Is corruption cooling or collapsing the economy?

I’d like to fight against corruption: Gen V K Singh
Sanjay Yadav, TNN Jun 11, 2012, 02.49AM IST
GURGAON: Former Army chief, General V K Singh, participated at a felicitation ceremony at Jatoli-Haily Mandi in Gurgaon said that he appreciates the efforts of Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare, who are campaigning against corruption.
Interacting with media persons in Pataudi, General Singh said that Ramdev and Hazare are fighting for the common man and people should support them.
However, the former Army chief did not drop a hint whether he would join either of the two camps.
Anna Hazare has already expressed that he would welcome like-minded people like Singh after his retirement to be a part of his team to fight corruption.
The Army chief said that during his 42 years of service in the Indian Army, he has hidden nothing from people. The former Army chief said that now he would live like a common man and would start a campaign to make people aware against corruption.
I’d like to fight against corruption: Gen V K Singh
Is India heading towards worst economic collapse?June 13, 2012
Corruption is mounting pressure on India’s economy. There is a significant economic slowdown posted by poor industrial output during the last couple of months. On 11th June, International Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has warned that India could become the first nation from BRIC countries to lose investment grade rating. And the recent downturn could be due to the poor economy policy of the coalition UPA Government at the centre.
So, what is wrong with Indian economy. All over world, people look towards India for any outlook that India is supposed to present to smaller countries for sustainable growth and development. But what is happening to one of the strong pillar of BRIC nations? Other BRIC nations like Brazil, Russia and China enjoys a higher rating of S&P at present than India. Why S&P has to come with a special report this time on BRIC nation’s economy titled `Will India Be The First BRIC Fallen Angel?’ The common people of India do not know how the Government is planning to revive the economy or what is the road-map for the next one year. However, there is a deep concern among citizens about the depraving level of corruption among various tiers of governments in the country. As usual, the politicians have summarily rejected report of S&P. But intellectuals of India are taking this report very seriously. We have the also the recent reports coming from the World Bank that they have cut growth forecast for India from 7.5% to 6.9%.
Chairman of Wipro Technologies Mr Ajeem Premji has recently commented that we are virtually living without a leader in the country. This is what an eminent businessman has to say about our prime minister. Infosys founder and well-known name in Software industry Mr N R Narayan Murthy has also joined the debate by raising the issue of policy paralysis at the centre and many pending matters before the cabinet which eventually affecting the growth.
If citizens of any country is facing challenges of poverty, inflation and non-development, they will directly blame government. And India is also not different. Baba Ramdeo is leading a crusade against black money stacked outside India in foreign banks. Anna Hazare is leading another protest of rampant corruption in public life and asking government to bring tough law to control this. Gone are the days when we were pointing fingers to other countries known for their corrupt public officers. We should not forget that when you are pointing a finger towards other person, the rest of your fingers is actually pointing towards you. This has become true in case of India.
Almost everyday, we get the news of a new corruption story through the media. Now, we feel that the rampant corruption is the real reason for inflation and poverty. It has now devastated our economic, political, social and moral structures. If immediate and drastic action is not taken, S&P will be forced to downgrade India’s investment growth rating. Then the nation will run into the risk of total and irredeemable collapse. The time has come for all the Indians to join hands together and support the movement of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdeo. Then only we can halt the collapse of Indian economy.
Is India heading towards worst economic collapse?
Comment
Printing money to solve a nation's economic problem can never be sustained. Eventually, it will lead to the debasing of a nations currency and run-away inflation. Yet for a short period, it can create an artificial prosperity, deluding the masses into believing this new prosperity can be sustained. The long-term consequences of inflating their money supply will spell disaster and have dire consequences for the economy and negatively impact the masses and their livelihood.

India needs to learn a lesson on combating corruption: Swift and Sure Imprisonment USA Style

Rajat Gupta convicted of insider trading
Bloomberg / New York/Atlanta Jun 16, 2012, 00:54 IST
Rajat Gupta, who had reached the pinnacle of corporate America as the managing partner of McKinsey & Co and as a director at Goldman Sachs Group and Procter & Gamble, was convicted by a federal jury of leaking inside information to hedge-fund manager Raj Rajaratnam.
Gupta, 63, was found guilty of securities fraud and conspiracy by a federal jury in Manhattan today in its second day of deliberations. The trial began on May 21. Securities fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Conspiracy carries a five-year maximum prison sentence. He will remain free on bail until his sentencing on October 18.
Gupta showed no reaction while the verdict was read. The verdict is a victory for the office of Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that used tools normally employed against organised crime, including phone taps and informants.
“Having fallen from respected insider to convicted inside trader, Gupta has now exchanged the lofty board room for the prospect of a lowly jail cell,” Bharara said in a statement. “Violating clear and sacrosanct duties of confidentiality, Gupta illegally provided a virtual open line into the board room for his benefactor and business partner, Raj Rajaratnam.”
Gupta is the most prominent of those convicted at trial or to plead guilty since the nationwide crackdown began in October 2009. To date, the US has brought cases against 66 traders and their sources from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. No one has won an acquittal; six cases are pending.
Besides his tenure at Goldman Sachs and McKinsey, which he ran from 1994 to 2003, the Kolkata-born Gupta served on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is also a co-founder of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.
He has raised millions for education and health-care programs, served as an adviser to the UN and counselled CEOs, including Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, who was a prosecution witness at the trial. He lives in a waterfront home in Connecticut. “It’s an extremely significant conviction,” Richard Scheff, chairman of Philadelphia-based Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads LLP, said in an interview before the verdict was handed down. “It doesn’t get much higher. The conviction sends the message that no one is off limits,” said Scheff, who specialises in white-collar criminal investigations.
Rajat Gupta Convicted
Comment: Kudos to the American Justice System. Swift Speedy and Severe. This is true democracy. All politicasl criminals in India should be behind bars. India is just backward by 3 centuries to only clear the backlog!

Why Pranab Mukerjee needs to become President?

PTI | Jun 10, 2012, 10.49PM IST
KHARGRAM: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today said all the money kept by Indians abroad is not black money and noted that India has signed treaties with 37 countries to know the details of such illegal wealth.
"Not all money kept abroad is black money ... It might have been deposited by businessmen or business houses. The process will take time to know the exact amount," he told a meeting of Congress workers here.
The Government last month had proposed a multi-faceted strategy to unearth black money through fast-track courts and deterrent punishment but had ruled out any tax any immunity schemes.
The White Paper on black money tabled by Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha favoured a strategic mix of four pillars that will include incentives for voluntary compliance, reforms in vulnerable sectors of economy, creating effective credible deterrence and supportive measures.
The 97-page report however, did not give out any name of black money holders or estimated of such funds either in the country or outside but referred to estimates made earlier by various domestic and foreign institutions.
Not all money kept abroad is black money: Pranab
Readers views
His comments come amidst demands by yoga guru Ramdev asking the government to take steps to bring bank black money stashed abroad. In his campaign against black money, he has been meeting leaders of various political party leaders. This is a hilarious comment! Looks like FM has already logged out in preparation for his Raisina Hill assignment. He talks as if the list of all the accounts maintained abroad by Indians are with him. If that is so, why does the govt run after all the countries seeking disclosure?

ECHS: Army health scheme plagued

Owes Rs 60 crore to 30 empanelled centres, including Rs 40-cr Fortis bills
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 13
A couple of weeks ago, braving the scorching summer heat, an elderly ex-serviceman travelled from Bathinda to Mohali to avail himself of treatment at a hospital empanelled under the Ex-Servicemen's Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). On arriving here in the afternoon, he was, however, turned away on the grounds that no beds were available at the hospital.
On the matter being pursued by a local ex-servicemen's association, it was revealed that the ex-serviceman had not followed the proper referral channel and instead of being routed through the local ECHS office, he had landed directly at the hospital. This is not a singular case. Local associations taking up ex-servicemen's problems say about half a dozen cases have been brought to their notice in the past three months where ECHS patients have been turned away, ostensibly on the procedural grounds.

Almost a decade after it was launched, the ECHS continues to face functional and administrative problems. Large outstanding payments to private empanelled hospitals, complaints of senior citizens not being entertained, procedural anomalies and unavailability of medicines are among them.
Launched in April, 2003, the ECHS entitles ex-servicemen and their dependents to comprehensive medicare in service hospitals as well as the empanelled private hospitals. Prior to this, they could avail themselves of facilities only for specific high-cost surgeries or treatment for a limited number of diseases covered under the Army group insurance schemes, which provided only limited relief vis-a-vis the schemes available to the other Central Government employees.
The ex-servicemen associations have claimed that there have been instances where veterans have not been entertained by some hospitals, ostensibly due to their commercial interests. Some have also claimed that they have experienced difficulty in being admitted to a hospital in cases of minor or low-level treatment.
The representatives of private hospitals maintain that no patient is refused admission unless there is a genuine reason like unavailability of a bed or the specialist concerned. No emergency case is turned away. Another reason cited for patients being not entertained is that they have not been referred to the hospital by the designated ECHS polyclinic, which would result in administrative hassles later on. Given the quantum of ECHS patient inflow, the number of patients turned away, if unavoidable, is negligible, they say.
Many of these issues were raised at a meeting over ECHS held at the Headquarters, Western Command, Chandi Mandir, about a month ago. Besides the matter of pending bills, allegations of hospitals inflating bills also cropped up. In fact, it was reportedly a representative of a private hospital who himself pointed out that some hospitals were inflating bills.
There are 30 empanelled hospitals, diagnostic centres and laboratories in the tricity region and their total outstanding payment is estimated to be over Rs 60 crore.
In the tricity, the ECHS authorities owe about Rs 40 crore to Fortis Hospital, one of the largest private hospitals in the region. A spokesperson for the hospital said on an average 180 or 200 ECHS patients are attended to daily at the OPD while on any given day there are 25 or 30 ECHS patients in the various ICUs/CCUs of this hospital and another 55 or 75 admitted as in patients.
A senior staffer at another private hospital claimed that his institute had outstanding payments worth over Rs 15 crore. Chandigarh is a high-pressure centre where patients come from the neighbouring states. He said while bills might take up to five or six months to be cleared from the Chandigarh centre of the ECHS, those from other centres like Dharamsala take much longer. The Alchemist in Panchkula owed about Rs 1.5 crore to the ECHS authorities, he added.
Official sources at the Headquarters, Western Command, said they were ‘alive’ to the problems being faced by the stakeholders and efforts were being made to bring down the time period for releasing payments. “We have started online bill processing at five major stations, including Chandigarh, where bills can be submitted online by hospitals, which will cut down the time period,” a senior officer said.
“We are also working out a system where a hospital would give us 2 per cent discount on the bills that are cleared within seven or 10 days,” he added.
According to the hospital authorities, the verification process for bills is long and tedious, involving several establishments and hierarchical levels.
A new system of dispensing medicines is also being adopted, where the dispensaries at the ECHS polyclinics would be outsourced to private players. They would be responsible for procuring and stocking medical supplies and disbursing them as prescribed, with the cost of the supplies being borne by the ECHS as mutually fixed. A meeting between the ECHS authorities and prospective vendors to discuss the modalities of outsourcing was held in New Delhi a few days ago.
Army health scheme plagued

Institutional Integrity: Army takes a dive

Dear All,
Some of you may have already read it. I love the piece; it is no doubt levity - the facts have been presented with great humour and are soooo correct! Many of my conservative and the so called 'stiff upper lip' types seem to be outraged; they need to laugh more and analyse less! Do read it if you have the time.
Vijay Oberoi

'OP MOSES' to 'OP COVER UP’! Ooooh How Exciting!!!!
–– Shobha di
The handsome former Chief of the Indian Army who is now the Governor of Arunachal, General JJ Singh has made a profound statement in the Indian Express today where in an interview he claims that he ‘wrote-off’ two laptops while hammering out the 200,000 words that make up his autobiography! Such unbridled passion!! One wonders how many other things he ‘wrote-off’ apart from Generals Ravi Arora and VK Singh while implementing the by now infamous ‘Op Moses’. And since any comment is trashed by the Government and certain members of the press as being communal, I might as well say ‘hai rabba' to express my deep sense of admiration for the man whose will be but a hard act to follow.
The Chief benefactor of Op Moses has within days of taking over launched his own Op Cover Up despite having made brave statements about not brushing things under the carpet. With the media watching the carpet with an eagle eye, the good General is stuffing the Suhag scandal in his already full closet. That closet has a few secrets that need to be looked at in light of the decisive step that General Bikram Singh has taken even before his name-plate has gone up outside Army House!
Sources close to the previous Chief, General VK Singh had confirmed that the Show Cause Notice was issued on the basis of the findings of a Court of Enquiry held on the orders of Eastern Command. It was the Chief of Staff of Eastern Command who had asked Lt Gen Dalbir Suhag to investigate the complaint sent by an officer about the wrong doings in the Corps’ Intelligence unit. This letter, written in January this year asked for a reply by end February and it is now common knowledge that Eastern Command did not get any response from 3 Corps. So who should have chased 3 Corps?
The Army Commander himself! I guess technically he should have also been issued a SCN, but as the Chief designate had General VK Singh done that, we would have lost many Generals – albeit retired ones! I’m quite sure all the dearies with big big ‘muchis’ like Ashok Mehta, Shankar Prasad and what’s his name… that Kadyan fellow, would have spluttered and had instant heart attacks had VK (looked oh so dapper in uniform!) done that. And that on Prime Time! Sexy reality TV dahlings!
But let’s get serious - so now the ‘bail out’ has been done by the same personality (he too looks oh so sexy in uniform – you can’t blame me for going on about this, I love those medals! A few more and they would go even to the back of the chest!). All those twits yammering about Institutional Integrity will no doubt say daft sentimental things like “the message to the men will be very clear that you can abdicate responsibility and nothing will happen to you etc. etc.” Those guys are all loosers – ask that cutie who keeps coming on NDTV who was also once in the Army… that guy with a funny nose, who is often talking to Barkha (she really must do something about her dress sense) – the one who said thank god VK’s tenure is over because he only fought loosing battles and who wants to be on the loosing side anyway! The way he jumped ship, Nelson would have been proud of him. Now that a Metropolitan judge has summoned the former Chief in the bribery case, the cutie and all the others will be pontificating on TV tonight for sue about how right they were!
Who ever is so daft as to refuse a bribe! And even more daft to report it! We are now going to get a general to lead the Eastern Army who did not have the courage to reply to a SCN and who promptly ran away on leave. As they say moral courage is NO LONGER REQUIRED these days. So what’s the big deal? That’s been the trend of leadership in any case. Ask the tailors in MHOW who stitch all senior officer’s suits – they’ll tell you how dog tabs are accompanied by trousers where the zip is put at the back!
Anyway, these Generals all confuse me... my knees going weak also affects other parts of my body. I need to find a legal eagle type to explain these things to me. It seems the disciplinary order imposed by General VK Singh when he was COAS was the result of a quasi-judicial decision in exercise of powers and discharge of duties under the Army Act and Rules there under. The choice from alternatives available under the disciplinary rules was discretionary with the disciplinary authority. The judgment of the disciplinary authority cannot be reviewed by the same disciplinary authority because the present COAS himself was a part of the problem. While the SCN was not disposed of fully, and it was open for the successor incumbent COAS to judge the case in the light of the response given to the notice, he had no moral jurisdiction to overturn the DV ban. Most importantly, he cannot sit in judgment of himself having been the Eastern Army Commander who was morally also in the same little boat! At best he should have recused himself!
It is settled law that a quasi-judicial decision can be set aside only for malafides or an error of law apparent on the face of the record and only by the High Court or a designated Appellate Authority. It cannot be set aside by the successor COAS because he is NOT the appellate or reviewing authority. The exercise of discretion was by the then COAS. A successor incumbent cannot sit in judgment on that exercise of discretion because he is a co-equal and the exercise of power was complete in law at the point of first instance. Only a higher power can do it.
So I guess that brings us right back to dear ol’ Antony! The ball, as always, is now squarely back in his court! Poor dear… he must be feeling like one of those guys they show in the comic books who is trying to unsuccessfully get rid of sticky chewing gum! But you know the Antony-types, they always have a great cop out – orders from above! It’s time the poor old dear realized that certificates of good character from has-beens who the bureaucracy outwitted completely will not really matter. It really must be very scary for him to be surrounded by such specimens – each a bearded Greek God! And when in ceremonials they even have swords!
Why has the Indian judiciary become so ineffective in controlling the exercise of powers? Looks like everyone is sitting in judgment of himself and giving fancy certificates exonerating themselves! The list is growing by the day.
Oh dear, I am really worried sick thinking about what can happen. But now I’m off for JJs book launch… maybe if I’m lucky he might even tell me who will be replacing General Suhag as the COAS in 2017. Then I can write a tell-all book on ‘Op Bale Bale’!
Comment: The new Chief is likely to set new norms which will make Knight Chedwode dizzy in his heavenly abode and put the premier training institute's integrity to test.

Prime Ministers policy erosion hurting credit quality

S&P: Manmohan unable to influence colleagues
NEW DELHI, June 12, 2012
The global rating agency, Standard and Poor (S&P), in its report on the Indian economic impasse, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “often appears to have limited ability to influence his Cabinet colleagues and proceed with the liberalisation policy he favours ...It would be ironic if a government under the economist, who spurred much of the liberalisation of India's economy and helped unleash such gains, were to preside over their potential erosion.”
It noted that setbacks to or reversals in India's path to a more liberal economy “could hurt its long-term growth prospects and, therefore, its credit quality.”
Evidently, even while not pointing to the specific measures of liberalisation, the agency appears to be referring to the government's flip-flop on opening up foreign direct investment to multi-brand retail and the more recent reports on the UPA's ally Trinamool Congress blocking pension reforms.
Among the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), the S&P noted, the other three enjoyed a higher rating or outlook than India.
Incidentally, the report comes at a time when views are expressed as to whether the ‘I' in BRIC should be replaced with Indonesia on account of its comparatively robust growth. The only bright side of the report is to allay fears of India facing a 1991 type of crisis, saying the situation is much better now.
S&P: Manmohan unable to influence colleagues

BEML Chief Claims Innocence like all Politicians

BEML chief Natarajan suspended
New Delhi, Jun 11, 2012, DHNS:
The Defence Ministry has suspended Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) V R S Natarajan following a recommendation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is investigating the controversial Tatra military trucks supply deal.
The premier investigation agency, which got the Defence Ministry’s permission to probe the role of Natarajan in the alleged irregularities in procurement and supply of Tatra all terrain vehicles to Army, on Monday requested the government to suspend to ensure a “fair probe” into the case.
Last week, when the agency sought government’s permission to probe allegations against the BEML chief, it had also told the Defence Ministry that the presence of Natarajan as CMD of BEML was adversely affecting its probe, sources in the CBI said.
“The government has put the CMD of BEML V R S Natarajan under suspension following a recommendation by the CBI that he should be kept away from the post to ensure fair investigation. The CBI is currently investigating into various charges against Natarajan,” Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said here on Monday.
P Dwarkanath, who is a senior most functional Director in the BEML, has been asked to take charge as the CMD of the public sector unit, he added.
Natarajan is being questioned by the CBI for alleged irregularities in procurement and supply of Tatra to Army. It is alleged that the public sector undertaking, under Natarajan, violated the purchase guidelines by placing orders on UK-based intermediary company, Tatra Sipox, not the original equipment manufacturer, based in the Czech Republic.
The CBI sources said that the BEML chief is suspected of diluting the original deal to give undue advantage to Tatra. This is separate from the case in which investigation was initiated by the agency after former Army chief Gen VK Singh alleged he was offered Rs 14 crore as bribe by Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh to clear supply of a tranche of 600 Tatra military trucks from BEML. The agency has already booked the BEML chairman for alleged cheating, criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with tendering process for hiring a private consultancy firm and carried out searches at several locations including his residence. This case is related to award of contract for the implementation of enterprises resource planning project in the public sector undertaking during 2004-09.
The CBI has come across prima facie materials which allegedly indicated Natarajan’s role in the case and the agency will soon call him for questioning on the basis of the documents and records it has collected so far, according to sources in the agency.
The CBI sleuths have also come across several instances where Natarajan allegedly bypassed the norms and interacted directly with the supplying firms on crucial negotiations without taking into confidence the Defence Ministry, sources said.
They said post-facto approvals were allegedly taken from the Defence Minstry by Natarajan on some crucial issues related to supply of all-terrain vehicles on several occasions, but refused to divulge more details in this connection.
Earlier Natarajan had served a legal notice on former Army chief Gen VK Singh demanding an apology for his alleged defamatory statements against the BEML on the Tatra truck deal issue. This prompted the Defence Ministry to issued a show cause notice to him later on June 6.
BEML chief Natarajan suspended
Comment: It is certain the scamster has a Godfather planted in MHA, PMO and MEA since MOD has suspended him.

OROP: Let us unite to beat the inflation

Dear Mahendru,
Very laudable thoughts, but who is going to listen. You know how an attempt made by me in 2010 to work out a common Memorandum was literally butchered by our self proclaimed messiahs? Before this initiative i got all the organizations to form Confederations twice, for working together on common cause without in any way intruding into each others areas of influence. A true Confederation unlike the one that is being flaunted about by our friends. A proper Confederation does not enroll members directly. this is done by member organizations. A Confederation has only Organizations as members This basic rule is being flouted by this so called confederation, revealing their dishonest intentions. By this method they first used other organizations and got a foot hold. After getting a foot hold moved around and swallowed them up. Unity is always good and I have always worked for it. Actually we started the Association by pledging ourselves for the following:
a) To solve the problems of Veterans and their families. To begin with we took up five basic problems ie OROP, employment up to 58 years of age, proper pension for pre -1964 widows, restoration of commuted pension and vacation of lands and houses of Veterans on retirement.
b) Bring all organizations under one flag.
c) To fight corruption and communalism the greatest enemies of the Nation.
My thirty years experience is that Unity is not attainable due to personal ambitions and interests of us all. Nobody joins in to serve their brethren. They only take up this cause to ensure for themselves position and perks from the powers that be. I have never objected to it, actually I have always offered to help them achieve their ambitions as long as they did not barter away the cause of Veterans.
Having said this I want to very emphatically state that more than Unity the need of the hour now is that, in our desperation to take the credit for achieving the ultimate, we do not indulge in anything that may upset the leadership again and we are thrown once again back to square one. Can anybody ensure that? I will be the first one to go and bow in front of him.
Finally before I end I wish to thank you for your more than kind words.
With warm regards,
Inderjit Singh

Dear Sirs,
The history of OROP will always be remembered by the incredible fast by and return from the after land by our most respected col Inderjit Singh . This was a rare feat never before or after heard. There is no dispute sir, you are the symbol for the fight and just struggle for OROP. We all agree that the pension, for all veterans for same rank and length of time must be the same irrespective of the date of retirement and whenever it changes it must change equally for all by the same criteria .The family, the widows,disabled all are awaiting for our struggle to get us justice.
Let us keep together and push or at least have one target now that we are almost there. The only tragedy of veterans is that time is at the premium. we are heading for our destination fast. The cost of living is so exorbitant and time running out making us more feeble by the day that we cannot do anything to give a chance to babus to start anything to nullify our efforts. The unique case of officers who took pension after 20 years of service as majors then and lt col being the rank now is another unsolved misery. It has put the group of effected officers in a strange dilemma with not enough to even meet regularly increasing medical needs.
My humble prayer is for all of us to our shoulders to the wheel and heave. IESA/ IESL at Chankyapuri may also be asked to help.
With best regards,
mehandru

Lethargy of MEA leads to gruesome killing of wife and children

Ex-army officer kills wife, 2 children; commits suicide in US
Naseer Ganai | Mail Today | Srinagar, June 10, 2012 | UPDATED 18:39 IST
Major (retired) Avtar Singh, who killed his two children and wife before killing himself in US on Sunday, was wanted in a Kashmir court in the custodial killing case of Jaleel Andrabi, a human rights activist.
The mass murder and suicide by the retired Army major has shocked Andrabi family here. "It is shocking that he killed his family. Had he been extradited and brought for the trial, the situation could have different today. The responsibility of this incident lies with the government of India and the US government, which delayed his extradition," said advocate Arshid Andrabi, Jaleel Andrabi's brother.
Singh was accused of kidnapping and later killing Andrabi, a prominent Kashmiri human rights lawyer and human rights activist, in 1996. Major Singh, who was then with the 35th Rashtriya Rifles unit of the Army, had allegedly detained Andrabi on March 8, 1996.
After his detention, Andrabi's wife was repeatedly told by senior police officials that Andrabi was in custody and would be released. Three weeks later, Andrabi's body was found floating in the Jhelum river. His autopsy showed that he had been killed days after his arrest.
The killing evoked widespread condemnation across the Valley. Human rights activists, political parties and the Kashmir Bar Association demanded the arrest of Major Singh.
Arshid, Andrabi's brother, took the matter before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court which, in April 1997, ordered the Kashmir Police to apprehend Major Singh and impound his passport.
The court also directed that his photographs should be displayed on electronic media.
"In 2000, a police team headed by a superintendent of police went to Karnal in Haryana, where Major Singh was posted in a regiment of the Territorial Army. Despite being armed with high court's orders, the police team failed to arrest him. He was wanted in five other cases of custodial killings and still the J&K police let him off," said Arshid.
In December 26, 2000, the police filed a chargesheet in the case without producing the accused. "It is unheard in the history of criminal law that a chargesheet is filed without producing the accused," said Arshid.
Subsequently, when the matter was again brought before the High Court, it directed the trial court to ensure the presence of the accused. Since then the trial court of chief judicial magistrate Srinagar issued several warrants against the accused major, but to no avail.
"At the same time the Union government facilitated Major Singh to obtain travel documents like passport and allowed him to cross immigration in blatant violation of the court orders," Arshid alleged.
In December 2009, United States Interpol-National Central Bureau, Washington, while confirming the presence of the accused in California, had sought "formal request for his provisional arrest and extradition."
A red-corner notice through Interpol stands issued against him.
"But the ministry of external affairs used delayed tactics and did not send a formal request to the US government," claimed Arshid.
He said the case is not closed. "In the police chargesheet there are five other accused along with Major Singh. We will move revision application before the court to make them party in the case," he said.
Earlier application to make them accused in the case was dismissed by the CJM.
Major Singh's first wife was from Kashmir and belonged to Jawaharnagar area of Srinagar. According to reports, she still lives in New Delhi.
In February 2011, Singh was reportedly arrested by the California police on charges of domestic violence including throwing a toy on his wife. After his arrest, police discovered Singh was wanted by Interpol. Yet, he was released.
Read more at: Click here
Related reading
Ex-army officer kills wife, 2 children; commits suicide in US
Comment: Speaks poorly of Indian legal system and the Indian Military. The MEA is headed by a band of tainted ministers and bureaucrats.. one cannot expect more... regret the loss of lives.

President Pratibha Patil's Past Reality

President Pratibha Patil's Ugly Reality
Controversies have dogged Pratibha Patil, even before she became the President. A look at allegations made against her:

Shielding her brother: Rajni Patil, a professor in a Jalgaon college and the widow of murdered Congress leader Vishram G Patil, claimed that Pratibha Patil's brother G N Patil murdered her husband. She accused Patil of shielding her brother. According to reports, G N Patil was the mastermind behind the murder of the V G Patil, who was killed in 2005.

Promoting her own son:Charges have been made against Patil for promoting her own son during the announcement of the candidates for the Maharashtra assembly elections. It was widely reported that her son Rajendra Shekhawat was nominated from the Amravati seat for the elections, only because he's the son of the President. However, Shekhawat denies this allegation. Patil's son was earlier denied a ticket from the Congress in the 2004 assembly election, but in 2009, while his mother holds the post of the President of the nation, he easily managed to get a ticket.

Bank scam: Patil, in 1973, had set up a co-operative bank named Pratibha Mahila Shahkari Bank, to empower women. The license of the bank was revoked in 2003 by the Reserve Bank of India for alleged financial irregularities. According to reports, one of the reasons listed by the RBI for cancellation of the license was the faulty loan policy of the bank and waivers on loan interests given, among others, to Patil's relatives.

Sugar factory scam: Patil was the founder member of a cooperative sugar factory Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana. According to reports, the factory was allegedly found to be a drug trafficking ring and was even declared a defaulter for failing to repay a bank loan of Rs 17.5 crore. Pratibha Patil was the chairwoman and director till she became the Governor of Rajasthan.

MP fund scam: During her tenure as the Member of Parliament from Amravati, there were allegations of her transferring funds worth Rs 36 lakh from her MPL fund to an organisation run by her husband Devsingh Shekhawat. This is in violation of the government rule — an MP cannot transfer the funds to organisations run by their own relatives.
Why Pratiba patil qualified as a congress nominee?
Supreme Commander Extravaganza
Show for President Pratibha Patil cost Navy Rs 23 crore
Himanshi Dhawan, TNN May 24, 2012, 05.11AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Navy has run up a tab of Rs 23 crore for a day's extravaganza for the President. This included a bill of Rs 12 lakh for drinking water and Rs 17 lakh for the presidential banquet, besides spending Rs 14 lakh on alteration of a cattle fence and a similar amount on fixing a staircase.
The President's Fleet Review of the Navy, in which the supreme commander of the armed forces inspects the maritime prowess of the force, took place in 2011 and is held once in the President's tenure.
Data accessed under RTI from the Western Naval Command headquarters said Rs 23.24 crore was spent on the event attended by Pratibha Patil . The information was provided on an application filed by activist S C Agrawal.
The Navy spent Rs 26.96 lakh to acquire new furniture which included 30 dining tables and 60 dining chairs, besides furniture for VIPs and other staff. It spent Rs 17.57 lakh on the presidential banquet for 960 guests and Rs 2.11 lakh on catering on the presidential yacht for 760 invitees.
Interestingly, the authorities had budgeted for Rs 12 lakh for water (amounting to 83 one-litre bottles of mineral water for each guest) and Rs 28.14 lakh for "fresh provisions". Wages and salaries came to Rs 1 crore while some of the longterm infrastructure changes that were made included alterations to cattle fence at Vijaya garden that cost Rs 14 lakh. Repairs to the staircase from the main foyer to the officers' mess also ran up a bill of Rs 14 lakh and a fountain built outside Mulla auditorium cost Rs 6 lakh. The infrastructure costs amounted to Rs 11.67 crore.
The President undertook the fleet review on December 20 last year in which she took salute from a flotilla of 81 ships, four submarines and 44 aircraft of the Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.
Supreme Commander's Royal Style at Tax payers Expense
Comment: The Congress Party's steady decline is comparable to our economic growth- this is troubling news for the corrupt and the scamsters... a fear that the next elections the Party may be dumped. Therefore it is imperative a New President is selected for future convenience and solace.