India hit by Corruption Bombs

October 10, 2012, 9:45 a.m. ET
India Plans Changes in Anti-Corruption Law By ROMIT GUHA
NEW DELHI--India's government is planning to amend the country's anti-corruption law to plug its loopholes as well as to add provisions to book corporates that fail to prevent bribery and protect honest officials, the prime minister said Wednesday.
The reforms initiated in the early 1990s did reduce many corrupt practices, but the subsequent, faster economic growth led to newer opportunities for corruption, Dr. Manmohan Singh said in a speech to the federal agencies that investigate corruption cases.
While the corrupt should be "relentlessly pursued," the innocent shouldn't be harassed, he said.
Dr. Singh's speech comes in the backdrop of a slew of corruption allegations faced by the Congress party-led coalition government on issues ranging from allocation of radio bandwidth to the grant of coal blocks and the organization of the Commonwealth Games in 2010. The most recent issue involves allegations of corruption against the relative of a top ruling-party leader.
The government has denied any wrongdoing in all these cases. These allegations have left the government scrambling to contain the damage to its image rather than work on its legislative agenda. Many say officials were wary of taking decisions fearing they may come under the scanner at a later date or get pulled up by courts.
The government has promised not to protect those involved in wrongdoing. Several senior government officials and lawmakers, including a former telecoms minister in Dr. Singh's Cabinet, are facing criminal charges of conspiracy. They have all denied the charges.
"Experience has also shown that big-ticket corruption is mostly related to operations by large commercial entities," Dr. Singh said. "It is therefore also proposed to include corporate failure to prevent bribery as a new offence."
He said the amendment will seek to tackle a loophole in the existing law which doesn't have any provisions to prosecute the bribe provider.
New Delhi is working on a system to transfer benefits under social-sector programs directly to the bank accounts of people, instead of distributing them through government agencies, he said. It also plans to pay cash to consumers instead of some subsidies it currently gives to companies for selling their products at state-set prices. While reiterating the importance of fighting corruption, Dr. Singh said the "mindless atmosphere of negativity and pessimism" that is created over corruption can only damage the country's image and hit at the morale of the government.
India Plans Changes in Anti-Corruption Law

Adarsh Scam: Judicial Commission being bombed by lies!

Had no idea of kin having flats in Adarsh: Chavan
Thursday, October, 04 2012 - 17:35
MUMBAI:Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, whose three relatives got flats in Adarsh, today claimed before the judicial commission probing the scam he came to know of their membership in the housing society only after the news of alleged irregularities was broken by the media.
"It was at the end of October 2010 that I came to know that some of my relatives had applied for membership in Adarsh society and the same was granted to them," he told the two-member inquiry commission led by Justice (retd) J A Patil set up by the Maharashtra government to probe the Adarsh scam.
Chavan's mother-in-law Bhagvati Sharma, his father-in- law's brother Madanlal Sharma and his sister-in-law Seema Sharma had flats in the building.
Chavan, who had to step down as chief minister after it emerged that his relatives had flats in the scam-tainted housing society, appeared before the commission today for the second time.
He had earlier deposed before the commission in June to answer allegations against him of bestowing undue favours while granting permission for construction of 31-storey Adarsh building in high-end Colaba in south Mumbai.
Replying to questions put forth by commission's counsel Dipan Merchant, Chavan said he was not aware that his relatives had applied for membership in the Adarsh society.
In his brief appearance that lasted barely 10 minutes, Chavan said he was also not aware if Seema Sharma's application for membership of the society was rejected in 2004 but approved in 2008 when he was the chief minister.
He said soon after he came to know of the membership of his relatives "at the end of October 2010", they relinquished it on October 29 the same year.
Had no idea of kin having flats in Adarsh: Chavan

Remembering Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi

Throughout his life, Mahatma Gandhi inspired countless Indians to lead a simple and principled life free of vices and desires. His message of non-violence that he practiced against the British rule in India has inspired many important world personalities. On Gandhi’s birth anniversary, Guylife presents a few important people who have been inspired by the Mahatma.

Aung San Suu Kyi
Prominent Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi has been heavily influenced by Gandhi’s life and teachings apart from Buddhist philosophy. Suu Kyi has been credited with ushering in reforms in Burma (now Myanmar) that is helping the country reach out to the world by removing sanctions placed against the country that is ruled by military junta. Suu Kyi has said she read works by Gandhi to keep herself disciplined when she was placed under house arrest by her country's military dictators.
Last week, addressing a packed hall of students at Columbia University where she got a standing ovation, the 67-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said she has been very inspired by Gandhi's writings and strongly urged the students to read his works. "Gandhi is somebody really phenomenal. I think you must all read his works, the more you read Gandhi, the more impressed you are by who he was and what he was. You must remember that change through non-violent means was not ever thought of before Gandhi. He was the one who started it, he was the one who decided that it is possible to bring about revolutionary change without violence," Suu Kyi said.
Leaders Inspired By Mahatma Gandhi by Priyanko Sarkar|Posted on Oct 1st 2012|
Comment: So sad to see our MP's living a lavishous life style at the expense of the tax payer. Their performance can be seen on daily basis through the Parliament session...

OROP: Misleading Headlines- Media and ESM taken for a Ride?

References- Economic Times:

Cabinet clears Rs 2,300-crore package for one-rank-one-pension for armed forces

One Rank One Pension: Ex-servicemen unhappy with govt's announcement of pension hike

Amarinder Singh hails one-rank-one-pension for ex-servicemen
Dear Editor of Economic Times,
I would like to bring to your notice of a misleading Headlines in ET dated 25 Sep 2012.Click Here. The Government Press Note, of Course, has mislead thousands of Ex-servicemen on granting of OROP.
6th Pay Commission had recommended a Pension Formula for Pre-2006 Defence Retirees. Further, the Commission had recommended that Pre 2006 retirees should at least get a minimum pension that is half of lowest end of the revised Pay scale/fitment scale granted to serving personnel of equivalent rank. But the Bureaucrats in implementing this recommendation wrongly interpreted that the Retirees would get half of the minimum of PAY Band where their rank along with other ranks figured. This simple anomaly was pointed out by pre-2006 retirees to the Government but the Bureaucrats did not take any corrective action. This forced the Ex-servicemen of rank Major to approach Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) for directions to Govt. AFT accepted their plea as genuine and asked Government to take immediate remedial action.
Meanwhile a group of Civilian officers also approached Civilian Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for corrective action in lines of AFT Judgement. This was upheld by CAT and necessary directions were issued.
The Secretaries Committee ordered by PM used this opportunity to show that they were making efforts to "bridge" the gap between pensions of Post 2006 pensioners and Pre-2006 pensioners holding same rank and years of service. If the first step in a 100 meters sprint is considered as a major step to bridge the distance between start to the final destination, then Govt can take credit. But Govt cannot surely take any credit for the bogus claim "One Rank One Pension Okayed" as prominently published by your Political Bureau in the second page of ET. I am afraid that your correspondent has been taken for a "ride" just like thousands of Ex-servicemen taken for a "ride" yesterday based on the announcement of PM on Aug 15 on OROP.
A Major lesson from this episode is obvious. Why Bureaucrats oppose inclusion of Serving Defence Personnel or even Ex-servicemen in high power study teams on their demands is because the members from the Services would have prevented the Bureaucrats taking them as well general public (including Media) on "ride" like they did every time a Study team submitted its recommendations that were then approved by Political Bosses without even consulting the affected personnel. S.Murugan.
Air Cmde (Retd)

More Comments...
Ashok Ganguly (New Delhi)
25 Sep, 2012 11:50 PM
If what is stated is correct, I wonder why this Government can’t keep a simple issue simple and display Honest intent. To a normal layman (not an intelligent crook) an OROP is like a Havildar with say 24 years of service, who retired in 1947 or 1997 or 2007, should get the same pension drawn by a Havildar with 24 years of service retired on 31 Aug 2012. This is what is called “Removing the Disparity”. Anything else amounts to simple cheating and an attempt to fool ex servicemen. Why can’t the Government make an honest attempt and erase the mistrust? Do they think that fooling people is the only way to win votes? How can they forget the services and sacrifices rendered by the servicemen? Why must they get entangled in a beaurocratic mess every time and in every thing?
VK Khurana (New Delhi)
25 Sep, 2012 10:13 PM
The very least expected of this Government, governed by the unfair bureaucrats, is that it should not misinform the nation that what they have given is OROP, which is clearly not the case.A small increase in the crumbs -yes, but nothing more. But then , we may be living in a fool's paradise if we still think this Government has any graceful side to it. The fight for true OROP should be continued with all our might. Jai Hind An ex-service man.
Tailpiece- Military and Police made Dummies

Concert of Chiefs~I- Making A Public Issue Of Demands

Pay Commission Award DESERVING BEFORE DESIRING By Ashok Kapur, IAS (Retd)
Comment: Any student of psychology will tell you that a very thin line divides a genius from a lunatic and many geniuses cross this line sometimes but certainly at later age.
Veteran Ram Gulrajani

IAS Officer wants the military command and control chain to be tinkered constantly by bureaucrats

Ref: Making A Public Issue Of Demands by Ashok Kapur IAS
Ashok Kapur, IAS (Retd): Who was he?
A former bureaucrat, he served as Director, Central Vigilance & Jt Secretary, Govt of India, Chairman, Drafting Committee of UN Disarmament Conference on Biological Weapons, Geneva, among other postings. Following retirement as Principal Secretary, Govt of West Bengal, he did MICA and FICA. Currently he is Secretary General, Institute of Directors (an NGO) and Arbitrator, Member, Board of Governors, International Academy of Law, headed by former CJI, Justice Bhagwati. A post-graduate from Delhi Univ, he joined the IPS and stood first in all-India, 1966 and joined the IAS in 1967. He is an LLB from Delhi Univ and has a Ph.D in Urban Planning from NIUA, Delhi & appointed as Associate Prof (Urban & Environmental Planning).
Ashok Kapur favours corruption as against Lokpal Bill- Under the guise of a basic postulate of the rule of law is that all laws placed on the statute book must conform to the Constitution
Please don’t pass the Lokpal Bill
Comment: Bureaucrats have turned India into a den of thieves- It is now a safe haven for thugs and culprits. Thanks to IAS! Ashok Kapur should, after retirement, confine his expertise in Urban planning in all Metros which is now barely livable.

The article by Mr Ashok Kapur, a former IAS officer- Click Here
It needs a rebuttal. Matter of fact. Unemotional. Contesting the vast number of irrelevant, misinformed points raised by him.
It is fortunate that we now know how the Bureaucratic mind works. Transparent in this spiteful article, the contents reflect the sort of conversation that obviously takes place behind closed doors and minute sheets in MOD and other closely confined decision making bodies.
Few observations I have on this are:

Inadequate research, ie statements unsubstantiated by facts.

A desperate bid to counter the COS appointment being currently talked about,

Mistaking Civil Control as control by Bureaucracy- that, as he says, needs strengthening,

Need for Parity in Pay and Pensions with civilians- he forgets that the parity in pay and even status has been tinkered by civil services even after Pay Commissions gave an award,

He forgets that we don't have representation on Pay commissions and so an 'unscrambling of the omelette' has to take place when there are anomalies introduced surreptitiously even after the finalization of the CPC report.

The bottom line seems the aim to stop COS as a concept, and to introduce methods to strengthen the Civil Services. I am working on and would be responding. Other Veterans may do the same. As they say, One good deed deserves another. Please don't restrict your response to Veteran circles.
With Warm Regards,
Veteran Col RP Chaturvedi

Illegally acquired surveillance equipment to monitor Indians

DNA exclusive: PMO knew you were being snooped upon
Published: Monday, Sep 17, 2012, 10:00 IST
By Saikat Datta & Pradip R Sagar | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the national security advisor (NSA) allowed an agency, not permitted under the law, to acquire surveillance equipment and monitor Indians between 2010 and 2011.
An investigation by DNA shows the NSA, Shiv Shankar Menon, knew that the defence intelligence agency (DIA), a tri-service organisation drawing personnel from the army, the navy and the air force, was keen to purchase off-the-air cell phone monitoring equipment.
Not only was the DIA not authorised to tap phones of Indians, but it also did not have the approval of the technical coordination group (TCG), chaired by the NSA. Despite these legal and procedural lapses, documents accessed by DNA show that the DIA went ahead and procured the equipment while the NSA, the PMO and the defence ministry looked the other way.
In the absence of any independent monitoring of intelligence agencies in India, no one knows how these machines have been used.
They could have been used illegally to tap phones and gather political intelligence or even monitor people.
The TCG was created after the Kargil war to ensure coordinated intelligence gathering. As per its charter, all purchases of technical intelligence equipment above Rs20 crore must be cleared by the TCG. The NSA is the chairman of the TCG and the technical intelligence agency’s, NTRO, chairman is its member secretary.
In the 9th meeting of the TCG, LtGen DS Chauhan, who was then the director general of DIA, had put up a note on August 10, 2011, seeking the TCG’s approval for the purchase of 26 off-the-air GSM monitoring machines, six off-the-air CDMA monitoring equipment, and five GSM jammers.
But on August 12, the TCG pointed out in the DIA’s inventory that one CDMA and four GSM-cell phone monitoring equipment had already been bought.
How did the DIA buy these without the TCG’s approval or even the legal framework to buy such machines?
These cell phone monitoring machines have a limited range depending on the terrain and the weather. So, why was the DIA allowed to buy such machines since it is mandated to gather technical intelligence with limited human intelligence in insurgency-prone areas? In either case it is not a “notified law enforcement agency”, which is mandatory for phone tapping.
This was brought to the notice of the NSA as well as cabinet secretary Ajit Seth, defence secretary Sashi Kant Sharma, and joint secretary in the PMO Pankaj Saran.
No one objected and the DIA continued to illegally monitor people using unauthorised equipment.
The PMO did not respond to a written questionnaire from DNA. LtGen (Retd) Tejinder Singh, who as the director general of DIA before LtGen Chauhan, told DNA that the procedure to purchase these equipment started much before him.
“In either case, the purchase was sanctioned at every level — from financial advisors to the director general (acquisitions), who is currently the defence secretary,” the retired lieutenant general told DNA.
“Anyway, the signals directorate, which purchased the equipment, comes under the DIA for operational purposes. All their procurements must be approved by the defence ministry and not the director general of DIA because he does not have the financial powers to do so.”
Despite the fact the government hasn’t notified DIA as an “authorised” agency for phone tapping, the official spokesman of the defence ministry, Sitanshu Kar, said no “illegality” had taken place. “We find your statement calumnious. The defence secretary, as DG (acquisitions) had not sanctioned, at any stage, any illegal purchase of any equipment,” Kar said.
Phone tapping in India is governed by the December 18, 1996, judgment of the Supreme Court and section 5 of the Indian Telegraph Act that says phone tapping is legal only if it is authorised by the Union home secretary.
Only nine agencies are legally authorised to put in requests for tapping phones. Which means any government or private agency besides these nine agencies are not authorised to keep tabs on any form of communication in the country, let alone put in a request to the Union home secretary.
The IB, the R&AW, the income tax department, the enforcement directorate, the narcotics control bureau and the state police forces are among the nine authorised agencies.
DNA exclusive: PMO knew you were being snooped upon

OROP is only a mirage

On 15 July 2012 18:50, Sailesh Ranade wrote:
Dear Veterans,
1. I have been closely following the situation with regard to OROP. I feel disgusted that veterans are crying like spoilt children for some fancy toy. This Tamasha has been going on for a few years now with no end in sight. In fact, we have brought this upon ourselves.
2. Now let us come to the main point. Veterans are not children. So stop behaving like children. If you think that the government (politicians and bureaucrats) is going to listen to you, forget it. Have you noticed that the government will notice you only if you do dharnas, hunger strikes, rallies and resort to things like rasta / rail roko. See how every other department is holding the government to ransom.
3. So what needs to be done? Get your butts off the ground and pull your finger out. Following points come to my mind readily.

Bring in a Tall and Clean Leader. Only one relevant present day ICON comes to my mind. Gen VK Singh. He has no financial historical baggage.

If you cannot muster VKS, bring in Anna Hazare.

Join Forces. Today we have all sorts of Brigadiers, Major Gen, Lt Gen and even a Major who run different types of organisation. Come together, but keep the tainted out. I used to see a lot of Generals on TV in the last 6 months. Dump them. Also dump all the military Governors and High Commissioners. They were all corrupt.

Form a Political Party. Call it the “Patriotic Front“. I guarantee, at least 100 seats in Parliament if there are clean candidates. The number of ex-servicemen and servicemen is easily close to 4 million. There is no bigger homogenous force in the world. If you include the paramilitary, it will easily touch 10 million. When in Parliament, make your own laws. Pass any bill in favour of the veterans.

The statement that “we will play by the rules” needs to be discarded. When your future is being decided by corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and judiciary, there is simply no future. Hold rallies, strikes, rasta roko etc. I am sure Delhi and surrounding areas can easily muster more people than what Anna Hazare and Ramdev could organise. And these two gentlemen brought the government on its knees.

As military veterans, we should consider all means. All is fair in love and war. The result will be quick and the lesson will sink in once and for all. We don’t need cry babies on TV. Act now. The mood is against the government. India desperately needs a revolution. A minor storm by military veterans will be enough.
Regards,
S Ranade

An excellent idea. Implementable.
Regards,
Col Rajan

Comment: Why are IESM and IESL the two large Veteran organisations losing steam? Is it because their primary aim is now refocussed on collection of funds and spending more and doing less for the Veteran community? What has happened to improvement of ECHS, CSD and Resettlement? We hear nothing on ground.

Adarsh Scam: Truth is Money Laundering but CBI is bent on investigating lies of Politicians

The Hindu July 10, 2012
Even if the Adarsh society case does not end in convictions, enough ignominy has been heaped on former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan who was charge sheeted in the scam along with 12 others. Mr. Chavan has been accused of criminal conspiracy and abusing his official position when he was Revenue Minister over a decade ago to include civilians in the society and grant other favours. In turn, his mother-in law and other relatives got flats. There is a feeling in some sections that Mr. Chavan has been unfairly targeted and two other former Chief Ministers, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde, were also responsible. The CBI investigation is still open in the case of these two. While Mumbai is full of such frauds involving valuable land, what sets Adarsh apart is the nexus that was unravelled between politicians, bureaucrats and promoters — most of whom managed to cadge flats for their family members in a building which was blatantly illegal. The CBI is yet to officially reveal the details of the benami flats but there is evidence that this could involve more politicians or people close to them.
In comparison with Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, whose career graph shoots up every time the courts pass strictures against him, Mr. Chavan seems to lack a guardian angel. His cup of woes is full as he is also at the centre of a paid news controversy and his election has been contested on those grounds. If the CBI can prove the charges it has framed in the Adarsh case, it will definitely set a precedent. It is essential that the politicians and officers responsible for violating the laws of the land, abusing their office, and flouting the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) notification are given exemplary punishment. Real estate and housing equals power in Mumbai and few get caught for the numerous illegal transactions that take place. There is no need to be dismissive about the relatively small size of the scam in rupee terms when compared to other, more massive frauds. What is untenable too is the constant carping that Mr. Chavan is less culpable than the others and that he only grabbed “a few flats.” Instead of blaming the media for targeting bureaucrats and politicians, the State government should launch a comprehensive investigation into fraudulent housing societies, not to speak of the sharp practices that go on throughout Mumbai in the name of slum redevelopment.
Not so Adarsh
Defence Ministry's weak response
Now, Defence Ministry intervenes in Adarsh case
Readers Comments: Are we a Banana Republic?

from: Akshit Singh Posted on: Jul 10, 2012 at 11:27 IST
What you have pointed out in this editorial is the unholy nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen in the adarsh controversy. But what you have not pointed out is the role of the senior military officials including former army chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor who got a flat for himself in abetting the scam & the need to apprehend them.

from: N.Mohan Posted on: Jul 10, 2012 at 13:05 IST
These politicians own multiple expensive flats in Mumbai. For e.g. Sushil Kumar Shinde owns a flat on (Vaastu Bldg) Pali Hill Bandra Mumbai worth about 30-40 Crore purchased within last 3-4 years. Somebody please investigate. Another minister Kripashankar (Santacruz Mumbai) was recently accused of owning multiple benami flats. Where do they get this kind of money come from?

from: D Mahapatra Posted on: Jul 10, 2012 at 16:12 IST
Will any of this outrage in "public" translate into any action by the voting public? Or is this "moral outrage" just an intellectual pastime of the new Indian, educated, affluent, middle-class? India claims to be a democracy (the biggest lie peddled in India?). So, "the buck stops with the voters" - not with anyone else!!! Will anyone hold up a mirror to themselves, think afresh in their daily lives, do anything differently, educate fellow citizens who may not know what's really going on in the country "in their name, but without informed-consent"???

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

Land sharks squat on defence ministry’s 12,000 acres

TNN | Jun 12, 2012, 02.34AM IST
NEW DELHI: A staggering 12,000 acres of land managed by the defence ministry has been encroached on and much of it for more than 20 years, the ministry informed Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday.
Of the total land encroached, 4,500 acres is under the defence estates management and the ministry is now engaged in recording, updating and microfilming lakhs of documents while also reviewing leases that have either expired or are under dispute.
Ministry officials faced some sharp questions from PAC members like N K Singh, Bhatruhari Mahtab and Shashi Tharoor over how proceeds from land developed by government and private parties was used and whether there were records of No Objection Certificates (NoCs) granted by defence authorities.
There was a brief reference to the Adarsh scam with Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam wanting to know whether the ministry could claim ownership of the controversial real estate in south Mumbai if it had never received an ownership deed.
Mahtab, however, pointed out that the relevant record of defence owning the land could be a part of military land records that the ministry has been asked to locate. The land on which the society came up in violation of norms with flats worth in crores allotted to influential persons has been in the defence ministry's possession for several years.
Perhaps wariness about land issues after the Adarsh scam, saw the ministry respond to the committee's queries after five reminders and a year after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report reached the PAC.
The defence establishment owns a little over 17 lakh acres of land and with the NoC granted, although not executed, for a private school leading to the highly publicized Sukna land case, members wanted to know how many NoCs have been granted in recent years.
The query, however, drew a blank as a senior ministry official said the information was classified leading to MPs demanding that it be shared with the panel internally. The ministry carefully told the committee that it has made public information regarding "old grants", many that have been concluded in British times.
Tharoor is believed to have expressed surprise over the manner in which funds generated from land transactions were not monitored under a separate head as he felt these should be deposited in the consolidated fund of India.
In its presentation, the ministry said it has now banned any NoC being issued to private parties and this was being strictly complied with while all defence organizations were actively computerizing records that were placed under electronic time seals signed by relevant officers.
Land sharks squat on defence ministry’s 12,000 acres

Brajesh Mishra aids RAW spy to escape

Maj Rabindra Singh disappeared taking advantage of the then National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra not agreeing to the RAW report for his arrest. Brajesh Mishra, awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2011 for his anti- national activity!
Missing Indian spy found in US
By Iftikhar Gilani Tuesday, March 14, 2006
NEW DELHI: Rabindra Singh, a senior Indian spy who went missing in May 2004 after suspected of becoming a double agent and passing on secret and classified documents to the Americans, has been ultimately traced in the countryside of Virginia state in the United States after 22 months of hunt.
The government knew from very first day of his escape that he had fled to the United States for whom he was spying in Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s top external intelligence agency. His whereabouts, however, remained unknown until recently. A Delhi daily on Monday said Rabindra, a clean-shaven Sikh who was a joint secretary in RAW at the time of his escape just as he was to be arrested, is living in disguise with his wife and two children in Virginia. The Indian agencies have established his identity on the basis of his latest photograph in disguise and other evidences and now intense efforts are on to bring him to justice.
India and United States have the extradition treaty that may be explored to ask the US authorities to arrest Rabindra and send him back to India, though the authorities are sceptic in succeeding since Rabindra had become the American agent in RAW. Rabindra was under surveillance by the counter-intelligence unit of RAW on suspicion that he was photocopying sensitive files and classified information and handing them over to the US intelligence officials based in Delhi. He was already filmed zeroxing classified documents in his office after the agency bosses smelt rat the way he was hosting parties for the foreign secret agents.
He and his family, however, disappeared taking advantage of the then National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra not agree to the RAW report for his arrest. His handlers in the US intelligence network in the American embassy had tipped him off that their clandestine dealings with him were no longer secret. He fled to Nepal via Bihar border and then managed to reach the Untied States with the help of the undercover operatives of the US intelligence.
Rabinder was part and parcel of several undercover missions and was one of the 15 joint secretaries in the country’s top external intelligence agency’s secretariat at the time of his escape. His disappearance had caused a lot of concern in the government since he knew a lot about the counter-intelligence missions and as such he can harm the national interests.
He was a major in the Army before he came to RAW on deputation to RAW in the 80s and was absorbed in the RAW service on completion of the deputation. Rated a poor intelligence analyst, he had talent to be a better field operative. During his RAW career, he worked in Amritsar and subsequently as a field operative in West Asia and West Europe to monitor activities of the terrorist groups and Sikh militants operating from there. In Amritsar, he was assigned the task of collecting transborder intelligence.
Missing Indian spy found in US

Praful Patel and his family flogs the National Carrier to death

Mail Today Bureau | Mail Today | New Delhi, March 25, 2012 | UPDATED 16:06 IST
Praful Patel blamed for Air India woes
Praful Patel , Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, is accused of being the cause of Air-India's woes.
Lesser mortals may have fallen to government's official auditor and his sharp, probing reports. But the suave Praful Patel can hardly be counted as a victim.
The NCP leader shifted from the civil aviation ministry in January, 2011 to the heavy industries sector without much being made by the media of the scandalous decision to acquire 111 aircrafts for Air-India, a move questioned in the CAG's performance audit of the civil aviation sector from 2005 to 2010.
The CAG is also examining a report of the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture on the 'Merger of Indian Airlines and Air India: its impact on the Civil Aviation' and criticised the civil aviation ministry for its "ill-timed" plan to merge Air-India and Indian Airlines. CAG's earlier report about aircraft acquisition is being examined by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee where officers have apprised the members that the decision for the acquisition was taken at the "minister's level".
Patel, on his part, has maintained that the decisions, both to acquire the aircrafts as well as the merger of Air-India and Indian Airlines, were right. The fault lay with implementation that has left the national carrier in a state of penury. He now presides over a department that is empowered to decide whether Air-India is a "sick" unit. Who brought about this downfall is a case for the Head of sthe Council of Ministers to analyse.
Read more at: Praful Patel blamed for Air India woes
Air India deployed bigger aircraft for Praful Patel's family?
Comment: The high flying corrupt Aviation Minister is rewarded by being given another plum ministry which he can denude at liesure. Corrupt Ministers are rewarded and honest Ministers sidelined. Where is the accountability? Praful Patel exemplifies the type of Banana Republic which are ruled by Criminal Political Families- Family Run Governance more dreadful than the Moghul and British Empire...

Adarsh Scam: MOD gives notice to Land Grabbers

Hand over Adarsh land: Defence Ministry to Maharashtra government
NDTV Correspondent | Updated: May 29, 2012 00:09 IST
Mumbai: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has sent a notice to the Maharashtra government claiming the ownership of the land on which the Adarsh Housing Society is built. According to the notice, the land was taken by fraud, connivance between politicians, bureaucrats and defence officials, and that the Maharashtra government is illegally denying property to the Centre.
"The 31-storey building (Adarsh) has been constructed illegally and unlawfully. The MoD is the sole owner of the land. By fraud, collusion and connivance on part of Adarsh members, ministers and bureaucrats of the state government and officials from the defence ministry acting beyond their scope of authority, the land was transferred to Adarsh society," the notice claims.
The notice, which was sent to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, Registrar of Cooperative Societies and Adarsh society, also says that if the Maharashtra government does not reply within 60 days, the Ministry of Defence will file a title suit in the Bombay High Court.
"In a final attempt to avoid litigation, the defence ministry calls upon the government and Adarsh to reconsider their legal position and acknowledge title of MoD within two months," the notice reads.
However, last month, the judicial commission of inquiry looking into the Adarsh housing scam held that the land on which Adarsh Housing Society stands belongs to the government, and not the Army.
The state government had approached the commission a few months ago seeking an interim report on the points of title and reservation. A two-member panel was set up to probe the scam in January last year.
The panel, which submitted its interim report to the government on April 13, also held that the 31-storey high-rise was not reserved for war heroes and Kargil widows. When the Adarsh scam broke, politicians, bureaucrats and Armymen were accused of grabbing Defence land. The interim report had come as a vindication of the state's stand that it was government land and it was free to allot it.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Sessions Court is likely to pronounce its order in the bail hearing of the seven people accused in the scam today. They had filed bail applications saying the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had not filed its chargesheet even after the mandatory sixty days period from their date of arrest.
The accused in the Adarsh society scam include suspended Maharashtra Finance Secretary Pradeep Vyas, P V Deshmukh, Retired Brigadier MM Wanchoo, former Defence Estates Officer RC Thakur, Retired Major General A R Kumar, Retired Major General TK Kaul and former Congress MLC K L Gidwani.
Hand over Adarsh land: Defence Ministry to Maharashtra government
New move by Bureaucrats to grab Military Lands
Mod to Amend the Works of Defence Act, 1903

Investigation of BEML Chief stalled? Will he escape?

More trouble for BEML chief Natarajan?

Executive Profile
VRS Natarajan
Chairman of the Board and Managing Director, BEML Limited
Age Total Calculated Compensation This person is connected to 15 board members in 1 different organizations across 1 different industries.
Background
Shri VRS Natarajan serves as the Managing Director and Chairman and of Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. Corporate Headquarters
BEML SOUDHA
Bangalore, Karnataka 560027 India
Phone: 91 80 2296 3240
Fax: 91 80 2296 3278
Board Members Memberships
Chairman of the Board and Managing Director
BEML Limited
Education
There is no Education data available. Other Affiliations
There is no Company Affiliations data available. Salary 1,464,638
Total Annual Compensation 1,464,638
Stock Options
All Other Compensation 2,452,039
Total Compensation
Total Annual Cash Compensation 3,916,677
Total Short Term Compensation 1,464,638
Other Long Term Compensation 2,452,039
Total Calculated Compensation
BEML Chief Executive Profile

Army Line of Succession Trend is Dangerous

“The line of succession has been designed by divine right of General J J Singh... the bureaucrats in the PMO have persisted in this. What is the motivation behind this campaign?”
Former Indian Army Chief Gen JJ Singh worked out plans for Bikram Singh to take over
Thursday, March 15, 2012 Anonymous
M.G. Devasahayam | The Weekend Leader
As is well known, bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a government or organization who are rule-bound and function under institutional norms and standards. Adhocracy operates in opposite fashion and cater more to individual or group agenda rather than functioning under institutional norms and standards.
In the last few years, Indian Administrative Service, the bulwark of India’s bureaucracy, has been mutating itself into an agenda-led adhocracy. This ‘liberalisation’ agenda, co-promoted by Government, Multi-National Corporations and India’s Corporate Sector, include 100 percent FDI by real-estate; land-grab license for SEZ; surrendering tribal forests to mining giants; billions worth of nuclear bonanza and feeble civil liabilities for energy behemoths; ramming GM-cotton and food down people’s throat; mortgaging India’s farming to US interests through ‘Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture’ and ‘Agriculture Cooperation and Food Security’ MoUs; globalizing retail trade and grand entry of foreign universities into India!
This agenda is in vast variance with the ‘growth aspiration’ the country started with at independence. In the vision of the Father of the Nation, Independent India would be sui generis, a society unlike any other, in a class of its own.
Gandhi’s India would not go for gigantic, FDI-funded development projects and large-scale industry and mining, typical of market-led growth under capitalism. Instead, India would pursue an equitable, participatory, small-is-beautiful, need-based, inclusive, balanced development while conserving nature and livelihoods. It is to nurture this socio-economic ethos that IAS was established and covenanted in the constitution.
The present-day neo-liberal agenda is just the opposite, seeking an India of market-making MNCs, millionaires and billionaires, a middle class of 300 million providing that market and the rest of 800 million Indians surviving as barely literate, malnourished multitude. This agenda is being driven by a new breed of adhocracy within the IAS that has come about through inbreeding and rank favouritism.
Ever since UPA government under Manmohan Singh assumed power (2004) two kinds of adhocracy have been shaping up. One was born of the ‘clan-within-clan’ inbreeding being practiced by a ‘linguistic-parochial’ group that at one point of time occupied almost every top-job in Delhi’s corridors of power.
The other is the ‘loyalist-core’ put together to implement the neo-liberal agenda. With the active participation of PMO patriarchs, spread of ‘clan-within-clan’ adhocracy was fast and furious capturing several key positions of ‘might and money’. And barring honourable exceptions, other coveted positions went to agenda-men anointed by the ‘Moneyed and the Mighty’.
Bureaucracy was meant to administer through laid down rules. The ICS was called the steel frame, precisely for this reason. ICS men viewed any deviation from the rules as a misdemeanor. Its successor, the IAS endeavoured to keep up the standards. Though there were hiccups, the bureaucratic system by and large ensured that men/ women with merit were not denied their due place in promotions and postings.
Adhocracy on the other hand is being nurtured through blatant violation of processes and procedures to ensure that the top positions of Government, Joint Secretaries, Additional Secretaries and Secretaries, are held only by the clansmen and their agenda-abiding loyalists. Such adhocracy, which is antonymous to rule-bound bureaucracy, has substantially skewed and compromised the decision making process and standards. The result is for all to see; policy failure in almost all fronts, suffocating corruption and near total collapse of governance.
As if by intent, adhocracy seem to have permeated the Army Headquarters also as it did in the civil citadel. Sometime in 2005, out of the blue, the then Chief of the Army Staff (General JJ Singh) initiated the unique ‘look down policy’ to determine the ‘line of succession’ to the top position in the Army.
He was not looking for immediate succession but was looking deep-down to the year 2012 and found one favourite - Brigadier Bikram Singh. The Chief also realised that events and dates relating to the then Major General VK Singh, who was sure shot to become Army Chief in 2010, needed to be manipulated if Bikram Singh was to succeed him in 2012!
Once this sub-agendum was set, things started moving. Someone in the MS Branch ‘discovered’ VK Singh’s UPSC application form mentioning 1950 as his year of birth and this was the ‘brahmastra’ to be used to truncate and restrict VK Singh’s tenure as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to a two year period, so that the passage could be cleared for Bikram Singh to take over in May 2012. The massive documentary proof establishing 1951 as General’s YoB was ignored. A dismal charade of seeking ‘acceptance’ of 1950 from VK Singh as his YoB was played out.
But there were more hurdles. At that point of time, this favourite was not a front-runner as there were other officers ahead of him, who needed to be ‘eliminated’ at the COAS’s level itself with a bit of deft manoeuvring. A list was prepared, nick-named ‘Op MOSES’ which implied that the Chief would part the waters like in the ‘Ten Commandments’ for Bikram Singh to smoothly walk through! Like a family tree in reverse, Op MOSES listed few potential threats - Brigadiers and Major Generals of higher calibre - who were dealt with and pushed out one by one either through supersession and non-empanelment! For this purpose even ‘records of service’ were tinkered and tampered with and some even made to disappear.
The fallout of this crude manipulation indulged in by the military adhocracy was the sordid age-row of VK Singh that has rocked the nation. The actual DoB is a matter of record as rightly observed by the Supreme Court. But what is of concern is the manner in which the controversy was first stoked, then fanned and finally, brought into play. This calls for thorough investigation. This is all the more urgent because it is alleged that TKA Nair, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister was behind this brazen manoeuvring. Well before the age controversy came out in the open, Nair is reported to have told his confidants that VK Singh had to go in May 2012 because the ‘Prime Minister had assured his wife that General Bikram Singh would be the next COAS’.
Incidentally this gentleman was the chief mentor of the civil service adhocracy! We have seen the neo-liberal agenda for creating and nurturing the civil adhocracy. But what is the agenda for the military adhocracy? This begs the question. But corruption and carpetbagging could be a possible answer. It is believed that there are IB reports about massive kick-backs in the still-born Eurocopter deal and a top Army brass has reportedly transferred 22 million Euros (Rs. 145 crores) to his relative in Paris through hawala post. But unfortunately for him the deal fell through and he had the consternation of returning the moolah! As if to compensate, this man was rewarded with a coveted civil position with powers to award thousands of crores worth of construction contracts! Now, with huge weapon/equipment purchase deals either being processed or pending in the Army HQ a pliable adhocracy is needed to serve the MNC agenda. With the state turning into a non-functioning kleptocracy, corruption is the common denominator between civil and military adhocracy. Of late we have seen several cases of swindling and misappropriation in which General Officers have been court-martialed and dismissed from service. Many more must be lying buried.
Sensing danger the civil-military adhocracy has combined to hound out General VK Singh who does not fit into the adhocracy mould. Bulk of the media including ‘reputed’ scribes and defense analysts partnered with the kleptocrats in this despicable task, which indeed is the real tragedy!
M.G. Devasahayam is a retired IAS officer, who had served in the Indian army before he joined the civil service. He had taken part in the Indo-Pak War of 1965 and counter insurgency operations in Nagaland. The views expressed in the above article are based on information from his sources in the defence establishment.
Former Indian Army Chief Gen JJ Singh worked out plans for Bikram Singh to take over
Comment: Gen JJ Singh the earlier Chief was rewarded by the Arms Lobby by appointing him Governor... Gen Deepak Kapoor former chief is an ardent worshipper of arms lobbyists unluckily got entangled in the Sukhna and Adarsh Land Scams (still hoping for more)... he has already collected the rewards from various arms dealers... The wheels of Justice is just slowly turning around. TKA Nair was gifted land by BEML to shut his mouth and eyes to Tatra Money Laundering Cycle- He wanted Gen VK Singh to go...PM's close aide TKA Nair caught in land row: click Here... these shameless bureaucrats have made our nation a haven for Money Laundering and Generation of Black Money- signalling to where we are heading.... A Democratic Banana Republic.

MHA now has Fake CBI Officials

Three arrested for cheating people by posing as CBI officials Press Trust of India | Updated: May 06, 2012 22:58 IST NDTV Report
New Delhi: Three persons, including a senior scientific officer of Central Forensic Science Laboratory and an employee of Revenue department, were today arrested for allegedly entering into a criminal conspiracy and cheating people by posing as CBI officials and demanding bribe. The CBI conducted searches based on a complaint from a property dealer in Ghaziabad against A R Arora, Senior Scientific Officer working with CFSL, alleging that he had threatened him with police action by lodging a complaint against him.
CBI examined the complaint and registered a case against Arora, an assistant posted in Department of Revenue Shiv Charan, a private person identified as Manish Sharma and an official of Central Excise Department under various sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, CBI spokesperson said.
After registering cases, the CBI carried out searches at various places in Delhi and Karnal in Haryana and claimed to have recovered Rs. three lakh in cash from Arora's residence.According to the CBI spokesperson, it was alleged that the Senior Scientific Officer, while introducing himself as Additional Deputy Director CBI, falsely informed a property dealer based in Ghaziabad that a complaint against him was pending, for which the property dealer was required to visit h Arora is alleged to have threatened the property dealer that he would use his powers and register a criminal case against him and later advised him to get the matter pursued through Sharma by giving illegal gratification for settling the "complaint", which was false, the spokesperson said.
In another case, Arora is alleged to have actually carried out an illegal and unauthorised search at the premises of some businessman in order to obtain illegal gratification, the spokesperson said.
It was alleged that an employee of Shiv Charan, an assistant in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, an official of Central Excise and Manish Sharma introduced themselves as public servants with powers to carry out search operations, and conducted illegal and unauthorised searches.
After the searches, they demanded an illegal gratification from the businessman to abate the search proceedings and allegedly received a huge amount as bribe, the spokesperson said.
click here for the original post: Three arrested for cheating people by posing as CBI officials
CBI and Chidambaram
CBI likely to whitewash Armsgate scam: ROOTS OF POWER by MADHAV NALAPAT

Adarsh Scam: Will the Ex Military Chiefs be Investigated?

Adarsh scam: Gidwani remanded in CBI custody till April 3
Published: Saturday, Mar 31, 2012, 1:17 IST
Place: Mumbai | Agency: PTI
A special CBI court in Mumbai on Friday remanded KL Gidwani, former Congress MLC and one of the main accused in Adarsh Housing Society case, in CBI custody till April 3.

The court had earlier refused to give the CBI Gidwani's fresh custody in the case. But earlier today, Bombay High Court quashed the lower court's order.

Allowing an application filed by CBI challenging the March 26 order of the special CBI court which had remanded Gidwani in judicial custody, Justice R C Chavan of the high court directed the lower court to decide the agency's request for further custody afresh.

The special CBI court had refused to extend Gidwani's CBI custody after accepting the defence lawyer's argument that the accused had already been in CBI's custody for 10 days in a bribery case related to the Adarsh scam.

So the agency had moved the high court.

In the special court this afternoon, CBI prosecutor Ejaz Khan argued that all the transactions (for the Society) were done through "six to seven layers" and the CBI had to get to the bottom of them.

Gidwani was the chief promoter of Adarsh Society in south Mumbai and was instrumental in securing crucial clearances from different government departments.

The Society allegedly stands on Defence Ministry's land, and has breached a host of environmental and civic laws.
Adarsh scam: Gidwani remanded in CBI custody
BMEL and Tatra Vectra under CBI Investigation
CBI Investigates BEML- Tatra Vectra Nexsus

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

Criminals as rulers!

The Tribune Chandigarh March 12, 2012
It is a matter of grave concern that all leading parties give preference to criminals during allotment of tickets. In the UP Assembly elections, over 337 candidates having criminal charges pending against them were given tickets by the SP, BSP, BJP and Congress. All party leaders announced time and again that people having clean records would be given tickets. Justice Rajinder Sachar (retd) in his article “Whither Indian polity?” (February 24) clearly mentioned that no party is talking of the real problems. Minorities are being treated as the football of politics.

The leaders are talking of giving laptops to students of weaker sections whereas a large numbers of schools have no blackboards or toilets for girls. Our leaders should promise what they can provide in reality and what is required and not show false dreams which cannot be fulfilled.
SUBHASH C TANEJA, Rohtak
Criminals as rulers!

PM in a fix: To punish the corrupt advisors or not?

2G order: PM wants to know whether his officers should be punished
Sunil Prabhu, Updated: February 08, 2012 17:14 IST
New Delhi: The Prime Minister wants to know if any members of his office need to be penalized as a consequence of a recent Supreme Court verdict on the telecom scam. In its verdict, the court pulled up the Prime Minister's Office, and also recommended that the government consider a four-month deadline for responding to requests to prosecute government servants on charges of corruption. Dr Manmohan Singh has asked Attorney General GE Vahanvati to advise him within a week on whether the government should, in a review petition, ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its verdict.

On January 31, the court ruled that the Prime Minister's Office was wrong to have taken nearly 16 months to respond to a request by Subramaniam Swamy that asked for permission to prosecute former telecom minister A Raja in connection with the 2G scam. Mr Swamy sent in his request in November 2008. He finally took the government to court. The law makes it necessary for the Prime Minister to sanction the prosecution of a union minister.

The Supreme Court said, "The concerned officers in the Prime Minister's Office kept the matter pending and then took the shelter of the fact that the CBI had registered the case and the investigation was pending." However, it was much gentler on Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, saying that he "is not expected to personally look into the minute details of every case placed before him and has to depend on his advisers and other officers." (Read: Verdict gentle on PM, tough on his advisors)

Though the court did not mention any names, the PM has asked the Attorney General if he is expected to take any action against those who were his closest aides at the time.
2G order: PM wants to know whether his officers should be punished

Comment: Where is the need to seek SC clarification when the corrupt advisors logically need to punished for their omissions and commissions!