Praful Patel's family flew business class after Air India called in big planes
NDTV Sandeep Phukan, Sidharth Pandey, Updated: February 21, 2012 00:47 IST
New Delhi: Air India has been forced to reveal that Praful Patel's family was able to fly business class after last-minute changes were made to pull in a bigger plane for their journey last year, ensuring they were able to fly business class.
Mr Patel was then Civil Aviation Minister.
The details of his family's travel have been released because of a Right to Information application filed by activist Subhash Agarwal.
On April 25, Mr Patel's daughter, Avni, her husband, and relatives of her in-laws were to fly from Bangalore to the Maldives. The plane usually reserved for that flight - an Airbus 319 - has eight business class seats. Seven of them had been booked for other passengers. On April 8, instructions were emailed from the airline's Mumbai headquarters to the Bangalore station manager asking for an Airbus 320 to be used on April 25 and April 28 - the days on which Mr Patel's family members would be flying into and out of the Maldives. As a result, more than 50 seats were vacant on both routes (the A320 has many more economy class seats than the A 319).
Air India had refused to part with the information citing commercial secrets, but last month, the Central Information Commissioner ordered the carrier to make the information public in larger interest.
NDTV Report
Praful Patel has graduated and grounded to Heavy Industries for more kickbacks
Comments by vish 11 hours ago
In other parts of the world, small accusations of someone politicians going for a lavish dinner or for some sort of perfectly legal loans from government banks - make the concerned politicians be inquired and finally most of the time they are required to resign. In London one minister resigned since he was accused of dodging to pay a speeding fine some 8-10 years back. Compare this to India - these shameless guys do everything wrong possible in this world and do not even blink eyes are accused. This Praful Patel has amassed huge wealth and now owns huge tracts of properties in Maharashtra and Mumbai - can he show how he amassed this wealth in all these years (except for sure sucking of Air India). Its easy for Income Tax and Enforcement authorities to get the details in just few days but obviously with Congress in power this would never happen...
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Showing posts with label conmen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conmen. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Saturday, December 11, 2010
International Anti-Corruption Day: India scores highest marks
By resolution 58/4 of 31 October 2003, the UN General Assembly designated 9 December as International Anti-Corruption Day. This decision was taken in order to raise awareness of corruption and of the role of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in combating and preventing it. The Assembly urged all States and competent regional economic integration organizations to sign and ratify the United Nations Convention against Corruption as soon as possible in order to ensure its rapid entry into force.
Are we racing towards a Failed State?
India 87th on corruption list – Will we ever improve? by Viral Dholakia
Have you noticed how a bunch of ants surround a cube of sugar? Similarly, where there is big money involved – the corruption will most likely find its roots dug deep into the system. It is literally under every stone you turn. And, by now, most of us in India have learned to live with corruption as a part and parcel of our life.
In India, the tentacles of corruption are spread far and wide in all horizons of life and not just limited to government organizations. Recent instances of IPL scam and the Commonwealth Games fiasco underscores as to how a big moolah can attract corruption even in a Gentleman’s game. (The 2G Spectrum Scam has drained the national wealth- increasing the nation's poverty Index/ levels and making the poor poorer)
Moreover, corruption is not just limited to India. It is a massive phenomena and a real cancer destroying the benefits of globalization in many poor countries.
The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that three quarters of the 178 countries in the index have fared miserably in terms of corruption problem.
Specifically, India has slipped three places in global rankings of most corrupt countries, from 84 in 2009 to 87 this year.
On the ranking based on the scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (low level of corruption), India scored 3.3 to grab 87th position in sharing with Jamaica and Liberia. It is understood that the CWG has to take blame for India’s poor show – on account of large-scale corruption in preparation to hosting the grand event.
On a positive note, only 5 countries – Denmark, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland and Sweden – managed to score higher than 9 points which indicates the list of least corrupted nations. The countries that ranked as most corrupt nations were Somalia, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Iraq.
The report released by Transparency International, which is based on input from 13 different experts and business surveys, further indicates that the global financial crisis took a toll on people’s views of corruption in government.
Notable among decliners over the past one year are some of the countries most affected by the financial crisis precipitated by transparency and integrity deficits. The survey highlighted the fact that few of the improvers were from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Download complete PDF report
India ranks 87th- the most corrupt nation of the subcontinent
Are we racing towards a failed state?
PM says he is worried about future of Parliamentary system
Are we racing towards a Failed State?
India 87th on corruption list – Will we ever improve? by Viral Dholakia
Have you noticed how a bunch of ants surround a cube of sugar? Similarly, where there is big money involved – the corruption will most likely find its roots dug deep into the system. It is literally under every stone you turn. And, by now, most of us in India have learned to live with corruption as a part and parcel of our life.
In India, the tentacles of corruption are spread far and wide in all horizons of life and not just limited to government organizations. Recent instances of IPL scam and the Commonwealth Games fiasco underscores as to how a big moolah can attract corruption even in a Gentleman’s game. (The 2G Spectrum Scam has drained the national wealth- increasing the nation's poverty Index/ levels and making the poor poorer)
Moreover, corruption is not just limited to India. It is a massive phenomena and a real cancer destroying the benefits of globalization in many poor countries.
The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that three quarters of the 178 countries in the index have fared miserably in terms of corruption problem.
Specifically, India has slipped three places in global rankings of most corrupt countries, from 84 in 2009 to 87 this year.
On the ranking based on the scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (low level of corruption), India scored 3.3 to grab 87th position in sharing with Jamaica and Liberia. It is understood that the CWG has to take blame for India’s poor show – on account of large-scale corruption in preparation to hosting the grand event.
On a positive note, only 5 countries – Denmark, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland and Sweden – managed to score higher than 9 points which indicates the list of least corrupted nations. The countries that ranked as most corrupt nations were Somalia, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Iraq.
The report released by Transparency International, which is based on input from 13 different experts and business surveys, further indicates that the global financial crisis took a toll on people’s views of corruption in government.
Notable among decliners over the past one year are some of the countries most affected by the financial crisis precipitated by transparency and integrity deficits. The survey highlighted the fact that few of the improvers were from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Download complete PDF report
India ranks 87th- the most corrupt nation of the subcontinent
Are we racing towards a failed state?
PM says he is worried about future of Parliamentary system
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Armed Forces now become saviors of CWG as OC has run out of funds
Make Games a grand success- India’s honour is at stake by Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi (retd)
THE mess that the organisers of the 10th Commonwealth Games have made of it has sullied the honour and image of India. Unfortunately, while the Organising Committee (OC) has been in the eye of the storm, the mess is not confined to it. Here is a world class event, bid for by the country, for which ample time was available to the OC as well as to the entire Delhi Administration, and yet we find ourselves in such dire straits that neither the Games venues nor the infrastructure facilities in Delhi are ready. One should also not forget that the worthies of the Central government, who were supposedly keeping a close watch, continued to be somnolent till they were jolted by revelations in the media.
The media needs to be congratulated for bringing to the public domain how officials associated with organising the Games have misappropriated government funds and lined their own pockets. There is no end to such revelations, hoodwinking and passing the buck, but the culprits are either posturing or in a permanent state of denial while delays continue in all fields of activity, from infrastructure to what are euphemistically called “overlays”.
The latest are the gag orders issued to the coaches after the chief hockey coach, a Spaniard, in great anguish commented lucidly on the systemic failures of the nation in the field of sports, saying, “I have lost; your ‘system’ has won. I tried my best to change it; I pleaded, I cried, I did everything; but it won’t budge.” What a monumental shame!
The mess is not confined to the so-called world class infrastructure relating to the Games, but even in getting Delhi organised for the purpose. Let me mention just a few — the road communications within Delhi and the Metro extension; the grossly incomplete beautification drive undertaken by various agencies and not meeting even the targets of hotel rooms and other accommodation; all at such monumental costs. There can only be two reasons for this state of affairs — officials sitting over sanctions till their personal “demands” are met, and an abysmal lack of pride in the nation’s achievements. With every new revelation, the nation comes down another notch in the eyes of the world as well as our own people. It is not corruption per se that bothers the citizens, but the rampant loot of their hard-earned money, for public funds are after all created by numerous taxes which we all pay. Apparently, corruption no longer bothers us because it has now become a way of life in our country. There is no facet of India that is corruption-free.
In areas where a particular action may not be described as corruption, there is filching of public funds, again by both the high and the mighty as well as the officials who occupy the lower rungs of the bureaucracy, the police, etc. We seem to be so completely affected by our proverbial fatalistic outlook to life that we continue to withstand this onslaught of government officials and elected representatives without any major and collective backlash.
Reverting to the Games, once the media had exposed the skulduggery of the OC and the grossly inadequate preparations, it is to the credit of the Prime Minister that he moved fast, set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) as well as a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) to oversee all aspects of the preparations of the Games. A number of senior-level bureaucrats were also coopted to oversee each venue and expedite completion. It may well be a case of “too little too late”, but at least attempts are being made to retrieve a dismal situation.
At the same time, we have fallen into the trap of having “too many cooks.…”. So, there is a great danger of not meeting the aims and objectives.
In the Army, we cater for contingencies when the officer in command may become unavailable; his deputy takes over automatically and continues with his task. The advantages are obvious, but our political leaders as well as bureaucrats are loath to learn from the Army. So, we have a situation where the man in charge of the Games must be replaced, but we are unable to do so either on political grounds or because such a contingency was not planned for, and control could not change seamlessly.
There are also other major disadvantages. Besides diluting responsibility, we have managed to reduce accountability too. Resultantly, though the powers at the highest level have promised a full enquiry after the Games and severe punishment for those responsible, no one seems to believe it. Such is the loss of confidence of the “aam aadmi” in our leadership. Undoubtedly, a tragic situation! However, that is still in the future and such speculations at this time are unlikely to help in conducting the Games with a view to retrieving at least some of our image.
A few years back, the Army had conducted the World Military Games at Hyderabad, which were at a grand scale, with participation by over 70 nations. These Games were conducted flawlessly and earned kudos for the country. Luckily, some senior military officers who had played major roles in organising the military games have been coopted in the present games. They will undoubtedly do a stupendous job. One of them could have been made the deputy and we could have avoided the pitiable situation we are in. While on the subject of the military, how churlish it is on the part of the organisers to ask the serving personnel of the military who have been coopted for the most important tasks to do so gratis. Is this being suggested as a desperate measure to balance their books, although the paltry honorarium asked by the military is so minuscule that for the OC and the GoM to even suggest it is shameless, to say the least? It is only these military personnel who with their dedication and discipline will pull the chestnuts out of the fire for the OC and in doing so restore some of our lost image. Do pay them well.
At the end, it must be said that enough dirty linen has been washed in public. We need to end this now and concentrate on making the Games a grand success despite what has happened till now. There will be plenty of time and opportunity for recriminations and bringing the culprits to book after the Games. For the present, let us strive to put up a good show, for the sake of the country’s honour and reputation. In the long term, the nation will benefit. Once the Games are over, the media can go hammer and tongs after all the guilty and set examples for the future.
The writer is a former Vice-Chief of the Indian Army.
Make Games a grand success- India’s honour is at stake by Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi (retd)
The maverick politician, Mani Shankar Aiyar fits into the classic description of a whistle blower. He has recently raised serious internal concerns about the alleged wrongdoing in the functioning of the Commonwealth Games; especially so by his bête-noire, the Chairman of the CWG Organising Committee, Suresh Kalmadi. His charges are serious since it is his party, the Congress which is in power in Delhi and the Centre. Besides, he has been Union Sports Minister who is no stranger to the reality of sordid, long gestation sports mismanagement in India. Aiyar is also a special invitee to his party’s apex decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee.
CLAWS WEBSITE
Read more; click here: Armed forces must rescue Delhi Commonwealth Games by Maj Gen Raj Mehta
Veterans Voice
The govt has used the armed forces for everything from going into the sewer lines, borewells, floods, Commonwealth Games, latest being ridding Delhi of mosquitoes and even have the audacity to say that a Armed forces personnel will NOT be paid any TA/DA/ Money for the duty in Commonwealth Games. The civilian bureaucracy/ officials are busy making money and pushing the armed forces as a scapegoat for all this fiasco (Only 50% funds are utilised rest is siphoned to their pockets). How is it that the Three CHIEFS are silent spectators? Where are we heading. SORRY I personally have no answer to such attitude towards the Armed Forces by THE GOVT.
Col Baldev Singh (Retd)
Citizens Voice
Miracles happen, so the Commonwealth Games may take place without some stadium roof collapsing. But that is not the issue. What we should really be worried about is: How do dunderheads, frauds and double-dealing fixers come to represent this great country? How do humbuggers, thimble-riggers and pettifogging pretenders get the power to humiliate us before the world?
Disgrace in the name of sports: click her to read more...
THE mess that the organisers of the 10th Commonwealth Games have made of it has sullied the honour and image of India. Unfortunately, while the Organising Committee (OC) has been in the eye of the storm, the mess is not confined to it. Here is a world class event, bid for by the country, for which ample time was available to the OC as well as to the entire Delhi Administration, and yet we find ourselves in such dire straits that neither the Games venues nor the infrastructure facilities in Delhi are ready. One should also not forget that the worthies of the Central government, who were supposedly keeping a close watch, continued to be somnolent till they were jolted by revelations in the media.
The media needs to be congratulated for bringing to the public domain how officials associated with organising the Games have misappropriated government funds and lined their own pockets. There is no end to such revelations, hoodwinking and passing the buck, but the culprits are either posturing or in a permanent state of denial while delays continue in all fields of activity, from infrastructure to what are euphemistically called “overlays”.
The latest are the gag orders issued to the coaches after the chief hockey coach, a Spaniard, in great anguish commented lucidly on the systemic failures of the nation in the field of sports, saying, “I have lost; your ‘system’ has won. I tried my best to change it; I pleaded, I cried, I did everything; but it won’t budge.” What a monumental shame!
The mess is not confined to the so-called world class infrastructure relating to the Games, but even in getting Delhi organised for the purpose. Let me mention just a few — the road communications within Delhi and the Metro extension; the grossly incomplete beautification drive undertaken by various agencies and not meeting even the targets of hotel rooms and other accommodation; all at such monumental costs. There can only be two reasons for this state of affairs — officials sitting over sanctions till their personal “demands” are met, and an abysmal lack of pride in the nation’s achievements. With every new revelation, the nation comes down another notch in the eyes of the world as well as our own people. It is not corruption per se that bothers the citizens, but the rampant loot of their hard-earned money, for public funds are after all created by numerous taxes which we all pay. Apparently, corruption no longer bothers us because it has now become a way of life in our country. There is no facet of India that is corruption-free.
In areas where a particular action may not be described as corruption, there is filching of public funds, again by both the high and the mighty as well as the officials who occupy the lower rungs of the bureaucracy, the police, etc. We seem to be so completely affected by our proverbial fatalistic outlook to life that we continue to withstand this onslaught of government officials and elected representatives without any major and collective backlash.
Reverting to the Games, once the media had exposed the skulduggery of the OC and the grossly inadequate preparations, it is to the credit of the Prime Minister that he moved fast, set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) as well as a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) to oversee all aspects of the preparations of the Games. A number of senior-level bureaucrats were also coopted to oversee each venue and expedite completion. It may well be a case of “too little too late”, but at least attempts are being made to retrieve a dismal situation.
At the same time, we have fallen into the trap of having “too many cooks.…”. So, there is a great danger of not meeting the aims and objectives.
In the Army, we cater for contingencies when the officer in command may become unavailable; his deputy takes over automatically and continues with his task. The advantages are obvious, but our political leaders as well as bureaucrats are loath to learn from the Army. So, we have a situation where the man in charge of the Games must be replaced, but we are unable to do so either on political grounds or because such a contingency was not planned for, and control could not change seamlessly.
There are also other major disadvantages. Besides diluting responsibility, we have managed to reduce accountability too. Resultantly, though the powers at the highest level have promised a full enquiry after the Games and severe punishment for those responsible, no one seems to believe it. Such is the loss of confidence of the “aam aadmi” in our leadership. Undoubtedly, a tragic situation! However, that is still in the future and such speculations at this time are unlikely to help in conducting the Games with a view to retrieving at least some of our image.
A few years back, the Army had conducted the World Military Games at Hyderabad, which were at a grand scale, with participation by over 70 nations. These Games were conducted flawlessly and earned kudos for the country. Luckily, some senior military officers who had played major roles in organising the military games have been coopted in the present games. They will undoubtedly do a stupendous job. One of them could have been made the deputy and we could have avoided the pitiable situation we are in. While on the subject of the military, how churlish it is on the part of the organisers to ask the serving personnel of the military who have been coopted for the most important tasks to do so gratis. Is this being suggested as a desperate measure to balance their books, although the paltry honorarium asked by the military is so minuscule that for the OC and the GoM to even suggest it is shameless, to say the least? It is only these military personnel who with their dedication and discipline will pull the chestnuts out of the fire for the OC and in doing so restore some of our lost image. Do pay them well.
At the end, it must be said that enough dirty linen has been washed in public. We need to end this now and concentrate on making the Games a grand success despite what has happened till now. There will be plenty of time and opportunity for recriminations and bringing the culprits to book after the Games. For the present, let us strive to put up a good show, for the sake of the country’s honour and reputation. In the long term, the nation will benefit. Once the Games are over, the media can go hammer and tongs after all the guilty and set examples for the future.
The writer is a former Vice-Chief of the Indian Army.
Make Games a grand success- India’s honour is at stake by Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi (retd)
The maverick politician, Mani Shankar Aiyar fits into the classic description of a whistle blower. He has recently raised serious internal concerns about the alleged wrongdoing in the functioning of the Commonwealth Games; especially so by his bête-noire, the Chairman of the CWG Organising Committee, Suresh Kalmadi. His charges are serious since it is his party, the Congress which is in power in Delhi and the Centre. Besides, he has been Union Sports Minister who is no stranger to the reality of sordid, long gestation sports mismanagement in India. Aiyar is also a special invitee to his party’s apex decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee.
CLAWS WEBSITE
Read more; click here: Armed forces must rescue Delhi Commonwealth Games by Maj Gen Raj Mehta
Veterans Voice
The govt has used the armed forces for everything from going into the sewer lines, borewells, floods, Commonwealth Games, latest being ridding Delhi of mosquitoes and even have the audacity to say that a Armed forces personnel will NOT be paid any TA/DA/ Money for the duty in Commonwealth Games. The civilian bureaucracy/ officials are busy making money and pushing the armed forces as a scapegoat for all this fiasco (Only 50% funds are utilised rest is siphoned to their pockets). How is it that the Three CHIEFS are silent spectators? Where are we heading. SORRY I personally have no answer to such attitude towards the Armed Forces by THE GOVT.
Col Baldev Singh (Retd)
Citizens Voice
Miracles happen, so the Commonwealth Games may take place without some stadium roof collapsing. But that is not the issue. What we should really be worried about is: How do dunderheads, frauds and double-dealing fixers come to represent this great country? How do humbuggers, thimble-riggers and pettifogging pretenders get the power to humiliate us before the world?
Disgrace in the name of sports: click her to read more...
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