Don't talk rubbish on garbage: SC to LG

Najeeb Jung, former LG of Delhi & above Anil Baijal, incumbent LG of Delhi

R. Balaji Jul 13, 2018 

From The Telegraph

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday tore into the "superman" lieutenant-governor of Delhi for enjoying power without accountability when the national capital was sitting on a "mountain of garbage" and chastised the Centre for failing to tackle the crisis despite repeated directions.

"You (LG Anil Baijal) say I have the power, but you do not bother to attend meetings. You think you are a superman? I am responsible but nobody can touch me and I won't do anything except blaming others?" Justice Madan B. Lokur, sitting on a bench with Justice Deepak Gupta, told additional solicitor-general Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre.

The court had earlier directed the AAP government, the LG and the Centre to file their respective affidavits to explain who actually was accountable for the disposal of garbage in the capital.

The three filed affidavits saying the LG had the authority to pass directions to the municipal authorities in the capital.

The court had earlier taken suo motu cognisance of news reports about large number of deaths in Delhi from chikungunya, dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases in the past few years.

Although the bench sought a time frame by which the massive garbage mounds at the landfill sites in Okhla, Bhalswa and Gazipur would be cleared, Anand was unable to furnish a deadline.

Instead the additional solicitor-general tried to say that the AAP government was also responsible for the mess.

This provoked an angry reaction from the bench, which said: "Do not drag the chief minister here. He has no business is what you have said. Be responsible."

In an oblique reference to the power struggle between the AAP government and the Centre, the court referred to a hypothetical situation where the LG would have problems with a meeting convened by the Delhi health minister.

"Why would he (the LG) accept this? He will say who is the minister and the meeting was called by someone who has no authority," the court observed.

It did not agree with Anand's submission that the municipal corporations should be asked to explain the reason behind the failure to clear the garbage. "Why should the corporations be asked? You are the LG. You should have found out by now.... There have been 25 meetings in the last two years but there has been no outcome. Delhi is still under a mountain of dumps," Justice Gupta observed.

When the additional solicitor-general tried to place some documents relating to garbage-clearance in the capital and the landfill areas, Justice Lokur said: "This is completely vague. Tell us the timeline. Within how much time will you clear the garbage? Do not give us jargons. Tell us in plain simple English as to how much time will be taken."

The court adjourned the hearing to July 16 by which time the LG has to file an affidavit explaining the timeframe by which the three garbage landfills will be cleared.

AAP, Cong slam Yogendra kin tax raids

Our special correspondent Jul 13, 2018

From The Telegraph

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have come out in support of Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav following Wednesday's tax raids on two hospitals owned by his sisters in Rewari, Haryana.

The Congress was the first to speak out, its Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda tweeting: "I condemn this act of vendetta politics on @_YogendraYadav's family in Rewari by BJP government. @_YogendraYadav has always been in different political party but no doubt I have always heard good things about his family in Rewari: this is uncalled for."

Income-tax officials claim to have seized Rs 22 lakh from the hospitals owned by Yadav's sisters, who are being probed for alleged cash payments to Nirav Modi, the bank-fraud accused diamantaire who has fled India.

Yadav had recently led a nine-day march through Rewari's villages on the issues of minimum support prices for farmers and demanding the closure of liquor vends in the villages.

He told reporters on Wednesday that during the raids, even the parents of children admitted to the ICU were kept out of the hospitals and doctors were not allowed to leave their cabins.

Congress national spokesperson and Haryana MLA Randeep Surjewala said the raids were "shameful & reprehensible" and were meant "to intimidate @_YogendraYadav's family".

AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, a bitter opponent of Yadav who was expelled by the party in 2015, tweeted: "We strongly condemn victimisation of Yog Yadav's family by Modi govt thro the use of agencies like IT. Modi govt shud stop such vendetta politics."

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "2019 elections are coming. #BJP using the agencies to silence Opposition voices and openly doing political vendetta. Strongly condemn the IT raid on @_YogendraYadav Ji's family."

CBI protecting MLA: Unnao rape victim

Piyush Srivastava Jul 09, 2018 

From The Telegraph

Lucknow: The Unnao gang-rape complainant and her family have accused the CBI of trying to shield jailed BJP lawmaker Kuldeep Singh Sengar from charges of involvement in her father's murder despite "evidence" against him.

The Bangermau MLA, his brother Atul and four henchmen are accused of gang-raping the woman in June last year, and the brother and henchmen of beating her father severely in April this year for refusing to withdraw the case.

According to the family, the MLA then got the badly injured man arrested on false charges, leading to his death in jail from septicaemia - allegedly after a fresh round of thrashing in custody.

"The CBI chargesheet filed in a Lucknow court (on Saturday) is proof that the central agency wants to protect the politician," the woman's uncle told reporters at their home in Unnao, which falls in Bangermau, on Sunday.

The chargesheet accuses Atul and the four aides of murder but does not mention Kuldeep.

"I had personally provided them with audio footage (of a purported mobile phone conversation) in which Kuldeep told me that my brother would face dire consequences if he didn't stop pursuing the gang-rape case," the complainant's uncle said.

"Media reports have quoted certain senior police officers as admitting that Kuldeep had called or met them and forced them to arrest my brother at a time he was badly injured. I suspect the CBI has destroyed the evidence against the MLA."

The woman said: "We had demanded a CBI probe because we feared the state police would work under pressure. But we have confirmed information that the police had handed evidence to the CBI that showed the MLA was involved in the murder of my father."

A CBI source claimed that Kuldeep's role in the murder was still under investigation. "We cannot rule out a second chargesheet," he said. "In any case, his name will figure in the gang-rape chargesheet, to be filed soon."

After the police had initially refused to register a case against the MLA, the woman's father had petitioned the courts to have an FIR filed.

Atul and the Sengars' henchmen allegedly tied the father to a tree in his village and beat him mercilessly on April 3 this year. The police then arrested the father in an allegedly false Arms Act case, over which two sub-inspectors are in jail.

The woman and her mother tried to immolate themselves in front of chief minister Yogi Adityanath's residence in Lucknow on April 8, bringing the case into national spotlight. The father died in Unnao jail the next day, the post-mortem revealing old as well as fresh injuries, implying he was thrashed in jail too.

It's not clear whether the CBI is probing any custody torture. No policeman has been mentioned in the chargesheet.

'Hindu Pak' red rag for BJP

New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's warning that a BJP victory in the next general election would turn India into a "Hindu Pakistan" triggered attacks from the ruling party and prompted the Congress to urge leaders to choose their words carefully.

The BJP accused Tharoor of insulting both the Hindu religion and India's constitutional democracy and demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress, which has been flagging a threat to the Constitution over the past four years, seemed to have come under pressure and appeared to caution Tharoor, who refused to concede any wrongdoing.

"If they (the BJP) win a repeat in the Lok Sabha, our democratic Constitution as we understand it will not survive, as they will have all the elements they need to tear apart the Constitution and write a new one," Tharoor had said on Wednesday at a discussion of "Indian democracy and secularism" in Kerala.

"That new one will be the one which enshrine the principles of Hindu Rashtra. That will remove equality for the minorities, that will create a Hindu Pakistan and that isn't what Mahatma Gandhi, (Jawaharlal) Nehru, Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel, Maulana Azad and the great heroes of the freedom struggle fought for."

BJP ministers and spokespersons on Thursday described the comment as a reflection of the Congress's "anti-Hindu mindset", although Tharoor has asserted he is a proud Hindu who believes in an inclusive Hinduism.

"Tharoor has lost (his) mental balance. (The) Constitution is a sacred document for the Prime Minister. The Congress changed the Constitution several times and imposed (the) Emergency," I&B minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told a news conference: "Tharoor is the same person who called Indians 'cattle class'. He is cattle-classing Indian democracy.... If you want to love Pakistan, do so. But do not display such hatred towards Indians."

Tharoor, then junior foreign minister, had in 2009 appeared to mock a government austerity drive by tweeting he would "travel cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows", triggering accusations of insulting the common man and the Congress leadership.

Patra screamed in anger: "This is an insult to compare India's democracy to Pakistan's. Pakistan is terroristan. And you compare our democracy to Pakistan's?... Rahulji, you have begun hating the people of this country. What is more disheartening is that you show hatred for Hindus. It is shameful to denigrate your own country. Rahul Gandhi should apologise for this."

In response, Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala posted a tweet accusing the Narendra Modi government of creating "an unprecedented atmosphere of division, bigotry, hatred, intolerance & polarisation" and contrasting this with the Congress values of "pluralism, diversity, compassion & harmony".

He added: "India's values and fundamentals are an unequivocal guarantee of our civilisational role & set us apart from the divisive idea of Pakistan. All Congress leaders must realise this historic responsibility bestowed upon us while choosing words & phraseology to reject BJP's hatred."

Many in the party who disapproved of Tharoor's phraseology saw this as a rap to the MP. They said that expressions like "Hindu Pakistan" create an opportunity for the BJP to give its own spin to them.

Tharoor wondered why an apology was being sought. He said he would stop saying the Sangh-BJP wanted to transform India into a Hindu Rashtra if the Prime Minister declared he disagreed with M.S. Golwalkar, V.D. Savarkar and Deendayal Upadhyaya on that count.

"The BJP can't have it both ways. They say they want to change the country and yet repose faith in the Constitution. Let the BJP repudiate the theory of Hindu Rashtra."

Tharoor later issued a statement on Facebook clarifying what he had meant by "Hindu Pakistan".

"Pakistan was created as a state with a dominant religion that discriminates against its minorities and denies them equal rights. India never accepted the logic that had partitioned the country," he wrote.

"But the BJP/RSS idea of a Hindu Rashtra is the mirror image of Pakistan - a state with a dominant majority religion that seeks to put its minorities in a subordinate place. That would be a Hindu Pakistan.... Many proud Hindus like myself cherish the inclusive nature of our faith and have no desire to live, as our Pakistani neighbours are forced to, in an intolerant theocratic state. We want to preserve India and not turn our beloved country into a Hindu version of Pakistan."

Jio jokes do the unthinkable Power, pelf & fine print can't deter derision

New Delhi: India's mightiest politician and richest industrialist have been yoked together by an unlikely glue: ridicule.

An unfamiliar backlash has erupted overnight with several social media users lampooning Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mukesh Ambani after Reliance Foundation's proposed Jio Institute made a list of six chosen for an eventual tag of "Institute of Eminence".

Such is the sense of incredulity that those trying to point out that the rules do permit "greenfield" projects are running the risk of being branded "apologists".

If the storm of sarcasm is being seen as a measure of the mood among a section of the middle class, it also underscored the boomerang effect of Modi's penchant to shoot first and ask questions later when it comes to his pet anti-corruption plank. The fine print and nuanced explanations are no longer able to fend off biting barbs.

Parody accounts have been formed for Jio Institute and those handling them were prolific in their posts. In the process, Modi's degree in "entire political science'' - that's how Gujarat University describes it although few know what it means - was back in focus.

Historian and columnist Ramachandra Guha retweeted a photograph of Modi with Ambani, both wearing convocation gowns at the convocation ceremony of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University in Gujarat in 2013, under the line: "In honour of his excellency the prime minister of India, Narendra Modiji, we will offer degree in entire political science course."

One cartoon borrows a popular line from Lage Raho Munna Bhai, the movie in which Circuit settles a dispute on whether Munna Bhai can see Mahatma Gandhi by saying "bhai ne bola dikhta hai, toh dikhta hai (If the boss says he can be seen, then he can be seen)."

The cartoon shows a figure resembling Modi telling a man resembling Amit Shah standing on the edge of a cactus-lined desert: "Look Circuit, Jio Institute."

A youth standing between the two interjects: "But there's nothing there."

Then the man resembling Shah whacks the youth on the head and declares: "Abey Chircut, bhai ne bola yahan Jio Institute hai, toh hai." (Hey Circuit, if the boss says Jio Institute is here, then it is here.)"

The Ambani family was not spared either. Yashwant Sinha, the former Union minister who recently quit the BJP, said: "Jio Institute has not even been set up. It is not in existence. Yet, government grants it eminence tag. That is the importance of M. Ambani."

One tweeter uploaded a video clip showing a Jio telecom ad featuring IPL stars dancing with actress Deepika Padukone with the caption: "Jubilant Reliance Jio students celebrating 'Institute of Eminence tag' bestowed by generous Modi govt ...."

The Centre was compelled to field higher education secretary R. Subramanyam in a fresh attempt to clear the air a day after the HRD ministry had already done so.

The top official iterated that the scheme had a category for greenfield institutions and that Jio Institute would only be issued a letter of intent at first to allow it to set up the institution within three years as planned. Only if Jio Institute follows the timeline it has set for itself will it get the Institute of Eminence status three years down the line, he said.

But by then, historian Guha had tweeted: "Sarkari apologists who say Jio Institute has been placed in the "Greenfield" category, a "Greenfield" university outside Chennai is being helmed by Raghuram Rajan, whose academic qualifications are in inverse proportion to those of the Ambanis. Why not choose that?"

KREA, which has former RBI governor Rajan as its adviser, were among the applicants. JMM's Hemant Soren took the sarcasm route and tweeted: "The opening lecture in the yet-to-be established JIO institute of 'national eminence' would be on morality, ethics & cooperation in Indian politics delivered by Shri Amit Shah."

Answer To Who Is India’s Finance Minister Is As Clear As The Status Of Modi’s Degree

Former Finance Minister, who is now described only as “union minister” — not even minister without portfolio, Arun Jaitley and “acting” Finance Minister Piyush Goyal are locked in a bizarre turf war. Both the ministers addressed an event yesterday (Jaitley via a video conference) and the red-faced organisers put out advertisements describing both of them as “Union ministers”. Does that mean India doesn’t have a Finance Minister now? Or does it have two of them now? It is as clear as the status of Narendra Modi’s graduation degree.

Jaitley is recuperating from his kidney transplant in the “sanitised surroundings of his home”, and is still calling himself “Union Finance Minister” in his Twitter bio while the official ministry website of the Ministry of Finance also describes him as “FM”. Yet a circular by the Cabinet Secretariat unequivocally states that “Goyal is the FM”.

Jaitley, as is his default mode, turned to his loyal band of “bureau journalists” who obligingly did plant news stories about how Goyal “did not even sit in the Jaitley Ministerial chair” – elevating it to Lord Ram’s paaduka, tended by Bharat. It included an incredible claim that Goyal “did not even allow officials to use the other chairs in the office”. The truth is that neither Goyal nor the officials are actually squatting on the floor in tribute to Jaitley! To the contrary, in a visible assertion of his ownership of the finance ministry, Goyal has installed a Ganesh statue in North Block. This has caused huge heartburn to the Jaitley groupies, but Goyal continues to revel in Jaitley’s misery.

Relentless Facebook posts on “half Maoists” and while talking about the Emergency, comparing Indira Gandhi to Hitler — forgetting that RSS luminaries have always held the Nazi leader in the highest esteem — have not quite ensured that Jaitley gets his corner office back. So a dizzying array of plants on his return to North Block with dates are now appearing in various newspapers. This has only ensured that Jaitley’s insecurity become highlighted making him a laughing stock in the Modi cabinet and BJP headquarters. Numerous stories about jokes on Jaitley’s blog posts are doing the rounds but remain unprintable. Even Jaitley’s RSS emissary Suresh Soni has not got much joy as he works hard to get Jaitley his coveted job back.

But Narendra Modi seems unmoved, he is, in fact, taking delight in humiliating Jaitley. The Prime Minister has obviously not forgotten that he once used to stay in a small one-room tenement in Jaitley’s quarters. Goyal is an instrument being used by Modi and Shah to show Jaitley his place in ‘New India.’ It fits in with the treatment meted out to the other CCS Minister, Sushma Swaraj, who has not even received a tweet of support from Modi or Shah.

So while this comical ministerial musical chair in the Finance Ministry continues, the economy reels from the lack of Modi’s much ballyhooed “good governance”. Not that Jaitley as a full-time Finance Minister for three years was not responsible for the downslide of the Indian economy. Even Goyal’s record as a minister in other ministries has been poor. The number of accidents in Jaitley’s Finance Ministership is only matched by the number of rail crashes under Goyal. After all, they are only trying to match up to the high standards of governance disasters unleashed by Modi, such as Demonetisation.

A quick recount of the downslide the Economy finds itself in today:

Indian Public sector banks are in trouble due to rising NPAs and an acute shortage of capital. The owner, the government, urgently either needs to find fresh capital or find other solutions.

Policy Holders of India’s largest life insurance are at risk as investments are being made for considerations other than generating a safe return on their hard earned money.

The Indian rupee is under pressure. This will get worse as the USA is likely to raise rates three or four times this year.

With international oil prices up and likely to remain high, India needs to carefully manage the trade deficit and resultant balance of payments problems.

India has no chief statistician or chief economic advisor. The previous chief statistician left office on 31 Jan 2018. It’s been close to five months since the post of India’s chief statistician was left vacant.

Major changes to the GDP calculation are not supported by back-series data. The government has not released back-series data on the new base year of 2011-12, making the historical comparison of growth numbers impossible. Similarly, the industrial production and employment data need serious work.

Without a chief economic advisor, Arvind Subramanium who quit with just a year to go for his term will we have a robust economic survey?

Experts say that every time Modi opens his mouth on the economy he reveals his utter lack of domain knowledge – it reeks of the kind of learning provided by the RSS Shakhas – from saying that those frying “pakodas” have gainful employment to his latest gaffe that the jobs were created but there was no data, Modi’s claims lead to widespread ridicule. It vastly helped careers of upcoming makers of memes and stand-up comics.

More seriously, the reason for the lack of Employment data is that the government did not like what the data revealed about the lack of job creation and discontinued it. It tried to fudge it through a sponsored EPFO Study and has not appointed a Chief Statistical Officer so far.

While the economy goes in a tailspin just nine months ahead of elections, it is clear that it really does not matter who the FM is. Even if Modi were to himself take charge of the Finance Ministry, the result would be equally abysmal. But just for the sake of records, Mr ‘Strong’ Prime Minister, can we officially know WHO is India’s Finance Minister today? Or are there 56 of them!