The nuclear deal has become a catch22 situation for the UPA government. Left front, though hesitant for an election, they cannot eat their pride on this issue. The challenge offered by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to withdraw support on this issue was too great for them to swallow. Though Manmohan singh swallowed his pride and sticking to the chair.
The intrinsic “American phobia” of the left front and the restoration work going on around the world for uplifting the shape of the busted communist dream, is compelling the Communist parties and its allies to draw a line against the nuclear deal and in real to show their abomination towards the so called American Imperialism and so and so….
Yes of course as the cliché, “two sides of the coin” (unless the coin is from the film Sholay) here in this deal also – the two sides are debated strongly and concluded vehemently according to the stands already taken by the parties.
Communists and its branches are trying to prove that they can bite as dangerously as their barking is and Congress trying to buy time so that they can allow the lefties to pull the string at a time that suits them, (may be after seeing the results in Gujarath) and BJP –still waiting under the tree hoping the crow will sing and it will get the fruit. But their present “inner party Democracy” – will make the fruit sour for them.
Nuclear deal – is it going to be an election issue in India? At any time India went for an election with any issue that concerned the whole country? Yes once we went to polls with a single aim – to oust Indira Gandhi other than that – it was always local issues and mandir masjid issue. People who don’t have enough to eat – dress and take shelter – what they will say about the nuclear deals? Are we Indians, with the exception of the so called urban aristocrats and rural technocrats, are well aware to put forward opinions about the nuclear issue?
Congress is well conscious of the above fact – “THE SHINING INDIA” slogan didn’t saved the last BJP government, because the “Shining” was limited to the IT zone and to the share market area, the rural India was in the grip of farmer suicide and poverty. Likewise “Nuclear Deal” is not going to make any effect on the rural population of India, how much the lefties try. Of course they can make confusion in the Muslim vote bank – but the chance to convert that confusion into confrontation with Congress is minimal. The lefty’s success lies in their “SUCCESS” to find route in to the rural India, but that route is congested with all A- B and C parties with their chunk of communal and feudalist vote banks.
The changes that taking place in the Chinese Communist party and the “capitalist” factor in the Bengal Communist party – can it bring any transform to the “thinking cells” of the Indian Politburo and compel them to take practical steps breaking their ideological fence, in which they made themselves captives of the changing world?
By January we can get a clear picture, whether Indian government is still controlled by the American interest or by the Communist threat.
Nuclear Deal
MODIFICATION
It was our evening out; I went to my friend’s house with our plans for the evening. When I reached his house, he told me to watch the breaking news in the channel. After waiting to finish the 5 minutes long break on the channel, finally they started to show the “Exclusive”.
The “revealing” of the members of the “parivar”. I was not surprised or shocked hearing the gruesome revelations. Every thing they said were already known to the world, anyone disbelieved the reality of Gujarat of that time, than one should have got amazed, hearing the revelation.
My skeptic mind started to look for the hidden motive behind this disclosure. Why suddenly someone start to talk to others about the heinous acts of life they have carried out with such a glee. My friend was firm that the revelations are not cooked; people sometimes start to spill the beans once they feel the listener is admiring his activities and when the criminal thinks that the heinous act he done was heroism!
I just noticed the facial expressions of the culprits – with what enjoyment in their eyes they narrate their mayhem? One when narrating how he split open the stomach of a pregnant woman I found pleasure on his eyes! Which is that faith on this earth that brings pleasure on ones eyes when narrating the cruelty one has done? Which is that religion that makes one feel delighted when declaring that he cut the limbs and the penis before throwing one innocent, helpless, unarmed man into the fire?
Only a mind that was calloused by hatred can do those things, and for such- there is no religion, only animal instinct remains in them and they should not be considered as human beings. Moreover, animals they do not have any religion they are just animals.
When I read the Ashish Khetan’s “Voyager between Two Worlds”, I really got shocked and amazed! How one can risk his own life and that of his family to bring out the truth? Will this going to make an iota of difference in our society other than mudslinging? Is his “findings” more valuable than his life?
BJP already out calling the revelation as a tactics of Congress and Tehalka , Congress and allies calling for the “heads”. Was there anything new in the revelations that the voters who are going to vote not knowing? Will these revelations going to influence any way the voters? I think, Gujarat got a leader like Modi because they want a leader like him. Their mind was ready to accept and garland Modi, will these revelations bring any change to that mind setting? I think NO, the revelations may have an impact on some, but the majority will still look at Modi and his “modification” with admiration. Hitler was also adored and admired by Germans.
The sufferers remained in the camps for years licking their wounds and they will remain in the camps sulking about their fate. The criminals will win the election and use and misuse the power – Ashish Ketan will look for another investigate journalism or sting operation. Life will move on...; they never spared Gandhi, are those innocents better than Gandhi in the scavenger’s eye?
A cover-up of Gujarat genocide
IN THE FIVE months of TEHELKA’S investigation into the Gujarat genocide, many rioters and conspirators spoke of their role at length. But there was one place that had not been covered — Gulbarg. The housing society, situated in the eastern part of Ahmedabad, was once home to former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri. Despite the presence of a police contingent, a Hindu mob had laid siege to the society on the morning of February 28. For over five hours, Jafri kept making desperate phone calls to the police commissioner, to the chief minister’s office, to Congress leaders in Delhi and to his friends, pleading for help.
For over five hours, about 30 Muslim families in the society prayed and hoped that they would be rescued. Along with them were many Muslims from the adjoining slums who had taken shelter in Gulbarg, thinking that a society housing a Congress leader would be an unassailable refuge. Finally, at around 2:30pm, the mob stormed into the society and killed whoever they could lay their hands on. The official death toll was 39. But the survivors claimed that a far greater number were killed. Jafri himself was burnt alive. The remains of his body were never found. Those killed at Gulbarg and Naroda were given a mass burial in freshly dug graves in a Muslim graveyard at Ahmedabad on March 6, 2002.
During TEHELKA’S last meeting with Babu Bajrangi on September 1, 2007, Bajrangi mentioned that he knew many VHP activists who were accused in the Gulbarg massacre. He said the VHP was not taking good care of them and that he could arrange a meeting if required. On September 8, I flew to Ahmedabad to meet the Gulbarg accused. One of Bajrangi’s office assistants took me to Meghaninagar, the area where Gulbarg society was situated. We decided to meet on the road opposite Gulbarg society. The desolation of the society (it’s abandoned now), located in the middle of a bustling, colourful neighbourhood, was eerie. The iron gate at the front, the walls within, the windows, the doors, the roof, they were all of the same colour — charcoal black.
Shopkeepers, hawkers, neighbours, passers-by, all went about their business without sparing a glance for this piece of land. We waited there for almost 20 minutes before two senior local VHP leaders arrived. One of them, Mahesh Patel, owned a shop close by. These two VHP men do not themselves figure in the police charge sheet but they were to introduce me to those named in the list of accused. Mahesh Patel took me to his house and sent word to the accused to gather at his place. Patel gave me a run-down of the things the VHP had done for the accused — from providing food in jail, to sending money to their families, to arranging legal aid (For Patel, I was an RSS man who had come down from Delhi to assess how the Hindu riots accused were keeping).
About 40 minutes later, three accused — Prahlad Raju, Mangilal Jain and Madan Chawal arrived (39 Hindus were chargesheeted but at that time only these three were available). To begin with, they demolished the grand claims made by Patel that the VHP took good care of them. Their list of complaints was long and bitter. I took their phone numbers and left after promising that I would ensure their complaints were properly addressed and that they received more help from the VHP and RSS in future. On my way back, I called up Mangilal Jain on his cellphone and told him to see me at my hotel near Ahmedabad airport. I told him to bring along the other two as well.
At Naroda Patiya, Ninety-seven bodies had inquest panchnamas filed, a legal procedure under which the police, in the presence of two socalled “independent” witnesses, or panchas, physically verify the place from which the bodies were recovered and the nature of injuries on them and record their findings in writing. Thus, by their own records, the police recovered at least 97 bodies from Naroda Patiya. But, shockingly post-mortems were performed on only 58. Of the bodies recovered from Naroda Gaon, autopsies were not carried out on two. Apart from providing irrefutable evidence of the scale of the barbarity perpetrated that day, the autopsies, if done honestly, could have established the time of death, which would have given a fair indication of the total duration of the slaughter. These reports could have been a strong piece of evidence in court. But this is exactly what the police did not want.
Crucial evidence destroyed: The scene of a crime gives an investigating agency its most critical pieces of evidence. In Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon, the accused had left behind a trail that the police set out to systematically obliterate. The pit in which a large number of people were burnt alive was not even examined — no samples were taken of the soil, of the traces of human tissue or of the remains of burnt fuel. On the contrary, the pit does not even figure in the police version of the massacre. The dying declarations of as many as seven victims were not recorded; two of them died on March 11 after prolonged treatment, but no explanation is forthcoming in the chargesheet of why their statements were not recorded.
BJP MLA exonerated: Naroda massacre survivors had named local BJP MLA Mayaben Kodnani as having incited the murderous mob. However, at the time of filing the chargesheet for the carnage, the police dropped her name from the list of the accused, claiming that they had failed to find any evidence against her. But Richard had much to say about the role she had played. Richard and his co-accused Prakash Rathod said that Mayaben patrolled the streets of Naroda Patiya throughout the day, urging the rioters to kill more Muslims.
Destruction of Noorani Masjid not investigated: In its records of what it found at the scene of the offence, the police mention the presence of an oil tanker, manufactured by Ashok Leyland, near the Noorani Masjid, with its rear in contact with the wall of the mosque. Its front number plate was intact and read GT-1T 7384. But the tanker was not seized. The Road TransportOffice was not contacted to determine its ownership. No samples of its contents were taken for forensic examination. In fact, it is still a mystery as to how a tanker of this size managed to “sneak in” so close to the Noorani Masjid, a place where there were over 12 police personnel on “constant vigil”.
No proceedings against absconding prime accused: Many main accused went absconding after the police was forced to register an FIR against them. Babu Bajrangi, Kishan Korani, Prakash Rathod and Suresh Richard, for instance, were arrested three months after the FIR was issued. Bipin Panchal was arrested after a year and a half. But the police did not follow any of the usual procedures used when an accused absconds, such as pasting notices outside the accused’s house declaring him an absconder, confiscating his properties, etc.
Not one confession recorded: Those arrested for the Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon massacres were taken in on remand — a period the court grants to the police to take an accused into custody for interrogation. But the remand and interrogation were a farce. Not one confession has been annexed to the chargesheets filed in either of the Naroda massacres.
Just one weapon recovered: Barring one sword recovered from Bipin Panchal in 2004, the police have not recovered any other weapon either from the scene of the crime or from any other accused. The survivors, however, had testified that their attackers, including the accused, were heavily armed with an assortment of weapons — knives, swords, trishuls, gas cylinders and firearms. In an instance where as many as 105 people, according to the police’s own admission, were butchered, the failure to recover any
weapon used in the massacre speaks volumes for the quality of the investigation carried outIn fact, the owner of a gas agency had given a written statement that 20-odd persons with a Maruti van had landed up at his godown on the day of the carnage and had looted a large number of gas cylinders. The agency owner said his watchman had been present when the incident took place. But neither was the statement of the watchman recorded, nor was any attempt made to identify those involved in the looting or to track down the vehicle used in the crime.
Not one accused sent for scientific examination: Since not a single statement of any of the accused was recorded under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, it would indicate that the police failed to elicit any information by conventional interrogation methods. The next step would have been to subject the accused to scientific examinations like a polygraph test or narcoanalysis or brain mapping. The police, however, initiated no efforts in this direction.
No mention made of rapes: Three chargesheets apiece were filed in the Naroda Gaon and Naroda Patiya massacres. However, despite the testimonies of dozens of survivors who had reported that women were raped, not a single instance of rape was recorded. At least one post-mortem indicated a possible case of sexual assault, yet no investigations in this direction were carried out. (It should be noted that since autopsies on 41 bodies were not carried out, there is no ascertaining how many of them were women’s and whether they bore marks of sexual assault.)
Mobile phone recovered from the spot not examined: On the day of the massacre, a survivor named Mirja Hussain Biwi Moherble recovered a mobile phone near her residence in Naroda Patiya. It had been inadvertently dropped by one of the accused, and was handed over to the police. On enquiry, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, AK Surolia found that it belonged to one Ashok Sindhi, an accused in the massacre. Surolia launched a massive investigation and started collecting the call records of Babu Bajrangi and other accused, including Sindhi (Letters from Surolia addressed to telecom companies asking for phone records are with TEHELKA.
We also have handwritten notes by him in which he observed that he believed Bajrangi “to be behind all this”.) But before the investigation could go any further, Surolia was transferred.. Once he was gone, the police stopped looking into Sindhi’s phone records. In the three chargesheets filed in the Naroda Patiya massacre, no mention has been made of any cellphone belonging to an accused being recovered from the scene of the crime.
Mobile phone records of the accused not made part of the chargesheet: After the case was transferred to the Crime Branch of the Ahmedabad Police, the then DCP Rahul Sharma proceeded to collect the mobile phone call records of all the accused. But, a few weeks into the probe, he was unceremoniously taken off it and the case was handed over to Deputy Commissioner of Police DG Vanzara. Sharma, however, managed to make a copy of all the call records and produced it before the Nanavati-Shah Commission. These call records are a piece of strong corroborative evidence establishing not only how all the accused were making frantic calls to each other while the Naroda massacre was in progress, but also that they were present at the spot. Call records have not been included as evidence in the chargesheets.
No mention made of use of firearms: In the chargesheets, the police have only said that the mob was carrying sharp-edged weapons (of which only one has been recovered so far). The police have ruled out the use of any kind of firearm by the mob. The injury certificates of most of the survivors who were treated for gunshot wounds were not made part of the chargesheets; all the same, clear mentions of gunshot wounds did find their way into four injury certificates annexed with the chargesheets. One postmortem report also attributes the death to a firearm injury. The dimensions of the entry and exit wounds in all five cases show that the wounds were inflicted by small firearms and not by police rifles. In any case, though the police have claimed to have fired 91 rounds to disperse the mob, it is not their case that anyone was injured in police firing. As to how these five people sustained bullet injuries, the entire investigation is silent.
No identification parades carried out: In the case of both the Naroda massacres, dozens of witnesses have stated that were the accused to be shown to them, they would identify their attackers. Yet, except for Ashok Sindhi, the police did not conduct any identification parades of the accused. The identification parade is of immense importance
in cases of mob violence.
THE INVISIBLE HAND
In the course of their conversations with TEHELKA, numerous accused spoke appreciatively of the role of the police, and named senior Sangh Parivar functionaries, for their role in the carnage, including MoS for Home Gordhan Zadaphia, whom Bajrangi spoke to after the massacre. When so many arms of the government were involved at so many levels, was the man who headed the state also involved?
TEHELKA asked Bajrangi this question. In reply, the Naroda massacres prime accused said that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had visited Naroda twice after the massacre — first, in the evening of the day of the massacre, when he came to the locality but was unable to enter it, and second, on the next day, when he went inside Naroda Patiya. On both visits, Modi had encouraged the murderers, Bajrangi said, and told them that whatever they had done was good and that they should do even more.
Suresh Richard corroborated this account and said that Modi had also visited Chharanagar on the evening of the massacre and garlanded the rioters. Bajrangi said that if Modi had not told the police to stand back, the massacre would never have been possible. But Modi’s support to the rioters did not stop at the facilitation of the killings. Bajrangi said after the Naroda killings, Modi kept him in hiding for more than four months and then stage-managed his arrest. If that was not enough he also brought in a favourable judge to hear Bajrangi’s bail petition and got him out of jail.
THE SIEGE OF GULBARG
Prahlad Raju said the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists passed through Meghaninagar in large numbers early that day. They were out to enforce the bandh called by the VHP. He said he joined the groups at about 8:30am.
He said many activists were carrying tridents in their belts. Mangilal Jain added that many in the mob also had sticks and carted litres of petrol in their cars. According to Madan Chawal, some in the mob were also carrying firearms. Chawal said that soon after the VHP activists arrived, someone set a shop owned by a Muslim on fire. At this point, Chawal, who ran a grocery here, also joined the mob.
WHO LED THE MOB?
Chawal, Jain and Raju said that two VHP leaders — Atul Vaid and Bharat Teli — and a local Congress leader Megh Singh were leading the mob.
HOW EHSAN JAFRI WAS KILLED
Soon, the mob gheraoed Gulbarg society. While there were 30 to 35 Muslim families residing in the society, poor Muslims from adjoining slums had also taken shelter within the compound. Since the gates of the society were closed and the boundary walls enclosing the society were high, a few in the mob blasted the wall from the front and the rear.
Chawal said, “The mob took cylinders from other houses. The cylinders were placed along the wall and set afire… resulting in an explosion that damaged the almost two-feet thick wall.” He said some from the mob scaled the almost 20-foot wall by rope. Alarmed at the mob ambushing the complex, Jafri began to make frantic calls to police officers and political leaders. When nothing seemed to work, the accused told TEHELKA, Jafri opened fire on the mob and injured a few people. Then he offered the mob money pleading for them to spare him and the other Muslims in Gulbarg. At this, the mob told him to come down to them with the money.
Jain said that as soon as he stepped out, Jafri dropped the money on the ground and tried to rush back. But the mob pounced on him. Chawal recalled the killing: “Paanch-chheh jan pakad liye the, phir usko jaise pakad ke khada rakha phir logon mein se kisi ne talwar maari… haath kaate… haath kaat ke phir pair kaate… phir na sab kaat dala… phir tukde kar ke phir lakda jo lagaye thhe, lakde uspe rakh ke phir jala daala… zinda jala daala… (Five or six people held him, then someone struck him with a sword… chopped off his hand, then his legs… then everything else… after cutting him to pieces, they put him on the wood they’d piled and set it on fire… burnt him alive…)”
After killing Jafri, the mob dragged out other Muslims and slaughtered them and set them on fire. At around 4.30 in the evening, the police finally dispersed the mob and the survivors were rescued.
THE COMPLICIT POLICE
According to the three accused, the police not only gave them a free hand, but also exhorted the rioters to kill Muslims. Mangilal Jain said that the police inspector in-charge of Meghaninagar police station, KG Erda told the rioters that they had three to four hours to carry out killings. TEHELKA found that the police inspector had given this time since extra forces were expected to be in Ahmedabad that evening.
Jain said some in the police kept away, indicating to the rioters that they were to do whatever they wished in those few hours. This further fuelled the mob’s frenzy all over Ahmedabad and led to the deaths of many more Muslims.
Raju also told TEHELKA that police personnel deployed in the area not only stood back but signalled to the rioters to go for the kill. Erda arrived to “rescue” the survivors after the massacre was almost over. At this point, relates Chawal, the rioters approached Erda and told him he was not doing the right thing as the survivors could testify against them. So Erda came up with a heinous plan — as the van carrying the survivors drew away from Gulbarg, the rioters were to pelt stones at it so the constable on the vehicle could claim to have been scared off. He would flee and the mob could then torch it. But the plan could not be executed because of the timely intervention of a Muslim inspector called Pathan, Chawal said.
The three accused TEHELKA spoke to said the actual toll was much higher than the official figure but the police had told the mob to dispose of the bodies to reduce the magnitude of the crime. The cover-up continued even after the investigation was initiated. All three spoke to TEHELKA of the royal treatment they received at the hands of the Crime Branch officials investigating the case. They all said that they were extended the best hospitality when they were in police custody and were not interrogated at all. Being in police custody itself, the three said, was a farce, a formality the cops needed to comply with. Chawal said DG Vanzara, who was then posted as DCP (Crime) and was the investigating officer of the Gulbarg massacre, never asked him to reveal anything about the massacre. The three said they lied in their police statements and the police didn’t pressurise them to tell the truth.
Dozens of survivors wrote to the Ahmedabad police commissioner saying that their statements had been recorded incorrectly by the police. One survivor, Mohammad Raffik Pathan, made a sworn affidavit to the police commissioner stating that four assailants whom he had identified and named before the police were not included in his final statement. Another, Mohammad Sayeed, stated that nine of the assailants he had named were omitted from his statement while four persons whom he had named were included. Despite dozens of such representations, the police refused to correct the glaring discrepancies.
Many victims had told the police that they had seen VHP leaders Bharat Teli and Atul Vaid in the mob. As is recorded on the TEHELKA spycam, the three Gulbarg accused have corroborated the presence in the mob of the two VHP leaders. But the police is yet to include their names in the chargesheet.
BABU BAJRANGI
Just under 5’3”, Babu Bajrangi—whose family name is Patel — is a towering figure in Naroda. Twenty-two years of association with the VHP and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal, has firmly established him as the most dreaded local thug. Today, Bajrangi lords it over Naroda, and over Chharanagar in particular, where he commands a substantial following. Many Chharas appear to hold him in great reverence; he, in turn, is all praise for the criminal abilities he claims they possess, they are his “weapons”, he says, “just kill, nothing else”.
Bajrangi holds court at his office on the second floor of the Ajanta Ellora Shopping Complex, just off the highway that skirts Naroda. Though he claims to be a big builder with a steady monthly income of over a lakh and a half, his main vocation is beating up Muslims and Christians. “I just hate Muslims and Christians,” he says. And the cause dearest to his heart is to “rescue” Hindu girls who have married or eloped with Muslim boys. A majority of those who visit him each day are the parents of such girls. “When they go to the police, the cops don’t lodge a complaint, they send them to me,” Bajrangi claims. “Nine hundred and fifty-seven — that’s how many Hindu girls I have saved. On average, one girl married to a Muslim produces five children. So, in effect, I have killed 5,000 Muslims before they were born.”
Bajrangi has other claims to fame too. It was he who, virtually single-handedly, stalled the release of the film Parzania in Ahmedabad. While he openly threatened cinema hall owners to keep them from screening the film, the administration remained mute. “The film was anti-Hindu,” is all the justification he needed. Bajrangi’s love for Hindus is defined by his hate for Muslims and everything about them. “I would not mind if I were condemned to death, but if they ask me my last wish, I would want to drop bombs in Muslim localities and kill ten to fifteen thousand Muslims before I die.”
Apart from personal action, he has several suggestions for a “solution” to the “problem” of Muslim presence. “Delhi should issue orders to kill — higher caste people and the rich won’t do it but slum dwellers and the poor will and they should be ordered to. They should be told that they can take whatever they want of the Muslims — land, wealth, houses, everything — but they should do it in three days.” This will ensure that Muslims are wiped out across India. Bajrangi’s second suggestion is to have Muslims allowed only one marriage and one child by law. Additionally, it would also be a good idea to deny them the right to vote.
PREPARATIONS FOR GENOCIDE
Bajrangi went to Godhra on February 27, the day of the Sabarmati fire. He told TEHELKA that after he saw the Sabarmati victims’ bodies, he took a vow to avenge Godhra on the Muslims of Naroda Patiya the very next day. “Humne unko wahi challenge kar diya tha ki isse chaar guna laash hum Patiya mein gira daalenge (I challenged the Muslims — I would see four times the number of dead in Godhra felled in Patiya),” Bajrangi told TEHELKA at the very first meeting. He returned to Ahmedabad and began preparations for the massacre that very night. Twenty-three small firearms were rounded up from such Hindus as owned them; those who were unwilling to part with their weapons were told they’d be killed the next day, even if they were Hindus. Large quantities of inflammable material were also acquired — Bajrangi told TEHELKA that one petrol pump owner gave him petrol for free, this he later used to burn Muslims alive.
THE EXECUTION
The VHP and Bajrang Dal men arrived at Naroda Patiya at around 10 the next morning. They led the first attack but were forced to retreat as the Muslims put up a strong resistance, said Suresh Richard, one of the key accused in the Naroda Patiya massacre. At this point, a large band of Bajrangi’s Chhara followers joined ranks with the saffron mob and mounted a fresh attack. By around 10.30am, they had managed to destroy the minaret of Naroda Patiya’s Noorani Masjid. Subsequently, as Richard told TEHELKA, a full fuel tanker was rammed into the building, it burst and was then set on fire. The fuel from the tanker was also used to burn Muslims and their homes.
After the first round of assault, the Muslims barricaded themselves into their homes and remained there till around 3pm when the attack intensified. Between 5 and 6 that evening, the mob reached the height of its frenzy; many women and girls were first raped and then doused in kerosene and petrol and burnt. A few dozen Muslims were able to make it to a State Reserve Police Force camp nearby. Bajrangi told TEHELKA that but for the Muslim commandant of the camp, who sheltered some Muslims, the death toll would have been much higher.
Some of the men in the Naroda attack were wearing khaki shorts and had saffron bands around their foreheads. According to witnesses, many were carrying jerrycans filled with kerosene, diesel and oil from the State Transport workshop. These they would empty on whoever came in range before setting them on fire; lit balls of fuel-soaked cloth were also thrown at those out of immediate reach. In Naroda is an open area with a large pit that is actually a cul de sac — a slope leads into it from one side but the other side is a sheer rise that cannot be scaled. Several Muslims had sheltered there; the mob surrounded the pit, poured fuel into it and set fire to it as well.
Ninety-seven people are officially said to have died that day in Naroda Patiya, but the actual death toll was much higher, as can be gleaned from the detailed lists survivors have made of missing persons and of their kith and kin whom they saw dying. Most of the dead were charred or mutilated beyond recognition. “We hacked, we burnt, did a lot of that,” said Bajrangi. “We believe in setting them on fire because these bastards say they don’t want to be cremated, they’re afraid of it, they say this and that will happen to them.” An overwhelming majority of the survivors were never able to claim the bodies. Dozens of eyewitnesses who deposed before the Nanavati-Shah Commission recounted scenes of children being burnt alive and women being raped. “We didn’t spare any of them,” Bajrangi said. “They shouldn’t be allowed to breed. Whoever they are, even if they’re women or children, there’s nothing to be done with them; cut them down. Thrash them, slash them, burn the bastards.”
Kauser Bano, was nine months pregnant that day. Her belly was torn open and her foetus wrenched out, held aloft on the tip of a sword, then dashed to the ground and flung into a fire. Bajrangi recounts how he ripped apart “ek woh pregnant… b*******d sala”; how he showed Muslims the meaning of wrath—“If you harm us, we can respond — we’re no khichdi-kadhi lot”.
The scale and ferocity of the attack forced all surviving residents of the settlement to run away. Every house was looted, some were burnt. Many survivors had to be hospitalised; many were separated from their families and were not re-united with them for a week to 10 days, some for much longer. Several women were left with nothing to cover themselves with and were escorted to the relief camp completely naked. Suresh Richard told TEHELKA that there were many instances of rape and he himself was involved in one of them.
Their Eyes And Mouths Were Shut’
Transcript: BABU BAJRANGI says:
SEPTEMBER 1, 2007
Nobody can do what Narendrabhai has done in Gujarat. If I didn’t have Narendrabhai’s support, we would not have been able to avenge Godhra... because the police was standing right in front of us, seeing all that was happening, but they had shut their eyes and mouths... At that time, had the police wanted, they would never have let us in... There was just one entry, like a housing society has, and then Patiya begins... If they wanted to stop us, there were 50 of them there, they could have stopped us... We had good support from the police... because of Narendrabhai... and that is because whatever happened in Gujarat, happened for the best. We got some relief from these people [the Muslims]... they had got so high and daring...
• • •
The Muslims kept making calls to the police, kept running to the police… They had one man called Salem… supposed to be a sort of Naroda Patiya dada… he got into a police jeep… got right inside... I myself caught him and dragged him out… The cops said kill him, if he’s left alive, he’ll testify against us… He was taken a little way away and finished off right there… If the bastard had lived, he would have said he’d climbed into a police jeep and was thrown out, things like that…
• • •
[By the end, there were about 700- 800 bodies.] They were all removed… The Commissioner came that night and said that if there were so many dead at one place, it would create trouble for him… So he had the corpses picked up and dumped all over Ahmedabad… When they were brought to the Civil Hospital for the post-mortem, they were said to be from this place or that…
• • •
AUGUST 10, 2007
At 2.30 that night, I called the police inspector [Mysorewala]... He said don’t come here [to the station]... There were dekho to [shoot at sight] orders against me... Wherever Babu Bajrangi was found, he was to be shot... He told me to run away... our Mysorewala... He said he couldn’t do a thing for me... I wasn’t even to tell anyone he’d called… But even so, he sent a rider to my house... you can imagine how my children felt at that time...
• • •
[Four months later] Narendrabhai told me... there was a lot of pressure on him... The media, TV, so much coverage... Babu Bajrangi is a goonda... Laloo complained in Parliament about my not being caught... So Narendrabhai asked me to surrender... I said, alright saheb, if you tell me to, I will give myself up... I surrendered near Gandhinagar... it was all a big drama... all a drama... the police, the Crime Branch, had been told I would be passing through that area... PP Pandey saheb, who was [joint] commissioner in the Crime Branch then, he was there too and some 12 or 13 cars came... These people waited on the road from Biloda to Gandhinagar... they checked a few cars... I had to land up... it was part of the act... If I’d gone straight to the Crime Branch, the media and the NGOs would have ripped me apart... It was all a drama... they caught me, tied me up with rope... all drama... They told me they were tying me up just for show...
Dance of Hate - By Ashish Khetan (Tehelka Report)
 | |
|
|
Just under 5'3", Babu Bajrangi—whose family name is Patel — is a towering figure in Naroda. Twenty-two years of association with the VHP and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal, has firmly established him as the most dreaded local thug. Today, Bajrangi lords it over Naroda, and over Chharanagar in particular, where he commands a substantial following. Many Chharas appear to hold him in great reverence; he, in turn, is all praise for the criminal abilities he claims they possess, they are his "weapons", he says, "just kill, nothing else".
Bajrangi holds court at his office on the second floor of the Ajanta Ellora Shopping Complex, just off the highway that skirts Naroda. Though he claims to be a big builder with a steady monthly income of over a lakh and a half, his main vocation is beating up Muslims and Christians. "I just hate Muslims and Christians," he says. And the cause dearest to his heart is to "rescue" Hindu girls who have married or eloped with Muslim boys. A majority of those who visit him each day are the parents of such girls. "When they go to the police, the cops don't lodge a complaint, they send them to me," Bajrangi claims. "Nine hundred and fifty-seven — that's how many Hindu girls I have saved. On average, one girl married to a Muslim produces five children. So, in effect, I have killed 5,000 Muslims before they were born."
Bajrangi has other claims to fame too. It was he who, virtually single-handedly, stalled the release of the film Parzania in Ahmedabad. While he openly threatened cinema hall owners to keep them from screening the film, the administration remained mute. "The film was anti-Hindu," is all the justification he needed. Bajrangi's love for Hindus is defined by his hate for Muslims and everything about them. "I would not mind if I were condemned to death, but if they ask me my last wish, I would want to drop bombs in Muslim localities and kill ten to fifteen thousand Muslims before I die."
Apart from personal action, he has several suggestions for a "solution" to the "problem" of Muslim presence. "Delhi should issue orders to kill — higher caste people and the rich won't do it but slum dwellers and the poor will and they should be ordered to. They should be told that they can take whatever they want of the Muslims — land, wealth, houses, everything — but they should do it in three days." This will ensure that Muslims are wiped out across India. Bajrangi's second suggestion is to have Muslims allowed only one marriage and one child by law. Additionally, it would also be a good idea to deny them the right to vote.
PREPARATIONS FOR GENOCIDE
Bajrangi went to Godhra on February 27, the day of the Sabarmati fire. He told TEHELKA that after he saw the Sabarmati victims' bodies, he took a vow to avenge Godhra on the Muslims of Naroda Patiya the very next day. " Humne unko wahi challenge kar diya tha ki isse chaar guna laash hum Patiya mein gira daalenge (I challenged the Muslims — I would see four times the number of dead in Godhra felled in Patiya)," Bajrangi told TEHELKA at the very first meeting. He returned to Ahmedabad and began preparations for the massacre that very night. Twenty-three small firearms were rounded up from such Hindus as owned them; those who were unwilling to part with their weapons were told they'd be killed the next day, even if they were Hindus. Large quantities of inflammable material were also acquired — Bajrangi told TEHELKA that one petrol pump owner gave him petrol for free, this he later used to burn Muslims alive.
THE EXECUTION
The VHP and Bajrang Dal men arrived at Naroda Patiya at around 10 the next morning. They led the first attack but were forced to retreat as the Muslims put up a strong resistance, said Suresh Richard, one of the key accused in the Naroda Patiya massacre. At this point, a large band of Bajrangi's Chhara followers joined ranks with the saffron mob and mounted a fresh attack. By around 10.30am, they had managed to destroy the minaret of Naroda Patiya's Noorani Masjid. Subsequently, as Richard told TEHELKA, a full fuel tanker was rammed into the building, it burst and was then set on fire. The fuel from the tanker was also used to burn Muslims and their homes.
After the first round of assault, the Muslims barricaded themselves into their homes and remained there till around 3pm when the attack intensified. Between 5 and 6 that evening, the mob reached the height of its frenzy; many women and girls were first raped and then doused in kerosene and petrol and burnt. A few dozen Muslims were able to make it to a State Reserve Police Force camp nearby. Bajrangi told TEHELKA that but for the Muslim commandant of the camp, who sheltered some Muslims, the death toll would have been much higher.
Some of the men in the Naroda attack were wearing khaki shorts and had saffron bands around their foreheads. According to witnesses, many were carrying jerrycans filled with kerosene, diesel and oil from the State Transport workshop. These they would empty on whoever came in range before setting them on fire; lit balls of fuel-soaked cloth were also thrown at those out of immediate reach. In Naroda is an open area with a large pit that is actually a cul de sac — a slope leads into it from one side but the other side is a sheer rise that cannot be scaled. Several Muslims had sheltered there; the mob surrounded the pit, poured fuel into it and set fire to it as well.
Ninety-seven people are officially said to have died that day in Naroda Patiya, but the actual death toll was much higher, as can be gleaned from the detailed lists survivors have made of missing persons and of their kith and kin whom they saw dying. Most of the dead were charred or mutilated beyond recognition. "We hacked, we burnt, did a lot of that," said Bajrangi. "We believe in setting them on fire because these bastards say they don't want to be cremated, they're afraid of it, they say this and that will happen to them." An overwhelming majority of the survivors were never able to claim the bodies. Dozens of eyewitnesses who deposed before the Nanavati-Shah Commission recounted scenes of children being burnt alive and women being raped. "We didn't spare any of them," Bajrangi said. "They shouldn't be allowed to breed. Whoever they are, even if they're women or children, there's nothing to be done with them; cut them down. Thrash them, slash them, burn the bastards."
 |
| Photo: Paras Shah |
Kauser Bano, was nine months pregnant that day. Her belly was torn open and her foetus wrenched out, held aloft on the tip of a sword, then dashed to the ground and flung into a fire. Bajrangi recounts how he ripped apart " ek woh pregnant… b*******d sala"; how he showed Muslims the meaning of wrath—"If you harm us, we can respond — we're no khichdi-kadhi lot".
The scale and ferocity of the attack forced all surviving residents of the settlement to run away. Every house was looted, some were burnt. Many survivors had to be hospitalised; many were separated from their families and were not re-united with them for a week to 10 days, some for much longer. Several women were left with nothing to cover themselves with and were escorted to the relief camp completely naked. Suresh Richard told TEHELKA that there were many instances of rape and he himself was involved in one of them.
TEHELKA: It is being said the Chharas also committed rapes…
Richard: Now look, one thing is true… bhookhe ghuse to koi na koi to phal khayega, na [when thousands of hungry men go in, they will eat some fruit or the other, no]… Aise bhi, phal ko kuchal ke phek denge [in any case, the fruit is going to be crushed and thrown away]… Look, I'm not telling lies… Mata is before me [gesturing to an image of a deity]… Many Muslim girls were being killed and burnt to death, some men must have helped themselves to the fruit…
TEHELKA:Must have been a couple of rapes…
Richard: Might even have been more… then there were the rest of our brothers, our Hindu brothers, VHP people and RSS people… Anyone could have helped themselves… who wouldn't, when there's fruit?… The more you harm them, the less it is… I really hate them… don't want to spare them… Look, my wife is sitting here but let me say… the fruit was there so it had to be eaten… I ate too… I ate once.
TEHELKA: Just once?
Richard: Just once… then I had to go killing again… [turns to relative Prakash Rathod and talks about the girl he had raped and killed ]… the scrap dealer's daughter Naseemo... Naseemo that juicy plump one… I got on top…
TEHELKA: You got on top of her…
Richard: Yes, properly…
TEHELKA: She didn't survive, did she?
Richard: No, then I pulped her… Made her into a pickle…
Another victim, 22-year-old Sufiya Bano, was raped and burnt in front of her father. The Civil Hospital, where she was admitted and later died, confirmed the attack on her. When her father, Abdul Majid, a witness who deposed before the Nanavati-Shah Commission, tried to save his daughter, he was brutally seized and held and his beard cut off. Apart from Sufiya Bano, six other members of this family were killed: three boys — Mehmood, Ayub and Hussain; two other girls — Afrin Bano and Shahin Bano; and their mother, Lalibibi. At 22, Sufiya was the eldest of her siblings; seven-year-old Hussain and four-year old Shahin Bano were the youngest.
Police Commissioner PC Pandey came to Naroda Patiya only later that night, at around one. As he surveyed the devastation, he said the place looked worse than even the battlefields of Haldighati. So Bajrangi said.
On the day of the massacre, Richard told TEHELKA, BJP MLA Mayaben Kodnani drove around Naroda, exhorting the rioters to kill as many as they could. Worse yet, Bajrangi revealed that he had been giving VHP general secretary Jaideep Patel a blow-by-blow account of the massacre on his mobile phone. He said he made 11 calls to Patel, providing him the latest death toll each time, until his phone went dead. That evening, Bajrangi says, he also called up then Minister of State for Home Gordhan Zadaphia, and told him how many he had killed and said that it was now up to Zadaphia to keep him out of trouble with the law. He went to bed that night feeling like Maharana Pratap, he says. He didn't manage to meet Narendra Modi when the Gujarat CM visited the locality that evening. Modi never made it into the interior of Naroda Patiya, says Bajrangi. "Not even God had the power to enter Naroda Patiya that day."
THE ROLE OF THE POLICE
 |
| 'They shouldn't be allowed to breed. I say this even today, even if they are women or children'-Babu Bajrangi |
Bajrangi was emphatic in his claim that the killings would never have been possible had the police not looked the other way. There was only one entrance to Naroda Patiya, he said, "like a housing society", and there were some 50 policemen posted there. "They could have ripped us apart," he said. "But, though they saw everything, they kept their eyes and mouths shut." Richard said that the police fired at Muslims who were under attack. He also said that late that night, after the rioting had died down, some policemen specially told the Chharas to kill Muslims hiding in a ditch.
 |
| 'Many Muslim girls were being killed. Some men must have helped themselves to the fruit'-Suresh Richard |
THE COVER-UP
TEHELKA in collaboration with advocate Somnath Vatsa of NGO Action Aid — whose Ahmedabad chapter has been fighting for justice for the victims of the 2002 massacre — carried out a threadbare analysis of the police investigation and the chargesheets filed in the Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon massacres. We found that far from punishing the guilty, the police were involved in a massive cover-up.
 |
| 'Mayaben(a local MLA) patrolled the streets, urging the rioters to kill more Muslims'-Prakash Rathod |
Bodies disposed of to diminish magnitude of crime: Once the massacre was over, the first task before the police was to whittle down the death toll. The larger the number of deaths, the more vociferous the outcry from civil society. As Bajrangi details, the police had the bodies from Naroda Patiya rounded up and dumped at various places across the city. According to Bajrangi, over 200 people had died that day; late that night, then Ahmedabad Police Comissioner PC Pandey came to Naroda and ordered the police to have the bodies removed.
"They were piled up in trucks, it took so many vehicles, some were even stuffed into jeeps." When the bodies were collected the second time and brought to the Civil Hospital for the post-mortem, they were recorded as being from the area where they were found. In this manner, the police managed to keep the death count down to 105, 97 from Naroda Patiya and eight from Naroda Gaon. The post-mortem records show that even these 105 bodies from Naroda were brought to the hospital piecemeal, with the last few bodies being brought in a full four days after the massacre.
No autopsies on 41 bodies:With one piece of evidence destroyed, the police moved on to the next stage. The bodies — charred, hacked at, bearing shot wounds, stab marks and marks of rape — could have been strong evidence of a brutal massacre and of the administration' s complicity. They might have served as a potent indication of the fact that this was no spontaneous act of rioting but a systematic pogrom. But the police did not carry out post-mortems on as many as 41 bodies recovered from Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon. No explanation has been offered for this act of grave negligence and omission.
Ninety-seven bodies had inquest panchnamas filed, a legal procedure under which the police, in the presence of two socalled "independent" witnesses, or panchas, physically verify the place from which the bodies were recovered and the nature of injuries on them and record their findings in writing. Thus, by their own records, the police recovered at least 97 bodies from Naroda Patiya. But, shockingly post-mortems were performed on only 58. Of the bodies recovered from Naroda Gaon, autopsies were not carried out on two. Apart from providing irrefutable evidence of the scale of the barbarity perpetrated that day, the autopsies, if done honestly, could have established the time of death, which would have given a fair indication of the total duration of the slaughter. These reports could have been a strong piece of evidence in court. But this is exactly what the police did not want.
Crucial evidence destroyed: The scene of a crime gives an investigating agency its most critical pieces of evidence. In Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon, the accused had left behind a trail that the police set out to systematically obliterate. The pit in which a large number of people were burnt alive was not even examined — no samples were taken of the soil, of the traces of human tissue or of the remains of burnt fuel. On the contrary, the pit does not even figure in the police version of the massacre. The dying declarations of as many as seven victims were not recorded; two of them died on March 11 after prolonged treatment, but no explanation is forthcoming in the chargesheet of why their statements were not recorded.
BJP MLA exonerated: Naroda massacre survivors had named local BJP MLA Mayaben Kodnani as having incited the murderous mob. However, at the time of filing the chargesheet for the carnage, the police dropped her name from the list of the accused, claiming that they had failed to find any evidence against her. But Richard had much to say about the role she had played. Richard and his co-accused Prakash Rathod said that Mayaben patrolled the streets of Naroda Patiya throughout the day, urging the rioters to kill more Muslims.
Destruction of Noorani Masjid not investigated: In its records of what it found at the scene of the offence, the police mention the presence of an oil tanker, manufactured by Ashok Leyland, near the Noorani Masjid, with its rear in contact with the wall of the mosque. Its front number plate was intact and read GT-1T 7384. But the tanker was not seized. The Road Transport Office was not contacted to determine its ownership. No samples of its contents were taken for forensic examination. In fact, it is still a mystery as to how a tanker of this size managed to "sneak in" so close to the Noorani Masjid, a place where there were over 12 police personnel on "constant vigil".
 |
| Photo: Cherian Thomas |
No proceedings against absconding prime accused: Many main accused went absconding after the police was forced to register an FIR against them. Babu Bajrangi, Kishan Korani, Prakash Rathod and Suresh Richard, for instance, were arrested three months after the FIR was issued. Bipin Panchal was arrested after a year and a half. But the police did not follow any of the usual procedures used when an accused absconds, such as pasting notices outside the accused's house declaring him an absconder, confiscating his properties, etc.
Not one confession recorded: Those arrested for the Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon massacres were taken in on remand — a period the court grants to the police to take an accused into custody for interrogation. But the remand and interrogation were a farce. Not one confession has been annexed to the chargesheets filed in either of the Naroda massacres.
Just one weapon recovered: Barring one sword recovered from Bipin Panchal in 2004, the police have not recovered any other weapon either from the scene of the crime or from any other accused. The survivors, however, had testified that their attackers, including the accused, were heavily armed with an assortment of weapons — knives, swords, trishuls, gas cylinders and firearms. In an instance where as many as 105 people, according to the police's own admission, were butchered, the failure to recover any
weapon used in the massacre speaks volumes for the quality of the investigation carried out. In fact, the owner of a gas agency had given a written statement that 20-odd persons with a Maruti van had landed up at his godown on the day of the carnage and had looted a large number of gas cylinders. The agency owner said his watchman had been present when the incident took place. But neither was the statement of the watchman recorded, nor was any attempt made to identify those involved in the looting or to track down the vehicle used in the crime.
Not one accused sent for scientific examination: Since not a single statement of any of the accused was recorded under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, it would indicate that the police failed to elicit any information by conventional interrogation methods. The next step would have been to subject the accused to scientific examinations like a polygraph test or narcoanalysis or brain mapping. The police, however, initiated no efforts in this direction.
No mention made of rapes: Three chargesheets apiece were filed in the Naroda Gaon and Naroda Patiya massacres. However, despite the testimonies of dozens of survivors who had reported that women were raped, not a single instance of rape was recorded. At least one post-mortem indicated a possible case of sexual assault, yet no investigations in this direction were carried out. (It should be noted that since autopsies on 41 bodies were not carried out, there is no ascertaining how many of them were women's and whether they bore marks of sexual assault.)
Mobile phone recovered from the spot not examined: On the day of the massacre, a survivor named Mirja Hussain Biwi Moherble recovered a mobile phone near her residence in Naroda Patiya. It had been inadvertently dropped by one of the accused, and was handed over to the police. On enquiry, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, AK Surolia found that it belonged to one Ashok Sindhi, an accused in the massacre. Surolia launched a massive investigation and started collecting the call records of Babu Bajrangi and other accused, including Sindhi (Letters from Surolia addressed to telecom companies asking for phone records are with TEHELKA.
We also have handwritten notes by him in which he observed that he believed Bajrangi "to be behind all this".) But before the investigation could go any further, Surolia was transferred. Once he was gone, the police stopped looking into Sindhi's phone records. In the three chargesheets filed in the Naroda Patiya massacre, no mention has been made of any cellphone belonging to an accused being recovered from the scene of the crime.
Mobile phone records of the accused not made part of the chargesheet: After the case was transferred to the Crime Branch of the Ahmedabad Police, the then DCP Rahul Sharma proceeded to collect the mobile phone call records of all the accused. But, a few weeks into the probe, he was unceremoniously taken off it and the case was handed over to Deputy Commissioner of Police DG Vanzara. Sharma, however, managed to make a copy of all the call records and produced it before the Nanavati-Shah Commission. These call records are a piece of strong corroborative evidence establishing not only how all the accused were making frantic calls to each other while the Naroda massacre was in progress, but also that they were present at the spot. Call records have not been included as evidence in the chargesheets.
 |
| Photo: Cherian Thomas |
No mention made of use of firearms: In the chargesheets, the police have only said that the mob was carrying sharp-edged weapons (of which only one has been recovered so far). The police have ruled out the use of any kind of firearm by the mob. The injury certificates of most of the survivors who were treated for gunshot wounds were not made part of the chargesheets; all the same, clear mentions of gunshot wounds did find their way into four injury certificates annexed with the chargesheets. One postmortem report also attributes the death to a firearm injury. The dimensions of the entry and exit wounds in all five cases show that the wounds were inflicted by small firearms and not by police rifles. In any case, though the police have claimed to have fired 91 rounds to disperse the mob, it is not their case that anyone was injured in police firing. As to how these five people sustained bullet injuries, the entire investigation is silent.
No identification parades carried out: In the case of both the Naroda massacres, dozens of witnesses have stated that were the accused to be shown to them, they would identify their attackers. Yet, except for Ashok Sindhi, the police did not conduct any identification parades of the accused. The identification parade is of immense importance
in cases of mob violence.
THE INVISIBLE HAND
In the course of their conversations with TEHELKA, numerous accused spoke appreciatively of the role of the police, and named senior Sangh Parivar functionaries, for their role in the carnage, including MoS for Home Gordhan Zadaphia, whom Bajrangi spoke to after the massacre. When so many arms of the government were involved at so many levels, was the man who headed the state also involved?
TEHELKA asked Bajrangi this question. In reply, the Naroda massacres prime accused said that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had visited Naroda twice after the massacre — first, in the evening of the day of the massacre, when he came to the locality but was unable to enter it, and second, on the next day, when he went inside Naroda Patiya. On both visits, Modi had encouraged the murderers, Bajrangi said, and told them that whatever they had done was good and that they should do even more.
Suresh Richard corroborated this account and said that Modi had also visited Chharanagar on the evening of the massacre and garlanded the rioters. Bajrangi said that if Modi had not told the police to stand back, the massacre would never have been possible. But Modi's support to the rioters did not stop at the facilitation of the killings. Bajrangi said after the Naroda killings, Modi kept him in hiding for more than four months and then stage-managed his arrest. If that was not enough he also brought in a favourable judge to hear Bajrangi's bail petition and got him out of jail.
Celebrity persecution is latest pastime for judiciary
Don't get worked up guys. Such few cases are done to just fool
people that judiciary works. Same way police catches a few kg of
narcotics to show people that law exists while merrily truck loads
are sold every year in india. Facts are menacing and disgusting.
We can call Indian judiciary law of bails, affidavits and
deferements. Shamelesslessly they do on various excuses created by
themselves.
Bogus and non functioning judiciary taking years and years
deferring dates only. Dragging cases on mere technicalities( even
in this Sanju case),dillydallying and making mockery of
constitution. Corrupt and greedy lawyers make hay. These are hard
facts which I can recount based on my own fight in courts for
justice. All criminals are out and enjoying and doing more crimes.
Court's decrees are not respected by crminals and citizens. These
are obtained after years of fighting but courts take no
responsibility to see that these are enforced and tough action is
taken against errant. So these decrees are useless unless against
govt departments.
In fact criminals file damages suits against victim after the
corrupt police-lawyer-judicial nexus acquits them in self created
mess and improper prosecution, rubbing salt in woulds. Can one
imagine a small and simple damages suit being dragged by courts
for 8 years?despite changes in CPS? not to allow more than 3
deferments?Judiciary behaving as if they are reporting to Queen of
England and are answerable to no one. Can it be more shameful
act?Indian judicial system is total fraud and the isolated
incidents like sanjay dutt and salman khan and protima bedi are
done to persecute have sadistic pleasure and make allround money
and publicity. Every one benefits. These are to fool people for
sure.
High courts are more inefficient and arrogant than lower courts
and so on with more cases pending and more time taken than trial
courts which is funny and absurd and shameful.
If you are a criminal and with some hot money in your pockets to
spend. Go ahead and do crime. First of all you will never be
finally and really punished. And even if it is done, it will take
20-25 years. By that time effect of crime will be over and the
victim will either die or will burn himself or herself to
indigation and in justice. It is time judiciary in India feels
ashamed and accountable and starts behaving and change fraudulent
procedures and high handed attitude of judges. Who they are trying
to fool?When people protest like Arundhati when they protest. They
brandish contempt Act but cant use it against erring and corrupt
IAS and IPS officers.
Simply disgusting. Kis kiska contempt karoge bhaia?every second
citizens condemn judicial inefficiency and injustice done by them
in one way or other. Lawyers are loose looting and harassing
citizens.
It is time judiciary changes itself and changes foolish and stupid
rules and court procedures which have made justice its captive.
We will challenge supreme court of india,law commission and Home
minsiter to commission a nationla protal based citizens
satisfactiona nd opinion survey through a US based acclaimed R& D
organisation,and do it every 2 years.ready?
Indian judciary sure owes lot of soul searching and explanation to
people,who pay their hefty pay packages and call them
honourable.
Celebrity persecution is latest pastime for judiciary
Don't get worked up guys. Such few cases are done to just fool
people that judiciary works. Same way police catches a few kg of
narcotics to show people that law exists while merrily truck loads
are sold every year in india. Facts are menacing and disgusting.
We can call Indian judiciary law of bails, affidavits and
deferements. Shamelesslessly they do on various excuses created by
themselves.
Bogus and non functioning judiciary taking years and years
deferring dates only. Dragging cases on mere technicalities( even
in this Sanju case),dillydallying and making mockery of
constitution. Corrupt and greedy lawyers make hay. These are hard
facts which I can recount based on my own fight in courts for
justice. All criminals are out and enjoying and doing more crimes.
Court's decrees are not respected by crminals and citizens. These
are obtained after years of fighting but courts take no
responsibility to see that these are enforced and tough action is
taken against errant. So these decrees are useless unless against
govt departments.
In fact criminals file damages suits against victim after the
corrupt police-lawyer-judicial nexus acquits them in self created
mess and improper prosecution, rubbing salt in woulds. Can one
imagine a small and simple damages suit being dragged by courts
for 8 years?despite changes in CPS? not to allow more than 3
deferments?Judiciary behaving as if they are reporting to Queen of
England and are answerable to no one. Can it be more shameful
act?Indian judicial system is total fraud and the isolated
incidents like sanjay dutt and salman khan and protima bedi are
done to persecute have sadistic pleasure and make allround money
and publicity. Every one benefits. These are to fool people for
sure.
High courts are more inefficient and arrogant than lower courts
and so on with more cases pending and more time taken than trial
courts which is funny and absurd and shameful.
If you are a criminal and with some hot money in your pockets to
spend. Go ahead and do crime. First of all you will never be
finally and really punished. And even if it is done, it will take
20-25 years. By that time effect of crime will be over and the
victim will either die or will burn himself or herself to
indigation and in justice. It is time judiciary in India feels
ashamed and accountable and starts behaving and change fraudulent
procedures and high handed attitude of judges. Who they are trying
to fool?When people protest like Arundhati when they protest. They
brandish contempt Act but cant use it against erring and corrupt
IAS and IPS officers.
Simply disgusting. Kis kiska contempt karoge bhaia?every second
citizens condemn judicial inefficiency and injustice done by them
in one way or other. Lawyers are loose looting and harassing
citizens.
It is time judiciary changes itself and changes foolish and stupid
rules and court procedures which have made justice its captive.
We will challenge supreme court of india,law commission and Home
minsiter to commission a nationla protal based citizens
satisfactiona nd opinion survey through a US based acclaimed R& D
organisation,and do it every 2 years.ready?
Indian judciary sure owes lot of soul searching and explanation to
people,who pay their hefty pay packages and call them
honourable.
Modi, Development And The Weaker Sections
With the impending elections for the State Assembly, the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is busy re-packaging himself as the Vikas Purush (to borrow the term from Venkaiah Naidu, ex-BJP President). After Modi took over the reins of power in Gujarat in the year 2001, he essentially packaged himself as Loha Purush, a term Venkaiah Naidu might have borrowed from the description used for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. All the might of this Loha Purush was exercised not on any powerful sections of the society but on the vulnerable and hapless minorities. Fake encounters targeting Muslims, misusing POTA on Muslim youths, Government's failure to provide an environment in which theatre owners could screen films like Parzania and Fanaa, BJP members vilifying and castigating B.B. Lyngdoh, the then Chief Election Commissioner, and Sonia Gandhi for being Christians who meet in church and conspire for BJP's defeat in Gujarat are some of the instances of the Loha Purush avatar of Narendra Modi.
After fighting his 2002 elections against Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf's "Mian Musharraf mentality", whatever that meant, Modi is now projecting his image that he is entirely for developmental agenda and inclusive growth for Gujarat Assembly Elections this year. Modi spoke on these lines while in Delhi on October 12, 2007 and even invoked Mahatma Gandhi's concept of Ram Rajya. The publicity film prepared by the Govt. of Gujarat – "India Tommorrw – The Gujarat Miracle " projects Modi as the sole person who fought the menace of terrorism in Gujarat. The Film then focuses on development of Gujarat under Modi. Govt. of Gujarat hired a channel to project achievement of Modi, but unfortunately for them, the Election Commission directed the channel to be taken off the air as it would mean unfair advantage to BJP. Modi is therefore seeking mandate on the issues of development.
Take one of the Tribal districts in South Gujarat - Dang. Having 311 villages and a population of more than 1.5 lakhs, about 93% of the population of the district is that of the Scheduled Tribes. Hardly one percent of the population might be holding land more than 10 hectares, and more than 80% of the population is either small cultivator cultivating on rough hilly terrain, or is marginal cultivator or even worst- landless. More than half the population of Dangs migrates outside the district from October to June every year as contract workers in sugarcane plantations, or for chickoo plucking or as migrant agricultural workers in Surat Dist., Valsad Dist. or Navsari Dist. or even in Maharashtra. As contract workers, the men, women and children of the family work upto 16 hours a day just to keep the body and soul together. They migrate outside Dang as they have no employment in Dangs. As migrant labourers, they neither have access to schools, or drinking water or health facilities or other basic human needs. They literally live animal existence that too at the mercy of the landlord who may permit them to pitch temporary shelters created out of cane leaves. After working of 16 hours daily without any leave or holiday or festival for about 8 months, they return home empty handed to their villages to cultivate their marginal holdings that might not be sufficient to provide them food for the four months they survive in their village. 1/3 rd villages in Dangs do not have potable drinking water after the month of October when the rivers dry up. Some of these villages are supplied water with tankers. For the entire District there is only one degree college and about 3-4 high schools run by missionaries. There are only two Govt. High Schools. The condition of the schools in villages is pathetic as is usually the case in Scheduled Tribe areas. Temporary shed which goes for school building, no blackboard or benches with teacher coming for not more than 10-15 days during the entire year. The fifty percent population that is left behind and does not migrate consists of old people not fit to work for 16 hours a day or some who work for harvesting bamboos for pulp mills or for gathering forest produce like honey, tendu leaves, or wild roots for their survival. The district administration generates very little and negligible work on road repairs, as there are few roads, electrification etc. as very little is invested by the Govt. in building infrastructure. There is no work irrigation worth the name except a few check dams here and there. Modi's Govt. did not do any better, perhaps did worst than Congress Govt. so far as Dangs is concerned. There is no development worth the name in Dangs.
However, Modi made a showcase of Dangs for outsiders. In order to facilitate the Sangh Parivar in organizing Shabri Kumbh, wherein they were expecting 5 lakh outsiders (mostly non-adivasis) to descent in a small village of Dangs District, Govt. of Gujarat under Modi's stewardship diverted all the grants received from Govt. of India to build approach road to this village (otherwise not of much use after the Shabri Kumbh event), spent crores of rupees to acquire land for building road, refusing to compensate Christians whose land was acquired for construction of the road. About 75 acres of forest was cleared to build approach road to and for construction of Shabri Mata temple, a diety not known to dangis 3-4 years ago. Approach roads if take you to market or town centres lead to development. But approach roads to temples of deities which are not part of your culture make you subservient to others. How all the Govt. schemes will be implemented and funds spent in Dangs is not decided by Collector of Dangs or the District Development officer of Dangs, though they may rubber stamp it, but by Swami Aseemandji, the points person of Sangh Parivar in Dangs. Swamin Aseemanand's decisions are in turn not based on the needs of the people of Dangs but to promote non-adivasi upper caste cultural and religious identity based on Lord Ram, Hanuman and Shabri. Drinking water, school, primary health centres can wait. The Central Govt. Funds and Schemes diverted in construction of approach road and check dams on Purna River to ensure enough water collects in a tank for 5 lakh outsiders to have a dip in the tank on an appointed day, where people have no drinking water is not only cruel joke but will ensure that for the next about a decade no substantial funds are available for welfare schemes like drinking water, health care, education and employment schemes. Showcasing of one village of Dangs as model village is the kind of development Modi Govt. is harping on. Essentially re-packaging and sticking new labels without any substance.
Dang is not the only backward district. There have been 403 farmers who committed suicides in the last four years in Gujarat from Junagadh, Rajkot, Jamnagar, and Mehsana. Though farmer's suicide is known in Maharashtra, Gujarat managed to put wraps on the fact of farmer's suicide in Gujarat till the same was unearth by Anhad through applications under RTI Act. Officials admitted that there were other 6055 deaths which were registered as accidental death but may be actually instances of farmers who committed suicide.
The meaning of development has been very limited for Modi and his ilk. Development is equated with more investments and building infrastructure for the Industrialists to facilitate them to make quicker and higher profits. All the investment has been mostly concentrated in the already developed golden corridor from Surat to Ahmedabad. Rest of Gujarat, accept the golden corridor and the charotar region where rich farmers hold the sway, there is very little development to show.
Modi has neither been Loha Purush nor Vikas Purush he is being made out to be. But he is good in spending in publicity and re-packaging himself.
--
Indian politicians extraordinary: Yale
Indian politicians extraordinary: Yale
Having taught a group of 10 Indian parliamentarians, renowned faculty
members of the prestigious Yale University have found that Indian
politicians are ''extraordinarily intelligent.''
They are also quick learners of things than their counterparts in
other countries including the US and China.
''The students (Indian Parliamentarians) were exceptional,'' Linda
Koch Lorimer, Vice-President of the Yale University told NDTV.Com
after the conclusion of the first-ever ''Leadership Program for India
Parliamentarians'' held at the New Haven campus of the Yale
University.
Highly impressed with the level of active participation from these
Indian politicians during the five-days of intensive classes.
''Indian politicians are extraordinarily intelligent, extraordinarily
passionate about India's advancement and extraordinarily committed to
helping the nation and its people,'' Lorimer said.
Impressive traits
Jefferey Sonnenfeld, Chief Executive Leadership Institute of Yale
School of Management, who has also taught politicians from China and
the US, said he was ''amazed'' by quick grasping power of Indian
politicians. ''We wish, we had them for one more week,'' he said.
After instructing these Indian politicians, Sonnenfeld said the most
striking part of these MPs were their tolerance level, intellectual
tenacity and their commitment.
Having the experience of teaching American lawmakers, he said, he
really has tough time in keeping the US legislators in the classroom
for long.
''They (the US lawmakers) would constantly come and go. Nobody here
left. Not a single person, during the four days even for a minute
picked up a black berry or a cell phone. This is never the case with
US legislators and politicians that are always doing some hit and run
engagement they really do not see,'' Sonnenfeld said.
He added, ''This is an exceptional group of individuals. They are
alert, engaged, smart, and passionate. My one surprise was how
connected they were to business and management. Some run newspapers,
some run hotels. So they understand not just the political
environment but also some of the management challenges as well.''
Another faculty member, Barry Nalebuff, Milton Steinbach Professor of
Management, who gave practical lessons in negotiations said: ''They
are alert, engaged, smart and passionate.''
The programme was organized by the Yale Parliamentary Leadership
Program in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry and the India-US Forum of Parliamentarians.
The first batch of the Indian parliamentarians' team was led by the B
J Panda, Janata Dal MP from Rajya Sabha. Other members of the group
were Deepender Singh Hooda (Lok sabha), Robert Kharshiing, (Rajya
Sabha); Chandan Mitra (Rajya Sabha); Dharmendra Pradhan (Lok Sabha);
R.C.S. Reddy (Rajya Sabha); Shahid Siddiqui (Rajya Sabha); and
Dushyant Singh (Lok Sabha.)
Objectives
The program was developed in consultation with the parliamentarians
and the India-US Forum of Parliamentarians and reflects the belief
that exposure to new fields and ideas can offer insight, perspective,
and new ways of thinking for one's own work.
The topics covered program include economic and social development in
India, democracy and the secular state, India - China economic
relations, affirmative action, Climate Change and Sustainable
Development, Foreign Direct Investment in India, Strategy,
Negotiation and Game Theory for the Politician, Strategic Thinking
for the Politician, and Energy Security.
''The effort has turned out to be far better than we had expected,''
Panda told NDTV.Com after the four-day course was over. Though no
exams were held at the end, they were given a certificate from the
University at a small graduation ceremony held Saturday evening.
When these MPs went to collect their certificate from Lorimore, the
rest from the group cheered just like a graduate student. The MPs
celebrated their graduation by having their dinner at a Ethiopian
restaurant in New Heaven.
''There was a degree of apprehension that we were going to get a
program where four days would seem like 40,'' Panda said about what
he and his colleagues thought the day he arrived in New Heaven.
''But I must tell you, it was exactly the opposite that has happened
starting from the very first session. Throughout these four days, we
have been exposed to some of the best minds in academia, we have been
exposed to new data, new perspectives, provocative thoughts on new
issues as well as on issues which we thought we knew and
understood,'' he said.
Panda said the special leadership course developed for the Indian
Parliamentarians by Yale University got them to think again on many
subjects: what is the impact of globalization on India's poor, what
is impact of economic growth on cast relations?
The MPs are so impressed by this leadership program that they have
already started talking about its expansion. ''I have suggested to
Yale that if they could bring this faculty to India and do a program
there we can cover much larger number of MPs,'' he said.
''The whole exposure to creative thinking, maximizing positions in
negotiating strategies is something that we have learnt from the best
management professors,'' Panda said.
The parliamentarians now move to Washington next week where they
would be meeting a host of government officials from the State
Department, Treasury, Pentagon and also Congressmen and leaders of
the America's corporate world.
Know about India
1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
3. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC.
More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60
subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4 th century BC was
one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of
education.
4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable
language for computer software.
5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
6. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty
striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was
once the richest empire on earth.
7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago.
The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
8. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained
the concept of what is now k! nown as the Pythagorean Theorem. British
scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's
works dates to the 6 th Century which is long before the European
mathematicians.
9. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic
equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest
numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used
numbers as big as 10 53.
10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896,
India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion
amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was
Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in
Saurashtra.
13. Chess was invented in India .
14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health
scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract,
fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in
ancient India .
15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers
over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu
Valley ( Indus Valley Civilisation).
16. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India
in 100 BC.
Indians develop new iron using ancient technology
By K.S . Jayaraman. Karnataka, India, 11:02 AM IST
http://www.indiaenews.com/technology/20071013/75049.htm
Indian metallurgists have developed a type of corrosion-resistant iron that construction engineers would love. And vital clues for it came for Delhi's famous Iron Pillar that has been standing tall for over 1,600 years.
Developed by Ramamurthy Balasubramaniam and his former student Gadadhar Sahoo of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur, the iron contains phosphorus and shows remarkable resistance to corrosion, especially in concrete.
'This is a significant first step in the possible commercial (large-scale) use of these irons,' Balasubramaniam, better known as Bala, told IANS.
Most steels today contain small amounts of carbon and manganese. Modern steel makers avoid phosphorus because its segregation to grain boundaries makes the steel brittle.
But the IIT team successfully produced ductile phosphoric irons by driving the phosphorus away from grain boundaries through clever alloy design and novel heat treatment.
Ironically, Bala's material is not new. It was being made by Indian ironsmiths centuries ago.
Bala says he got the clue for developing this material from the six-tonne seven-metre tall Delhi Iron Pillar - a major tourist attraction in the Qutb Minar complex -- that has been standing for centuries in the harsh weather of the capital without any corrosion.
'As a metallurgist, I was intrigued,' Bala told IANS. And his passionate quest to unravel the mystery that began in 1990s has now culminated in phosphoric irons.
The test samples developed by the IIT team remained fresh after three months of being immersed in solution, simulating the corrosive concrete environment, whereas the best commercially available steels got rusted. In another experiment, they embedded the samples in concrete to simulate actual conditions and obtained similar results.
'The work is especially important in regard to the widespread use of steels in civil structures,' said Gerhard E. Welsch, professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio).
'The recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis has added new urgency,' Welsch said in a congratulatory message to Bala. Seven people died when the bridge across the Mississippi river collapsed Aug 2, 2007.
Current philosophies to tackle corrosion in concrete include the addition of inhibitors to the cement mix, use of rebars that are galvanised, epoxy coated, or micro-alloyed by the addition of small amounts of chromium, copper and nickel -- elements that are known to induce passivity in iron.
Their high cost is a disadvantage, says Bala. 'Besides, we have experimentally shown our phosphoric irons perform better.'
Bala's real break came when he found that the iron used in the Delhi pillar contained elevated amounts of phosphorus -- as much as 0.25 percent against less than 0.05 percent in today's iron. He found this was a result of the ancient process where iron ore is reduced in a single step by mixing it with charcoal, without any limestone addition.
Modern blast furnaces, on the other hand, use limestone yielding molten slag and pig iron (high in carbon) that is later converted into steel. Most phosphorus is carried away by the basic slag.
Further studies and analysing rust from the pillar showed that phosphorus catalysed the formation of a protective passive film on the surface of the pillar that acted as a barrier between the metal and rust.
Tanjore Anantharaman, author of the book 'Delhi Iron Pillar - the Rustless Wonder' and Bala's former teacher at the Benaras Hindu University, says phosphorus was long suspected to be behind the pillar's corrosion resistance. 'It was Bala who proved it.'
That was in 2000. Actual material development and corrosion tests were initiated in 2003 when Sahoo joined Bala for his PhD that he completed in 2006.
'Our papers based on the thesis are coming out now,' Bala said. All the work, he said, was done with institute funds without any external support.
'Certainly, we are not claiming that this is the end of our studies,' admits Bala. 'We have shown the usefulness of phosphoric irons for concrete reinforcement applications. Now it has to be taken up by more researchers for greater understanding.'
Bala thanks his forefathers for the success. 'I am of the firm belief that ancient Indian metallurgists had the empirical knowledge that high phosphorus content ores resulted in corrosion-resistant iron. They did not create this material by accident.'
A true inspiring story……
It was a sports stadium.
Eight Children were standing on the track to participate in the running event.
* Ready! * Steady! * Bang!!!
With the sound of Toy pistol , all eight girls started running .
Hardly have they covered ten to fifteen steps, one of the smaller girls slipped and fell down, due to bruises and pain she started crying.
When other seven girls heard this sound, stopped running, stood for a while and turned back , they all ran back to the place where the girl fell down.
One among them bent, picked and kissed the girl gently and enquired 'Now pain must have reduced' . All seven girls lifted the fallen girl , pacified her, two of them held the girl firmly and they all seven joined hands together and walked together and reached the winning post.
Officials were shocked. Clapping of thousands of spectators filled the stadium. Many eyes were filled with tears and perhaps it had reached the GOD even!
YES. This happened in Hyderabad [ INDIA ], recently!
The sport was conducted by National Institute of Mental Health.
All these special girls had come to participate in this event and they are spastic children.
Yes, they were mentally retarded Challenged .
What did they teach this world?
Teamwork?
Humanity?
Equality among all?????
Successful people help others who are slow in learning so that they are not felt far behind. This is really a great message... spread it!
We can't do this ever because we have brains!!!!!! !!!
Indian Technical education needs overhaul !
Presently higher education in India, particularly in technology
area is in very bad and disgusting shape. With such lame and
corrupt system India wants to become super power and retain
leadership.
Due to sudden and uncontrolled liberalisation without proper
regulations in place, all kinds of wrong people have entered the
education system which has zero risk and is cash cow & no Taxes to
pay.
At the same time the public owned universities and Institutes are
starved of funds and are so badly managed and politicised that ,
it is not even worth discussing.
There has to be now a quick remedy to this degeneration. Almost
zero quality in running of government colleges and universities
and teachers and student's exploitation, fleecing and illegal acts
by private sector.
Though we have been writing to Government from time to time to
take actions as required, American model seems to be one of the
best suited.
Somehow I hate British system as they were main cause for babudom
and all bad laws and practices left behind by them in India. They
are otherwise also corrupt and a 'down the hill' going economy.
Education throughout the world is not supposed to be a profit
making venture and has to be regulated to give credibility to
degrees and diplomas awarded. The "core education', called formal
education has to be well regulated and properly accredited.
1.MBA or PGDM (1.5 years and more period)
2.MCA or PGDCA ( 2 year and more period)
3.All M Tech or equivalent programs (2 years+)
4.All BTech. BE or equivalent programs (4years +)
5.B Pharma
6.BEd & M.Ed
7.PhD and Fellowship programs(should be reduced to 2 years minimum
and 4 years maximum now)
8.Architecture Programs
9.All 3 years technical diploma programs run after XII
10.MBBS,MD and other 1.5 yrs+ sectional(like pathological
testing) diplomas for medical sciences. In this field strict
regulation is must being human life affecting.
11.All industrial skills professional degree(3 yrs and plus) and
post degree courses (1.5 yrs and plus) like fashion design and
garment technology, Hotel Management and the likes.
It must be made illegal and criminal offense to run any Institute
without valid approval and levy of Rs 5,000,000 minimum fine and 7
years rigorous imprisonment besides confiscating all corpus of
Institute collected by owners ,as it is after all students' money
and belongs to society.
Except for one or 2 universities in each State as a state owned
setup for purpose of welfare measures and weaker sections, all
universities should be handed over to private entrepreneurs who
are essentially having some education industry background and
preferably running charitable Institutions or NGOs for 5 years
atleast. The fees should be properly increased top maintain
minimum quality
Is not it silly that ISB Hyderabad charges Rs 10 lacs and IIM Rs
4.5 lacs and University affiliated college charges Rs 35000 only
and AICTE wants as good education quality as of US university. It
is ridiculous.
Why there is so much of gap?after all what is there in MBA
education .Do we need expensive laboratories? Why so much
difference.
AICTE and UGC have proved to be worthless organisations
responsible to create bureaucracy, inefficiency, poor regulation,
excessive politics and lack of control on private set ups by
regulatory agencies. This is criminal act of negligence on part of
Central and State Governments and they cant be spared from this.
Government should make a Higher education agency with regional
offices managed by universities and private sector representatives
and chaired by Central secretary of higher education and 3-4 state
secretaries by rotation. But his for administrative purpose. The
quality part should be left to quality board in it run by
academics themselves.
But the situation is bad. So much so that more than 200 Institutes
in Engineering and Management itself are running without any
approvals as per AICTE website and nothing is being done by
Governments. Why others should follow law ?Wrong doers
,profiteers, corrupt and law breakers are enjoying and raking in
money. All this money should be contacted and returned to
students.
Although it is important to have charitable trust for education
purpose, the entrepreneurs and failed businessmen and executives
have entered the education to set up shops to collect huge fees
and enter fraudulent collaborations and even use 'alumnus of
institute' as a collaboration. This is sheer loot and immoral Act
and should be made illegal and punishing as Mass public fraud. A
new section under section 420 and 406 should be added with
rigorous punishment.
The tax exemptions are availed and the residential bungalows, cars
and other facilities with huge pays are fixed by owners from this
trust money collected from students and by donations collected
for charitable cause.
Will government allow this reckless prostitution of higher
education in the country by scoundrels who don't pay salaries to
teachers properly ,exploit them and do little contribution to
knowledge in the society? Will government have some sensible
relationship between per capita GDP and fees structure? Have
government studies these figures for USA, Germany, UK, France,
Japan and China and South Africa as sample base?What is going on
in India is sheer loot.
It is therefore necessary to make 'Technical Education regulation
Act, a new Act in country to issue guidelines and rules and mange
the Higher education agency working , have tight control on funds
of all education Institutes, separate ownership from
management(Director , principal etc), define powers of principals
and Directors to remove them from influence of owners and fix
their minimum tenure as 5 years.
In technical education foolish rules like PhD is hampering good
and experienced proven people to enter management and teaching of
technical education in the country. Making rules blindly like in
USA is suicidal. In USA it is not easy to take a PhD in
engineering or management and high industry/.business interaction
is needed and provided whereas in India most of worthless guys
have been going into PhD to while away time and get monthly
allowance being unemployed or waiting for marriage alliance. This
nonsense must go.
To balance situation all Institutes and Universities in technical
faculties have 50% industry guys as professors( with 20 years
experience in business and industry) and 50% PhD guy with at least
3 years work experience in a corporate body or Public
administration in class II or above. The argument of theoretical
professors that industry people have not much to tell after
initial war stories is ridiculous. As they at least have war
stories to tell. What these theoretical professors have to tell?
If they can read a book and journal and vomit in class this can be
done better by practicals guys who had given focused results to
organisations in real life. Lot of research is done daily by
managers to solve company situations. We must realise this hard
fact and give due respect in technical education. Imagine a doctor
going to class without doing even minor operation teaching heart
surgery or heart physiology.
It is fallacy that in free economies like USA there are no
controls. In fact USA ha s one of the finest regulatory framework
in almost everything from prostitution to Higher education to
advertising.
When some one breaks norms , it should be very costly. India must
switch over from physical punishment to pecuniary or financial
punishment that will discourage people form doing crimes. Secondly
the jail terms an penalties should be immediately doubled. Like it
is ridiculous to give 1.5 yr jail for 420 cases as against 7 years
provided in IPC. First our corrupt and inefficient courts in India
should give punishment which itself is rare. They only know how to
put people behind bars without trials. Gross violation of human
rights. India is a sham democracy and most corrupt banana republic
in the world despite tall claims. No none is safe in India and no
one has his or her dignity and human rights safe unless one has
lots of ill gotten money to bribe. People are habitual law
breakers spitting and peeing anywhere, parking b uses on public
roads and property to do free business, setting up kiosks right in
front of municipal corporation and po9lcie stations even. And
these blind bribe taking boneless and arrogant policemen and babus
shut eyes. No one wants to take action against any one and biggest
culprits are central services who have all the power to do so.
They are arrogant, corrupt, misbehaved, inkompetent and only busy
in arranging maximum workers at residence at government cost,
abuse office cars, take bribes and wag tails before ministers to
get plum postings.
Do we need such idiots in public service. Who and when any
constitution maker told not to sack and put behind bar such
corrupt and incompetent officials? But why action is not taken?
Because it is collective loot going on by 2% idiots and rooks in
name of Gandhi, democracy and swaraj. There is no swaraj for a
common man. She is raped, harassed, extorted money and misbehaved
with regularly.
It bis time fees control, adequate fees and quality control and
recognised courses are enforced in country or we are not only
cheating and exploiti8ng students every year but seriously
jeopardizing knowledge capability of country. The pass outs form
these money shops are very poor in quality. Every one knows.
Governments must take blame and respond .It is their sacred
duty.
Don't waste time any more. Move fast.
Ajmer Bomb Blast: Who Want Communal Disharmony In India?
Another bomb blast on 11th October 2007, this time in Ajmer and the target was Dargah of Moinuddin Chisti, also known as Khwaja Garib Nawaz. People of all communities prayed at the Dargah for ages. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims descend in the town on the Urs of Khwaja Garib Nawaz and the entire town of Ajmer is full of pilgrims.
Predictably, even before one switched on the TV to view the news about the bomb blast, one could say that HUJI or some Muslim extremist organization would be blamed. And indeed, as soon as the police and others concerned with investigation reached there, they knew who could be suspected for the crime. Before the investigation had formally begun, on mere visit to the site of Bomb Blast at the Dargah, HUJI was suspected. God forbid, but if there is a bomb blast next time in or around place where Muslims gather, whether for worship or for other reason, the concerned authorities may not have to even visit the site of blast and straight away blame HUJI sitting inside their comfortable A.C. offices. Everybody will be told that the police is on look out for Bilal of HUJI for further investigation. As it is public memory is short. This is the unfortunate reality in the country. Lazy investigation officers don't even feel it necessary to pretend to wait for sometime before blame game is started to give it some degree of authenticity. They take the intelligence of the people of India so much for granted.
The suspected reason given for the blast once again is that whoever planted the bomb wanted to foment communal riots. It was also stated that a section of Sunni Islam is opposed to the Dargahs and that could be the probable reason why the Dargah was targeted. If this is the ground for suspecting only HUJI, or only some Muslim outfit intolerant to Muslims visiting Dargahs, then the investigation will be severely jeopardized and even flawed. In fact, there won't be any investigation worth the name at all. For those who are opposed to Muslims worshipping at the Dargahs are not Deobandis or Wahabi Muslim followers alone.
Let us take a look at others who are opposed to Muslims visiting Dargahs and saying their prayers. Shiv Sena in the eighties tried to appropriate Haji Malang Dargah in Kalyan, a township to the North East of Mumbai. Since the year 1982, Anand Dighe of Shigv Sena, launched a campaign called Malang Mukti Andolan. He led Shiv Sainiks to demonstrate on Urs every year. Shiv Sena was contending that Haji Malang was Samadhi of Macchindernath Panth and it must be restored to Hindus. After the Shiv Sena-BJP Coalition Party came to power, in the year 1996, the then Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, along with Uddhav Tahckeray and Ganesh Naik performed Ganpati Aarti at the Shrine They ran a campaign that Haji Malang was actually Shri Malang and should be renamed as such. Every year heavy police security is maintained around the shrine due to the threat of Shiv Sainiks. However, in the recent years, the Shiv Sena has not been pressing the issue, probably its political utility has diminished to a great extent. Shiv Sena has always been uncomfortable with syncretic shrines where Hindus and Muslims pray together, as that promotes communal harmony. Shiv Sena has thrived by taking up issues that polarize Hindus and Muslims along communal lines and has been blamed for communal riots in Bhiwandi in they 1970 by the Madan Commission. Srikrishna Commission also indicted Shiv Sena for its role in Communal riots in Mumbai in the year 1992-93. Why should the Shiv Sena not be suspected for its involvement in the blast only on the ground that it is intolerant to syncretic shrines? If that is the ground, needle of suspicion should also point towards the Shiv Sena.
The Sangh Parivar problematized the Baba Budan Giri shrine, which is situated about 40 KMs from Chikmaglur in Karnataka. Baba Budan was a sufi saint and a disciple of Dattatreya. Baba Budan settled in the mountains and introduced coffee culture in the mountains. After his death, Baba Budan Giri Dargah was built and is visited by large number of people from all communities. The Dargah is also called as Guru Dattatreya Bababudanswamy's Dargah. The site is symbol of syncretism in Karnataka. Hindus worship the "Paduka" (feet) and Nandadeepa by offering flowers, coconuts and burning camphor, while Muslims offer prayers at the tomb. Not happy with the syncretic shrines where Hindus and Muslims pray together as it promotes solidarity and harmony, Bajrang Dal in 1997 led a Rath Yatra in and around Chikmaglur District on the issue. In 1998, four Rath Yatras were taken out throughout the state. In the year 2003, Hindutva Organisations took out Datta Paduka Rath Yatras and Datta Maale from different parts of the Karnataka State. The Sangh Parivar organizations are thus trying to reclaim the syncretic shrine exclusively for Hindus. Why are the Sangh Parivar Organisations not being suspected only on the basis that they are against Muslims praying at Dargahs?
The police theory is that the planters of the bomb are those forces who want to create communal tensions, possibly trigger off communal riots. HUJI may have that intention, but it is not the only organistion which has such a design. Right from Madan Commission to look into communal riots in Bhiwandi, Jalgaon and Mahad in 1970, Reddy Commission inquiring into 1969 riots in Ahmedabad to Srikrishna Commission inquiring into 1992-93 Mumbai riots, all the Commissions have blamed Hindutva organizations. Why are the police not even suspecting all organizations that may be interested in communal tensions, if they take the purpose of the blasts seriously?
Police theories about bomb blasts do not inspire any confidence even amongst lay people who think a little bit. The real culprits behind the bomb blasts might be feeling assured that they would never even be suspected, let alone investigated. That is the reason perhaps places of worship are being targeted in quick succession one after the other. Unless the investigating agencies do some serious thinking and hard and impartial evidence gathering, ruthlessly and thoroughly looking at all the angles, India can continue to expect more unfortunate bomb blasts targeting innocents.
Laloo's 'Chattanooga choo chhoo'! Indian railway
Worn out coaches, torn away sheets and virtually non-existent size
of pillow in A/C sleeper coaches, not even drinking water
available in AC coaches, dirty railway stations, late running
trains( always wrong information is given by enquiry guys despite
mobile technology available), hot axles and I can keep on counting
in praise the great service and operational capability claimed by
railways under Lalloo. If he can run railways well I can run
Boeing company still better. Ha Ha!The USA guys from Harvard come
rushing , wondering how can this skeleton acquire healthy muscles.
It is wonder. Is not it?
1.5 million employees, lot of bribes passed in hands of railway
employees purchasing goods(as high as 40%)Visit their homes
please, worn out over-due thousands of kilometers of railway
tracks. These all above are reality of Indian Railways. Almost 40
employees per km of track one of highest in world, shows
productivity and efficiency of Indian railwaymen. Organised union
and also ST/SC employee union separately for social justice, huge
pay packets and blind loot and blackmail by coolies on Railway
platforms since Amitabh's coolie was released. Ha!
That is why government is not privatising it or at least giving
autonomy by Breaking Railways into 7-8 zonal companies in private
Public partnership with 51% with private fellows.
More employees and army men travel in AC coaches on some routes
than paying passengers. Remember One Mr Ganguli the the Chairman
of Railway Board , whose saloon was detached from train on the
platform on order of Indira Gandhi Govt.
Increasing axle load is a dangerous proposition without proper
maintenance and good rail lines. By increase in price of fuel,
road transport got costly giving direct complementary bounty to
railways.
Railways have of course modernised a bit specially ticketing
system but not because of laloo. It was old project.
This euphoria is misplaced. Indian Railways must face
competition.
In Roadways also there is rampant corruption and mismanagement. So
all Road transport organisations in all States should be broken in
2-3 companies each depending on size of state and handed to
private sector ,government retaining 49% share on lines of Maruti
until recently(in a PPP model).
Let a few trains start in Pvt. Sector like airlines. Why not?If
Garib Rath can be run by Indian rail.
Is Laloo and Co. afraid. Where our sweet Man Mohan, great
economist and champion of privatisation and brand ambassador of
world bank?
What is energy efficiency of Railways and just visit there waiting
rooms. They are hellish. You never get R/R why?
To get bigger picture why not compare metrics with US railway
companies' performance. Do they even have driver in engine?What is
haulage in a goods train? How much time it takes to decant(unload
the train)?.
When you are a monopoly you can do anything and when you are
government monopoly you can even shield the figures in balance
sheets.'kaun poochh sakta hai bhai. Singh ke raj mein a la
Sholay?.Laloo ki rail chal rahi hai chhuk chhuk. When it will
reach station no one knows even Station master sahib. So rush to
railway station and wait there for 3 hrs. Don't take chance.
HC asks judge to go back to school!
The Delhi High Court on Friday asked a lower court judge to go back
to the training school, saying he lacked "basic knowledge of criminal
law".
At the receiving end of the diktat issued by Justice V.B. Gupta was
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Rakesh Tewari of the Karkardooma
courts.
Justice Gupta was furious as the ASJ declined bail to a man accused
of electricity theft and sent him to custody "deliberately
disregarding" a High Court order to grant him bail.
Tewari was also found to have issued non-bailable warrant against
accused Raju, initiated steps to declare him a proclaimed offender
and to attach his properties "without following the due process of
law".
Noting that orders passed by the ASJ goes on to show that "he lacks
even elementary knowledge about the code of criminal procedure code",
Justice Gupta said "it would be appropriate if he undergoes refresher
course at the Delhi Judicial Academy in criminal law and procedure
for three months at the earliest under the supervision of its
Director".
The Director has then been asked to submit Tewari's performance
report at the Academy to the High Court. Justice Gupta also asked the
Registrar General of the High Court to send the copy of his order to
all the judicial officers of Delhi "for guidance".
In a similar order few days back, Justice Gupta had reprimanded a
special judge for accepting a closure report by the CBI without
issuing notice to the person who had originally lodged the criminal
complaint.
Justice Gupta took Special (CBI) Judge S.K. Kaushik to task for
his "ignorance" about the "basic decisions of the Supreme Court" on
the procedure before accepting closure reports. "It is expected that
the Special Judge would update his knowledge with regard to the
decisions of the Supreme Court on this point," the High Court Judge
observed.
The purely scientific case for Rama's Bridge
September 17, 2007
In these days when we worry about global warming, it takes great chutzpah or ignorance, or both, to proceed with a plan to induce major environmental changes, with uncertain consequences. Fortunately, India's politicians are amply blessed with both chutzpah and ignorance. When combined with first-class greed, you get black comedies like the Sethu Samudram Project for destroying the remnants of the ancient land-bridge, known as the Rama Sethu or Rama's Bridge, connecting India and Sri Lanka [Images].
The point is that geo-hydrological systems are hugely complex, just like the weather system. Chaos theory suggests that a minor perturbation in some corner has some large result elsewhere: as in 'the beating of a butterfly's wings may cause a storm'.
There are several well-known examples of the unintended, and grave, consequences, of large-scale terra-forming experiments gone awry. One is in the Florida [Images] Everglades in the US; another is the absolute cataclysm in the Aral Sea in ex-Soviet Central Asia; and a third is the construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt.
There are smaller examples, such as in the recurring inundation in California's former flood plains in the Central Valley and the dead moonscape of Mono Lake; in the filling-in of most of Bangalore's small water bodies; in the mis-handling of the marshlands in Louisiana that magnified Hurricane Katrina's impact, etc. These are less spectacular, but they, too show us how little we know about the engineering of water bodies.
Consider what happened in the Florida Everglades wetlands. The government, using highly questionable economic models, asked the US Army Corps of Engineers to drain the marshland, build levees and canals, and straighten out meanders in the rivers. But the result has been disastrous. After decades of floods, loss of species, and general mayhem, Florida is now thinking of undoing much of this, at a cost of many billions of dollars!
The Aral Sea was, as recently as 1960, the fourth largest fresh-water body in the world. Soviet authorities decided to divert the Amu Darya river that fed the sea. They wanted to grow cotton, a notoriously thirsty crop, in a semi-arid area. The result: the Aral Sea has lost more than two-thirds of its surface area, there is pesticide contamination from runoff. What remains is an increasingly briny, dying sea, where the fish have been wiped out. And the cotton? Well, there is no cotton crop either.
The negative outcomes of building massive dams are many, and the positives often small and relatively short-lived. Take the giant Aswan Dam on the Nile, a showcase Soviet project. It is true that the Aswan does generate electricity and irrigation water, but the very life-giving silt from the famed annual floods that has sustained Nile delta agriculture for millennia has now become a problem. The catchment area has silted up faster than expected (so the useful lifetime of the dam is shortened). Evaporation losses from the reservoir are enormous (3.5 cubic miles, close to the total amount of water used in a whole year by a mid-sized rich country!). There have been outbreaks of disease from the stagnant water. Basically, the Nile has been turned from a blessing into a curse.
I imagine there will be terrible, but as yet unknown, consequences to the huge Three Gorges Dam in China, too. The consequence of their plan to divert the Brahmaputra northwards in Tibet, of course, are known: north India will become a desert. Three Gorges may only have local impact, but the Brahmaputra certainly will affect India. There are quite possibly, other, unknown and unpredictable outcomes as well.
We can consider a couple of other terra-forming experiments. One, of course, is the release of hydrocarbons from human activity in general and the burning of fossil fuels for electricity and for transportation in particular. A vivid illustration of the law of unintended consequences: surely the melting of glaciers and the rise in sea-levels were not foreseen when Henry Ford unveiled the Model T.
The second is the paving over of forest and agricultural land -- and river basins -- for cities and for factories. Forests and agricultural land tend to be sponges for rainwater and help sustain the hydrological cycle. Cities, in addition to being generators of CO2 and heat, force water to run off. Industrialisation and urbanisation disrupt global cycles of heat, water and CO2.
Therefore, based on prior experience, there are major risks in embarking on giant geo-hydrological projects. The problem is that we simply do not know enough. Computer models and simulations are not powerful enough, and we do not know all the independent variables involved. This is the reason that I have been an opponent of the proposed river-linking project in India, even though good friends of mine argue passionately for it, and I am very concerned about India's water issues, which I rate as the single biggest problem facing the country in the medium term. See my previous columns on this topic, Water Wars: Cauvery, 'Chinatown' and 'Cadillac Desert', The River Sutra and The coming water wars.
On the one hand, I fear that there will be disastrous, unimagined end-results to river-linking. On the other hand, the very rationale will go away: there will be no excess water from the Himalayan rivers. The disappearance of the glaciers will mean the Ganga and the Brahmaputra will dry out in the summer, and in any case, the Chinese will divert most of what remains in the Brahmaputra to their thirsty northern areas.
The Sethu Samudram project is another dubious terra-forming project. The negative fallout can be very high; there have been persistent scientific concerns about the flora and fauna (including endangered coral reefs) in the area, the loss of the suspected benign role of the barrier as an absorbent of tsunami surges, and the general patterns of sea-erosion around southern peninsular India. So far as I know, nobody has done detailed modeling in an oceanographic lab.
Let us note that tsunamis are not unknown in this region. There are intriguing submarine structures off Kanyakumari and Mahabalipuram that are almost certainly the remnants of submerged cities. A future tsunami surge barreling through and accelerated by the funnel of a defunct Rama's Bridge may wreak tremendous damage on the Kerala [Images] coast, which, ironically, rose up from the sea as the result of an underwater tectonic movement in pre-historic times.
For the Sethu Samudram, the sums simply do not add up. The alleged benefits are illusory: That a few ships can avoid going around Sri Lanka en route from the west coast of India to the east coast. But coastal shipping in India is insignificant, and the major shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean skirt the east coast: they go from the Persian Gulf down the Arabian Sea and clear across the Ocean to the Straits of Malacca. Not even 1 per cent of this traffic will brave a newly excavated channel in untested waters which would, incidentally, add to the length of their journey; besides, most of the traffic consists of tankers (VLCCs) and other large ships that need unobstructed deep water anyway.
The Sethu Samudram project is a prestige issue for so-called 'Dravidian' politicians. It is a matter of hubris waiting for nemesis.
Just as the Communists did with the Aral Sea and the Aswan Dam and the Three Gorges, the 'Dravidians' of Tamil Nadu will also act in haste and repent at leisure. Alas, the rest of peninsular India will have to pay for their folly.
Comments welcome at my blog at http://rajeev2007.wordpress.com
Burma: Proceed with caution
Margolis, Eric
margolis@foreigncorrespondent.com
(Award winning author, columnist, and broadcaster Eric S. Margolis has covered 14 wars and is a leading authority on military.)
http://www.ericmargolis.com/
PARIS – The growing unrest and mass street demonstrations that have flared across Myanmar in recent weeks may herald an extremely dangerous period for this nation formerly known as Burma.
Military-ruled Myanmar is extremely difficult to enter and bans foreign journalists. This writer has managed to slip into Myanmar three times. On the last, I was told the secret police were actually conducting bed checks in people's homes in the capital Yangon (formerly Rangoon)to ensure no trouble-makers from the rebellious northern states were in town.
On my second visit, I eluded the secret police and got to see the nation's Noble prize-winning democratic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi in her home, where she has been under house arrest for 17 years.
The crisis in Myanmar seems a simple morality drama. The saintly Suu Kyi is held like a bird in a cage by a junta of brutal, wicked generals, who until recently called themselves the wonderfully Orwellian name of `State Law and Order Council,' or SLORC for short. In 1988, the junta's soldiers crushed student demonstrations, killing 3,000. After Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, the generals annulled the voted and declared martial law.
This week President George Bush and other western nations called for even tighter sanctions against Burma's junta and urged its replacement with democratic government.
Burma indeed is a nasty police state. Its generals have plundered resources and kept this magnificent nation in direst poverty. Myanmar is often called a `jewel' and `unspoiled Asia of 1940's.' True enough. But that's because the junta and its predecessor, mad dictator, Gen. Ne Win, turned Burma into a weird hermit kingdom and one of the world's poorest countries.
But extreme caution is advised in dealing with Myanmar. If things go wrong there, it could turn into an Southeast Asian version of Iraq, Yugoslavia or Afghanistan.
Myanmar's central government has been at war for 50 years with 17 ethnic rebel groups seeking secession from the former 14-state Union of Burma created by Imperial Britain, godfather of many of the world's worst current problems.
Burmans, of Tibetan ethnic origin, form 68% of the population of 57 million. But there are other important, distinct ethnic groups: Shan, the largely Christian Karen, Kachin, Chin, Mon, Wa, and Rakhine, Anglo-Burmese, Indians and Chinese. The largest, Shan, with their Shan State Army, are ethnically close to neighboring Thailand, and in cahoots with the Thai military. Each major ethnic group has its own army and finances itself through smuggling timber, jewels, arms, and drugs.
The military juntas in Rangoon, and its 500,000-man armed forces, know as `Tatmadaw,' battled these secessionists for decades until the current junta managed to establish uneasy ceasefires with all the major rebel groups.
If the junta were to be replaced by a democratic civilian government led by the gentle Suu Kyi, and military repression ended, it is highly likely Myanmar's ethnic rebellions would quickly re-ignite. The only force holding Myanmar together is the military and secret police.
Shan, Karen, Kachin, and Mon still demand their own independent nations. Burma's powerful neighbors – India, China and Thailand – have their eye on this potentially resource-rich nation. They, and neighboring Bangladesh, also fear Burma's troubles will spill across their borders, as occurred in 2002 when the military junta expelled thousands of Muslims to Bangladesh from the Arakan region.
China exercises strong political, economic and military influence over Myanmar and is building a naval base near Rangoon to give it direct access for the first time to the Andaman Sea and Indian Ocean. India sees rival China threatening its rebellion-plagued eastern hill states along the Burmese border, and is increasingly alarmed by Chinese naval ambitions in the Indian Ocean.
A new democratic government in Yangon-Rangoon that is not tough enough to deal with secessionist regions around its troubled periphery could see Burma fall into internal turmoil and also invite intervention by covetous neighbors. At worst, India and China could even clash head-on over control of strategic Burma, a threat identified in my book on Asian geopolitics and Indian-Chinese rivalry, `War at the Top of the World.'
So the west should tread with great caution in Burma. War teaches geography, as Roman historian Tacitus rightly noted, but the western world has not even yet figured out the difference between Bosnians, Croats and Serbs, never mind Wa, Chin, Kachin and Karen.
__
Note: India with a restive North East should tread all the more carefully. If Myanmmar becomes an anarchy -- that will be boon to all the terrorist and seperatist outfits operating in the North East.
Facts about Gujarat
If you are looking for better and disciplined life and of course good future join Indian Army. young generations today are choosing to join private sector in order to get more wages and lavishing life. Of course private sector does gives you bit more money but Army career gives you loads of benefits and on top of that will make you a disciplined and honorable person.
India's large section of society still thinks that career in military is all about War and War. So you want an Army career huh? Good for you soldier! Huh? You don't want to be a soldier? Um well…..that's OK too!
Perhaps the common (mis)conception or misunderstanding of a military career is that you have to be a solider. That isn't the case. Indian Army provides numerous roles from very diverse field to support its front line troops. Indian Army is diverse organization and recognizes the need for numerous different roles. Admin, doctors, engineers, mechanics, teachers, human resources, officers, IT professional, and much other discipline are put to use within the military.
Indian Army has very good benefits packages and healthcare, and although the obvious hazards of the job are there, the life of a military career isn't as extreme as one might imagine.
Certainly a career in the army isn't for everyone - but there is a much wider scope of careers available than many people realize. Definitely worth a look the following website even if you not very much interested in career with Indian Army.
Indian Army Recruitment Information
Please visit the Official Indian Army Recruitment Website
http://joinindianarmy.nic.in/
http://indianarmy.nic.in/
http://indianairforce.nic.in/
http://www.indiannavy.nic.in/
http://www.indiancoastguard.nic.in/
Facts about Gujarat
Hope U will like this. This has nothing to do with Politics. But yes it is fact :
1. Gujarat is one of the most prosperous states of the country, having a per-capita GDP 3.2 times India 's average.
2. If it was a nation it would have been 67th richest nation in the world above many European and Asian economies like China and Ukraine.
3. Gujarat holds many records in India for economic development:
· 20% of India 's Industrial Output
· 9% of India 's Mineral Production
· 22% of India 's exports
· 24% of India 's textile production
· 35% of India 's pharmaceutical products
· 51% of India 's petrochemical production
4. The world's largest ship breaking yard is in Gujarat near Bhavnagar at Alang.
5. Reliance Petroleum Limited, one of the group companies of Reliance Industries Limited founded by Dhirubhai Ambani operates the oil refinery at Jamnagar which is the world's largest grass roots refineries.
6. Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 8% and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation with national market share of over 1%.
7. Over 20% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Gujarat
8. Over 35% of the stock market wealth of India is with Gujarati People.
9. Over 60% of Indian Population in North America is Gujarati.
10. An average income of a Gujarati family in North America is three times more than the average income of an American family.
11. Gujarat is having the longest sea shore compared to any other Indian state
12. Gujarat is having the highest no. of operating airports in India (Total 12).
13. India 's 16% of Investment are from Gujarat ..
14. Gujarat is having highest no. of vegetarian people compared to any other state in India ..
15. The first ALL VEG PIZZA-HUT was opened in Ahmedabad
16. Ahmedabad – the commercial capital of Gujarat is the seventh largest city in India ..
17. Surat is the fastest growing city in the world.
18. Gandhinagar is the Greenest Capital City in whole Asia ..
19. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIMA) is Asia's 1st and world's 45th ranked management college located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
20. Gujarat is the safest state as the Crime rate of it is 8.2 which is the least in India even after considering 2002 communal riots, stated by India Today 2005 report.
21. Gujarat is having least crime against women among all Indian states (excluding Goa) where AP is 1 st, Delhi is 2nd , Bihar is 3rd ,Zarakhand is 4 th and UP is 5th.
22. Ahmedabad which is the seventh largest city in India is the lowest in crime rate among all Tier-I and Tier-II cities of India as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.
23. Ahmedabad is ranked 2nd in Real Estate - Ahead of Bangalore ,Chennai, Hyderabad , Mumbai & Delhi. 3rd in Policy Initiatives - Ahead of Bongolore, Chennai, Calcutta , Mumbai & Delhi. 4th in Manpower - Ahead of Bangalore ,Chennai, Mumbai & Delhi.
Lungi news: fast and sometimes reliable
By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter, Gulf News
Published: September 21, 2007, 23:15
Dubai: The "lungi news brigade" is the most sought-after by people who want to get the latest hot gossip in the neighbourhood.
The members of this brigade are everywhere and it is difficult to escape their prying eyes. They take pride in being the designated sources for many journalists and feeding them information, sometimes exaggerated.
They have their representatives in every locality and their network abilities and their "nose for news" is beyond compare.
Don't be surprised to see direct contact numbers, P.O. box numbers, e-mail and home addresses of some of the prominent social figures or even a minister or his secretary, in their tattered diaries.
The "lungi brigade" includes workers, watchmen and delivery boys working in supermarkets, laundries, cafeterias, taxi drivers, cleaners and also rag pickers. The stories behind how they came to be known as "lungi news brigade" are plenty, but one that they would like best to be associated with is their tradition of a village elder who reads that particular day's newspaper to those sitting around him at a roadside tea stall. That person then initiates discussions on the national, local and international news of interest.
"You will find this exercise of reading the newspaper on street corners and tea stalls in the rural parts of the southern India states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where men and women wear printed lungis (dhoti) of various designs and colours," said Santosh, from Kerala, who works in a cafeteria.
"We speak Malayalam so we are also called 'mallus' by other people. The majority of the 'lungi news' brigade are mallus and we are proud of it. In Kerala we have this interest to start discussions on various topics," he said.
Esmail is a worker from Kozhikode in Kerala and lives in the labour accommodation in the Jebel Ali industrial area. He has the contact numbers of all Asian journalists both in UAE and India, especially those from Kerala, on his mobile phone.
"I give each one of them a miss call and they respond immediately. A miss call to their mobile goes from me only if there is an incident that has taken place like that of a fight among labourers, protests, a particular accommodation going without water and electricity, a road accident in that area."
He is available any time of day and is ready to share information with those who are interested. "I do it for free. I feel happy and feel proud when professional journalists and my own company or camp coordinator relies on me for the latest news in the area or inside the accommodation."
Giving an example, Esmail says if he hears of a Keralite in a traffic accident in Sharjah, he can get all the details regarding the accident victim in just 20 minutes. "I have connections with workers in Sharjah and watchmen," he said with a smile.
He said that he is aware that Keralites are often made fun of because of their sheer numbers. "I don't get upset at all. Keralites are very enterprising people and hardworking."
"His Principle of Peace Was Bogus"
Gopal Godse, co-conspirator in Gandhi's assassination and brother of the assassin, looks back in anger--and without regret Hemant Pithwa/India Today
Fifty two years ago, on Jan. 30, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. Godse believed that the Mahatma, or great soul, was responsible for the 1947 partition of India and the creation of Pakistan. Godse and his friend Narayan Apte were hanged. His brother Gopal and two others were sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in the conspiracy. Gopal Godse remained in jail for 18 years and now, at 80, lives with his wife in a small apartment in Pune. He is still proud of his role in the murder. Although Godse is largely ignored in India and rarely talks to journalists, he agreed to speak with TIME Delhi correspondent Meenakshi Ganguly.
TIME: What happened in January 1948?
Godse: On Jan. 20, Madanlal Pahwa exploded a bomb at Gandhi's prayer meeting in Delhi. It was 50 m away from Gandhi. [The other conspirators] all ran away from the place. Madanlal was caught there. Then there was a tension in our minds that we had to finish the task before the police caught us. Then Nathuram [Gopal's brother] took it on himself to do the thing. We only wanted destiny to help us -- meaning we should not be caught on the spot before he acted.
TIME: Why did you want to kill Gandhi?
Godse: Gandhi was a hypocrite. Even after the massacre of the Hindus by the Muslims, he was happy. The more the massacres of the Hindus, the taller his flag of secularism.
TIME: Did you ever see Gandhi?
Godse: Yes.
TIME: Did you attend his meetings?
Godse: Yes.
TIME: Can you explain how he created his mass following?
Godse: The credit goes to him for maneuvering the media. He captured the press. That was essential. How Gandhi walked, when he smiled, how he waved -- all these minor details that the people did not require were imposed upon them to create an atmosphere around Gandhi. And the more ignorant the masses, the more popular was Gandhi. So they always tried to keep the masses ignorant.
TIME: But surely it takes more than good publicity to create a Gandhi?
Godse: There is another thing. Generally in the Indian masses, people are attracted toward saintism. Gandhi was shrewd to use his saintdom for politics. After his death the government used him. The government knew that he was an enemy of Hindus, but they wanted to show that he was a staunch Hindu. So the first act they did was to put "Hey Ram" into Gandhi's dead mouth.
TIME: You mean that he did not say "Hey Ram" as he died?
Godse: No, he did not say it. You see, it was an automatic pistol. It had a magazine for nine bullets but there were actually seven at that time. And once you pull the trigger, within a second, all the seven bullets had passed. When these bullets pass through crucial points like the heart, consciousness is finished. You have no strength.
When Nathuram saw Gandhi was coming, he took out the pistol and folded his hands with the pistol inside it. There was one girl very close to Gandhi. He feared that he would hurt the girl. So he went forward and with his left hand pushed her aside and shot. It happened within one second. You see, there was a film and some Kingsley fellow had acted as Gandhi. Someone asked me whether Gandhi said, "Hey Ram." I said Kingsley did say it. But Gandhi did not. Because that was not a drama.
TIME: Many people think Gandhi deserved to be nominated TIME's Person of the Century. [He was one of two runners-up, after Albert Einstein.]
Godse: I name him the most cruel person for Hindus in India. The most cruel person! That is how I term him.
TIME: Is that why Gandhi had to die?
Godse: Yes. For months he was advising Hindus that they must never be angry with the Muslims. What sort of ahimsa (non-violence) is this? His principle of peace was bogus. In any free country, a person like him would be shot dead officially because he was encouraging the Muslims to kill Hindus.
TIME: But his philosophy was of turning the other cheek. He felt one person had to stop the cycle of violence...
Godse: The world does not work that way.
TIME: Is there anything that you admire about Gandhi?
Godse: Firstly, the mass awakening that Gandhi did. In our school days Gandhi was our idol. Secondly, he removed the fear of prison. He said it is different to go into prison for a theft and different to go in for satyagraha (civil disobedience). As youngsters, we had our enthusiasm, but we needed some channel. We took Gandhi to be our channel. We don't repent for that.
TIME: Did you not admire his principles of non-violence?
Godse: Non-violence is not a principle at all. He did not follow it. In politics you cannot follow non-violence. You cannot follow honesty. Every moment, you have to give a lie. Every moment you have to take a bullet in hand and kill someone. Why was he proved to be a hypocrite? Because he was in politics with his so-called principles. Is his non-violence followed anywhere? Not in the least. Nowhere.
TIME: What was the most difficult thing about killing Gandhi?
Godse: The greatest hurdle before us was not that of giving up our lives or going to the gallows. It was that we would be condemned both by the government and by the public. Because the public had been kept in the dark about what harm Gandhi had done to the nation. How he had fooled them!
TIME: Did the people condemn you?
Godse: Yes. People in general did. Because they had been kept ignorant.
Write to TIME at mail@web.timeasia.com
Trucks across borders
Wagah-Attari border crossing, an event that calls for applause,considering that such a crossing
had not occurred for 60 years between India and Pakistan.
This developments heartening despite the fact that the border porters on the Indian side of pelted stones t the trucks as they passed into Pakistan in what can best be described as a rite of passage,and despite the fact that on the other side,the reception was somewhat lackluster.
Going by the scenes of joy witnessed in the Indian side,with the Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal himself enthusiastically flagging off the tomato-laden trucks,evidence of a similar enthusiasm was sorely lacking on the other side.Under the arrangement that has been approved,trucks will now be permitted to a designated point and thereafter unloaded.
This looks like a very modest development but in the Indo-Pakistan context
it is a more a measure of the ever
so incrementally growing engagement.
For long India has been pushing the case that people to people contacts and economics
should be the main drivers of the engagement.Pakistan had long been reluctant to accept this thinking, contending that resolving outstanding issues of political nature would lead to quicker resultsin the economic sphere.Now it is apparent, even though our neighbour is heavily
pre-occupied with internal turmoil,New Delhi's argument has found some purchase.
The potential for full-blown trade with Pakistan cannot be understated.he official figure is nowhere close to the real- but unofficial -figure that is well over $2 billion.This is the trade that is routed through third countries.The situation is additionally complicated by the fact that,
although India has conferred on Pakistanthe Most Favoured Nation status,
Pakistan is reluctant to return the favour.
As a result only a limited number of items can be importedfrom India via the Attari route,
one of which is obviously tomatoes.There is now expectation that trade throughthe land route will go up many times through this simple expedient of allowing trucks to plyt he route for about five hours every day.
At some point,these small steps will begin to add up.Admittedly,though there now exist bus services across the Line of Control, the response has come down in terms of the
number of passengers using the service, for example between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.
This could well be because the travel procedures,including permission, are cumbersome enough to seem like a deterrent.
Right to Emergency Care:
Right to Emergency Care:
Date of Judgment: 23/02/2007.Case No.: Appeal (civil) 919 of 2007.
The Supreme Court has ruled that all injured persons especially in the case of road traffic accidents, assaults, etc., when brought to a hospital / medical centre, have to be offered first aid, stabilized and shifted to a higher centre / government centre if required. It is only after this that the hospital can demand payment or complete police formalities. In case you are a bystander and wish to help someone in an accident, please go ahead and do so. Your responsibility ends as soon as you leave the person at the hospital. The hospital bears the responsibility of informing the police, first aid, etc.
Please do inform your family and friends about these basic rights so that we all know what to expect and what to do in the hour of need. Please not only go ahead and forward, use it too!!!!
Justice Krishna Iyer
'India can be changed by the new generation'
George Iype August 14, 2006
Fali Nariman, widely recognised as India's finest Constitutional lawyer, once said: 'When V R Krishna Iyer speaks, the nation listens.' Justice V R Krishna Iyer is now 91 years old. Even though he cannot walk without assistance, his brilliant mind, which made him one of the greatest judges to sit on the Supreme Court, continues to search for answers to India's many problems. For hours every day, he reads and writes in his humble study at his home in Kochi. "I want to go out and make speeches against corruption and scandals that are afflicting us on this Independence Day. But I cannot stand for long," says one of India's most admired judges.
Young lawyers, judges and politicians come to his home frequently to consult with the judge on the Constitution. "Nobody cares for the Indian Constitution these days, but for me this is like the Bible," he says.
Is the India of today what V R Krishna Iyer had hoped for when he witnessed the country gaining Independence in 1947 ?
In an exclusive interview to Managing Editor George Iype, the great legal mind assesses the meaning of freedom. The first of a year-long series of interviews with eyewitnesses to India's recent history.
What are your most enduring memories of Independence Day in 1947?
The great Jawaharlal Nehru making a memorable speech was the most touching memory. It was a magnificent speech, for its ideas, promises and its literary value. I was inspired by his speech. Whenever I met him, I told him that.
Even today, whenever I have doubts about the objectives for which this country stands for, I quote Nehru's great speech and ask the common people to fight for the very causes which Nehru had put forward before the people.
Who made a lasting impression on you during the freedom struggle?
Almost everyone. But certainly it was Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru whom I admired those days.
As someone who was born before Independence, are you satisfied with the India of today?
Unfortunately, no. If I may say so, India is today absurdly contrary to my expectations. I say so because Nehru's speech which I keep in my mind every day, said: 'We will wipe out the tears from every eye.'
Mahatma Gandhi said during the freedom struggle: 'We will give jobs and employment to every person in the villages.' Gandhiji had this deep desire for the rehabilitation of the common people. But sadly, we have today more unemployment, more violence, more starvation and more denial of human rights.
Therefore, I feel sad that after 59 years of Independence, this country is going down. Is it a case of decline and downfall? Or are we going to have a better deal from a new generation that will wake up and say: 'India belongs to us and India is great.'
Why has this happened to India?
India belongs to the people; that is what the Constitution says in the beginning: 'We the People of India.' Alas, alas... today we have rogues, rascals and freebooters. These expressions that I am now using were once used by Winston Churchill opposing the Indian Independence Act.
Churchill was wrong in using these words at that time against the leaders of India. Today, we find the country is full of corruption; the country is full of the craze for power; the country is full of violent members of Animal Farm.
Bharat Mahaan has suddenly become an Animal Farm. And that is why I feel sad that today our expectations have darkened into anxiety, anxiety into threat and threat into despair.
What do you think have been India's greatest achievements since Independence?
What the world has achieved, India has also achieved. We could not invent, for instance, the radio and television. These are not things, which we have achieved, but the world has achieved.
Technology has taken the world including India into a higher level of achievement. But what has happened is that the achievements in India are meant for the rich and not for the poor. Remember the technology that we all talk about is mostly enjoyed only by the rich, not the poor.
The fast food-wallahs, the five star hotels create all kinds of gluttony and want more and more profit. Money is more important than man. There are hidden agendas behind all the developmental activities that we are boasting about in India. These hidden agendas are all to do with the higher class, the rich and the wealthier class. The poor are becoming poorer.
But India has also progressed tremendously over the years.
I read the other day in some magazine that India has some 23 businessmen who are billionaires. I want to point out that India has also one billion people, many of whom are poor. This is where we are.
What right have we to feel that something great has happened to India after Independence? Many things have happened. But for whom? For admission in LKG (Lower Kindergarten) for your child, schools are charging Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 as fees even in small towns across India. How can a poor family educate their children? Is it not a matter of shame?
You mean moneypower has touched even education in India.
Education in India today is priced, not given. For an admission to a medical college, the followers of Jesus, the Catholic Church in India, charges Rs 30 lakh to Rs 40 lakh. What shocked me the other day is when someone told me: "Krishna Iyer, why are you not talking about Hindu colleges that are also charging the same amount?"
I said you are right. Mata Amritanandamayi is getting lots of money from America. All out of her messages of love. She speaks of love everywhere. And Americans pay large sums of money for her to fulfill her programmes and plans of love for the poor. Love for the poor means dignity for them; dignity means development for them. Everyone is impressed with Amma's trust and love.
But she also runs a medical college in Kochi called the Amrita Medical College, and the minimum admission fee charged by the Amrita College is Rs 30 lakh per student. I do not know whether Mataji knows about it. But in her name, the followers of Amritanadmayi are collecting large amounts of money. I do not think it is pardonable.
Sadly, this is what is happening in India. Every Hindu, Christian or Muslim educational institution has become a money-making institution. Education is now priced in India, not given. This is a malignancy that has got into our country. This is cancer. This has got to be eliminated. I do not know how this can be done, except by Mahatma Gandhi's expressions: 'Do or die.'
Has the Constitution failed India?
The Constitution has failed, in the sense that the people, politicians, even the judiciary have ignored it. Nobody cares a damn about the Constitution in India. The Constitution says: 'We the People of India constitute a Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic. Is there a minister or judge, excepting poor me, who takes the expression 'Socialist' seriously?
Everyone is against socialism in India. A Supreme Court judgment with seven judges led by the then chief justice some years back said: 'Education is a commercial operation and profit-making is reasonably permissible.
The other day we read what the Bengal chief minister said: 'I am running a capitalist government.' This is what a Marxist chief minister says these days while he has taken an oath, swearing by a Socialist Republic.
Why do you think the legal system has declined in India?
We are appointing judges by various circumstances which do not take note of their past. When you select a judge, you must examine him with Constitutional provisions. Do they believe in socialism and secularism?
It is not fair to say that the judges have let down the judicial system. We have let down the judiciary. Ambedkar said: 'If things fail, we cannot blame the Constitution, it is because our men are bad.'
Can the legal system be reformed in the country?
It has to be reformed. Unfortunately, the government had appointed a Commission for reforming the Constitution and it did preciously nothing. It was headed by former Chief Justice Venkatachaliah. All they did was recommend some changes here and there in the Constitution.
But the fundamental value changes which should have called for a new vision and mission are missing in the recommendations. I was the chairman of the Fundamental Rights Committee of that Commission. But I had no voice in the Commission. The Commission report was prepared by Venkatachaliah and given to the government.
Unfortunately, no failures have been erased from the Constitution.
What do you think are India's greatest challenges?
Our greatest challenge is to move ahead in unity. We have to find out whether we are truly independent these days. Whether our poor are free these days. We are the leading members of the Non-Aligned Movement. But we have achieved nothing with NAM.
Rajiv Gandhi told me once: "Krishna Iyer, 108 NAM countries are there. When the Americans bombed the Libyan capital, not one dog barked. I alone critically shouted against this outrageous violation of international law."
What do you think of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's leadership?
We do not have a great leadership in India now. Manmohan Singh is an honest man. He is simple. He does not take bribes. But his honesty is not sufficient. If the team he leads is not honest, what is the point? If he is told to follow America, then where is the leadership?
I think one of the biggest tragedies of India is that the country now buys the largest number of weapons in the world. We will have much to answer for in history.
Do you have hope in the new generation of India?
That is my only hope. Let us hope the generation will do something about bringing radical changes in Independent India. Ambedkar once said: 'Every generation is a new nation.' So this new generation of India may be a new nation with new ideas.
India cannot be changed by old men like me. But certainly India can be changed by the new generation. I have hope in them. We need a transformation, which has to be through the young. The young are going to be in a majority shortly in India. Let us take the young into our fold and make them feel India is ours.
United States Offers India Thorium Based Nuclear Reactors
United States Offers India Thorium Based Nuclear Reactors
While India is still debating how to make the Indo-US nuclear deal work, an American company, anxious to enter the Indian market, has offered to build commercial nuclear power reactors in the country.
These reactors will rely entirely on India's thorium resources -- except at the start - and thereby remove the objections of critics.
The California-based Dauvergne Brothers Inc (DBI) says its novel type of thorium breeder reactor is fuelled with fissile material like uranium only once when it is started. It runs for its full operational life on Uranium-233 (or U-233) bred in its core from thorium.
Thorium, which India has in plenty, cannot be directly burned in a reactor. It has to be converted into fissile U-233. India's own thorium utilisation strategy hinges on reprocessing -- a contentious issue between India and the US. The DBI claims its design is tailor-made for the Indian situation.
According to the company, its reactor 'starts up using conventional uranium-based nuclear fuels, and incrementally converts to an all-thorium fuel cycle over a period of 10 years, using India's abundant supply of thorium ores to maintain energy independence'
It said that computer simulations of the DBI thorium breeder reactor show that a single load of 25 percent uranium oxide fuel and 75 percent thorium oxide will keep the reactor running for a decade.
'In that time enough U-233 will be bred in the thorium oxide fuel to increase the output power of the DBI reactor core by 50 percent adding only fresh thorium oxide as fuel.' After that, no uranium ores are needed.
Conventional breeder reactor designs -- including the one contemplated by Indian scientists -- require chemical reprocessing to retrieve bred fuel from used uranium fuel rods or from irradiated thorium' blankets'.
The DBI reactor, according to the company, uses a different strategy.
After approximately 10 years of operation, much of the activated thorium fuel would be transferred without any reprocessing into a second-generation DBI reactor core with higher power output than the first.
'Fresh thorium breeder bundles will be added to perpetuate the cycle.'
This fuel plan relies on a robust, low-neutron absorbing, radiation-resistant
Unlike the zirconium fuel cladding of most breeder reactors, the DBI fuel capsules are derived from industrially available material, much less expensive than nuclear-grade zirconium alloys.
While the modular core design offers scalability, several other features of the DBI thorium reactor programme could prevent weapons proliferation, the company claims.
For instance, it says the start up fuel could be a proliferation-
'International agreements between India and uranium-source nations to use proliferation-
sourec : http://www.india-
Life in a violent world
For the very young,
Otherwise how can one explain
Retribution was equally swift.
Intolerance is rampant everywhere.
There is intolerance at all levels.
Our ruling classes seem to have forgotten,
Gandhi enters our psyche periodically,
Who needs Gandhi?
Far from sharing Einstein's thoughts,
Since the contention is that Gandhi is not relevant to our times,
Which among the many Indians do
The 836 million we are talking about
Let us tell them further that
Is Gandhi relevant to the
But,
If we want to build a better India,
We, therefore,
We conclude that for all human beings
Heard this good one on the bandh?
Heard this good one on the bandh?
Karunanidhi'
It is unclear
By a quarter to three the DMK office
The Chief Minister further says that the various ministers
It is obviously a moot point as to how quickly
Trains ran,
The Tamil Nadu Government Officials' Union
So far as the part
Nuclear Power For France & Japan Bombs For India
Nuclear Power For France & Japan Bombs For India -- Ravinder Singh [The first Magnox power station, Calder Hall, was the world's first commercial nuclear power station. First connection to the grid was on 27 August 1956, and the plant was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 17 October 1956. When the station closed on 31 March 2003, the first reactor had been in use for nearly 47 years. --- In all, 11 power stations totalling 26 units were built in the UK where the design originated.]
http://en.wikipedia
http://www.world-
Following actually means France produces enough electricity to serve its electricity needs; 540 € ¦’¶ 100 = 440 TWh. Last year France produced 25 times more nuclear electricity than India.
USA produces 7.5 Billion Units per reactor compared to less than 1 BU per reactor and 50 times more electricity than India. Reactors designed by AREVA & Mitsubishi of 1500 MWe will produce 12 BU of electricity annually. So cost shall be much less in future. Even Bulgaria produces 9 BU per reactor has two reactor but produces more electricity than India from 17 reactors.
[In 2004, 425.8 TWh out of the country's total production of 540.6 TWh was from nuclear. France is the world's largest net exporter of energy, exporting 18% of total production (about 100 TWh) to Italy, Britain, and Germany, and its electricity cost is among the lowest in Europe.]
[Areva NC claims that, due to their reliance on nuclear power, France's carbon emmissions per kWh are less than 1/10 that of Germany and the UK, and 1/13 that of Denmark which has no nuclear plants. Its emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide have been reduced by 70% over 20 years, even though the total power output has tripled in that time.]
Going in to the details, I believe Japan opted for Magnox design for it can be used for making both Plutonium and generate power but India opted for CANDU design which uses natural uranium were very costly than enriched uranium based PWR.
Japan got both plutonium and power in abundance- based on imported reactors and uranium. India was interested in cheap thrills of exploding bombs.
India was at par with Japan and France in Nuclear Power development in 1970 and in fact I found Japan bought GEC UK reactors of Magnox design that emitted high amount of radiation and didn€ ¦’²t have containment, two of the Magnox reactors are still in operation in spite of high radiation, That is precisely the reason of UK to go against Nuclear Power but since oil prices have again crossed $83 per barrel mark, UK too is reviewing Nuclear Program.
http://en.wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia
http://www.iea.
http://en.wikipedia
At a seminar yesterday Lord Swaraj Paul told the delegates only 7% of Indians go for graduation compared to 52% in UK.
As per another study here only 2% Indians have science & technical. And very fewer really understand technology. You have to ask yourself only one question; whether a country who has tones of nuclear fuel in its reactors and operate and manage large Nuclear Power plants can develop N-bomb when required?
It was always preferred to have Nuclear power capability of 50,000 MW than telling the world we have 50 nuclear bombs.
[The first nuclear reactor in Japan was built by GEC (British Company). In the 1970s the first Light Water Nuclear Plants were built in cooperation with American companies. These plants were bought from US Vendors such as General Electric or Westinghouse with contractual work done by Japanese companies, who would later get a license themselves to build similar plant designs. Developments in nuclear power since that time has seen contributions from Japanese companies and research institutes on the same level as the other big users of nuclear power.]
Japan from the very beiginning developing Nuclear Technology and is collaborating to build third generation reactors.
Ravinder Singh October03, 2007 Progressindia2008@
Posted by: "Intellex Corporate Services" chandran_mumbai@
But we also must remember that we have neighbors like China & Pakistan, one with a huge military power including atomic bombs and another a country which breeds global terrorism. Whether we like it or not, or accept it or not, that is a reality.
If, we did not have the nuclear bombs, we would have been under tremendous pressure from both these countries...
We need both bombs and power... Power without security of our lives will not be acceptable to most of us,
Nuclear Power A Political Tool Or Cheap Energy Source
Nuclear Power A Political Tool Or Cheap Energy Source € ¦© - Ravinder Singh, Inventor
I asked Lord Swaraj Paul € ¦’³Sir you have missed an important issue of Nuclear Power€ ¦’´ at a reception in his honor in Delhi€ ¦’¶ India need big Nuclear Program.
I was disappointed to hear from him that Nuclear reactors are not suitable for India for India has terrorism problem, terrorists could blast nuclear reactors and for their high cost. Modern reactors have thick containment shield are in fact absolutely secure. UK though a pioneer ranks ninth in Nuclear Generation, 22Nd in per reactor generation and 24Th rank in terms of capacity utilization factor.
But Nuclear Power is cheapest and countries not just France or Germany or USA but also UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Sweden, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Canada, Lithuania, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine and more already produce Nuclear Power in significant amount.
In fact 30 countries are already operating Nuclear Power reactors and more than 130 member countries of IAEA are developing nuclear program in various stages.
With the rising oil prices likely to hit $100/ barrel within months will give Nuclear Power a big thrust. At one seminar I advocated scaling up of Nuclear Program to 60,000 MW by 2030.
Bhakra Dam foothills are ideally suited for 10,000 MW capacity and can supply 35,000 cusecs of cold cooling water for 50 to 100 years. Bhakra Dam region also has over 30,000 MW hydropower already developed or under development to support peaking demand therefore Nuclear Plants can operate as base load units at full load.
North India is particularly suited for its distance from coalmines and seacoast therefore involve high cost in importing coal. At least 30,000 MW of Nuclear Power may come up in North India.
Carbon Dioxide and NO2 emissions by coal fired units in North India cause much greater harm in land locked North India than most seacoast states in Western, Southern and Eastern Regions.
India€ ¦’²s Nuclear Power Program was hampered by political interventions and even sabotage.
http://en.wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia
Before Pokhran in 1974 India already had three reactors of 2X160 MWe and one 100 MWe operational. At time Japan had 439 MWe unit size reactors operational. But after a month of Pokhran Japan commissioned its first 760 MWe reactor by TEPCO in July1974 and KEPCO installed 780 MWe reactor in November1974. Next big leap in unit size was 1056 MWe commissioned by JAPC at Tokai in November 1978. It was soon followed by 1120 MWe in March,1979 of KEPCO.
There was big set back to Indian program, next 200 MWe reactor after Pokhran was commissioned in April, 1981. By then Japan had graduated to 1120 MWe but these units produced around 6.1 GWh/GWe than Indian reactors of 4 GWh/GWe therefore Japanese reactors of 1120 MWe eproduced 9 times more power than 200MWe Indian reactors.
When India was looking for spare parts to commission RAPS 2 of 200 MWe rating, Japan was feverishly building nuclear plants of large size. India introduced its first 210 MW coal based project Japan had already 1056 MWe / 1120 MWe reactors that produced almost 10 times more electricity per unit compared to India thermal units. One such unit produces twice more power than five units at Badarpur Thermal Power Station in Delhi that emits 7.2 million tones of CO2 every year.
Since commission a 760 MWe TEPCO reactor installed in 1974 produced more electricity than all India Nuclear Power Program.
JAPAN REACTORS BUILT BETWEEN MAY1974 & APRIL 1981
Name
Type
Rating,
MWe
Operational
Status
Operator
Fukushima I-2
BWR
760
July, 1974
TEPCO
Takahama-1
PWR
780
Nov. 1974
KEPCO
Genkai-1
PWR
529
Oct. 1975
Kyushu E.
Takahama-2
PWR
780
Nov.1975
KEPCO
Hamaoka-1
BWR
515
March, 1976
Chubu E.
Fukushima I-3
BWR
760
March, 1976
TEPCO
Mihama-3
PWR
780
Dec. 1976
KEPCO
Ikata 1
PWR
538
Sept. 1977
YODEN
Fukushima I-4
BWR
760
Oct. 1978
TEPCO
Fukushima I-5
BWR
760
April, 1978
TEPCO
Hamaoka-2
BWR
806
Nov. 1978
Chubu E.
Tokai-2
BWR
1056
Nov. 1978
JAPC
€ ¦Ôi-1
PWR
1120
March 1979
KEPCO
Fukushima I-6
BWR
1067
Oct. 1979
TEPCO
€ ¦Ôi-2
PWR
1120
Dec. 1979
KEPCO
Genkai-2
PWR
529
March, 1981
Kyushu E.
INDIA
PHWR
200
April, 1981
RAPS 2
A reactor of 1120 MWe producing Nine Times more electricity per reactor than India was already operational in Japan in March1979. India graduated to 540 MWe only on September12, 2005.
India ranks at the bottom in terms of---
Per capita Consumption of Nuclear Power. World Average 400 units to India€ ¦’²s 14.
Generation per reactor is only 0.9 BU in India against world average of 6 BU per reactor and Pakistan 1.3 BU.
In terms of capacity utilization India is lowest at 4GWh/Gwe. Pakistan at 6.5 GWh/GWe is ahead of India.
http://www.world-
Romania appeared to be at the bottom but going to its site I found one of its two reactor of 650 MWe was commission in September2007 and didn€ ¦’²t generate power in 2006. That puts Romania reactors to be among high performers. In 2008 Romanian two reactors will produce 10 BU of electricity contributing 18% of its power at capacity use of 8 GWh/GWe.
Ravinder Singh October03, 2007
Progressindia2008@
http://www.world-
Countries
Nuclear Generation GWh / % of Country
GWh per
Reactor/ GWh/GWe
No. Of Reactors
Installed Capacity In MWe
1. USA 787.2; 19%
7.5 / 7.8
104
99,049
2.
France
428.7; 78%
7.25 / 6.7
59
63,473
3.
Japan
291.5; 30%
5.3 / 6.1
55
47,577
4.
Germany
158.7; 32%
9.3 / 7.7
17
20,339
5.
Russia
144.3; 16%
4.65 / 6.6
31
21,743
6.
South Korea
141.2; 39%
7.0 / 8.0
20
17,533
7.
Canada
92.4; 16%
5.1 / 7.3
18
12,595
8.
Ukraine
84.8; 48%
5.65 / 6.2
15
13,168
9.
U. K.
69.2; 18%
3.64 / 6.3
19
11,035
10.
Sweden
65.1; 48%
6.5 / 7.2
10
9,086
11.
Spain
57.4; 20%
7.2 / 7.7
8
7,442
12.
China
51.8; 1.9%
4.71 / 6.0
11
8,587
13.
Belgium
44.3; 54%
6.33 / 7.7
7
5,728
14.
Switzerland
26.4; 37%
5.28 / 8.2
5
3,220
15.
Czech R.
24.5; 31%
4.1 / 7.0
6
3,472
16.
Finland
22.0; 28%
5.5 / 8.1
4
2,696
17.
Bulgaria
18.1; 44%
9.05 / 9.5
2
1,906
18.
Slovakia
16.6; 57%
3.32 / 8.3
5
2,064
19.
India
15.6; 2.6%
0.91 / 4.1
17
3,779
20.
Brazil
13.0; 3.3%
6.5 / 6.8
2
1,901
21.
Hungary
12.5; 38%
3.125 / 6.9
4
1,826
22.
Mexico
10.4; 4.9%
5.2 / 7.9
2
1,310
23.
South Africa
10.1; 4.4%
5.05/ 5.5
2
1,842
24.
Lithuania
8.0; 69%
8.0 / 6.75
1
1,185
25.
Argentina
7.2; 6.9%
3.6 / 7.7
2
935
26.
Slovenia
5.3; 40%
5.3 / 7.6
1
696
27.
Romania
5.2; 9.0%
2.6 / 4.0
2
1,310
28.
Netherlands
3.3; 3.5%
3.3 / 6.8
1
485
29.
Pakistan
2.6; 2.7%
1.3 / 6.5
2
400
30.
Armenia
2.4; 42%
2.4 / 6.4
1
376
WORLD
2658
6.05
439
372,002
Reservations and Muslims
The Supreme Court has yet again stayed the law passed by the Andhra Pradesh Government granting 4% reservations for sections of Muslims. One of the programmes on which the Congress fought elections was that it would bring in legislation to provide for reservations for Muslims. Voters from all the communities elected the Congress Party and Telengana Rajya Samiti to power fully aware of the promise of reservations for Muslims in its election manifesto. After getting elected, the Y. S. Rajshekhar Reddy Govt. brought in legislation to provide for 5% reservation for Muslims. The legislation was challenged in the Andhra Pradesh High Court and High Court struck down the legislation as unconstitutional and violating the fundamental right of equality. Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India provides that the state shall not discriminate on grounds only of caste, religion, gender and language or any one of them. However, affirmative action by state providing for reservations for socially and educationally backward classes and special provisions for women and children would not be deemed to be violation of general rule of non-discrimination. The AP legislation provided for reservations for Muslims on the ground that the Muslim community was socially and educationally backward community and therefore covered by the deeming provision in Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution. The A.P. High Court in its judgment opined that the affirmative action of reservation was for socially and educationally backward classes and not for a religious community, and, moreover, there was no data on which the AP Govt. could have come to the conclusion that entire Muslim community was socially and educationally backward. The overall percentage of reservation, according to Supreme Court cannot exceed 50%. However, after providing for 5% reservations to Muslims, the overall percentage of reservation exceeded 50% and this was one more count on which the earlier order of reservation for Muslims.
The Andhra Pradesh Govt. then asked AP Commission for Backward Classes to examine the social, educational and economic status of the Muslim community. Based on the Commission's findings, the AP Govt. decided to create group E called "Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Muslims" in the list of Backward Classes. 15 specific classes of Muslims which were included in the list are Achchukattalavandlu, Attar Saibulu, Dhobi, Fakir, Garadi, Gosangi, Guddi, Eluguvallu, Hajjam, Labbi, Pakeerla, Borewale, Qureshi, Shaik, Siddi, Chakketakera and other Muslim groups. Those excluded from the list of backward class Muslims were - Syed, Musahik, Mughal, Pathan, Irani, Arab, Bohra, Shia Imami Ismaili Khoja, Cutchi-Memon, Jamayat and Navayat. The 15 th Group on the list of backward classes was "Other Muslim groups other than those excluded." The Supreme Court has stayed the operation of provision for reservation for Muslims as it implied that many other sub-sects would be benefited from the Law. The AP Govt. has provided for reservations not only for the socially and educationally backward sections of the Muslim community, but also for the rest of the community not excluded from the list. The Supreme Court opined that the rest of community would also include sections which were not socially and educationally backward and therefore violate Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution and amount to discrimination on the grounds only of religion.
United Muslim Action Committee had opposed reservation for Muslims on the basis of categorization of only some of them as backward on the basis of their castes. They maintained that there was no caste system in Islam and therefore, the reservations should be for the entire Muslim Community in Andhra Pradesh or not at all.
Our Constitution is secular and reservation for the entire Muslim Community would amount to discrimination only on the basis of religion, which is in violation of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Disregarding the legal hurdles in providing for reservations for all Muslims, in my opinion, it is not even desirable and will benefit the wrong persons, who do not need reservations for their upliftment and encouragement. The Bohras, Memons, Khojas are largely trading communities having a large section of educated middle class amidst them. The three communities from Gujarat benefited from development of trade in Western India during British Colonial period with development of Bombay as a port city. The younger generation in these communities avail of higher education even without the benefit of reservation or any other affirmative action from the state. After education, though some of them pursue professional careers as doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants etc., a few of them prefer to continue their family business. Along with mosques and seminaries, these communities have also been able to contribute and give the country educational institutions, hospitals and other public institutions. The elite of the community are able to extend a helping hand to their poor brothers and sisters in the community. If 17% of Muslims are matriculates (as compared to 26% of matriculates in all communities), the non-backward class Muslim communities, or Ashrafs, as they are referred to generally, including the Bohras, Khojas and Memons contribute a significant number to the overall percentage of Muslim matriculates. Though the Ashrafs are not more than 10-15% of the community, they contribute in a significant way to the 17% matriculates. Similarly, the Ashrafs contribute significantly to the 3.6% Muslim graduates and 0.4% Muslims with technical education, as against 7% and 0.5% for all communites respectively. If benefits of affirmation action was to be extended to all, the Ashrafs would be in a much better position and corner most of the benefits of reservation due their urban base and advantage of English educational background in convent schools and other better educational institutions. The disadvantaged will continue to remain so. Inclusion of specific communities within the Muslim community on the backward classes list also acknowledges the ground reality that Muslims are not one homogenous sociological unit. The caste based discrimination of the specific backward communities continue despite their conversions and that these communities continue their caste based profession and identities.
It is time to question reservation as the only form of affirmative action. The politician finds reservation most tempting for they don't have to mobilize additional resources from the budget. Pass a legislation fixing reservations for a specified community and gather their votes. A small section of Muslims backward class artisans have come up hard way and have been able to marginally benefit from growth in exports in particular and economy in general. A small section of saree weavers in Varanasi, brassware artisan in Moradabad, workers in lock industry in Aligarh, scissors industry in Meerut have managed to be upwardly mobile. The backward classes within the Muslim community will benefit more if the government formulates schemes for protection of informal labour, provides support for upgradation of the skills they already possess and financial support through co-operatives of artisans to ensure full participation of these sections in the economic growth. But that would require re-allocation of resources from the industries to poor and from supporting the sugar barons and their co-operatives to the poorer artisans. It will require a statesman and a visionary rather than pigmies using same old formulas.
Doctors changing lives in naxal belts of Chattisgarh
New Delhi: Malaria, tuberculosis, Cholera HIV AIDS name the disease you have it here.
Here in the heart of the other India here in the country's poorest state Chattisgarh. But there is one glimmer of hope. Seven years ago eight doctors almost all of them from AIIMS giving up everything and come here not looking for money not for glamour but for a chance to serve the people who need to be served. The four couples are spreading sunshine here not far from the place where the Naxalite challenge the rule of the law.
And though it's just the dawn of a new day and the shadows still linger on these faces in the queue, rural Bilaspur gratefully acknowledges the presence of these doctors who are slowly changing their lives.
It happened more than ten years ago. Some doctors in AIIMS, the best medical institution in the country, wanted to do something more with their lives. They wanted to step out from a big city, move to the countryside and serve the rural poor. Idealism was more important than getting rich. It took a long time to set the hospital up in Ganyari, twenty km from Bilaspur town and seven years later the results are showing.
“We worship this hospital as temple, it’s a temple for us,“ says a villager.
It's that belief that doctors need to go to the countryside which matters to Dr Yogesh Jain, the inspiration of the team, the bubbling Dr Anurag Bhargav, the Mister Energy of the group, Dr Raman Kataria, the quiet surgeon and Dr Biswaroop Chatterjee, the polite microbiologist.
They had an intellectual support system here in Delhi. Doctors, scientists and the rare bureaucrats who believed in their dreams and helped them pursue it. Some of these doctors went to big schools, DPS Mathura Road and Modern School Barakhamba. Three of them are National Scholars and all four just came together as though they were a music band.
Dr Biswaroop Chatterjee says, “Yogesh asked me if I would join him then I decided I should go with him.”
What acted, as an even greater catalyst was that all four married doctors, Dr Madhuri Chatterjee, Dr Madhvi Bharagav, Dr Rachna Jain and Dr Anju Kataria. Some of them even met in AIIMS.
“We were working in the same hospital in AIIMS. It is not very simple to do but all of us were together there were eight of us and that has made thing easier,” says Dr Anju Kataria.
Every couple takes home a total salary of Rs 25,000. They don't want more because then it causes too much disparity with others member of the staff. Is that enough family income in the 21st century where gadgets have taken over our lives?
Anurag says, “Most of the many of the things are actually not essential. I don't think that I miss driving around in a Mercedes.”
“I mean if it was more than this we just couldn't be able to run the organisation. I mean we are taking 12, which is a huge chunk, “ says Dr Biswaroop Chatterjee.
In Ganyari, you get the feeling that it's the women who are sometimes doing more than their husbands. They do surgeries, they man the OPDs, they run the thirteen-bed ward and they even attend clinics in the remote villages.
Dr Rachna Jain says, “There is more satisfaction of course but there are financial constraints and I won't say they are not there and sometimes one regrets too but its okay but one feels more satisfied at the end of the day and you are happy.”
“I think one needs more if you have more of it…if you increase your own needs, you never where you can get satisfaction, “ says Dr Madhori Chatterjee.
So they keep their food simple in the canteen where doctors, patients, friends, other members of the staff come together. And it's all about self-service.
Self-sufficiency personal hygiene are both basic requirements here so after an ordinary and nutritious lunch you need to wash your own plate.
And they have their children whom they don't want to deprive and they are sent to Jain International, the best school in the outskirts of Bilaspur.
There are the birthday parties like this one for Biswaroop's daughter where they come together and talk everything but work.
They have ordinary lives some do have support system like Dr Rachna Jain's mother, who is also a doctor. She has taken a up a job at the Bilaspur hospital and lives in the neighbourhood to stay close to her granddaughters. She is quite honest that her son-in-law could have probably made more money.
Rachna’s mother Dr Chatterjee says, “Well its not my decision its there decision and before marriage if I knew. I would have taken the decision otherwise now its there decision.”
Dr Biswaroop and Madhuri Chatterjee have other worries. Their son has a medical problem for which they need money. The treatment is seriously expensive. He has to taken up temporary jobs elsewhere to keep the money coming in.
“I mean I am not switching the jobs but yes I mean defiantly I need more money for my son I mean although all my friends have been very supportive but even then as a father i feel obliged that ok what ever I can earn myself its better be done that way, “ says Dr Biswaroop Chaterjee.
Eight people who are together living out a dream they had dreamt ages ago. What about ego conflicts, there are bound to be differences.
Rachna Jain says, “There are moments of ego conflicts, there are problems but the main goal is same and the motive of coming together, we bear that in mind and we work together we do have problems.”
And so every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, Ganyari hums with activity. The queues are long. Jana Swasthya Sahyog has taken over health care in Bilaspur.
The primary health care centre is desolate, even the doctors and other staff are seldom present. Eight doctors have turned things upside down in this tribal and scheduled caste dominated very backward district.
The doctors are definitely not the firsts of their kind. Others like this equally popular bearded doctor traveled this path before. Dr Binayak Sen had given up everything after graduating from Christian Medical College, Vellore and had dedicated the early part of his medical career to the health of miners. He has been an inspiration for these doctors as well.
Fortunately Ganyari and Bilaspur, are slightly cut off from the spreading Naxalite map of the country. These doctors can avoid tough decisions, which Dr Sen didn't.
A remarkable change has been made possible in the past seven years. A big community of trained women have kept a close watch on the health of their neighbors.
Ambulances are bringing in emergency cases to the hospital where the doctors treat the patients with unimaginable dedication. But beneath this positive there is a question that these doctors have been asking - why is the social system so unjust and unequal?
