A secular nation?

We proudly call our nation multi-religious while forgetting the fact that this alone has killed many over the years! Why is that secularism does not work for India but it works for many others? Does the fault lie with our constitution? Or is it the blood of innocents over whom this nation was formed? Even if India did not have to shed much blood fighting for independence, it had to shed much over partition.More than a million they say. Did it all start from there? Will it's ghost never leave this nation?

Let us recall that the majority inherited this nation while the minority trusted the majority enough, to share this nation. Yet, there are a few among the minority as well as the majority who continue to feel insecure enough to fear each other. The politicians continue to fan this insecurity while they build their empire. Let me not blame one party alone since riots have occurred under both the major parties. If there was a 2002 Gujarat riot under BJP, there has been others under the Congress too. I mentioned Gujarat since this is where the nation's conscience stand rooted. From where it refuse to budge. But it is not from where it all started. If one party does it under the secular banner, the other under the Hinduvata banner.

Have a look at the various massacres that took place in India over the years and see the number of precious lives lost. Most of these massacres have been communal in nature.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_India

Communal riots are seldom caused spontaneously and very rarely caused by religious animosity. They are mostly caused due to conflicting political interests, which are often linked to economic interests. 

And in all these riots the police force was reduced to a mute spectator or an active party to the killing. A chronology of riots as reported by Hindustan Times details how police have always been let loose. I believe that before each religious killing or riots, there will be a smoldering time. The small fire from it all starts. Why is that this nation has never been able to douse this fire but does everything to fan it? I also continue to believe that the minute this smoldering starts, killers begin to sharpen their weapons. They have always been ready and yet our police and political party pretend not see them. You and me may never do the act, but there are those who have been trained to do so. Yes, those who are governing the state and the police force are responsible. Yet, over the years we have seen none of them being punished. Why? Are our courts biased too?

Police reforms may help they say. I believe too. The duty of the police is only to serve the people. They should never be a tool for the politicians to play with lives. Make them independent? Other nations are doing it, why not India? How much worse can it get, if it so? A force not governed by each state but as a separate entity. A force whose only duty is to protect the masses. What can go wrong? If there are mistakes, this will be more visible and can be easily punished?

Let the police force be politically neutral. Let them be recruited from a central pool and transferred like the bank employees. Let them be paid well for a start.

2014 LS elections are nearing. Do I have hopes for any positive change. Why should there be? On one side is the so called secular party trying to woo the minorities by all means while on the other side is the party for the majority trying to woo the majority. Will anything change on the ground? Or will both these parties lose and political mongering bring about an even more worse situation?

Let me end this by praying that any party which comes to power in 2014 will concentrate on building more toilets!

You will agree with me once you see the toilet map of our nation.

Are we short of people?

Is this nation teeming with  121,01,93422, and still counting by minutes, short of people to represent our esteemed Rajya Sabha?

 

This must be the question that went through the minds of many Indians when 2G accused and now out on bail Kanimozhi was elected to the Rajya Sabha with the help of the Congress Party. She spared no time to thank her benefactor as soon as she was elected!

Kanimozhi thanks Sonia Gandhi for support in Rajya Sabha polls

 

NEW DELHI: DMK leader Kanimozhi on Friday thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for supporting her in getting elected to Rajya Sabha earlier this week. 
"I was here to offer my party's thanks to Sonia Gandhi for supporting us," she told reporters hereRajyaSabha and Lok Sabha are almost the same when it comes to The salary, allowances andpension for a member and also the qualification.

As you many know, the Rajya Sabha has equal footing in all areas of legislation with Lok Sabha, except in the area of supply, where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. 

Now let us see the qualifications needed to contest the RS seat: The salary, allowances and pension for a member of Rajya Sabha are same as in Lok Sabha and so is the qualification too.

QualificationsAs per Article 84 of Indian Constitution, the Qualification for being a member of Lok Sabha is that he should be a citizen of India and has taken an oath given under Third Schedule of the Constitution. Also he must be at least 25 years of Age.
However ,as per Article 102 of Indian Constitution ,a member can be disqualified for being a member of parliament:-

• if he holds office of profit;

• if he is an undischarged insolvent;

• if he is of unsound mind;

• if he gives up as a citizenship of India or under allegiance or adherence to a foreign State;

• if he is violating party discipline(as per Tenth schedule of the constitution).

Also under Representation of People Act 1951, he should not be criminally convicted, which would lead to disqualification otherwise.

The trial of 2G scam is still going on and she is yet to be acquitted: Does this mean that they have already influenced the court?

M. K. Kanimmozhi

·         Political career – Daughter of five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi. Political party DMK. She is a Member of Parliament, representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Indian Parliament).^[49][50]·         Allegation – As per the chargesheet filed by CBI Kanimozhi has 20% stake in her family owned Kalaignar TV, her step-mother Dayalu Ammal owns 60% stake in the same channel.^[51] CBI alleges that Kanimozhi was an "active brain" behind the channel's operations^[51] and she worked along with former telecom minister A. Raja to get DB Realty promoter Shahid Balwa to circuitously route 2 billion (US$34 million) to Kalaignar TV.^[52] According to CBI, Kanimozhi was in regular touch with A Raja regarding launching of Kalaignar TV channel and its other pending works.^[52] CBI alleges that A Raja was further pursuing the cause of Kalaignar TV not only for getting registration of the company from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting but also for getting it in the DTH operator TATA Sky's bouquet. She was also summoned by the Income Tax Department, Chennai for alleged tax evasion charges.^[52]·         Charges – Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.^[28][40]·         Status – Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 20 May 2011.^[53][54] Granted bail on 28 November 2011 after spending 188 days in judicial custody.^[55][56] As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.^[48]

The Lok Sabha is already teeming with those who have criminal background but the least Kanimozhi could have done was stay away from politics until her name was cleared. How much ever poetry she writes, in the hearts of many Indians she has lost even the little respect and sympathy that she gained.

Identity

It was a casual remark: "One need to have a political and religious identity": set me thinking. Really? What purpose does it serve?

Let me look at both. Having a political identity means that you are a die-hard fan of a particular party. And what does a political party do? Ideally in a democracy it should help in nation building. The same goes for religion too. Ideally, it should build the spiritual side of a person. But what happens when one succumbs to a political party/ideology or religion? One fails to see the mistakes it commits. After all, both religion and political parties are made on earth by mortals and is bound to fail. When you surrender your identity to a religion or a political party you fail to speak out for it's wrongs.

One good example would be Hitler who headed the Nazi party and was able to persuade many to kill in the name of his ideology. It looked very easy once he attained power over the minds of his followers. He became too powerful to rein in even if anyone had second thoughts.

As for religion, I don't have to say anything! The examples are numerous.

In my state of Kerala, the main political parties are the Congress led UDF and the Communist parties under LDF. They take turns governing almost every 5 years and this happens not because of the die-hard fans of these parties but only because of those who rose above each party! The die-hard fans must surely have voted for their favourite party, but it is the votes of the rest which turned the tide.

A party ideology or love can prove to be disgusting at times. The recent one would be the brutal killing of TP Chandrashekaran. Am not ready to blame it on the Communist party with whom he was at loggerheads but one saw the hatred of the party even after he was dead! What makes one behave so?

Or let us look at the love of the Congress or the BJP fans. It is the same kind of blindness that is exhibited by many.

Let me conclude by saying that to build our nation each citizen should rise above political parties and be ready to point out the mistakes of those who ruin the nation.

A political party should be made to build the nation and not the politicians.

History

History was boring only when one had to memorize events and dates to reproduce it during an exam. But later I have always loved looking up history. A few blogs have made it even more pleasurable. Have always loved imagining the situation as it was eons ago. Since human emotions have remained pretty same, it is easy to imagine!

Some say it is not good to dwell in the past glory since we forget to move forward. But one cannot and should not ignore history since it can repeat if forgotten. And if there is one history that I want to be repeated, it would be the following:

India was by far the biggest economy at the dawn of AD! followed closely by China.. 

Most of us are recipients of emails which stated this fact in many other ways. Some were taken seriously while others were ignored. A few even called these Indians "nationalists"! Not sure why the love for your country is a bad emotion! Love for your own country can be compared to the love you have for your parents and your home. It does not mean that you hate another set of parents or home. It is just that it is from your home that your identity first shapes up and hence you shall always have a special regard for it.

Anyway coming back to the topic of ancient India, if you look at the map you can see that India is in a very dismal position at the moment. China had the same constraints but look how it is bouncing back?

While China seems to be slowly regaining its lost glory, India seems to have a lot of catching up to do. Even militarily, China is way beyond India.

The main reason being the rampant corruption that is eating into the resources of free India. I am sure most of us don't want a Chinese style of administration but I think the Indian freedom has lost all it's meaning. Right now the only free Indians, enjoying the fruits of India are the politicians and and those who pamper them.

I did not write this to offer solutions but just wanted to remind myself that India had a glorious history but due to the smugness, complacency, and carefree attitude of us Indians the past glory continues to evade us.

Source:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/the-economic-history-of-the-last-2-000-years-in-1-little-graph/258676/

Old wine in new bottle

The UPA government’s final attempt to regain the lost trust of the voters before the impending Lok Sabha election is through the much acclaimed National Food Security Bill (NFSB). This is also being lauded by MSN as Sonia’s pet project.

The four pillars of NFSB

Food Availability: The availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through  domestic production or imports (including food aid).

Food Access: Access by individuals to adequate resources (entitlements) for acquiring appropriate foods for a  nutritious diet. Entitlements are defined as the set of all commodity bundles over which a person can establish command given the legal, political, economic and social arrangements of the community in which they live (including traditional rights such as access to common resources).

Utilization or Absorption: Utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met. This brings out the importance of non-food inputs in food security.

Stability: To be food secure, a population, household or individual must have access to adequate food at all times. They should not risk losing access to food as a consequence of sudden shocks (e.g. an economic or climatic crisis) or cyclical events (e.g. seasonal food insecurity). The concept of stability can therefore refer to both the availability and access dimensions of food security.

But after repeated readings of several articles I fail to understand how different it is from the current Public Distribution System (PDS) or others that are already in place. 

The main purpose of PDS was to act as price supporting programmes for the consumers during the periods of food shortage of the 1960. In 1980 the coverage of PDS extended to rural areas in some states as welfare programme. In 1985 the scheme extended to all the tribal blocks covering about 51 million persons. The scheme was revamped and extended to 164 million persons covering the rural areas.

The FSB also talks about anganwadis. But these have been in place since 1975! We also have the mid-day meal programs in government schools since a long time.

So what is the new bill going to do which the older one couldn’t do?

It is an accepted fact that much leakage happens in the old system. FSB hopes to take care of this by the direct cash transfer system. How foolproof is this going to be when those governing the system have not changed at all?

Today, India has the largest stock of grain in the world besides China, the government spends Rs. 750 billion ($13.6 billion) per year, almost 1 percent of GDP, yet 21% remain undernourished. Under PDS scheme, each family below the poverty line is eligible for 35 kg of rice or wheat every month, while a household above the poverty line is entitled to 15 kg of foodgrain on a monthly basis.

The above graph shows that our foodgrains production has increased every year; yet millions go hungry.

As for storage of foodgrains, our FCI storages have never been revamped.  In fact much food grains are lost while in storage and is shameful in a country which has the most hungry in the world.

In 2010-11, the foodgrain loss was 1.56 lakh tonne, while it was 1.31 lakh tonnes in 2009-10 and 0.58 lakh tonnes in 2008-09, Food minister K V Thomas said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Even now most ration shops indulge in practices which create a black market, thus increasing the food grain price.

In aggregate, only about 42% of subsidised grains issued by the central pool reach the target group, according to a Planning Commission study released in March 2008.

In fact we are told that for every Rs. 4 spent on PDS, only Rs. 1 reaches the poor” and “57% of the PDS food grain does not reach the intended people” (UIDAI, 2009)

Besides, how much free food can a nation afford to give and how long? 

Instead if this amount is utilized for free education it will go a long way in creating a nation better equipped to face the present times. 

Won’t free and mandatory education combined with mid-day meals take care of a large section of our population? Won't it go a long way if a part of this money is spent on infrastructure projects?

If more than 40 years of upliftment through PDS couldn't make much change to the number of poor in India how will it do so now? Yes..we have uplifted our politicians and that is what even this will do. They shall remain the only winners as usual.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/men-and-ideas/entry/food-security-bill-corruption-by-another-name

http://under-the-tree-of-tranquility.blogspot.com/2011/05/only-winners.html
http://www.umdcipe.org/conferences/policy_exchanges/conf_papers/Abstracts/29.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Distribution_System
http://cacp.dacnet.nic.in/NFSB.pdf
http://www.academia.edu/378216/Public_Distribution_System_in_India

Rest in peace..we failed to save your life

Finally the girl who fought valiantly for her life; first from the rapists and later in the hospital has been laid to rest. She surely has found peace at last. But one fervently hopes that the fire that she kindled will not die until concrete steps have been taken to tackle the crime that is growing the fastest (700%) in India. But it is not an easy task at all especially since the mentality of our leaders have not changed at all. I took part in a few discussions in FB and elsewhere and in all, the most number of reasons cited for rape was the women’s way of dressing. Now if this was the real reason, I would gladly embrace it since we are desperately looking for solutions. But it is not. Have a look at the following report from KSA and see for yourself. It says that nearly a Quarter of Children Raped; Up to 46% of Students Suffer from Homosexuality.

Guest - No, I’m sorry, the study was directed at university students. Twenty-three percent had been raped during their childhood. For 62% of those, the rape was never reported. This was because it was one of the victim’s relatives. In the study, it was mentioned that more than 16% of the rapists were relatives, specifically 5% were siblings, 2% were teachers, and 1% were parents. In another study, which was conducted by Dr. In’am (al-Rabu’i), who is the president of children’s studies at the Armed Forces Hospital in Jeddah, she mentioned, or warned, that in the coming years we will suffer as a society from extremely widespread cases of homosexuality. The reason for this is the increase in the cases of sexual assault of children (brought) to the hospital, as well as the societal violence inflicted on children. She also mentioned that the hospital had on average three sexual assault cases per week.

So I hope we have killed the myth that a well dressed woman does not invite rape. In fact I would have posted a picture that made it crystal clear, except that it is too crude.

Actually KSA can take an example from Kuwait where no dress code exists. In malls one can see people not overtly modest or immodest. Not that rapes are rare but I think the stats are much better than that of KSA.

Now coming back to India, we saw how this “Empowered” lady scientist spoke her mind:

Khargone: In a shocking reaction to the Delhi gang-rape victim, Dr. Anita Shukla ironically blamed the victim herself for the crime committed; at a seminar in Khargone,M.P. The police department had called for a seminar on the topic, ‘Sensitivity towards women'. 

She commented, ‘The victim should have surrendered when surrounded by six men, at least it could have saved her intestines'.

However, women can stop such incidences by showing their maturity under such circumstances.

Wow! And there were none with a spine to give this lady a dressing down.

With such women in galore at even the “National Commission for Women”, do we really stand a chance to fight rape effectively? Maybe it is these women whom our President’s son was calling “Dented and painted”? Not that I agree with that dimwit!

This lady must be at an age where she has fought and lost many battles but the girl was not. She was young and she fought her tormentors.  And if this was her fault, I would say that she was not a coward but a brave one indeed. 

I also listened to the doctor who justified the moving of the girl to Singapore. I listened as he praised the kindness of the government in issuing the Passport in 2 days time. Bloody! When will educated ones like him utter the truth! That they were only doing their job. That they are not a charitable institution or a philanthropist to exercise kindness. That they are there with the tax payers money and to do a job. 

One also continues to wonder why the girl was shifted. Though very likely it was in fear of the protesters. 

As a nation we already stand ashamed of everything and now even of our doctors too. We have all become a bad lot!

Justice Verma has asked for suggestions to be sent to his email. Cynical as I am, I think this is only a PR exercise. I am sure he has neither time nor inclination to read millions of emails that would be sent; half of them angry outpourings. But do go ahead and write and don’t listen to this cynic.

The committee headed by former chief justice of India JS Verma sought comments from the public in general, particularly eminent jurists, legal professionals, NGOs, women's groups and civil society members on reviewing the existing laws in a bid to provide quicker justice and stringent punishment in cases of aggravated sexual assault, an official statement said. 
The comments can be sent at justice.verma@nic.in or through FAX at 011-23092675.

As for me all I want to tell him is to change! And if he can, change the attitude of his counterparts too. Next time a rape comes up in courts and the lawyer representing the rapist comes up with the following usual questions: 

1. Why were you out at that time?

2. Why were you wearing a jeans (or whatever) ?

3. Why do you roam around with your boy friend and not with your Father or brother?

4. Many more standard questions..

To all such questions all I want is that he THUNDER from his chair that the question is IRRELEVANT!  That he asks the lawyer to move on to the real issue. If he still does not get it maybe he can picture that it is his son (note that the GENDER is changed) who got raped and mauled. Will the above questions make any better sense? Can our judges see that a girl has been attacked and that all she is seeking is justice against her attackers?Nevertheless, let me wish that the following would be done ASAP. 

Police stations shall have specially trained personnel to handle rape related cases. Let them have a separate office for the same. Let there also be NGO’s who shall coordinate with the victim from the time of the filing of the FIR until the case is settled. Let these policemen be trained to be sensitive else we shall have more suicides like the recent one in Patiala.

As the news came in, the accused were finally arrested and three police officers sacked. But it was too little too late. The mere first-information report (FIR) had been registered 14 days after the rape.

The suicide note names the rapists and also accuses cops of repeatedly calling her to the police station and asking "uncomfortable" questions.

There needs to be a change in attitude from all including our judiciary, police, politicians and the ordinary citizens if rape laws are to be effective. No more blaming the victim and finding excuses for the rapists. As for punishment, I hope the six will be hanged very soon. Maybe the next one can be given 100 lashes daily for n number of days since killing is too quick. I don’t recommend killing, instead let them feel the pain and then left in jail for a longer period of time without any bail.

A nation's shame

If I ever wanted to join in a protest, it was the one that happened yesterday. Nothing would have stopped me but alas I am far away from it all and the only space that I can vent my feelings is on this blog.

The whole world shared the angst of Indians yesterday. But is anything going to change? Yes the rapists have been arrested and the law will take its course so why protest is the question many are asking? Because history just repeats! We have low rape convictions and even if convicted while the rapists may get a few years the victim is hounded for the rest of her life.

The conviction rate in rape and molestation cases in India is a dismal 27 per cent. Long drawn trials and pressure on the families of victims are some of the major reasons for this. Police norms and behaviour are a deterrent to many rape victims who do not lodge any complaint against the crime at all, say experts.

The stigma surrounding rape needs to change. We as a society feels that the life of the girls ends with rape. The first emotion that comes to our mind is that of defeat. The more emotional kills the victim even if she was his beloved daughter and we call it as saving the "honor" of the family! 

Even our movies have reflected this time and over. After a rape, the director either kills the victim or lets her commit suicide. It is seldom that we see the victim fight it out and come victorious. Late Padmarajan, the acclaimed Malayalam movie director did try to work around this in his movie "Nammuku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal" where the heroine after being raped by her step father is married by the hero. I can also remember a Hindi movie which dealt with the same subjemmct. Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai There must be others too. But in each one of these movies, the director has made sure that the victim shall never be blamed for rape! In real life this rarely happens. As soon as a rape is done we look for excuses. We wonder how she was dressed, where she was at that time and with whom. And mostly why at that time of the day! Even the Delhi CM had this same question. We also wonder if she was a sexually active individual. Everything about the victim is thoroughly examined but we seldom worry about the rapists. For the society he is just another male being excused for his libido. Yesterday I heard a lady doctor say that rapists are people with psychological problems and that they are not normal. How sweet! Are even the school bully’s psychological cases who only shuts up when another bully mightier than him appears on the scene? So is the case with most rapists. They are just bullies who grew up without being reprimanded when they should have. Maybe it is time these bullies are recognized. It is time they are confined to their houses specially at night since they have no business outside. Instead don't ask the women folks to confine themselves at home.

There was a season in Malayalam movies where a rape scene was a must. We had famous rapists; Janardhanan, T.G. Ravi, Jose Prakash and many more. The rape scenes were taken in such a way that the male audience enjoyed every bit of it! Rape was done mostly as revenge.

But why should the life of a girl be over after a rape? If she was involved in an accident and suffered the same injury why your views are different? Yes, we as a society need to change our views on rape.

And have you seen how the crowd jeers and jostles when a rape victim appears in court? I am sure many of those who were protesting yesterday would appear with a different mindset if the poor girl is brought to the court. Why? Oh! Why?

The girl is fighting for her life and if she succeeds she will be taking baby steps once again. It will not be easy to regain the trust that she lost on this world. On top of that our society will not make it easy for her. Let there be fast track courts but can we have a virtual one where the victim is not required to appear physically? Aren’t we a nation selling IT to the world but can’t implement the same for our own needs? Or let all these women organizations make it a point to appear along with such victims while protecting the victim from further humiliation. Will they do it?

As for our police; reforms need to be done urgently. They should no longer be at the beck and call of our politician when many of them have got away with violence against women.

Highlights of the report

• 6 MLAs have declared that they have charges of rape against themselves in their sworn affidavits submitted with the Election Commission of India at the time of their election.
• Of these 6 MLAs with declared rape cases, 3 are from SP namely Sribhagwan Sharma, Anoop Sanda and Manoj Kumar Paras from Uttar Pradesh, 1 from BSP namely Mohd. Aleem Khan from Uttar Pradesh, 1 of BJP namely Jethabhai G.Ahir from Gujarat and 1 of TDP namely Kandikunta Venkata Prasad from Andhra Pradesh.
• 36 other MLAs have declared that they have other charges of crimes against women such as outraging the modesty of a woman, assault, insulting the modesty of a woman etc.
• Of the 36 MLAs who have declared that they have charges of crimes against women, 6 MLAs are from INC , 5 from BJP and 3 from SP.
• U.P. has the maximum number of MLAs (8) who have declared that they have charges of crimes against women, followed by Orissa and West Bengal with 7 MLAs each.
• 2 MPs, namely Semmalai S of ADMK from Salem constituency in Tamil Nadu and Adhikari Suvendu of AITC from Tamluk constituency in West Bengal, have declared that they have charges of crimes against women, such as cruelty and intent to outrage a woman’s modesty etc.

Each party has one or two “heroes” who have got away with crime. With such people guarding our interests will any good come out?

There has not been any reform since our constitution was formed and when I believe that only an independent police force shall work, many fear the same. Why should it not work when it works in many developed/democratic countries?

India's police are governed by archaic and colonial police laws harking back to 1861. Under the Indian Constitution, policing is a state power, which means that state governments have the responsibility to provide their communities with a police service (the national government has the responsibility for policing in union territories). Most state governments have a police law that adopts or reflects the basic ideas of the 1861 legislation.

Our Supreme Court has issued directives but not a single state has yet implemented it.

The Court's directives seek to achieve two main objectives: functional autonomy for the police - through security of tenure, streamlined appointment and transfer processes, and the creation of a "buffer body" between the police and the government - and enhanced police accountability, both for organisational performance and individual misconduct. 

But before all this happens, we as a society can do much more.

Maybe the policeman can take his family out at night? Watch a movie and use the bus?

Maybe the youngsters can take their girl friends in a group and travel on these buses? 

Maybe we shall approach the policeman when we are eve teased? Since it is these who get more bold and commit crimes like rape.

Maybe our policemen will be more sensitive and so also our judges?

Maybe.. maybe more older women shall start wearing jeans! Ah…… 

Edited to add:

How the Indian system, society works against rape survivors

A traumatic event like this scars and haunts you through life. And you need tremendous courage to stand up and face the world. For that you need sustained and professional support and counselling, both of which the child did not get.

Source:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/21/india-men-sexual-violence-elections

BP pays for it's negligence...

So the British giant BP has been suspended from US for 1 year and this is after paying millions in compensation.

2:47PM EST November 28. 2012 -
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is suspending British oil giant BP Exploration and Production Inc. and affiliated companies from further federal contracts, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.
The total cost of the spill response has hit $9.5 billion, Europe's second-largest oil company by market value

BP pleaded guilty Nov. 15 to numerous criminal charges related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. The charges included 11 counts of misconduct or neglect of ship officers, one count of obstruction of Congress, one misdemeanor count of a violation of the Clean Water Act, and one misdemeanor count of a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Compare this to Bhopal Gas Tragedy and one should cry! More than 30,000 have been killed and the agreed compensation was a mere 750 crore IRS. If one thinks that the entire amount reached the victims and their kins then we are not talking about India. Dow was asked to increase the compensation since the number of deaths had increased but they refused to do so.

In an affidavit, Dow Chemicals has said it will not pay more compensation for Bhopal victims as the settlement reached in 1989 for USD 470 million was more than adequate and fair.

Not only did people die, but an entire generation faced deformities and the ground water in many areas are still contaminated. But why should we blame the foreign company when it is our own government and judiciary who is at fault. Anderson was given a safe exit from India by our own government. 

Seven of the eight Indian company officials have now been sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Bhopal. The eighth has since died.

Anderson was briefly detained immediately after the disaster, but he quickly left the country and now lives in New York.

Last July, the court issued a warrant for Anderson's arrest and ordered the Indian government to press Washington for the American's extradition.

This was in 2010 and has the government done anything to seek Anderson’s extradition? The government will wait until he dies. Dow still operates in India under various guises. Where is our government and judiciary?

On the basis of the bench's ruling, a Bhopal court had last year awarded two years to UCC (India) chairman Keshub Mahindra and other officials.

The apex court had sought responses from UCC, Dow Chemicals Company (which owns UCC since 2001), Mcleod Russel (India) Private Limited which holds 50.9 percent stake in Union Carbide India Limited) and UCIL (currently known as Eveready Industries Limited).

The latest fire disaster from Bangladesh is another example of how multinational firms lower their standards while operating out of a third world country. These giant brand owners make huge profit but fails to compensate or make their suppliers follow basic norms. Why should they when none complains! If their own citizens exploit them then do they have a right to expect a fair treatment from a foreigner?

NGOs slammed Walmart over a fire that killed at least 112 workers at a Bangladesh factory that supplied apparel for the retail giant. While Walmart says it has not confirmed that it has any relationship to the factory, photos provided to The Nation show piles of clothes made for one of its exclusive brands.

I fear the same in case of FDI too. India already has an exploited lot and it will only add to their woes when multinational firms makes an entry. They are not going to raise their standards since their aim is only profit. And when this profit is going to be shared with those in power who is going to raise a finger for the exploited?


http://www.thenation.com/blog/171451/photos-show-walmart-apparel-site-deadly-factory-fire-bangladesh
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-12-03/news/30471807_1_gas-tragedy-union-carbide-india-limited-bhopal-victims http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/09/20/us-oil-spill-idUSTRE68J0OT20100920 
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/28/bp-suspended-from-new-us-govt-contracts/1731679/

Conflict of Interest

Why did one have to wait so long to know that Mukesh Ambani is one amongst the list of black money dealers?

Guess it is conflict of interest and this afflicts not just the major parties: Congress and BJP but the media and even the voters!

One can understand the reluctance of the Congress since the list would have contained their favourites, but why did the BJP not make it public? Did they not have an access to it?

I remember how only 6 names were offered to be revealed and the promise that the rest would be revealed once a case is registered. I did wonder in my blog how they selected the 6!

http://under-the-tree-of-tranquility.blogspot.com/2011/04/now-you-may-have-6.html

Yesterday, the government has offered to reveal 6 names, while they have yet again given the same old excuse for not revealing the rest.

The Centre has assured the Supreme Court that it would reveal the names of persons who have stashed black money in foreign banks after registering a formal case against them.

Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, appearing before a bench headed by Justice B Sudershan Reddy, said the government has issued show cause notices against the persons accused of having black money in foreign banks and once a case is registered against them, their names will be made public.

In case of the media, Reliance now has its own media mouth. All they have to do is either twist the facts or suppress the facts. Not that other national media is devoid of corporate or party interests.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/article2772487.ece
Reliance makes a major foray into media sector

Reliance Industries, India's biggest listed company, is expanding its footprint in the media sector, with a major investment in the TV18 group which will effectively fund a consolidation with the Eenadu TV media group.

In return, the Reliance will get preferential access to content from TV18, which runs television channels and websites including CNN-IBN, CNBC-TV18 and Colors. This content can then be distributed through Reliance subsidiary firm Infotel, which is setting up a 4G wireless broadband network across the country.

With Tuesday's deal, the Reliance, controlled by billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani, will have a major stake in a cross-media enterprise, spanning digital divides to encompass print publications, news and entertainment broadcasting, consumer Internet, film production and e-commerce.

As for the voters, at least a major chunk of the middle class is heavily invested with Reliance and its likes. I am sure most of them were painfully looking at the stock market when Arwind Kejriwal made the expose twice. If there is someone looting, one might as well share the loot!

But to BJP’s credit, it did make an attempt to give more attention to the black money. In fact Adwani promised the voters that if BJP comes to power at the center, they will pursue the same seriously. But unfortunately the voters did not take BJP seriously. Or was there a vote rigging. These days one is not sure of anything!

http://under-the-tree-of-tranquility.blogspot.com/2009/04/vote-for-bjp.html
Why am I saying that?

Did it suddenly dawn on me that BJP is better than Congress? (2 main National parties).
Frankly speaking it hasn’t. Sitting far away from the election heat and die hard voters who may influence my opinion, it was easy to watch both parties impartially. And none of them scored better until I picked up just this from Adwani.

"If NDA returns to power then we’ll force Indian citizens to bring back their wealth to India and use the money here.”

 Even before Kejriwal’s revelation, reliance was already under scanner but nothing further happened.

http://under-the-tree-of-tranquility.blogspot.com/2011/06/cost-of-being-richest.html

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has come down hard on Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), suggesting the company grossly overstated its development costs in India's largest gas field, possibly causing "significant" financial losses to the exchequer.

As the production-sharing contract involves profit-sharing with the government, a higher capital expenditure results in the profit being lower for the government than it would be otherwise, which the CAG has explained in its 200-page June 7 report to the petroleum ministry.
The CAG report has revealed severe irregularities and violations on part of private operators and government departments and ministries.

And now the government is seriously trying to gag the CAG!

New Delhi, November 11: Battered by various CAG reports on alleged scams, government says it is "actively" considering a proposal to make the official auditor a multi-member body. Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy says Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has become "more impatient" and he wants that all constitutional bodies to work within their parameters. "It (making CAG a multi-member body) is under active consideration. The government is actively considering it," he told PTI in an interview.

Will this conflict of interest ever be resolved? I think not in a democracy!

Collateral damage

What is Collateral damage ? Wikipedia says thus: Collateral damage is damage to things that are incidental to the intended target. It is frequently used as a military term where it can refer to the incidental destruction of civilian property and non-combatantcasualties.^[1][2]

But collateral is also used by banks; "collateral security" means additional security to the main obligation in a contract. 

So why didn't the banks seek collateral security when Kingfisher Airlines asked for loans? Is it because Mallya was an MP? 

Now we hear that crores will be written off since Mallya is not personally liable. The salary for the staff at KF, as well the whole loan can easily be covered by Mallya. Instead this playboy is busy holidaying in UK and advising Indians. He dares talk about India when all he has done is rob them.

"Last year's race was a tremendous success. I'm sure we can expect an equally spectacular event this year. Buddh International Circuit always looks after us very well and I know that they have been working hard behind the scenes to fine-tune the circuit and facilities even more.

Today our FM says that our farmers are honest but only poor and hence loans should be given to them. What sympathy! If only a miniscule % of money that the banks indulge in the way of loans given off/ written off for the biggies, is used in better ways, this country can support the hardworking farmers in a big way. The below is the story of one farmer who killed himself - Nagalinga Reddy. There are scores of others who die for the lack of a 1 or 2 lakhs and whom the banks hound without any respite. When banks don't mind writing off loans in crores for a few, the rest are forced to depart from this world.

He was $9,000 in debt to three banks, one cooperative society and moneylenders. Bank officers regularly came to visit, and one bank took legal action. The moneylenders regularly harassed him. He avoided the ignominy of having the cooperative society post a public notice saying his land would be auctioned only by paying them a small sum.

Our FM continues to say the following:

The finance minister further said that if a corporate borrower fails to pay the loan, it is the bank which suffers, not the borrower.

And why dear FM? Why should the banks suffer? Have you made specific laws to make it thus?

People like Mallya continue to be an hero to many since they seem to get away with anything. His only business is the business of indulgence. He has also carved a generation to copy this way of living too.

Can Mallya be brought back to India to pay for the collateral damage?

Is the Metro Man E. Sreedharan arrogant?

A few in the media and others seem to be trying their best to make him so.

Who is E. Sreedharan? Why should he be arrogant? I think he is not a man familiar just to the Keralites but to the majority of Indians.

Konkan Railway ( A Forbes article on him)

The managing director is 77 years old, spiritual and is laying tracks like there's no tomorrow.

On a recent Saturday morning Elattuvalapil Sreedharan arrived at a dusty construction site on the outskirts of Delhi to check on the progress of India's first high-speed airport train. In spite of round-the-clock work, progress on boring a huge tunnel into the earth was not up to mark.

"This we discussed. I gave them guidelines," says the soft-spoken 77-year-old engineer who is managing director of Delhi Metro, the capital's gleaming subway system. After finding out that a contractor was stymied by a cash flow problem, Sreedharan freed up Delhi Metro funds to pay for materials so work could continue.

This is the kind of no-nonsense, bureaucracy-busting efficiency that is Sreedharan's hallmark. It helped him to accomplish what had seemed impossible in India: finish building the initial $2.3 billion subway system in 2005 under budget and almost three years ahead of schedule.
 

Main article: Konkan Railway

 

Though he retired, the Government needed his services and he was appointed the CMD of Konkan Railway on contract in 1990 by the then railway minister, George Fernandes. Under his stewardship, the company executed its mandate in seven years. The project was unique in many respects. It was the first major project in India to be undertaken on a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) basis; the organisation structure was different from that of a typical Indian Railway set-up; the project had 93 tunnels along a length of 82 km and involved tunneling through soft soil. The total project covered 760 km and had over 150 bridges. That a public sector project could be completed without significant cost and time overruns was considered an achievement by many.

Awards and accolades

• Railway Minister's Award (1963)
• Padma Shri by the Government of India (2001)
• Man of the Year by The Times of India (2002)
• Shri Om Prakash Bhasin Award for professional excellence in engineering (2002)
• CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) Juror's Award for leadership in infrastructure development (2002–03)
• One of Asia's Heroes by TIME (2003)
• AIMA (All India Management Association) award for Public Service Excellence (2003)
• Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris causa) from IIT Delhi.
• Bharat Shiromani award from the Shiromani Institute, Chandigarh (2005)
• Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by the government of France (2005)
• CNN-IBN Indian Of the Year 2007: Public Service (2008)^[7]
• Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India (2008) 51525
• D.Lit. By Rajasthan Technical University, Kota, Rajasthan, in 2009
• Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris causa) from IIT Roorkee, 2009.

Pampan Bridge



Konkan Railway Bridge

Does he have a right to be arrogant? Of course yes! Who has a problem with it? Not the ordinary Keralites but a few with vested interests. While the Kerala ministers swear to the Keralites that they need him, behind the curtains they are doing their best to keep him out of the Cochin Metro project. If he is there how shall they benefit from this big project. Right now there is a lot of confusion and one is made to believe that DMRC itself does not want him!

Nothing good comes to Kerala, not even the service of an exemplary man who belongs to the state of Kerala.

I pray that Keralites protest hard and make sure this man heads this project else the project is doomed... only cash shall flow.

The Queen among the Kings

The list of richest politicians in the world is predictable since most of them are either reigning kings in their kingdom or ones who have been in the business field since years.   

The only anomaly is Sonia Gandhi who is neither a Queen nor does she own any business establishment (except the business of politics). Yet she holds the 4^th rank in the world.

Source: World's Luxury Guide (based on OpenSecrets.org, Forbes.com, Bloomberg.com, Wikipedia.org, Guardian.co.uk) and CIA world fact book

How did she achieve this?

 If we look at the GDP of our nation, it stands at 4^th and this should have given a fair per capita GDP figure too like other nations. While GDP per capita is not a measurement of the standard of living in an economy; however, it is often used as such an indicator, on the rationale that all citizens would benefit from their country's increased economic production. India is rich in natural resources and Indians are a hard working lot too. This parity could be because of the population too but yet China is ahead in all these including population. Hence one has to assume that this wealth is going somewhere. I wouldn’t have compiled this if the recent appointment of the tainted Raja and Kalamadi had not enraged me much. If she is the Party President, then she must take the responsibility for all the scams and not just accumulate wealth which begs for a source. It is not without reason then that recently even her son-in-law has been dragged into national limelight. Robert Vadra has also been enjoying the VIP category as per the following.

Why are we Indians treated so blatantly? Are we such fools?

Source:  

World's Luxury Guide (based on OpenSecrets.org, Forbes.com, Bloomberg.com, Wikipedia.org, Guardian.co.uk)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/17/251355/60-of-saudis-live-below-poverty-line/

http://www.businessinsider.com/richest-politicians-in-the-world-2012-2?utm_source=twbutton&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=thelife#

 http://imgur.com/fNg9w