Protesters at Jantar Mantar force Delhi CM to return

Sheila Dikshit on Saturday faced public rage when she was forced to return from Jantar Mantar where she went to take part in mourning the death of the 23-year-old gangrape victim.

Dikshit reached Jantar Mantar where around 500 people gathered for mourning the death of the girl at around 2 pm but had to beat a hasty retreat as enraged protesters circled and forced her to return. The chief minister and police tried to reason with the protesters and allow her to be part of the gathering but the demonstrators were in no mood to oblige.

However before leaving Jantar Mantar, she lit a candle and prayed for the departed soul. "I had gone there to express my grief at the death of the girl," she told PTI when asked about her visit to Jantar Mantar.

"Do you want to politicise somebody's death. Why didn't she come when the protests first began? She even asked police to remove us when we protested outside her residence," a protester said.

Within minutes, she was escorted out of the area by police. People started gathering at Jantar Mantar here at around 10 am and sat in silence. Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas had also joined the protest along with some of their supporters with their mouth tied with black cloth.

As informed earlier, Sheila Dixit had gone to shed crocodile tears like other politicians. It is good she was thrown out.

Sushma Swaraj & Virbhadra for stringent laws against rape

In the wake of the Delhi gang rape victim's death, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Saturday reiterated her demand for death sentence to all those convicted in rape and murder cases.

"I repeat my demand for death sentence made on February 10, 2011," Swaraj said on micro blogging site Twitter.

On February 10 last year, the BJP leader had tweeted, "I want death sentence in all cases of rape and murder and all cases of kidnapping/abduction & murder.

During a debate in Parliament on the gang rape of the 23-year-old paramedic student in the recently concluded winter session, Swaraj had demanded that all the culprits in the case should be given death sentence.

She had appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convene a special Parliament session to pass stringent laws to deal with crimes against women.

Later, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader had also asked Leader of the House in Lok Sabha Sushilkumar Shinde to call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

The gang rape victim passed away on Saturday in a Singapore hospital where she was being treated. "Her death has shaken the conscience of the nation. We must wake up and make India safe for daughters," Swaraj said in her condolence message.

Swaraj was also a part of a BJP delegation that met President Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the brutal incident after Shinde declared that no special session of Parliament or all-party meeting will be called.

Shimla, Dec 29 (IANS) Mourning the death of the Delhi gang-rape victim in a Singapore hospital, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Saturday said stringent laws should be enforced to prevent crime against women.

"Their honour should be protected at every cost," he said while favouring stringent laws.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shanta Kumar in a statement from his hometown in Himachal Pradesh's Palampur demanded capital punishment for rape.

Referring to stringent laws in some countries where the guilty of rape are castrated, the Rajya Sabha member said: "All these matters need to be discussed in parliament. New courts should be established so that guilty could be punished at the earliest."

These are crocodile tears shed by politicians when they themselves are the main forces behind these rape cases.

The government has appointed Justice Verma Committee. The three-member committee of jurists, constituted to give recommendations on amending laws to provide speedier justice and enhanced punishment in sexual assault cases, began its work today by issuing notice seeking public comments on the issue by January 5.

The Committee has invited suggestions from the public which may be sent to justice.verma@nic.in or through FAX at 011-23092675.

People will give the usual suggestions of Life Imprisonment, Death Sentence or Castration using different methods.

I am of the opinion that extortion, rape, kidnapping, murder occurring all over India are only the external symptoms of a much greater internal malaise occurring in the body of Mother India.

This is the disease of our political class and unless this disease is uprooted by the combined effort of the Election Commission and the Judiciary, India will continue to rot.

We cannot expect our MPs and MLAs to correct the system for THEY ARE THE DISEASE.

Society reflects the ideas received from our elders.

If we want there should be zero tolerance of rapist, I would suggest that no person who has been accused of rape or any other crimes against women should be allowed to stand for Parliament or any of the State Assemblies.

President's son draws flak for 'dented-painted' comment, apologises

Kolkata/New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS) Dragging the the nation's first citizen into a controversy by terming "highly dented-painted" the women participating in the Delhi mass protests after the Dec 16 gang-rape, President Pranab Mukherjee's son and Congress MP Abhijit issued an unconditional apology Thursday after facing flak from family, partymen, social media and civil society.

In a tight spot, Abhijit apologised and withdrew the comments.

"I regret the comments I have made. I apologise unconditionally. I withdraw the comments. They were not meant to hurt anybody. But still if anybody has felt hurt, I am sorry".

Speaking to a regional television channel in his earlier assembly constituency Nalhati in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Christmas, Abhijit Mukherjee had said: ""What's basically happening in Delhi is somewhat like Egypt or elsewhere, where there was something called the Spring Revolution, which has very little connection with ground realities.

"In India, staging candle-light marches, going to discotheques - we did all this during our student life too, we were students too - I know very well what kind of character students should have."

"Those who claim to be students - I can see many beautiful women among them, they were highly dented-painted - they're giving interviews on TV, they've brought their children to show them the scenes.

"It's fashionable to attend protest marches now.

"I have grave doubts whether they're students because women of that age are generally not students," said Abhijit, who was elected MP from Jangipur Lok Sabha seat in Murshidabad recently to fill up the vacancy caused by his father's elevation to the presidency.

Abhijit's comments soon became viral on the net, and criticism flew thick and fast, embarrassing the nation's first family no end.

Social online media like Facebook and Twitter Thursday went hammer and tongs at Abhijit for his sexist comments.

While some cried "shame" angrily condemning the Congress Lok Sabha member for the "insensitive' comments, others called for stripping him off the MPship and his "re-education".

Journalist-turned-filmmaker Utpal Borpujari was scathing.

"The demeaning comments against women have come from politicians across party lines and gender at different times, and Abhijeet Mukherjee is only the latest to join the list. Shame on this insensitive class," said Borpujari in a Facebook post.

Another scribe Nabeel Khan called the comments "filthy" on Facebook.

Even Congress leader Om Prakash Mishra called the comments "deplorable", though he pointed out that Mukherjee has "expressed regret and apologised".

Facebooker Sanjukta Chakraborty said: If HE cannot show respect to a woman does he deserve to be a people's representative ? He should be stripped off his MPship ."

On twitter, Farhan Akhtar graded the comments as "all time low".

Retired supercop Kiran Bedi twitted that Mukherjee needs "-re-education".

There were also demonstrations in the national capital, with women protestors decrying the comments. "It is my body, my right to wear whatever dress I choose. Don't lecture us," said a young woman.

Sensing the public mood, Abhijit's sister Sarmishtha stepped in to undo the damage. "I am quite surprised and disappointed with what my brother saida it shows a certain degree of insensitivity. I apologise on his behalf," said the danseuse, asking him to apologise.

"I express my utter shock and anguish. I really apologise to every women, man and every sensitive person in this country".

She also said her father would disagree with Abhijit's view.

There was large-scale outrage in the capital in the aftermath of the rape as protestors, mainly students, gathered in large numbers to express their anguish. Some of the protestors even took to violence and there were clashes between them and the policemen.

I don't understand why congressmen are apologising.

This is a typical mentality of congressmen which was very much prevalent during the CPM regime in Bengal and now echoed by the Maa Mati Manush regime of Mamta Banerjee.

US vs THEM.

They consider anyone opposed to their views a Maoists of imbeciles.

Protesters demand better security for women

New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS) As the Delhi gang-rape victim battles for life in a Singapore hospital, hundreds of protesters Thursday held a sit-in demonstration to demand better safety and security for women in the country.

The protesters, mostly women, who started their march from Nizamuddin in south Delhi, were headed towards India Gate but were stopped on the way by policemen.

The protesters, under the banner of 'Justice for Women Now' -- a forum of women activists and NGOs -- then staged a sit-in near India Gate, raising slogans such as "Ignore my lipstick and listen to what I'm telling you", "Justice for all rape survivors", "Hanging is not a solution to woman assault" and "Remove Delhi Police commissioner".

Apart from demanding justice for the rape victim, the angry crowd also asked that justice be given to all rape victims within 100 days. They also demanded that the government should

call a special session of parliament to discuss stringent rape laws.

The national capital has been witnessing anti-rape protests at India Gate after the 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist was tortured and raped in a moving bus Dec 16. The woman was flown to Singapore Wednesday night after her condition deteriorated.

All the six accused in the brutal rape have been arrested.

The Congress is hoping the anti-rape demonstration will sizzle out as Justice Katju of Press Council of India stated in the earlier post.

Well, I suppose it will, after the 1st January.

No agitation can go on indefinitely and the congress is banking on that.

The people will soon forget an then everything will go on as usual.

The congress is ruling India just this way for the last 65 years. Shown below is an example of the police brutality against the protesters in Delhi

Gang rape not the only issue India is facing: Justice Katju

Chennai, Dec 26: The 'emotional outburst' and agitations against the gang rape in Delhi will achieve nothing and it will fizzle out in a few days, just as the emotional scenes we had witnessed in Jantar Mantar and Ram Lila grounds vanished in 10-15 days, says Press Council of India chairman, Justice Markandey Katju.

Justice Katju condemned the gang rape and wanted harsh punishment for its perpetrators, but said that it was not the only serious issue the nation is facing.

Calling the agitation 'symptomatic' of the middle class anger at falling standard of living, the judge warned that unless issues such as skyrocketing price rice, malnutrition, unemployment, recession and poor healthcare and agitation were tackled, grave misfortune will befall India for a prolonged period, followed by chaos and turmoil.

"In my opinion, such emotional outbursts will solve nothing. Anna Hazare's agitation and hunger strike lasted for 10-15 days. But has the corruption in the country gone down even by 0.1 percent?. I believe it has not. Similarly, the hue and cry during the current agitations at India Gate, Rajpath and Vijay Chowk in Delhi, the incidence of gang-rape will not dip by even 0.1%. This agitation will fizzle out," Justice Katju said. "We need scientific solutions, not emotional outbursts, to issues and problems," he said.

The Press Council chairman, pointing out that the country's child malnutrition scenario was worse than sub-Saharan countries in Africa such as Somalia and Ethiopia, said that about 80 percent of India's population lived with Rs 25-30 a day.

Price rise, massive unemployment, abject poverty, etc are all equally, or even more, serious than the Delhi gang-rape incident, he said. "In any case, gang-rapes are happening everywhere, in Tamil Nadu and in Madhya Pradesh, for instance," he said.

According to Justice Katju, the Delhi unrest is symptomatic of a deep discontent which is prevailing in the middle classes of India.

The middle class, constituting 15-20 percent of the total population, provides a relative stability for the nation, he said, adding that due to the sky-rocketing prices and worldwide recession over the last few years the prosperity of the middle class has been rapidly eroded.

This fall in their standard of living has led the middle class to taking to the street. "Unless the political leaders pay attention to the problems of the middle class, I am afraid this country is heading for a big trouble in future," Justice Katju said.

Asked about the vexed Cauvery river water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the former Supreme Court judge said the issue could never solved by adjudication. Instead, as a short-term solution, he said he was willing to head a team of trained mediators free of charge, for a larger public good. "I am prepared to do this, but both the governments must jointly approach me if they want my intervention," he said.

I agree with Justice Katju that rape is not the only problem in India.

As I see it, the major problems facing India are listed below in decreasing order of priority.

1. Corruption.

(a)This will include removal of Inspection agencies like the CBI, Police and Enforcement Directorate from the power of government.

(b) Removal of the power of transfers and posting from the government.

2. Population Control.

3. Change in Electoral system so that no person having any criminal records should be allowed to stand for elections.The person's record should be blemish less. Surely is a population of 120 crores we can fin a few thousand honest legislators.

(1) and (3) are strongly interconnected and if we change this, probably (1) will also be changed automatically.

As far as Justice Katju's claim that the agitation of Anna has had no effect, he is wrong. Whatever, action we see being taken by the different agencies is because of the agitation of Anna and Arvind Kejriwal.The agitation may have taken place for 10-15 days but it has jolted the government into action and thrown up AAP to replace the existing parties.

The other problems like malnutrition he mentions is a direct corollary of corruption as it leaves no fund for development work.

Rajiv Gandhi himself admitted that only 10% of the funds reach the targeted person.

The Cauvery water dispute will never be allowed to be solved as both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are playing a game of one-up-man-ship, telling their own vote banks that they will not allow their interest to be sacrificed.Water disputes are very difficult to solve as we are seeing with Bangladesh, Pakistan and now China over the Brahmaputra.

Patiala girl commits suicide after gang-rape

Patiala (Punjab), Dec 27 (IANS) A teenaged girl in this Punjab district, who alleged that she was gang-raped last month, has committed suicide, police said Thursday.

The victim committed suicide Wednesday night at her house in Badshahpur village near here after police failed to register a case for over a month after she complained that she was gang-raped by three youth.

Police found a suicide note from her house in which she said that she was ending her life as police were not registering a case and were humiliating her by calling her to the police station repeatedly.

Police sources here said that the concerned police station in-charge, sub-inspector Gurcharan Singh, has been dismissed and a probe by a senior officer ordered into the incident.

The victim wrote in the suicide note that the police officer used to call her to the police station and asked "uncomfortable" questions.

Police, in a later development, arrested two men and a woman in connection with the gang-rape incident.

In spite of all the rage against RAPE which is visible throughout India for the last week, this poor girl has committed suicide as her complaint has not been registered by the police.

Instead the police were regularly calling her to the police station and asking her uncomfortable question probably having sexual connotation.

The Punjab government has done the correct thing in dismissing the sub-inspector Gurcharan Singh.

But why only him. There must have been others involved in this sordid episode. They should all be dismissed.

And this should be made a standard procedure in all cases where a girls complaint of rape is not registered.

MAMTA BANERJEE, I HOPE YOU ARE LISTENING.

Six pearls of Wisdom

A wise man once sat in the audience and cracked

a joke - all of them laughed like crazy.

After a moment he cracked the same joke again

& a little less people laughed this time...

He cracked the same one again & no one laughed !!!

Then he smiled and said ''when you can't laugh on

the same joke again & again then" why do you keep

crying over the same thing over & over again''

****************

FORGET the past and MOVE ON

*****************

6 PRINCIPLES OF LIFE

1. No point using limited life to chase unlimited money.

2. No point earning so much money you cannot live to spend it.

3. Money is not yours until you spend it.

4. When you are young, you use your health to chase your wealth;

when you are old, you use your wealth to buy back your health.

Difference is that, it is too late.

5. How happy a man is, is not how much he has but how little he needs.

6. No point working so hard to provide for the people you have no time to spend with.

Remember this -- We come to this world with nothing, we leave this world with nothing!

Sent by Arun Shroff

How is your Tax to the Government used?

Sent by Arun Shroff

USA & Canada - 50 years hence

President Obama and PM Stephen Harper are shown a time machine which can see 50 years into the future. They both decide to test it by asking a question each.

President Obama goes first: "What will the USA be like in 50 years’ time?"

The machine whirls and beeps and goes into action and gives him a printout, he reads it out:

"The country is in good hands under the new president, Jesus Hernandez.... crime is non-existent, there is no conflict, the economy is healthy. Vice President Jin Tao has declared Chinese language mandatory in all USA Schools. There are no worries."

The Canadian PM thinks, "It's not bad, this time machine, I'll have a bit of that" so he asks: "What will Canada be like in 50 years’ time?"

The machine whirls and beeps and goes into action, and he gets a printout. But he just stares at it.

"Come on, Stephen," says Obama, "Tell us what it says."

"I can't! It's all in Punjabi!"

Sent by Arun Shroff

Why we rush to America

John Smith started the day early having

set his alarm clock for 6 am ..

(MADE IN JAPAN)

While his coffeepot

(MADE IN CHINA)

was perking, he shaved with his electric razor

(MADE IN HONG KONG)

He put on a dress shirt

(MADE IN SRI LANKA),

designer jeans

(MADE IN SINGAPORE)

and tennis shoes

(MADE IN INDIA)

After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet

(MADE IN KOREA)

he sat down with his calculator

(MADE IN MEXICO)

to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch

(MADE IN TAIWAN)

to the radio

(MADE IN INDIA )

he got in his car

(MADE IN GERMANY )

filled it with GAS

(from SAUDI ARABIA)

and continued his search

for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day

checking his Computer

( made in MALAYSIA ),

John decided to relax for a while.

He put on his sandals

(MADE IN BRAZIL ),

poured himself a glass of wine

(MADE IN FRANCE )

and turned on his TV

(MADE IN INDONESIA),

and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in AMERICA

AND NOW HE'S HOPING HE CAN GET HELP FROM A PRESIDENT

(MADE IN KENYA)

Sent by Arun Shroff

Where do you find good Wives?

Sent by Arun Shroff

Crime Branch asks eyewitnesses to join investigation in constable's death case

New Delhi, Dec 27 (ANI):New Delhi, Dec 26 (ANI): Doctors, who treated Subhash Tomar at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital here, on Wednesday clarified that the Delhi Police constable had no major external injury.

"No major injury marks found on constable's body. The constable had no pulse when he came to the hospital. Constable's right knee was injured, had bruises," said RML Hospital Dr. T.S Sidhu.

An eyewitness account and pictures from the scene reportedly contradict the Delhi Police version that the constable was assaulted by the protestors at the India Gate.

Delhi Police, however, refused to comment on the eyewitness's claims, saying it would be able to speak on the issue only after receiving the post-mortem report.

"The doctors, who conducted the post-mortem of Constable Subhash Tomar have told us that there were injuries on stomach, chest and neck. And post-mortem report will only tell the cause of death and before we get the post-mortem any comment on the cause of death will be pre-mature," said Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat.

"Therefore, we request not to make it an issue before we get any post-mortem report. We have not declared any cause of death so far, we are waiting for the post-mortem report," he added.

Delhi Police's Crime Branch has asked the two eyewitnesses, who have contradicted the investigator's version on constable Subhash Tomar's death, to join the investigations.

New Delhi, Dec 27 (ANI)The police have sent notices to both the witnesses, Yogendra and Paoline, to appear before it in connection with the investigations into the case.

"They came to my home last night, but I was not there. I came home late last night and left early. So, the crime branch personnel once again came to my residence this morning. Then I spoke to them and told them that I would be reaching their office by 12 noon.," Yogendra told ANI.

"They told me that their office is in Chanakyapuri. They told me over the phone that their officers want to talk to me. They should have talked to me earlier," he added. Yogendra further said that he stands by what he said earlier.

"I stand by I said because that is the truth. There was no pressure on me from the media and the police. I realised that injustice is taking place, therefore I revealed the truth," he said.

Amid the ongoing row over constable Tomar's death, Delhi Police had yesterday released excerpts of report of the post mortem done by a Board of Doctors in the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where he died on Tuesday.

"Myocardial infarction (cardiac arrest) and its complications that could be precipitated by multiple ante-mortem (before death) injuries to neck and chest produced by blunt force impact," said Additional Commissioner of Police K.C. Dwivedi, while quoting from the report as the cause of constable's death.

Yogendra, who claims to be an eyewitness to Tomar's injury during the gang-rape protests at the India Gate here, had yesterday said that the constable was not assaulted by protesters but simply collapsed while walking.

"He wasn't trampled by the protesters, he wasn't assaulted. He just collapsed while walking. There was a girl with me at that time. We both saw him lying on the ground, and then I picked him up and took him to the hospital in a police van," he said.

Paolin on her part said that she saw the constable falling down, and added that there were no injuries on his body.

"We removed his jacket and shoes. I asked whether he can hear me and then I asked him to breathe...He was sweating profusely and there were no injuries on his body. If we had not been there, he would have been dead on the spot," she said.

Doctors, who treated Tomar at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital here, yesterday clarified that the Delhi Police constable had no major external injury.

"No major injury marks found on constable's body. The constable had no pulse when he came to the hospital. Constable's right knee was injured, had bruises," said RML Hospital Dr. T.S Sidhu.

Delhi Police had earlier arrested eight people in connection with constable Tomar's death case. (ANI)

So the cat is out of the bag.

The Congress dirty trick department in collaboration with the police had tried to discredit the agitation against rape by blaming it for the constable's death when actually it was a plain case of heart attack while on duty.

They had particularly wanted to discredit Arvind Kejriwal and his group.

Fortunately there were two eye witnesses who saw the constable collapse.

There will be many other cases in future where the Congress will lose no effort in discrediting all the people involved against the corrupt congress government.

They have already removed the security of V K Singh.

Those who support the agitation should just be aware.

Thrashed over ‘delay’, eatery owner dies

OUR CORRESPONDENT Belda, Dec. 25: Fifty government employees on their way to Digha for a picnic allegedly beat to death the owner of a roadside eatery because he said it would not be possible to serve so many people food quickly at 2am.

Sunil Kar died on the spot. His elder brother Swapan, the dhaba’s co-owner, was taken to Belda health centre with head injuries. He was shifted to SSKM this morning.

West Midnapore superintendent of police Sunil Chowdhury said 35 people were arrested and charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

According to the police, the group of 50, aged between 25 and 40 and mostly Group D employees in various offices in Midnapore, halted their bus at Hotel Paradise in Belda around 2am.

“We have learnt that several passengers had liquor bottles in their hands. They demanded that food be served quickly. The owners and the hotel staff were not sure if they would be able to serve food to 50 people at that time of the night. They requested for time to cook and this led to an argument and then a scuffle,” a senior police officer said in Belda, 70km from Midnapore town.

The dhaba owners’ nephew Amit Kar, who has a cigarette shop beside the eatery, said trouble started after one of the youths slapped a hotel employee when he requested for time to deliver his order.

“My uncles told the group that it was not possible for them to serve food so fast and requested them to go to any other dhaba. This led to an altercation and some of youths started beating up my uncles and the 12 employees. Some in the group went to the bus and came back with metal rods and sticks. They went on a rampage and broke all the tables and chairs,” he said.

A passing police vehicle sought reinforcement from Belda police station, 3km away, when they saw the ruckus.

“When the police force arrived, the bus had already left the dhaba. The police team chased the bus and intercepted it a kilometre away from the eatery. Thirty-five passengers, including the driver and the cleaner of the bus, were arrested. Some escaped as the stretch was foggy,” an officer at Belda police station said.

We know government servants (ha! ha!) are corrupt.

This is a new professional achievement to be added to their CV. I would suggest our Maa Mati Manush Chief Minister immediately dismiss these government employees who were involved in this massacre,(if she has the guts - as she can only give government dole, not take disciplinary action unless it be against poor farmers, students who put questions to her and professors who e-mail cartoons) besides the police taking appropriate legal action as per law.

A Novel reason for filing for Divorce -Talaq

Marriage, rolled & unrolled in bidi

- A skill some Jangipur women have to learn to marry and stay married

Jangipur, Dec. 25: In Murshidabad’s Jangipur subdivision, women’s chances of finding a husband, and of staying married if they do, can hinge on their efficiency at rolling bidis.

In the past 10 years, since the bidi factories came up and half the subdivision’s impoverished population became dependent on the industry, marriages have been breaking up because the wife cannot make the mandatory 1,000 bidis per day that would fetch Rs 75.

Eight lakh people, 60 per cent of them women, depend on bidi-making in Jangipur, whose hundreds of bidi factories account for more than 50 per cent of the state’s production.

The men do the packing at the factories, earning Rs 4,000-5,000 a month, which is usually not enough to sustain their families.

“Most of the factory workers engage their wives in making bidis at home to add to the family income,” said Zakir Hossain, managing director of Shiv Bidi Company.

Even the farmers, masons and stone-chip workers want their wives to roll bidis at home.

So much so that, Suti MLA Imani Biswas said, many girls drop out of school at the age of 10 to learn to make bidis, adding to their parents’ income and hoping their skill would help them find husbands.

The trend has had effects on social customs: a girl adept at bidi-rolling no longer has to worry about dowry too much.

The malaise of wives being abandoned for failing to deliver male children has seen a decrease too — a baby girl is welcome because she too can earn money by making bidis.

On the flip side, their relatively slow fingers have cost Rousuna Bibi of Suti and Merina of Debipur village their marriages. And ten prospective grooms’ families have rejected 19-year-old Hena in the past two years, her mother Golnoor Bibi said.

“My daughter is good-looking but cannot roll more than 250 bidis a day,” Golnoor said. Hena will probably need to bring in a heavy dowry if she cannot improve her skills.

Merina, too, could not make more than 300-400 bidis a day but didn’t have trouble getting married. Groom Rakeeb Momin and his father Montu had assured her she would “catch up in a few months”, she told The Telegraph.

When she didn’t, she says, the beatings and insults began. “About a year ago, my husband asked me to leave for my parents’ home, and return only when I had learnt to roll 1,000 bidis a day. I had no choice.”

Rakeeb, a packer at a bidi factory in Dulapara village who earns a daily wage of Rs 150, divorced her last week. He couldn’t be contacted: his brother Rafikul said he was away.

“My sister-in-law was lazy and refused to work,” Rafikul said. “She was told many times to improve her speed but she wouldn’t listen. That’s why my brother divorced her.’’

Merina is now trying hard to make the cut of 1,000. “These days, I can make 700-800. I’m not thinking of remarriage right now but if my efficiency increases, it will help my family financially,’’ she said.

Rousuna, 22, too was first sent back to her parents’ home and eventually divorced four months ago. She has a one-year-old son to look after.

“Before marriage, I used to make 800 bidis daily. But shortly after marriage, I began to have breathing problems and often fell sick. So, let alone make the required 1,000 bidis, I couldn’t even make 800 any more,” Rousuna said.

Her husband Azabur Sheikh said: “She deliberately stopped making more bidis. This led to a lot of unpleasantness because our livelihood depends on the bidi industry.”

I offer no comments on the above.

Each race has its own customs and it takes all of them to make up our world.

It should be an eye opener for the western world who seek divorce for the flimsiest of reasons.

We too can find a flimsier reason.

If the western scientist could invent a cheap biri rolling machine, many marriages would be saved but then probably our population would increase even further.

Presently we are not interested is sex - only biri rolling effciency.

Kejriwal warns Delhi Police against implicating the innocent

New Delhi, Dec 25 (IANS) Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday cautioned Delhi Police against implicating "innocents" for the attack on Constable Subhash Chand Tomar during protests Monday against the brutal gang-rape of a woman Dec 16. Tomar died early Tuesday.

Kejriwal said Chaman Singh, who has been associated with activities of the Aam Aadmi Party, is among the "eight youth arrested by Delhi Police under section 307, which is attempt to murder", for assaulting Tomar.

Kejriwal told mediapersons that the police action so far suggests that it had "no evidence" against the eight people who had been booked for attempt to murder.

He said if Chaman Singh was involved in the attack and violence, he should be given the harshest punishment. However, Kejriwal added there was an attempt to implicate the youth.

"Some anti-social elements joined agitators and tried to give it a violent turn. We appealed to people not to resort to violence. We checked those who were carrying stones. Police has not been able to arrest those responsible for violence," Kejriwal said.

"If police foists a false case, our party will stand by the innocent youth," he added. He said that the case relating to the eight arrested youth should be heard in a fast-track court for an early verdict.

Kejriwal said there has to be prima-facie evidence for an first information report (FIR) to be registered.

He said that police had failed to provide security to women in the city and made arrests under attempt to murder charges to hide its inefficiency.

Kejriwal said the authorities had made it seem that the violence had taken place due to him, yoga guru Baba Ramdev and former army Chief V.K. Singh.

Manish Sisodia, a member of Aam Aadmi Party, said police had accepted in court that eight people were arrested from different places and at different times.

Somnath, a lawyer, said the FIR against the accused had disconnected facts. "There is no connection with the chain of events," he said.

Aam Aadmi Party leaders said the case against the eight people were "fictious" and no case could be made out.

As usual.

The government's dirty tricks department at work.

The Congress sent in its goondas to infiltrate the agitation to discredit it by introducing violence so that it could lathi-charge them and use tear gas shells and water canon in this cold weather.

Neither Swami Ramdeo, V K Singh or Arvind Kejriwal would advise their followers to be violent.

It is the Delhi police which becomes violent without any provocation as we saw when they attacked Swami Ramdeo's satyagraha at dead of night on 4th June 2011.

End of the road for Dum Dum-Barasat metro extension

KOLKATA: Work for the Dum Dum-Barasat (via NSC Bose Airport) metro extension has come to a halt as construction giant L&T has pulled out of the 20-km metro corridor project. L&T was unable to get on with the work thanks to encroachment on railway land.

L&T has moved out all major equipment from the project site at Barasat and has closed down two of the three site offices. The lone site office is under locked.

The Dum Dum-Barasat Metro corridor is a Rs 2,397-crore project announced by Mamata Banerjee in the 2010-11 Railway Budget. Of this, provisions were made for Rs 1,500 crore in 2011-12 Budget, part of which was returned unspent. In the last Budget, railway minister Dinesh Trivedi allotted another Rs 1,050 crore for the project.

Since the project was announced, L&T was awarded a contract for a 5.70-km stretch in two parts. A contract for a three-km stretch from Barasat to Hridaypur was awarded on 19 October 2011 and another for the 2.70-km from Hridaypur to Madhyamgram was awarded on 20 February this year. In both cases, the deadline is two years from the date of awarding of contracts.

But after working for a few months, L&T had to stop work completely in May this year due to encroachment on railway land identified for the Metro corridor. The land originally belongs to Eastern Railway and is under encroachment at various places such as near the goods booking office at Barasat station and adjacent to the Barasat stadium. There are 1,884 hutments and shops standing on the encroached plots and despite repeated requests, the owners are not willing to vacate without rehabilitation.

North 24-Parganas DM Sanjay Bansal said, "This is a railway land and the project is also theirs. It is up to them as how to evict the encroachers. It is up to them whatever relocation plan is being discussed... we have nothing to do with it."

This is the way for all projects in Bengal.

Is it any surprise that Bengal is so backward?

Whether it is Mamata or the CPM they have always pampered the vote bank without caring for the development of the state.

We are seeing the result.

When the CPM decided that some work should be done, Mamata opposed and drove out the Tatas.

Now she is running around everywhere, Delhi, Goa everywhere, begging the industrialists to come to Bengal.

But the horse has broken out of the stable.

Now we can only cry.

Patrick Wallace - 1962

Patrick Wallace of 1962 batch has passed away.

The following was sent by Sir. Mr. Lobo.

December 24, 2012

My friend Patrick… Rest in Peace (Goethals 1962)

My friend Patrick Wallace passed away this morning in Melbourne after a battle with cancer which lasted for about a year and a half. My deepest sympathies go out to his wife Lynn, son Jonathan and daughter Rebecca.

Patrick was part of the wonderful Wallace family of Kurseong. His brothers were Jimmy, Sydney and Bruce and his sisters were Cynthia, Dolly (who taught at Goethals), Kate and Alice.

In 1962, Patrick wrote in my Autograph Book:

Remember Johnsie and bear in mind,

A good friend is hard to find,

But if you find one good and true,

Don’t change the old one for the new.

A pal always

Patrick (W)

Those lines sum-up the core of my dear friend over all these years… I saw him as loyal, consistent and uncomplicated… with true ‘solid’ values… ‘straight up and down’ with a very good ‘bull-shit monitor’… a person who did his job and could always be relied on …

Patrick’s loving family were always by his side and they faced his illness as a close knit team. The whole Wallace clan were also there with him for every part of his painful journey. They are truly a great family and he was part of that team.

In school Patrick and I were friends. After school we were very good friends… in Calcutta. Tony Gasper (GMS ’62), Patrick and I shared many special moments at Nizam’s, frequenting our haunts in the New Market and going to those Sunday 10.30 am pictures at the Elite, Lighthouse, Globe or New Empire. Eugene (Rebeiro GMS 1962) was Patrick’s closest friend and also part of that group. We used to exercise and box together in his flat in Bentinck Street. We also played a lot of carroms. He was a champion. I taught with Patrick at St. Mary’s Orphanage in Dum Dum in around 1967/68. Our families migrated to Australia in 1969/1970 and our friendship continued.

I visited Patrick at his beautiful home in Sunbury. When he was unwell I found him to be inspirational. He accepted his cancer with grace and vowed to do all he and his family could do to ‘live with it’.

Recently he said, “… you know Richard, I don’t feel angry that this has happened to me… I don’t ask why me? Because I know it could be anyone… it just happens to be me…”. That blew me away. That’s the definition of courage. Try saying that when you have cancer, I thought…

‘Do All things Well’,

that’s our Motto,

‘Do it with a grin….’

My friend Patrick didn’t just sing that… he DID it…v Rest in peace dear Patrick…

Richard Johnson

PS: Pictures attached:

Autograph Book page

Patrick (right) and me

Bruce (GMS 1965), Sydney (GMS 1960), Peter Lardner (GMS 61), Patrick (GMS 1962), Eugene (GMS 1962), me (GMS 1963, in the picture taken by Eugene)

Gang-rape protests: BJP to urge Mukherjee to call Special Session of Parliament

New Delhi, Dec 24 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is livid with the Congress-led UPA Government's handling of the ongoing protests against the brutal gang-rape incident, will be meeting President Pranab Mukherjee and request him to convene a Special Session of Parliament so that the Centre urgently amends the criminal laws to provide harsh punishments for extreme cases of crimes against the feminine gender.

"So, we thought here today that since the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have rejected to our demands. We are asking for time from the President and our delegation will meet him and request him that he should call a Special Session of Parliament and instruct the government to come up with a legislation to make the laws more harsh. If the government does not take this step, then the public outcry will increase," senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj told media persons here after the BJP Core Group meeting.

Swaraj said the BJP leaders discussed and analysed the recent public outcry in the country against the rise in crimes against women.

"We had raised this issue in both Houses of Parliament vigorously, but we regret that there has been no satisfactory reply from the government's side. When people came out on the streets to vent their ire, then we put forward two suggestions to this government. The first suggestion from my side was made to the Prime Minister that he should convene a Special Session of Parliament and amend the existing law to make it stronger. The second suggestion I made to the Home Minister yesterday that an all-party meeting should be called so that entire political class discusses this issue and comes forward with a satisfactory answer," said Swaraj.

"We regret to say both our suggestions have been rejected. If the government does not want to provide answers in Parliament, does not want to take the Parliament into confidence, does not want to call an all-party meeting, does not want to talk to the protesters then what does it want. The BJP rejects the government's move to control the situation with the help of police baton-charge," she added.

Swaraj, who is the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, compared the police crackdown on the protesters at the India Gate here yesterday with the situation prevailing in the country during the 1975 emergency.

"There were a lot of movements during the time of emergency. People were also beaten up during the movements. But the vandalism that took place at the India Gate yesterday in particular with the women where there was use of tear gas and water canons against them," said Swaraj.

"They were also baton-charged, the girls were baton-charged by male police personnel and not by the female police personnel. 80 kids were yesterday admitted to the RML (Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital). So, they (UPA Government) have crossed the limits of emergency also," she added.

Over the weekend, the police clashed repeatedly with thousands of demonstrators, many of them students, who defied a ban to gather at the India Gate here demanding justice for the 23-year-old gang-rape victim.

The irate protesters demanded that laws be amended to provide the death penalty for rapists and also asked for better policing on the streets of the national capital at nights so that the feminine gender feels safe.

The Prime Minister earlier this morning expressed sadness at the turn of events leading to clashes between protesters and the police forces here yesterday, and appealed to all concerned citizens to maintain peace and calm.

"My fellow citizens, there is genuine and justified anger and anguish at the ghastly crime of gang-rape committed last Sunday in Delhi. As a father of three daughters myself, I feel as strongly about this as each one of you. My wife and family and I are all joined in our concern for the young woman who was the victim of this heinous crime," said Dr. Singh in his televised statement this morning.

"We are constantly monitoring her medical condition. Let us all pray for her and her loved ones during this critical time. I feel deeply sad at the turn of events leading to clashes between protesters and police forces," he added.

Dr. Singh said 'anger at this crime is justified, but violence will serve no purpose'.

The Central Government, which has under sharp criticism following the widespread public fury over the brutal gang-rape, has decided to constitute a committee of eminent jurists to have a re-look at the existing rape laws.

The condition of the 23-year-old girl, who is presently being treated at the Safdarjung Hospital here, continues to be critical. (ANI)

Has the government considered why the people are not heeding the government's call for peace and calm and why they are not believing the government will take action? The people saw how the government backed out of its assurance to Anna Hazare on the Lok Pal bill and how it watered it down and how even the watered down version has not been passed yet.

How can the people be sure that the government will against not back out of its assurance of a strong anti rape bill after the agitation stops?

After all as mentioned in an earlier post we have quite a few MPs and MLAs who have charged with rape and other crimes against women.

The government, including the President of India and the Law Minister are damned liars.

Remember, in the negotiation with Anna Hazare, Pranab Mukherjee and Salman Kurshed were the leaders who gave all the assurance to Anna.

Delhi gang-rape: Police, protesters scuffle at India Gate

By ANI

New Delhi, Dec 23 (ANI): As the nation continued to fume over the gruesome December 16 gang rape of a 23-year-old woman, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi met some of the protesters here this morning at Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence.

According to a protester, Gandhi told them "I am with you...and justice will be delivered."

Sonia had also addressed the protestors late last night for around 20 minutes on women security issues.

Meanwhile, urging people to stay calm, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the police should have taken preventive measures earlier.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been issued in New Delhi area except Jantar Mantar.

More policemen and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel have been posted around India Gate and Vijay Chowk.

Seven metro stations near India Gate and Raisina Hill have already been closed from this morning till further orders. Last night, it was decided to close four stations-Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan and Race Course-but this morning it was extended to three more-Barakhamba, Mandi House and Khan Market.

Hours after Delhi police evacuated demonstrators from Raisina Hills and Congress President Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence, high drama was witnessed at India Gate today when agitators resisted police attempts to detain them for defying prohibitory orders to protest against the gangrape of a young girl.

The protesters assembled near the war memorial from 9 a.m. when they were asked to vacate the location by the police, which said the area was under Section 144 of CrPC which bans the assembly of four or more persons.

As the protesters remained defiant, police forcibly removed them from the spot. According to Television reports, women protesters alleged that they were manhandled by male police personnel though women police were present at the spot.

Earlier, asserting that the Centre is shocked over the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Saturday said the government has appointed a judicial commission to review the security of women.

Shinde said all the six accused of the gang-rape have been arrested, and added that the government would request for a speedy trial in this case.

"The government is extremely concerned about the gang-rape case. All the accused have been arrested. Sufficient evidence has been gathered. The chargesheet well be filed shortly. The government is requesting the courts for a speedy trial through fast-track courts," Shinde told mediapersons here.

The Home Minister last evening met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the latter's official 7, Race Course Road residence here to brief him about the prevailing situation in the national capital.

The Prime Minister has asked Shinde to ensure that there is sense of security among the people in the national capital. Dr. Singh has also asked Shinde to take all adequate steps to stop recurrence of rape events. (ANI)

Now we have Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi meeting the demonstrators.

What purpose will it serve?

With all political parties giving tickets to rapists, murderers and the worst scum of society, how can you expect the government to take action of the rapist.

For that they would have to take action on its own MPs and MLAs.

Why can't the elections commission ban people who have such crimes against their names. If T N Seshan had been here, I am sure they would have been banned long ago.

If the judiciary co-operates with the elections commission, I am sure we can eliminate thee criminal, corrupt politicians.

Himachal legislator booked for murder, on the run

By Indo Asian News Service

Shimla, Dec 22 (IANS) Ahead of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting Saturday to elect Himachal Pradesh's next chief minister, one of the party's newly elected legislators has gone underground after being booked in a murder case.

Ram Kumar Chaudhary, a first-time MLA from Doon constituency in Solan district, is one of the four suspects in the murder of a 24-year-old woman in Panchkula in Haryana Nov 22.

"Police raided his (Chaudhary's) house in Sandholi (near Baddi) and other places today (Saturday) but he managed to evade arrest. He and other accused have not been joining investigations for quite some time," Superintendent of Police S. Arul told IANS.

Arul said arrest warrants against all the four accused, booked under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, were issued Friday.

The murdered woman's father Butti Ram had lodged a police complaint alleging Chaudhary was in touch with his daughter.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Thursday directed Haryana Police to expedite the probe.

Congress leaders said Chaudhary had not contacted any senior party leader and was unlikely to attend the CLP meeting in the evening.

The government yesterday used lathi-charge, tear gas and water cannons to disperse the people who were demonstrating against the rapes occurring regularly all over India and specifically in Delhi.

The government has further banned these demonstrations by imposing section 144 in Delhi and not allowing the metro rail to stop at 8 stations near the demonstration site.

What can you expect of a government which itself is made up of murderers and rapists.

The following is a report by Association of Democratic Reforms

Crimes against women including rape cases declared by MPs, MLAs and candidates

6 MLAs have declared that they have charges of rape against themselves in their sworn affidavits submitted with the Election Commission of India at the time of their election.

Of these 6 MLAs with declared rape cases, 3 are from SP namely Sribhagwan Sharma, Anoop Sanda and Manoj Kumar Paras from Uttar Pradesh, 1 from BSP namely Mohd. Aleem Khan from Uttar Pradesh, 1 of BJP namely Jethabhai G.Ahir from Gujarat and 1 of TDP namely Kandikunta Venkata Prasad from Andhra Pradesh.

36 other MLAs have declared that they have other charges of crimes against women such as outraging the modesty of a woman, assault, insulting the modesty of a woman etc. Of the 36 MLAs who have declared that they have charges of crimes against women, 6 MLAs are from INC , 5 from BJP and 3 from SP.

U.P. has the maximum number of MLAs (8) who have declared that they have charges of crimes against women, followed by Orissa and West Bengal with 7 MLAs each. 2 MPs, namely Semmalai S of ADMK from Salem constituency in Tamil Nadu and Adhikari Suvendu of AITC from Tamluk constituency in West Bengal, have declared that they have charges of crimes against women, such as cruelty and intent to outrage a woman’s modesty etc.

Candidates

Political Parties gave tickets to 27 candidates who contested the State Elections in the last five years, who have declared that they have been charged with rape.

Of these 7 are Independent candidates, 5 have been given tickets by SP, 2 have been given tickets by BJP, 2 are BSP candidates and 1 has been given a ticket by INC.

Out of these 27 candidates who declared rape charges, 10 are from Uttar Pradesh, and 5 are from Bihar.

Political Parties also gave tickets to 260 other contesting candidates in the Legislative Assembly Elections held in the last five years have declared that they have charges of crimes against women such as outraging the modesty of a woman, assault, insulting the modesty of a woman etc.

Out of the 260 candidates who declared that they have been charged with crimes against women, 72 are IND candidates, 24 have been given tickets by the BJP, 26 candidates have been given tickets by the INC, 16 have been given tickets by the SP and 18 have been given tickets by BSP.

Maharasthra has the maximum number of such candidates (41), followed by Uttar Pradesh (37) and West Bengal (22).

In Lok Sabha 2009 Elections, political parties gave tickets to 6 candidates who declared that they have been charged with rape,

Of these, 1 is from RPP, 1 from RCP, 1 from BSP, 1 from JMM and 2 Independent candidates.

Out of these 6 candidates who declared rape charges 3 are from Bihar, 1 from Delhi, 1 from Uttar Pradesh and 1 from Andhra Pradesh

34 other contesting candidates from the Lok Sabha 2009 General Elections declared that they have charges of crimes against women.

12 out of the other 34 Lok Sabha 2009 candidates who declared that they have been charged with crimes against women, are IND candidates, 4 are BSP candidates and 2 each from AITC and CPI (ML) (L).

Maximum cases of crimes against women are against candidates from Bihar (9), followed by Maharashtra (6), and Uttar Pradesh (5).

ADR and NEW strongly recommend that political parties should stop giving tickets to candidates with criminal backgrounds and who have been charged with serious crimes like murder, attempt to murder, especially crimes against women such as rape.

These are our MPs and MLAs we have who claim they represent the people and take decisions of our behalf.

DO THEY REPRESENT YOU?

NO!

They do not represent me but we had no choice.

In the recent elections in Himachal, the Congress was led by Virbahdra Singh who was accused of corruption.

The BJP was led by Nitin Gadkari who himself was accused of corruption. The poor people had no choice, either BJP or Congress.

Since the BJP was already in power, the people decided to vote for the congress. Choosing one evil over another evil.

However, now the people of India have a third choice -AAP.

Vote for them in the next elections and drive out both the Congress and the BJP and the rest of the motley group of corrupt jokers.

Having three-way sex and being rewarded

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - "In this case, you had adultery, you had infidelity, you had a Ménage a Trois and you had the fact that he was a police officer," admits attorney Tricia "CK" Hoffler.

She and other lawyers at Atlanta's Edmond & Lindsay firm said Friday they had an uphill battle to convince a Gwinnett County jury to place their personal beliefs aside and have sympathy for the family of 31-year-old Atlanta police officer William Martinez.

Those plaintiff attorneys won a strange medical malpractice case this week, despite how Martinez died.

Their lawsuit claimed Lawrenceville Doctor Sreenivasulu Gangasani and the Cardiovascular Group were to blame, not what Martinez was doing when it happened.

Both sides agree the young cop and a male friend were having three-way sex with a woman at a motel on Virginia Avenue near the Atlanta airport on March 12, 2009.

The woman was not his wife.

Around 3 a.m. he fell off the bed and became unresponsive.

When EMT's couldn't revive him, they took him to nearby South Fulton Medical Center where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

The cause of death was determined to be "Atheroschlerotic coronary artery disease."

In their lawsuit, lawyers for Martinez' widow claim Dr. Gangasani did not properly diagnose and treat Martinez for high blood pressure, chest pains, shortness of breath and irregular heartbeat.

They also claim he did not warn Martinez to avoid strenuous physical activity until more tests could be done.

"The type of sex that he was engaged in is the type that's totally unacceptable to our community," said Martinez family attorney Dr. Rod Edmond.

"But the fact of the matter is this man could have died running on the treadmill, running after a criminal," he added.

On Tuesday a Gwinnett County jury agreed, finding Dr. Gangasani "negligent."

But their verdict form also found police officer William Martinez 40% responsible for his own death.

That shared responsibility reduced the award to his widow from $5 million down to $3 million.

Sugeidy Martinez, who is left with two young sons, ages 7 and 9, issued a written statement through her attorneys:

"This is certainly not the best of times for me and my family. We love my husband and the father of our two sons and we will have to carry on without him. However, the recent verdict which the lawyers at Edmond & Lindsay fought so hard to get will benefit our family and help me to educate and care for our children."

11 Alive spoke with Dr. Gangasani by phone.

He said he would like nothing better than to defend his professional reputation, but referred us to the attorney handling his upcoming appeal of the verdict.

That attorney, Page Powell of Atlanta, sent us a statement which reads in full:

"Dr. Gangasani did everything he could to prevent Mr. Martinez's death. Mr. Martinez had a well-documented history of not following his doctors' instructions. Here, after examining Mr. Martinez, Dr. Gangasani recommended follow-up cardiac testing, and he offered Mr. Martinez an appointment for the next day to have the testing performed. Mr. Martinez refused, and instead he scheduled the testing to take place one week later-the day after the sexual encounter that he had planned. Dr. Gangasani also specifically told Mr. Martinez not to engage in any strenuous activity, but unfortunately Mr. Martinez ignored this warning. Dr. Gangasani also gave Mr. Martinez appropriate medications, including aspirin, nitroglycerin, and cholesterol-lowering medications, and told Mr. Martinez to go to the emergency room immediately if he experienced any further chest pain. Thus, while Mr. Martinez's death was a tragedy, it could have been prevented if he had simply followed Dr. Gangasani's recommendations and instructions."

Sent by Prakash Bhartia

Greetings from your Alma Mater !

21st December 2012

Dear Past Pupils,

Greetings from your Alma Mater !

I hope that as the year draws to a close and a new one dawns upon us and as we consider the impact of a man who was born close to 2000 years ago on our earth, you can look back with gratitude on blessings both personal and shared with family and friends. I pray that the Spirit of the Divine may enhance our own spirits and result in a progressively more humane and civilized world.

I thank all of you who have contacted me over the last few months either by visiting school or through the internet or phone ! I have been assigned to many of our Christian Brothers schools and I have never experienced more frequent visits by past pupils to the school ! Congratulations to you for keeping up the contact ! This is a huge encouragement to me personally.

I am happy to inform you that, thanks in a big way to your encouragement, the school has proceeded on a course of development.

We have applied to the Council of the Indian School Certificate Examinations for affiliation for the XI and XII (Science and Commerce streams). The affiliation is still to be received. We hope to have the inspection in the first of January. We have a fair amount of preparation especially in terms of readying the laboratory space (the Board requires three separate laboratories ! for Physics, Chemistry and Biology) and purchasing library books. We will need all of the three months before the Class XI admissions (hopefully) take place to have all in place.

We have also decided to introduce Class 1 for Day scholars from 2013.

Given the condition of the now 105 years infrastructure due to age, the impact of the cyclone and earthquake of the last two years - we have had to take up the following maintenance works : repair of the Gym, the front of the Main Building (in which the Junior Staff room, Junior Coordinator’s office, Classes 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B and toilets for Ladies will be placed), the repair of the kitchen building – all which have suffered significantly from the weather and the earthquake; the renovation of the students toilets; the painting of the interior of all classrooms, boxrooms and dormitories, the repair of and painting of all roofs, the repair of drainage in front of the school (which has lead to the buckling of the retaining wall), the maintenance of the old school hospital building (we realize that sooner rather than later this part of the school will have to be replaced, but we there are more pressing works to be seen to at the present) and the repair of Mount Carmel (also affected by the earthquake).

When you visit you will notice a lot more “blue” on the buildings ! I hope that satisfies those who have been complaining about a lot of other colours noticed ! However, we will feel truly blue if we have the same colour even inside the buildings – so you will see a splash of colours within !

The wonderful commemorative stone for our three Olympians which you donated at the time of the Centenary has been erected beside the front gardens, just as the steps to the first feel go down – it will stand out as you approach the front of the school from the road.

So, I hope you are convinced that the Management and administration do listen to your suggestions and try as best we can to respond appropriately.

I look forward to your assistance, as you expressed, – the School Bus (promised by the Past Pupils from Kolkata and Sikkim), assistance for the painting of the exterior of the school (Sikkim past pupils), donation of table tennis tables (Kolkata past pupils), assistance for the renovation of the kitchen and Dining Room (Kolkata and other visiting Past pupils) and the setting up of a fund for assistance to deserving students who needed financial assistance.

I wish all of you and your families well.

I hope that we will meet and interact, fruitfully, more often.

May we continue to “Do all things Well”

With the kindest regards,

Bro.E.L.Miranda.c.f.c.

The above greetings has been sent by Bro. E L Miranda, Principal of Goethals

Ladies Soccer - one view

The above picture disproves the view held by many that soccer is not for the chicken hearted.

The link to the above picture was posted by Soumendra K Dey on FB

The difference between Boys and Girls

The First photograph was posed by Rajesh Mallick on FB. The second was taken some time back.

Both of them are school dorms, one of St. Helen's and the other of Goethals. Any guesses as to which is of which school?

A worrying fact about India that is being ignored

More than two thousand years ago, a famous Greek orator by the name of Demosthenes had said, "What a man wishes, that also will he believe." In other words, we often only see what we want to see. We tend to ignore facts that do not boost our hopes and wishes.

To quite an extent, this seems to be the case with how India's economic growth has been projected. Popular media images portray India in a highly optimistic vein. India, the second fastest growing economy after China... The country with the highest and growing youth population... And so on... But how long can you keep cheering an economy based on these fancy facts?

The problem is that this overoptimistic perception tends to distort several harsh realities plaguing India. For instance, the humungous size of our country's population has been one of the biggest challenges for over two decades. Nothing concrete has been done to deal with this rising challenge. On the contrary, as an article in the Economic Times aptly points out, the problem has been disguised as an opportunity by mere use of terms such as 'demographic dividend'. While papers and books on the subject may have earned economists some reputation, India's demographics have been pretty unproductive so far. Policymakers have been talking about creating 250 million skilled jobs by 2025. But in the last one decade, we have merely achieved 5% of that target.

On several major parameters, India ranks poorly when compared to the other BRIC economies. It is worth noting that the population of Brazil and Russia is just 16% and 18% of India's population, respectively. Yet both these economies, in terms of GDP, are bigger by 36% and 20% respectively. On the other hand, China's population is 10% higher than India. But the GDP is four times the size of India's GDP. Effectively, all economies have a much higher per capita income relative to India.

A part of India's growth is contributed by the growing population. This addition must be adjusted while considering long term growth prospects. Today's chart of the day shows that India's incremental per capita GDP is a paltry US$ 84. This highlights the problem of low productivity in our country. In fact, the article goes on to state that at current levels of productivity, for India to get where Brazil, Russia and China are today (in terms of per capita income), it will take 39, 43 and 24 years respectively.

The bottomline is that our policymakers really need to roll up their sleeves and focus on the big picture. There is a strong need for progressive reforms across all systems. Only then will India really be able to lay its claims on the so-called 'demographic dividend'.

The above is from the mails I receive from Equitymaster. As I see it, India's main problem is corruption. If that and our population can be controlled, then only India will progress. What our present leaders are doing is just making the rich richer. They are just looking after the organised sector, forgetting that more than 70 % of our population are outside the organised sector who do not benefit from FDI and other tom-toms which the government blows. On the other hand, they are affected by the increase in cost of living because of reducing the number of cylinders available to a family and the rise in transport costs in public transport and goods carriers. The organised sector will get their DA but all the others will have to bear the brunt.

Two books reviewed

Students at a local school were assigned to read two books, 'Titanic' & 'My Life' by Bill Clinton.

One student turned in the following book report, with the proposition that they were nearly identical stories!

His cool professor gave him an A+ for this report.

Titanic: cost - $29.99

Clinton : cost - $29.99

Titanic: Over 3 hours to read

Clinton : Over 3 hours to read

Titanic: The story of Jack and Rose, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe.

Clinton : The story of Bill and Monica, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe.

Titanic: Jack is a starving artist.

Clinton : Bill is a bullshit artist.

Titanic: In one scene, Jack enjoys a good cigar.

Clinton : Ditto for Bill.

Titanic: During the ordeal, Rose's dress gets ruined.

Clinton : Ditto for Monica.

Titanic: Jack teaches Rose to spit.

Clinton : Let's not go there.

Titanic: Rose gets to keep her jewelry

Clinton : Monica is forced to return her gifts.

Titanic: Rose remembers Jack for the rest of her life.

Clinton : Clinton remembers Monica for the rest of his life.

Titanic: Rose goes down on a vessel full of seamen.

Clinton : Monica...ooh, let's not go there, either.

Titanic: Jack surrenders to an icy death.

Clinton : Bill goes home to Hilary - basically the same thing.

You ! May not get a second chance.

Life with no regrets!

It was their anniversary, and Amrita was waiting for her husband Rajiv to show up.

Things had changed since their marriage; the once cute, couldn't-live-without-each-other couple had turned bitter.

Fighting over every little thing, both didn't like the way things had changed.

Amrita was waiting to see if Rajiv remembered it was their anniversary!

Just as the doorbell rang she ran to find her husband wet and smiling with a bunch of flowers in his hand.

The two started reliving the old days.

Making up for fights, there was then plan for champagne, light music.

And rain outside! It was perfect. But the moment paused when the phone in the bedroom rang.

Amrita went to pick it up and it was a man.

"Hello ma'am I'm calling from the police station. Is this Mr Rajiv Mehra's number?"

"Yes it is!"

"I'm sorry ma'am; but there was an accident and a man died. We got this number from his purse; we need you to come and identify his body."

Amrita's heart sank. WHAT the!!!!

"But my husband is here with me?"

"Sorry ma'am, but the incident took place at 2 pm, when he was boarding the train." Amrita was about to lose her senses. How could this happen?! She knew these types of things she heard about the soul of the person coming to meet a loved one before it leaves! She ran into the other room. He was not there. It was true! He had left her for good!! Oh God she would have died for another chance to mend every little fight before!

She rolled on the floor in pain. She lost her chance! Forever!

Suddenly there was a noise from the bathroom, the door opened and Rajiv came out and said..... "Darling, I forgot to tell you my purse was stolen today" Life might not give you a second chance.

So never waste a moment when you can still make up for your wrongs!!! It’s nearly end of the year so let's start making amends.

To all

No one is promised tomorrow.

Sent by Arun Shroff

Fulfilling a wife's wishes

Oh to Be 8 again!

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching his wife, who was looking at herself in the mirror.

Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she'd like to have for her birthday.

'I'd like to be eight again', she replied absentmindedly, still looking in the mirror .

On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Coco Pops, and then took her to “Adventure World” theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the ScreamingRoller Coaster, everything there was.

Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. He then took her to a McDonald's where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate milkshake.

Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soft drink, and her favourite lollies, M&M's. What a fabulous adventure!

Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted.

He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, 'Well Dear, what was it like being eight again?

Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed.

'I meant my dress size, you f@*#*! retard!!!!'

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.

Sent by Arun Shroff

Beware of your car's A C

Now this is very interesting! If you have a car, the car's manual says to roll down the windows to let out all the hot air before turning on the A/C. WHY ?

Ever wonder why more folks are dying from cancer than ever before.

Many people are in their cars the first thing in the morning, and the last thing at night, 7 days a week.

Guess, its not too late to make some changes.

Please do NOT turn on A/C as soon as you enter the car.

Open the windows after you enter your car and then after a couple of minutes, turn ON the AC .

Here's why: According to research, the car's dashboard, seats, a/c ducts, in fact ALL of the plastic objects in your vehicle, emit Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin. A BIG CARCINOGEN. Take the time to observe the smell of heated plastic in your car when you open it, and BEFORE you start it up.

In addition to causing cancer, Benzene poisons your bones, causes anemia and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure can cause Leukemia and increases the risk of some cancers. It can also cause miscarriages in pregnant women.

The "acceptable" Benzene level indoors is: 50mg per sq.ft.

A car parked indoors, with windows closed, will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene - 8 times the acceptable level.

If parked outdoors in the sun, at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level. People who get into the car, keeping the windows closed, will eventually inhale excessive amounts of the BENZENE toxin.

Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidneys and liver. What's worse, it is extremely difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.

So friends, please open the windows and doors of your car - give it some time for the interior to air out -(dispel the deadly stuff) - before you enter the vehicle. Other than travelling in highly congested traffic, try and use air from outside your car and not recycled air whenever possible especially on long trips.

Sent by Arun Shroff

Misuse of PAN No. - BEWARE!

Indian Railways:

Abuse of PAN No. Passport Details - Do not quote for Tatkal bookings.

Do not quote PAN for Tatkal bookings. Indian Railways display PAN as identity proof for Tatkal bookings.

The Railways have collect PAN for Tatkal bookings and display the PAN+ name, sex and age of passengers on reservation charts pasted on railway compartments.

This is a boon for benami transactions. It is mandatory for traders like jewelers to collect tax (TCS) from customers on purchase of jewellery worth Rs.5 lakh & bullion worth Rs.2 lakh. While complying with TCS rules for collection, payment, and uploading of TCS information (e-filing of TDS returns) jewelers have to furnish PAN of customers. Customers it is not convenient to provide PAN.

To accommodate high net worth customers, traders have a easy source of benami PAN numbers, name, sex and age from reserved railway compartments. A traveler recently noticed a chap copying PAN particulars along with name, age and sex pasted on reserved compartments, and when confronted with the help of railway police, he admitted that he gets Rs.10/- per PAN particulars from jewelers. These persons are copying PAN information of senior citizens, women etc. from sleeper class with the intention that passengers in sleeper class are not serious taxpayers and generally salaried class.

This wrong usage of a PAN number is known to the regular taxpayers, who regularly check their tax credit on form 26 AS provided by the Income Tax department on their website. This form 26-AS is updated only on filing of e-TDS returns by the traders. There is almost 6-12 months time delay for the PAN holder to know that a transaction of above nature has taken place on his name and that too only if he goes through form 26 AS. On noticing the tax credit of above nature while reconciling form 26 AS for tax credits for filing the return during subsequent financial year i.e. July / September, the taxpayer has an option to exclude the same and go ahead in filing the return. In that case, the department will first initiate action from the taxpayer's side asking him to explain the sources of money for the above transaction done in his name and to prove that he has not carried on the above transaction. The onus lies on the genuine taxpayer for the fault committed by the traders. This dispute may even take more than 2 years for settlements.

In conclusion, the only way to protect you from these fraudulent transactions is to avoid quoting PAN details for identity proof.

Sent by Arun Shroff

Government refuses to act against cop

KOLKATA: Relations between the state government and the state human rights commission seem to have hit a rough patch again with the former refusing to take action against then inspector in charge of Burdwan police station Prasun Banerjee.

On July 9, the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) had recommended Banerjee's suspension and initiation of departmental proceedings against him. The commission received a reply from the state government on Monday in which it stated that no action against the police officer will be taken.

The WBHRC's suggestion comes in relation to a case dating four years back. On June 4, 2008 Lakshmi Das had lodged a complaint with the rights panel alleging that her son Subrata was poisoned to death owing to police indifference.

According to the complaint by the Natun Colony resident, Burdwan police station refused to register an FIR on the case. Subsequently, Das filed a petition in the Burdwan CJM court. Despite a court direction to initiate an investigation into the case immediately, the police kept delaying the matter, only to take it up seven months later, the complaint stated.

Banerjee, the then inspector-in-charge of Burdwan police station, who is now serving as an inspector in IB, had failed to appear before the commission on several occasions. When he finally deposed before the panel on July 3 this year, the police officer reportedly explained that 'since Burdwan police station was a busy police station, the court complaint received by the police station on April 4, 2008 did not come to his knowledge'.

The human rights commission observed this as gross dereliction of duty on part of Banerjee. The commission further noted that Banerjee failed to maintain law and order.

Thereafter on July 9, the commission sent its recommendation to the state government to suspend Banerjee within two weeks and take appropriate departmental proceedings against him within six weeks of receiving the communication. The state government was also asked to inform the commission on the action taken within three months. "The government's response to the commission's recommendation came after over five months. And it has rejected the recommendation completely," said a source in WBHRC.

Rights activists have condemned the government's move. "This will encourage police to resort to more human rights violation cases in future," said Ranjit Sur, state secretariat member of Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR).

While she was in the opposition, the Maa Mati Maanush Chief Minister of Bengal was always talking of human rights violation and demanded all sorts f priveledges for herself.

Now that she is in power, she brooks no dissent.

Anybody criticizing her is called a Maoist and the police told to arrest the person. How long are we to bear this torture.Until the next election.

But then, will the CPM return, who are probably worse.

No!

Let us bring Arvind Kejriwal and AAP.

Woman gang-raped in Delhi bus, battles for life

New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) A 23-year-old woman was battling for life here Monday after a gang of men tortured and raped her in a moving bus and threw her out on the road along with her boyfriend, police said.

The bus driver was arrested late in the evening and the vehicle seized, police said, adding that five other suspects had also been identified.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit expressed disgust over the horrific incident even as police detained four suspects for the overnight crime and hunted for other accomplices.

While the 28-year-old boyfriend was discharged after treatment, the young woman, whose name is being withheld, was on ventilator at the Safdarjung Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

"The patient is critical," hospital spokesman S.N. Makwana told IANS.

Doctors said she had grave injuries on the stomach and intestine, and she bore signs of having been beaten with a blunt object.

Police said they have arrested bus driver Ram Singh, 32, and recovered the bus used in the crime.

The attack took place when the young couple reached Munirka in south Delhi around 9.15 p.m. Sunday after watching a movie at a mall in Saket and boarded a bus to go to Dwarka, police said.

"Around seven men, including the driver and conductor, told the couple they were headed to Dwarka," Deputy Commissioner of Police Chhaya Sharma said.

The men misbehaved with the woman. When the boyfriend intervened, he was beaten up, said Sharma. The woman was then raped in the moving bus by four men.

"Of the seven, four men committed rape. We have prepared two sketches of suspects," she said. The woman's ordeal lasted for half hour.

Both victims were pushed out of the bus at Mahipalpur in south Delhi at around 10.30 p.m. after their mobile phones were snatched.

A police vehicle rushed them to hospital after being tipped off by a toll plaza patrol that a young man and a young woman were lying sprawled by the roadside, Sharma said.

D.K. Mishra, the anguished uncle of the young man, said five to six men attacked the two.

"When my nephew tried to save the girl, he was beaten with iron rods," he said. "The girl was then gang-raped."

The young woman, who belongs to Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, was interning at a hospital here for some months. She lives in Mahavir Enclave in west Delhi.

Her friend hails from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and lives in Ber Sarai in south Delhi. He had completed his B.Tech from Meerut and was preparing for civil services examination.

Sharma said CCTV footage of the bus was seized from a toll plaza in Gurgaon.

"A case of kidnapping, robbery and rape has been registered," she added. "Over 50 buses have been checked till now."

Chief Minister Dikshit pledged "strict action" against the attackers.

Education and Social Welfare Minister Kiran Walia said: "It is a shocking incident." Mamta Sharma, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, was aghast. "If an incident like this can take place in a thickly populated area like Munirka, it shows the police are not alert."

Delhi is not only the capital of India, it is also the capital crime city is India.

Why?

Because it is inhabited by the top politicians of India, our MPs, who themselves have been accused of top crimes in their respective area of influence.

Unless, these criminal MPs are weeded out of Parliament, this will continue in India. Further it is surrounded by states like Haryana, Punjab and UP which too are the hotbeds of criminals.

What is the solution?

Build bigger and more jails so that criminals can be housed there, without giving bail.

At present our judiciary is very free in giving bail probably because our jails are not sufficiently big to house the criminals.

For crimes like kidnapping, extortion, murder, dacoity, terrorism, adulteration of food and medicines and rape, no bail should be given as long as the trial continues.At present these criminals intentionally delay they their trials under one pretext or another and get bail. If no bail is given, it would be in their interest to expedite their cases.

For rapists like the above, their penis should be amputated leaving just a stump for urination.

It would be a stern warning for other would be rapists. It would also prevent the birth of undesirable children which brings shame to the raped female.

Now Karnataka BJP chief under scanner over corruption

Shimoga (Karnataka), Dec 17 (IANS) Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party president and deputy chief minister K. S. Eshwarappa Monday joined the growing number of BJP leaders in the state to face probe into corruption charges.

Karnataka police attached to Lokayukta (ombudsman) Monday filed a First Information Report (FIR) here marking the formal beginning of the probe into charges that Eshwarappa had amassed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Shimoga, about 280km north of Bangalore, is Eshwarappa's hometown.

The FIR was registered on a complaint by a Shimoga advocate B. Vinod in the Lokayukta court which has directed the police to complete the probe and submit a report by Feb 4 next.

Shimoga is also the political base of former BJP chief minister B. S. Yeddyurappa who too is facing over a dozen cases of corruption. He was forced out of chief minister's chair July last year over mining bribery charges.

While Yeddyurappa quit BJP Nov 30, around 20 BJP legislators, including several ministers, are fighting corruption cases in Bangalore courts.

Eshwarappa has denied the charges against him and has welcomed a probe.

As I have been saying, all political parties.

Whether it is Mayawati or Mulayam Singh in UP, or DMK and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, or Lalu's RJD in Bihar, or Chouthala and Hooda in Haryana or the CPM in Kerala and West Bengal or the Congress and BJP in the states ruled by them, they are all the same.

As I perceive it there may be slightly less corruption in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh also ruled by the BJP or in Odisa where BJD rules or Nitish Kumar's Bihar but it is there. It is because it is less in these states, they have developed better.

The only solution is to sweep away all the existing parties and throw them into either the Arabian Sea or Bay of Bengal, whichever is nearer and usher in Kejriwal's AAP.

It will bring is a refreshing change.

FUNERAL EXPENSES

A MAN AND HIS EVER-NAGGING WIFE WENT ON VACATION IN JERUSALEM.

WHILE THEY WERE THERE, THE WIFE PASSED AWAY.

THE UNDERTAKER TOLD THE HUSBAND,

"YOU CAN HAVE HER BURIED HERE IN THE HOLY LAND FOR $150

OR WE CAN HAVE HER SHIPPED BACK HOME FOR $5,000.

THE HUSBAND THOUGHT ABOUT IT AND TOLD THE

UNDERTAKER HE WOULD HAVE HER SHIPPED BACK HOME.

THE UNDERTAKER ASKED HIM,

"WHY WOULD YOU SPEND $5,000 TO HAVE HER SHIPPED

HOME WHEN YOU COULD HAVE A BEAUTIFUL BURIAL HERE,

AND IT WOULD ONLY COST $150????"

THE HUSBAND REPLIED,

"ABOUT TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, A MAN DIED HERE, WAS BURIED HERE,

AND THREE DAYS LATER, ROSE FROM THE DEAD.

I JUST CAN’T TAKE THAT CHANCE!"

Sent by Prakash Bhartia

Faced pressure in Mayawati, Telgi cases: Ex-CBI chief

NEW DELHI: Political pressure on CBI is among the most ill-kept secrets in town. On Friday, former CBI chief U S Misra openly acknowledged as much, saying pressure was brought to bear on him in politically sensitive cases, including one concerning BSP chief Mayawati's alleged disproportionate assets and the multi-crore Telgi scam. Admitting he faced pressure in the case against Mayawati, Mishra told Times Now, "The fact remains, I won't hide it, that when we investigate cases against prominent political leaders, there are some influences to keep the progress report pending or present it in a certain way." He also said CBI presently works like a government department and needs to be made independent. Mishra, who headed the CBI from 2003 to 2005, said the interest of a Cabinet minister in the Telgi case had forced him to approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "I had approached the prime minister and had a discussion with him on the issue when some ministers gave me advice on Telgi case," he said.

He refused to disclose names of ministers, but hinted they could be in the current Cabinet, tantalizingly adding that details could be there in a book he is writing on his experience as the head of the country's premier investigating agency. "I will not give the names right now. I am writing a book," he said.

Mishra claimed "these requests from ministers are usually verbal and no record is kept in CBI for such calls from ministers".

The sensational confirmation of the obvious comes at a time when the Centre has been accused of using the CBI case against Mayawati to pressure her to rescue UPA out of tough political spots; most recently during the vote on FDI in retail. Mayawati denied the allegation that she helped UPA out of fear of CBI, but said the NDA government did try to use the agency against her.

However, Mishra denied that NDA used CBI against Mayawati, saying, "Supreme Court had asked CBI to give a report in Taj Corridor case within 20 days. It (investigation) was all between CBI and Supreme Court."

The widely held perception about misuse of CBI by successive regimes has led to demands for the agency to be made truly autonomous by stripping the government of the power to appoint its chief and exercise administrative control over it.

A unanimous report of the select committee of Parliament addressed the concern by recommending that the CBI chief be appointed by a collegium that includes the leader of opposition and the Chief Justice of India, although it rejected the demand of anti-graft activists for the agency to placed under Lokpal.

Congress promptly rejected Mishra's allegations. "To wake up after so many years and make such claims, I don't think any importance should be given to such allegations. Also, it needs to be confirmed under whose regime did he serve as CBI chief. I think he was CBI chief when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister. So the BJP leaders should give an explanation," an agency report quoted minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajeev Shukla as saying.

But BJP and JD(U) were quick to latch on to Mishra's outburst with the former reiterating that CBI had become 'Congress Investigation Bureau'. "We have been saying right from day one that CBI is being misused from time to time to harass political opponents or win over allies. CBI has been converted into Congress Bureau of Investigation," agencies quoted BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu as saying.

When asked whether the pressure is brought upon CBI in all political cases, Mishra said, "Pressure comes to CBI because it has no independent status." He added that he had given certain suggestions to the parliamentary committee for making CBI independent.

According to agencies, Mishra attracted criticism from SP and RJD too. "This reflects his cowardice. When he was holding the post, such things were not visible to him. And now he comes up with allegations," RJD chief Lalu Prasad said.

SP leader Naresh Aggarwal went a step ahead, demanding that "a law should be made that the oath of secrecy that these officials take should be for life. It should not serve as a platform for those who want to enter politics and then they make up such allegations".

After this allegation, I suggest the Supreme Court should step in to make the CBI truly independent.

The Supreme itself is aware how it is being forced to make the CBI book culprits and the Congress does not allow the CBI to work independently.

The SP, BSP and RJD and DMK would naturally deny these allegations as they were the main parties who were saved by the pressure on the CBI.

The Congress would deny the allegation since it was the one who applied the pressure. All the opposition parties, except the above should not allow parliament to run until the CBI was made independent.

But will they?

No!

The BJP and its allies also applied similar pressures when the NDA was in power.

Prakash Singh Badal would be caught in the CBI net if it was truly independent.

The first duty of Kejriwal should be to make the CBI, truly independent, impervious to the pressures and politics of the party in power at the centre.