state for personnel and training V. Narayansamy and will be taken up for discussion and passage on December 27. After the Lok Sabha passes it, the Rajya Sabha will take it up.
Although the government is hoping that the bill will be passed before December 29, many members expressed doubts and wondered what would happen if the parties did not issue whips.
When Lalu Prasad dared Mukherjee not to issue a whip, he retorted: "Who is issuing whips?" But whips will be issued by the ruling parties as well as others.
A related Constitution amendment bill to grant the proposed ombudsman a constitutional status was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Some Congress leaders expressed surprise at Swaraj's strong opposition to the introduction of the bill and wondered whether the BJP planned to scuttle the passage on the ground that it was "unconstitutional and patently illegal".
Sushma said the language, "not less than 50 per cent" reservation of the Lokpal members, is unconstitutional as this would mean five of the nine slots being reserved whereas several Supreme Court orders laid down that the quota limit would not exceed 50 per cent.
It was known long ago that these crooks who call themselves MPs would not allow easy passage of the Lokpal bill.
How could they?
It would be asking them to give up their licence to loot the country.
It is going to be a long drawn out battle.
I think Anna will have to undertake his fast once again.
The MPs are making a mockery of the assurance they themselves had earlier given to Anna.
With hardly 10% of the votes of a constituency, they think it gives them the licence to do what they want, overriding the feelings of the people.
An amendment to the constitution is urgently required which will allow an MP to be elected only after he gets 5o% of the votes of a constituency, whether it be second or third or fourth preference votes.
Further, there should be provision for rejection of all candidates if we find none of the scums suitable.
In such case the President should appoint suitable candidates to represent that constituency.
One Good deed deserves another
His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.
There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman.
'You saved my son's life.'
'No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.
'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.
'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.'
And that he did.
Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London , and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted
Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.
What saved his life this time? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman?
Lord Randolph Churchill
… His son's name?
Sir Winston Churchill.
Someone once said: What goes around comes around.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like its Heaven on Earth.
Sent by Prakash Bhartia.
It is the law of the Universe of Karma.
If you do a godd deed it is sure to come back to, multiplied many times.
On the other hand, if you do a bad deed, it too is going to come back to you, multiplied many times, to haunt you or your children or grand children.
The same goes for words which you may utter.
There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman.
'You saved my son's life.'
'No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.
'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.
'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.'
And that he did.
Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London , and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted
Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.
What saved his life this time? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman?
Lord Randolph Churchill
… His son's name?
Sir Winston Churchill.
Someone once said: What goes around comes around.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like its Heaven on Earth.
Sent by Prakash Bhartia.
It is the law of the Universe of Karma.
If you do a godd deed it is sure to come back to, multiplied many times.
On the other hand, if you do a bad deed, it too is going to come back to you, multiplied many times, to haunt you or your children or grand children.
The same goes for words which you may utter.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
This is what I wish for 2012.
Winds of Change....
Please forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list;
in turn ask each of them to do likewise.
In three days, most people in India will have this message. This is one idea that really should be passed
around.
_*Reform Act of 2011*_
1. No Tenure / No Pension.
Parliamentarians collect a salary while in office but should not receive any pay when they're out of office.
2. Parliamentarians should purchase their own retirement plans, just as all Indians do.
3. Parliamentarians should no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Their pay should be linked to the CPI or 3%, whichever is lower.
4. Parliamentarians should lose their current health care system and participate in the same health care system as the Indian people.
5. Parliamentarians should equally abide by all laws they impose on the Indian people.
6. All contracts with past and present Parliamentarians should be void effective 1/1/12. The Indian people did not make this contract with them. Parliamentarians made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Parliament is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in India) to receive the message. Don't you think it's time?
THIS IS HOW YOU FIX Parliamentarians !
I do hope you agree with me. Happy New Year.
The above was posted by Suryajyoti Sengupta on FB.
I really liked it and am posting it.
I will also be mailing it to all our boys and also to all our MPs.
Please forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list;
in turn ask each of them to do likewise.
In three days, most people in India will have this message. This is one idea that really should be passed
around.
_*Reform Act of 2011*_
1. No Tenure / No Pension.
Parliamentarians collect a salary while in office but should not receive any pay when they're out of office.
2. Parliamentarians should purchase their own retirement plans, just as all Indians do.
3. Parliamentarians should no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Their pay should be linked to the CPI or 3%, whichever is lower.
4. Parliamentarians should lose their current health care system and participate in the same health care system as the Indian people.
5. Parliamentarians should equally abide by all laws they impose on the Indian people.
6. All contracts with past and present Parliamentarians should be void effective 1/1/12. The Indian people did not make this contract with them. Parliamentarians made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Parliament is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in India) to receive the message. Don't you think it's time?
THIS IS HOW YOU FIX Parliamentarians !
I do hope you agree with me. Happy New Year.
The above was posted by Suryajyoti Sengupta on FB.
I really liked it and am posting it.
I will also be mailing it to all our boys and also to all our MPs.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
PRESS STATEMENT by Shanti Bhushan
WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT GOING BACK ON THE KEY PROVISIONOF ITS OWN LOKPAL BILL 2011.
All right thinking people in the country will have to ponder over this mystery.The Govt.’ own Lokpal Bill 2011, in section 12(1) provided as follows:-
“12(1) Not withstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the Lokpal shall constitute an investigating wing for the purpose of conducting investigation of any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant, punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.”
It now appears that the Government is developing cold feet on this key provision i.e.Section 12 giving the function of investigation to an independent Lokpal.Everybody knows that “INVESTIGATION” is the real function, which alone can get apublic servant punished.Till now these investigation agencies have been the C.B.I. at the centre and the AntCorruption Bureau of the state police in the states. These have been under the administrativecontrol of the Governments. The appointments, promotions, transfers and disciplinary actionagainst the police officers of these organizations were made by the Government. TheGovernments have been shielding these corrupt officers and corruption has been growing
tomonumental proportions.This was the reason, why a Lokpal Authority which was independent of thegovernment was needed, which alone could have put a stop to this menace
of growingcorruption.Evidently the Government and the politicians know this and realize that if the power of investigation is conferred on an independent Lokpal, their coffers would start drying up.Nothing else can explain the Government‘volte face on Sec. of 12 its own Lokpal bill2011.(
SHANTI BHUSHAN)20.12.2011
The government has started showing its true colours.
They have always been assuring that they will come out with a strong Lokpal bill but when it comes to action it develops cold feet.
Is it any surprise that Anna is always saying the the Congress is the main culprit.
Let the government put forward the bill as desired by Anna. If then the opposition does not support it, then we shall know who is to blame.
But now, it appears truly that the Congress is the main culprit and we shall all vote against the Congress party
All right thinking people in the country will have to ponder over this mystery.The Govt.’ own Lokpal Bill 2011, in section 12(1) provided as follows:-
“12(1) Not withstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the Lokpal shall constitute an investigating wing for the purpose of conducting investigation of any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant, punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.”
It now appears that the Government is developing cold feet on this key provision i.e.Section 12 giving the function of investigation to an independent Lokpal.Everybody knows that “INVESTIGATION” is the real function, which alone can get apublic servant punished.Till now these investigation agencies have been the C.B.I. at the centre and the AntCorruption Bureau of the state police in the states. These have been under the administrativecontrol of the Governments. The appointments, promotions, transfers and disciplinary actionagainst the police officers of these organizations were made by the Government. TheGovernments have been shielding these corrupt officers and corruption has been growing
tomonumental proportions.This was the reason, why a Lokpal Authority which was independent of thegovernment was needed, which alone could have put a stop to this menace
of growingcorruption.Evidently the Government and the politicians know this and realize that if the power of investigation is conferred on an independent Lokpal, their coffers would start drying up.Nothing else can explain the Government‘volte face on Sec. of 12 its own Lokpal bill2011.(
SHANTI BHUSHAN)20.12.2011
The government has started showing its true colours.
They have always been assuring that they will come out with a strong Lokpal bill but when it comes to action it develops cold feet.
Is it any surprise that Anna is always saying the the Congress is the main culprit.
Let the government put forward the bill as desired by Anna. If then the opposition does not support it, then we shall know who is to blame.
But now, it appears truly that the Congress is the main culprit and we shall all vote against the Congress party
Food security: Sonia's NAC should learn from Modi's Gujarat
If food security is as much about stoking an agricultural revolution as about redistributing available food to the poor, Gujarat is the place to seek answers from.
Gujarat is the one state in India that has consistently outperformed the rest of India in terms of agricultural production – and a large portion of this credit goes to Narendra Modi's long-term vision.
Unlike industry – where Gujarat has always had an edge – agriculture is a freshly-minted success story.
This is not the view of Modi's acolytes or of BJP partisans, but the Planning Commission, which is run by the PM's pal Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
According to a report in Business Standard, a Planning Commission working group set up to suggest booster shots for agriculture during the 12th plan – which starts next April – said that Gujarat and Chhattisgarh were the states to emulate.
In the period from 1999-00 to 2008-09, Gujarat reported a huge 11.5 percent annual average growth in agriculture (at 1999-00 prices). This dwarfs the national average of 3.5 percent during the five-year period 2007-12 and just 2.2 percent in 2002-07.
Should one credit Modi for this miracle? Apparently, so. For, the real change happened after 2002 – the year after Modi took over. Says the Planning Commission working group: “A closer examination of the data in respect of Gujarat shows that the state made remarkable increase in raising agriculture production after 2002-03.”
The Planning Commission isn't the only one impressed with agriculture's progress in Gujarat. Another fan of Modi's achievements is Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the government of India and honorary professor at Icrier in Delhi.
In an article titled Agriculture: be like Gujarat, Acharya gives six reasons why the state cracked the agricultural jinx.
Remember, Gujarat is not a state blessed with lots of irrigated land. Most of its land is semi-arid, and getting any crop out of it is a big effort.
So what did Modi do right? Six things, principally.
First, he focused on sustained water conservation and management programmes. Gujarat is one of the biggest users of drip irrigation in India today, and built many check dams, small ponds and minor irrigation sources. In 2008, Gujarat had 113,738 check dams and 240,199 little ponds dotting the state.
Second, the state launched a massive and well-coordinated extension effort – telling farmers what to grow, when to grow, how to grow and how to maximise output.
Third, Modi completely overhauled rural power supply. Even though supplies are subsidised, farmers get assured power. This contrasts with other states that offer free power, but irregularly and unpredictably.
Four, says Shankar Acharya, agriculture's allied sectors – like livestock development – were given a boost. This ensured steady and sustainable growth in rural incomes – a prerequisite for comprehensive food security.
Five, Modi also promoted non-food crops and horticulture, Bt cotton, castor, and isabgol. Contrast this with the endless debates we now have about the dangers – or otherwise — GM seeds.
Six, Gujarat made huge investments in infrastructure – especially rural roads, electricity and ports.
A report by IIM professors Ravindra Dholakia and Samar Datta says it all in one paragraph.
“The phenomenon of high agricultural growth in Gujarat is not confined only to Bt cotton but is widely experienced in several sub-sectors, including animal husbandry, milk and egg production, fruit and vegetable production, and high value commercial crops…All this in the last decade or so has been achieved through massive effort on rain water harvesting through check dams, farm ponds, recharging of wells, etc; providing stable electricity for agriculture on a regular basis to all villages; market-oriented reforms; opening of agricultural exports; provision of supportive infrastructure like ports, linking roads, storage, internet and telecom facilities at village level; and, significant effort on agricultural extension by covering a large number of farmers with soil health cards, advice on nutrients, pesticides, crop selection, etc.”
The big question: is the Gujarat model replicable? Dholakia and Datta answer with an emphatic yes.
Clearly, there is no short-cut to food security. We do not know whether Gujarat has been as successful in making food available to it poor as it has been in raising rural incomes and agriculture. But it has got at least one part of the food security equation right.
Maybe the National Advisory Council of Sonia Gandhi would be better off taking a train to Gujarat to find out how key elements of food security – an agricultural revolution, among them – can be put in place.
The above is from http://www.firstpost.com/economy/modis-gujarat-shows-the-way-to-better-food-security-160797.html
Gujarat is the one state in India that has consistently outperformed the rest of India in terms of agricultural production – and a large portion of this credit goes to Narendra Modi's long-term vision.
Unlike industry – where Gujarat has always had an edge – agriculture is a freshly-minted success story.
This is not the view of Modi's acolytes or of BJP partisans, but the Planning Commission, which is run by the PM's pal Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
According to a report in Business Standard, a Planning Commission working group set up to suggest booster shots for agriculture during the 12th plan – which starts next April – said that Gujarat and Chhattisgarh were the states to emulate.
In the period from 1999-00 to 2008-09, Gujarat reported a huge 11.5 percent annual average growth in agriculture (at 1999-00 prices). This dwarfs the national average of 3.5 percent during the five-year period 2007-12 and just 2.2 percent in 2002-07.
Should one credit Modi for this miracle? Apparently, so. For, the real change happened after 2002 – the year after Modi took over. Says the Planning Commission working group: “A closer examination of the data in respect of Gujarat shows that the state made remarkable increase in raising agriculture production after 2002-03.”
The Planning Commission isn't the only one impressed with agriculture's progress in Gujarat. Another fan of Modi's achievements is Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the government of India and honorary professor at Icrier in Delhi.
In an article titled Agriculture: be like Gujarat, Acharya gives six reasons why the state cracked the agricultural jinx.
Remember, Gujarat is not a state blessed with lots of irrigated land. Most of its land is semi-arid, and getting any crop out of it is a big effort.
So what did Modi do right? Six things, principally.
First, he focused on sustained water conservation and management programmes. Gujarat is one of the biggest users of drip irrigation in India today, and built many check dams, small ponds and minor irrigation sources. In 2008, Gujarat had 113,738 check dams and 240,199 little ponds dotting the state.
Second, the state launched a massive and well-coordinated extension effort – telling farmers what to grow, when to grow, how to grow and how to maximise output.
Third, Modi completely overhauled rural power supply. Even though supplies are subsidised, farmers get assured power. This contrasts with other states that offer free power, but irregularly and unpredictably.
Four, says Shankar Acharya, agriculture's allied sectors – like livestock development – were given a boost. This ensured steady and sustainable growth in rural incomes – a prerequisite for comprehensive food security.
Five, Modi also promoted non-food crops and horticulture, Bt cotton, castor, and isabgol. Contrast this with the endless debates we now have about the dangers – or otherwise — GM seeds.
Six, Gujarat made huge investments in infrastructure – especially rural roads, electricity and ports.
A report by IIM professors Ravindra Dholakia and Samar Datta says it all in one paragraph.
“The phenomenon of high agricultural growth in Gujarat is not confined only to Bt cotton but is widely experienced in several sub-sectors, including animal husbandry, milk and egg production, fruit and vegetable production, and high value commercial crops…All this in the last decade or so has been achieved through massive effort on rain water harvesting through check dams, farm ponds, recharging of wells, etc; providing stable electricity for agriculture on a regular basis to all villages; market-oriented reforms; opening of agricultural exports; provision of supportive infrastructure like ports, linking roads, storage, internet and telecom facilities at village level; and, significant effort on agricultural extension by covering a large number of farmers with soil health cards, advice on nutrients, pesticides, crop selection, etc.”
The big question: is the Gujarat model replicable? Dholakia and Datta answer with an emphatic yes.
Clearly, there is no short-cut to food security. We do not know whether Gujarat has been as successful in making food available to it poor as it has been in raising rural incomes and agriculture. But it has got at least one part of the food security equation right.
Maybe the National Advisory Council of Sonia Gandhi would be better off taking a train to Gujarat to find out how key elements of food security – an agricultural revolution, among them – can be put in place.
The above is from http://www.firstpost.com/economy/modis-gujarat-shows-the-way-to-better-food-security-160797.html
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
AMRI director brought to court on a stretcher, sent to SSKM
Kolkata: Ailing AMRI director R S Agarwal was brought to court in an ambulance on Monday. With an oxygen mask strapped on and IV lines attached, he lay on a stretcher inside the ambulance outside Alipore court, prompting chief judicial magistrate Choudhury Hefazat Karim to walk out of the complex to check on him.
Seeing his condition, the magistrate sent the 66-year-old Agarwal to SSKM Hospital, where he was allotted a bed in the general ward. The prosecution had wanted police remand.
Agarwal, a co-founder of the Emami Group, has been suffering from unstable angina - a condition in which the heart doesn't get enough blood supply, leading to chest pain. He was admitted to BM Birla Heart Research Centre when placed under arrest on December 9 for the AMRI fire that killed 91 people.
On December 10, a magistrate remanded the other arrested AMRI directors in police custody and directed police to produce Agarwal when he is fit. At 3.30pm on Monday, Agarwal was brought out of the private hospital and produced before the magistrate though he complained of discomfort.
"Since the investigating agency has prayed for police custody, I thought it wise to see the accused by going outside the courtroom, where he was lying in an ambulance. I saw that the accused had an oxygen mask and his right hand was trembling. There was a crepe bandage on his left leg. He was not even in a position to speak. After observing his physical condition, I think it would not be proper to place him in police custody. Rather , he should be sent to SSKM Hospital for examination by medical experts," the magistrate said, adding that a medical board should be constituted, if necessary, to give a medical and clinical opinion about his health condition , and "how far his life is in danger" . The board is to submit a report to the court by Tuesday or Wednesday.
The magistrate directed that all care should be taken to protect Agarwal's life. "Let the accused be sent to SSKM under proper escort and the state will take all necessary measures to protect his life. After considering the report, the bail petition as well as prayer for police custody will be considered ," he said.
This is all faked.
The B M Birla doctors must be hand-in-glove with R S Agarwal as they are just as casual in treating their patients as AMRI and they know that they may be next on the list.
Anyone can be put under an oxygen mask and he can shake his hands to show they are trembling. By making sufficient noise, he can also show great pain. Our film and TV actors show it in sufficient quantities daily.
Let the courts not be fooled.
It is good that he has been sent to a general ward of SSKM. Let him know how ordinary people are treated in government hospitals. The courts should monitor so that the SSKM doctors are not influenced by R S Agarwal's wealth.
Seeing his condition, the magistrate sent the 66-year-old Agarwal to SSKM Hospital, where he was allotted a bed in the general ward. The prosecution had wanted police remand.
Agarwal, a co-founder of the Emami Group, has been suffering from unstable angina - a condition in which the heart doesn't get enough blood supply, leading to chest pain. He was admitted to BM Birla Heart Research Centre when placed under arrest on December 9 for the AMRI fire that killed 91 people.
On December 10, a magistrate remanded the other arrested AMRI directors in police custody and directed police to produce Agarwal when he is fit. At 3.30pm on Monday, Agarwal was brought out of the private hospital and produced before the magistrate though he complained of discomfort.
"Since the investigating agency has prayed for police custody, I thought it wise to see the accused by going outside the courtroom, where he was lying in an ambulance. I saw that the accused had an oxygen mask and his right hand was trembling. There was a crepe bandage on his left leg. He was not even in a position to speak. After observing his physical condition, I think it would not be proper to place him in police custody. Rather , he should be sent to SSKM Hospital for examination by medical experts," the magistrate said, adding that a medical board should be constituted, if necessary, to give a medical and clinical opinion about his health condition , and "how far his life is in danger" . The board is to submit a report to the court by Tuesday or Wednesday.
The magistrate directed that all care should be taken to protect Agarwal's life. "Let the accused be sent to SSKM under proper escort and the state will take all necessary measures to protect his life. After considering the report, the bail petition as well as prayer for police custody will be considered ," he said.
This is all faked.
The B M Birla doctors must be hand-in-glove with R S Agarwal as they are just as casual in treating their patients as AMRI and they know that they may be next on the list.
Anyone can be put under an oxygen mask and he can shake his hands to show they are trembling. By making sufficient noise, he can also show great pain. Our film and TV actors show it in sufficient quantities daily.
Let the courts not be fooled.
It is good that he has been sent to a general ward of SSKM. Let him know how ordinary people are treated in government hospitals. The courts should monitor so that the SSKM doctors are not influenced by R S Agarwal's wealth.
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