Conspiracy of Silence breeds Corruption

Conspiracy of silence by all political leaders on corruption: Former CJI JS Verma
POLITICS NEWS, Updated Oct 28, 2012 at 08:27am IST
Karan Thapar, CNN-IBN
New Delhi: Former Chief Justice of India, JS Verma has hit out at the political class saying that politicians are colluding with each other against the fight to end corruption. While speaking to Karan Thapar on this week's Devil's Advocate, he accused the politicians of conspiring to tolerate corruption at the highest level. Below is an excerpt of the interview:
Karan Thapar: Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh said to this programme just a week ago that he was aware of things done by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee's foster son-in-law, Mr LK Advani's children which would not only embarrass their parents but were, he said, equivalent to corruption and wrongdoing. Yet he also insisted he would never reveal what he knew. What you make of that position?
ustice JS Verma: Well, that is a very disturbing statement. It reveals if true a conspiracy at the top against the combating of corruption which people are talking all the time and it shows that political morality is at its lowest ebb. Karan Thapar: But what about Mr Digvijaya's point that it is not ethical to target the children of families of politicians if they themsleves are not in politics. Justice JS Verma: Anyone in a position to influence decision making should be above suspicion.
Karan Thapar: These same ethics determined the silence of the BJP in March 2011 when the economic times first revealed Rober Vadra's DLF connections and the manner in which, the dramatic manner in which his companies fortunes had ballooned. At that time the BJP decided that it would not be ethical and proper to speak about Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law. Now in that instance was that wise discretion on the BJP's part or wrongful silence.
Justice JS Verma: It was failure of duty because, you see, personalities don't matter. According to me, the higher you are in hierarchy the more strict standard of behaviour you have to answer to.
Karan Thapar: So would you also go one step further and say - given on one hand Mr Digvijaya Singh's ethics and behaviour and given on the other the BJP's initial silence over Vadra - that the impression that is created is that politicians behave like a brotherhood which colludes to protect each other and sometimes colludes to cover up for each other.
Justice JS Verma: It would indicate or reveal a conspiracy of silence to tolerate corruption at the highest level.
Conspiracy of silence by all political leaders on corruption: Former CJI JS Verma

Full speech: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address to the nation

Full speech: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address to the nation
NDTV.com | Updated: September 21, 2012 20:47 IST
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today addressed the nation, defending the economic reforms which were introduced last week.
Click here for the Video link
Here is the full text of Dr Singh's speech:
My dear brothers and sisters,
I am speaking to you tonight to explain the reasons for some important economic policy decisions the government has recently taken. Some political parties have opposed them. You have a right to know the truth about why we have taken these decisions.
No government likes to impose burdens on the common man. Our Government has been voted to office twice to protect the interests of the aam admi.
At the same time, it is the responsibility of the government to defend the national interest, and protect the long term future of our people. This means that we must ensure that the economy grows rapidly, and that this generates enough productive jobs for the youth of our country. Rapid growth is also necessary to raise the revenues we need to finance our programmes in education, health care, housing and rural employment.
The challenge is that we have to do this at a time when the world economy is experiencing great difficulty. The United States and Europe are struggling to deal with an economic slowdown and financial crisis. Even China is slowing down.
We too have been affected, though I believe we have been able to limit the effect of the global crisis.
We are at a point where we can reverse the slowdown in our growth. We need a revival in investor confidence domestically and globally. The decisions we have taken recently are necessary for this purpose.
Let me begin with the rise in diesel prices and the cap on LPG cylinders.
We import almost 80% of our oil, and oil prices in the world market have increased sharply in the past four years. We did not pass on most of this price rise to you, so that we could protect you from hardship to the maximum extent possible.
As a result, the subsidy on petroleum products has grown enormously. It was Rs. 1 lakh 40 thousand crores last year. If we had not acted, it would have been over Rs. 200,000 crores this year.
Where would the money for this have come from? Money does not grow on trees. If we had not acted, it would have meant a higher fiscal deficit, that is, an unsustainable increase in government expenditure vis-a-vis government income. If unchecked, this would lead to a further steep rise in prices and a loss of confidence in our economy. The prices of essential commodities would rise faster. Both domestic as well as foreign investors would be reluctant to invest in our economy. Interest rates would rise. Our companies would not be able to borrow abroad. Unemployment would increase.
The last time we faced this problem was in 1991. Nobody was willing to lend us even small amounts of money then. We came out of that crisis by taking strong, resolute steps. You can see the positive results of those steps. We are not in that situation today, but we must act before people lose confidence in our economy.
I know what happened in 1991 and I would be failing in my duty as Prime Minister of this great country if I did not take strong preventive action.
The world is not kind to those who do not tackle their own problems. Many European countries are in this position today. They cannot pay their bills and are looking to others for help. They are having to cut wages or pensions to satisfy potential lenders.
I am determined to see that India will not be pushed into that situation. But I can succeed only if I can persuade you to understand why we had to act.
We raised the price of diesel by just Rs. 5 per litre instead of the Rs. 17 that was needed to cut all losses on diesel. Much of diesel is used by big cars and SUVs owned by the rich and by factories and businesses. Should government run large fiscal deficits to subsidise them?
We reduced taxes on petrol by Rs. 5 per litre to prevent a rise in petrol prices. We did this so that the crores of middle class people who drive scooters and motorcycles are not hit further.
On LPG, we put a cap of 6 subsidised cylinders per year. Almost half of our people, who need our help the most, actually use only 6 cylinders or less. We have ensured they are not affected. Others will still get 6 subsidised cylinders, but they must pay a higher price for more.
We did not touch the price of kerosene which is consumed by the poor.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
You should know that even after the price increase, the prices of diesel and LPG in India are lower than those in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The total subsidy on petroleum products will still be Rs. 160 thousand crores. This is more than what we spend on Health and Education together. We held back from raising prices further because I hoped that oil prices would decline.
Let me now turn to the decision to allow foreign investment in retail trade. Some think it will hurt small traders. This is not true.
Organised, modern retailing is already present in our country and is growing. All our major cities have large retail chains. Our national capital, Delhi, has many new shopping centres. But it has also seen a three-fold increase in small shops in recent years.
In a growing economy, there is enough space for big and small to grow. The fear that small retailers will be wiped out is completely baseless.
We should also remember that the opening of organised retail to foreign investment will benefit our farmers. According to the regulations we have introduced, those who bring FDI have to invest 50% of their money in building new warehouses, cold-storages, and modern transport systems. This will help to ensure that a third of our fruits and vegetables, which at present are wasted because of storage and transit losses, actually reach the consumer. Wastage will go down; prices paid to farmers will go up; and prices paid by consumers will go down.
The growth of organised retail will also create millions of good quality new jobs.
We recognise that some political parties are opposed to this step. That is why State governments have been allowed to decide whether foreign investment in retail can come into their state. But one state should not stop another state from seeking a better life for its farmers, for its youth and for its consumers.
In 1991, when we opened India to foreign investment in manufacturing, many were worried.
But today, Indian companies are competing effectively both at home and abroad, and they are investing around the world. More importantly, foreign companies are creating jobs for our youth -- in Information Technology, in steel, and in the auto industry. I am sure this will happen in retail trade as well.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The UPA Government is the government of the aam aadmi.
In the past 8 years our economy has grown at a record annual rate of 8.2 per cent. We have ensured that poverty has declined much faster, agriculture has grown faster, and rural consumption per person has also grown faster.
We need to do more, and we will do more. But to achieve inclusiveness we need more growth. And we must avoid high fiscal deficits which cause a loss of confidence in our economy.
I promise you that I will do everything necessary to put our country back on the path of high and inclusive growth. But I need your support. Please do not be misled by those who want to confuse you by spreading fear and false information. The same tactics were adopted in 1991. They did not succeed then. They will not succeed now. I have full faith in the wisdom of the people of India.
We have much to do to protect the interests of our nation, and we must do it now. At times, we need to say "No" to the easy option and say "Yes" to the more difficult one. This happens to be one such occasion. The time has come for hard decisions. For this I need your trust, your understanding, and your cooperation.
As Prime Minister of this great country, I appeal to each one of you to strengthen my hands so that we can take our country forward and build a better and more prosperous future for ourselves and for the generations to come.
Jai Hind.
Full speech: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address to the nation

MoD lays claim on Skinner Estate

MoD lays claim on Skinner Estate
Raman Mohan/TNS
Friday, August 31, 2012, Chandigarh, India
Hisar, August 30
The Ministry of Defence has laid its claim on the famed Skinner Estate in Hansi, a sub divisional town of the district about 25 km from here. The estate under litigation is located on the Delhi Road. Its commercial value is estimated at Rs 200 crore.
The Defence Estate Officer of the Bathinda circle of the ministry has filed an application in a court at Hansi saying that the land belonged to the Indian Army and its sale by a builder was illegal. It said that the estate was established by Col James Skinner who raised the Skinner’s Horse regiment, a cavalry unit which was now a part of the Indian Army.
Skinner established the regiment’s headquarters on this land measuring 214 kanals of land. The Officers’ Mess and a graveyard to bury the martyrs was also established on this land. Through a lawyer the Defence Estate Officer pleaded that the respondents had accepted these facts in a petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He reiterated that the land had historical monuments which are of great importance to the army and these should not be allowed to be demolished.
The estate has been a subject of controversy for three decades now when it was first sold in the late eighties. However, the deal fell through. About two years ago, a group of residents of Hansi led by a politician purchased this land from some of the descendants of Skinner. The legal complications however prevented the group of builders from selling plots carved out from this land.
After reaching a settlement with the company which had purchased the land in the eighties, hundreds of trees inside the estate were cut and plots were carved out for sale.
Some of the other descendants of Skinner filed a suit in a local court against the builder. The Defence Ministry has pleaded in its application that it be made a party to this case.
The land was granted to James Skinner as a ‘jagir’ by the British for the services he rendered to the British in the battle for Bharatpur in 1818. The ‘jagir’ rendered Skinner a revenue of Rs 20,000 a year in those days.
Skinner was born in 1778 in Calcutta to Lt Col Hercules Skinner, a Scottish officer in the British Army. James Skinner’s mother was a daughter of a blue-blooded Rajput zamindar. She was taken prisoner in her teens during a battle. James’s father took her under his care and married her. They had six children. His mother committed suicide when he was 12 years old.
Because of his Indian lineage, Skinner was ineligible to serve as an officer in the British army like his father. So at the age of 16, he joined the Maratha army as an ensign under a French commander of the army of the then Gwalior state. He served the Gwalior army for several years and impressed his superiors to rise in the ranks. However, he was dismissed from the Maratha army after the outbreak of the second Anglo-Maratha War. He was sacked along with all other Anglo-Indians.
He kept trying to join the British Indian Army then commanded by Lord Lake. On February 23, 1803, Skinner raised a regiment of irregular cavalry and named it as Skinner's Horse. The officers and men of the regiment were called the Yellow Boys after the colour of their uniform. The regiment showed its prowess in many battles and ultimately it became the most decorated regiment of light cavalry in the British Indian Army. It is still a part of the Indian Army.
In 1828, James was promoted to the rank of a Lt Col in the British Army, while his brother, Robert was promoted as a Major. Later, James became a Colonel after having been appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath on December 26, 1826.
MoD lays claim on Skinner Estate

We are ruled by dacoits… the British were better!

‘We are ruled by dacoits… the British were better’
Sunitha Rao R, TNN Aug 15, 2012, 06.17AM IST
BANGALORE: They have seen India extricate herself from the clutches of the British to turn into a progressive republic. They have lived the freedom struggle and every moment of the nation's 65 years of Independence. For GenNext, their struggle would seem like a fairy tale. On the eve of Independence Day, TOI sought their views on freedom and India.

Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi, 118
Ask him who got us freedom, and he answers quizzically: " MK Gandhi, Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh? Veer Savarkar? British themselves? Extremism or ahimsa? None of them, India got freedom because of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, who created fear in the British empire." Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi, an enigmatic freedom fighter and living legend of the city, was known as the 'critical insider' within the Congress. Despite being associated closely with the Mahatma, he questioned Gandhi's principle of ahimsa.
On August 15, 1947, Chaturvedi was in Delhi with Gandhi, Nehru and others. "It was an eventful and exciting day. However bad the politics is now, it is good we got freedom then. It was good for both Indians and British," he recalls.
At 118, Chaturvedi is glad he is fit. "I can hear, read and walk," he chuckles. He has not accepted the pension given to freedom fighters, happy in his Jayanagar residence.

NV Krishnamachari, 96
"We might term the British 'firangis' or 'white men', but they ruled us based on laws. They did their job on the directions of the East India Company. But what principles do today's politicians have? Hardly any. We fought to get a nation to be ruled by Indians based on truth, ahimsa, human values. Sometimes, I feel we should not have got freedom at all. The British did not trouble the public as much as our elected politicians do now. I cry to myself when I look at our pathetic world," says NV Krishnamachari.
He was in Bangalore central jail the day India got independence. "We were sent out saying we were released. We had no clue we'd got Independence," he recalls. Krishnamachari has named his sons Jayaprakash Narayan, Babu Rajendra Prasad, Balagangadhar Tilak, Lokamanya, and his daughters Jhansi Rani and Lakshmi Bai. He is fit, he has no BP or diabetes, though his hearing capability is diminishing. He lives in KG Nagar, South Bangalore.

Annadanaiah Puranika, 85
When the entire country rejoiced on August 15, 1947, a 19-year-old freedom fighter and his friends were in tears at Osmania University in Hyderabad. "Hyderabad hadn't got freedom and we had no security under the Nizams. Those who hoisted the Indian flag in Hyderabad were arrested. We fled to Gadag and Hubli, and fought the Razaks and Nizams from here. I discontinued my studies. Thanks to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Hyderabad won freedom on September 17, 1948," recollects Annadanaiah Puranika. "I had written to the governor two years ago on how the government can make use of our experience. I have not got any response," he told TOI. Puranika, who worked as an advocate for 30 years in the Karnataka high court, says corrupt politicians should be socially boycotted. He lives in Jayanagar with his daughter. Barring occasional knee pain, he is fit as a fiddle.

HS Doreswamy, 94
This veteran freedom fighter is an active participant in social activism even today. Be it the protest for the appointment of the Lokayukta or implementation of the Lokpal bill, Doreswamy is at Freedom Park with his firm notions. He has termed the anti-corruption protests of Anna Hazare as the "second freedom struggle" of the nation and actively participated in India Against Corruption movements.
We are ruled by dacoits… the British were better

Service Tax: Air & Water heavily polluted would be taxed in India

Strong Military, Strong Security, Strong Nation
Hon’ble Defence Minister Sh. A. K Antony
1. 64 years ago Winston Churchill while opposing grant of freedom to our country said:- “Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low caliber & men of straw. They will have sweet tongues & silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power & India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even air & water would be taxed in India.” 2. We don’t need another Churchill or an eminent astrologer to predict that if the present misgovernance rather no governance at all continues for another couple of years, our country will fall into such an abyss that it will take generations to retrieve us from this.
3. Today we are at a cross road where most of our Institutions of Democracy have either been demolished or under grave stress of demolition. One Institution ie our Patriotic Defence Forces on which the Nation has been surviving for the past 63 years is under severe attack by forces inimical to it. The best way to destroy a country is to demoralize its Defence Forces.
4. The events of the recent past reveal sinister design to undermine the morale and operational preparedness of the Defence Forces.
Why such a poor state of Defence Preparedness?

Who are responsible?

Why no action taken against defaulters?

Why no accountability?

What is required to be done?
5. These questions will have to be answered by the present Govt. Strong and time bound action plans need to be effectively and efficiently initiated. The PM, RM and the three Chiefs must regularly brief the Nation and the Parliament. The following need to be carried out on Operation Immediate Basis:
(a) Establishment of CDS.
(b) CDS & the Chiefs be brought on the decision making loop of the Govt.
(c) The Defence Ministry be restructured to have serving defence officers at the decision making levels.
(d) The defence procurement procedures be streamlined, made transparent and all projects completed within a given time frame. Individuals responsible for any delay be held accountable and action taken against them. Funds allotted for the procurement must be carried forward and not allowed to be lapsed till the budgeted items are procured. (e) DESW must be restructured to have serving officer as its head and serving and ESM on other appointments.
(f) ESM Commission manned by ESM be constituted on priority
(g) Jump Technology concept be followed for all Defence Procurements.
What is Jump Tech Concept? The Nations Defence Requirements for the next 15 – 20 years be worked out and best available eqpt with Tech transfer be procured off the shelf from the world in a most transparent manner and in a given time frame. Own R & D be tasked to develop what other advanced countries are planning and developing in the next to 15 – 20 years. Time bound responsibility, auth and accountability be introduced and implemented for indigenous productions. Sufficient funds for own R & D be earmarked with major business houses encouraged to join in Defence Production.
(h) Defence University be made operational forthwith. All retired officers of the rank of Major General and above be offered to be on the panel of experts. For other ranks of officers, applications be asked and officers selected for fellowship. The pool of experts to function as Indep Think Tanks for National Security formulations. Regular interaction with serving fraternity and other institutions be incorporated to arrive at sound security plans to qualitatively improve defence preparedness. (j) All anti Defence Forces Propaganda be stopped forthwith. Any wrong doings be investigated on priority and exemplary punishment given to those found guilty within a time frame of one year.
(k) The Generals be allowed to function like Generals to win Wars and not made psycophants.
(l) One Rank One Pension (OROP), Non Functional Upgrade (NFU) be sanctioned for Defence personnel at the earliest.
(m) All the anomalies of the previous Pay Commissions be resolved at the earliest.
(n) Court judgements given in favour of Defnece Personnel be implemented.
(o) Widows pension be enhanced at the earliest.
6. The above are a few of many other issues which need to be addressed by the Govt without any further delay.
7. In order to get due justice, it is proposed to start an intense Citizens Movement to plug all loopholes in our defence preparedness and to initiate actions against all found guilty of dereliction of duty and corruption.
8. An Article regarding Civil- Military relations, written by Brigadier V Mahalingam (Retd) is relevant and is enclosed.
9. May we request you to kindly visualize and analyse the seriousness of the above issues and in the interest of the Nation, take actions on warfooting to address all these issues to ensure that our Defence Forces are ready to face all Security Challenges of 21st Century and with glory win Wars for the Nation.
Shahide Azam Bhagat Singh had once said quote “No development can take place unless you question, criticize and analyse the existing order” unquote.
Let us all join in the effort. “The Soldier Protects What?, Guards Whom ? A piece of terrain!, barren, inhospitable, worthless? NO! For the love of his country, and countrymen, his motherland. He protects, Her citizens, He guards, His Karma, He performs- with honour and pride, for your tomorrow He sacrifices His Today”
With Regards,
Jai Hind Yours Sincerely,
Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM
Vice Chairman Indian Ex Servicemen Movement
Published in Patriot
Civil Military Relations

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.

Can we fix corruption in defence deals?

How we can fix corruption in defence deals by By: G R Gopinath
(The author is founder of Air Deccan) Extracts...
Apr 23, 2012, 06.18AM IST
Let's salute General VK Singh for telling the bitter truth: the Indian Army is alarmingly ill-equipped. That the cause of inordinate delay has been due to vested interests: from ignorant or rapacious politicians to bureaucrats, and retired Generals to arms dealers, conniving to divide the spoils from the kickbacks of the deal is not in doubt.
Competing bidders scuttle the deal when they discover they are likely to lose it. An arms dealer is like any salesman. He doesn't care which weapon you buy as long as he pockets his commission. But as the General said, it is a different matter if those awarding the contract compromise with the middlemen and recommend substandard equipment, then he has committed 'high treason'.
Similarly, defence officers posted within the procurement directorate of the three forces must have knowledge and minimum qualifications with a tenure of at least five years. And internally, the organisation must be restructured, and rules framed to ensure that technical evaluation and shortlisting is completed in time.
It is well known that while 'something is rotten' in the defence ministry, all is not well within the three forces either. The arms dealers worm their way through retired Generals to senior officers who are in charge of technical evaluation and user trials, to get better rating for their own arms and fudge those of their competitors. And they use all means: gifts, Swiss accounts and honey traps.
All officials must be vetted by intelligence agencies and the best with impeachable integrity must be appointed and strict vigil kept on them at all times.
Corruption in defence procurement should be treated as treason and Indian Penal Code should be suitably amended.
We have many extremely capable, honest and eminent people who can be picked up to not only formulate a defence procurement policy and enact a robust framework to plug loopholes but also knowledgeable men to fill those posts for procurement on a revolving basis.
May be a separate directorate for procurement is created with stringent qualifications and minimum tenure so that we don't have IAS officers, howsoever brilliant (and most are), who have spent all their life in Jharkhand or Uttar Pradesh in animal husbandry presiding over purchase of crucial high-technology weapon systems.
Systemic changes can be brought about if there's a will and urgency.
Political leadership need not necessarily have expertise in weapons or fighter jets to be able to lead the forces in deciding what armament to acquire, but we can ill-afford lame-duck ministers who are manipulated by an apathetic bureaucracy, who are indecisive and out of depth for the portfolio they hold. In times of crisis, we need political leaders who can galvanise the defence forces and lead from the front.
And the buck stops with the Prime Minister. He can take inspiration and courage from his own life when his mentor P V Narasimha Rao brought him in, a rank outsider and novice to politics, to rescue the country from financial disaster. It may be a good idea to do the same in the defence ministry now, to clean up the Augean stables and lay down sound policies and strengthen the country's defence before it is too late.
How we can fix corruption in defence deals by By: G R Gopinath
Comment: Reforming the MOD is like straightening a curved dogs tail. Can we learn a lesson or two from US... US Defence Secretary unveils blueprint for Defence Reform... click here

How will MOD Reward BEML Chief VRS Natarajan? Extended Tenure?

Tatra probe: CBI team to visit Czech Republic
Neeraj Chauhan, TNN Jun 5, 2012, 03.55AM IST
NEW DELHI: Suspecting that Ravi Rishi may have received elaborate assistance from Army insiders over the past 25 years, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought all inspection records and related files on the all-terrain truck from the Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) since 1997. CBI has also summoned a former DGQA, Lt Gen Amarjit Singh, who had joined Rishi after his retirement.
CBI sources said the agency would also summon some senior retired military officers who went on to work for Rishi after handling Tatra acquisition, while they were still in service.
DGQA looks after quality assurance for arms, ammunitions, equipment and stores supplied to the Army. The agency has also asked DGQA if it received any complaints regarding spare-parts of Tatra trucks.
Agency sources said they have summoned Lt Gen Amarjit Singh for questioning to know more about the DGQA inspection procedures that were followed for Tatra trucks during his tenure.
CBI suspects that several officials from different units of the ministry of defence (MoD) and the Army, who had joined Rishi's company after retirement, could have played a vital role in ensuring that the Tatra acquisition went on smoothly for the past 25 years. The agency is likely to question two former MGOs (Master General of Ordnance) of the Army, who, too, had joined Rishi's Vectra group after their retirement.
Sources said that a CBI team will soon visit Czech Republic for probe, including ascertaining why the Army was supplied with Tatra vehicles based on an older technology. The agency would also be sending a Letter Rogatory (LR) to Czech Republic seeking information.
So far, CBI probe has revealed that despite stringent clause for indigenization and upgrade of technology in the original agreement signed with Czech based Tatra a.s, the indigenization by defence PSU BEML remained far behind the target levels.
"The Czech Republic based company would be able to give us specifications of parts which were coming here. Also, it would give us a clear picture on Venus Projects, one of the companies run by Ravi Rishi and involved in the Tatra deal, and prices quoted and taken for the parts," added the CBI source.
In another development, which may land BEML chief V R S Natarajan in trouble, the agency probe has established that India had enough technical knowhow in 2002-03 for manufacturing most parts of Tatra trucks, a claim contradicted by Natarajan during his interrogation.
Sources said that 100% indigenization of Tatra trucks had not happened till 2002, when Natarajan signed a fresh contract despite the previous contract of 1997 being valid till 2006-07. "He (Natarajan) has been claiming that we did not have technical expertise, but our records show that we had enough technical expertise in manufacturing the parts, which were mostly being imported," a source said.
Sources said trucks, which are now assembled by BEML and supplied to the Army, have not performed well in high altitude. Though the Army flagged its poor performance on several occasions, the PSU didn't go for technology upgrade.
Tatra probe: CBI team to visit Czech Republic
Comment: Will CBI find anything in the Czech Republic? Could this be a delaying tactic (a witch hunt) employed by Ravi Rishi, MOD, MHA and VRS Natarajan? This scam is taking the same BOFORS gun route... though all its tracks have been obliterated by the CBI. The Gun was Swedish the Truck now is of Czech but the laundered money goes to same similar secret accounts in tax havens. Beneficiaries will never come to surface- the hidden Indian Scamsters will remain incognito forever- forget Indian rope trick this is for real a trick which will beat any world record for invisibility. Truly the Military Milked Doubly!

Gen VK Singh takes a beating

Indian Media Watch.... Crooks and Liars in the Indian media are the greatest danger to our democracy. Bias, outright lies, paid news, plagiarism and political leanings characterize much of our media.
Poll - India's Worst Journalists - 2012
Arnab Goswami 302 (32%)
Ashutosh (IBN7) 181 (19%)
Barkha Dutt 705 (75%)
Karan Thapar 350 (37%)
Kumar Ketkar 268 (28%)
Nidhi Razdan 247 (26%)
Nikhil Wagle 237 (25%)
Rahul Kanwal 163 (17%)
Rajdeep Sardesai 436 (46%)
Sagarika Ghose 540 (57%)
Shekhar Gupta 419 (44%)
Shiv Aroor 142 (15%)
Sonia Singh 195 (20%)
Vinod Sharma 414 (44%)
Vir Sanghvi 333 (35%)

Massager or messenger?

Karan Thapar (2010 #4): Readers must remember that every journo looks tall in the studio but not in actual life. KT is not blessed with stature and the same goes for his journalism. One can say he has improved a bit but still retains the unwanted scowl and growl when interviewing people. Madhu Trehan in her NewsLaundry interview showed up KT for the little puppy he was. Like the ones who just need a hug and a cuddle once in a while. And if you thought you knew nothing about KT, never mind. All you have to do is hear his signature line on his promo for his show on CNN-IBN: “I don’t want to go into the facts, the facts are disputed”. LOL! Facts are disputed? You have to undo a lot of learning to understand that facts aren’t facts and can be disputed. The worst job KT did in 2011 was massaging Kapil Sibal’s brazen attempt at pre-screening content on the internet. As if that wasn’t enough he pulled out Brajesh Mishra, former NSA, out of nowhere to call serving army chief, Gen. VKSingh, the worst ever chief of army in history. My prediction: As long as he is in the business, KT will be on this list.
Wheres the smirk? Congress spokesman- Seperated by Birth

Vinod Sharma (New entry): For those who don’t know, Vinod Sharma is the political editor of Hindustan Times. That’s right, ‘Political’ is the key word – less of an editor and more of a politician. It’s not very hard to recognise VS on a friendly channel. He has made the ‘smirk’ more popular than child-molester DGP Rathore on television. Sharma has also been acknowledged by many political spokespersons and viewers as the most loyal spokesperson of the Congress party. No matter what the scam or what the scandal you can expect him to staunchly defend even the worst misdeeds of the Congress by blaming it on the opposition or anyone else he can lay his hands on. The one chance to get him off TV for longer periods was a Rajya Sabha ticket, when Shobana Bhartiya, his boss at HT exited, but that unfortunately didn’t happen. So we’re going to be stuck with VS for quite a while. His best moment in recent times was during the debate over Gen. VK Singh and the Tatra trucks scam. He was angry that the debate was going one way (in favour of Gen. Singh) so had to somehow twist it against the tide. In his business time VS writes a blog titled ‘Separated at birth’. I guess that refers to some Pakistani connection or maybe his journalistic independence was separated at birth. Someday we’ll find out.
He's no Egghead

Shekhar Gupta (2010 #10): When he appeared on the last list, a fan of Gupta wrote in stating he will email my post to SG for his response. I was wondering whether that fan objected to SG being at #10 and wanted him to be lower on the list. I guess that fan’s prayers are answered. SG has sunk further in the rankings and his Indian Express is almost on doles from the govt. His senseless programme ‘Walk the talk’ , the equivalent of ‘Koffee with Karan’ or ‘On the couch with Koel’, continues on NDTV but what sunk SG the most is his misadventure with an article on Army troop movements. In his quest to please SG’s UPA, this SG splashed a headline in IE that nearly implied the army, led by Gen.VK Singh, may have dreamt of a coup. Worse, there have been reports that the troop movement story was stale and SG’s version was actually a plant by a union minister. SG laid an egg alright but ended up with more on his face. He will forever be credited with reducing a fiercely independent newspaper like IE to a mouthpiece of a political party. His permanent place on this list is forever assured.
Nidhi captures the Larger Picture- Left Right and Centre- Marching Up

Nidhi Razdan, NDTV (New entry): She has come to prominence more for many reasons other than journalistic skills. ‘Left, right, centre’ is her signature programme and happens to be one of those mindless debates on every topic under the sun. She is proof that you can be an expert on everything with specialisation in nothing. The best part of Nidhi? Now, don’t get me wrong, she likes everything large. Whenever confounded by a brilliant argument or point by a panellist she quickly jumps to her favourite line “let’s look at the LARGER picture”. One would have thought that debates are meant to look at the finer small details. No, not with Nidhi, the larger picture is a convenient exit. Training from NDTV helps. My prediction for this debutant is that she is likely to go higher up in the list in the future. (She lined up with arms lobbyists doing "Panel Discussion on Gen VK Singh's tenure".)
So there you are. Let’s also not forget that are many journalists who now increasingly seem to be anti-nationals. Their ties to Ghulam Nabi Fai aren’t even being investigated by the govt. Industry leaders usually raise the standards of performance of the industry as a whole. The opposite seems to be true in the media. Systematically, many of India’s journalists have brought the profession to rock bottom over the years. I continue to maintain, they are the greatest threat to our democracy.
Click here to read hilarious resume of more Journalists

Anna Hazare motivates the citizens towards a civilized nation

I will fight till the end: Highlights of Anna Hazare's speech
NDTV Correspondent | Updated: June 03, 2012 16:59 IST
New Delhi: Gandhian activist Anna Hazare and Yoga guru Baba Ramdev are holding a day-long fast in Delhi today as a mark of their protest against corruption and black money. Here are the highlights of what Anna Hazare said:
•The whole country is my family. We will fight the goondas in India.
•I do not ask anyone to emulate me.
•Sacrifices have to be made to achieve a great goal.
•I do not even know the names of my brother's children.
•We are talking of changing the country; that is not impossible.
•I will fight till the end (against corruption).
•Be part of a larger family, give a few hours to social service.
•Words will not suffice, Words have to match deeds.
•Development based on exploitation is not correct.
•If there are eight candidates and all of them are goondas, then voters should have the right to say we do not like any of them.
I will fight till the end: Highlights of Anna Hazare's speech

Army Chief General VK Singh retires

Army Chief General VK Singh retires, lays wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti
NDTV Correspondent | Updated: May 31, 2012 11:28 IST
New Delhi: General VK Singh retires as army chief today. His term began in May 2010. General Bikram Singh will replace him as the Chief of the Army Staff today.
The out-going chief laid a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti, a memorial for the Indian soldiers. He will then be given a guard of honour in the lawns of South Block. After this, he will be treated as an ordinary citizen.
General Bikram Singh will formally begin his tenure a little after 11 am.
General VK Singh's last year in office saw an unprecedented tension between the government and the army. General Singh became the first serving chief to take the government to court to demand that his records be corrected to reflect that he was born a year later than documented in some papers. He dropped his case in the Supreme Court after judges indicated they would not rule in his favour. Had he won his case, General VK Sing would have been eligible for another year in office.
In the last three months, a confidential letter from him to the PM, warning of serious deficiencies in the equipment used by the defence forces was leaked. General VK Singh has said that the leak was not orchestrated by the army. Early inquiries by the Intelligence Bureau seem to support this. Another whopper of a storm was created when General Singh said in an interview that he had been offered a bribe of Rs. 14 crores, just months after he took office, to clear "sub-standard" trucks for purchase by the army.
General VK Singh also faces a defamation suit for a press release that he sanctioned earlier this year which alleged that a retired officer, Tejinder Singh, had circumvented guidelines needed to order of-the-air monitoring equipment. The same statement said that Tejinder Singh was offering bribes on behalf of Tatra and Vectra, which supplies trucks to the army. The press release was issued amid reports that the army had tried to spy on the Defence Minister's office in the weeks before General VK Singh took the government to court. Tejinder Singh has sued the army chief over the press release. And 24 hours before he retired, the Defence Ministry authorized a detailed inquiry into the incident, suggesting that the confrontations between General VK Singh and the government will continue.
Army Chief General VK Singh retires, lays wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti

Media and Government declares honest citizens insane

Gen VK Singh, Anna, and the madness of fighting corruption
by Venky Vembu May 27, 2012
In his short, and eventful tenure as Army chief, Gen VK Singh has been called many names. Former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra said Gen Singh had “lost his mental balance” – and should be sent on “forced leave”. On Saturday, Lt Gen Tejinder Singh, the man whom Gen Singh accused of having offered him a Rs 14 crore bribe to approve the purchase of Tatra trucks by the Army, repeated that venomous charge.
Lt Gen Tejinder Singh told CNN-IBN that in addition to the bribery charge that Gen Singh had levelled against him, he had made “several aspersions” against the Supreme Court as well. ”That clearly indicates that Gen Singh has lost his mental balance,” he said.
Media commentators too have taken snide potshots at what they see as an erosion in Gen Singh’s mental faculties. Karan Thapar believes that Gen Singh is “so powerfully propelled by his own demons” that he careening towards self-destruction. Likewise, columnist Rohit Bansal reckons that the general is in a “deeply disturbed condition and needs to “cool down” – failing which the government should send him to Pakistan, where he surely has a career.
Almost every one of these commentaries suggests that Gen Singh is so motivated by the overwhelming urge to redeem his personal honour (following the setback in the age row with the government) that he has become a loose cannon. They claim that Gen Singh is largely to blame for the perceived erosion in relations between the military and the civilian government.
Such a characterisation does colossal injustice to Gen Singh’s earnest – if perhaps excessively eager – effort to tackle corruption in the Army, and particularly in defence procurement. Right from his first day in office, Gen Singh signalled that he wished to restore the Army’s “internal health”. And if that meant going after the corrupt in his own Army fraternity, the good General hasn’t flinched from the hard task. In that spirit, he went after high-ranking accused in the Sukhna and Adarsh housing society scandals – and took on the arms lobby.
The demons that Gen Singh battled in that good fight were not in his mind; they were sipping single-malts in Army clubs, sealing arms deals at golf courses – and slithering spookily in the corridors of the Defence Ministry.
Any government that claims it wants to combat corruption everywhere, including in defence procurement, ought to have backed up Gen Singh’s efforts. Even if Gen Singh’s methods were somewhat over-the-top, his intentions in going after corruption were unimpeachable. And in his defence, he perhaps had to go over the top because of the level of entrenchment within the Army and the bureaucracy.
Yet, by planting venomous media stories besmirching Gen Singh’s reputation - including highly tendentious and too-clever-by-half reports of a suspected Army coup – the government has effectively shielded the arms lobby and the corrupt within the defence bureaucracy.
And now, we’re told, it’s all because Gen Singh has “lost his mental balance.”
This isn’t, of course, the first time that those who campaign against corruption have had their sanity questioned. Congress leaders have suggested that Anna Hazare too needed the services of a mental asylum.
Perhaps there is a subliminal message being conveyed by such commentaries.
Perhaps only a “loss of mental balance” can account for why Gen Singh didn’t accept the offer of a bribe made to him – when even the officer who offered it suggested that Army chiefs before Gen Singh had accepted such payments, and those after him would too.
Perhaps Gen Singh is mad – for even wanting to fight corruption, even to the extent of antagonising his follow-officers.
Perhaps the commentariat is right, and Gen Singh and Anna Hazare ought to be locked up in a padded cell, where they can rattle the bars all they want with their thunderous anti-corruption rhetoric.
Perhaps, as Akira Kurosawa said, in a mad world, only the mad are sane.
Gen VK Singh, Anna, and the madness of fighting corruption
Comment: Arms Lobbyists have the last say. Money buys media and bribes speak loudly. Honest and Patriots are declared insane. Only the corrupt remain sane... the dictum "blow with the wind" is taking the citizens for a ride... India's growth story is an empty balloon. Criminal Politicians are taking over the Nation's wealth which is hijacked by a few and the rest remain fighting for their safety and survival.
Vox Populi: What makes us proud
“To oppose corruption in government is the highest obligation of patriotism.” ― G. Edward Griffin... General V K Singh, Arvind kejrival, Kiran Bedi, Prashant Bhusan and Shri Anna Hazare are golden personalities who are being put through fire and muck incessantly and yet emerging unblemished and glowing. They are without doubt true Patriots. The response they are getting proves that there is no dearth of them in our country. That sure makes me a proud Indian.

Montek Singh Fudges India's Growth

Dr. Ahluwalia does not contradict a single fact in the article:
(i) Rs.2.02 lakh daily average expenditure for trips between May and October 2011 (well after his “busy” G-20 period ending in 2010). No “gross extravagance”?
(ii) 274 days abroad, or one in every nine. Factor in travel days and it could be one in seven away from office.
(iii) 42 trips, half of them visits to the U.S. (several trips not connected with his duties as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission).
The link between the poverty line figures he supports (and defends in the Supreme Court) and his own expenditures is extremely relevant and pertinent. It is hypocrisy to impose one approach on an impoverished people while practising another — entirely different — for himself, with their money — public money. That too in a period where his government calls for more austerity. Dealing with abject poverty was central to the founding principles of the Planning Commission. But that, unlike Dr. Ahluwalia, is hobbled by “resource constraints.”
The travel period he cites as vital (2008-10) was one in which Dr. Manmohan Singh had ordered that government “severely curtail expenditure on air travel, particularly foreign travel,” except where deemed “absolutely necessary” (The Hindu, June 6, 2008).
Several ministers' foreign trips were cancelled and cuts announced in travel expenses. Two ministers lost their five-star hotel suites. The External Affairs Minister gave up his plane for overseas trips, and others flew economy class (The Hindu, September 13, 2009). Dr. Ahluwalia is silent on what class he actually travelled by, then or thereafter, or his expenses. How much travel does he undertake within India — surely a priority for a Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission? Put that up on the website?
Costs of $4,000 (daily average) are huge. And we don't know what the embassies and consulates spent on him locally. But spending curbs worry Dr. Ahluwalia, who asks “whether and to what extent this would affect our ability to enter into negotiations immediately on arrival…” Hope he spares a thought for how millions of Indian travellers, like migrant labourers, journey, and have to be productive on arrival. He plans for them, after all. G-20 meetings in 2008-10 were held in different countries, but his visits mostly took him to the U.S. His U.S. visits were prolific earlier, too, as the RTI data show.
Given the importance he claims for his sherpa work in G-20 and other forums, which he admits is unconnected to the Planning Commission, why remain in the Commission and paralyse its functioning by being absent so often? The first day of the 11th Plan was April 1, 2007. But the Plan document was ready only on June 25, 2008 — an entire year wasted that brought cascading disaster for many vital projects. The “mid-term” appraisal came in the fourth year of that Five-Year Plan! Now, we're into the first year of the 12th Plan and it is not even remotely ready. It is good to know the Planning Commission's website will carry his travel details. But the RTI data was also about his expenses. Will he put those up, too? Better still, if other PC members' expenses go up as well, to allow us comparisons.
It is a measure of how disconnected Dr. Ahluwalia is that he does not sense how the public views his expenditures. Nor, worse, the further damage his clarification will do to their perceptions.
Planning Commission on Luxurious Travel Agenda
Montek in eye of storm over Plan panel’s poverty estimates
Falling rupee adds fuel to India’s crisis
Fuel shock ignites rage
Comment: Snow Ball effect of Black Money, Money Laundering, Bureaucratic Curruption, Luxurious Life Style of Ministers, MPs and President....

First President Vs Present President: Comparative Study

First President Deshratna Dr RAJENDRA PRASAD
He remained and lived in a thatched-roof house before he shifted to DELHI in 1946 & took to office as MINISTER, FOOD & AGRICULTURE, later as PRESIDENT of the CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY (1946-1949) & still later, as the FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA (1952-1962). After relinquishing the office of the PRESIDENT OF INDIA in MAY 1962, he returned to PATNA on 14th MAY 1962 and preferred to stay in the campus of BIHAR VIDYAPEETH rather than anywhere else. He lived for some months in the old house with thatched roof, which he had occupied earlier till 1946. This house was not at all suitable for his age and the state of health. Therefore LOKNAYAK JAYPRAKASH NARAYAN volunteered and collected some funds to get a small house constructed in a corner of BIHAR VIDYAPEETH'S MANGO-GROVE. DESHRATNA Dr. RAJENDRA PRASAD lived in this house until his passing away on 28th FEBRUARY, 1963.

Present President Her Highness Pratiba Patil
Contrast this with our (Madame) Present President Pratiba Patil
Pratibha Patil has been indulging in luxurious life. Since becoming the President, Pratibha Patil made twelve trips to foreign countries with her family to 22 countries. This has cost the government a whopping Rs.205 crore. Her last visit with her family members ended yesterday with trip to South Africa before her term ends. On all her foreign trips, a chartered Boeing 747-400 was kept ready for her entourage including her family members. She also made the government incur expenditure on her luxurious accommodation in five star hotels, local travel, miscellaneous expenses and daily allowances. A life of lavish royalty. Will she be forgotten for her misdeeds? She attempted to ursurp military lands at pune for her family and build a Palace worth Rs 5 crore ... she just failed! She moved in with a dozen boxes to Rashtrapati Bhavan and she will leave with a couple of container loads of artefacts and furniture... totally denude the Presidential House! A shameful present President indeed.... Watch out for more news in the media...
India's growth story is really continous history.... slaves, feudals, political criminals, intrigue, Indian bureaucracy, Swiss secret accounts, terror, black money, money laundering, hawala transancions, benami operations and exploitation of the weak.....
A Banana Republic-
New Avatar of Democracy.... India's Growth story is worth watching... The President leads the nation in morals and ethics!

President Pratiba and MEA sing the same tune

The disastrous presidency of Pratibha Devisingh Patil
Apr 28, 2012by Abhay Vaidya
At a time when issues relating to land grab by politicians and politically-connected builders have been hitting the headlines day in and day out, the 12th president of India, Patibha Devisingh Patil, and her advisors should have picked up the first signs of trouble over her post-retirement home in Pune.
Patil is technically right when she says that she cannot be accused of “land grab” in Pune. Her defence is that the 2.61 lakh sq ft land being developed for her bungalow premises under the Khadki cantonment Board in Pune would continue to remain with the defence ministry. The land ownership had not changed hands and so, she has not “grabbed” any land.
Where Patil erred was in being insensitive to the issues raised by ex-servicemen in Pune such as retired colonel Suresh Patil and his NGO, Justice for Jawans. An infuriated Patil asked why so much land was being allotted to president Patil and a 4,500 sq ft bungalow constructed afresh when there was an acute paucity of accommodation for soldiers posted in Pune.
Pratibha Patil will be remembered for setting new standards in lowering the dignity of the president's office. Adrian Streun/Reuters
They pointed out that the land for Patil’s bungalow was meant for military use. Patil and his fellow crusader and RTI activist Anup Awasthi also used the Right to Information Act, 2005 to get the facts on the president’s post-retirement entitlements for housing. The reply they got from the president’s office further intensified their agitation: Under the rules, a retired president was entitled to 2,000 sq ft of “living area” to be taken on lease in case suitable government residence was not available. In the case of a government residence being allotted to the ex-president, the size of the bungalow could go up to 5,498 sq.ft – the highest entitlement for a union minister.
Patil’s mistake was to get 2.61 lakh sq ft land allotted to her and authorise the construction of a new, 4,500 sq ft bungalow on it.
Was the president taking her lavish lifestyle at Rashtrapati Bhavan a bit too far? Given the honour, prestige and dignity associated with the president’s office, her senior staff should also have done some background checks and intelligence gathering on the ramifications of the controversy brewing in Pune. At the end of it, it is the president who has cut a sorry face, despite her protestations.
Although this president is from Maharashtra — the northern Jalgaon district to be precise — she has no emotional connect with the people of Pune. Just as her foreign trips sparked a controversy because of the Rs 200 crore expenditure and the large family entourage, domestically, her many trips to Pune also became a talking point. Her trips to Pune were far more frequent than those of her predecessor, president APJ Abdul Kalam, who had a hectic tour schedule. In Patil’s case, however, questions were asked whether her trips and extended halts in Pune had anything to do with family visits as her daughter’s family resides in Pune.
Given this background, her decision to settle in Pune after retirement did not come as a surprise. The family connection made headlines in 2010 when the Maharashtra government allotted commercially attractive plots of land to trusts headed by her Pune-based daughter Jyoti Rathore and Maharashtra rural development minister Jayant Patil.
The two plots with high commercial potential were allotted in village Jambhe in Mulshi taluka, within five km off the Mumbai-Pune expressway and the IT park at Hinjewadi. Rathore’s Maharashtra Mahila Udyam Trust had to pay just Rs 6.72 lakh to the government for the 7.93 hectare plot with an estimated market value of Rs 19 crore. The plan included 27,300 sq metre of land for a residential school, 20,000 sq metres for a college and 32,000 sq metres for a playground. Rathore had then told the media that the trust paid the money as per government procedure and ready-reckoner norms, and did not get the land at a “throwaway price”.
In February, president Patil’s son and Congress MLA Raosaheb Shekhawat was interrogated by the Amravati police in connection with the seizure of Rs 1 crore in hard currency from a car coming from Nagpur. The money was hidden in the luggage compartment of the car and the Maharashtra Congress and Shekhawat explained it as “party funds” meant for distribution to poor Congress candidates ahead of the civic polls on 16 February. Many found this explanation laughable and wondered whether the cash was meant to buy votes.
A career politician from Jalgaon known for her loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family, Patil gave the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi the historic opportunity of nominating India’s first woman president. This decision to give preference to loyalty and gender over merit while selecting the presidential nominee, proved disastrous as Patil was already enveloped by many controversies.
She had already been accused of mismanagement at the Sant Muktabai Cooperative Sugar Factory controlled by her and the alleged involvement of her brother GN Patil in the VG Patil murder case in Jalgaon in 2004. These were among the controversies that resurfaced the moment Patil was nominated by the UPA for presidentship in 2007.
Among all the 12 presidents of India, it is President Patil’s term that began and is now ending on a low note. The previous low point that the office of the president witnessed was when the seventh president of India, Giani Zail Singh, clashed with then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He had also famously said that he was willing to become a sweeper but was asked by his leader (Indira Gandhi) to become the president of India.
It is now Patil, more than Singh, who will be remembered for setting new standards in lowering the dignity of the president’s office.
http://www.firstpost.com/india/the-disastrous-presidency-of-pratibha-devisingh-patil-292042.html
Comments: All her foreign visits were planned by MEA headed by a tainted Foreign Minister- both were lavish in denuding the exchequer... no accountibilty at all... victims are the citizens of the Nation. The tax payers taken for a joy ride.

Money Laundering Cycle of Tatra and 2G Scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation is inquiring into the irregularities, if any, in the purchase of the all-terrain Tatra vehicles by the Indian Army from the Bharat Earth Movers Limited.

The serious charge of corruption in purchase of Tatra vehicles was made by Army Chief General V K Singh in a recent interview. Since 1986, the Indian Army has bought over 7,000 Tatra trucks.
Rediff.com on the basis of first hand information accessed from the multiple sources tries to give answers to the frequently asked questions about the tainted deal.
What are the allegations of corruption regarding the purchase of Tatra trucks?
The allegation is about the very high cost of the Tatra trucks to the Indian army. Tatra AS is a Czech company who manufactured the world-class trucks. Tatra AS has undergone a change of ownership. (Those details a little later).
The alleged dubious route though which trucks reached the Indian Army is the focus of the investigation by the CBI. If, what the sources in the army claim are true, then it is a serious allegation involving corruption worth crores of rupees.
The allegation is that the deal worked like this:
1. The Czech company sold the trucks to Venus Projects of Hong Kong, the trading arm of Vectra Worldwide, at a 35 per cent discount. (This is the first stage of loss to the Indian Army. The discount would have come to the purchaser, that is Indian Army, if a direct deal was struck with the manufacturer or a part of the discount could have been passed on to the Indian Army by the dealer/seller.)
2. Venus Projects sells the trucks to Tatra Sipox (United Kingdom) Ltd. This UK-based company is the holding company of Vectra Worldwide, owned by controversial businessman Ravi Rishi. He need not pay tax on the deal because there is a no taxation treaty between the two countries. But the price of the Tatra trucks goes up by 30 per cent.
3. Tatra Sipox then sells the inflated-priced trucks to BEML, the government owned company, after adding its profit of around 15 to 20 per cent.
4. BEML sells these trucks to the Indian Army after adding 25 to 35 per cent.
So, if you take into account the addition of transaction cost, commission, profit whatever you say at the four stages quoted above the Indian Army was getting the Tatra trucks paying 100 to 120 per cent higher than the factory price. This is what General Singh was complaining about. The CBI is, also, focusing on these dubious dealmakers at every stage.
How does the Indian Army get spare parts?
That is, probably, another scam. The Indian Army places orders through BEML for the spares. Tatra Sipox gets the intimation and forwards it to a company called Jupiter Slovakia, which is a holding company of Vectra Worldwide.
Jupiter contacts the suppliers of the Tatra spare parts but it does not go to the original Czech company. Thus, the pricing of the spare parts is arbitrary and mostly exorbitant. The Indian Army ends up paying 200 to 300 percent more than the actual cost. Since, the spare parts are not acquired from Tatra AS one is not even sure of the quality. Is there any other such dubious deal?
Yes. Brahmos, the Indian-Russian missile joint venture, needs cranes. BEML procures Atlas Cranes from Tatra Sipox. The same modus operandi is used by the Ravi Rishi. He gets it at around 35 per cent discount from Atlas Machinen GMBH, the German company that makes the cranes.
Tatra hikes the cost by some 25 per cent or more and sells to BEML who in turn gives it to the Brahmos after adding its own margin. India pays some 75 per cent plus higher cost by not buying straight from the Germans.
Ravi Rishi Money Laundering cycle
Govt denies money laundering cycle of 2G Scam: P Chidambaram and his son Kartik being protected- A Tango Duo

Abhishek Manu Singhvi "caught with his pants down"

Singhvi lashes out at social networking sites
Last Updated: Saturday, April 21, 2012, 14:23 5
 New Delhi: With a controversial CD featuring Abhishek Manu Singhvi going viral on internet, the senior Congress leader has lashed out at social networking sites, saying they are indulging in "sensationalism" despite a court injunction.
Singhvi told a news agency, "It is obvious that the adage 'be you the ever so high, law is above you' does not apply to any social media."
"Not only is there a court injunction, not only has the author of the alleged CD sworn in an affidavit in court and accepted that the contents were fabricated and morphed, but even as respectable a media group as India Today has accepted the position of the court," Singhvi said.
"Obviously, an organised gang has been purposely used by motivated interests to concertedly use the social sites for sensationalism and permanent damage. Remember, this can happen to anyone and if this lawlessness is allowed to continue as it is, we will all be consumed shortly."
The Delhi High Court in an order passed April 13 restrained Aaj Tak, Headlines Today and the India Today Group from disseminating the contents of the CD allegedly prepared by Singhvi's former driver.
But the clip, which allegedly features the senior advocate in sexual acts, is around 13 minutes long and was posted on YouTube on Friday and has since got over 9,000 views and several comments. It has been posted by a person identifying himself as Laddi Rana.
Another site - Twitvid - also has the video, uploaded two days ago, with close to 34,000 views. It was posted by Tejinder Pal Singh Bagga of the Delhi-based Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena (BSKS).
"I downloaded the video from YouTube on Thursday and posted on Twitvid. It had been uploaded by someone named 'Singhvi' which was obviously a fake profile," Bagga told a news agency.
"I am not afraid of these people and they deserve this. I am prepared for any consequence," he added.
Bagga was also involved in the attack on lawyer Prashant Bhushan in his Supreme Court chamber in October 2011.
Advocate Abhishek Bhandari, who appeared for Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the high court seeking permanent injunction on the alleged CD, told a news agency that some organised groups were trying to defame the Congress spokesperson.
"I am sure that Singhvi will take strict legal action against this," he said.
When a news agecy contacted Google on whether it had received any request from Singhvi to take the clip off the video, one of its officials said, "I cannot comment on it as I have no information about it." IANS
Singhvi lashes out at social networking sites
Comment: This scandal is akin to Bill Clinton fame... Are our Indian Politicians competing with Americans? Many more are hidden in the in Pandora's Sex Box... However, personal privacy should not be invaded... MP's should not misuse official position in sleaze games...  Whatever goes on within the confines of the four the walls of their house is nobody's business... sex urge must be controlled while performing official work especially in the Court Chambers allotted for application of Judicial Prudence!

Corrupt babus want protection from law enforcing agencies

Adarsh scam: Maharashtra bureaucrats seek protection
The writer has posted comments on this article Prafulla Marapakwar, TNN | Apr 20, 2012, 02.57AM IST
MUMBAI: Left anxious by the Adarsh housing society scam and the course of the investigation into it, top bureaucrats have urged the chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to introduce a mechanism whereby law enforcement agencies have to first seek the permission of higher authorities before taking action against a civil servant.
Last week, chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad along with senior office bearers of the IAS association-including finance secretary Sudhir Shrivastav, forest secretary Pravinsinh Pardesi, revenue secretary Swadhin Kshatriya and CM's principal secretary A K Jain-called on the chief minister. During the meeting, Chavan was asked to take steps to restore the confidence of the bureaucracy, which has ebbed in the wake of the Adarsh scam.
"Our contention in the meeting was that those bureaucrats who took decisions in the interest of the state should be protected. At the same time, we made it clear that we are not asking for errant babus, who took decisions with mala fide decisions, to be protected," said a senior bureaucrat who was part of the delegation. The officer added that the meeting was not to defend the "accused in the Adarsh scam since our view is that law should take its course".
The bureaucrat asserted that there is a real need for a mechanism that prohibits law enforcement agencies to take action against senior civil servants until they have first received the permission of higher authorities. He said such a safeguard is necessary because, many times, officials take decisions while discharging duties with honest intentions. But investigators do not first verify the facts. As soon as an FIR is lodged, law enforcers arrest the babus under the scanner.
Also, the senior bureaucrat maintained, officials at the level of principal and additional chief secretary have to sign a large number of files every day. It is therefore not possible for them to thoroughly read all the files. Under such circumstances, unwitting mistakes are possible. "We feel that the investigating agency should verify the intention of the bureaucrat and then decide the course of action," he said.
"We told the chief minister that if there is a criminal complaint against an official for taking a decision, such a complaint should be brought to the notice of the appointing authority. Action should be taken on the basis of the appointing authority's recommendations," the bureaucrat said.
Meanwhile, a senior bureaucrat said that after the ongoing budget session is over on Friday, Chavan will meet the chief secretary, law secretary and advocate general to decide the course of action following the Adarsh commission report.
Chavan has said that his government will not ask the CBI to abandon its investigation nor will it submit a report of the Adarsh commission to defence minister A K Antony. "The judicial commission has submitted a report on limited issues, while the CBI is probing wider issues. As such, there is no question of asking the CBI to stop the probe," Chavan said.
Maharashtra bureaucrats seek protection
Comment: Only an effective Lokpal as suggested by Anna Hazare will deter babus from money laundering, benami and black money transanctions. Governance in India is reduced to Ground Zero.

Is the President telling the truth? Her travels abroad leave much to be desired!

President Denies Grabbing Pune Land For Post-Retirement House
[ Updated 12 Apr 2012, 22:57:26 ]

New Delhi, Apr 12: The President Ms Pratibha Patil has denied media reports that prime Pune cantonment land was "grabbed" to build a post-retirement house for her.

A press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said, a section of the media has been reporting that the President l has "grabbed" land much in excess of her entitlement to build her post retirement home in Pune.

The press release said, these news items were facturally incorrect and malicious.

Giving details about the issue, the release said:

"To say that a house is being constructed for occupation by the President on demission of office by "snatching" or "grabbing" land meant for soldiers is factually incorrect and malicious. The land belongs to the Ministry of Defence and will continue to remain with the Ministry of Defence.

"The title of the land is not being alienated in any manner whatsoever. The ownership of both the land and the house she will be occupying will continue to remain vested in the government and therefore there is no substance in the allegation of personal gains.

"The President is entitled to accommodation after demission of office as provided for under the President's Emoluments and Pensions Act, 1951.

"It is therefore the legitimate entitlement of the President to occupy an accommodation provided by the government and all former Presidents have availed this benefit.

"The only variance in the present case is that the President will be occupying a government accommodation outside Delhi.

"The said rules provide that the size of the residence to be provided to the President on demission of office shall be comparable to a residence allotted to a Minister in the Union Council of Ministers.

"It is common knowledge that houses of Union Ministers in the Lutyens' Zone area, though belong to Type VIII category, are not of any uniform size. Quite logically, therefore, the President's Emoluments and Pensions Act does not specify a fixed living area for former President's when they occupy a government accommodation.

" The mention of living area not exceeding 2000 sq. ft. is only indicative and applicable where a suitable government residence is not available and a residence is to be taken on lease/rent basis, which does not apply in the present case, since the President will be occupying a government accommodation.

"The present residence occupied in Pune is a house which was earlier occupied by an officer at the level of a Lt. Colonel.

"The house being old, needed renovation to make it suitable for residential purposes and accordingly certain additions/modifications have been taken up to suit the requirements of the President on demission of office.

"The President is not coming in the way of residential accommodation being provided to Territorial Army cadets. That only that plot of land which is to be used for accommodating the President must only be used for providing residential accommodation for soldiers lacks rationale.

"Merely because the President has chosen to reside in the Cantonment area cannot be viewed as being apathetic or indifferent to the welfare of the soldiers. Surely, the city of Pune and surrounding areas have enough alternative land available for their accommodation. "

An organisation of ex-servicemen in Pune had alleged that over fives acres of land had been alloted for purpose of her residence after she demits office later in July this year when her five-year term ends.

Suresh Patil, a retired Lt Col of the Pune-based 'Justice for Jawan', part of NGO 'Green Thumb' group, who has accessed details about the Government's measures for providing her housing in Pune, claims that a large extent of land measuring over 2.60 lakh square feet has been alloted to her in Khadki cantonment in Pune.

He claims that a house with a plinth area of 4,500 square feet is being built for her by bringing down two British-era county bungalows.

The former Army official questioned why such a large extent of land was being fenced to protect this house for Pratibha Patil, who recently made news when an RTI application brought out the fact that over Rs 205 crore were spent on her foreign travels.

Col Patil said that he had sent several RTI applications to the Army's Southern Command seeking reasons for fencing the entire five acre land with a wall but failed to get any response.
President Denies Grabbing Pune Land For Post-Retirement House
Click here for the Truth Ministry's clarification
Comment: The President will continue to be thorn for the tax payers. Her lavish family life style does nothing to reduce poverty in India. She is edifice of the false face of India! MOD dancing to her tunes. She has done nothing as Supreme Commander for the Serving Soldiers or Veterans. She goes down in history as a lady who lives in Royal Style! RTI should expose her hollowness and double speak....

Can Corruption Cancer be abated in India?

No consensus on Lokpal Bill after all-party meet: 10 big facts: NDTV Report
New Delhi: Will India get the new anti-corruption law it has been waiting for? The Lokpal Bill - named for a national anti-graft agency that it creates - was passed by the Lok Sabha. But the Winter Session of the Rajya Sabha ended before the bill could be put to a vote. The Prime Minister called an all-party meeting today to build consensus before the bill is scheduled for discussion in the Rajya Sabha. The Left says the meeting ended without any consensus. Here are 10 facts on this big story:

1) What is the Lokpal? This is a national agency of nine members, who will be selected by a committee that includes the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. The Lokpal will investigate complaints of corruption against all government servants. A state-level branch of the Lokpal is called a Lokayukta.

2) Why did the PM call an all-party meeting today? In December, opposition parties moved close to 200 amendments on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha. They want many changes to the Bill. The ruling coalition is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha. In December, the debate on the bill proved that the government would not be able to get the bill passed. Opposition parties say the government therefore orchestrated chaos and delays so that the bill could not be put to a vote which it would have lost. At today's meeting at the PM's house, it was decided that the Lokpal Bill will be taken up during the second half of this Budget Session of Parliament. On March 30, Parliament breaks for three weeks and the union budget has to be passed before this financial year ends.

3) Before bringing the bill to the Rajya Sabha, the government will work on re-wording contentious parts of the Bill. The BJP, Left and parties like Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress all agree on the need for a Lokpal but have serious objections to the bill in its current form.

4) What do opposition parties want? There are many points of difference among the main parties on the Lokpal Bill. The biggest is whether the bill, in its current form, violates the federal structure of India. The bill asks for Lokayuktas or ombudsman agencies to be set up in every state to tackle cases of corruption. Parties like the BJP say this violates the autonomy of state governments. They say that the centre should provide an enabling framework that provides the guidelines for how the ombudsman should be selected and what its powers should be. But it cannot force states to create a Lokayukta.

5) How do allies feel about this? The ruling coalition, led by the Congress, has two senior allies - the DMK from Tamil Nadu and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress from Bengal. Both are needed for the government's survival. Because both parties are regional, they have joined the BJP in objecting to the references to Lokayuktas, even in the title of the bill. Mamata Banerjee wants this part of the bill deleted completely. If the BJP pushes for a vote on this issue, the Trinamool and DMK will vote against the government they belong to. That means not just embarrassment for the Congress; the government will have been defeated on landmark legislation, allowing the opposition to point out that it does not have the right to stay in office.

6) What powers will the Lokpal have? This is a major argument among different parties. Those like the Left say that the Lokpal should supervise the CBI which will be assigned to investigate the complaints received by the ombudsman. The government says the CBI cannot be made accountable to the Lokpal because this would amount to creating an executive structure outside Parliament. The bill currently allows the Lokpal to refer complaints to the CBI, which will keep it updated on those cases. The BJP says the government's control over the CBI should be reduced. The rationale is that as long as the government decides the CBI's budget, and the postings and transfers of its officers, the agency is vulnerable to governmental influence.

7) Does everyone agree on the need for the Lokpal? Parties like the BJP have said they want the Lokpal to be introduced as quickly as possible. "I think they should present an amended bill in Parliament; they have got the message loud and clear," BJP leader Arun Jaitley told NDTV today. They blame the government for delaying the legislation in the Rajya Sabha. But others like the Samajwadi Party and Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD say a Lokpal as currently envisaged creates a new autocratic body. They want the Lokpal Bill to be studied and revised by a parliamentary committee.

8) The Anna Hazare factor: The fact that the Lokpal Bill was debated and passed in the Lower House or Lok Sabha was due almost entirely to the efforts of anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. With activist-aides like Arvind Kejriwal, he turned India's attention to this legislation through a series of hunger strikes. It was his 16-day fast in August last year that brought thousands of people in support every day to his camp at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. Anna, who is 74, ended his fast after Parliament assured him that it would consider the Lokpal Bill urgently. However, Anna says the bill in its current form is pointless. In particular, his group feels that the Lokpal has no real authority and has been reduced to a "post office" where it will distribute complaints of corruption filed by the public to different officials or departments over whom it has no real control.

9) How the Lokpal will be selected is also contentious: The opposition says that the five-member selection committee for the ombudsman gives the government too much representation. That, they argue, will ensure the Lokpal goes soft on any investigation that the government does not favour.

10) The Prime Minister is covered by the Lokpal - he can be investigated while in office if approved by two-thirds of the Lokpal's nine members.
Read more at: Will India get a new anti- Corruption Bill