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.

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

Either quit or scrap the CAG

Each scam the Auditor General unearths seems to be bigger than the earlier one, yet the ruling party is so thick skinned that no action is forthcoming.

Each time the ordinary citizen hopes that the culprits will be brought to justice but instead it is the CAG which takes the blame. I think there is only one solution for this problem. Scrap the CAG so that Indian citizens shall never hear of another scam. At least let us have some peace of mind.

Earlier if it was Kapil Sibal, now it is our PM who is discrediting the CAG.

The Prime Minister's point is that the CAG has computed onthe basis of allocation of 57 mines but out of these, 31 coal blocks belong tothe period prior to 2006. He also says the amount of loss projected by CAG was "misleading" as calculations had been done on the basis of Coal India prices and private players have different cost parameters.

This brings to my mind the most important question; how do these politicians escape jail? Raja is already out and we saw how his homecoming was celebrated. He was received like a hero!

 To answer this please watch this video clip (if you have not watched it already) where everything is explained very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIudxeqFuz8

Nitin Gupta (Rivaldo) is a stand-up comedian & is an alumnus of IIT Bombay (Chemical Engg) and founder of Entertainment Engineers.

Here he is seen performing for the students at the S. P. Jain College and the subject is the CWG, 2G and other scams - the Archimedes Principle and Newton laws are a brilliant take why nobody gets caught in the scams in India

 He talks about Archimedes law of buoyancy. 

Any minister fully or partially immersed in corruption is pushed up by a buoyant force equal to the weight of the money he displaces. 

In short, he is never caught.  Unfortunately this same money is used up yet again to garner votes from the citizens when election comes around. Everything is hushed up and he emerges as the only hero capable of governing his constituency.

Today we read that Sonia Gandhi has found  a place yet again in the Forbes list of most powerful women. 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton placed second,followed by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, making the top three spotsunchanged from last year. Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian NationalCongress, was at No. 6.

But if you are wondering if our PM has ever found a place anywhere in the list of the most powerful men, then he is nowhere in the picture. So the question is how did this come by? How and why is Sonia the most powerful when she is only the party president? She even beats Michelle Obama! The following caught my eyes.

The list named women involved in policymaking, entertainment, technology and nonprofit organizations, among other fields. They were ranked according to influence, the amount of money they control or earn, and media presence.

As for Mrs. Clinton,

Ms Clinton was applauded for her handling of crises such as the release of a trove of diplomatic cables by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

Can you think of anything that Sonia can be credited for? In fact has she taken the podium to answer any question from the media or the voters?  

She is powerful only because of the money she controls.

Let this government resign or let the judiciary do it's job in a better manner.

Chin up Indians! We have reasons to be proud!

Even if you despair at times, do remember that your votes are the most valuable in this world! The minute you give it away to any candidate, voila their assets are tripled, quadrupled or whatever!

The latest gem of the lot is Mayawati. Not only did she fill her state with statues of herself as well as elephants but we are also told that :

In the last two years, her assets have shot up by 24 crores. So how much is Mayawati worth exactly? 111 crores.


Behenji, as the former chief minister is known, has said she has 380 carats of diamonds, and one kilogram of gold. Together, these are worth just under a crore. Her silver dinner set, which weighs nearly 20 kgs, is worth 9 lakhs.


Her immovable assets - largely property - add upto 96 crores. This includes two shops in Delhi's Connaught Place, a home worth 62 crores on Sardar Patel Marg, one of Delhi's most sought-after neighbourhoods, and a home in Lucknow worth 15 crores.

In May 2010, her assets were worth 87 crores



Do you see that diamond necklace peeping out? Enjoy!



Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/mayawati-s-assets-worth-111-crores-she-has-380-carats-of-diamonds-185532&cp

What about the rest of the elected leaders? No reasons for worry since they have all been blessed by the votes. One is being pursued by the CBI, but since it involves more leaders this great nation can handle, we may soon see CBI wobble as usual.

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court today has said six ministers, all from the Congress, and eight bureaucrats from the Indian Administrative Service, should explain their alleged role in a case of corruption against politician Jagan Mohan Reddy.



Have you seen a more humble looking leader? The ultimate expression of humility and thankfulness!



Jaganmohan Reddy: Son of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy, Jaganmohan is perhaps one of the richest politicians in India, with declared assets of Rs 365 crore.

Jagan's wife Bharati owns assets worth a whopping Rs 4,133 crore. He owns houses, land and other property in Hyderabad, Kadapa and Bangalore. The 38-year-old businessman has interests in cement and power projects in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and other states. He also owns Telugu daily Sakshi and the TV news channel by the same name. Interestingly, Jagan has no personal vehicle.

Now, have a look at these shots and identify with pride those whom you cast your precious vote.

But the icing of the cake is none other than the great Sonia Gandhi, though the Indian mainstream newspapers seem too “shy” to reveal it.

But will international one’s lie so blatantly?

If reports of a US based magazine 'Business Insider' are to be believed, AICC chief Sonia Gandhi is the fourth richest politician in the world. As per the reports, her assets worth $2-19 billion, which is about Rs 10,000-45,000 crore

 

As per the affidavit filed before the 2009 general elections, Sonia Gandhi has movable assets worth Rs 1.17 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 20 lakhs. Based on these information, Sonia's income can't be more than Rs 60 lakh per annual.

There she stands ever so demurely between the pictures of Putin and Michael Bloomberg

If this is so difficult to believe, specially since this great nation is estimated to have a third of the world's poor, then it is time to SUE these newspapers. Even otherwise, some of us refuse to believe the various scams that are sprouting each day like mushrooms after a good rain.

But come what may, none can take away the pride of living amongst some of the richest in this world, made so only by VOTES:)

Source:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India
http://luxuryfeed.com/pages/3066651-wealthiest-politicians-india
http://luxpresso.com/photogallery-lifestyle/these-are-the-richest-politicians-in-the-world/11496/3
http://www.gulte.com/news/5410/Sonia-Gandhi-is-Worlds-Fourth-Richest-Politician
http://luxpresso.com/photogallery-lifestyle/wealthiest-politicians-in-india/11445/5

Gender Gap - revisited

While I grapple with the fact that more than a year has passed since I wrote the post on Gender Gap, (yes the days are flying too fast), let me also say that there is nothing much to say about the current one since India has only moved a rank down.


But let me post the Gender Gap Evolution 2006-2011 to show that India was doing better in year 2006. Not sure if it was due to lack of data, but the fact remains that in Year 2011, India is 22 from bottom (135 countries).

The complete list can be seen at WEF Website, but you can have an idea where India stands if you look at those countries just above and below India.

Mexico


Indonesia

Azerbaijan

Senegal

Cyprus

El Salvador

Mauritius

Tajikistan

Malaysia

Japan

Kenya

Belize

Maldives

Cambodia

United Arab Emirates

Suriname

Kuwait

Zambia

Korea, Rep.

Tunisia

Fiji

Bahrain

Qatar

Guatemala

India

Mauritania

Burkina Faso

Ethiopia

Jordan

Lebanon

Cameroon

Nigeria

Algeria

Turkey

Egypt

Syria

Iran, Islamic Rep.

Nepal

Oman

Benin

Morocco

Côte d’Ivoire

Saudi Arabia

Mali

Pakistan

Chad

Yemen


If you have some time, then do take a look at the interesting discussion at redif (comment section) on the same subject.

And today, we also read that MM Sing and Sonia ranks among the 20 most powerful – courtesy Forbes. Sonia is also one among top 10 richest politicians in the world.

A powerful woman in India but no power to the Indian women!

But then among the “powerful”, we see the following too…. :)

D-Company leader Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, "organized crime figure (is) suspected of involvement in both the 1993 and 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai" was ranked 57th, a notch behind Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence chief, Ahmed Shuja Pasha, while Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, was ranked 34th.

Now you may have 6

The government continues to drag it's feet in the case of the black money ($1 trillion!)

It is almost two years since the German Government had passed on the names and bank account details of eighteen Indians who had stashed their alleged ill-gotten wealth in the LGT bank of Liechtenstein, a well-known tax haven nation, 190 km from Munich, Germany.

While 15 names were earlier (February 2011) revealed through Tehelka and other newspapers, curiously none of them contained Hassan Ali.

The ED has questioned Khan, facing close to Rs 70,000-crore tax demand notice from the Income-Tax Department, with regard to his past trips to various countries and his business dealings within the country.

At present, the Indian public is made to concentrate only on Hassan Ali.

Investigating officials reportedly found that Ali had so far helped a former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and other top politicians as well as film stars from south India to fund elections and movies. Sources also claimed that one of the Telugu actors is now a prominent politician whose name has been come up during the investigation.

And even though Hassan Ali seems to have revealed the names of many bigwigs, the only soul who is seen to be taken to task is Puducherry Lt Governor Iqbal Singh. Singh has offered his resignation while stating that the passport was issued under the direction of a Bihar Congress leader.

Singh, who met Chidambaram on Friday, had said he had made the recommendation for Khan at the behest of a Bihar Congress leader.

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.

For the present let me wonder how they came up with the six....

Did they do a “Inky, pinky ponky” round?

Or did Sonia place a few selected names and benevolently asked MM Singh to pick up 6 out of them?

Democracy at its best!


Source:


http://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/indian-swindlers-list-names-holding-secret-account-revealed/
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp?filename=Ne120211TheList.asp
http://news.oneindia.in/2011/03/28/black-money-hasan-ali-threat-sc-ed-politician-aid0101.html
http://news.oneindia.in/2011/04/18/willresign-if-asked-to-puducherry-lt-governor-iqbalsingh-aid0126.html
http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/black-money-names-to-be-revealed-once-case-is-registered-140231?cp
http://connect.in.com/manmohan-singh/article-blackmoney-cant-reveal-names-says-govt-311-86bbefff8af5198089e1703c2d6573200cd4d6c9.html