Kindly, share this valuable information wherever possible.
1. If you see children Begging anywhere in INDIA , please contact:
"RED SOCIETY" at 9940217816. They will help the children for their studies.
2. Where you can search for any BLOOD GROUP, you will get thousand's of donor address. www.friendstosupport.org
3. Engineering Students can register in www.campuscouncil.com to attend Off Campus for 40 Companies.
4. Free Education and Free hostel for Handicapped/Physically Challenged children.
Contact:- 9842062501 & 9894067506.
5. If anyone met with fire accident or people born with problems in their ear, nose and mouth can get free PLASTIC SURGERY done by Kodaikanal PASAM Hospital . From 23rd March to 4th April by German Doctors.
Everything is free. Contact : 045420-240668,245732
"Helping Hands are Better than Praying Lips"
6. If you find any important documents like Driving license, Ration card, Passport, Bank Pass Book, etc., missed by someone, simply put them into any near by Post Boxes. They will automatically reach the owner and Fine will be collected from them.
7. By the next 10 months, our earth will become 4 degrees hotter than what it is now. Our Himalayan glaciers are melting at rapid rate. So let all of us lend our hands to fight GLOBAL WARMING.
-Plant more Trees.
-Don't waste Water & Electricity.
-Don't use or burn Plastics
8. It costs 38 Trillion dollars to create OXYGEN for 6 months for all Human beings on earth.
"TREES DO IT FOR FREE"
"Respect them and Save them"
9. Special phone number for Eye bank and Eye donation: 04428281919 and 04428271616 (Sankara Nethralaya Eye Bank). For More information about how to donate eyes plz visit these sites. http://ruraleye.org/
10. Heart Surgery free of cost for children (0-10 yr) Sri Valli Baba Institute Banglore. 10.
Contact : 9916737471
11. Medicine for Blood Cancer!!!!
'Imitinef Mercilet' is a medicine which cures blood cancer. Its available free of cost at "Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai". Create Awareness. It might help someone.
Cancer Institute in Adyar, Chennai
Category: Cancer
Address:
East Canal Bank Road , Gandhi Nagar
Adyar
Chennai -600020
Landmark: Near Michael School
Phone: 044-24910754 044-24910754 , 044-24911526 044-24911526 , 044-22350241 044-22350241
12. Please CHECK WASTAGE OF FOOD
If you have a function/party at your home in India and food gets wasted, don't hesitate to call 1098 (only in India ) - Its not a Joke, This is the number of Child helpline.
They will come and collect the food. Please circulate this message which can help feed many children.
AND LETS TRY TO HELP INDIA BE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN
Please Save Our Mother Nature for
"OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS"
Sent by U Banerjee
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Narendra Modi: Big hit with America Inc; persona non grata in US
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has been trying to wriggle out of what he believes is the Godhra straightjacket for nearly a decade. But try as he might, his links with the 2002 riots that killed hundreds of people after a coach of the Sabarmati Express train was burnt in the city of Godhra reappears like a nervous tic intermittently. Last week happened to be the latest such instance.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a government watchdog, has again demanded that the US government urge its Indian counterpart to ensure that efforts to bring a case against Modi for his complicity in the 2002 Gujarat riots "are allowed to proceed in accordance with the law".
It was six summers ago that the US revoked Modi's visa on grounds of religious intolerance. In its 2011 report, the watchdog has again urged US authorities to develop a lookout list of foreigners "who are inadmissible to the United States on this basis of violations of religious freedom".
But while Modi remains persona non grata in the US since 2005, a phalanx of businessmen from America has been descending on his home state. Gujarat has turned into an investment magnet for US businesses, much like their counterparts in India, which view him with rose-tinted glasses. "Of US-India Business Council's 400 member-companies, as many as 200 of them are present in some shape or form in Gujarat," says Ron Somers, president of the influential American trade group.
The US also dominated the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Meet in January, sending 26 delegations made up of 156 representatives. US companies signed MoUs for investments worth Rs 13, 574 crore during the meet in sectors as diverse as pharmaceuticals and tourism, according to the Industrial Extension Bureau, a government-run body that looks to promote investments in the state. Modi deserves the credit, say US entrepreneurs, because he has almost single-handedly made it easy to do business in Gujarat.
"A CEO-stale of management seems to have energised the bureaucracy. Once the green-light is given on a project, officers are fully empowered to implement the project," says Somers. It is not clear what Modi thinks of the divisive views about him by Americans or whether he wishes to visit the US. He declined to comment for this story. American CEOs say Gujarat is the place to be for businesses.
Besides removing red tape and improving infrastructure, one big reason is the state's successful stab at weeding out corruption. Here too, credit is due to the chief minister. Modi's alleged autocratic functioning has helped the efficient hand overtake the greased palm, say people familiar with his government.
Companies do not have to pay bribes for approvals because the CM is watching, they say, adding that he has taken the IAS lobby to task on petty corruption. Gujarat, says a senior bureaucrat, has an administrative model where targets are met and action is taken against complaints. "Success is breeding success.
The above is from the Economic Times
BINOY PRABHAKAR,ET BUREAU
There ate two Chief Ministers who are working in India.
The CMs of Gujarat and Bihar.
Mamata Banerjee(West Bengal) too has started with a bang by dismissing a Director of a Government hospital. This has had a very sobering effect on all the balance employees who have now started showing a more humane face.
Let us see if the momentum continues in Bengal.
However, knowing her penchant to announce populist measures, we have to see how she is going to finance them.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a government watchdog, has again demanded that the US government urge its Indian counterpart to ensure that efforts to bring a case against Modi for his complicity in the 2002 Gujarat riots "are allowed to proceed in accordance with the law".
It was six summers ago that the US revoked Modi's visa on grounds of religious intolerance. In its 2011 report, the watchdog has again urged US authorities to develop a lookout list of foreigners "who are inadmissible to the United States on this basis of violations of religious freedom".
But while Modi remains persona non grata in the US since 2005, a phalanx of businessmen from America has been descending on his home state. Gujarat has turned into an investment magnet for US businesses, much like their counterparts in India, which view him with rose-tinted glasses. "Of US-India Business Council's 400 member-companies, as many as 200 of them are present in some shape or form in Gujarat," says Ron Somers, president of the influential American trade group.
The US also dominated the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Meet in January, sending 26 delegations made up of 156 representatives. US companies signed MoUs for investments worth Rs 13, 574 crore during the meet in sectors as diverse as pharmaceuticals and tourism, according to the Industrial Extension Bureau, a government-run body that looks to promote investments in the state. Modi deserves the credit, say US entrepreneurs, because he has almost single-handedly made it easy to do business in Gujarat.
"A CEO-stale of management seems to have energised the bureaucracy. Once the green-light is given on a project, officers are fully empowered to implement the project," says Somers. It is not clear what Modi thinks of the divisive views about him by Americans or whether he wishes to visit the US. He declined to comment for this story. American CEOs say Gujarat is the place to be for businesses.
Besides removing red tape and improving infrastructure, one big reason is the state's successful stab at weeding out corruption. Here too, credit is due to the chief minister. Modi's alleged autocratic functioning has helped the efficient hand overtake the greased palm, say people familiar with his government.
Companies do not have to pay bribes for approvals because the CM is watching, they say, adding that he has taken the IAS lobby to task on petty corruption. Gujarat, says a senior bureaucrat, has an administrative model where targets are met and action is taken against complaints. "Success is breeding success.
The above is from the Economic Times
BINOY PRABHAKAR,ET BUREAU
There ate two Chief Ministers who are working in India.
The CMs of Gujarat and Bihar.
Mamata Banerjee(West Bengal) too has started with a bang by dismissing a Director of a Government hospital. This has had a very sobering effect on all the balance employees who have now started showing a more humane face.
Let us see if the momentum continues in Bengal.
However, knowing her penchant to announce populist measures, we have to see how she is going to finance them.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Some Smileys
One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very Sexy nightie.
'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.'
So he tied her up and went golfing.
*****************************************
A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house.
She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!'
The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?'
'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out.'
********************************************
Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a husband.
*************************************
A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license.
First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test.
The optician showed him a card with the letters
'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'
'Can you read this?' the optician asked.
'Read it?' the Polish guy replied, 'I know the guy.'
******************************************
Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them, 'I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent.'
'Thank God,' said an elderly nun at the back. 'I'm so tired of chardonnay.'
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.'
So he tied her up and went golfing.
*****************************************
A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house.
She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!'
The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?'
'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out.'
********************************************
Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a husband.
*************************************
A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license.
First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test.
The optician showed him a card with the letters
'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'
'Can you read this?' the optician asked.
'Read it?' the Polish guy replied, 'I know the guy.'
******************************************
Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them, 'I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent.'
'Thank God,' said an elderly nun at the back. 'I'm so tired of chardonnay.'
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
Friday, May 27, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
ITBP sends 10 Crore bill for Kasab security
Mumbai: Maharashtra Government is stunned after receiving a Rs 10 crore bill from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) towards reimbursing expenses on guarding 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, lodged in the Arthur Road jail.
Confirming that the state government did receive the Rs 10 crore tag from ITBP, Medha Gadgil, principal secretary, Home, told PTI that the Maharashtra authorities are writing to the ITBP.
"We are in the process of writing to them. We will explain that 26/11 terror attacks is not only an issue limited to Maharashtra but a national issue," she said.
The State Government received a request for reimbursement of Rs 10.87 crore from the Director-General, ITBP, New Delhi, R K Bhatia for expenses incurred between March 28, 2009 and September 30, 2010.
"What Kasab and his associates did is an attack not only on Mumbai but an attack on India and it is unfair to ask the state government to bear the burden (for ITBP guarding Kasab)," another senior Home department official said.
The ITPB was deployed in the jail in the run-up to the 26/11 trial, held in a special sessions court set up in the jail premises.
Last year, the home department sought an extension for the deployment of the ITBP which comprised around 200 commandos, armed with sophisticated weaponry and communication equipment, guarding Kasab 24x7.
The ITBP team was deployed for the trial period, after which the state government wrote to the Centre, seeking an extension, the official said.
I am glad the ITBP has billed the Maharashtra government for Kasab's security. It has highlighted the senseless expenses our government in incurring in guarding a murderer.
If he has appealed for mercy, the petition should be disposed on priority basis. This murderer's petition should not be kept in the queue. Our politicians are masters in jumping the queue. They get everything done for themselves by jumping queues. They should allow Kasab's petition to jump the queue also.
The longer you keep him alive the longer is the agony of all the people who have been affected by the 26/11 massacre and the probability of Pakistan or some terrorist organisation using him to bargain releases increase.
HE SHOULD BE DISPOSED TO THE NEXT WORLD IMMEDIATELY.
It would save our precious money and reduce the agony of those affected.
Confirming that the state government did receive the Rs 10 crore tag from ITBP, Medha Gadgil, principal secretary, Home, told PTI that the Maharashtra authorities are writing to the ITBP.
"We are in the process of writing to them. We will explain that 26/11 terror attacks is not only an issue limited to Maharashtra but a national issue," she said.
The State Government received a request for reimbursement of Rs 10.87 crore from the Director-General, ITBP, New Delhi, R K Bhatia for expenses incurred between March 28, 2009 and September 30, 2010.
"What Kasab and his associates did is an attack not only on Mumbai but an attack on India and it is unfair to ask the state government to bear the burden (for ITBP guarding Kasab)," another senior Home department official said.
The ITPB was deployed in the jail in the run-up to the 26/11 trial, held in a special sessions court set up in the jail premises.
Last year, the home department sought an extension for the deployment of the ITBP which comprised around 200 commandos, armed with sophisticated weaponry and communication equipment, guarding Kasab 24x7.
The ITBP team was deployed for the trial period, after which the state government wrote to the Centre, seeking an extension, the official said.
I am glad the ITBP has billed the Maharashtra government for Kasab's security. It has highlighted the senseless expenses our government in incurring in guarding a murderer.
If he has appealed for mercy, the petition should be disposed on priority basis. This murderer's petition should not be kept in the queue. Our politicians are masters in jumping the queue. They get everything done for themselves by jumping queues. They should allow Kasab's petition to jump the queue also.
The longer you keep him alive the longer is the agony of all the people who have been affected by the 26/11 massacre and the probability of Pakistan or some terrorist organisation using him to bargain releases increase.
HE SHOULD BE DISPOSED TO THE NEXT WORLD IMMEDIATELY.
It would save our precious money and reduce the agony of those affected.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
I love my India
Republic Of Scams
Total Scam Money (approx) Since 1992:
Rs. 73000000000000 Cr.
(73 Lakh Crore)
Hard to digest ?
Just check the details given below
1992 -Harshad Mehta securities scam Rs 5,000 cr
1994 -Sugar import scam Rs 650 cr
1995 -Preferential allotment scam Rs 5,000 cr
Yugoslav Dinar scam Rs 400 cr
Meghalaya Forest scam Rs 300 cr
1996: -Fertiliser import scam Rs 1,300 cr
Urea scam Rs 133 cr
Bihar fodder scam Rs 950 cr
1997 -Sukh Ram telecom scam Rs 1,500 cr
SNC Lavalin power project scam Rs 374 cr
Bihar land scandal Rs 400 cr
C.R. Bhansali stock scam Rs 1,200 cr
1998 -Teak plantation swindle Rs 8,000 cr
2001 -UTI scam Rs 4,800 cr
Dinesh Dalmia stock scam Rs 595 cr
Ketan Parekh securities scam Rs 1,250 cr
2002 -Sanjay Agarwal Home Trade scam Rs 600 cr
2003 -Telgi stamp paper scam Rs 172 cr
2005 -IPO-Demat scam Rs 146 cr
Bihar flood relief scam Rs 17 cr
Scorpene submarine scam Rs 18,978 cr
2006 -Punjab's City Centre project scam Rs 1,500 cr,
Taj Corridor scam Rs 175 cr
2008 -Pune billionaire Hassan Ali Khan tax default Rs 50,000 cr
The Satyam scam Rs 10,000 cr
Army ration pilferage scam Rs 5,000 cr
The 2-G spectrum swindle Rs 60,000 cr
State Bank of Saurashtra scam Rs 95 cr
Illegal monies in Swiss banks, as estimated in 2008 Rs 71,00,000 cr
2009: -The Jharkhand medical equipment scam Rs 130 cr
Rice export scam Rs 2,500 cr
Orissa mine scam Rs 7,000 cr
Madhu Koda mining scam Rs 4,000 cr"
SC refuses to quash PIL against Mayawati in Taj corridor scam
Orissa mine scam could be worth more than Rs 14k cr
CORRUPTION, MONEY LAUNDERING SCAM, Koda discharged from hospital, arrest imminent
'A Cover-Up Operation':
"It's a scam involving close to Rs 60,000 crores"
Spectrum scam: How govt lost Rs 60,000 crore
India's biggest scams 1, Ramalinga Raju, Rs. 50.4 billion
India's biggest scams 2, Harshad Mehta, Rs. 40 billion
India's biggest scams 3, Ketan Parekh, Rs. 10 billion
India's biggest scams 4, C R Bhansali, Rs. 12 billion
India's biggest scams 5, Cobbler scam
India's biggest scams 6, IPO Scam
India's biggest scams 7, Dinesh Dalmia, Rs. 5.95 billion
India's biggest scams 8, Abdul Karim Telgi, Rs. 1.71 billion
India's biggest scams 9, Virendra Rastogi, Rs. 430 million
India's biggest scams 10, The UTI Scam, Rs. 320 million
India's biggest scams 11, Uday Goyal, Rs. 2.1 billion
India's biggest scams 12, Sanjay Agarwal, Rs. 6 billion
India's biggest scams 13, Dinesh Singhania, Rs. 1.2 billion
1, Jeep Purchase (1948) :- Free India's corruption graph begins. V. K. Krishna Menon, then the Indian high commissioner to Britain, bypassed protocol to sign a deal worth Rs 80 lakh with a foreign firm for the purchase of army jeeps. The case was closed in 1955 and soon after Menon joined the Nehru cabinet.
2, Cycle Imports (1951) :- S.A. Venkataraman, then the secretary, ministry of commerce and industry, was jailed for accepting a bribe in lieu of granting a cycle import quota to a company.
3, BHU Funds (1956) :- In one of the first instances of corruption in educational institutions, Benaras Hindu University officials were accused of misappropriation of funds worth Rs 50 lakh.
4, MUNDHRA SCANDAL (1957):- It was the media that first hinted there might be a scam involving the sale of shares to LIC, Feroz Gandhi sources the confidential correspondence between the then Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari and his principal finance secretary, and raised a question in Parliament on the sale of 'fraudulent' shares to LIC by a Calcutta-based Marwari businessman named Haridas Mundhra. The then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, set up a one-man commission headed by Justice M.C.Chagla to investigate the matter when it becomes evident that there was a prima facie case. Chagla concluded that Mundhra had sold fictitious shares to LIC, thereby defrauding the insurance behemoth to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crore. Mundhra was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The scam also forced the resignation of T.T.Krishnamachari.
5, Teja Loans (1960):- Shipping magnate Jayant Dharma Teja took loans worth Rs 22 crore to establish the Jayanti Shipping Company. In 1960, the authorities discovered that he was actually siphoning off money to his own account, after which Teja fled the country.
6, Kairon Scam (1963):- Pratap Singh Kairon became the first Indian chief minister to be accused of abusing his power for his own benefit and that of his sons and relatives. He quit a year later.
7, Patnaik's Own Goal (1965) :- Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik was forced to resign after it was discovered that he had favoured his privately-held company Kalinga Tubes in awarding a government contract.
8, Maruti Scandal (1974) :- Well before the company was set up, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's name came up in the first Maruti scandal, where her son Sanjay Gandhi was favoured with a license to make passenger cars.
9, Solanki Exposé (1992) :- At the World Economic Forum, Madhavsinh Solanki, then the external affairs minister, slipped a letter to his Swiss counterpart asking their government to stop the probe into the Bofors kickbacks. Solanki resigned when India Today broke the story.
10, Kuo Oil Deal (1976):- The Indian Oil Corporation signed an Rs 2.2-crore oil contract with a non-existent firm in Hong Kong and a kickback was given. The petroleum and chemicals minister was directed to make the purchase.
11, Antulay Trust (1981) :- With the exposure of this scandal concerning A.R. Antulay, then the chief minister of Maharashtra, The Indian Express was reborn. Antulay had garnered Rs 30 crore from businesses dependent on state resources like cement and kept the money in a private trust.
12, HDW Commissions (1987) :- HDW, the German submarine maker, was blacklisted after allegations that commissions worth Rs 20 crore had been paid. In 2005, the case was finally closed, in HDW's favour.
13, Bofors Pay-Off (1987) :- A Swedish firm was accused of paying Rs 64 crore to Indian bigwigs, including Rajiv Gandhi, then the prime minister, to secure the purchase of the Bofors gun.
14, St Kitts Forgery (1989) :- An attempt was made to sully V.P. Singh's Mr Clean image by forging documents to allege that he was a beneficiary of his son Ajeya Singh's account in the First Trust Corp. at St Kitts, with a deposit of $21 million.
15, Airbus Scandal (1990) :- Indian Airlines's (IA) signing of the Rs 2,000-crore deal with Airbus instead of Boeing caused a furore following the crash of an A-320. New planes were grounded, causing IA a weekly loss of Rs 2.5 crore.
16. Securities Scam (1992) :- Harshad Mehta manipulated banks to siphon off money and invested the funds in the stock market, leading to a crash. The loss: Rs 5,000 crore.
17, Indian Bank Rip-off (1992) :- Aided by M. Gopalakrishnan, then the chairman of the Indian Bank, borrowers-mostly small corporates and exporters from the south-were lent a total of over Rs 1,300 crore, which they never paid back.
18, Sugar Import (1994) :- As food minister, Kalpnath Rai presided over the import of sugar at a price higher than that of the market, causing a loss of Rs 650 crore to the exchequer. He resigned following the allegations.
19, MS SHOES SCAM (1994) :- Anyone who was old enough in 1994 to read will remember the advertisements- tens of them intriguingly headlined: 'Who is Pawan Sachdeva?' For the record, it was the peak of the public issued-led advertising boom and the ads were created by the Delhi branch of Rediffusion. Sachdeva, the promoter of MS Shoes, allegedly used company funds to buy shares (of his own company) and rig prices, prior to a public issue. He is alleged to have colluded with officials in the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and SBI Caps, which lead-managed the issue, to dupe the public into investing in his Rs. 699-crore public-***-rights issue. Sachdeva was later acquitted
20, JMM Bribes (1995) :- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shailendra Mahato testified that he and three party members received bribes of Rs 30 lakh to bail out the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in the 1993 no-confidence motion.
21, In a Pickle (1996) :- Pickle baron Lakhubhai Pathak raised a stink when he accused former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and godman Chandraswami of accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from him for securing a paper pulp contract.
22, Telecom Scam (1996) :- Former minister of state for communication Sukh Ram was accused of causing a loss of Rs 1.6 crore to the exchequer by favouring a Hyderabad- based private firm in the purchase of telecom equipment. He, along with two others, was convicted in 2002.
23, Fodder Scam (1996) :- The accountant general's concerns about the withdrawal of excess funds by Bihar's animal husbandry department unveiled a Rs 950-crore scam involving Lalu Prasad Yadav, then the state chief minister. He resigned a year later.
24, Urea Deal (1996) :- C.S. Ramakrishnan, MD, National Fertiliser, and a group of businessmen close to the P.V. Narasimha Rao regime fleeced the government and took Rs 133 crore from the import of two lakh tonne of urea, which was never delivered.
25, Hawala Diaries (1996) :- The scandal surfaced following CBI raids on hawala operators in Delhi in 1991. But it was S.K. Jain's diaries that had heads rolling.
26, CRB SCAM (1997) :- Another scam forged by greed and discovered through accident. Chain Roop Bhansali, a smart-talking entrepreneur, created a pyramid financial empire based on high-cost financing. At its peak, his Rs. 1,000-crore financial conglomerate had in its ranks a mutual fund, a financial services company into fixed deposits, and a merchant bank. That Bhansali knew how to work the system became evident when he also managed to secure a provisional banking license. Then his luck ran out. An executive in the State Bank of India Inadvertently discovered that some interest warrants issued by Bhansali were not backed by cash. The bubble finally burst in May 1997, but by that time investors had lost over Rs. 1,000 crore. This was among the first retail scams in India and it was played out, in smaller avatars, across the country-especially in the South where financial services companies promised returns in excess of 20 per cent and decamped with the principal. Bhansali was arrested for a few weeks and released later on bail.
27, MEHTA'S SECOND COMING (1998) :- The Big Bull returned to the bourses. This time, he allegedly colluded with the promoters of BPL, Videocon International, and Sterile Industries to rig the share prices of these companies. The inevitable collapse happened sooner than planned, Harshad Mehta orchestrated a cover-up operation that included a high=jinks effort by officials of Bombay Stock Exchange to (illegally ) open the trading system in the middle of the night to set things right, but the damage had been done. SEBI finally passed its ruling on the scam in 2001, banning the three companies concerned from tapping the market-BPL, for two years. Mehta was debarred for life form dealing in Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in October 2001
28,VANISHING COMPANIES SCAM (1998) :- A passing remark heard by then Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram resulted in a furore over what was badly-kept secret on Dalal street. Chidambaram was told that hundreds of companies had disappeared after raising moneys form the public. An informal scrutiny revealed that perhaps over 600 companies were missing. Chidambaram ordered a probe by SEBI. The SEBI probe conducted in May 1998 revealed that while many companies are not traded on the bourses at least 80 companies that had rises Rs.330.78 crore were simply missing. Later that year, the Department of Company Affairs (DCA) was asked to probe and penalize these companies. DCA still investigating. Investigations continue to this day.
29, PLANTATION COMPANIES SCAM (1999) :- It was as innovative a swindle as any effected in the world. Savvy entrepreneurs convinced gullible investors that given the right irrigation and fertilizer inputs, teak, strawberries, and anything else that could be grown, would grow anywhere in the country. The promoters could afford to collect money from investors and not worry about retribution (or returns, for that matter). For, plantation companies fell under the purview of neither SEBI nor Reserve Bank of India. Indeed, they didn't even come under the scope of the Department decided to change things in 1999, enough investors had been gulled: 653 companies, between them, had raised Rs. 2,563 crore from investors. To date, not many investors have got their principals back, just another affirmation of the old saying about money not growing on trees.
30, Match Fixing (2000) :- Mohammed Azharuddin, till then India's cricket captain, was accused of match-fixing. He and Ajay Sharma were banned from playing, while Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were suspended for five years.
31, KETAN PAREKH SCAM (2001) :- Ketan Parekh's modus operandi wasn't very different from Harshad Mehta's. If Mehta used banker's receipts, then Parekh used pay orders to ramp up the prices of his favourite scrips (the K-10). Apart from money form the banking system Parekh also rerouted money from corporated like HFCL (Rs. 425 crore), and Zee (Rs. 340 crore) to good effect. He was caught when pay-orders issued by Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank bounced. Although the total amount involved in the scam was just Rs. 137 crore, the impact was far greater.
Apparently, when a bear cartel sensed Parekh was in trouble, it stepped in and leveraged a dip in the NASDAQ to bear down stock prices. The resultant slump in the markets happened soon after Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha presented what he considered his best budget ever. Under pressure from the government, SEBI investigated the scam and heads began to roll. Among them: the entire management team of BSE, including its president Anand Rathi, CSFB, First Global, and, in an indirect connection, P.S.Subramanyam, the Chairman of UTL Evidently, for the 18 months that PSS was Chairman of UTI, the Trust had mirrored the actions of the bull cartel. The result? When the market tanked, so did the NAV of its holy cow, the US-64.
32, Tehelka Sting (2001) :- Tehelka, an online news portal, used spycams to catch army officers and politicians accepting bribes, in their sting operation called Operation Westend. Investigative journalism turned another corner in the country.
32, Stockmarket Scam (2001) :- The mayhem that wiped off over Rs 1,15,000 crore in the markets in March 2001 was masterminded by the Pentafour bull Ketan Parekh. He was arrested in December 2002 and banned from acccessing the capital market for 14 years.
34, Home Trade Scam (2002) :- Under the pretext of gilt trading, Rs 600 crore was swindled from over 25 cooperative banks in Maharashtra and Gujarat by a Navi Mumbai-based brokerage firm Home Trade. Sanjay Agarwal, CEO of the firm, was arrested in May 2002.
35, Stamp Paper Scam (2003) :- The sheer magnitude of the racket was shocking-it caused a loss of Rs 30,000 crore to the exchequer. Disclosures of the mastermind behind it, Abdul Karim Telgi, implicated top police officers and bureaucrats.
36, Oil-for-Food Scandal (2005) :- K. Natwar Singh was unceremoniously dropped from the Cabinet when his name surfaced in the Volcker Report on the Iraq oil-for-food scam.
What India Could Do With Rs 73 Lakh Crore?
Build: 2.4 crore primary healthcare centres. That’s at least 3 for every village, at a cost of Rs 30 lakh each.
Build: 24.1 lakh Kendriya Vidyalayas at a cost of Rs 3.02 crore each, with two sections from Class VI to XII.
Construct: 14.6 crore low-cost houses assuming a cost of Rs 5 lakh a unit.
Set up: 2,703 coal-based power plants of 600 MW each. Each costs Rs 2,700 crore.
Supply: 12 lakh CFL bulbs. That’s enough light for each of India’s 6 lakh villages
Construct: 14.6 lakh km of two-lane highways. That’s a road around India’s perimeter 95 times over.
Clean up: 50 major rivers for the next 121 years, at Rs 1,200 crore a river every year.
Launch: 90 NREGA-style schemes, each worth roughly Rs 81,111 crore.
Announce: 121 more loan waiver schemes. All of them worth Rs 60,000 crore.
Give: Rs 56,000 to every Indian. Even better, give Rs 1.82 lakh to 40 crore Indians living BPL.
Hand out: 60.8 crore Tata Nanos to 60.8 crore people. Or four times as many laptops.
Grow the GDP: The scam money is 27% more than our GDP of Rs 53 lakh crore."
Greed, graft, politics, bribery, dirty money. Just another day in the life of a nation still rated among the most corrupt in the world. Scan the scams that have grabbed headlines, destroyed reputations and left many people poorer.
Sent by Arun Shroff.
I would like to thank the person who has compiled these figures. He must have toiled hard through the night, going through all the old papers in collecting these figures. It is a virtual storehouse for those fighting against corruption, people like Anna Hazare, Swami Ramdeo, Kiran Bedi and the father- son Bhushan duo.
However, I note that the records stop at 2005.
The latest CWG, and Adarsh Housing scams have not been added.
You will note the volumes and amount increased after Indira Gandhi came to power.
No wonder she coined the phrase "My India is Great"
It has further increased exponentially after the UPA government came to power.
Total Scam Money (approx) Since 1992:
Rs. 73000000000000 Cr.
(73 Lakh Crore)
Hard to digest ?
Just check the details given below
1992 -Harshad Mehta securities scam Rs 5,000 cr
1994 -Sugar import scam Rs 650 cr
1995 -Preferential allotment scam Rs 5,000 cr
Yugoslav Dinar scam Rs 400 cr
Meghalaya Forest scam Rs 300 cr
1996: -Fertiliser import scam Rs 1,300 cr
Urea scam Rs 133 cr
Bihar fodder scam Rs 950 cr
1997 -Sukh Ram telecom scam Rs 1,500 cr
SNC Lavalin power project scam Rs 374 cr
Bihar land scandal Rs 400 cr
C.R. Bhansali stock scam Rs 1,200 cr
1998 -Teak plantation swindle Rs 8,000 cr
2001 -UTI scam Rs 4,800 cr
Dinesh Dalmia stock scam Rs 595 cr
Ketan Parekh securities scam Rs 1,250 cr
2002 -Sanjay Agarwal Home Trade scam Rs 600 cr
2003 -Telgi stamp paper scam Rs 172 cr
2005 -IPO-Demat scam Rs 146 cr
Bihar flood relief scam Rs 17 cr
Scorpene submarine scam Rs 18,978 cr
2006 -Punjab's City Centre project scam Rs 1,500 cr,
Taj Corridor scam Rs 175 cr
2008 -Pune billionaire Hassan Ali Khan tax default Rs 50,000 cr
The Satyam scam Rs 10,000 cr
Army ration pilferage scam Rs 5,000 cr
The 2-G spectrum swindle Rs 60,000 cr
State Bank of Saurashtra scam Rs 95 cr
Illegal monies in Swiss banks, as estimated in 2008 Rs 71,00,000 cr
2009: -The Jharkhand medical equipment scam Rs 130 cr
Rice export scam Rs 2,500 cr
Orissa mine scam Rs 7,000 cr
Madhu Koda mining scam Rs 4,000 cr"
SC refuses to quash PIL against Mayawati in Taj corridor scam
Orissa mine scam could be worth more than Rs 14k cr
CORRUPTION, MONEY LAUNDERING SCAM, Koda discharged from hospital, arrest imminent
'A Cover-Up Operation':
"It's a scam involving close to Rs 60,000 crores"
Spectrum scam: How govt lost Rs 60,000 crore
India's biggest scams 1, Ramalinga Raju, Rs. 50.4 billion
India's biggest scams 2, Harshad Mehta, Rs. 40 billion
India's biggest scams 3, Ketan Parekh, Rs. 10 billion
India's biggest scams 4, C R Bhansali, Rs. 12 billion
India's biggest scams 5, Cobbler scam
India's biggest scams 6, IPO Scam
India's biggest scams 7, Dinesh Dalmia, Rs. 5.95 billion
India's biggest scams 8, Abdul Karim Telgi, Rs. 1.71 billion
India's biggest scams 9, Virendra Rastogi, Rs. 430 million
India's biggest scams 10, The UTI Scam, Rs. 320 million
India's biggest scams 11, Uday Goyal, Rs. 2.1 billion
India's biggest scams 12, Sanjay Agarwal, Rs. 6 billion
India's biggest scams 13, Dinesh Singhania, Rs. 1.2 billion
1, Jeep Purchase (1948) :- Free India's corruption graph begins. V. K. Krishna Menon, then the Indian high commissioner to Britain, bypassed protocol to sign a deal worth Rs 80 lakh with a foreign firm for the purchase of army jeeps. The case was closed in 1955 and soon after Menon joined the Nehru cabinet.
2, Cycle Imports (1951) :- S.A. Venkataraman, then the secretary, ministry of commerce and industry, was jailed for accepting a bribe in lieu of granting a cycle import quota to a company.
3, BHU Funds (1956) :- In one of the first instances of corruption in educational institutions, Benaras Hindu University officials were accused of misappropriation of funds worth Rs 50 lakh.
4, MUNDHRA SCANDAL (1957):- It was the media that first hinted there might be a scam involving the sale of shares to LIC, Feroz Gandhi sources the confidential correspondence between the then Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari and his principal finance secretary, and raised a question in Parliament on the sale of 'fraudulent' shares to LIC by a Calcutta-based Marwari businessman named Haridas Mundhra. The then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, set up a one-man commission headed by Justice M.C.Chagla to investigate the matter when it becomes evident that there was a prima facie case. Chagla concluded that Mundhra had sold fictitious shares to LIC, thereby defrauding the insurance behemoth to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crore. Mundhra was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The scam also forced the resignation of T.T.Krishnamachari.
5, Teja Loans (1960):- Shipping magnate Jayant Dharma Teja took loans worth Rs 22 crore to establish the Jayanti Shipping Company. In 1960, the authorities discovered that he was actually siphoning off money to his own account, after which Teja fled the country.
6, Kairon Scam (1963):- Pratap Singh Kairon became the first Indian chief minister to be accused of abusing his power for his own benefit and that of his sons and relatives. He quit a year later.
7, Patnaik's Own Goal (1965) :- Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik was forced to resign after it was discovered that he had favoured his privately-held company Kalinga Tubes in awarding a government contract.
8, Maruti Scandal (1974) :- Well before the company was set up, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's name came up in the first Maruti scandal, where her son Sanjay Gandhi was favoured with a license to make passenger cars.
9, Solanki Exposé (1992) :- At the World Economic Forum, Madhavsinh Solanki, then the external affairs minister, slipped a letter to his Swiss counterpart asking their government to stop the probe into the Bofors kickbacks. Solanki resigned when India Today broke the story.
10, Kuo Oil Deal (1976):- The Indian Oil Corporation signed an Rs 2.2-crore oil contract with a non-existent firm in Hong Kong and a kickback was given. The petroleum and chemicals minister was directed to make the purchase.
11, Antulay Trust (1981) :- With the exposure of this scandal concerning A.R. Antulay, then the chief minister of Maharashtra, The Indian Express was reborn. Antulay had garnered Rs 30 crore from businesses dependent on state resources like cement and kept the money in a private trust.
12, HDW Commissions (1987) :- HDW, the German submarine maker, was blacklisted after allegations that commissions worth Rs 20 crore had been paid. In 2005, the case was finally closed, in HDW's favour.
13, Bofors Pay-Off (1987) :- A Swedish firm was accused of paying Rs 64 crore to Indian bigwigs, including Rajiv Gandhi, then the prime minister, to secure the purchase of the Bofors gun.
14, St Kitts Forgery (1989) :- An attempt was made to sully V.P. Singh's Mr Clean image by forging documents to allege that he was a beneficiary of his son Ajeya Singh's account in the First Trust Corp. at St Kitts, with a deposit of $21 million.
15, Airbus Scandal (1990) :- Indian Airlines's (IA) signing of the Rs 2,000-crore deal with Airbus instead of Boeing caused a furore following the crash of an A-320. New planes were grounded, causing IA a weekly loss of Rs 2.5 crore.
16. Securities Scam (1992) :- Harshad Mehta manipulated banks to siphon off money and invested the funds in the stock market, leading to a crash. The loss: Rs 5,000 crore.
17, Indian Bank Rip-off (1992) :- Aided by M. Gopalakrishnan, then the chairman of the Indian Bank, borrowers-mostly small corporates and exporters from the south-were lent a total of over Rs 1,300 crore, which they never paid back.
18, Sugar Import (1994) :- As food minister, Kalpnath Rai presided over the import of sugar at a price higher than that of the market, causing a loss of Rs 650 crore to the exchequer. He resigned following the allegations.
19, MS SHOES SCAM (1994) :- Anyone who was old enough in 1994 to read will remember the advertisements- tens of them intriguingly headlined: 'Who is Pawan Sachdeva?' For the record, it was the peak of the public issued-led advertising boom and the ads were created by the Delhi branch of Rediffusion. Sachdeva, the promoter of MS Shoes, allegedly used company funds to buy shares (of his own company) and rig prices, prior to a public issue. He is alleged to have colluded with officials in the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and SBI Caps, which lead-managed the issue, to dupe the public into investing in his Rs. 699-crore public-***-rights issue. Sachdeva was later acquitted
20, JMM Bribes (1995) :- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shailendra Mahato testified that he and three party members received bribes of Rs 30 lakh to bail out the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in the 1993 no-confidence motion.
21, In a Pickle (1996) :- Pickle baron Lakhubhai Pathak raised a stink when he accused former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and godman Chandraswami of accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from him for securing a paper pulp contract.
22, Telecom Scam (1996) :- Former minister of state for communication Sukh Ram was accused of causing a loss of Rs 1.6 crore to the exchequer by favouring a Hyderabad- based private firm in the purchase of telecom equipment. He, along with two others, was convicted in 2002.
23, Fodder Scam (1996) :- The accountant general's concerns about the withdrawal of excess funds by Bihar's animal husbandry department unveiled a Rs 950-crore scam involving Lalu Prasad Yadav, then the state chief minister. He resigned a year later.
24, Urea Deal (1996) :- C.S. Ramakrishnan, MD, National Fertiliser, and a group of businessmen close to the P.V. Narasimha Rao regime fleeced the government and took Rs 133 crore from the import of two lakh tonne of urea, which was never delivered.
25, Hawala Diaries (1996) :- The scandal surfaced following CBI raids on hawala operators in Delhi in 1991. But it was S.K. Jain's diaries that had heads rolling.
26, CRB SCAM (1997) :- Another scam forged by greed and discovered through accident. Chain Roop Bhansali, a smart-talking entrepreneur, created a pyramid financial empire based on high-cost financing. At its peak, his Rs. 1,000-crore financial conglomerate had in its ranks a mutual fund, a financial services company into fixed deposits, and a merchant bank. That Bhansali knew how to work the system became evident when he also managed to secure a provisional banking license. Then his luck ran out. An executive in the State Bank of India Inadvertently discovered that some interest warrants issued by Bhansali were not backed by cash. The bubble finally burst in May 1997, but by that time investors had lost over Rs. 1,000 crore. This was among the first retail scams in India and it was played out, in smaller avatars, across the country-especially in the South where financial services companies promised returns in excess of 20 per cent and decamped with the principal. Bhansali was arrested for a few weeks and released later on bail.
27, MEHTA'S SECOND COMING (1998) :- The Big Bull returned to the bourses. This time, he allegedly colluded with the promoters of BPL, Videocon International, and Sterile Industries to rig the share prices of these companies. The inevitable collapse happened sooner than planned, Harshad Mehta orchestrated a cover-up operation that included a high=jinks effort by officials of Bombay Stock Exchange to (illegally ) open the trading system in the middle of the night to set things right, but the damage had been done. SEBI finally passed its ruling on the scam in 2001, banning the three companies concerned from tapping the market-BPL, for two years. Mehta was debarred for life form dealing in Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in October 2001
28,VANISHING COMPANIES SCAM (1998) :- A passing remark heard by then Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram resulted in a furore over what was badly-kept secret on Dalal street. Chidambaram was told that hundreds of companies had disappeared after raising moneys form the public. An informal scrutiny revealed that perhaps over 600 companies were missing. Chidambaram ordered a probe by SEBI. The SEBI probe conducted in May 1998 revealed that while many companies are not traded on the bourses at least 80 companies that had rises Rs.330.78 crore were simply missing. Later that year, the Department of Company Affairs (DCA) was asked to probe and penalize these companies. DCA still investigating. Investigations continue to this day.
29, PLANTATION COMPANIES SCAM (1999) :- It was as innovative a swindle as any effected in the world. Savvy entrepreneurs convinced gullible investors that given the right irrigation and fertilizer inputs, teak, strawberries, and anything else that could be grown, would grow anywhere in the country. The promoters could afford to collect money from investors and not worry about retribution (or returns, for that matter). For, plantation companies fell under the purview of neither SEBI nor Reserve Bank of India. Indeed, they didn't even come under the scope of the Department decided to change things in 1999, enough investors had been gulled: 653 companies, between them, had raised Rs. 2,563 crore from investors. To date, not many investors have got their principals back, just another affirmation of the old saying about money not growing on trees.
30, Match Fixing (2000) :- Mohammed Azharuddin, till then India's cricket captain, was accused of match-fixing. He and Ajay Sharma were banned from playing, while Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were suspended for five years.
31, KETAN PAREKH SCAM (2001) :- Ketan Parekh's modus operandi wasn't very different from Harshad Mehta's. If Mehta used banker's receipts, then Parekh used pay orders to ramp up the prices of his favourite scrips (the K-10). Apart from money form the banking system Parekh also rerouted money from corporated like HFCL (Rs. 425 crore), and Zee (Rs. 340 crore) to good effect. He was caught when pay-orders issued by Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank bounced. Although the total amount involved in the scam was just Rs. 137 crore, the impact was far greater.
Apparently, when a bear cartel sensed Parekh was in trouble, it stepped in and leveraged a dip in the NASDAQ to bear down stock prices. The resultant slump in the markets happened soon after Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha presented what he considered his best budget ever. Under pressure from the government, SEBI investigated the scam and heads began to roll. Among them: the entire management team of BSE, including its president Anand Rathi, CSFB, First Global, and, in an indirect connection, P.S.Subramanyam, the Chairman of UTL Evidently, for the 18 months that PSS was Chairman of UTI, the Trust had mirrored the actions of the bull cartel. The result? When the market tanked, so did the NAV of its holy cow, the US-64.
32, Tehelka Sting (2001) :- Tehelka, an online news portal, used spycams to catch army officers and politicians accepting bribes, in their sting operation called Operation Westend. Investigative journalism turned another corner in the country.
32, Stockmarket Scam (2001) :- The mayhem that wiped off over Rs 1,15,000 crore in the markets in March 2001 was masterminded by the Pentafour bull Ketan Parekh. He was arrested in December 2002 and banned from acccessing the capital market for 14 years.
34, Home Trade Scam (2002) :- Under the pretext of gilt trading, Rs 600 crore was swindled from over 25 cooperative banks in Maharashtra and Gujarat by a Navi Mumbai-based brokerage firm Home Trade. Sanjay Agarwal, CEO of the firm, was arrested in May 2002.
35, Stamp Paper Scam (2003) :- The sheer magnitude of the racket was shocking-it caused a loss of Rs 30,000 crore to the exchequer. Disclosures of the mastermind behind it, Abdul Karim Telgi, implicated top police officers and bureaucrats.
36, Oil-for-Food Scandal (2005) :- K. Natwar Singh was unceremoniously dropped from the Cabinet when his name surfaced in the Volcker Report on the Iraq oil-for-food scam.
What India Could Do With Rs 73 Lakh Crore?
Build: 2.4 crore primary healthcare centres. That’s at least 3 for every village, at a cost of Rs 30 lakh each.
Build: 24.1 lakh Kendriya Vidyalayas at a cost of Rs 3.02 crore each, with two sections from Class VI to XII.
Construct: 14.6 crore low-cost houses assuming a cost of Rs 5 lakh a unit.
Set up: 2,703 coal-based power plants of 600 MW each. Each costs Rs 2,700 crore.
Supply: 12 lakh CFL bulbs. That’s enough light for each of India’s 6 lakh villages
Construct: 14.6 lakh km of two-lane highways. That’s a road around India’s perimeter 95 times over.
Clean up: 50 major rivers for the next 121 years, at Rs 1,200 crore a river every year.
Launch: 90 NREGA-style schemes, each worth roughly Rs 81,111 crore.
Announce: 121 more loan waiver schemes. All of them worth Rs 60,000 crore.
Give: Rs 56,000 to every Indian. Even better, give Rs 1.82 lakh to 40 crore Indians living BPL.
Hand out: 60.8 crore Tata Nanos to 60.8 crore people. Or four times as many laptops.
Grow the GDP: The scam money is 27% more than our GDP of Rs 53 lakh crore."
Greed, graft, politics, bribery, dirty money. Just another day in the life of a nation still rated among the most corrupt in the world. Scan the scams that have grabbed headlines, destroyed reputations and left many people poorer.
Sent by Arun Shroff.
I would like to thank the person who has compiled these figures. He must have toiled hard through the night, going through all the old papers in collecting these figures. It is a virtual storehouse for those fighting against corruption, people like Anna Hazare, Swami Ramdeo, Kiran Bedi and the father- son Bhushan duo.
However, I note that the records stop at 2005.
The latest CWG, and Adarsh Housing scams have not been added.
You will note the volumes and amount increased after Indira Gandhi came to power.
No wonder she coined the phrase "My India is Great"
It has further increased exponentially after the UPA government came to power.
Subsidies - Do we need them?
Rising prices of fuel has been a matter of serious concern for car users. In order to reduce the pain of high prices, a lot of car buyers are showing preference for diesel cars. The widening gap between petrol and diesel prices has been the main trigger for this. Along with being comparatively cheaper, diesel cars also have higher mileage. In the past few years, sales of diesel cars have grown at a much faster rate than those of petrol cars. Though currently diesel cars have a market share of about 30%, they are set to garner about 50% share in the next 3-4 years. As a result of this changing trend, companies are now concentrating on creating variants of this cheaper fuel. However, it remains to be seen whether this trend can continue for long as it depends a lot on whether the government takes a decision to free diesel from price control.
The above is from the newsletter I received from Equitymaster.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Man Mohan Singh and whoever sits of the Finance Ministers chair cry themselves horse to reduce the subsidy of petroleum products, mainly petrol, diesel, Kerosene oil and cooking gas.
They forget that they have first increased the price of the above by more than 50% by central and sales tax.
If they do not impose these tax whoe only purpose is to finance these corrupt governments, the need for subsidy would not be there.
If however, they have to reduce the subsidies, they can reduce those for petrol used in cars. For two wheelers, the subsidy should remain there.
Diesel used for mass transport like buses and taxis or transport of goods should continue to receive subsidies. Subsidy for cars using diesel should not be there.
All cooking gas should be subsidised when used in homes. Cooking gas used in homes and restaurants or for industrial purpose should not be subsidised.
Kerosend should be subsidised since it is usd mainly for the poor and vigilance should be kept to ensure that it is not used to adulterate diesel
The above is from the newsletter I received from Equitymaster.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Man Mohan Singh and whoever sits of the Finance Ministers chair cry themselves horse to reduce the subsidy of petroleum products, mainly petrol, diesel, Kerosene oil and cooking gas.
They forget that they have first increased the price of the above by more than 50% by central and sales tax.
If they do not impose these tax whoe only purpose is to finance these corrupt governments, the need for subsidy would not be there.
If however, they have to reduce the subsidies, they can reduce those for petrol used in cars. For two wheelers, the subsidy should remain there.
Diesel used for mass transport like buses and taxis or transport of goods should continue to receive subsidies. Subsidy for cars using diesel should not be there.
All cooking gas should be subsidised when used in homes. Cooking gas used in homes and restaurants or for industrial purpose should not be subsidised.
Kerosend should be subsidised since it is usd mainly for the poor and vigilance should be kept to ensure that it is not used to adulterate diesel
Monday, May 23, 2011
Joe Galibardy
NEW DELHI: The story goes that the great Jesse Owens said to Joe Galibardy at the 1936 Berlin Olympics: "I can't be sure of my gold medal but the hockey gold is yours!"
It transpired that both men won gold medals, in fact the modest Owens who was not sure how good a sprinter and long jumper he was, went on to win four.
But this is about Joseph "Joe" Deville Thomas Galibardy. He died at Walthamstow, England, aged 96. Owens died comparatively young in 1980, aged 67.
With the passing away of Galibardy, the oldest survivor of that great 1936 Indian hockey team, captained by Dhyan Chand, has left this world.
Galibardy started out as a full back but later switched to playing at left half. So solid was he in defence that he was nicknamed "Rock of Gibraltor."
But when the mood took him he would sprint down the flank and cut into the centre for shots at goal. Such daring sorties, against all tenets of hockey of those days, earned him the appropriate sobriquet of "Cavalier."
But a Galibardy could be so daring. He had the speed to recover. Galibardy missed the 1948 Olympics because his wife was expecting their seventh child.
There were many admirers of this BNR (Bengal Nagpur Railway) player, who began his first class hockey career in the Beighton Cup at Kolkata in 1935.
Joe, who hated his studies at Kurseong's Goethals School, something that naturally worried his father, was offered a job in BNR as a locomotive cleaner because of his hockey skills and soccer talent.
A self-taught hockey player, he willingly imparted his skills to youngsters, his most famous pupil being four-time Olympian Leslie Claudius, the last of a line of great Anglo-Indian hockey players.
Indian sport, hockey in particular, was the poorer for the post-Independence exodus of the Anglos.
Sent by Sir, Mr. Lobo
It transpired that both men won gold medals, in fact the modest Owens who was not sure how good a sprinter and long jumper he was, went on to win four.
But this is about Joseph "Joe" Deville Thomas Galibardy. He died at Walthamstow, England, aged 96. Owens died comparatively young in 1980, aged 67.
With the passing away of Galibardy, the oldest survivor of that great 1936 Indian hockey team, captained by Dhyan Chand, has left this world.
Galibardy started out as a full back but later switched to playing at left half. So solid was he in defence that he was nicknamed "Rock of Gibraltor."
But when the mood took him he would sprint down the flank and cut into the centre for shots at goal. Such daring sorties, against all tenets of hockey of those days, earned him the appropriate sobriquet of "Cavalier."
But a Galibardy could be so daring. He had the speed to recover. Galibardy missed the 1948 Olympics because his wife was expecting their seventh child.
There were many admirers of this BNR (Bengal Nagpur Railway) player, who began his first class hockey career in the Beighton Cup at Kolkata in 1935.
Joe, who hated his studies at Kurseong's Goethals School, something that naturally worried his father, was offered a job in BNR as a locomotive cleaner because of his hockey skills and soccer talent.
A self-taught hockey player, he willingly imparted his skills to youngsters, his most famous pupil being four-time Olympian Leslie Claudius, the last of a line of great Anglo-Indian hockey players.
Indian sport, hockey in particular, was the poorer for the post-Independence exodus of the Anglos.
Sent by Sir, Mr. Lobo
Virus Warning
Don’t know how true this is !
TWO SUBJECT LINES of which to be AWARE.
Just verified this with Snoopes and it is REAL.
ALSO WENT TO TRUTH OR FICTION, IT'S on their site also..
PLEASE INFORM EVERYONE you know!
1.) Emails with pictures of Osama Bin-Laden hanged are being sent and the moment that you open these emails your computer will crash and you will not be able to fix it!
If you get an e-mail along the lines of 'Osama Bin Laden Captured' or 'Osama Hanged', don't open the Attachment!!!!
This e-mail is being distributed through countries around the globe, but mainly in the US and Israel.
Be considerate & send this warning to whomever you know.
2.) You should be alert during the next few days:
Do not open any message with an attached file called 'Invitation' regardless of who sent it.
It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer!!!!
This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this E-mail to all your contacts.
It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
If you receive an e-mail called 'invitation', even though sent by a friend. Do not open it!!!
This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.
This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus..
This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where other vital information is kept.
SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!!
Sent by Keith Hayward
TWO SUBJECT LINES of which to be AWARE.
Just verified this with Snoopes and it is REAL.
ALSO WENT TO TRUTH OR FICTION, IT'S on their site also..
PLEASE INFORM EVERYONE you know!
1.) Emails with pictures of Osama Bin-Laden hanged are being sent and the moment that you open these emails your computer will crash and you will not be able to fix it!
If you get an e-mail along the lines of 'Osama Bin Laden Captured' or 'Osama Hanged', don't open the Attachment!!!!
This e-mail is being distributed through countries around the globe, but mainly in the US and Israel.
Be considerate & send this warning to whomever you know.
2.) You should be alert during the next few days:
Do not open any message with an attached file called 'Invitation' regardless of who sent it.
It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer!!!!
This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this E-mail to all your contacts.
It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
If you receive an e-mail called 'invitation', even though sent by a friend. Do not open it!!!
This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.
This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus..
This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where other vital information is kept.
SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!!
Sent by Keith Hayward
Sunday, May 22, 2011
London, May 21: Ratan Tata has questioned Mukesh Ambani’s need to live in Antilla, the glass and steel palace which rises 173 meters above Mumbai, consists of 27 storeys and is said to cost anywhere between £630 million and £1 billion.
“It makes me wonder why someone would do that,” Tata says. “That’s what revolutions are made of,” he adds.
The implication in Tata’s comments to The Times, London, is that he cares about India’s poor.
The paper says that while Tata is wealthy, he claims not to be a billionaire. “He lives in an apartment with a sea view but, according to those who know him, he lives modestly compared with some of India’s other rich people.”
The Times depicts Tata as a man of conscience. “The widening gap between rich and poor in India worries him.”
If Mamata Banerjee were to read the article, she might have to suppress involuntary stirrings that she has more in common with Tata than either might like to admit.
Tata tells the paper: “We are doing so little about the disparity. We are allowing it to be there and wishing it away.”
It is The Times which raises the subject of Ambani’s lavish new home. Tata’s next few words might well make Ambani incandescent with rage: “The person who lives there should be concerned about what he sees around him and (asking) can he make a difference. If he’s not, then it’s sad because this country needs people to allocate some of their enormous wealth to finding ways of mitigating the hardship that people have.”
To which Mamata might respond: “This man is stealing my manifesto.”
He also talks of the money that the Tata group puts into social causes. “What surprises many is that we are not a corporation just driven by the bottom line, but we are able to allocate 4 or 5 per cent of our profit to social causes and to philanthropy and still are able to provide returns to our shareholders,” Tata emphasises.
In what could be construed as a dig at Ambani, Tata goes on: “Do we want to be the No. 1 corporation in size? No, we don’t. If we are, it’s wonderful, but we would like to keep on doing what we are doing, and perhaps be different, and be a corporation with a greater amount of compassion and yet the best in class.”
Tata also attacks Peter Mandelson, who was business secretary in the last Labour government. Although he maintained good relations with Brown, he is critical of Mandelson, who turned down Tata’s request for credit to invest in Jaguar.
“I said, ‘you own most of the banks, so give us access to credit because we have nowhere to turn’. And his answer was, ‘you are an Indian company. Go to the Indian banks’, which I thought was crazy. The jobs were English.”
I have pointed out earlier on a number of occasions regarding the house that Mukesh Ambani has built. I am glad that Rattan Tata has similar views.When there is so much poverty all around, the 40 billion house stands like an eye sore and as Mr. Tata rightly commented are the thoughtlessness which cause revolutions.
Compare that with the simplicity of Mr. Tata who still lives in a flat.
One cannot have but respect for Tata and disdain for Mukesh Ambani.
There is another Indian who has become an NRI.
He goes about buying castles and yachts as if that is the only purpose of life.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
India carries out Abbotabad type raid on Pakistan
After last weeks picture of the White house people watching the Abbotabad raid, here is the India version.
Sent by Sunita Sengupta
Sent by Sunita Sengupta
Results count
The Priest & The Mallu Bus Driver
A Priest dies and is awaiting his turn in line at the Heaven's Gates. Ahead of him is a guy , fashionably dressed , in dark sun glasses , a loud shirt , leather jacket & jeans.
God asks him: Please tell me who you are , so that I may know whether to admit you into the kingdom of Heaven or not.
The Guy replies: I am Malayalee , KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Co) bus driver from Kerala!!!
God consults his ledger…...........smiles and says to the Mallu:
Please take this silken robe & gold scarf and enter the Kingdom of Heaven ...
Now it is the Priest's turn. He stands erect and speaks out in a booming voice:
I am Head Priest of the so & so Church for the last 40 years.
God consults his ledger & says to the Priest: Please take this Cotton Robe & enter the Kingdom of Heaven ..
'Just a minute' says the agonized Priest.
'How is it that a foul mouthed, rash Driver is given a Silken robe & a Golden scarf
and I, a Priest , who's spent his whole life preaching your Name & Goodness has to make do with a Cotton robe?'
'Results my friend, Results', shrugs God.
'While you preached, people SLEPT; but when he drove, people PRAYED'
IT’S PERFORMANCE AND NOT THE POSITION THAT ULTIMATELY COUNTS……
Sent by Arun Shroff.
This carries an important lesson of life.
It is the final result which counts.
A good example is the IPL tamasha which is going on for the last month.
No matter who wins during these two weeks, it will be the final match which will count.
As Br. Hughes used to say, no matter how long you are in possession of the ball in soccer, it does not count.
Have you been able to put the ball between the two posts?
A Priest dies and is awaiting his turn in line at the Heaven's Gates. Ahead of him is a guy , fashionably dressed , in dark sun glasses , a loud shirt , leather jacket & jeans.
God asks him: Please tell me who you are , so that I may know whether to admit you into the kingdom of Heaven or not.
The Guy replies: I am Malayalee , KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Co) bus driver from Kerala!!!
God consults his ledger…...........smiles and says to the Mallu:
Please take this silken robe & gold scarf and enter the Kingdom of Heaven ...
Now it is the Priest's turn. He stands erect and speaks out in a booming voice:
I am Head Priest of the so & so Church for the last 40 years.
God consults his ledger & says to the Priest: Please take this Cotton Robe & enter the Kingdom of Heaven ..
'Just a minute' says the agonized Priest.
'How is it that a foul mouthed, rash Driver is given a Silken robe & a Golden scarf
and I, a Priest , who's spent his whole life preaching your Name & Goodness has to make do with a Cotton robe?'
'Results my friend, Results', shrugs God.
'While you preached, people SLEPT; but when he drove, people PRAYED'
IT’S PERFORMANCE AND NOT THE POSITION THAT ULTIMATELY COUNTS……
Sent by Arun Shroff.
This carries an important lesson of life.
It is the final result which counts.
A good example is the IPL tamasha which is going on for the last month.
No matter who wins during these two weeks, it will be the final match which will count.
As Br. Hughes used to say, no matter how long you are in possession of the ball in soccer, it does not count.
Have you been able to put the ball between the two posts?
Which is the most Dangerous Alphabet ?
English Language Alphabet ?
Answer "W"...
It is tension generator...
Because all the worries get initiated with "W"...
Who??
Why?
What?
When?
Which??
Whom??
Where??
War...
Wine...
Whisky...
Women...
Wealth
And Finally .......
..........
..........
..........
Believe it or not
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
WIFE.....
Sent by Arun Shroff
Answer "W"...
It is tension generator...
Because all the worries get initiated with "W"...
Who??
Why?
What?
When?
Which??
Whom??
Where??
War...
Wine...
Whisky...
Women...
Wealth
And Finally .......
..........
..........
..........
Believe it or not
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
WIFE.....
Sent by Arun Shroff
2G scam: Morani's bail decision Monday
New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here Saturday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of Cineyug Films founder Karim Morani for May 23. He was named as co-conspirator in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini said the court will pronounce its verdict Monday.
Morani's lawyers, Siddharth Luthra and Sandeep Kapur, also submitted a medical report from J.J. Hospital in Mumbai, as was demanded by the court May 10 when he was exempted from personal appearance due to ill health.
Kapur informed the court that Morani's health was weak.
'He needs eight small meals in a day, and walk for two hours to maintain a stress free life. His heart functioning is only 45 percent and he is also on heavy medication. Therefore, the court should allow his bail plea,' Kapur said.
However, CBI said that Morani cannot be treated as an innocent.
'Morani has definite role in entire conspiracy, he is co-conspirator in this matter. He is not innocent, Rs.209 crore transfer is not an innocent transfer of money,' CBI told the court, opposing his bail plea.
The court, which was also to pronounce its verdict on the bail pleas of Rajiv Agarwal and Asif Balwa of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd, deferred the matter for May 24.
Why do these rich people suddenly clutch their chests and stagger forward as soon as the police come to arrest them?
We have seen it done umpteen times in movies.
The other Raja of Satyam fame has avoided going to jail and spent the whole time in nursing homes and continued his business from the nursing home.
I suggest that instead of allowing them to stay in nursing homes, let them give the same donation to the jails where they are kept so that the medical facilities in the jails improve and they too are well looked after.
Surely Mr Morani can get eight small meals in the jail.
Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini said the court will pronounce its verdict Monday.
Morani's lawyers, Siddharth Luthra and Sandeep Kapur, also submitted a medical report from J.J. Hospital in Mumbai, as was demanded by the court May 10 when he was exempted from personal appearance due to ill health.
Kapur informed the court that Morani's health was weak.
'He needs eight small meals in a day, and walk for two hours to maintain a stress free life. His heart functioning is only 45 percent and he is also on heavy medication. Therefore, the court should allow his bail plea,' Kapur said.
However, CBI said that Morani cannot be treated as an innocent.
'Morani has definite role in entire conspiracy, he is co-conspirator in this matter. He is not innocent, Rs.209 crore transfer is not an innocent transfer of money,' CBI told the court, opposing his bail plea.
The court, which was also to pronounce its verdict on the bail pleas of Rajiv Agarwal and Asif Balwa of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd, deferred the matter for May 24.
Why do these rich people suddenly clutch their chests and stagger forward as soon as the police come to arrest them?
We have seen it done umpteen times in movies.
The other Raja of Satyam fame has avoided going to jail and spent the whole time in nursing homes and continued his business from the nursing home.
I suggest that instead of allowing them to stay in nursing homes, let them give the same donation to the jails where they are kept so that the medical facilities in the jails improve and they too are well looked after.
Surely Mr Morani can get eight small meals in the jail.
Media commission condemns arrest of journalist under OSA
PTI – 2 hours 18 minutes ago
New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) The South Asia Media Commission has condemned the arrest of Mumbai journalist Tarakant Dwivedi, who exposed the faulty storage of weapons purchased after the 26/11 attack in the Railway Protection Force armoury.
In a statement on behalf of the Commission, noted journalists Kumar Ketkar and K K Katyal said that the "commendable job of investigative journalism" ought to have been regarded service to national interest.
"Instead, RPF slammed the provisions of the Official Secret Act (OSA) on Dwivedi booking him for alleged trespass of railway property and for spying", they said.
Observing that media has always been wary of misuse of OSA by authorities to cover their acts of omission and commission, it called for deterrent action against those responsible for the arrest and demanded safeguards for journalists against the abuse of OSA.
It is most unfortunate that the Indian Government allows all this to happen. Our prime minister is in the habit of apologizing after an event.
Why does he not care to see that the events do not occur.
Scams have occurred one after another, under his nose. He did not take action although it was pointed out to him. It was only when the courts took on the matter upon themselves to investigate that he was forced to take action.
Why does he allow things to build up to such an extent?
Why does not he hold an inquiry and demand explanation when the first smoke of a scam rises?
I suggest that Man Mohan Singh should also be put on the Times cover for being the Prime Minister with the most scams in his government.
New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) The South Asia Media Commission has condemned the arrest of Mumbai journalist Tarakant Dwivedi, who exposed the faulty storage of weapons purchased after the 26/11 attack in the Railway Protection Force armoury.
In a statement on behalf of the Commission, noted journalists Kumar Ketkar and K K Katyal said that the "commendable job of investigative journalism" ought to have been regarded service to national interest.
"Instead, RPF slammed the provisions of the Official Secret Act (OSA) on Dwivedi booking him for alleged trespass of railway property and for spying", they said.
Observing that media has always been wary of misuse of OSA by authorities to cover their acts of omission and commission, it called for deterrent action against those responsible for the arrest and demanded safeguards for journalists against the abuse of OSA.
It is most unfortunate that the Indian Government allows all this to happen. Our prime minister is in the habit of apologizing after an event.
Why does he not care to see that the events do not occur.
Scams have occurred one after another, under his nose. He did not take action although it was pointed out to him. It was only when the courts took on the matter upon themselves to investigate that he was forced to take action.
Why does he allow things to build up to such an extent?
Why does not he hold an inquiry and demand explanation when the first smoke of a scam rises?
I suggest that Man Mohan Singh should also be put on the Times cover for being the Prime Minister with the most scams in his government.
A Raja on the Times Cover
A. Raja in Time list of ignominious club of privileged leaders
By PTI, Thursday, 19 May 2011, 18:26 IST
New Delhi: Former Telecom Minister A Raja, at the centre of the 2G spectrum allocation scam , has earned the dubious distinction of figuring in the list of Time Magazine's "an ignominious club of privileged leaders who stepped too far".
The 2G scam is ranked No 2 in the list of scandals and scams in the all-time Top 10 Abuses of Power, only next to ex-American President Richard Nixon's 'Plumbers', a secret unit tasked with digging up dirt on Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg.
Raja, who is cooling his heels in New Delhi's Tihar jail, has beaten some tough contenders to be ranked second and be ahead of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, North Korean autocratic leader Kim Jong-II and skirt-chasing Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi.
Raja's lawyer when contacted said he did not want to comment on the report.
The Time write-up on the India's Telecoms Scandal says, "In recent months, India's ruling coalition government has been rocked by an epic corruption scandal that has challenged its once unbreakable grip on power."
The Time report while including the DMK leader in its list also did not have any kind words for Indian democracy or the judiciary.
It said that following 2008 elections, the country's telecommunications ministry was awarded to Andimithu Raja, "a relatively green lawmaker from a regional party who won his post as a result of India's usual parliamentary political horse-trading."
The magazine further said, "But, according to allegations that led to Raja resigning late last year, he presided over the underpricing of bandwidth to mobile companies -- apparently in return for bribes -- which some estimate may have cost the Indian government around USD 7 billion.
"That figure makes it hands down the largest episode of graft in Indian history, and played a part in the withering defeats Raja's party sustained in local elections in early May. Raja himself now languishes in jail as the snail-paced Indian judicial system inches the case forward."
Other persons included in the list include former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, former president of Israel Moshe Katsav, Roger Vangheluwe, who stepped down as Bishop of Bruge, former head of China's State Food and Drug Administration Zheng Xiaoyu and US Secretary of the Interior in 1922 Albert Fall.
It is not everybody who makes it to the Times Cover Page.
I am sure A Raja, the DMK and the UPA must be very proud of this moment.
The UPA is in the habit of forming government with corrupt people including murderers.
From Shahabuddin and Lalu Yadav of Bihar, Sibu Soren of Jharkhand and now A Raja and Kanimozhi of Tamilnadu.
Well done Man Mohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.
By PTI, Thursday, 19 May 2011, 18:26 IST
New Delhi: Former Telecom Minister A Raja, at the centre of the 2G spectrum allocation scam , has earned the dubious distinction of figuring in the list of Time Magazine's "an ignominious club of privileged leaders who stepped too far".
The 2G scam is ranked No 2 in the list of scandals and scams in the all-time Top 10 Abuses of Power, only next to ex-American President Richard Nixon's 'Plumbers', a secret unit tasked with digging up dirt on Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg.
Raja, who is cooling his heels in New Delhi's Tihar jail, has beaten some tough contenders to be ranked second and be ahead of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, North Korean autocratic leader Kim Jong-II and skirt-chasing Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi.
Raja's lawyer when contacted said he did not want to comment on the report.
The Time write-up on the India's Telecoms Scandal says, "In recent months, India's ruling coalition government has been rocked by an epic corruption scandal that has challenged its once unbreakable grip on power."
The Time report while including the DMK leader in its list also did not have any kind words for Indian democracy or the judiciary.
It said that following 2008 elections, the country's telecommunications ministry was awarded to Andimithu Raja, "a relatively green lawmaker from a regional party who won his post as a result of India's usual parliamentary political horse-trading."
The magazine further said, "But, according to allegations that led to Raja resigning late last year, he presided over the underpricing of bandwidth to mobile companies -- apparently in return for bribes -- which some estimate may have cost the Indian government around USD 7 billion.
"That figure makes it hands down the largest episode of graft in Indian history, and played a part in the withering defeats Raja's party sustained in local elections in early May. Raja himself now languishes in jail as the snail-paced Indian judicial system inches the case forward."
Other persons included in the list include former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, former president of Israel Moshe Katsav, Roger Vangheluwe, who stepped down as Bishop of Bruge, former head of China's State Food and Drug Administration Zheng Xiaoyu and US Secretary of the Interior in 1922 Albert Fall.
It is not everybody who makes it to the Times Cover Page.
I am sure A Raja, the DMK and the UPA must be very proud of this moment.
The UPA is in the habit of forming government with corrupt people including murderers.
From Shahabuddin and Lalu Yadav of Bihar, Sibu Soren of Jharkhand and now A Raja and Kanimozhi of Tamilnadu.
Well done Man Mohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Paraprosdokian
A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to re-frame or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax. For this reason, it is extremely popular among comedians and satirists.
* "He was at his best when the going was good." -Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor
* "There but for the grace of God - goes God." -Winston Churchill
* "If I am reading this graph correctly - I'd be very surprised." -Stephen Colbert
* "You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing-after they have tried everything else." -Winston Churchill
* "If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised." -Dorothy Parker
* "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." -Groucho Marx
* "A modest man, who has much to be modest about." -Winston Churchill
* "She looks as though she's been poured into her clothes, and forgot to say 'when'." -P. G. Wodehouse
* "I like going to the park and watching the children run around because they don't know I'm using blanks." -Emo Phillips
* "If I could say a few words, I'd be a better public speaker." -Homer Simpson
* "I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long." -Mitch Hedberg
* "I sleep eight hours a day and at least ten at night." -Bill Hicks
o Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
o The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on the list.
o If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong. (I have to remember this one!)
o We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
o War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
o Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
o Evening news is where they begin with, 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.
o To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
o A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.
o Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.
o Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "In an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR".
o I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
o Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
o Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America ?
o The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!
o I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.
o To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and then call whatever you hit the target.
o Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
o A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
I have an odd feeling I may have posted this earlier.
They are god anyhow.
* "He was at his best when the going was good." -Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor
* "There but for the grace of God - goes God." -Winston Churchill
* "If I am reading this graph correctly - I'd be very surprised." -Stephen Colbert
* "You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing-after they have tried everything else." -Winston Churchill
* "If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised." -Dorothy Parker
* "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." -Groucho Marx
* "A modest man, who has much to be modest about." -Winston Churchill
* "She looks as though she's been poured into her clothes, and forgot to say 'when'." -P. G. Wodehouse
* "I like going to the park and watching the children run around because they don't know I'm using blanks." -Emo Phillips
* "If I could say a few words, I'd be a better public speaker." -Homer Simpson
* "I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long." -Mitch Hedberg
* "I sleep eight hours a day and at least ten at night." -Bill Hicks
o Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
o The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on the list.
o If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong. (I have to remember this one!)
o We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
o War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
o Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
o Evening news is where they begin with, 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.
o To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
o A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.
o Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.
o Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "In an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR".
o I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
o Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
o Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America ?
o The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!
o I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.
o To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and then call whatever you hit the target.
o Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
o A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
I have an odd feeling I may have posted this earlier.
They are god anyhow.
Uncle Sam's eyes are everywhere (as Osama bin Laden discovered)!
Weapon of choice ... a US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone aircraft. Photo: US Air Force
WASHINGTON: The CIA employed sophisticated new stealth drone aircraft to fly dozens of secret missions deep into Pakistani airspace and monitor the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed, current and former US officials said.
Using unmanned planes designed to evade radar detection and operate at high altitudes, the agency conducted clandestine flights over the compound for months before the May 2 assault in an effort to capture high-resolution video that satellites could not provide.
The aircraft allowed the CIA to glide undetected beyond the boundaries that Pakistan has long imposed on other US drones, including the Predators and Reapers that routinely carry out strikes against militants near the border with Afghanistan.
The agency turned to the new stealth aircraft ''because they needed to see more about what was going on'' than other surveillance platforms allowed, said a former US official familiar with the details of the operation. ''It's not like you can just park a Predator overhead - the Pakistanis would know,'' he added .
The monitoring effort also involved satellites, eavesdropping equipment and CIA operatives based at a safe house in Abbottabad, where bin Laden was found. The agency declined to comment for this article.
The CIA's secret incursions into Pakistan's airspace underscore the level of distrust between the US and a country often described as a key counterterrorism ally, and one that has received billions in US aid.
Pakistan's spy chief, Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, last week offered to resign over the government's failures to detect or prevent a US operation that he described as a ''breach of Pakistan's sovereignty''. The country's military and main intelligence service have come under harsh criticism since the revelation that bin Laden had been living in a garrison city.
The new drones represent a big advance in the remotely piloted planes, which have been the signature US weapon against terrorist groups since the September 11 attacks. In 2009 the air force acknowledged the existence of a stealth drone, a Lockheed Martin model known as the RQ-170 Sentinel, two years after it was spotted at an airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The operational use of the drones has never been described by official sources.
The stealth drones were used on the night of the raid, providing imagery that the President, Barack Obama, and his national security team were watching as the US Navy SEALs descended on the compound.
The drones are also equipped to eavesdrop on electronic transmissions, enabling the US to monitor the Pakistani response.
The CIA never obtained a photograph of bin Laden at the compound or other confirmation of his presence before the assault, but they concluded after months of watching the complex that the figure frequently seen pacing back and forth was probably the al-Qaeda chief.
The operation in Abbottabad involved another US aircraft with stealth features, a Black Hawk helicopter equipped with special cladding to dampen noise and evade detection during the 90-minute flight from a base in Afghanistan. The helicopter was destroyed by US forces - leaving only a tail section intact - after a crash-landing at the outset of the raid.
The assault and the surveillance involved venturing into some of Pakistan's most sensitive terrain. The compound was surrounded by Pakistani radar and other systems that could have detected Predators or other non-stealth surveillance planes.
''It's a difficult challenge trying to secure information about any area or object of interest that is in a location where access is denied,'' said the retired air force lieutenant-general David Deptula.
The challenge is multiplied when the surveillance needs to be continuous, which ''makes non-stealthy slow-speed aircraft easier to detect''.
Satellites can provide snapshots of fixed locations every 90 minutes. ''Geosynchronous'' satellites can keep pace with the Earth's rotation and train their lenses on a fixed site, but they orbit at about 36,000 kilometres up. Drones fly at altitudes between 4500 and 15,240 metres.
Stealth aircraft typically use a range of radar-defeating technologies. Their undersides are covered with materials designed to absorb soundwaves, their engines are shielded and their exhaust diverted upward to avoid heat trails visible to infrared sensors.
Still, the missions were regarded as particularly risky because, if detected, they might have called Pakistani attention to US interest in the bin Laden compound.
The Washington Post
Sent by Keith Hayward.
No matter how much we criticize the USA and Israel,one cannot but respect and hold in awe their single minded devotion in going after their enemies.
I only wish India could take a leaf out of their book.
We make ourselves a laughing stock when the prime minister declares proudly that India WILL never carry out an operation like what America did.
How can we, nincompoofs that we are.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
An Indian man walks into the New York City bank and asks for the loan officer.
He tells the Loan Officer that he was going to India for some business for 2 weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.
The Loan Officer tells him that the bank will need
Some form of security for the loan.
So the Indian man hands over the keys and the documents of the new Ferrari car parked on the street in front of the bank.
The loan officer consults the president of the bank,
Produces all the required items and everything check out to be OK.
The loan officer agrees to accept the car as a security for the loan.
The bank president and the Loan Officer had a good laugh at the Indian
For keeping a $750,000 Ferrari as a security and taking only $5,000 has a loan.
An employee of the bank then drives the Ferrari
Into the banks underground garage and parks it there.
Two weeks later the Indian returns and pays $5000 and the interest which comes to it $15.41.
Seeing this, loan officer says,
“Sir, we are very happy to have your business
And this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled.
While you are away, we checked you out and
Found out that you were a multi millionaire.
What puzzled us was why would you bother to borrow $5000?”
The Indian replies
"Where else in the New York City can I park my car for 2 weeks and
For only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return".
This is a true incident and the
Indian is none other than
Sent by Arun Shroff.
I had posted this earlier but at that time Vijay Mallya's name had not been appended at the end.
It is very easy to add names and photographs in the IT age as we have recently seen the photograph of Osama watching live video of action against himself in Abbotabad at the White House with Obama and Hillary Clinton
He tells the Loan Officer that he was going to India for some business for 2 weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.
The Loan Officer tells him that the bank will need
Some form of security for the loan.
So the Indian man hands over the keys and the documents of the new Ferrari car parked on the street in front of the bank.
The loan officer consults the president of the bank,
Produces all the required items and everything check out to be OK.
The loan officer agrees to accept the car as a security for the loan.
The bank president and the Loan Officer had a good laugh at the Indian
For keeping a $750,000 Ferrari as a security and taking only $5,000 has a loan.
An employee of the bank then drives the Ferrari
Into the banks underground garage and parks it there.
Two weeks later the Indian returns and pays $5000 and the interest which comes to it $15.41.
Seeing this, loan officer says,
“Sir, we are very happy to have your business
And this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled.
While you are away, we checked you out and
Found out that you were a multi millionaire.
What puzzled us was why would you bother to borrow $5000?”
The Indian replies
"Where else in the New York City can I park my car for 2 weeks and
For only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return".
This is a true incident and the
Indian is none other than
Sent by Arun Shroff.
I had posted this earlier but at that time Vijay Mallya's name had not been appended at the end.
It is very easy to add names and photographs in the IT age as we have recently seen the photograph of Osama watching live video of action against himself in Abbotabad at the White House with Obama and Hillary Clinton
Subsidies - How useful?
Just some days back, the Indian oil marketing companies (OMCs) declared a sharp hike in petrol prices to the tune of Rs 5 per litre. The move came immediately after the Assembly elections of some states. That was indeed quite an opportunistic move. Even after this hike, the OMCs are still losing about Rs 5.5 per litre. So there is a fair chance that there could be another hike in petrol prices soon. Not to mention, diesel and LPG is also set to get dearer later during the month.
The media has been constantly talking about rising crude oil prices and how the Indian OMCs are losing so much money as a result of fuel subsidies. To a logical mind, it seems obvious that if international crude oil prices are rising, there is no way we can escape the brunt of it. But if you look at some basic facts, you get a feeling that there has been some deliberate shaping of public opinion. In fact, fuel prices need not be as high as they are now.
The problem is that we fail to ask how much petrol really costs. Let's try some simple arithmetic. International crude oil prices are hovering around US$ 112.5 per barrel. That translates to about Rs 5,085 per barrel. Each barrel contains about 158.76 litres. So, effectively crude oil costs Rs 32 per litre. Now, add the cost of refining it to petrol or diesel. According to an oil company official, the refining cost is about 52 paise per litre. Add about Rs 6 as capital costs for the refinery. Then there's the cost of transportation (Rs 6) and dealer's commission (Rs 1.05). So, adding all that, the price of petrol comes to about Rs 45.6 per litre. But how much are we actually paying for petrol? Rs 68.3 in Mumbai, Rs 63.4 in New Delhi, Rs 71 in Bangalore!
Why are we paying so much more and to whom? The answer is tax. Not many are aware about the huge quantum of central and state government taxes and duties levied on fuel prices. In some states the tax component is pretty close to 50%. To add to that, these taxes are levied as a percentage of the basic price of the fuel and aren't fixed per litre. That means rising fuel prices only add more to the government's kitty. But all we hear about are the huge subsidies and the bleeding OMCs.
An optimal solution at the moment would be to reduce the tax burden on fuels. But neither the central government nor the state governments have shown any willingness to budge one bit.
The above is from the newsletter I receive from Equitymaster.
On the 17th I had criticized their newsletter which criticized subsidies.
This newsletter gives the correct picture as to why the prices of petroleum products are so high.50 % of what we pay for our Petrol, Diesel and cooking gas is used to finance the corrupt government in its corrupt deals. After increasing the prices by 50 %, then they squeamishly give subsidies to the poor and middle class which they are wanting to withdraw in the name of reaching higher GDP.
A much simpler method would be to remove the different taxes by the central and state governments.
If they want to withdraw subsidies, they should withdraw for those vehicles, petrol and diesel, used by the different arms of the government, quasi government and large private organisations.
Petrol and Diesel used by the general public for their personal used should be subsidized.
Cooking gas should continue to be subsidized for all.
Kerosene should be subsisized for use only for the poor with care being taken to see that it is not used to adulterate diesel or petrol
The media has been constantly talking about rising crude oil prices and how the Indian OMCs are losing so much money as a result of fuel subsidies. To a logical mind, it seems obvious that if international crude oil prices are rising, there is no way we can escape the brunt of it. But if you look at some basic facts, you get a feeling that there has been some deliberate shaping of public opinion. In fact, fuel prices need not be as high as they are now.
The problem is that we fail to ask how much petrol really costs. Let's try some simple arithmetic. International crude oil prices are hovering around US$ 112.5 per barrel. That translates to about Rs 5,085 per barrel. Each barrel contains about 158.76 litres. So, effectively crude oil costs Rs 32 per litre. Now, add the cost of refining it to petrol or diesel. According to an oil company official, the refining cost is about 52 paise per litre. Add about Rs 6 as capital costs for the refinery. Then there's the cost of transportation (Rs 6) and dealer's commission (Rs 1.05). So, adding all that, the price of petrol comes to about Rs 45.6 per litre. But how much are we actually paying for petrol? Rs 68.3 in Mumbai, Rs 63.4 in New Delhi, Rs 71 in Bangalore!
Why are we paying so much more and to whom? The answer is tax. Not many are aware about the huge quantum of central and state government taxes and duties levied on fuel prices. In some states the tax component is pretty close to 50%. To add to that, these taxes are levied as a percentage of the basic price of the fuel and aren't fixed per litre. That means rising fuel prices only add more to the government's kitty. But all we hear about are the huge subsidies and the bleeding OMCs.
An optimal solution at the moment would be to reduce the tax burden on fuels. But neither the central government nor the state governments have shown any willingness to budge one bit.
The above is from the newsletter I receive from Equitymaster.
On the 17th I had criticized their newsletter which criticized subsidies.
This newsletter gives the correct picture as to why the prices of petroleum products are so high.50 % of what we pay for our Petrol, Diesel and cooking gas is used to finance the corrupt government in its corrupt deals. After increasing the prices by 50 %, then they squeamishly give subsidies to the poor and middle class which they are wanting to withdraw in the name of reaching higher GDP.
A much simpler method would be to remove the different taxes by the central and state governments.
If they want to withdraw subsidies, they should withdraw for those vehicles, petrol and diesel, used by the different arms of the government, quasi government and large private organisations.
Petrol and Diesel used by the general public for their personal used should be subsidized.
Cooking gas should continue to be subsidized for all.
Kerosene should be subsisized for use only for the poor with care being taken to see that it is not used to adulterate diesel or petrol
Unbelievable Friendship...this is special.
The Law Of The Wild says kill only when you are hungry
Photographer Michel Denis-Huot, who captured these amazing pictures on safari in Kenya 's Masai Mara in October last year, said he was astounded by what he saw:
"These three brothers (cheetahs) have been living together since they left their mother at about 18 months old,' he said. 'On the morning we saw them, they seemed not to be hungry, walking quickly but stopping sometimes to play together. 'At one point, they met a group of impala who ran away.. But one youngster was not quick enough and
the brothers caught it easily'."
These extraordinary scenes followed.
and then they just walked away without hurting him...
Life is short... forgive quickly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably...and never regret anything that made you smile
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
Photographer Michel Denis-Huot, who captured these amazing pictures on safari in Kenya 's Masai Mara in October last year, said he was astounded by what he saw:
"These three brothers (cheetahs) have been living together since they left their mother at about 18 months old,' he said. 'On the morning we saw them, they seemed not to be hungry, walking quickly but stopping sometimes to play together. 'At one point, they met a group of impala who ran away.. But one youngster was not quick enough and
the brothers caught it easily'."
These extraordinary scenes followed.
and then they just walked away without hurting him...
Life is short... forgive quickly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably...and never regret anything that made you smile
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
Overworked?
Hi all,
The centre for Disease Control Board has issued a medical alert about a highly dangerous virus called "Weekly Overload Recreational Killer" (WORK).
If you see anyone infected by WORK, don't go near him/her. The virus will wipe out your private life entirely.
If you come in contact with this WORK, you should immediately take at least two of your friends to the nearest "Biological Anxiety Relief" (BAR) centre to take 1 or both of the antidotes known as "Work Isolating Neutralier Extract" (WINE), "Radioactive UnWORK Medicine"(RUM), "Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter"(BEER), "Vaccino Offico Depression Killing Antigen"(VODKA) and continue its dosage till WORK is eliminated from your system completely.
Issued in Public Interest by "Buddies for Eradication of Work Disease Association" (BEWDAs). I am sure Bombay-ites will understand this acronym !!
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
The centre for Disease Control Board has issued a medical alert about a highly dangerous virus called "Weekly Overload Recreational Killer" (WORK).
If you see anyone infected by WORK, don't go near him/her. The virus will wipe out your private life entirely.
If you come in contact with this WORK, you should immediately take at least two of your friends to the nearest "Biological Anxiety Relief" (BAR) centre to take 1 or both of the antidotes known as "Work Isolating Neutralier Extract" (WINE), "Radioactive UnWORK Medicine"(RUM), "Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter"(BEER), "Vaccino Offico Depression Killing Antigen"(VODKA) and continue its dosage till WORK is eliminated from your system completely.
Issued in Public Interest by "Buddies for Eradication of Work Disease Association" (BEWDAs). I am sure Bombay-ites will understand this acronym !!
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
Fallout of the Royal Wedding
Its about time the Queen had a real JOB to earn a living. She looks pretty good in her new Regal outfit! The good old Duke must be in the kitchen flipping burgers!!
"Someone had to pay for the wedding".......
Sent by Keith Hayward
"Someone had to pay for the wedding".......
Sent by Keith Hayward
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Some more Paddy stories
The Irish have solved their own fuel problems. They imported 50
million tons of sand from the Arabs and they're going to drill for
their own oil.
My mate's missus left him last Thursday, she said she was going out
for a pint of milk & never come back!
I asked him how he was coping and he said, "Not bad, I've been using
that powdered stuff."
The police came to my front door last night holding a picture of my wife.
They said, "Is this your wife, sir?"
Shocked, I answered, " Yes."
They said, "I'm afraid it looks like she's been hit by a bus."
I said, "I know, but she has a lovely personality."
Two Irishmen find a mirror in the road.
The first one picks it up & says, "Blow me I know this face but I cant
put a name to it."
The second picks it up & says, "You daft bastard it's me!"
Paddy's in jail. The Guard looks in his cell and see's him hanging by his feet.
"What are you doing?" he asks.
"Hanging myself," Paddy replies.
"It should be round your neck," says the guard.
"I tried that," says Paddy, "but I couldn't breathe."
Two Irish men are hammering floorboards down in a house.
Paddy picks up a nail, realises it's upside down & throws it away.
He carries on doing this until Murphy says, "Why are you throwing them away?"
"Because they're upside down," says Paddy.
"You daft prat," replies Murphy, "save 'em for the ceiling!!"
Sent by Prakash Bhartia.
million tons of sand from the Arabs and they're going to drill for
their own oil.
My mate's missus left him last Thursday, she said she was going out
for a pint of milk & never come back!
I asked him how he was coping and he said, "Not bad, I've been using
that powdered stuff."
The police came to my front door last night holding a picture of my wife.
They said, "Is this your wife, sir?"
Shocked, I answered, " Yes."
They said, "I'm afraid it looks like she's been hit by a bus."
I said, "I know, but she has a lovely personality."
Two Irishmen find a mirror in the road.
The first one picks it up & says, "Blow me I know this face but I cant
put a name to it."
The second picks it up & says, "You daft bastard it's me!"
Paddy's in jail. The Guard looks in his cell and see's him hanging by his feet.
"What are you doing?" he asks.
"Hanging myself," Paddy replies.
"It should be round your neck," says the guard.
"I tried that," says Paddy, "but I couldn't breathe."
Two Irish men are hammering floorboards down in a house.
Paddy picks up a nail, realises it's upside down & throws it away.
He carries on doing this until Murphy says, "Why are you throwing them away?"
"Because they're upside down," says Paddy.
"You daft prat," replies Murphy, "save 'em for the ceiling!!"
Sent by Prakash Bhartia.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Subsidies - How useful?
Political and social interests often conflict with economic interests. If a balance is not maintained, then the repercussions of the same can be perilous. Take subsidies for instance. There are times when subsidies have to be doled out for obvious socio-economic reasons. But there has to be an end to such benevolence, right? If subsidies don't stop, they directly impact the economy's fiscal health. To give you a numeric idea, subsidies eat away as much as 2% of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In the Union Budget 2011-12, the finance minister had set an optimistic fiscal deficit target of 4.6% for the fiscal year. But can it really achieve that goal? Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission opines that we need to cut subsidies to bring our fiscal deficit lower. He points at some very pressing concerns that could derail the government off its fiscal deficit target for the year. We all know that oil prices, especially those of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas are heavily subsidised by the government. It is not difficult to imagine how much burden rising international crude oil prices put on the government's finances. The same holds true for coal. Coal prices are kept artificially close to 50% of global coal prices. If that was not enough, subsidy of electricity nibbles away 1% of the state GDPs.
These are issues that need to be addressed with urgency. Otherwise, the malady that is plaguing the Western world will soon creep to our shores as well.
The above is from the news letter which I receive from Equitymaster.
While I normally agree with what they write in the newsletter, this time I differ.
If a person like Mukesh Ambani can live in a house costing Rs 40 billion, which has been made possible by the policies which the present finance minister Pranab Mukherjee initiated during the time Dhirubhai ruled. All policies then were made to benefit Reliance.
Just because these big industrialists have voices through the media and the politicians they can get what they want but the poor people just want a few subsidies so that they can live just above subsistence level.
They want just two square meals which is made possible since some items are subsidized.
Even this is not acceptable to the media and the industrialist.
There is a better solution.
Why don't they just collect all the poor in ships and dump then in the Arabian Sea or the Bay of Bengal.
After that they should get very good GDPs.
In the Union Budget 2011-12, the finance minister had set an optimistic fiscal deficit target of 4.6% for the fiscal year. But can it really achieve that goal? Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission opines that we need to cut subsidies to bring our fiscal deficit lower. He points at some very pressing concerns that could derail the government off its fiscal deficit target for the year. We all know that oil prices, especially those of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas are heavily subsidised by the government. It is not difficult to imagine how much burden rising international crude oil prices put on the government's finances. The same holds true for coal. Coal prices are kept artificially close to 50% of global coal prices. If that was not enough, subsidy of electricity nibbles away 1% of the state GDPs.
These are issues that need to be addressed with urgency. Otherwise, the malady that is plaguing the Western world will soon creep to our shores as well.
The above is from the news letter which I receive from Equitymaster.
While I normally agree with what they write in the newsletter, this time I differ.
If a person like Mukesh Ambani can live in a house costing Rs 40 billion, which has been made possible by the policies which the present finance minister Pranab Mukherjee initiated during the time Dhirubhai ruled. All policies then were made to benefit Reliance.
Just because these big industrialists have voices through the media and the politicians they can get what they want but the poor people just want a few subsidies so that they can live just above subsistence level.
They want just two square meals which is made possible since some items are subsidized.
Even this is not acceptable to the media and the industrialist.
There is a better solution.
Why don't they just collect all the poor in ships and dump then in the Arabian Sea or the Bay of Bengal.
After that they should get very good GDPs.
THE BEST TRUE LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR, ....DECADE, ....AND POSSIBLY THE CENTURY
This took place in Charlotte , North Carolina .
A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars,
then insured them against, among other things, fire.
Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile
of these great cigars, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.
In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost
'in a series of small fires.' The insurance company
refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man
had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.
The lawyer sued - and WON!
(Stay with me.)....................it continues.......
Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance
company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated
nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company,
in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable
and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire,
without defining what is considered to be unacceptable 'fire'
and was obligated to pay the claim.
Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process,
the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000
to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars that perished in the 'fires'.....................continuing on.....
NOW FOR THE BEST PART...
After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company
had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!
With his own insurance claim and testimony from the
previous case being used against him...........the lawyer
was convicted of intentionally burning his insured
property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.
This true story............. won First Place in last
year's Criminal Lawyers Award contest.
ONLY IN AMERICA , ......... NO WONDER THE REST OF
THE WORLD THINKS WE'RE NUTS .............
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars,
then insured them against, among other things, fire.
Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile
of these great cigars, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.
In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost
'in a series of small fires.' The insurance company
refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man
had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.
The lawyer sued - and WON!
(Stay with me.)....................it continues.......
Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance
company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated
nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company,
in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable
and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire,
without defining what is considered to be unacceptable 'fire'
and was obligated to pay the claim.
Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process,
the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000
to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars that perished in the 'fires'.....................continuing on.....
NOW FOR THE BEST PART...
After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company
had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!
With his own insurance claim and testimony from the
previous case being used against him...........the lawyer
was convicted of intentionally burning his insured
property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.
This true story............. won First Place in last
year's Criminal Lawyers Award contest.
ONLY IN AMERICA , ......... NO WONDER THE REST OF
THE WORLD THINKS WE'RE NUTS .............
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
Monday, May 16, 2011
Gujarat wins award for Transparency
This has been sent by Mr. V K Khanna.
Since this has not been covered in the media it should be circulated widely. So that people are in the know of it.
SHOULDN'T WE BE PROUD OF THIS ACHIEVEMENT?
Not a single news channel telecasted this & not a single newspaper interested in publishing this news
Such an important piece of news which extols transparency in government working has been ignored by the mainline media since Narendra Modi is not their blue eyed boy and the Congress opposes him.
However, if there was a murder or rape the whole gang would jump on it like a bunch of hungry wolves and put it out in prime time as "Breaking News"
So much for the independence and the objective reporting of the media
Sunday, May 15, 2011
A picture from Hell
This picture from hell has been sent by Keith Hayward.
Don't ask me how he got it, must be some Indian TV channel to whom both of them gave exclusive interviews.
Some humorous and some very creative sign-ages !!
Advertisement In A Long Island Shop: Guitar, for sale....... Cheap....... ....no strings attached .
Ad.. In Hospital Waiting Room: Smoking Helps You Lose Weight ... One Lung At A Time!
Seen on a bulletin board: Success Is Relative. More The Success, More The Relatives.
When I Read About The Evils Of Drinking...I Gave Up Reading.
My Grandfather Is Eighty And Still Doesn't Need Glasses... He Drinks Straight Out Of The Bottle.
You Know Your kids Have Grown Up When: Your Daughter Begins To Put On Lipstick..
Or Your Son Starts To Wipe It Off .
Sign In A Bar: "Those Of You Who Are Drinking To Forget, Please Pay In Advance."
Sign In Driving School: If Your Wife Wants To Learn To Drive, Don't Stand In Her Way.
Behind Every Great Man, There Is A Surprised Woman.
The Reason Men Lie Is Because Women Ask So Many Questions .
Getting Caught Is The Mother Of Invention.
Laugh And The World Laughs With You, Snore And You sleep Alone.
The Surest Sign That Intelligent Life Exists Elsewhere In The Universe Is The Fact That It Has Never Tried To Contact Us.
Sign At A Barber's Saloon In Detroit: We Need Your Heads To Run Our Business .
A Traffic Slogan: Don't Let Your Kids Drive If They are Not Old Enough Or Else They Will Never Be.
Sign In A Restaurant: All Drinking Water In This Establishment Has Been Personally Passed By The Manager.
And this final cracker of a creative advert ....
Sign On A Famous Beauty Parlor Window: Don't Whistle At The Girls Going Out From Here. She May Be Your Grandmother !
Sent by Arun Shroff
Ad.. In Hospital Waiting Room: Smoking Helps You Lose Weight ... One Lung At A Time!
Seen on a bulletin board: Success Is Relative. More The Success, More The Relatives.
When I Read About The Evils Of Drinking...I Gave Up Reading.
My Grandfather Is Eighty And Still Doesn't Need Glasses... He Drinks Straight Out Of The Bottle.
You Know Your kids Have Grown Up When: Your Daughter Begins To Put On Lipstick..
Or Your Son Starts To Wipe It Off .
Sign In A Bar: "Those Of You Who Are Drinking To Forget, Please Pay In Advance."
Sign In Driving School: If Your Wife Wants To Learn To Drive, Don't Stand In Her Way.
Behind Every Great Man, There Is A Surprised Woman.
The Reason Men Lie Is Because Women Ask So Many Questions .
Getting Caught Is The Mother Of Invention.
Laugh And The World Laughs With You, Snore And You sleep Alone.
The Surest Sign That Intelligent Life Exists Elsewhere In The Universe Is The Fact That It Has Never Tried To Contact Us.
Sign At A Barber's Saloon In Detroit: We Need Your Heads To Run Our Business .
A Traffic Slogan: Don't Let Your Kids Drive If They are Not Old Enough Or Else They Will Never Be.
Sign In A Restaurant: All Drinking Water In This Establishment Has Been Personally Passed By The Manager.
And this final cracker of a creative advert ....
Sign On A Famous Beauty Parlor Window: Don't Whistle At The Girls Going Out From Here. She May Be Your Grandmother !
Sent by Arun Shroff
Double-crossing Pakistan
Sent by Keith Hayward.
Says it all about Pakistan's double crossing.
However, we knew all along that Pakistan was running with the rabbits and hunting with the hounds but the USA wouldn't.
Like the proverbial ostrich, it chose to bury its head in the sand, hoping that Pakistan wasn't fooling it.
The best course would be for the USA to come to some arrangement with India to control both Pakistan and China who is making inroads into Pakistani territory
Saturday, May 14, 2011
How to understand your wife
Rex Harrison had asked the same question in My Fair Lady.
Why Can't a Woman be more like a man?
Finally they have come out with a book which explains how to understand your wife
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
Why Can't a Woman be more like a man?
Finally they have come out with a book which explains how to understand your wife
Sent by Prakash Bhartia
The K Family
Just as we have the D Company of Dawood living in Pakistan or Dubai, we have the K Comapany living in Chennai.
While the former takes your money by force and criminal activities the latter used its political clout to commit the same crimes, smiling all the time.
The head of both companies wear dark glasses to hide their shifting eyes.
Recently I have observed in buses even pick-pockets have started wearing dark glasses.
They should all be treated the same way, beaten up by passers-by.
An enquiry should be held into all the ill-gotten wealth gained by the K company during its 10 year rule in Tamil Nadu.
Read on for more.
TN voters vented their anger against ‘K’ family and Marans
By BV Rao
In this age of instant analysis there is a tendency to capture even seminal events in one word, or at best, one phrase. So don’t be surprised if Jayalalithaa’s humongous victory in the elections to the Tamil Nadu assembly is reduced to one issue (corruption) leading to one old trend (swapping of governments every five years) repeating itself.
To see the overthrow of the Karunanidhi clan in this narrow light is to miss the important pixels that compose this big picture. Tamil Nadu was actually very close to bucking this trend and corruption was almost a non-issue till just two months before polling date.
The K family was one happy, cocky enterprise having worked out the monetary equivalent of the Left Front’s scientific rigging of elections where everything and everybody had a fixed price. A price for voting for the DMK, a price for not voting for the AIADMK (staying home), a price for being a proxy candidate, etc, all of which was tried and tested very successfully in the Thirumangalam byelection, notorious nationwide for the part money played in it.
The 2G scam has been routinely making headlines in the national media for the last two years, and more specifically since October 2010 when the CAG report put the cost of the 2G scam at a staggering Rs 1,76,000 crore. But in Tamil Nadu, home of the 2G scam so to say, it made no ripples. Actually, care was taken to see it made no ripples because the Karunanidhis and the Marans have a stranglehold on the media in the state. The country’s biggest scam, engineered by Karunanidhi’s handpicked Dalit face, A Raja, was never in the news. Even when Raja was forced to resign in November following the CAG report, only passing mention was made of the case but a big deal made out of a Dalit being hounded in big, bad Delhi.
Thus far, even the Congress party was playing as per the script, steadfastly refusing to accept any wrong-doing in the 2G allocations and dragging its feet on the CBI investigations. But when the Supreme Court took direct charge of the investigations and forced the CBI to file the charge-sheet leading to Raja’s arrest on February 2, the whole dynamic changed and the DMK was hoisted by its own petard.
And this is how it happened. In the five years of its rule, the DMK gave away nearly 1.9 crore colour televisions as part of its 2006 poll promise. So, Tamil Nadu became a state with one of the highest TV penetrations. While the family could black out the news of the 2G scam for as long as it did because the Marans are the cable kings of Tamil Nadu, the same high levels of penetration became a curse once the genie was out of the bottle and it became impossible to suppress the news after Raja’s arrest.
(One interesting aside: While television companies would have had a great time supplying 1.9 crore TVs, it was the Marans’ cable networks – Sun Direct and Sumangali Cable Vision – that benefited the most because the DMK was careful not to promise free cable connections. So they now have an assured, recurring income, at the cost of the exchequer!)
The floodgates opened and as the scam touched Karunanidhi’s family, the anger that was simmering for running the state like a family enterprise, thus far expressed only in private conversations, became the talking point and the tide turned. Just to illustrate the kind of control the family, especially the Marans, had on the state, allow me to narrate a story told to me by a well-connected friend. It was around early 2009. A well known movie production banner had finished shooting and post-production of its latest movie and was readying it for a festival release when the owners received a call and were told that the Sun Group of the Marans would like to buy the ownership rights to the movie and release it under their banner. “Vettaikaran” (hunter). It was indeed released under the Sun banner.
Such was the terror of the family. You couldn’t release a film without their blessing, you couldn’t print or broadcast news that they didn’t like, you couldn’t set up a business without payoffs. This pincer grip on the state by one family was most resented among the people, even if it did not get reflected in the media. This latent anger against the family needed a trigger and that came in the form of Raja’s inglorious arrest and the K family’s deep involvement in the scam.
If the conditions for the family’s overthrow existed, it still needed a clean election. That was a tough ask in a state where the Union Home Minister first “lost” the 2009 Lok Sabha election and mysteriously emerged as the winner an hour later!
Additionally, the DMK had the money and muscle to ensure that popular anger died before it reached the ballot box. Jaya’s resources to take on the DMK’s money power were severely limited. That’s where, everybody admits, the Election Commission’s role has been laudable. It seized no less than Rs 64 crore in cash in the run up to the election, rendering useless the DMK’s most potent weapon. Election 2011 is being termed the cleanest election in a long time in Tamil Nadu.
Its control on the state’s media gone, its money power neutralised by the Election Commission and popular anger at the brazenness of Karunanidhi in carving up the state among his progeny — and his progeny’s progeny – finding a vent, it was an ideal situation for Jayalalithaa to step into. And step in she did intelligently by outdoing the DMK in giving away freebies. To Karunanidhi’s laptop for every SC/ST student she added 4 gm of gold, free houses for three lakh BPL families and Rs 1 lakh housing assistance to 40 lakh middle income group families, etc.
As everybody knows, the administration of Tamil Nadu is almost on auto-pilot. In spite of the poor quality of the political leadership as evidenced during the alternating regimes of Jaya and Karuna, the state is still one of the best administered in the country. Its health care and PDS systems are among the best in the country as are its roads and infrastructure. Jayalalithaa’s own corruption record is nothing to write home about. So more than corruption angering people against the family resulting in its trouncing, it was the other way round: corruption became the trigger to express the anger against Tamil Nadu’s one-family rule.
Now, will one-woman rule be any different?
The writer is a senior journalist and currently edits Governance Now
The above is from a new letter I get from force.coom
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