Anna raises question on Modi as PM:

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare today questioned Narendra Modi as a prime ministerial candidate in the next general elections, saying the Gujarat chief minister was not sincere about rooting out corruption as he has not taken steps for setting up a Lokayukta, a post lying vacant since 2003 in the state.

"I want to ask Modi why has he not made Gujarat corruption-free and why did he not bring a bill for setting up Lokayukta in his state," he said in reply to questions by reporters.

So many complaints of corruption have been coming from Gujarat, he said. "People are tossing his (Modi's) name for the PM's post ... If he is so good a candidate why did he not bring a strong Lokayukta bill?" Hazare, who launched his 'Janatantra Morcha' here yesterday, said.

"This proves that Modi is not interested in making a corruption-free India," the Gandhian said.

. I agree with Anna on this point.

For that nobody from either the Congress or the BJP is fit to be the PM.

The Congress is going ahead with passing the Jokepal bill and the Goa CM has similarly passing a jocular Lokayukta bill in Goa.

None of the existing parties will pass the required bill for then their own leaders will be wiped out.

The best bet for Anna would be to support Arvind Kejriwal, provided ee puts up good, honest candidates.

After minor's rape, headmistress ordered clean-up: Goa CM

Panaji, Jan 31 (IANS) In a shocking disclosure, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Goa legislative assembly Thursday that a school headmistress oversaw the washing and cleaning of the private parts of the seven-year-old rape victim.

Parrikar was updating the house on the progress of investigations into the rape of a minor girl in a school toilet at the port town of Vasco, a crime which had stunned the state Jan 14.

"During investigation, it was revealed that the headmistress directed the class teacher to wash the private parts of the victim to avoid infection," Parrikar told the assembly.

The chief minister also said that the management of the school, run by a central government-operated port trust, also wiped off all possible traces and fingerprint evidence from the scene of the crime.

"The school management was busy cleaning evidence, when their first job was to intimate the police," Parrikar said. The headmistress, Sharlet Furtado, was arrested and later released on bail for negligence in the week following the crime. The girl's attacker is still untraced and on the run.

Dear CM, You have made a shocking disclosure.

But what of the equally shocking decision you have taken to wash away the rape of Goa by your politicians by passing an impotent Lokayukta Bill just as the Congress government at the centre is passing a powerless Lokpal (Jokepal) bill.

We are not satisfied with either your or the centre's bill.

You both are interested in protecting the corrupt and punish the whistle blower.

Present Lokpal bill will not check corruption: Kejriwal

New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal Thursday criticised the UPA government for not coming out with a "strong" Lokpal bill, asserting that the proposed law would not check corruption.

"Why should you have any Lokpal? If an agency is created which will not stop corruption, will lead to increased corruption and provide protection to ministers, then what is the point," he told reporters here.

"We were not interested in just the word Lokpal. You can name it anything. The government has not done a favour to the people of the country (by the bill). It is the government's constitutional duty to give a corruption-free regime," he said.

"Some people are saying they are happy that a beginning has been made, but has the government done us a favour?" asked Kejriwal, saying the people of the country were suffering due to corruption and price rise.

He sought to know why cannot the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government come out with changes in the law to make it stronger now.

"Why can't the changes and amendments be made now? This means that the government thinks if a strict law is passed, all of them will go to jail," he said.

"Half of the ministers of the same cabinet, which passed the bill today, will be in jail if a strong Lokpal comes," alleged Kejriwal.

The union cabinet Thursday approved amendments to the Lokpal Bill suggested by a select committee of the Rajya Sabha.

The bill, passed by the Lok Sabha, is pending in the Rajya Sabha, and was referred to a select committee of the upper house, which suggested several amendments to the legislation.

The bill will now be put to vote in the upper house.

I totally agree with Arvind Kejriwal.

It had earlier been christened by Arvind as Joke pal and true to form, they are treating it as a joke.

It is very similar to the Lokayukta bill passed by the Goa Chief Minister.

If any proof was required of the collaboration between the BJP and Congress in furthering corruption, this is it.

How controversies SHOOK dynasty politics in India

Being Indians, we are not new to the concept of dynasty in Indian politics. The most obvious example is the Nehru-Gandhi family/dynasty, which has always dominated the Congress.

But having said that, dynasty politics in those times was not as all-powerful and blatant back in those days. Let's just say, back then, it was just considered a 'natural progression'.

Recent data suggests that around 28 per cent of politicians in India owe their access to the system through their family backgrounds.

But as times changed, the nature and dynamics of these dynasties changed. While we watched with growing disdain how a powerful politician in Bihar who had to abdicate his chair in the eye of a multi-crore scam -- only to be replaced by his wife with no political background, we also saw other biggies initially taking a big fall, but eventually rising to resounding popularity. Politicos in power, it seems, in those days, were untouchable, even invulnerable.

Then, something changed over the last few years. The 2G scam exploded and left many political heavyweights shamefaced. This was followed by the mining scam in Karnataka which had been in the potboiler for quite some time, the National Rural Health Mission scam in Uttar Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh land scam, and the irrigation scam in Maharashtra.

Scams are nothing new to India, but this time, something extraordinary happened -- we actually saw politicians with high portfolios being prosecuted and being sent to jail -- their dynasty connections notwithstanding. The only difference? The ones being jailed were not in the big game anymore, but had been.

A Raja holds the distinction of being No 2 in Time Magazine's 'Top 10 Abuses of Power' list.

The 2G spectrum financial scandal involved the alleged corrupt sale in 2008 of telecommunications bandwidth to selected organisations at prices that understated the real market value of the asset.

The sale is claimed to have occurred when Raja headed the telecommunications and IT Ministry; it has been considered the largest political corruption case in modern Indian history, amounting to around 176,645 crore (US$32.15 billion of lost income for the government.

In 2011, the results of an investigation by retired judge Shivraj Patil, who was appointed by Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, has also found Raja to have been directly responsible for 'procedural lapses' regarding the sale

The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate estimate that Raja could have made as much as Rs 3,000 crore from the alleged bribes.

Raja's homes and offices were raided by the CBI and his two former associates were also arrested. The three were questioned and thereafter Raja was placed for a period in judicial custody at Tihar Jail. Subsequent to his arrest, the Dravida Munettra Kazhagam supported him on the basis that he was innocent until proven guilty.

On 15 May 2012, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court under a condition that he would not visit the Department of Telecommunications nor his home state Tamil Nadu. He stayed in Tihar jail for 15 months.

Kanimozhi, a member of Parliament and the daughter of the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Tamil Nadu Karunanidhi was arrested by CBI for her involvement in the 2G spectrum scam in May 2011.

According to the CBI chargesheet, Kanimozhi has a 20 per cent stake in her family-owned Kalaignar TV. The CBI alleged that Kanimozhi had a hand behind the channel's operations and she worked with former Telecom Minister A Raja to get DB realty promoter Shahid Balwa to circuitously route 200 crore ( to Kalaignar TV.

The CBI alleged that Kanimozhi was in regular touch with Raja regarding launching of Kalaignar TV channel and its other pending works. She was also summoned by the Income Tax Department, Chennai for alleged tax evasion charges.

Inititally, Kanimozhi made publicity by telling media that she would not ask for bail and had enough courage to face the charges against her. But later, she and her father provoked party workers repeatedly begging the court with petitions and re-appeals for bail based on her "single-mother" and 'woman' status. She spent around 190 days in the Tihar Jail in New Delhi.

The fledgling YSR Congress party, launched by YS Jaganmohan Reddy after his father YS Rajashekhar Reddy's death, swept the by-elections in Andhra Pradesh last year in June, denting the last bastion of Congress in the south.

Jagan Mohan Reddy was charged by the CBI in March last year on grounds of Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 477A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

According to the second chargesheet filed by the CBI, Jagan and his father 'adopted several ingenious ways to amass illegal wealth which resulted in great public injury' and at the cost of public exchequer, allegedly by misusing the office of the chief minister.

The CBI is trying to prove through court proceedings that Jagan, in conspiracy with an associate, had 'fraudulently obtained a wrongful gain of Rs 34,65,99,830 of investments into Jagati Publications from investors.

India's richest politician has been languishing in jail since May 2012, after many failed attempts at bail.

The growth of G Janardhan Reddy, the youngest of three sons of a police constable, along with his close friend and trusted aide B Sriramulu, was nothing short of a rags to riches story.

He and his brothers transformed themselves in less than a decade from obscure activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party, into political bosses who directly or indirectly controlled three state ministries and dominated the local government in the Bellary district in Karnataka, which holds the state's richest iron ore deposits.

Janardhana came into the limelight during the Lok Sabha elections in 1999, when the Reddy brothers worked for senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj after she stood as a long-shot candidate in Bellary, against Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Though Swaraj lost, she remained a patron of the Reddy's, and was known to visit Bellary every year until 2011.

According to Tehelka: In May 2009, the family spent an estimated Rs 20 crore on a wedding. The helicopters owned by the family ferried over 10,000 guests to the wedding even as 500 air conditioners helped them forget outside temperatures of 42 degree Celsius. A month later, the brothers donated a Rs 42 crore diamond-studded crown to a temple deity.

The Reddy brothers obtained their first lease for an iron mine in 2004. From then on, their rise was meteoric -- driven by soaring commodity prices, primarily due to demand for iron ore in China.

The rule of the iron ore mafia under his command was called the 'Republic of Bellary' in which no external control or governance mechanism had any effect .The CBI or other investigative bodies in India have not yet acted on the allegations in the 2010 Lokayukta report.

Janardhana was arrested on September 5, 2011, by the CBI. He was accused of being involved in the illegal mining and export of iron ore in Bellary and Anantapur. The CBI is also investigating the bribing of a Hyderabad CBI special court judge to secure bail for Janardhana in the Obulapuram Mining Company case by his family members, including his older brother, G Karunakara Reddy.

Janardhana is still lodged in Hyderabad's Chanchagunda Jail.

Om Prakash Chautala, 78, has been the chief minister of Haryana four times -- his tenure spanning from six days to six years.

His father, the late Chaudhary Devi Lal was an Indian politician and freedom fighter who served as the chief minister of Haryana for the first time, from 1977 to 79 and second time from 1987 to 89. He also served as sixth deputy prime minister from 1989 to 1991.

Chautala was publicly disowned by his father for allegedly smuggling gold watches worth Rs 100,000 at the Delhi airport in 1997.

As chief minister, Chautala was accused of protecting SPS Rathore in the Ruchika Girotra molestation case. But justice was denied, and subsequently the girl committed suicide later.

During the period of 1999-200, he and his son, Ajay Singh, amember of Legislative Assembly, were accused in connection with a scam relating to the illegal recruitment of over 3,000 teachers in Haryana, alleging that a bribe of Rs 3-4 lakh was paid for each appointment.

His other son, Abhay Chautala, was in the news for his controversial election as the Indian Boxing Federation and the Olympic Association president. The election resulted in Indian boxers being suspended fro, participating in internation events, and India being suspended from the International Olympic Committee.

But finally, the law caught up with them.

A New Delhi court sentenced Om Prakash and Ajay for 10 years imprisonment under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act on the of January 22, 2013. The CBI probe was ordered by the Supreme Court during the National Democratic Alliance regime led by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The CBI had on June 6, 2008, chargesheeted him and 53 others in connection with the appointment scam. On January 16, 2013 he was convicted by a Delhi court for illegal recruitment of over 3000 teachers.

Soon after this he and Ajay were immediately taken into police custody, and sentenced.

The above is from the mails I receive from Rediffmail

What you see is not always what you get.

For anyone who didn't see the episode of David Letterman's show where this story was told, read this:

(And remember it's a true story...)

On a recent weekend in Atlantic City, a woman won a bucketful of quarters at a slot machine. She took a break from the slots for dinner with her husband in the hotel dining room. But first she wanted to stash the quarters in her room.

'I'll be right back and we'll go to eat' she told her husband and carried the coin-laden bucket to the elevator.

As she was about to walk into the elevator she noticed two men already aboard. Both were black. One of them was very tall and had an intimidating figure.

The woman froze. Her first thought was: 'These two are going to rob me.' Her next thought was: 'Don't be a bigot, they look like perfectly nice gentlemen.' But racial stereotypes are powerful, and fear immobilized her.

Avoiding eye contact, she turned around stiffly and faced the elevator doors as they closed. A second passed, and then another second, and then another. Her fear increased!

The elevator didn't move. Panic consumed her. My God' she thought, I'm trapped and about to be robbed!

Her heart plummeted. Perspiration poured from every pore.

Then one of the men said, 'Hit the floor.'

Instinct told her to do what they told her...

The bucket of quarters flew upwards as she threw out her arms and collapsed on the elevator floor.. A shower of coins rained down on her.

'Take my money and spare me', she prayed.

More seconds passed.

She heard one of the men say politely, 'Ma'am, if you'll just tell us what floor you're going to, we'll push the button.' The one who said it had a little trouble getting the words out. He was trying mightily to hold in a belly laugh.

The woman lifted her head and looked up at the two men. They reached down to help her up.

Confused, she struggled to her feet. 'When I told my friend here to hit the floor,' said the average sized one, I meant that he should hit the elevator button for our floor. I didn't mean for you to hit the floor, ma'am.'

He spoke genially. He bit his lip. It was obvious he was having a hard time not laughing.

The woman thought: 'My God, what a spectacle I've made of myself.' She was too humiliated to speak.

The three of them gathered up the strewn quarters and refilled her bucket.

When the elevator arrived at her floor they then insisted on walking her to her room. She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, and they were afraid she might not make it down the corridor. At her door they bid her a good evening.

As she slipped into her room she could hear them roaring with laughter as they walked back to the elevator.

The woman brushed herself off. She pulled herself together and went downstairs for dinner with her husband.

The next morning flowers were delivered to her room; a dozen roses. Attached to EACH rose was a crisp one hundred-dollar bill.

The card said:

"Thanks for the best laugh we've had in years."

It was signed:

Eddie Murphy & Michael Jordan

Sent by Keith Hayward

Goa Lokayukta minus sharp teeth, say activists

Panaji, Jan 30 (IANS) Wobbly dentures and not sharp teeth is what Goa's much-hyped Lokayukta appears to be having, political activists say criticising the recently amended public ombudsman bill tabled in the state assembly.

The amended Lokayukta Bill, tabled by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar last week in the assembly, does not make it mandatory for a minister to resign even if indicted by the ombudsman.

It also allows a Lokayukta verdict to lapse, if the chief minister's office does not sanction prosecution within three months.

After riding on a wave of probity and 'honest' skills of administration, the new amended bill shows that Parrikar backtracked on his promise to clean corruption, a key Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of the state executive committee has claimed.

"I am convinced that your 'proposed amendments' will make the Lokayukta a very weak, toothless and a namesake bill. I am sure it will make the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats very happy," Dr. Hubert Gomes, BJP state executive member and the minority face of party said in an open letter to the chief minister.

Goa will have a fully-operational office of Lokayukta by the end of March this year, Governor B.V. Wanchoo told the state assembly Monday. Making a sarcastic point, Gomes suggested that the Lokayukta was so politician-friendly that Parrikar's pet bill may even get "40 out of 40 votes" when the assembly votes on it.

Gomes, a popular dentist, said the Lokayukta amendment was a "big zero" and that was a let-down considering Parrikar's credentials.

"I joined the BJP solely because of the trust and confidence I have in you, both as a person and as an administrator," the BJP leader said.

"I am convinced of your 'personal integrity,' and I am impressed with the good work that you are doing for our state. But I am truly sad and disappointed at the 'strange amendments' that you have proposed to Goa Lokayukta Bill," he said.

The India Against Corruption (IAC) has also taken on the chief minister for diluting the Lokayukta, calling the amendments as "clearly diluting the authority of the Lokayukta".

"He came to power riding on the anti-corruption wave. How could he shield the corrupt," IAC spokesperson Satish Sonak said here.

A Lokayukta within 100 days to power was Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's biggest promise in the run up to the March 2012 polls. The continued inability of the BJP-led administration to set up the institution since March has attracted criticism since.

The new amendments, however, have dampened the spirits of the civil society even more.

"I think he (Parrikar) is doing his best to prove that he is just another unscrupulous, power hungry, opportunist politician," Anil Desai says on Ami Niz Goenkar, a Facebook group popular with the Goan online community.

For his part, Parrikar claims that the amendments to the Lokayukta have been made with the best of intentions.

"The amendments will strengthen the Lokayukta and not weaken it," Parrikar told reporters Wednesday.

I was one of the most ardent fans of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

However, this one action of his has completely disillusioned me.

He is just like any other run-of-the-mill politician who will perform any crrupt action and would not like anyone to question them.

Why is the BJP so scared of the Lokayukta.

Karnataka Gujarat and now Goa do not throw a good light on the BJP.

As I have been saying repeatedly.

There is nothing to differentiate between the BJP and Congress.

There is no point in mentioning the others like SP or BSP or CPM or Trinamul or DMK or AIADMK or RJD.

They are all even worse.

If anyone can save India, it is AAP of Arvind Kejriwal

The more you work, the less you get.

Last month, the Senate Budget Committee reports that in fiscal year

2011, between food stamps, housing support, child care, Medicaid and other benefits, the average US household below the poverty line received $168 a day in government support.

What’s the problem with that much support?

Well, the median household income in America is just over $50,000, which averages out to $137.13 a day.

To put it another way, being on welfare now pays the equivalent of $30 an hour for a 40-hour week, while the average job pays $25 an hour.

And the person who works also has to pay taxes, which drops his pay to $21 an hour.

It’s no wonder that welfare is now the biggest part of the budget, more than Social Security or defense. And why would anyone want to get off welfare when working pays much less per hour.

Sent by Prakash Bhartia.

When young we had this logic question.

The more you study, the more you know.

The more you know, the more you know you don't know.

The more you don't know, the more backward in studies you become.

So - why study?

The above also tells us the same.

If you don't work, you earn more than if you do.

Sex customs round the world

In Lebanon , men are legally allowed to have sex with animals, but the animals must be female. Having sexual relations with a male animal is punishable by death.

(Like THAT makes sense.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Bahrain , a male doctor may legally examine a woman's genitals, but is prohibited from looking directly at them during the examination. He may only see their reflection in a mirror.

(Do they look different reversed?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Muslims are banned from looking at the genitals of a corpse. This also applies to undertakers. The sex organs of the deceased must be covered with a brick or piece of wood at all times.

(A brick?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is decapitation.

(Much worse than 'going blind!')

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

There are men in Guam whose full-time job is to travel the countryside and deflower young virgins, who pay them for the privilege of having sex for the first time

Reason: under Guam law, it is expressly forbidden for virgins to marry.

(Let's just think for a minute; is there

any job anywhere else in the world that even comes close to this?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Hong Kong , a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands.

The husband's illicit lover, on the other hand, may be killed in any manner desired.

(Ah! Justice!)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Cali , Colombia , a woman may only have sex with her husband, and the first time this happens, her mother must be in the room to witness the act.

(Makes one shudder at the thought.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In Santa Cruz , Bolivia , it is illegal for a man to have sex with a woman and her daughter at the same time.

(I presume this was a big enough problem that they had to pass this law?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Maryland , it is illegal to sell condoms from vending machines with one exception: Prophylactics may be dispensed from a vending machine only 'in places where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises.'

(Is this a great country or what?

Well, not as great as Guam !)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

(Who volunteers for these tests?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated. (From drinking little bottles of?)

(Did our government pay for this research??)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Butterflies taste with their feet.

(Ah, geez.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

(I know some people like that.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Starfish don't have brains.

(I know some people like that, too.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And, the best for last?

Turtles can breathe through their butts.

(And I thought I had bad breath in the morning!)

Sent by Prakash Bhartia

Mule Trading

Curtis & Leroy saw an ad in the Starkville Daily in Starkville, MS. and bought a mule for $100.

The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day.

The next morning the farmer drove up and said,"Sorry, fellows, I have some bad news, the mule died last night."

Curtis & Leroy replied,"Well, then just give us our money back."

The farmer said,"Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

They said, "OK then, just bring us the dead mule."

The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with a dead mule?"

Curtis said, "We gonna raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead mule!"

Leroy said, "We shore can! Heck, we don't hafta tell nobody he's dead!"

A couple of weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis & Leroy at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and asked.

"What'd you fellers ever do with that dead mule?"

They said,"We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do."

Leroy said,"Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998."

The farmer said,"My Lord, didn't anyone complain?"

Curtis said, "Well, the feller who won got upset. So we gave him his two dollars back."

Curtis and Leroy now work for the government.

They're overseeing the Bailout & Stimulus Programs.

Limit politicians to two Terms.

One in office

One in prison

Sent by Prakash Bhartia

A WONDERFUL PRAYER FOR THOSE PUSHING 60 OR BEYOND

Almighty God you know that I am growing older.

Keep me from becoming too talkative, from repeating all my jokes and anecdotes, and particularly keep me from falling into the tiresome habit of expressing an opinion on every subject.

Release me from craving to straighten out everyone's affairs. Keep my mind free from recital of endless details. Give me wings to get to the point.

Give me the grace, dear GOD, to listen to others as they describe their aches and pains.

Help me endure the boredom with patience and keep my lips sealed, for my own aches and pains are increasing in number and intensity, and the pleasure of discussing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally, I might be mistaken. Keep me reasonably sweet. I do not wish to be a saint (Saints are so hard to live with), but a sour old person is the work of the devil.

Make me thoughtful, but not moody, helpful, but not pushy, independent,

yet able to accept with graciousness favors that others wish to bestow on me.

Free me of the notion that simply because I have lived a long time, I am wiser than those who have not lived so long. I am older, but not necessarily wiser!

If I do not approve of some of the changes that have taken place in recent years, give me the wisdom to keep my mouth shut.

GOD knows that when the end comes, I would like to have a friend or two left.

Sent by Sunita Sengupta

Why US will always be the innovation capital of the world

The US may be quite down in the dumps right now, but it may have got its strategy right in terms of attracting the best talent across the world. Indeed, a group of senators in the US have unveiled a plan, which promises to grant a green card to anyone who completes a postgraduate degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) from an American university.

The US in the past several years has received considerable flak. Not only did the roots of the global financial crisis begin there, but the country is also now grappling with massive debt and recession. It has become increasingly hard for the country to display any meaningful recovery. Moreover, the government and the US Fed has only made things worse by resorting to reckless money printing.

Perhaps this is what induced some of these senators to fall back upon what the US does best i.e. innovation. In the past, the US became a force to reckon with largely due to its pioneering spirit and the entrepreneurial skills of its people. That is why the Senate framework stresses on the fact that the US must do a better job of attracting and keeping the world's best and brightest. What is more, the idea is to make sure that this talent stays back and contributes to the growth of the economy. This plan if implemented should find a lot of takers and Indians stand to benefit considerably. The quality of education in US universities and institutions is quite unmatched anywhere in the world. Thus, reforms of this kind in US' immigration laws will certainly see a lot of talent from the emerging countries including India making a beeline there.

What does this mean for India? The country's demographic dividend has been highlighted as a major growth driver several times. But again the quality of its workforce is what matters. Thus, the increasing possibility of Indian students flocking to the US in droves cannot be entirely ruled out. Especially since the standard of institutions in the country (barring the IITs and the IIMs) leaves a lot to be desired. And it does not seem likely that much headway will be made in this regard in the near future. All of this means that the US will still retain its status as the innovation capital of the world.

Now you will understand why the USA in spite of being in the dumps is the country where the best brains of the world want to go. There, there is no SC/ST or OBC or any other caste qualification by which you are employed or promoted.

The only criteria is your own capability.

We in India are shackled down with these chains.

Reservations are an albatross round the neck of India.

In 1982, parliament had recommended reservation for 5 years but now two generations after Independence more and more people are clamouring for reservations and even resorting to violence.

I agree that these people in the SC/ST were meted out injustice and we should try to improve their lot.

By all means but do so by providing them good education, free of cost.

For that the government should improve its own schools.

Name any department and you will see how it has been destroyed by reservation

We start with teaching

The government now provides very good salaries to its teachers.

However teachers are recruited on the following criteria.

Political connections, reservations and ability to pay bribes.

Recently we have seen the Chief Minister of a state being awarded a ten year sentence for bribes being taken during recruitment in his state.

We have seen how teachers were recruited during the CPM rule in W.Bengal based on party affiliation and Mamta Banerjee continues to do so now.

We do not select the best to teach so how can we hope to build a new nation.

The government cannot fulfill its obligations because of its own inefficiency and corruption and so is forcing the private schools to take on the burden.

The same missionary schools whom he government loses no opportunity do defame and denigrate are asked to reserve 25 % of their seats for the economically backward under the RTE citing that they are aided by the government.

The entire political class sends feelers to the missionary schools to admit their recommended candidates.

But whose money is the government giving to these schools?

Is it the government's money?

It is the money of the people who have already paid their taxes under the hundreds of heads deviced by the government including an edu. cess specially introduced for education.

Why does not the government use the taxes so collected to provide better education.

Take the police.

The malady is the same.

We should be recruiting strong, supple people with good health in the force (not rotund people who can hardly run 10 metres) like they do in the army.

Just imagine what will be the condition of our army if reservation is included there also as the political class has been demanding.

Instead we use the same criteria as with teachers.

We are seeing the result.

The crime rate is increasing as our police with a few exceptions are useless.

They are there just to cater to the political class.

Take food security.

Thousands of tons of food grains, vegetables, fruits are destroyed every year because they are not well kept.

Why doesn't the government build infrastructure like ware houses, cold storage and food processing factories so that these food grains and perishable food items do not rot.

Ms Mayawati has been the most vociferous and has been baying for the blood of Ashis Nandi for his comment on SC/ST and OBC.

I would say he has probably paraphrased his comment wrongly.

If we take the example of Sharad Powar & his family, Om Prakash Chowthala and his family or Suresh Kalamadi or A Raja and a horde of others, the other castes are no better off, so why target only SC/ST and OBCs.

Both Mayawati and Mulayam Singh who are leaders of there own SC/OBC communities have cases in the Supreme Court for corruption and it is just the Congress government who controls the CBI that has been saving them.

Now take the case of administrative posts.

On the basis of reservations, less qualified people are employed and now as per Mayawati's new dispensation they will also be promoted. What type of administration can you expect from these below par candidates.

We are seeing the result.

Inefficiency and corruption everywhere for these people are unable to take correct decision.

If we want India to progress, we have to take a few unpleasant decisions.

1. Population is to be controlled.

2. Education should be made free for all the economically backward people.

3. The quality of government schools should be improved to make them at par with the best private schools so that people do not hanker for private English medium Schools. For that

4. Teachers in government school should be recruited only on merit and not on any other consideration. If a person of the backward community has the requisite merit he should be given preference over other people. However, in no case should sub-standard people be selected.

All existing teachers should be screened to see if they confirm to the required standard.

The government should not pay salary to useless baggage.

5. No corrupt person should be allowed to become MPs and MLAs. They or any party they form should not even be allowed to stand for elections.

Should Juvenile Age limit be lowered?

New Delhi, Jan 29 (IANS) Amid a demand for lowering the legally defined age for juvenile delinquents following the Delhi gang-rape, a retired high court chief justice Tuesday said that for one "horrific" incident law should not be changed.

"I agree the incident was horrific, but that doesn't mean that for one incident law should be changed. The law has been evolved after greater study by social scientists, academicians and criminologist," Justice Mukul Mudgal, a retired chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, told a news channel here.

Some politicians and women panels have been demanding that for defining "juvenile" the age limit should be lowered following the Dec 16 gang-rape, in which one of the six attackers is below the age of 18 years but was the most brutal.

The 23-year-old woman's family also Monday expressed dismay over the Juvenile Justice Board's stand that one of the six accused is a minor, implying that he would not face a maximum penalty of death in trial.

The retired judge said that the bone ossification test for the minor is not required.

"Bone ossification test will not give you the exact age, it will give an approximate age. When the school records are available, the bone ossification test does not help," Mudgal said.

Besides the juvenile, five other people are also accused in the gang-rape of the trainee physiotherapist in a moving bus. She died 13 days later in a Singapore hospital.

The Juvenile Justice Board declared the sixth accused as a juvenile on the basis of the date of birth on his school certificate which mentions June 4, 1995, making him 17 years and six months old at the time of the crime. This is below the age of 18 years, the legally defined age of an adult.

Justice J.S. Verma Committee, constituted to look into rape laws after the brutal incident in its report Jan 23 refused to propose the lowering of the legally defined age for juvenile delinquents from 18 to 16 years.

I do not agree to the retired learned Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal.

The juvenile age of 18 was decided at a time and age where children were innocent.

However, in the present age of violent pictures and popular TV serials like CID where in each serial at least three murders are committed and which new methods of murdering using innovative drugs with funny sounding names are shown, the age for committing crimes has reduced.

So anyone, who commit crimes for which adults are awarded death penalty should get the same sentence.

Time and tide waits for no woman

Remember the Story of Gautam Buddha.

At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome ageing, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.

Accompanied by Channa and aboard his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It's said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods" to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.

To all film bluffs yesteryears, the picture below just goes to prove what Gautam saw and felt.

No Elixir or the best of potions made by Shanaaz Hussain or any other manufacturers who tout their ware can stop this process

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Sent by Arun Shroff

World's longest married couple share their secrets to living happily ever after

Karam and Katari Chand are in the process of being confirmed as Guinness World Record holders for the world's longest marriage In an age where few marriages endure the test of time, 107-year-old Karam and his wife Katari Chand, 100, are proof that happy ever after does exist.

The couple, who have eight children and twenty eight grandchildren together, have lived in wedded bliss for 87 years making them the world's longest married couple.

The pair say that the key to success is looking after each other in every way possible: ‘My trick is to make Katari laugh. I like to tell jokes and make her smile. Being funny is my way of being romantic.' says Karam.

THEIR TOP FIVE TIPS TO KEEPING THE ROMANCE ALIVE

Always be faithful: always be faithful to one another. When you get married you commit to devoting your life to that person and even when the times are tough, don’t believe that the grass is greener...because it isn’t.

Look after each other as best you can: if you want to grow old with your partner you have to make sure you always look after each other in every shape and form. Whether it is making a meal, holding your partners hand when crossing the road or being a shoulder to cry on when something goes wrong.

Be tolerant of each other: everyone has bad habits or annoying traits. Whether it is leaving a towel on the floor or listening to the radio too loudly, you have to tolerate each other and realise that no one is perfect. Of course we irritate each other occasionally, but if you want to last nearly 90 years, learn to love bad habits or it won’t work.

Listen to each other: the most important thing in a relationship is to listen. People don’t listen anymore because they are too busy with work and TV. Listen to your loved ones’ problems and concerns every day, because then you can help them overcome them and be happier. Also, it brings you closer together because you are the first port of call for each other when there is an issue in your life.

Follow social and religious values: always make sure you follow social or religious values. Respect, care, cherish, love and value your partner – always treat them how you would want to be treated yourself.

Taj Corridor scam: SC seeks Mayawati's response

New Delhi, Jan 28 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on a plea seeking her prosecution in Taj corridor scam case without sanction of the Governor. The apex court, which issued notice on a petition challenging the Governor's refusal in 2007 to grant sanction for her prosecution in the Taj Corridor scam, has asked Mayawati to file a reply to the petition in four weeks.

Earlier in November 2012, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court had dismissed all the Public Interest Litigations (PIL) against her and Siddiqui in the case. Several PILs had been filed challenging the Special CBI court order that dropped the proceedings against her.

Passing the order, the bench comprising Justices Imtiyaz Murtaza and Ashwani Kumar Singh said all petitions were devoid of merit and were accordingly being dismissed. The special CBI court had in June 2007 dropped proceedings against Mayawati and Siddiqui for lack of prosecution sanction, which was not granted by the then Governor. The Taj corridor project was launched by Mayawati in 2002 to beautify the adjoining areas near the Taj Mahal.

Rs. 17 crore were allegedly released and the construction work began without the necessary environmental clearances. In 2003, the Supreme Court ordered the CBI to conduct an enquiry into these allegations. (ANI)

This is a very good example how the requirement of sanctions is misused by politician to get away with graft and corruption.

If any sanctioning authority refuses sanction, it should give in writing why it is refusing sanction within one month of receiving the petitions for sanction.

The authority should not be allowed to sit on the petition just like our President sits of the petitions of death row convicts.

Any petition should be disposed off in a limited time frame.

This was one of the points which Anna and his group raised.

Action on Verma panel's report on rape laws sought

New Delhi, Jan 26 (IANS) Over 500 people, including college students, Saturday gathered here at Mandi House and marched to Jantar Mantar demanding immediate implementation of the recommendations of the Justice J.S. Verma Committee on rape laws.

"We want Justice Verma's recommendations to be implemented in the laws dealing with sexual offences as soon as possible," said Leena Jha, 25-year-old college student at Jantar Mantar.

"The things will be changed definitely. Our protest will go on till the demands are met," said Leena Pegu, a student from the northeast.

The march, which was led by students of various colleges of Delhi, began around 2 p.m.

near Mandi House and ended nearly two hours later at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi.

Geeta Shah, a 35-year-old-woman and call centre employee, said: "It is the first time in 40 years that a committee which was formed to recommend measures to improve women related offences submitted its report within 29 days."

This is a time for change in laws, she said.

The Justice J.S. Verma panel, set up by the government last month to review laws to provide for speedier justice and enhanced punishment in cases of aggravated sexual assault, submitted its report to the government Wednesday.

The panel was set up in the wake of the outrage over the gruesome gang-rape of a 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist here Dec 16, 2012. She died 13 days later.

Do you think the government will take action on this report?

I don't believe it will.

The government will set up another committee to suggest action to be taken on this report.

This committee will consist of all those MPs and their relatives who have charges of rape and other heinous crimes against their names.

And thus the play acting will go on.

How can you expect a thief to catch a thief?

Differential rates for Diesel - How feasible?

"The dual pricing policy of the oil companies is a retrograde step affecting the State transport undertakings. The Centre should immediately withdraw the measure which is against socialistic principles", DMK chief M Karunanidhi said in a statement.

Jayalalithaa had yesterday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding the withdrawal of "ill-conceived" and "short-sighted" measure and threatened to move the Supreme Court if it was not rolled back.

Karunanidhi said raising the prices of diesel for bulk consumers by Rs 11.81 per litre would result in an additional expenditure of Rs 2.32 crore per day to the state-owned transport corporations which were set up with a purpose of providing affordable transportation to the public.

Observing that he had already voiced concern over allowing oil companies to increase the diesel prices by 50 paise per litre, Karunanidhi said he had also urged the Centre to take steps to safeguard the poor and middle-class.

I agree with the dual pricing but the higher price should be charged from the owners who own diesel cars.

Any vehicle which is used for public purpose should get diesel at concessional rates so that the increase does not increase the burden on the common man.

The rates for these people should be the same as for petrol car owners.

The mode by which the differential rates could be collected should be deviced by the government.

Income Tax Department - like the CBI

Pity the poor taxman. The not very thickly veiled threats of dethroned BJP president Nitin Gadkari, as he retreated in disarray to Nagpur, suggest that the taxman is no better than a mercenary. Indirectly, Gadkari has asked him to choose sides or, if the BJP gains the upper hand in 2014, it will smite him remorselessly. Gadkari's outburst is not unexpected. The timing of the raids on companies associated with his Purti Group does raise suspicions of persecution. And the taxman has an unfortunate history of being forced to play hatchet man for big game hunting politicians. The most recent instances are from Uttar Pradesh, where both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati have been targeted.

The IT department is a crucial player in the growth story, which would lose the plot without increasing state revenues. It has been modernised and is now capable of "360 degree profiling" of taxpayers. It can set its systems to automatically look out for transactions that fall outside established spending patterns. But the most basic step towards modernisation remains to be taken. The department must be freed of political control. Neither should parties in power be allowed to use it like a private army or intelligence unit, nor should those out of power, like Gadkari, feel free to threaten its officers.

The taxman is in urgent need of a makeover. He is depressingly corrupt and resigned to serving as a cat's paw to power. Unless he changes, he cannot possibly secure his dignity, the basis of working in a modern, professional culture. Without dignity, with only technical modernisation, he will only be a even sharper hatchet man than ever before, and a drag on the growth story that he could have helped to power.

The above is from the India Express.

I too have always been pointing out in this blog that the CBI, IT Department and the Enforcement Directorate are the three pet poodles of the centre by which it harasses the opposition parties.

Calcutta girl who fled home & marriage at 17 returns as millionaire US innovator

MOHUA DAS A Calcutta girl who fled marriage at 17 is back home three decades later as a millionaire American entrepreneur with a master’s in molecular biology and a Nobel laureate as mentor on her CV.

Chanda Zaveri’s extraordinary story would have been just another dream dashed had she stepped out of her Kankurgachhi home in a trousseau back in 1984 rather than sneak out to a life of challenges.

So determined was Chanda, now 49, not to end up like “most Marwari girls of my age” that she chose to trust a tourist couple whom she had met on Park Street instead of family members who thought marriage was best for her.

A teenaged Chanda soon landed in the US with the American couple’s support, worked as a maid, impressed her employer enough to get a study sponsorship and then walked into a lab at Caltech one day to tell two-time Nobel winner Linus Pauling that she would work under him!

In town this winter, like she is every year, Chanda narrates to Metro her believe-it-or-not journey from Calcutta to California and how a penniless girl founded the skincare products company Activor Corp (now Actiogen) and devised a formula that is also used in one of Calcutta-based Emami’s bestselling creams.

I come from a conservative joint Marwari family living in Kankurgachhi. I did my schooling at Balika Shiksha Sadan on Vivekananda Road and I was very young when I completed school, only 14. Then I went to City College, where I majored in biology. Marwaris then wanted their girls to get married soon and not go to college. But I was very influenced by the culture of education in Bengal; so I wanted to study.

My parents arranged my wedding and I ran away! I had no money, just a pair of diamond earrings. I sold it, got myself tickets on British Airways and landed in Boston.

I used to frequent the American Library on Park Street and hang around at YMCA. One day, an American woman fell unconscious on the road from heat stroke and I helped take her to the doctor. We became good friends.

So two years later in 1984, when my parents tried to get me married off, I called Karen and David who were back in Boston by then. In those days, there was no email or fax but just a noisy telephone line. I called David’s office and he, after 10 minutes of struggling to figure out who I was, agreed to send me a sponsor letter.

When I went to the American consulate for my visa, the visa officer looked at me and said: “You look so young, you cannot go the US.” I was upset and told him: “Do you think America is heaven? That anybody who goes there will never come back?” He looked at me and said: “Okay, I am giving you a five-year multiple entry visa, I was just kidding!”

Landing penniless

I remember crying all the way to Boston. I was happy that I had got my freedom but I was also so attached to Calcutta. The airport had taken away all my Indian money, so I didn’t have a penny to even make a phone call. But my friends David and Karen turned up to receive me. In Indian clothes!

Thus began my journey. I didn’t have a work visa, so I looked up the newspaper and found an old lady looking for a help. The very day after I joined her, she passed away. I called her son living in Hawaii who asked me to call the mortuary. I wondered what a mortuary was! I had never heard of that word! I was scared to death. Coming from a well-off Marwari family, you have your servants doing everything and I had never worked. But to go to school, I had to do it.

After a few days, I found another lady, Mrs Leslie, 98 years old, who took me in as her help. One day, she asked me to make lamb chops for lunch! I am a vegetarian, I had never even had an egg in my life and here she was asking me to make lamb chops, that too “medium”. I didn’t even know what that meant! And I burnt the entire thing.

When she realised I didn’t know how to cook, she asked me to look up the yellow pages for a restaurant. I didn’t know what yellow pages meant! It was one culture shock after another, every day. But she started enjoying teaching me their way of life. She was lonesome, without a child and I became her daughter who she started raising instead of me helping her. She gave me $30,000 one day and said: “I want you to go to Harvard.”

Soon after I had completed the two units that I needed to pursue my masters in the US, David introduced me to his father-in-law, who adopted me as his daughter and brought me to California.

My American parents once came and stayed with my biological parents for six weeks. They explained to them that America doesn’t mean MTV or Saturday nights and that I had gone there to study. They accepted and it was no longer a big deal.

I joined the California Institute of Technology, where I did my research in biochemistry under Linus Pauling, who was a visiting professor there. That’s how I learnt how to make peptide. (Pauling won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1954 and for peace in 1962, the only person to win the Nobel twice without sharing the prize with anyone.)

Cleaning petri dishes

I worked for four years with Pauling till he died in 1994. It’s a funny story how I met him. He was 90 years old then, sitting in the laboratory with a cap on, when I went up to him and said: “Sir, I have a 4.0 GPA with straight ‘A’s. What does it take for a student to work in your lab?”

He looked up and said: “Well, one has to have dark skin, dark hair and marry me!” So I asked him: “When?” He started laughing. He told me that he didn’t have much work there but needed someone to clean the petri dishes. So I told him: “I will clean the petri dishes. I would just be happy to be around you.”

I would go in the evenings after the students had left and clean the petri dishes and write down what I could see. When he found me keenly observing and writing, he told me: “I want you to be learning about peptides because I am not going to be in this world for too long.” He really gave me hands-on lessons on how to make peptides and a lot of formulations we did together.

If you ask me about my goal, when I was young, it was to win the Nobel! But when I saw elderly people, their wounds and bed sores, how they don’t heal, I thought I could try and do something to heal wounds.

The first peptide that I made is the B2 Actigen, which improves collagen in the skin. While studying and dealing with radioactive particles, I got very sick. I was 22, my skin got dragged out and I was looking very bad. So I thought, “What if I can create that collagen and put it in a cream.” That got a huge reaction and it started selling.

When at Caltech, we had done some work on rust inhibitor and I had helped with the patent that the university got. My professor gave me $70,000 and since I was the inventor, they gave me a green card. I had enough money to start my own company, which I called Activor and I was the first one to start using peptide in cosmetics. Emami’s Fair & Handsome has my peptide in it too. I have independently formulated skin lightening, anti-ageing and sunscreen products for Estee Lauder and Revlon.

Eyeing $100 million

Now my company is called Actiogen, based in Los Angeles. We create scientific peptide-based skincare products on anti-ageing, acne, cleansers, toners, day and night creams, sunscreens and stretch-mark removers. They are functional cosmetics, which aren’t just feel-good and smell-good. We sell online and through info-commercials. In fact, I have just got the FDA approval for an acne patch that we are launching soon. We are hoping for a $100 million turnover with this new product. I also want to bring these acne patches to India.

There are things you do for survival but I am on a path. Like, today, we find DNA and gene sequencing. My goal is to one day sequence all the proteins so we would know exactly where one gets sick because of a protein disorder at a very basic level.

I love Calcutta, keep coming back every year and I built my own house in Salt Lake. I am happy to see more Marwari girls pursuing higher studies, but the priority of finding a good groom still remains. Having gone through that and having worked as a maid, I hope for a day in India when people, irrespective of their status and gender, will treat each other as equal.

I think I had a destiny that I asked for. I believe in the law of attraction. If you want something and you don’t have ifs or buts, you will get it. No matter what.

This is from the Telegraph.

I wonder what the parents of Chanda must be thinking now.

At that time 40 years ago, when Chanda ran away to the stats they probably thought that the earth had fallen away from their feet.

For about a year they may not have been able to show their faces to any of their relatives out of shame.

It shows how backward we Indians still are with respect to our thoughts on marriages.

With Gotras, religions and caste partitions we are caught in these webs when we should be concentrating on more important things.

The village panchayats with members who have probably not even having completed their high school education control the lives of educated engineers and doctors by their dictates.

Even an MP, Naveen Jindal, obeys the dictates of the Khap Panchayat.

It is about time we mandated a minimum educational qualification of graduation of not only all panchayat members but all our MPs, MLAs, Municipal Corporators. Since normally Munipalities are formed only in cities, the Corporators are usually graduates.

However, we still value our family system where elders are respected.

Since the new family member who enters the family will have to adjust with the family, she/he should understand the implications and if they are willing to adjust, there should not be any problem.

Diet and culture are two of the most important things which have to be considered for adjustment and the willingness for compromise and a give & take attitude. Without compromise, no marriage can be successful.

I suppose that is the reason most marriages fail in the west and unfortunately we in India are following the west in this, resulting in more and more divorces.

A Grandpa's Curriculum Vitae

A telephone rings in grandpa's room

Good morning . . .

At present we are not at home, but please Leave your message after you hear the beep. beeeeeppp ....

If you are one of our children,

dial 1 and then select the option from 1 to 5 in order of "birth arrival" so we know who it is.

If you need us to stay with the children, press 2

If you want to borrow the car, press 3

If you want us to wash your clothes and do ironing, press4

If you want the grandchildren to sleep here tonight, press5

If you want us to pick up the kids at school, press 6

If you want us to prepare a meal for Sunday or to have it delivered to your home,press 7

If you want to come to eat here, press 8

If you need money, press 9

If you are going to invite us to dinner, or, taking us to the theater, start talking .... we are listening !!!!!!!!!!!" (Screens your calls & gives them hope!) WHAT IS A GRANDPARENT?

(Taken from papers written by a class of 8-year-olds)

Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no little children of their own. They like other people's.

A grandfather is a man, & a grandmother is a lady!

Grandparents don't have to do anything except be there when we come to see them…

They are so old they shouldn't play hard or run. It is good if they drive us to the shops and give us money. When they take us for walks, they slow down past things, like pretty leaves and caterpillars. They show us and talk to us about the colors of the flowers and also why we shouldn't step on 'cracks.' They don't say, 'Hurry up.'

Usually grandmothers are fat but not too fat to tie your shoes.

They wear glasses and funny underwear. They can take their teeth and gums out.

Grandparents don't have to be smart. They have to answer questions like 'Why isn't God married?' and 'How come dogs chase cats?' When they read to us, they don't skip. They don't mind if we ask for the same story over again.

Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don't have television because they are the only grownups who like to spend time with us. They know we should have a snack time before bed time, and they say prayers with us and kiss us even when we've acted bad.

GRANDPA IS THE SMARTEST MAN ON EARTH! HE TEACHES ME GOOD THINGS, BUT I DON'T GET TO SEE HIM ENOUGH TO GET AS SMART AS HIM!

It's funny when they bend over; you hear gas leaks, and they blame their dog.

Sent by Arun Shroff

A Peacock in Flight

Come to think of it you never see them off the ground do you. How marvellous they are.

I come from Rajasthan and have been there many times but I have never seen a peacock in flight.

This is a rare opportunity for this. We never imagined

that it could be so magnificent - like a phoenix in a fairy tale!

Sent by Arun Shroff

Arvind Kejriwal's letter to Mukesh Ambani

Dear Mr Mukesh Ambani,

You have recently sent a defamation notice to a number of TV channels. Their “crime” is that they aired the press conference held on the 31st October 2012 and 9th November 2012, by Prashant Bhushan and me, live. In our press conference, we presented before the country how you had illegally pressurized the government into increasing gas prices. We also told the country that your associates and your companies have accounts in Swiss banks where black money had been stashed away. Many TV channels aired our expose live. All these TV channels have now received defamation notices from you.

I find it quite perplexing. If you felt that you have been defamed by what Prashant Bhushan and I said, then we are the real culprits and, if you had to send a defamation notice, it should have been to us. The TV channels merely broadcast what we said. Despite this, instead of sending us the defamation notice, you have sent it to the TV channels. It is evident that your sole purpose of sending this notice was to steamroll the TV channels into subservience.

The people of India want to ask you some straight questions:

· Is it not true that the list of those who have accounts in Swiss Banks, as received by the Government of India, includes your name and the names of your relatives, your friends and your companies?

· Is it not true that a balance of Rs. 100 crores is shown against your name in this list?

· Is it not true that you have paid the tax on this amount after this list was received by the Government?

If the above is true, as we suspect it is, it proves that you have admitted your guilt. As per the law of the land, you should be tried and, if the charge of tax evasion is proved, you should be sent to jail.

However, this would never happen. Why? Because the Government of India is intimidated by you. You have been reported as saying that the Congress Party has been bought by you – it is your dukaan, to be precise. You are right. according to some media reports, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi sometimes travels by your personal aircraft. People believe that Mr. Jaipal Reddy’s ministry was also changed because of your influence.

Why only the Congress? Even BJP and many other parties are in your pocket. Earlier, Mr. Advani used to make a lot of noise about Swiss Bank accounts, but since your accounts have been exposed, BJP has suddenly gone quiet. BJP has not mentioned a single word in the Parliament about your accounts.

It appears that almost all parties are afraid of you. Most leaders are scared of you, too. However, the citizens of this country are not scared of you. All parties could be your dukaan but India is not up for sale. India is ours, it belongs to the people of this country. You can purchase political parties and political leaders with your money but we will not let India be sold.

You say that the TV channels have tainted your reputation by airing our press conference live. That's wrong. I would urge you to answer this question honestly - Did Prashant Bhushan, myself and the TV Channels defame you or did you defame yourself through your own misdeeds?

1. In 2002, you gave 1 Crore shares with a market price of Rs. 55 per share to Mr. Pramod Mahajan at just Rs. 1 per share. This was a straight bribe to get “Full Mobility”. When you were caught, you took back the shares. Presently, the matter is In court. Didn't you defame yourself by doing this?

2. You have made your multistoreyed residence on Wakf land. This land had been set aside for an orphanage. You have stolen the right of poor and orphaned Muslim children. Didn't you defame yourself by doing this?

3. A few gas wells belonging to the Country were allotted to you in 2000. You were supposed to extract gas and give it to the government. The gas belongs to us, the people of India. We are the owners of this gas. You were only a contractor appointed to extract the gas. However, cleverly you became the owner of the gas. You started "selling" the gas to the government.

Because the Congress is in your pocket, it always bowed before your bullying. The Congress kept increasing the price of gas under your pressure and the nation kept wailing. Because of you, the prices of electricity, fertilizer and cooking gas kept rising. When it crossed all limits, Mr. Jaipal Reddy opposed you. He was the Minister for Oil and Gas at that time. You got Mr. Jaipal Reddy transferred. Because of you many things have become increasingly expensive in India and the people are groaning under the load of these high prices. Do these shenanigans suit you? Do such acts not defame you?

The list of such illegal acts done by you is quite long.

The majority of the traders, businessmen and industrialists want to do their work honestly. But the system forces them into wrongdoings. But when a businessman like you brazenly subverts the system for his personal benefit, the entire industry and business world gets a bad name.

You are on one side with immense wealth. On the other side are the people of this country. The people have now awakened. Fire is raging in their heart. History is witness that whenever there has been a clash between money and such rage, the rage has won.

Kindly do not try to intimidate the media of this country. There may be some mediamen who may have done wrong things themselves. Such media-persons may succumb to your pressure. However, the majority of media persons keep the interest of the Country at heart even today. They are not going to capitulate so easily. History is witness that whenever the judiciary, bureaucracy and legislature crumbled, it is the honest fourth pillar, comprising such media-persons that kept democracy alive.

You have invested in some media houses directly or indirectly. It is possible that these media houses do your bidding. However, the journalists working for such media houses will not barter their integrity so easily.

What is your dream? Do you want to become the world's richest person through dishonesty? Suppose you became the owner of all the wealth in this country. Would that make you happy? Happiness does not increase by accumulating more and more wealth. Happiness comes with sacrifice. If you stopped doing business dishonestly and contributed your wealth for the development of the nation, this country will remember you with pride forever.

With regards,

Arvind Kejriwal

Teacher arrested by TSA!

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General Eric Holder said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

'Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said. 'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.' They use secret code names like "X" and "Y" and refer to themselves as "unknowns" but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Obama said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes." White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President. It is believed that another Nobel Prize will follow

Sent by Prakash Bhartia

TOP-10 "Only In America" Observations

~ by a Canadian

1) Only in America, could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 a plate campaign fund-raising event.

2) Only in America, could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General, and roughly 18% of the federal workforce is black while only 12% of the population is black.

3) Only in America, could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner, the head of the Treasury Department and Charles Rangel who once ran the Ways and Means Committee, BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.

4) Only in America, can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.

5) Only in America, would they make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege while we discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just 'magically' become American citizens.

6) Only in America, could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country's Constitution be thought of as "extremists."

7) Only in America, could you need to present a driver's license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.

8) Only in America, could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes (Nike).

9) Only in America, could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year - for total spending of $7-Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn't have nearly enough money.

10) Only in America, could the rich people - who pay 86% of all income taxes - be accused of not paying their "fair share" by people who don't pay any income taxes at all.

What a coincidence.

Some of the points mentioned above could very much be applicable to India.

Politicians are the same everywhere.

Sent by Prakash Bhartia

Bedtime bias in Arabul lock-up

Calcutta, Jan. 18: Arabul Islam will not accuse Bengal police of robbing his sleep, unlike Sushanta Ghosh who has not yet forgotten his “sleep-deprived” nights and days in custody.

Arabul, accused of attempt to murder, is a former MLA and belongs to the ruling party. Ghosh, accused of multiple murders, is a serving MLA and a former minister but on the wrong side of the political spectrum as he belongs to the CPM.

Both have come to symbolise the “strongman” culture that is widely prevalent and blamed for the lumpenisation of politics in Bengal but rarely acknowledged. The difference in the manner in which they were treated by law-enforcers shows another side of the rot.

Arabul, arrested yesterday on charges of assaulting CPM legislator Abdur Rezzak Mollah and CPM supporters in two incidents, spent the last 24 hours in relative comfort at the Sonarpur police station, sleeping most of the time and barely being questioned till this afternoon.

Late tonight, Arabul was admitted to MR Bangur Hospital with chest pain.

An officer, in fact, rued that the station could not play a better host. “We could have let him sleep in the room of the officer in charge of the police station but we didn’t do that as that could have created a controversy,” the officer said.

The treatment would have added a feather to the human rights record of Bengal police had the force treated every suspect in the same considerate manner.

But veteran officers said the investigators have frittered away the most vital phase to question a suspect. “The unwritten ground rule of interrogation is virtually non-stop, round-the-clock questioning of the accused immediately after his arrest because that is the time that the person is the most vulnerable, placed as he is in hostile surroundings in an unfamiliar place,” an officer said.

The drill is familiar to CPM legislator Ghosh, who was arrested in August 2011 on charges of killing and burying political opponents in West Midnapore during his heyday in power.

Ghosh, who is now on bail and awaiting trial, told The Telegraph today in response to a question: “I was brought to the CID headquarters (Bhabani Bhavan in Alipore) from Midnapore around midnight on August 11. A team of officers entered my cell within half an hour. They interrogated me till around 1.30am. Just as I was falling asleep around 3.30 am, another batch of officers came and they continued questioning me for two hours.”

Ghosh is casting himself as a victim now but experienced officers said what he claims to have undergone was the “standard procedure”, especially since politicians are usually spared the more violent third-degree methods.

The “key” to successful interrogation, an officer said, was to deprive the accused of sleep so that, out of desperation, he “spills the beans”. “We followed this standard procedure after we arrested Sushanta Ghosh,” the officer added.

CID officers corroborated Ghosh’s account. “Ghosh was extensively interrogated because the nature of his crime was far more serious and horrific,” a CID officer said.

According to CID sources, 30 investigators formed five teams to question Ghosh round the clock. The teams worked under the supervision of the then director-general (crime) and a deputy inspector-general of police

In the case of Arabul, no such teams were formed till this evening. Officers from the police stations at Calcutta Leather Complex and Sonarpur questioned Arabul this afternoon.

Besides Arabul’s wife and son, Sonarpur’s Trinamul MLA Jivan Mukherjee and another office-bearer of the party met the former legislator at the police station in the past 24 hours.

“If leaders of the ruling party go to meet an accused and are allowed to do so, you cannot expect the police to seriously interrogate an accused. To expect them to do so would be unfair as the policemen involved also have to think of their future,” said an officer not involved with the investigation.

But Arabul should keep his fingers crossed — just in case the police decide to treat everyone the same way.

CPM’s Ghosh described what happened the day after the first night at Bhabani Bhavan: “The police made me sit in a wooden chair and separate teams questioned me for the next 30 hours till I fell sick the following evening. I was then rushed to SSKM where doctors conducted an echocardiogram test.”

Why do these corrupt politicians, businessmen and so called reputed fall sick and get admitted in nursing homes to avoid police questioning.

It happens regularly.

B RAMALINGA RAJU, disgraced chairman of Satyam Computer Services, evaded US law by surrendering to the Indian authorities on January 7, 2009. For over a year, he has remained in judicial custody but has frustrated all attempts of the CBI to take the cases of economic fraud against him forward. Since September 2009, when his lawyers pleaded his unfitness on medical grounds, he has not put in a single appearance in court although his six co-accused have been appearing dutifully when summoned. The game of evasion has been on since then. When Raju was arrested, the court had ordered that he was allowed to meet only his wife and son. In March, however, the CBI submitted a list of visitors who had met Raju in hospital. Shockingly, the number ran to 234 — from just December to February. After the deaths due to fire in AMRI, all the Directors of AMRI conveniently got themselves admitted in nursing homes.

After beating up Abdur Rezzak Mollah Arabul got himself admitted in a nursing home to avoid arrest.

Just after the above article came out in the papers, Arabul Islam once again got himself admitted into a nursing home to avoid questioning.

Why can't the judiciary do something to stop this subterfuge of criminal procedure where everyone connives and turns a blind eye?

Why can't the judiciary have a panel of doctors in each state who will report to the judiciary of the correct physical condition of an accused.

STOP SMOKING & SAVE

How much does a man save when he sops smoking? The figures are mind boggling. Read on to read more about the savings. Lady: do you drink?

Man: Yes

Lady: How much a day?

Man: 3 six packs

Lady: How much per six pack

Man: About $10.00

Lady: And how long have you been drinking?

Man: 15 years

Lady: So 1 six pack cost $10.00 and you have 3 six packs a day which puts your spending each month at $900. In one year, it would be $10,800 correct?

Man: Correct

Lady: If in 1 year you spend $10,800 not accounting for inflation, the past 15 years puts your spending at $162,000 correct?

Man: Correct

Lady: Do you know that if you hadn't drank, that money could have been put in a step-up interest savings account and after accounting for compound interest for the past 15 years, you could have now bought a Ferrari?

Man: Do you drink?

Lady: No

Man: So, where's your f**king Ferrari?

BJP will gain from Rajnath: Modi

New Delhi, Jan 23 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday congratulated BJP leader Rajnath Singh who is likely to become party president, and said the party would "gain from this" move.

"I called up Shri Rajnath Singh ji and congratulated him. He brings with him vast experience of both organisation and administration," Modi said on micro-blogging site twitter.

"Rajnath Singh ji served as agriculture minister in Atal ji's government (A.B. Vajpayee). He has always been associated with the farmers. BJP will gain from this," he said.

In dramatic developments Tuesday, incumbent BJP president Nitin Gadkari announced that he would not seek a second term. Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Rajnath Singh emerged as Gadkari's likely successor.

Rajnath Singh's name emerged after a series of meetings involving party leaders Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Ram Lal and Ananth Kumar.

BJP leaders are meeting in Delhi and name of the new president is likely to be announced later during the day.

Selecting a BJP president is an internal affair of the party and I should not speak for or against the decision especially being a supporter of Arvind Kejriwal, I will vote for neither the Congress or the BJP.

However, I feel, selecting Rajnath Singh is a very poor decision, notwithstanding Modi's support.

Arun Jaitley would have been a better candidate.

Sushma Swaraj too may have been good for her oratory skills but I just cannot erase the photograph of her standing behind the Reddy brothers of Karnataka, blessing them in all their misdeeds.

Long Live Tata's breed‏

As told by someone from Tata Administrative Services : Few months after 26/11, Taj group of Hotels owned by TATAs launched their biggest tender ever for remodeling all their Hotels in India and abroad.

Some of the companies who applied for that tender were also Pakistanis. To make their bid stronger, two big industrialists from Pakistan visited Bombay House ( Head office of Tata ) in Mumbai without an appointment to meet up with Ratan Tata since he was not giving them any prior appointment.

They were made to sit at the reception of Bombay house and after a few hours a message was conveyed to them that Ratan Tata is busy and can not meet anyone without an appointment.

Frustrated, these two Paki industrialists went to Delhi and thru their High Commission met up with than Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. Sharma immediately called up Ratan Tata requesting him to meet up with the two Paki Industrialists and consider their tender "enthusiastically".

Ratan Tata replied..."You could be shameless, I am not" and put the phone down.

Few months later when Pakistani government placed an order of Tata Sumo's to be imported into Pakistan, Ratan Tata refused to ship a single vehicle to that country.

This is the respect and love for motherland that Ratan Tata has.

Something that our current Politicians should learn from.

You got to stand for something in your life...else you will fall for everything..........

Awake Country men, Nation is above everything else......

Hard to believe the above but if true, really creditable.

I was wondering how the Pakistani government could place the order for Tata Sumo without a tender and a quaotation from the company.

Old Age Handicap - how necessary?

A farmer rears 25 young hens and one old cock...

As he feels that the old cock could no longer handle his job efficiently, the farmer bought one young cock from the market...

Old cock to Young cock:

"Welcome to join me, we will work together towards productivity...

Young cock: What do you mean? As far as I know, you are old & should be retired.

Old cock : Young boy, there are 25 hens here, can't I help you with some?

Young cock: No!! Not even one, all of them will be mine.

Old cock: In this case, I shall challenge you to a competition & if I win you shall allow me to have one hen & if I lose you will have all.

Young cock: OKKK..

What kind of competition?

Old cock: 50 meters run. From here to that tree. But due to my age, I hope you allow me to start off the first 10 meters.

Young cock: No problem ! We will compete tomorrow morning.

In the morning the Young cock allows the Old cock to start off & when the Old cock crosses the 10 meters mark the Young cock chases him with all his might.

Soon enough, he was behind the Old cock's back in a matter of seconds.

Suddenly....."BANG" !!!

Before he could overtake the old cock, he was shot dead by the farmer... who cursed,

"Hell"

This is the 5th GAY cock I've bought this week." ??

Moral: Always respect your seniors!

The was posted by Suvrajyoti Sengupta on FB.

I think you may have read this earlier.

It is for the new readers, who haven't.

An Infamous Don is finally arrested

Calcutta, Jan. 17: The road leading to Science City has turned out to be an unsafe stretch for Arabul Islam in a state where police would not touch him for 11 long days.

The former Trinamul MLA’s formidable reputation was somewhat dented today with the police claiming that Arabul subjected himself to arrest “without resistance” when he was “intercepted” at the Science City crossing around 12.30pm.

“We asked him to get off the vehicle and accompany us to the police jeep. He did not resist,” said a police officer who was in the team that arrested the man who is accused of hitting veteran CPM legislator Abdur Rezzak Mollah, leading one of the worst arson attacks in the state and landing Mamata Banerjee in one of the most embarrassing stand-offs in her career.

After the belated arrest, Arabul can now also claim that because of him, Mamata has come close to taking the rare step of admitting she was wrong all these 11 days.

Two complaints had been lodged against Arabul — the first on the alleged attack on Mollah in Kantatala in Bhangar and the other on allegedly attacking and opening fire on a CPM convoy in Bamanghata last week.

Arabul has been remanded in police custody for five days by Baruipur additional chief judicial magistrate Himika Das Banerjee. He is lodged in a lock-up at Sonarpur police station.

The arrest came a little over a week after governor M.K. Narayanan described the incidents at Bhangar in South 24-Parganas as “a kind of goondaism” and said “action has to be taken and will be taken”.

Although police sources gave colourful descriptions of how Arabul was arrested, none could explain what prevented law-enforcement agencies from doing so for nearly a fortnight. Arabul had addressed a Trinamul public meeting a day after Mollah was attacked. The former Trinamul MLA (who is still addressed as bidhayak or legislator) was in hospital after the arson attack and he was roaming free once discharged last week.

Asked why it took so long to act, a senior police officer said: “The decision to arrest Arabul was not made by the police. It was a political decision.”

No one is certain if any single factor led the Trinamul leadership to clear the arrest at a time many leaders had felt Arabul would be an “asset” during the panchayat polls.

Senior ministers and some Trinamul leaders cited a host of reasons, largely based on guesses and interpretations after reading the political tea leaves.

The government did not want to strengthen an impression that it was condoning the assault on a “Haji” (a person who has undertaken the Haj pilgrimage, which Mollah had done last year). Trinamul dissident MP Kabir Suman was making the party squirm by referring to that repeatedly. Mamata did not want to gift the Opposition such ammunition ahead of the upcoming panchayat polls.

Speculation also swirled around another theory: whether the government was clearing the ground for a crackdown on CPM satraps before the rural polls. Arabul himself had filed a counter-complaint, and since action has been taken against him, little prevents the police from acting on his charges against Mollah’s lieutenants.

Mamata did not want the hospitalised Mollah to become a rallying point for the Left. A steady stream of Left leaders, including Mollah’s critic Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has been flowing to the hospital. This morning, it was the turn of CPM general secretary Prakash Karat.

The government may have assured the governor that action would be taken as he had asserted in public, following which Narayanan has been showing signs of warmth.

The Trinamul government wanted to convey a message that it was “impartial” and would act against anyone accused of wrongdoing, irrespective of party colours. This has been the mantra in the immediate aftermath of the Assembly poll landslide but it was soon drowned in a series of ham-handed steps against critics of the government.

Mamata wanted to draw a distinction between the government and the party. The government will let the law take its course while the party will continue to defend Arabul. “This is Mamata Banerjee. She did not look into the political colour before taking action,” said Madan Mitra, state transport and sports minister. “The law will take its own course.”

While being led to Baruipur court, Arabul told reporters in response to questions: “I will not say anything. Whatever has to be said will be done by my party.”

Trinamul Congress leader and lawyer Baishanar Chatterjee accompanied by a battery of lawyers reached the court to defend Arabul who was not brought into the courtroom but kept in the court lock-up.

Assistant public prosecutor Rafique Ahmed Mollah told the court: “The nature of the allegations against the accused is very serious. We are praying for a police remand for seven days.”

But defence lawyer Chatterjee said: “He (Arabul) is a respectable citizen (ha!ha!ha!) and had once been an elected representative of the people(booth capturing). He will not run away. There is no point taking him into police custody.”

Another defence lawyer, Hafizul Rehman, said charges under the Arms Act had been brought against Arabul “but the police have not yet found any arms to prove their accusation”.

We, the people of Bengal know how respectable Arabul is.

He first came in lime-light in Sept,2009 when the Vedic Village controversy broke out, the involvement of local Trinamool leaders surfaced as the police on raided the house of Bhangar MLA Arabul Islam in search of his brother Azizul Islam alias Khude.

The second proof of his respectability was when he was accused of assaulting a lady professor of Bhangar Mahavidyalaya and threatening her using filthy language.

Allegedly, he started shouted using filthy language against the teaching community using their leftist inclination. Debjani De objected and asked him to behave in proper manner, Arabul threatened her and threw the water jug, which hit her chin.

The third proof of his respectability was when MLA Arabul Islam got himself involved in yet another fracas on 19.05.2012 when two Trinamool factions clashed inside the party's office at Bhangor in South 24-Parganas.

The above post is the fourth proof of his respectability.

There must have been other proofs in between which were not respectable enough to be reported in the papers.

What should we do so that such respectable people do not rule over us?

I would suggest that just before the next election, anywhere in India, the EC should issue a notification that any person having charges against them of any of the following crimes, will not be allowed to contest elections.

Their forms will be summarily rejected.

The crimes being robbery, dacoity, kidnapping, extortion, disproportionate assets, adulteration of foods and medicines, smuggling, rape, murder.

They need not be convicted for conviction in India takes more than 13 years as seen in the case of Chauthala and Sukhram.

Filing of charges should be sufficient to disqualify a person.

We have a population of 1.2 billion.

Our political parties should be forced to select honest candidates.

Further, no candidate should take the help of any person accused of any of the above crimes for canvassing during the run-up to the elections.

Any candidate taking such help should be disqualified. This would remove the nexus between politicians and criminals.

This would also remove proxy candidates who become MPs, MLAs and chief ministers because their husbands have been disqualified.

The first revolution in elections was brought about by Mr. T N Seshan.

Will Mr. V S Sampath, the present CEC, be instrumental in bringing about the second revolution wherein criminals are removed from politics?