Tuesday, July 31, 2012

[rti4empowerment] Fw: Anna’s battle is every Indian’s battle

 

 

Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 8:55 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Anna's battle is every Indian's battle

Anna's battle is every Indian's battle
- Minhaz Merchant
Times of India, 30th July, 2012.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/headon/entry/anna-s-battle-is-every-indian-s-battle


     Anna Hazare's battle against corruption isn't just his battle. It's every Indian's battle. If Anna fails, we fail. Politicians across party lines stand to lose most if the movement succeeds in getting a strong Lokpal Bill legislated in parliament.

    Anna is a catalyst in the fight to mitigate corruption in public life. He has no personal motive, no personal gain, no financial interest. Instead of criticising his methods, help him improve them. No one is perfect – certainly not Anna and his team members.

   But most of them are a lot better than the 162 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 39 MPs in the Rajya Sabha (www.adrindia.org) who have criminal charges against them. Some of these charges are politically motivated. But many are not.

For example, 75 Lok Sabha MPs, again cutting across party lines, face court-framed charges of murder, rape, extortion, kidnapping and dacoity. No wonder many parliamentarians are dead set against Anna and his anti-corruption crusade. They will do anything to discredit his movement.  

And in this task they have found witting and unwitting abettors in sections of the media and the intelligentsia. All have one trait: they mock Anna but have no alternative to offer in India's battle against corruption. Some are so witless they don't even realise how wrong they've got it.

Anna is not the problem. The system is. Anna's prescription may not be perfect. But it's every citizen's job to help improve it. The government, as a beneficiary of institutionalised corruption, isn't going to go out of its way to do so.

Take just one example to illustrate the serious nature of the court-framed charges many Lok Sabha MPs face. Kameshwar Baitha of the JMM has 11 charges related to murder and 17 charges related to attempt to murder filed against him.

As many at 28 ministers in Akhilesh Yadav's UP cabinet have criminal cases pending against them. The most notorious is Raja Bhaiya who has 45 criminal cases against him. He spent three years in jail on POTA charges and is today UP's Food and Civil Supplies Minister.

It is such politicians who threaten our democracy and our institutions – not Team Anna members with their inflated travel vouchers and income-tax arrears due to a technical interpretation of paid study leave for a then-IRS officer.

It has been obvious since Indira Gandhi's government first introduced – but did not legislate – the Lokpal Bill in 1968 that politicians fear a strong, independent Lokpal. Their argument, parroted by their media handmaidens, is that the Lokpal will be a monstrous bureaucracy accountable to no one.

This of course is nonsense. The Lokpal would be accountable in five ways as I wrote in The Times of India this February (New grid of governance). First, through an internal complaints redressal authority; second, via an annual performance and financial audit by CAG; third, through a Lokpal appellate bench; fourth, from overall jurisdiction of the Lokpal bench by the High Courts and the Supreme Court; and fifth, through a special parliamentary committee.

The Lokpal is obviously not a panacea as some Congress spokesmen say sotto voce to deliberately obfuscate the issue. It would be just one of five powerful instruments in the integrated, interlocked grid of governance that would include the EC, CAG, the new proposed National Judicial Commission (NJC) and an independent CBI as analysed in detail in The Times piece cited above.

An independent CBI is central to this interlocked governance grid. With the Lokpal excercising jurisdictional oversight, the CBI would thus be accountable to an independent statutory authority which itself would be subject not only to the five internal checks and balances outlined above but to the discipline of being part of an integrated, interlocked governance grid.  

Some critics warn that 40,000 extra staff will be needed to man the Lokpal body. This is a deliberate falsehood. In the interlocked grid model, no more than 1,000 new staff will be needed to investigate and allow prosecution of complaints against 60 lakh central government employees (including 78 Union Ministers and Ministers of State).

The reason? An independent CBI will, under the Lokpal body's supervision, investigate cases forwarded by the Lokpal bench. Special fast-track courts will prosecute them. State Lokayuktas, with similar mechanisms, will supervise the investigation and prosecution of state-level public servants through local CIDs and courts. These institutions already have adequate personnel which the Lokpal will deploy.

Remember too that police autonomy has been mandated by the Supreme Court in September 2006 under a seven-directive order. When it is implemented by the government – a contempt of court petition against non-compliance is pending in the Supreme Court – not only will the CBI be freed of political control, so will state CIDs.

The Mumbai and Delhi police forces alone have over 40,000 personnel each so a central Lokpal body with 1,000 staff and a 7-member bench (not one individual "Lokpal" as some motivated reports misleadingly claim) hardly constitutes a bureaucratic monstrosity.

The so-called elite – intellectual, media, business – disparage Anna because he is not "people like us". This wannabe-elite is comfortable with the status quo with its cosy nepotism, clubbiness and rich pickings.

A red herring is meanwhile used by the government: "Team Anna members are themselves corrupt – people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". That unthinking logic would disqualify 90% of the police force from arresting criminals because the police themselves take bribes. Only the corrupt use this spurious argument to deflect the accusations they have no real answers for.

Those who castigate Team Anna for denigrating our institutions are falling into the trap set by politicians: discredit the largely honest whistleblower and therefore by default exonerate the largely dishonest politician.

MPs are lawmakers. They are elected to uphold standards of public life not lower them. As public servants, they exist to serve citizens. "In a democracy," as US Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter declared, "the highest office is the office of the citizen."

Indian public servants – including the Prime Minister and his cabinet – are subordinate to every Indian citizen. The poorest, most destitute Indian is more important than the President of India. That is the way real democracy operates. It is a principle leaders in democracies with long histories like US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron uphold every working day. 

In contrast, some of the comments made by government ministers against Anna's anti-corruption movement border on the infantile. The MoS in the PMO, V. Narayanasamy, said of Anna's fast: "It is an attempt fool the people." He added: "It is good they told very openly today they are forming a political party. Their intentions are exposed."

Fasting as a protest against corruption and forming a political party are both entirely legitimate. That a government minister can categorise either in the way he did says more about Narayanasamy than Anna.

And yet there are those in the chattering classes who support this unhinged government reaction rather than encouraging a movement against corruption which, if put on the right track, could improve all our lives.

Then there are those, in the government and the media, who insouciantly challenge Anna's team members to stand for election. But if fighting an election were a criterion for fighting corruption, every activist and – yes – every journalist who exposed corruption would need to first get elected. Such is the thoughtlessness – deliberate and inadvertent – that has lowered the standard of argument over the anti-corruption movement.

Whose side are we on? An imperfect Anna fighting our battle? Or a corruption-riddled political system? If Anna is not doing the job of fighting corruption well enough, help him do it better. Don't help the corrupt by denigrating a movement's methods when the end is just.

Since April 2011, the UPA government has dealt with Anna's movement with deception and bad faith. Corruption is the leitmotif of the political ecosystem. That is why politicians have tried continuously to splinter this citizen's movement. United, citizens would win. Divided, a corrupt government will win.

Forward this Email...


--

YATISH DEVADIGA 

      


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Saturday, July 28, 2012

[rti4empowerment] PAN NO OF CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMMISSIONER

 




PLEASE FILE RTI TO INCOME TAX ASK COPY OF INCOME TAX RETURNS FILED b y the  CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMMISSIONER 
 
 
 
WAJAHAT HABIBULLAHI AAZPH5750R

sathyananadha mishra ABFPM 0609R
 
ANNAPUMA DIXIT ACJPD 6077H
 
SHALIESH RAM KUMAR GANDHI AAAPG 7762A
 
MADAN LAL SHARMA AMHPS 0876K
 
DEEPAK SANDHU AAMPS1681D
 
SUSHMA SINGH AAMPS1150R
 
A.N.TIWARI AASPT 1262G
 
M.M.ANSARI AAAPA0523E
O.P.KEJARIAWAL AAAPK 1574H
 
 
RTI Application under sec 6(1) of RTI Act-2005

From                                                                                                                                                   14/11/2011
V.GOPALAKRISHNAN,
13/7, Pammal Nalla Thambi Street,
M.G.R.NAGAR,
Chennai-78.

To
The Public Information Officer,
Under Right to Information ACT 2005,
CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX,

C.R. BUILDING, I. P. ESTATE,

NEW DELHI-110002.

Sir,

Sub: Under the RTI ACT 2005 sec 6(1), request for furnish information and attested photo
copy.- regarding.
                                                               --------

1. Kindly inform total income informed by the below assessee and supply copy of income tax returns and Balance sheet  submitted from year , 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 
 
(a) WAJAHAT HABIBULLAHI AAZPH5750R

(a) sathyananadha mishra ABFPM 0609R
 
(b) ANNAPUMA DIXIT ACJPD 6077H
 
(c) SHALIESH RAM KUMAR GANDHI AAAPG 7762A
 
(d)  MADAN LAL SHARMA AMHPS 0876K
 
(e) DEEPAK SANDHU AAMPS1681D
 
(f) SUSHMA SINGH AAMPS1150R
 
(g) A.N.TIWARI AASPT 1262G
 
(h) M.M.ANSARI AAAPA 0523E
(i) O.P.KEJARIAWAL AAAPK 1574H
 

I ENCLOSED INDIAN POSTAL ORDER OF RS.10 TOWARDS  RTI FEE. NO.03F 513560

 

 

V.GOPALAKRISHNAN

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Friday, July 27, 2012

[rti4empowerment] Was the President really elected?

 


Was the President really elected?
It is a very disturbing process
by Jagdeep S. Chhokar

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120727/edit.htm#4

THE Presidential election did look like a general election but, as is well known, "looks can be deceptive". The look was superficially similar inasmuch as bargains were struck, promises made (some of which did not last even 24 hours), attempts were made to outsmart one another, and so on. But the vital difference was how the outcome was determined and who determined the outcome.

In a general election, though the political parties constrain or limit the choices that voters can make, the final decision (within the limits set by parties, of course) still rests with the voters. Unexpected wins and losses are not only possible but also frequently happen, giving rise to the general belief that the "Indian voter", though not necessarily educated, is politically savvy and smart, and has the national interest in mind.

But was the Presidential election really decided by those who voted in it and was the decision really known only on the day of the counting?

The decision on who should be and would be the President of the Republic was taken by a handful of people, possibly not more than 30, who head various political parties, in fact, not necessarily on paper. Barring one or two exceptions, in an overwhelming majority of parties, in fact, there was only one person whose opinion mattered. Once these 25-30 people have made up their minds, the members of the so-called electoral college act as pawns due to the spectre of the Anti-Defection Act that the political parties hold. Even if a "whip" is not issued, there are already reports in the media about some parties having initiated probes to locate those who voted against the party's wishes in order to take action against them. This is when Article 55 (3) specifically says that "the voting at such election shall be secret ballot".

It is this real process of deciding who becomes the President that raises the question: Was the President really elected?

The process of electing the President gets vitiated from the time political parties start confabulating about possible candidates. While it is the norm for political parties to select candidates in all significant elections, including the general election, where the selection of candidates is based on that indefinable characteristic called "winnability", the selection of candidates for the Presidential election is somewhat different. The so-called "consultations" are more in the form of bargaining in terms of "what will you do for me if I support your candidate?" And it is in this almost sordid process, the party as a whole or even the minor leadership of the party has no role at all. The quid pro quos are worked out among a total of about 25-30 people and that decides the incumbent of the highest office of the land for five years. We do not have to go far to realise that this can cause the choice to fall on the "least unacceptable" rather than the "most acceptable" person being elevated to being the Head of State!

Though even the selection of candidates for their election as MPs and MLAs by a handful of people is objectionable because that is a negation of real democracy, the same process for choosing the candidate(s) for the President's post should be totally unacceptable because the President can be rightly looked upon as almost the sole representative of the nation. Distinguished public intellectual, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, in a recent article has lamented on this fact in the following words: "It is a reflection of the essential hollowness of all ritual where its inner meaning remains un-understood. One cannot expect the remote fruit of an indirect election to enthuse, much less inspire, a billion people… Presidential elections now see appeals to the political mind. They are all about the political mind, not about the political heart, if such a thing is left in our body politic, not to speak of political `soul'.

They are about the give and take of support, assurances and collaboration. With the President's electors seated on rows upon rows before the President-elect, his inaugural accurately reflects India's political geography, its abacus, or the counting-frame of power. It does not represent India's aspirational astronomy, the scattered arrangement of its stellar hopes."

The fact that the process of selection of candidates renders the so-called electoral college almost completely irrelevant and thus totally negates Articles 54 and 55 of the Constitution raises very fundamental doubts about the credibility and even constitutionality (at least in spirit, if not in letter) of the entire process — the heart finds it difficult to accept it though it might be within the letter of the law.

What makes the process even more disturbing is that the 25-30 people who make this momentous decision themselves are not elected. They have come to acquire this "power" by virtue of either having formed political parties or inherited them or through some other means but definitely not by means of elections that can be called "free and fair". The effective choice of the Head of State by a handful of unelected people is against all fundamental tenets of democracy. This is arguably the most potent proof the infirmities of our electoral system.

The basic reason why a handful of unelected people can take such a decision is the lack of internal democracy in the functioning of our political parties, and, therefore, the only solution is to have a real and effective democracy in the internal functioning of all our political parties. This would require political parties to hold transparent, free and fair elections at every level. In the context of the Presidential election, every political party will have to decide, in a transparent and demonstrably democratic manner, whom to put up for President. Then there might even be more than two or three candidates for the post of President, and members of the electoral college will have the opportunity of exercising the real choice while casting their vote.

But the moot point is: Is such a real and effective democracy acceptable to our political parties?

The writer is a former professor, dean and director-in-charge of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

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[rti4empowerment] shocked the way our govt keeps us behind world and blocks our progress.

 

I received a mail from Google ad-sense that against clicks on ads on
my site and blog they r sending me 100 US dollars. They further
offered to transfer same through EFT ( Electronic Funds Transfer)
being a fast and safe mode.
To my shock while very very tiny and backward country have EFT but
India does not have.
I am shocked the way our govt ( includes politicians, bureaucrats,
RBI, finance ministry) keeps us behind world and blocks our progress.

Receiving payments by EFT
The content of this page is relevant only to a number of countries and
is displayed based on your current country. To view it for another
location, please select it in the drop-down box:

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) directly deposits your Ad-sense
earnings into your bank account, in your local currency, to greatly
speed up and simplify the payment process.

If EFT is available in your location, we encourage you to sign up. EFT
is fast, secure, and environmentally friendly, and it's the
Google-recommended payment method. We're working hard to make it
available in as many locations as we can.

To sign up for payments by EFT, you need to provide details about your
bank account and verify your account using a small test deposit.

Is EFT available in my country?
Currency and exchange rate
Signing up for EFT payments
Updating bank information
Why did my test deposit fail?

Is EFT available in my country?

Electronic funds transfer is available in the following countries:
Australia Australian Dollar
Austria Euro
Belgium Euro
Canada Canadian Dollar
Czech Republic Koruna
Denmark Krone
Finland Euro
France Euro
Germany Euro
Greece Euro
Hong Kong Hong Kong Dollar
Hungary Forint
Ireland Euro
Israel Shekel
Italy Euro
Japan Yen
Mexico Peso
Netherlands Euro
New Zealand New Zealand Dollar
Norway Krone
Poland Zloty
Portugal Euro
Slovakia Euro
Spain Euro
Sweden Krona
Switzerland Franc
Turkey Lira
United States United States Dollar
United Kingdom British Pound

Thanks and Regards,
Alok Tholiya,
Marigold Hall,Tholiya Bhavan,
10Th Rd., Santacruz East,
Mumbai 400055
9324225699

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[rti4empowerment] Re: RAINWATER HARVESTING.VERY GOOD

 

Actually,though I am no expert,I think rainwater harvesting will require to rethink road surfaces and what kind of gullies we should have for collection of runoff.so that maximum assistance is given to rainwater harvesting.There is so much more.All,do read a book on traditional Indian waterharvesting by Nitya Jacob.A book called Jalyatra.
Cheers
Urvi

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

[rti4empowerment] Be happy before you can make some one happy

 

Can I give something which I don't have. So for sharing happiness I
must have happiness. So first step is I must be happy. So I do
everything which makes me happy.

By the way:

I say, one must only do what makes one feel happy and satisfied
after doing that and feel no regret therafter.Post your action/
passing of the day you must feel it was just as smooth a flow as water
flows in river.
If one feels he has done lot of obligation for doing family / common
duties / work / routine then he does not enjoy that work so better one
does not do that.Person doing work which makes him feel frustrated,
which makes him feel remember and count the number of obligations he
has done on others( family members, society, nation,clients,friends)
etc means person needs lot of help and learning ( spiritualism) and is
badly suffering. I say, till you achieve level of satisfaction and
enjoyment it is perfectly in tune if you do not care for some people /
some responsibilities,some participation and sharing common goals. As
what a hurt, weak, hungry can give??? So try to first get. And the day
you feel your stomack/ coffers ( greed) are all full , the moment a
realisation comes that enough is enough goodness will flow
automatically from you as tea over flows from a cup when full.

Some other place I will take on size of your cup. For Kalmadi and
alike it can be 10000 cr which is less and will be unhappy till he
grabs more and more .For someothers like Late B. L. Tholiyaji it may
be anything above basic needs which is surplus and meant for giving
and sharing.

So coming back to main topic of my mail: WE must speak to self : World
goes on without I trying to be nice , without I trying to share
responsibilities, without I contributing to family, society, world,
without I having courtesy, even if I show my back, even if I take
responsibilty and do not do, even if I just lecture and advise, and
expect but do not do my bit. I shall and have never done anything
where I feel that society compelled me to do this, I did this because
some unseen culture/ system wanted me to do this way or that way. No I
will not do that way. I will do only what gives me happiness and makes
me feel satisfied. Because no unsatisfied soul can spread happiness.
Frustrated person can only spread poison. First lookafterself and then
only help others and be happy.
Thanks and Regards,

Alok Tholiya

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

[rti4empowerment] RAINWATER HARVESTING.VERY GOOD [1 Attachment]

 
[Attachment(s) from Urvi Sukul Singh included below]

Rainwater Harvesting System
Broadly rainwater can be harvested for two purposes
Storing rainwater for ready use in containers above or below ground
Charged into the soil for withdrawal later (groundwater recharging)


Source: A Water Harvesting Manual For Urban Areas

From where to harvest rain

Rainwater harvesting can be harvested from the following surfaces

Rooftops: If buildings with impervious roofs are already in place, the catchment area is effectively available free of charge and they provide a supply at the point of consumption.
Paved and unpaved areas i.e., landscapes, open fields, parks, stormwater drains, roads and pavements and other open areas can be effectively used to harvest the runoff. The main advantage in using ground as collecting surface is that water can be collected from a larger area. This is particularly advantageous in areas of low rainfall.


Waterbodies: The potential of lakes, tanks and ponds to store rainwater is immense. The harvested rainwater can not only be used to meet water requirements of the city, it also recharges groundwater aquifers.
Stormwater drains: Most of the residential colonies have proper network of stormwater drains. If maintained neatly, these offer a simple and cost effective means for harvesting rainwater.


Whether to store rainwater or use it for recharge:

The decision whether to store or recharge water depends on the rainfall pattern and the potential to do so, in a particular region. The sub-surface geology also plays an important role in making this decision.

For example, Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat where the total annual rainfall occurs during 3 or 4 months, are examples of places where groundwater recharge is usually practiced. In places like Kerala, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu and Bangalore where rain falls throughout the year barring a few dry periods, one can depend on a small sized tank for storing rainwater, since the period between two spells of rain is short. Wherever sub-strata is impermeable recharging will not be feasible. Hence, it would be ideal to opt for storage.



Source: A Water Harvesting Manual For Urban Areas
In places where the groundwater is saline or not of potable standards, the alternate system could be that of storing rainwater.

Beyond generalisations, it is the requirement that governs the choice of water harvesting technique. For example, in Ahemadabad, which has limited number of rainy days as that of Delhi, traditional rainwater harvesting tanks, known as tankas, are used to store rainwater even today in residential areas, temples and hotels.

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Attachment(s) from Urvi Sukul Singh

1 of 1 Photo(s)

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[rti4empowerment] RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENTS

 

Friends,

I would present a paper in ICRICKET -- International Conference on Rural Innovation, Capacity Building, Knowledge Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology -- New Delhi -- 2nd and 3rd January 2013, being organized by IMT Ghaziabad.

Brief Synopsis is placed below, that would be expended into about 7000 words. Active participation of corporate sector in rural development is an interesting subject. Such projects on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have been largely cosmetic. Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines 2010 prepared by Government after extensive consultation may give further impetus.

Are there any suggestions?

Dhirendra Krishna IA&AS(Retired)

RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENTS

1. Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines 2010 were formulated after extensive consultations. These envisage promotion of inclusive growth. environmental protection and influencing public policy.

2. Complexities of governance systems and processes should be understood, as governance failures impinge upon the commercial activities. Inability to successfully implement inclusive growth by is resulting in social unrest. There are complex factors beyond the control of Government. Growing economic disparities are the root cause of social tensions.


POVERTY ERADICATION IN RURAL AREAS

3. CSR guidelines envisage involvement of corporate sector in development programs. This would supplement the schemes initiated by Central and State Governments. Corporate houses would formulate short-term projects with specific, measurable, achievable and relevant objectives.

CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEMES

4. There is need for discernable projects with small financial commitment, to support centrally sponsored schemes, by Public Private Partnership projects at the grass-roots.

IRRIGATION AND WATER SUPPLY

5. Water supply is an area where CSR projects can earn goodwill.

EDUCATION

6. There are several major issues of concern in government-funded schools. Corporate houses can interact with School Management Committees to identify niche areas where they can contribute.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION

7. Technical training to improve employability of rural youth is an area where industries can provide useful input.

ADVANTAGES TO COMPANIES

8. Voluntary CSR activities in area would result in intangible benefits, such as:

a. Compliance with guidelines framed by Government.
b. Goodwill of community.
c. Long-term business interest by equitable growth and development.


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[rti4empowerment] RTI Activists/Bonafide Activists/Duplicate RTI activists /Nakali + Asali Activists

 

Dear All ,
In the Recent times I have come Across In Various Correspondence of Certain Public Authorities The Words which i Have cited in the Subject . More so the words Nakali RTI activists & Opposite of the Same .
The Reason why this Mail is to Provoke you all for a Clear Definition .
One of our freind last year made an RTI Request to KIC for a list of RTI activists and he was given a few names and on going through those names we could find out that some of them were virtually inactive . This prompted another freind to make another RTI to KIC asking how can any Information commission or For that matter Government to call any body "an activist"
Finally the Wholre matter ended up by KIC clarifing that as per RTI Act 2005 , No Public Authority has inherent Capacity or Mandamus to Call or name any body an "activist" and if one calls himself in that wors it is just Self styled
It would not be out of context that one Elected Representative has in the Regular Monthly Meeting is calling Frequent RTI users or Applicants as NAKALI RTI ACTIVISTS and they are Black mailing officers and Enquiry be conducted . We have been informed some sort of Enquiry has started in this regard based on this Complaint (or statement of an Elected representative)
Further to My mind This coinage is creation of Media and we are all just Users may be frequent users and in the end Beneficiaries as RTI is our Fundemental rights
N vikramsimha , KRIA Katte , #12 Sumeru Sir M N Krishna Rao Road , Basvangudi < Bangalore 560004.

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Re: [rti4empowerment] A SHIP ABOUT TO SINK --- Pritish Nandy

 

A man is known by the company he keeps! If Nandy means Mr Singh as Alibaba, at least there could have been a little truth! The ship is half sunk and it is a pity that excepting the powers that be he has not refered anything about the plight of the common man, rich becomming rich and the number of have nots shooting up shooting up! Some people attains prominance for which searching a reason would be futile and these peoples' comandmends are considered gospels by rich affluent and powers that be leaving common man in the lurch!!!


From: Dhirendra Krishna <dhirendra.krishna@yahoo.com>
To: rti4empowerment@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, 25 July 2012 10:59 AM
Subject: [rti4empowerment] A SHIP ABOUT TO SINK --- Pritish Nandy

 
Friends,

I do not agree with Pritish Nandy and sincerely hope that he is completely wrong in his prediction about "sinking ship"!

He has a perspective ( and very eloquent style), that cannot be ignored.

Dhirendra Krishna

A SHIP ABOUT TO SINK --- Pritish Nandy

I like Manmohan Singh. He has immaculate credentials. It's these
credentials that have seen the UPA through its most stormy years. If
Singh wasn't Prime Minister, the Government would have collapsed a
long time back. No, not because of its inherent coalition
contradictions but because it's simply not possible for so many crooks
with conflicting agendas to loot the country together, almost as if in
perfect unison. The Indian Political Philharmonic Orchestra must be
the world's most amazing cacophony of rogues, rascals and robbers.
Luckily for the UPA, there was always Singh to fall back on. Most
middle class Indians refuse to be cynical. We know exactly what's
happening around us, we criticise it constantly, but when it comes to
the crunch we all rally around the nation and the flag. We are not
bat-brained paranoids. Neither are we wide-eyed innocents ready to buy
into every ridiculous explanation thrown our way to explain the loot
that's taking place in broad daylight. But the latest season of scams
has flummoxed all. This is not just Alibaba and his chaalis chors.
Everyone among the chaalis chors is another Alibaba with his own forty
thieves. That's the way the pyramid of crime operates today. But
because Singh, soft spoken and self effacing, is the face of this
Government, India has kept faith.

But now, enough is enough. Neither Singh nor Pranab Mukherjee, nor
anyone else is capable any more of saving this Government. It's neck
deep in its own sticky sleaze. What's worse, you haven't seen anything
yet. All these scams are but the tip of the iceberg. Talk to anyone
and you will get an instant dhobi list of scams in queue to
break. No, I am not saying this. Congress leaders are, in private.
Look at Singh, wan and waylost. Or Mukherjee going apopleptic in faux
anger because he has to defend what he knows is indefensible. They
look less convincing than Rakhi Sawant playing Joan of Arc.

The problem is: We have voted into power the stupidest bunch of thieves.
They are such losers that they can't steal a hamburger without leaving
ketchup stains all over. Yet they are constantly trying to pull off
the biggest scams in history. From Rs 64 crore in Bofors, they have
upped the ante to Rs 170,0000 crore in 2G and no, I am not including
hundreds of aircraft Air India bought while sinking into bankruptcy
and preposterous sums spent on arms deals that have
made India the world's second largest arms buyer when we can't provide
food and healthcare to 60% Indians. Our leaders are making deals on
the sly with greedy builders, land sharks, illegal mining companies,
corporate fixers, shady arms dealers and, O yes, US diplomats who want
to manipulate our political choices. And, what's
more amazing, they do it like bungling idiots. Even Inspector Clouseau
can outwit them.

But that doesn't mean they are not malevolent. These are people who
are destroying India from within. They are not just robbing you, me,
and the exchequer. They are destroying institutions, subverting laws,
vandalising our heritage and history, and trying to build a dazzling,
amoral edifice of crime and corruption unprecedented in the nation's
history. It's a scary scenario that could turn the land of the Mahatma
into one gigantic Gotham City with a flyover to hell.
But my question is more basic: Can we trust these idiots to run this
great nation?

If you travel and meet people across India, you will realise that for
every scam that breaks—and currently there's one breaking every
week—there are ten more waiting in line. The media has never had it so
good! And it's the same gang whose names keep coming up. Kalmadi,
Satish Sharma, Sant Chatwal, Ashok Chavan. The NCP lot.

The DMK. And everyone, in private, is protesting his own innocence,
pointing fingers at someone else. It's a sure sign of a collapsing
regime. It's what happened when Rajiv with a staggering majority in
parliament lost his mandate to govern. Rats alone don't leap off a
sinking ship. So do everyone else.

So even though Singh, like Pontius Pilate, may wash his hands off
every scam that hits the headlines, the fact is: The longer this
Government stays, the more compromised the Congress will be, and the
less capable of coming back to power. You can't allow the sovereignty
of a nation to be compromised just to win a confidence vote. You can't
bribe MPs to get your way in parliament. You can't allow a shady
hotelier, with CBI cases against him, to play roving diplomat and,
worse, give him a Padma Bhushan for it. You can't appoint a tainted
bureaucrat as the nation's CVC. You can't file a FIR
against a corrupt CM and then allow him to melt away. You can't let
the prime witness to the nation's biggest scam, who offered to turn
approver, be murdered in broad daylight and pretend it's a suicide.
If this is the best this Government can do, it's time to step down.

Pritish Nandy



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[rti4empowerment] A SHIP ABOUT TO SINK --- Pritish Nandy

 

Friends,

I do not agree with Pritish Nandy and sincerely hope that he is completely wrong in his prediction about "sinking ship"!

He has a perspective ( and very eloquent style), that cannot be ignored.

Dhirendra Krishna

A SHIP ABOUT TO SINK --- Pritish Nandy

I like Manmohan Singh. He has immaculate credentials. It's these
credentials that have seen the UPA through its most stormy years. If
Singh wasn't Prime Minister, the Government would have collapsed a
long time back. No, not because of its inherent coalition
contradictions but because it's simply not possible for so many crooks
with conflicting agendas to loot the country together, almost as if in
perfect unison. The Indian Political Philharmonic Orchestra must be
the world's most amazing cacophony of rogues, rascals and robbers.
Luckily for the UPA, there was always Singh to fall back on. Most
middle class Indians refuse to be cynical. We know exactly what's
happening around us, we criticise it constantly, but when it comes to
the crunch we all rally around the nation and the flag. We are not
bat-brained paranoids. Neither are we wide-eyed innocents ready to buy
into every ridiculous explanation thrown our way to explain the loot
that's taking place in broad daylight. But the latest season of scams
has flummoxed all. This is not just Alibaba and his chaalis chors.
Everyone among the chaalis chors is another Alibaba with his own forty
thieves. That's the way the pyramid of crime operates today. But
because Singh, soft spoken and self effacing, is the face of this
Government, India has kept faith.

But now, enough is enough. Neither Singh nor Pranab Mukherjee, nor
anyone else is capable any more of saving this Government. It's neck
deep in its own sticky sleaze. What's worse, you haven't seen anything
yet. All these scams are but the tip of the iceberg. Talk to anyone
and you will get an instant dhobi list of scams in queue to
break. No, I am not saying this. Congress leaders are, in private.
Look at Singh, wan and waylost. Or Mukherjee going apopleptic in faux
anger because he has to defend what he knows is indefensible. They
look less convincing than Rakhi Sawant playing Joan of Arc.

The problem is: We have voted into power the stupidest bunch of thieves.
They are such losers that they can't steal a hamburger without leaving
ketchup stains all over. Yet they are constantly trying to pull off
the biggest scams in history. From Rs 64 crore in Bofors, they have
upped the ante to Rs 170,0000 crore in 2G and no, I am not including
hundreds of aircraft Air India bought while sinking into bankruptcy
and preposterous sums spent on arms deals that have
made India the world's second largest arms buyer when we can't provide
food and healthcare to 60% Indians. Our leaders are making deals on
the sly with greedy builders, land sharks, illegal mining companies,
corporate fixers, shady arms dealers and, O yes, US diplomats who want
to manipulate our political choices. And, what's
more amazing, they do it like bungling idiots. Even Inspector Clouseau
can outwit them.

But that doesn't mean they are not malevolent. These are people who
are destroying India from within. They are not just robbing you, me,
and the exchequer. They are destroying institutions, subverting laws,
vandalising our heritage and history, and trying to build a dazzling,
amoral edifice of crime and corruption unprecedented in the nation's
history. It's a scary scenario that could turn the land of the Mahatma
into one gigantic Gotham City with a flyover to hell.
But my question is more basic: Can we trust these idiots to run this
great nation?

If you travel and meet people across India, you will realise that for
every scam that breaks—and currently there's one breaking every
week—there are ten more waiting in line. The media has never had it so
good! And it's the same gang whose names keep coming up. Kalmadi,
Satish Sharma, Sant Chatwal, Ashok Chavan. The NCP lot.

The DMK. And everyone, in private, is protesting his own innocence,
pointing fingers at someone else. It's a sure sign of a collapsing
regime. It's what happened when Rajiv with a staggering majority in
parliament lost his mandate to govern. Rats alone don't leap off a
sinking ship. So do everyone else.

So even though Singh, like Pontius Pilate, may wash his hands off
every scam that hits the headlines, the fact is: The longer this
Government stays, the more compromised the Congress will be, and the
less capable of coming back to power. You can't allow the sovereignty
of a nation to be compromised just to win a confidence vote. You can't
bribe MPs to get your way in parliament. You can't allow a shady
hotelier, with CBI cases against him, to play roving diplomat and,
worse, give him a Padma Bhushan for it. You can't appoint a tainted
bureaucrat as the nation's CVC. You can't file a FIR
against a corrupt CM and then allow him to melt away. You can't let
the prime witness to the nation's biggest scam, who offered to turn
approver, be murdered in broad daylight and pretend it's a suicide.
If this is the best this Government can do, it's time to step down.

Pritish Nandy

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