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Damad Shree, the Vadra 'get-rich-quick' model: Full text of booklet (6 pages) and video (8:06). SoniaG, quit politics.
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Rs. 50,000 crore ghotala? Kamal Nath handed over prime forest land to builders
500 hectares. Rs 50,000 crore. How Kamal Nath handed over prime forest land to builders
Sunday, 27 April 2014 - 1:19pm IST | Agency: DNA Webdesk
On April 25, dna reported how Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath radically change the 'land use' of the Haryana sub region plan. Nath, along with Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, hijacked the NCRPlanning Board meeting in Delhi, despite stiff resistance from senior bureaucrats, and signed an order converting 10 lakh hectares of forest land into a "natural conservation zone".
What does this mean?
Natural Conservation Zone regulations permit construction on 0.5% land for tourism purposes. If you calculate 0.5% of 10 lakh hectares, it comes to 500 hectares of land. This will allow the builders' lobby to grab 500 hectares of prime land in Gurgaon, Aravali hills and Faridabad, and even by conservative land rates of the government, the cost of 500 hectares is no less than Rs 50,000 crore.
Natural Conservation Zone regulations permit construction on 0.5% land for tourism purposes. If you calculate 0.5% of 10 lakh hectares, it comes to 500 hectares of land. This will allow the builders' lobby to grab 500 hectares of prime land in Gurgaon, Aravali hills and Faridabad, and even by conservative land rates of the government, the cost of 500 hectares is no less than Rs 50,000 crore.
This is happening despite the fact that the Supreme Court has declared this area as forest land under the Punjab Conservation Land Act. The apex court has even declared that protected area and wildlife sanctuaries, as is this 10 lakh hectares area, shall be treated as forest area and should be governed under the Forest Act. The Aravallis have wildlife and act as catchments for lakes in the area.
The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has asked Haryana Government to address environmental concerns raised by various quarters in the state's sub-regional plan, with the primary goal ofpreventing construction activities in Aravallis including Mangarbani forest.
Major objections were even raised from the Prime Minister's Office, Delhi government and Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to construction activities in green areas. The PMO has directed the Urban Ministry to sort out the various objections to the proposal and send a compliance report to it.
It happened anyway
Nath and Hooda showed the door to environment secretary Dr V Rajagopalan and his team as they had vehemently opposed Nath's attempt to change the 'land use'.
Nath and Hooda showed the door to environment secretary Dr V Rajagopalan and his team as they had vehemently opposed Nath's attempt to change the 'land use'.
"You are not a member of the NCR planning board. So, your comments are not required," Hooda is learnt to have told Rajagopalan. And Nath is understood to have said: "If the environment ministry has any problem with our decision, they can approach the court." Rajagopalan apparently walked out after heated arguments. In his written comments, he strongly objected to the forest being converted to a natural conservation zone. "The Supreme Court judgment on forest clearly says that a hectare of land, with 10 per cent area under canopy will be declared as forest land and its status cannot be changed. And here it is 10 lakh hectares of forest land," he wrote.
Reactions:
Veerappa Moily: Aravalli hills have to be preserved for Delhi's survival. Our enviromment secretary had brief to oppose Kamal Nath's move. EC had allowed Kamal Nath to hold meeting, but prohibited him from taking any policy decisions
Veerappa Moily: Aravalli hills have to be preserved for Delhi's survival. Our enviromment secretary had brief to oppose Kamal Nath's move. EC had allowed Kamal Nath to hold meeting, but prohibited him from taking any policy decisions
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-dna-exclusive-500-hectares-rs-50000-crore-how-kamal-nath-handed-over-prime-forest-land-to-builders-1982608
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Priyanka Vadra ji, see the video mentioned by NaMo. I strongly recommend it because you seem a specialist on rats.
Uploaded on Jun 22, 2009
“Bokhlae ue chuho ki tarah daud rahe hai”(they are running around like agitated rats).
An agitated rat? I have no clue to understand how a rat gets agitated.
It appears Priyanka Vadra is an expert on rat behavior.
Sure, guinea pigs are used in labs for genetic studies. It may be a good idea for Rat specialists to commission rat tests in labs to understand or simulate human behavior.
I don't see people running around; I don't know where Priyanka saw them. Even in the Varanasi road show, people were enthused and not running around. Maybe, she missed out that video. Here it is with a sincere comment from NaMo. Click on it and enjoy it to understand why pseudo-politicos indulge in rat metaphors to buck the key question: how a damad got rich quick. Questions have been raised and need to be answered without diverting the issue by a lab test on rat behavior.
- Affection showered by people of Varanasi remains etched in my memory. Sharing a video capturing the special moments http://nm4.in/1h2kKNE
Narendra Modi ↧
Narendra Modi’s interview to Doordarshan News(34 minute video); Srirampur: Mamata's painting Rs. 1.8 crore (1:25:22)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNtIwqN01bI&list=UUct59sRJpL8XTLrTW4bWXyQ
Published on Apr 27, 2014
Narendra Modi's interview to DD News
Stream
http://deshgujarat.com/2014/04/27/bangladeshis-will-have-to-pack-bags-post-16-may-who-bought-mamtas-painting-for-rs-1-80-crore-modi-at-srirampurvideo/
Bangladeshis will have to pack bags post 16 May, who bought Mamta’s painting for Rs. 1.80 crore? Modi at Srirampur(video)
Streamed live on Apr 27, 2014
Srirampur (West Bengal): Shri Narendra Modi addresses a Public Meeting
Following are the glimpses of Narendra Modi’s rally at Srirampur in West Bengal where Bollywood musician Bappi Lahiri is BJP candidate. Confusion over whether to speak against Mamata is over. Modi speaks freely against Mamata, but on certain issues like chit fund scam, Bangladesh intruders and dissatisfaction among people against Mamta government. Modi also attacked Congress, but that didn’t evoke much response because Congress doesn’t matter in Bengal. Presented are Mamata related parts of Modi’s speech:
-The governments so far in this state wasted 40 years of West Bengal and ruined two generations of this state. I want to ask the brothers and sisters here, two generations were ruined in 40 years. Do you also want to get yourself ruined, you want your future generation to get ruined? Think about your future, and keep Bengal out of a (vicious)circle of Congress-left-TMC. These three are together. They are the same. Today Congress party has officially issued a statement that they are ready to support the third front. If they want to support third front then why are they contesting elections here? Whom are they making fool? Brothers and sisters, generally opposition parties get together against the ruling party. They form partnership, make strategies to defeat the ruling party. But in Indian politics, it is for the first time, that at some places the ruling party is making partners, and at other places they are playing tricks behind the curtain, at some places they are fielding Congress’s ‘A’ team and ‘B’ team here and there. For the first time, Congress party is not making strategies or fighting elections to save their government. They are making partners, they are doing everything to stop Modi. Their one point agenda is ‘stop Modi’. Why are they so much afraid of Modi? They think, if Modi comes, where shall they land after 16th of May. Congress party is driving nation’s politics to negativity.
-Mamata didi where’s your Mamata. People of Bengal looked at you with great hope. What did you do with that Mamata? This is the land of those who worship Saraswati, Sharda and Lakshmi, but Mamtaji how’s your Mamata that mother Sharda turned Sharda chit fund here? We didn’t expect this from you Mamtaji. I personally respect you, but what did you do? You ruined the dreams of people of Bengal. People of Bengal showered love over you, but you are doing same what left people were doing here. You have selected the path of left and not come out of the habits you gained during your days in Congress. You are going ahead with both bad things.
-Shouldn’t people get Sharda chit fund money back? Why those guilty are not punished? Chidambaram is Finance minister. Whom is he helping? Why Mamtaji and Chidambaram both together are helping Sharda chit fund accused?
-I announce from here that after forming government in Delhi, we will take strict actions against accused of Sharda Chit Fund. Mamtaji I respect you, and therefore some people led my attention, also I have read in newspapers too. You are a good painter. Earlier your paintings were sold in range of 4-15 lakh, but why your painting has been sold for Rs. 1 crore 80 lakh? Country is proud of the fact that nation has such painters. But who was the person who bought painting for Rs. 1.80 crore. How many paintings same person purchased in past and at what price? People of Bengal have no right to know? I wonder, Mamtaji worries less about Bengal but worries more about her chair. She enjoys fight for round the clock, and not performing. Mamtaji you are Chief Minister now. The days of agitations are over. Now do something good for people. It seems your old habits are just not going. Mamtaji time has changed. Fake cases against those in public life can’t make you popular. This is not the path. You are a committed leader. I again say that personally I respect you, but you have gone on wrong path.And therefore you have caused more damage in 35 months(of your rule), compared to previous 35 years(left rule).
-These days there’s competition going on for politics of votebank. I consistently speak about good governance and development. If I speak about employment, youths, farmers, poor person’s two time meal, security of women, suicides, the opponents ask what about secularism? They don’t want to discuss the issues, they just want to do vote bank politics. These days Mayavati, Mulayam, Congress, Mamta, all are involved in vote bank politics. This vote bank politics has pushed the future of youths to darkness. This nation needs politics of development, good governance and welfare of people. This divide and rule is ruining the nation. Mamtaji you have made Bengal victim of vote bank politics. I wonder Mamtaji, you feel people of Bihar, Odisha, Marwari outsiders here? And if Bangladesh arrives, your face just start shinning. Like some relative you know from seven generations has arrived. For vote bank politics, you insult Indian federalism, and you offer red carpet to Bangladeshis? After 16 May, these Bangladeshis will have to pack their bags. The country can’t run in this style. Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat is our mantra, we will not allow split in India.
PM can’t see anything on his own
Commenting on Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s remark that he hasn’t seen Narendra Modi wave during these election, BJP prime ministerial candidate Shri Narendra Modi in his speech at Srirampur in West Bengal on Sunday evening said, the prime minister couldn’t see price hike, corruption during his rule, they how can he spot the wave in this election? Modi said it’s not PM’s fault because he always sees through the mother son’s eyes, and therefore he himself can’t see anything on his own.
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NewsLaundry interviews Ashok Khemka on Damad Shree ghotala
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Published on Sep 7, 2013
To watch this and many more videos, click onhttp://www.newslaundry.com/
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Why there is no Amethi model -- MJ Akbar
|  | MJ Akbar is the Editorial Director of The Sunday Guardian. |
| Why there is no Amethi model |
There is no development in Amethi. Congress cannot talk about something that does not exist. When your track record is regression, the only choice is pre-emptive aggression. |
 |  Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi files his nomination papers for Amethi parliamentary seat, in Amethi on 12 April. PTI ave you ever wondered, amidst the manufactured debate about the Gujarat model of development, why there is never any talk of an "Amethi model"? No mystery there. There is no development in Amethi. Congress cannot talk about something that does not exist. When your track record is regression, the only choice is pre-emptive aggression. In the same decade when Amethi was wallowing in stagnation despite having the second most powerful person in India as its Member of Parliament, Gujarat was lifted from agricultural growth of around 2% to 10%. A few simple facts should suffice, without any overdose of statistics: with 5% of India's population, Gujarat now soaks up 18% of national investment and contributes 26% towards its exports. Most important, a substantive portion of the meagre growth in employment during the arid decade between 2004 and 2014 has come from Gujarat. If Rahul Gandhi had done a quarter as much for Amethi as Modi has done for Gujarat, he could have offered a far more credible bid for leadership. Instead, his only option is silence on Amethi and diversionary tactics on Gujarat. If anything, non-UPA parties have so much surplus ammunition that they do not quite know what to do with their reserve arsenal. In any other election, observations made by the Supreme Court on Tuesday 22 April would have made headlines. The highest court asked counsel of the Government of India, in sharp and even acerbic terms, why UPA had refused to obey a Court order to reveal names of Indians who had secret bank accounts in that convenient state known as Liechtenstein. Refusing to buy the Congress' limp excuses for delay, the Court noted, "The direction to share the information forthwith cannot be understood as after completion of investigation by SIT. The Court said forthwith disclose...The language of the Court is clear. The directions are crystal clear when it said disclose forthwith...From July 4, 2011 till now, the revenue secretary and the joint secretary in the ministry of finance had kept our orders in cold storage." Such flagrant disobedience of a Supreme Court order is as astonishing as the complacent reaction to such a cover-up. Why did UPA hide these names? You can rest assured that if the list contained names of Opposition leaders this would have been lead story on Doordarshan and All India Radio for three years, and Congress spokespersons would have had a great deal to say on each day of this election campaign. Government protected these names only because they include either those at the top of the present establishment pyramid or those within that charmed circle. If media has missed this message, then the people have not. Now that voting machines have shut for nearly 350 Lok Sabha seats, it is quite evident that the Congress game plan for 2014 has gone belly up. Its very hinge, a total dependence on minorities, has been dislocated. Reports from Mumbai indicate that Catholic voters, for instance, refused to follow any diktat from a religious leader and went where their minds took them. A significant proportion of Muslims in the city refused to vote at all, rather than tread the traditional route to a Congress button. The heart-warming reality is that a rising share of the electorate is voting for its stomach, for its welfare, and for the nation's economy, rather than out of fear or emotionalism. It matters less who the voter trusts than that it trusts a party for the right reasons. The young are turning out to be the most mature voters within the demographic pattern, for they have the most to lose from a lost economy. Their anger might have been sufficient to push any government out, but their rage is now laced with hope that Narendra Modi will restore the vision and horizon that has faded. Modi will have to deliver both as Prime Minister and as Member of Parliament. In Varanasi, for instance, the tremendous enthusiasm of the people, across all traditional fissures, is based on the conviction that the massive ills within and around this ancient city, one of the great intellectual capitals of world civilisation, will be healed and the region nourished back to health. The phrase is not in use at the moment, but within five years Narendra Modi will have to create a Varanasi model of development, just as he has ensured a Gujarat model. That should become the template in 2019 against which other constituencies will be measured. If the vote is at an all-time high for Narendra Modi on the banks of Ganga, and across the varied expanse of the Indian compass, then expectations are even higher. It has been a hard slog towards the Lok Sabha, but once he reaches that apex of democratic achievement, Narendra Modi will have to turn his energies and mind back to the India that sent him to Delhi. |
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Indian Army - Politicised or Criminalised? -- MG Devasahayam
Indian Army - Politicised or Criminalised?
Delhi is agog with the news that the elevation of Lt. General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Eastern Army Commander as the next Chief of Army Staff is imminent. This is despite the fact that there are allegations of serious abuse of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) under the watch of Lt. General Suhag when he was earlier General Officer Commanding III Corps with Assam, Nagaland and Manipur as the Areas of Responsibility that are covered by AFSPA. The Army entity abusing AFSPA was the Dimapur based Intelligence Unit (IU) commanded by one Colonel Shreekumar reporting directly to Lt. General Suhag
People like us are normally not concerned about these appointments and the persons selected for these top posts because though somewhat flawed, there is a reasonably well established process through which these high positions are filled. But when 'Line of Succession', an obnoxious feudal practice was brought into play in 2012 to appoint the present COAS (General Bikram Singh) and Eastern Army Commander (Lt. General Dalbir Singh Suhag) things changed and questions were raised.
I was one among those who raised questions when in 2012 General Bikram Singh was being appointed as COAS. Some of us‘senior citizens’ had pointed out the fact that there were allegations of fake encounter against Bikram Singh (as Brigade Commander in J&K, an area covered under AFSPA c) pending in the J&K High Court seeking a Commission of Inquiry. Yet the appointment was rammed through and a plea in the Supreme Court fell on deaf years! What is worse, ‘doctored’ papers were presented to get the PIL in SC dismissed and despite efforts through RTI Act over the last two years Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Secretariat are keeping the ‘fudged file’ hermetically sealed! The mainline media, print and electronic, helped in this fraud by eminently twisting and spinning facts in an extremely distorted manner.
A similar game is being played out now with the UPA Government,which is virtually on its way out, us is making desperate moves to consummate the repulsive 'line of succession' by appointing the AFSPA tainted Suhag as the COAS before it demits office in about two weeks time. And Suhag is involved in AFSPA abuse of the worst kind as would be evident from the two events briefly narrated below:
Event One was in July 2011 when Col. Shreekumar’s own Second-in-Command, Major Takula Ravi Kiran, wrote to the Brigadier General Staff of III Corps stating that on the 13th of March 2010, three Manipuri boys had been abducted and shot dead by Colonel Shreekumar’s outfit. Two days later, their bodies had been exhumed from a temporary grave in Rangapahar and thrown into a river. These bodies had been subsequently recovered by the Assam police on 19 Marchat Lakhijan in Karbi Anglong, but at the time they had no idea about who the deceased were. Despite the evidence on record with the police both HQ III Corps and Eastern Command refused to act on this crime. Spin doctors say that in March 2010 Suhag was not commanding III Corps. It is irrelevent because when the gruesome crime committed by an unit under him was brought to his notice he was very much commanding III Corps and he should have acted swiftly,
Event Two was dacoity committed by the same IU in December 2011when Suhag was very much the III Corps Commander. An armed party of fifteen soldiers dressed in battle fatigues under the command of Captain Rubina Kaur Keer, an officer of Col Shreekumar’s IU, had raided the house of one Poona Gogoi, an army contractor in Jorhat, who was away in Guwahati. But all members of the family-wife (Renu Gogoi) and three children–were manhandled and tied up. On the orders of Captain Keer soldiers forcibly took the keys of the locked cupboards and took into possession a licensed pistol with thirteen cartridges, jewelry worth Rs. 6.5 lakhs and cash adding up to 1.5 lakhs. They also took away an assortment of items that included a laptop and four mobile phones. On Poona Gogoi registering an FIR with the police station listing all the items that had been stolen., III Corps handed back the stolen pistol, most items and the cash except the jewelry and cartridges. After that Suhag told the police that the matter would be dealt with by Army authorities and that they had no further jurisdiction in the matter.
Both these serious crimes have been committed in an AFSPA covered area by the IU under Colonel Shreekumar’s command. Though the Colonel had denied being part of the raiding party, the police had accessed his mobile call records which clearly established that he was constantly in touch with Captain Keer before and after the raid. Shreekumar had a virtual free hand as he reported directly to Lt. General Suhag (Corps Commander) and Lt. General Bikram Singh (Army Commander) and was involved in various nefarious activities which included the flow of narcotics and a network involving vehicle thefts in Rangia district of Assam. Despite being posted in Dimapur, Col Shreekumar was mostly seen in Delhi doing hatchet work and assisting in the conspiracies and intrigues!
The Court of Inquiry ordered by the then Eastern Army Commaned, Lt. General Bikram Singh was an eyewash and deliberately meant to protect Suhag as would be evident from the fact that it was headed only by a Brigadier rank officer. This was premeditated because being directly responsible for the IU, Suhag should have been the first person to answer for its illegal actions. The CoI was obviously orchestrated which is evident from the fact that despite clinching FIR and evidence the accused could get away on some technical ground or the other. The murder charge was also hushed up despite the fact that Major Kiran wrote again to HQ III Corps giving lucid narrative as to how the tripple-murded took place.
Despite this shielding former COAS General V.K. Singh, besides directing stringent action against the culprits, issued a Show Cause Notice (SCN) on 19-05-2012 to Lt. General Suhag and simultaneously placed him under a Discipline and Vigilance (DV) Ban. The SCN brought out lapses noticed by the then COAS for not handling a Unit placed under the Corps Commander’s direct command in a professional and appropriate manner and also for not following up on certain other complaints sent earlier through HQ Eastern Command.
Despite this and much against Rules, MoD appointed Suhag in the acting rank of Army Commander w.e.f. 01.06.2012 even before he replied to the SCN and its detailed processing on merit. What is worse, as soon as he took over as Army Chief Bikram Singh got the DV Ban on Suhag lifted in an illegal manner. This was done without proper investigation and due application of mind only to make Lt. General Suhag a regular Army Commander against the vacancy kept unfilled for over15 days.
Though the present Eastern Army Commander (Lt. General Suhag) and COAS (General Bikram Singh), both products of the obnoxious ‘Line of Succession’, tried their best to hush up the whole thing the Court of Inquiry led to Court Martial. In December 2013, the Court Martial concluded its deliberations and ordered the dismissal from Service for Havildar Sandeep Thapa. Colonel Shreekumar was given a severe displeasure while Captain Rubina was given a reprimand along with Havildar Bhupen Hatimuta and Havildar Jeevan Neog who got severe reprimands.
Despite the harrowing facts narrated above, a criminal petition pending in the Guwahati High Court and Civil Appeal in the Supreme Court, MoD is proceeding with the appointment of Lt Gen Dalbir Suhag as the next Chief of the Army Staff obviously due to extraneous considerations. The recommendation of the defence ministry though will have to be approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
It appears that behind the push by the UPA Government in its dying days to install Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next COAS, is the powerful Arms Lobby which has billions of dollars at stake.This has been brought out by Dr Subramanian Swamy's on his letter to the President requesting him to stop the UPA from hastening next Army chiefs appointment for extraneous reasons. President has sent this letter to the Prime Minister, for consideration and action. But, obviously acting under the orders of their powerful masters. MOD and the UPA spin-doctors are at it again, blatantly suppressing heinous AFSPA abuse, trivialising facts and spreading lies and canards lies that cannot stand up to the most basic scrutiny. The question is whether Army is being politicised or criminalised. If so by whom? The jury is out. [Writer is a former Army & IAS Officer] |
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NDTV's income from sham transactions pegged at Rs. 903 crores by IT Department in its latest order for year 2009-10
NDTV's income from sham transactions pegged at Rs. 903 crores by IT Department in its latest order for year 2009-10
Gurumurthy Tweet 2: https://twitter.com/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/215221673/rs-43-3-lacs-undisclosed-expense-income-by-ndtv-s-ex-employee-abhisar-sharma-laid-bare-by-income-tax-departmen
http://www.scribd.com/doc/220567075/NDTV-s-income-from-sham-transactions-pegged-at-Rs-903-crores-by-IT-Department-in-its-order-for-year-2009-10-dated-21-02-2014
![View this content on Scribd's website]()
Gurumurthy Tweet 1: https://twitter.com/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/215221673/rs-43-3-lacs-undisclosed-expense-income-by-ndtv-s-ex-employee-abhisar-sharma-laid-bare-by-income-tax-departmen
http://www.scribd.com/doc/220567075/NDTV-s-income-from-sham-transactions-pegged-at-Rs-903-crores-by-IT-Department-in-its-order-for-year-2009-10-dated-21-02-2014
Rs. 43.3 lacs undisclosed expense / income by NDTV's ex-employee Abhisar Sharma laid bare by Income Tax Department http://www.scribd.com/doc/215221673/rs-43-3-lacs-undisclosed-expense-income-by-ndtv-s-ex-employee-abhisar-sharma-laid-bare-by-income-tax-departmen …
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Priyanka Vadra should be afraid of the law. Abdullah should take a dip in the Dal Lake -- Arun Jaitley
It’s over: Why Priyanka’s Vadra outburst marks end for Congress
by Hasan Suroor Apr 28, 2014
After every US presidential election the campaign team of the losing candidate tries to identify the one moment when they believe it might have all started to unravel for their man. A tipping point of sorts that pushed the entire campaign over the cliff. Rahul Gandhi's people may well one day look back on today as one such definitive moment. Blaring headlines on the front page of every newspaper advertising the BJP's full-frontal attack on "Damaad Shri." They would be wrong.
The fatal moment -- make that, moments -- came last week: Priyanka Gandhi's embarrassingly lachrymose intervention on behalf of her husband Robert Vadra embroiled in allegations of corrupt business practices; and the party's over- the- top reaction to Narendra Modi's tub-thumping Varanasi road show. They were a self - inflicted double whammy whose consequences should have been obvious even to a novice let alone supposedly seasoned strategists at 10, Janpath or wherever they take such decisions. It was the first unmistakable sign that the Congress was in panic and that its floundering campaign had reached a point of no return. Until then for all the bad news it had managed to keep up a brave front.
]![Priyanka's defence of her husband doesn't do the Congress any favours. PTI]()
Priyanka's defence of her husband doesn't do the Congress any favours. PTI
That facade collapsed with Priyanka's ill-timed and mawkish outburst. It was an astonishing intervention because there was no immediate provocation for it. She had kept quiet all these months (a smart strategy when on a weak wicket) but suddenly from out of the blue --apropos of nothing--she came out not so much guns blazing as bawling like a child. Instead of letting the dog lie and hoping that nobody noticed it at least during the elections, she ended up drawing attention to the Congress and Gandhi family's hottest political potato at a most sensitive point in the campaign.
Priyanka's defence of her husband doesn't do the Congress any favours. PTISuddenly, the Vadra issue was in the headlines again with the BJP seizing the opportunity with both hands to launch fresh attacks on the Congress and its first family. Down-in-the-dumps Uma Bharati, desperate to catch Modi's eye, threatened that a "Modi Sarkar " would send"Congress party's jamai babu (son-in-law)"' to jail.
The big problem with Priyanka's intervention was that actually she had nothing to say in her husband's defence. Not a single cogent argument. No new fact to refute the allegations that he used his proximity to the ruling party's first family to advance his business interests. It was the old Gandhi family moan (heard ad nauseam from her mother and brother) about how her parivar had been subjected to unfair political attacks. The least she could have done was to rehash the old defence -i.e. a PIL against him had been thrown out by courts and an inquiry by Rajasthan's BJP government had yielded nothing. Not many people know this and coming from her it would have resonated with the wider public. Instead she chose to play the martyred wife and mother-a hapless victim of her family's old enemies.
It was Ms P at her worse. The Congress party's ill-judged decision to deploy its famous secret weapon in the wrong cause (Vadra is a “no, no” even with most Congress supporters) was compounded by the fact that the weapon in question spectacularly failed to fire. It seems to have instead spectacularly backfired, allowing the BJP to make Robert Vadra the symbol of all Gandhi family misdoing.
If that left anyone in doubt that the Congress had started to lose its nerve they didn't have to wait long for confirmation. Which came in the form of an extraordinary overreaction to Modi's maiden outing in Varanasi, and the BJP's claim that the large crowds he attracted signalled a Modi " wave".
No less a person than the famously tongue-tied Manmohan Singh, who chooses to keep mum on more important matters of the state, was first off the traps calling the "wave " a "media creation ". There was absolutely no need for him to get involved. He is good at sidestepping inconvenient questions and yet on this occasion when a bit of evasive action might have been a better strategy he chose to behave like a batsman who, blinded by a bouncer, goes for a big heave, exposing his wicket.
He was followed by other party bigwigs who first quibbled over the definition of a "wave ", then claiming that the crowd had been bought with money, free meal and booze, and finally accused the media of bias. Of course there was media hype, and of course crowds were mobilised; and certainly BJP's "tsunami " claims needed to be nailed. But it was the manner in which the Congress reacted which sent out the message that it had been rattled.
By its gross over-reaction the Congress ended up attaching unnecessary importance to what was essentially an election rally. Anyone watching or listening to the Congress leadership could be forgiven for drawing only one conclusion--that it had gone into a panic mode. Together the two episodes, coming within days of each other, are by far the clearest signal that the Congress has thrown in the towel.
All through the campaign the Congress has given the impression of reacting to the agenda set by Modi than presenting its own policies and vision. It was a mistake to focus the debate so much around secularism and communalism. By doing so the Congress walked straight into the BJP's trap whose sole intention in choosing Modi was to polarise the campaign along Hindu - Muslim lines.
Sonia Gandhi's appeal to the shahi Imam was couched in the worst possible language. Appealing for Muslim votes is quite different from seeking the help of a Muslim cleric with dodgy secular credentials to consolidate the "secular” vote as Mrs Gandhi did. The BJP was quick to claim that it amounted to painting all Hindus as communal. Even many ordinary Hindus might have felt the same way.
The bottom line is that a party with such poor strategy as the Congress doesn't deserve to win. It is time it hired a US-style professional election guru to advise it. Too late for these elections but there might be another one soon if the Modi "magic" doesn't turn out to be as magical as it's cracked up to be.
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/its-over-why-priyankas-vadra-outburst-marks-end-for-congress-1499303.html
Arun Jaitley lashes out at Priyanka Gandhi, says she lowered political discourse
Priyanka had said that the BJP was "baffled and running around like rats. ![Tweet This]()
Arun Jaitleyon Monday said she has "lowered the political discourse" with her language and the Vadra family needsto be "scared of the law."Attacking Priyanka Gandhi for her remarks comparing the BJP leaders to “panic-stricken rats”, Arun Jaitley on Monday said she has “lowered the political discourse” with her language and the Vadra family needs to be “scared of the law”.
“She has compared the BJP to ‘panic-stricken rats’…Mrs Vadra has lowered the quality of political discourse by her comments…If any of my family members started referring to my opponents as rats and reptiles I surely will be a worried man,” the BJP leader wrote on his blog.
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Priyanka had yesterday said that the BJP was “baffled and running around like rats. I knew that they will repeat their bunch of lies. There is nothing new in it but let them say whatever they want to. I am not afraid of anyone and will continue to speak against their negative, destructive and shameful politics.”
On her remarks that she was not afraid of anyone, Jaitley said, “The Vadras are right that they need not be scared of anyone. They should only be scared of the law. Be the Vadras be ever so high, the law is above them. Law spares none, be it the rich, the famous or the related.”
The war of words between the BJP leaders and Priyanka Gandhi started on Sunday when she referred to the opposition party as “panic-stricken rats” after it released a video showing alleged wrongdoings in land deals involving her husband Robert Vadra.
Jaitley said the family members of candidates are entitled to help in elections when they are preoccupied with many engagements.
“The family fills up the vacuum either in the election office or in the campaign where the candidate cannot reach.
The family members are always instructed to be extra courteous and never be overbearing on political workers. They are advised not make any undignified references to political rivals,” he said.
Jaitley also flayed National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah’s statement that those voting for Narendra Modi should drown in the sea.
Jaitley also flayed National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah’s statement that those voting for Narendra Modi should drown in the sea.
“This demonstrates Abdullah’s contempt for the majority opinion. Farooq Sahib believes and rightly so that India is secular and will not accept communal politics. Where is it that secularism in India has seen the single greatest failure?…
“The single greatest failure of secularism in India is within Farooq Sahib’s own state of Kashmir. If India has witnessed an ethnic cleansing by having one community of the State, namely, the Kashmiri Pandits ejected out of the State, it has only happened in Kashmir,” he said.
The BJP leader said he was glad that Abdullah says that Kashmir will not accept communal politics. “But will Kashmir offer the red carpet back for the resettlement of the Kashmiri Pandits,” he asked.
Jaitley said nobody needs to jump into the sea if Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister of India “but if Farooq Sahib and his party are silent spectators, when the Kashmiri Pandits cannot go back home he should, as a gesture of repentance, at least take a dip in the Dal Lake.”
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How a Damaad plundered the nation -- Sandhya Jain
How a Damaad plundered the nation
Sandhya Jain28 Apr 2014
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Sandhya Jain is a political analyst and independent researcher. She is the author of ‘Adi Deo Arya Devata- A Panoramic View of Tribal-Hindu Cultural Interface’ (Rupa & Co., 2004) and ‘Evangelical Intrusions. Tripura: A Case Study’ (Rupa & Co., 2009).
Manmohan Singh’s best-selling biography, The Accidental Prime Minister, confirms this writer’s long-held belief that this inscrutable, unflappable, incorruptible, well-read and well-informed gentleman swallowed the mountains of humiliation heaped on him to achieve a singular objective, viz, strip the Congress’s ruling dynasty of its Teflon coating. The signs were always there, though few believed it possible, given his quiet demeanour.Half-way into his second term, around March 2011, as the foul odours of corruption began emanating from UPA-II, over which the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi had a stranglehold, the nation was stunned to learn that Robert Vadra, son-in-law of the Congress president and a small time exporter of artificial jewellery, was rapidly enriching himself in the realty sector.
A simultaneous development, which received inadequate media attention at the time, was that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) ruled that the late Win Chaddha had taken a legally-banned commission on the Bofors gun deal; his heirs were made to part with the requisite income tax dues! Thus, while Sonia Gandhi was able to ensure that Ottavio Quattrocchi collected his money from two London bank accounts and that none of those who helped in the collection of the kickbacks suffered, the ITAT put it on record that there were illegal payoffs in the Howitzer deal.
Damaad Shri — The Vadra Get-Rich-Quick Model
This was a major salvo at the family, though the spin doctors quickly deflected attention away from the incident. Yet it is pertinent that for roughly three decades, Manmohan Singh has been at the commanding heights of India’s finance sector (Reserve Bank Governor, Finance Minister, Prime Minister); he would have juniors and loyalists who would keep him informed about the doings of just about everyone. All leaks pertaining to the Gandhi family, which have escalated in recent times, can be traced back to sectors and individuals closely associated with Manmohan Singh. The latter’s personal discretion can be gauged from the fact that few knew he was close to PV Narasimha Rao, until he was made the Union Finance Minister!
Revelations about Robert Vadra’s real estate acquisitions came soon after the Prime Minister told a group of select senior journalists that he was no intention of resigning (read being driven out) in the wake of the Spectrum scam. Sonia loyalists sharpened their attack on him immediately thereafter, nudging journalists to target the Prime Minister and his office for the sins of omission and commission in the Spectrum scandal.
This was followed by the mysterious and otherwise inexplicable leakage of the Nira Radia tapes which showed that some journalists had networked closely with Congress leaders close to Sonia Gandhi to get the Telecom portfolio for Andimuthu Raja once again in the UPA II.
Then came the expose about Robert Vadra, specifically his entry into the real estate business from 2007-08, in partnership with realty major, DLF Ltd. As a result, Vadra began buying up land in Haryana and Rajasthan, acquired 50 per cent stake in a leading business hotel in Delhi, and was trying to enter the business of chartering aircraft when the first storm broke.
He first floated six companies, took unsecured loans from DLF group companies, including the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed flagship DLF Ltd. Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd (wholly owned by Vadra and his mother Maureen Vadra) is a partner, along with DLF Hotel Holdings and others, in a partnership firm that owns the posh Hilton Garden Inn in Saket. This was possible because DLF extended generous loans to Vadra companies, some without collateral. In March 2009, Sky Light Hospitality had received unsecured loans amounting to Rupees 25 crore from DLF Ltd and in March 2010, only Rupees 10 crore remained. To this day, it is unclear from his statement of accounts if the rest was paid back or written off.
Sky Light Hospitality then loaned money to other Vadra-owned companies such as Blue Breeze Trading Pvt Ltd, North India IT Parks Pvt Ltd, Real Earth Estates Pvt Ltd and Sky Light Realty Pvt Ltd. At that time, the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party did not play up the issue, but now the party is under a different leadership.
In 2011 itself, Manmohan Singh told the Parliament that he did not authorise anyone to purchase any votes to survive the July 22, 2008 vote of confidence over the Indo-US Nuclear deal. But as luck would have it, Wikileaks revealed that all the alleged fixers were closely aligned with Sonia Gandhi and her family; it particularly highlighted the role played by Satish Sharma and his aides.
Vadra’s growing wealth, however, hit the headlines only in 2013 when Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan of India Against Corruption (doubtless as a calibrated move in their political career which unfolded thereafter) exposed the fact that Vadra had acquired land in and around the National Capital Region worth hundreds of crores of rupees, sometimes at prices below market value — funded by interest-free loans disbursed by DLF and other companies for no obvious reason.
The question legitimately arises why a publicly traded firm like DLF would enter into multiple business transactions with Vadra on such highly preferential terms. Media reports show that Robert Vadra’s financial graph grew steeply; in 2007-08, he launched his six group companies with promoter funds of just Rupees 50 lakhs. But these companies acquired 29 high-end properties by 2010, thanks to loans and advances of Rupees 80 crore from DLF and others such as Bedarwals Infra Projects, Nikhil International and VRS Infrastructure. He also acquired 50 per cent share of the Rupees 31.7 crore worth Saket Courtyard Hospitality which owns the 114-bed Hilton Garden Hotel in New Delhi; a 10,000 square foot penthouse (B1115) at DLF Aralias complex for Rupees 89.41 lakhs; 7 apartments in DLF Magnolia for Rupees 5.2 crore; apartments for Rupees 5.06 crore at DLF Capital Greens; and a DLF-owned plot in Delhi’s ultra-posh Greater Kailash II area for Rupees 1.21 crore.
These investments are stated in the balance sheets filed by Robert Vadra’s companies with the Registrar of Companies, a practice he stopped after the controversies surfaced.
By the end of 2010, Robert Vadra’s firms made huge rural purchases: 160.62 acres of agricultural land in Bikaner for Rupees 1.02 crore; Rupees 2.43 crore for an additional 5 parcels of land (amount not stated); land at Manesar for Rupees 15.38 crore; land at Palwal for Rupees 42 lakh; land at Hayyatpur, Gurgaon, for approximately Rupees 4 crore; land at Hasanpur for Rupees 76.07 lakh; land at Mewat for Rupees 95.42 lakh; unidentified agricultural land for Rupees 69.09 lakh; and two ‘other real estate bookings’ worth Rupees 9 lakh.
All these purchases were made with funds of just Rupees 50 lakh; Vadra also earned interest to the tune of Rupees 255.46 lakh thanks to the advances and loans received. Analysis of the financial information in the balance sheets and directors’ reports of Vadra’s firms make it difficult to understand what business they actually do, and how this business is conducted. However, each company has 268 Sukhdev Vihar, New Delhi, as its common address, and Robert Vadra and his mother Maureen Vadra as directors. The former also receives remuneration of Rupees 60 lakh per annum from just Sky Light Realty. There are no other employee costs in the books.
Since Robert Vadra and DLF have avoided questions about their close nexus, it took a small error by a since discarded official, Amit Mehta, to disclose the direct link between the two. When Vadra set up six new firms in 2012, Mehta was his non-executive director (Director Identification Number 03105957) in five companies and innocently gave his email id as corporateaffairs@dlf.in, to the Registrar of Companies (RoC). This just happens to be the common email id furnished by all DLF Group Directors to the RoC.
One of the new firms is Greenwave Agro Private Limited; the others are Lifeline Agrotech Private Limited; Rightline Agriculture Private Limited; Future Infra Agro Private Limited; Best Seasons Agro Private Limited; and Primetime Agro Private Limited. Vadra is Promoter and Managing Director (DIN no. 01840634); his email id isartex@artexrv.com. These, along with the six previous firms, have Active status as per the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.
As Robert Vadra set up his new firms around the time of the scam involving de-classification of the Keventer Dairy Ltd lands for residential use in the vicinity of Rashtrapati Bhavan, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged President Pranab Mukherjee to demand a probe into the affair. Swamy argued that change in land use in such a prime location was not possible without political influence and gave windfall profits to the DLF.
The latest controversy also brought to light the surprising fact that Priyanka Vadra has three DINs – 01038703, 01840144 and 02914391 – which is a violation of the Company Act and the Income Tax Act. She had previously resigned from one of the Robert Vadra’s firms – Blue Breeze Trading Private Limited – that she was associated with, and a firm floated by Rahul Gandhi, Backops Services Ltd, was closed down. To this day, there is no clarification about why Priyanka Vadra has three DINs and which firms she received these identifications for; certainly they do not reflect on the Ministry’s website. Her mother-in-law Maureen Vadra has two DINs – 01840680 and 01839769. None of Vadra’s new companies has so far filed balance sheet or annual accounts with the RoC.
Several legitimate questions arise. Far from answering these, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra have attacked BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in very loose language and held themselves to be above accountability. This will not wash. As a beginning, they must answer the virtual chargesheet presented before the nation by BJP Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.
As per the evidence available, Robert Vadra floated Skylight Hospitality as a registered company in November 2007 with Rupees one lakh equity capital. In February 2008, the Company registered the purchase of 3.531 acres of agricultural land in village Shikohpur, Sector 83, Gurgaon for Rupees 7.5 crores using a false cheque (No. 607251) as payment to vendor M/s Onkareshwar Properties (deed No. 4928 dated February 12, 2008).
The deed claimed that Rupees 45 lakhs towards stamp duty was paid in cash by M/s Skylight Hospitality. But actually, advances received from M/s DLF were used to pay for the cost of land and stamp duty later on August 9, 2008, and the land with commercial colony license permission for 2.701 acres was sold to DLF for Rupees 58 crores. As per clause 3(a) of a collaboration agreement dated August 5, 2008, possession of the land was already handed over to the DLF.
The Letter of Intent for commercial colony license was issued within 18 days of application by the licensing authority, Director Town and Country Planning Haryana, on March 28, 2008. The commercial colony license, applied on November 18, 2008, was granted on December 15, 2008 and renewed on January 18, 2011 and permitted to be transferred on April 3, 2012. The fortunes of all involved parties soared exponentially.
The BJP has asked Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Robert Vadra to come clean on the latter’s land deals and business practices. How, for instance, with a cash and bank balance of Rupees 1 lakh did his Skylight Hospitality issue cheque no. 607251 for Rupees 7.5 crores to M/s Onkareshwar Properties on February 9, 2008? And who paid the Rupees 45 lakhs in cash towards stamp duty on February 12, 2008?
Who are the beneficial owners of Onkareshwar Properties and what was the quid pro quo for the sweetheart deal with Skylight Hospitality? Why did DLF Retail Developers pay Skylight Hospitality advances of Rupees 6.5 crores on June 5, 2008, Rupees 1 crore on June 10, 2008 and Rupees 0.55 crore on June 12, 2008?
Was Onkareshwar Properties paid Rupees 7.95 crores (Rupees 7.5 crores towards cost of land and Rupees 45 lakhs towards stamp duty) on August 9, 2008 (vide cheque no. 978951) after receiving advances from DLF as above?
Similarly, the Haryana Government must answer what assessment was made of the technical and financial capacity or intent of Skylight Hospitality to develop over two lakhs square feet of commercial complex before issuing the Letter of Intent. Why did the licensing authority entertain an unregistered Collaboration Agreement dated August 5, 2008 between Skylight Hospitality and DLF Retail Developers to develop a commercial complex at the site, when this was against the provisions of the Registration Act and caused loss of crores in revenues to the State?
Why was the commercial colony license issued to Skylight Hospitality when it was clear in the application for grant of license and other correspondence that the actual developer would be DLF Retail Developers (renamed DLF Universal)? Under what statute was the colony license permitted to be transferred and sold?
Since the land transfer was completed before August 2008, was tax paid by Skylight Hospitality in the AY 2009-10 (FY 2008-09) on short term capital gains of Rupees 50 crores which accrued to the company? If not, what penalty proceedings have been initiated against the company by the Income Tax authorities? And what led to the scuttling of the thematic audit, “Issue of licenses for development of colonies etc. after release of land” in Haryana by the Comptroller and Auditor General on June 3, 2013?
The BJP has listed in detail the likely offences involved under various sections of The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It has detailed the violations in the Haryana Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972. The legitimate question arises why no action taken against Robert Vadra for any of the offences involved.
Worse, even as the institutions of the State and their statutory apparatuses were compromised, honest and sincere officers were discriminated against and hounded. However, the IAS officer who handled change in land-use and colony license permissions for nine years from 2005 to 2013 in the office of the Chief Minister of Haryana was appointed Member, UPSC, in September 2013, a few months after his retirement. The officer retired in the rank of Additional Secretary and Member UPSC is normally given to officers in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India. Obviously, some considerations weighed in the appointment.
Ashok Khemka’s statutory order of October 15, 2012 cancelling the land mutation between Skylight Hospitality and DLF Universal has not been implemented. Instead a committee of three IAS officers was appointed to clean up the mess.
Robert Vadra, meanwhile through his various companies, purchased about 1634 hectares of land in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district between June 2009 to August 2011, where solar energy was to be promoted and a solar park established under the solar policy of the Rajasthan Government. More than 700 companies have registered themselves with a proposal to generate more than 16,000 MW of solar power.
For this, the Government of Rajasthan was to establish a land bank and give incentives to investors; Robert Vadra conveniently purchased most of the land near the Highway or near grid sub-stations, knowing its value would sky rocket. Companies were then forced to purchase land from Vadra’s companies at huge cost. The then Rajasthan Government helped Vadra further by amending the Agriculture Land Ceiling Provision from the maximum of 175 acres in desert zone (Vadra purchased 1634 acres) and allowing solar power firms to avail of exemption beyond the permissible limit.
In the process, poor farmers were cheated of their legitimate dues and Robert Vadra allowed to trade with huge chunks of land and to enrich himself in violation of law, which is clearly punishable.
These are legitimate questions that those rambling about child marriage and unsubstantiated allegations of snooping on private citizens are honour-bound to answer. Meanwhile, as he prepares to walk into the sunset, there is no doubt that Manmohan Singh is having the last laugh.
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Government grabs control of Padmanabhaswamy temple
Judge Takes Over Administration of Padmanabhaswamy Temple | |||||||||||
Acting on the order of the Supreme Court, Additional District and Sessions Judge K P Indira has taken over as chairperson of the new administrative committee of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple here.
The apex court had on Thursday ordered that the grand temple, controlled by the Travancore Royal family for centuries, be brought under the administration of a five-member panel headed by the District Judge.
Since the district judge here is a non-Hindu, the charge was handed over to the Additional District Judge as the immediate junior judicial officer as such an option had been suggested by the apex court.
K P Indira took over as the chairperson of the new administrative committee last evening.
The judge will act as the head of the panel which would consist of the temple 'tantri' (traditional high priest), 'nambi' (chief priest) and two other members to be nominated in consultation with the state government and the royal family.
The court had appointed senior IAS office K N Satheesh as executive officer of the temple. Satheesh is now on election duty in Andhra Prdesh.
The interim order was issued after considering the report of the amicus curiae Gopal Subramaniam in the case, whose report brought out alleged irregularities in the management of the temple, whose vaults contain immense wealth.
The court had also appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai to head an expert team for undertaking an audit of the temple wealth.
http://news.outlookindia.com/
The apex court had on Thursday ordered that the grand temple, controlled by the Travancore Royal family for centuries, be brought under the administration of a five-member panel headed by the District Judge.
Since the district judge here is a non-Hindu, the charge was handed over to the Additional District Judge as the immediate junior judicial officer as such an option had been suggested by the apex court.
K P Indira took over as the chairperson of the new administrative committee last evening.
The judge will act as the head of the panel which would consist of the temple 'tantri' (traditional high priest), 'nambi' (chief priest) and two other members to be nominated in consultation with the state government and the royal family.
The court had appointed senior IAS office K N Satheesh as executive officer of the temple. Satheesh is now on election duty in Andhra Prdesh.
The interim order was issued after considering the report of the amicus curiae Gopal Subramaniam in the case, whose report brought out alleged irregularities in the management of the temple, whose vaults contain immense wealth.
The court had also appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai to head an expert team for undertaking an audit of the temple wealth.
http://news.outlookindia.com/
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How 2G's -- SoniaG, RahulG -- plundered the nation: National Herald grab
NATIONAL HERALD ACQUISITION: DELHI COURT SUMMONS ROC TO TESTIFY RECORDS
Tuesday, 29 April 2014 | PNS | New Delhi
The Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Monday summoned officials of the Registrar of Companies (RoC) to testify the records in connection with the controversial acquisition of the National Herald newspaper.
The Court was acting on the petition, filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, accusing Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi of taking over the newspaper publishing company by floating a new private company using the Congress’ funds.
National Herald newspaper publishing company The Associated Journal Ltd, established in 1930s, was taken over by a newly-floated company Young Indian in 2010.
The new company was a private firm where Sonia and Rahul had 38 per cent shares each and Congress gave `90 crore to the private company for taking over the public company, which published the National Herald newspaper. Political parties are forbidden from transferring money to companies.
When the controversy erupted, the Congress admitted that the incident claiming the payment was done to revive the party’s organ, as it was an “emotionally attached matter”.
Swamy, in his petition before Metropolitan Magistrate Gomti Manocha, argued that using the Congress money Sonia and Rahul had acquired the huge properties and buildings of the newspaper publishing company spread across the country and valued over `5,000 crore. The publishing company Associated Journal is having huge assets in New Delhi, Lucknow, Panchkula, Indore and Mumbai.
The BJP leader also argued that the acquisition of a newspaper publishing company and not resuming the publication of newspaper after the acquisition itself shows that the intentions of Sonia and Rahul were to get the control of the high value real estate properties in several metro cities in the country.
The next hearing of the case is scheduled on May 12. Apart from Sonia and Rahul, Congress leader Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are the respondents in Swamy’s petition.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/
How Sonia, Rahul grabbed National Herald properties
As DamaadGate bomb hit Congress on its face, here’s more on how the mother-son duo robbed National Herald to grab properties worth over Rs 5000 crore. Ten years of Sonia Gandhi-dominated UPA rule has made probity in public life the principal demand of the people. While umpteen scandals involving Government Ministries and Departments have come to light, one of the least reported and possibly most outrageous scandal is the surreptitious takeover of the prime properties of the National Herald, Navjivan and Qaumi Awaz by a closely held private company which is totally controlled by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
The monetary value of the scam is estimated at over Rs 5000 crore, when calculated only in terms of real estate but it could be more once the full holdings of the National Herald is known.
NitiCentral raised some tough questions to Subramanian Swamy who had exposed Congress’s land grabing of National Herald properties and assets. He reveals how the Gandhi clan had utilised its powers illegally for personal benefits. Scam-tainted Congress has ruled the nation like a fiefdom and have a lot to explaining to do.
Listen to Subramanian Swamy on Congress’s role in National Herald
scam
http://www.niticentral.com/2014/04/28/how-sonia-rahul-grabbed-national-herald-properties-217538.html
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Foreign-controlled gang of anarchists pursuing anti-national project to destabilise India (Video 52:00)
It is a diabolical potion, poison: foreign controlled gang of anarchists frantically pursuing anti-national project with active protection of Congress-SG. Read on the multiple exposes. See the 52:00 video - Rajiv Malhotra in discussion with ex Aap member
Kalyanaraman
What a joke? AAP has all its funds disclosed. it is fielding the best 4440 candidates India has seen in the last in the last 30+ years. Go on imaginning things; Indians are no fools to believe you again after their Delhi experience.
On Mon, Apr 28, 2014 at 6:05 AM, himanshu kalpana <aapkemitranj@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, Apr 23, 2014 at 1:32 PM, Satya D <hitaya123@gmail.com> wrote:
Bhagwat bhai: you got another competitor who is spamming hundreds of strangers. :-)Rajiv Malhontra ji: what is wrong if we are asking a strong LokPal which can send criminals/corrupt to jail in time (not in 20 years). Can you dare to talk about some constructive action?It is interesting how these folks are hell bent to discredit AAP just by using words from these 5-6 people, that too without any documented proof.Rajiv Malhotra didn't find anything wrong in Congress/BJP who are fielding criminal/corrupt candidates for last 30+ years? Who contest elections with undisclosed fund of crores and insult the election process which is the foundation of democracy? And Rajiv Malhotra loves to live in US while criticizing any movement which talks honesty in India.At least I can proudly say that AAP has all its funds disclosed, it is fielding the best 440 candidates India has seen in last 30+ years. It is aam aadmi contesting/campaigning/funding and that's why these politicians of Congress/BJP are so scared and using such cheap tricks and flooding emails of strangers.Thanks,
Himanshu
On Sun, Apr 27, 2014 at 8:16 PM, Satya D <hitaya123@gmail.com> wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhrPOQR9OH8
Regards, SatyaIf you want to work for India and understand the devilishness of Western Institutions , two books are essential. One is the 'Confessions of an economic hit men' by John Perkins and other is Rajiv Malhotra's 'Breaking India'. Without the knowledge of such material, we are living in a fool's paradise, like a fool in psychiatric facility who does not know any other world.https://www.youtube.com/To AAP members,Below is interview of Rajiv Malhotra who is the author of highly acclaimed book, 'Breaking India' with ex-AAP members. Rajiv is a highly successful entrepreneur, extremely intellectual, took early retirement to work tirelessly for India and its heritage. His work is thoroughly researched, objective and takes no sides. It is a chance viewing at evangelical Organization that displayed a map of balkanized India that aroused his curiosity leading to writing this masterpiece. The cover page of the book shows the picture of balkanized India that evangelical organizations openly declare as their goal.watch?v=FhrPOQR9OH8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhrPOQR9OH8
On Wed, Apr 23, 2014 at 1:32 PM, Satya D <hitaya123@gmail.com> wrote:
To Mayank and other AAP folks,No matter who sends this email, can you rebut the allegations, very serious and anti-national. Here is another link where clearly Shazia Ilmi is asking for Muslims to be communal. Have any of you read 'Confessions of a economic hit men' by John Perkins and Breaking India by Rajiv Malhotra. It is time to read if you are interested in India, no matter what our background and alliances are.Shazia Ilmi asking Muslims to be CommunalAAP own former founding member talks on how AAP is connected to Naxals, foreign NGOs. Now do you know why Kejriwal is standing against Modi but find nothing against Sonia.
gmail.com> Date: Wed, Apr 23, 2014 at 11:36 AM Subject: Who and What is Behind Aap To: suresh.mangalagiri@ ofbjpuk.org Not everything is what it seems at the surface there are many mischievous forces outside of India
that are trying to influence the elections in India so that India is not successful as a nation,
this includes the CIA, Pakistani ISSI, Israeli Mossad, Saudi Arabia and more all part of the strategy
of divide and rule.
AAP part of international anti-India racket: Part 1
Surajit Dasgupta <http://www.niticentral.com/author/surajit-dasgupta> 18 Apr 2014
To begin with, some political commentators had speculated that one or more
larger players must be behind the inexplicable projection of India against
Corruption (IAC) and its offshoot, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in the media
and political scene. Then, India News broadcast a story of an American
student Shimrit Lee who had met Manish Sisodia before the Jan Lokpal
movement was launched. It was found that Egypt had erupted after her visit
to that country too. Third, Ashwini Upadhyay, former head of the AAP's legal
cell, who has known Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia since the inception
of their NGOs, revolted on the ground that the party had links with the US
<http://www.niticentral.com/2014/03/05/aap-founding- member-revolts-says-part
y-has-cia-links-196289.html> 's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).Then journalist-researcher Madhu Kishwar exposed links of Rajmohan Gandhi, the
AAP
<http://www.niticentral.com/2014/04/08/is-rajmohan-gandhi- of-aap-a-cia-agent
-209120.html> 's paratrooped candidate from the East Delhi Lok Sabha
constituency, with terrorists.
Finally a larger network of miscreants, Maoists, Marxists, evangelists,
tablighis, terrorists, India bashers and financiers of disruptive activities
in this country helping the AAP has surfaced.
To understand how the entire international network works, the personnel
connecting one nefarious organisation to another must be studied.
On July 19, 2011, two people of Pakistani origin were arrested in Washington
DC. The US Department of Justice records describe one of them, Ghulam Nabi
Fai, as an agent of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The New
York Times reported that Fai was coordinating between the activities of
several ultra-communist groups, Islamist outfits and Christian missionaries
in India.
Fai once worked closely with Rajmohan Gandhi, the AAP's paratrooped
candidate from the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. Gandhi was one of the
prominent signatories to the petition by 53 odd well-networked 'liberals'
like Ved Bhasin and Gautam Navlakha that defended Fai and demanded his
release from the American jail. People already know where sympathies of
elements like Bhasin and Navlakha lie.
Kishwar recorded an interview with Sai Lal Jediya, son of a Gandhian freedom
fighter late Hira Lal who lived in Panchgani where the headquarters of the
AAP candidate's Moral Re-Armament (MRA), now called Initiatives of Change,
are located. The MRA has long been suspected of being a front of the CIA.
Madhu Kishwar writes in her website, "Sai Lal has documentary evidence to
back up his charges." She adds Gandhi instigated Hira Lal to foment
separatist movements in Nagaland and other border areas of the Northeast.
Sai Lal alleges that the MRA headquarters in Panchgani, Maharashtra, are
centres of CIA-backed anti-national activities in India, including holding
training camps for terrorist groups.
Niti Central now goes beyond the revelations above to unearth more skeletons
in the AAP closet.
Fai sought the help of a US resident, anthropologist-activist Angana P
Chatterji, who supports the cause of Kashmir's separation from India, to
further his agenda. The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)
suspended Chatterji along with her husband Richard Shapiro in July 2011 and
dismissed them in December 2011, after it received complaints from students
against them. The CIIS Faculty Hearing Board found them guilty of failure to
perform academic duties and violation of professional ethics. Shapiro has
been declared persona non grata in India for his separatist activities.
Ironically, before Chatterji was expelled, US-based advocacy group Indian
Muslim Council (IMC) had given her the Tipu Sultan Award in 2008, and the
CIIS celebrated the felicitation. What kind of a profile should one have to
get this award? Readers will find mention of two more recipients of this
prize in this report later on, from where they may draw their conclusion.
Chatterji happens to be a co-author of the book, Kashmir: The Case for
Freedom, whose other authors are Arundhati Roy, Pankaj Mishra, Hilal Bhatt
and Tariq Ali.
Fai, Chatterji and Roy are associated with at least one or more of three
anti-Indian organisations: The ISI, Indian-American Muslim Council (IAMC)
and Progressive South Asians (PROXSA).
The IAMC website gives the notorious Students Islamic Movement of India
(SIMI) a clean chit and projects India as a dangerous place for minorities
to live in. The IAMC supports Harsh Mander, who is now a prominent AAP
member. It also hosts Harsh Dobhal, managing editor of Combat Law, a Maoist
magazine, and secretary of the Independent People's Tribunal (IPT) that
damned India through its "Report of Independent People's Tribunal on Human
Rights Violations in Kashmir" published in 2010. The IPT report was
published by the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) that projects Hindus as a
horrible majority population in India that persecutes Muslims, Dalits and
Christians.
The HRLN's agenda is furthered internationally by Germany-based
Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED), Britain-based Christian Aid,
Denmark-headquartered DanChurchAid and India-based Church Auxiliary for
Social Action (CASA) among other forces that sees India divided along
Hindu-Christian lines.
The IAMC often hosts India haters like John Prabhudoss alias PD John, Lise
McKean and Raju Rajagopal. PD John or John Prabhudoss is the executive
director of the Policy Institute for Religion and State (PIFRAS).
In the 2002 PIFRAS symposium on South Asia, Prabhudoss had, in his opening
remarks, compared the conflicts in India to those of the Middle East, Sierra
Leone, Central Africa, Kosovo, Chechnya and East Timor, thus equating India
with some of the most cruel and violent regions in the world.
Rajiv Malhotra and Aravindan Neelakandan documented Lise McKean's hatred
towards Hindus and India in their book, Breaking India. "Whenever there is
unrest in India, she shows up as a commentator to educate American audiences
about what is wrong with Indian culture," they write.
Raju Rajagopal is the president of self-styled Coalition against
Communalism. His Hindu-hating articles used to be hosted by the EKTA
website, known for promoting subversive elements in the country, till it was
active. The trio works with Jesuit priest Cedric Prakash who finds Hindus
tormentors of Christians. Rajagopal was the recipient of IAMC's Bahadur Shah
Zafar Award for "promoting pluralism and communal harmony in India" in 2008.
The PROXSA is an umbrella organisation for 300 extremist Leftists who are
members of more than 20 outfits sporting different fancy names. The most
prominent of these outfits are the Alliance for a Secular and Democratic
South Asia (ASDSA), Alliance for South Asians Taking Action (ASATA), ASHA
for Education, Association of South Asian Progressives (ASAP), Coalition for
a Secular and Democratic India (CSDI), Campaign to Stop Funding Hate (CSFH),
Centre for Study and Research in South Asia (CERAS), Coalition against
Communalism (CaC), EKTA, Forum of Inquilabi Leftists (FOIL, earlier called
Federation of Indian Leftists), Foundation for Pluralism (FfP), Friends of
South Asia (FOSA), Indian Progressive Study Group of Los Angeles (IPSG-LA),
NRIS for Secular and Harmonious India (NRI-SAHI), International South Asia
Forum (INSAF), Organising Youth (OY), South Asian Collective (SAC), South
Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection (SAMAR), South Asian Network for
Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), South Asian Progressive Action Collective
(SAPAC), Supporters of Human Rights in India (SHRI), Voices for Freedom
(VfF), Youth Solidarity Summer (YSS) and the Association for India's
Development (AID).
After the collapse of Maoism in India, some elements of the Communist Party
of India (Marxist-Leninist) [CPI(ML)] moved to the US and, after a
sabbatical, tried to revive the movement in this country, handling it from
their American bases. Out of the outfits named above, the FOIL and AID were
floated by these people.
The FOIL describes itself as a "clearinghouse for radical Indian activists
in the United States, Canada and England". Its purpose is described by its
founders as "some place for us to share information, offer support, and
encourage each other to write in the open media on issues pertaining to
Indians overseas and India itself, and help build projects that make our
radical politics more material". Two of the FOIL's co-founders are American
Marxist-yet-evangelist Biju Mathew and Marxist historian Vijay Prashad.
These are the people behind the propaganda in 2002 that the riots that took
place in Gujarat that year were funded by Hindutva groups in America.
Prashad happens to be a supporter of the now-failed Arab Revolution. He says
Hinduism in its present form is nothing but a mix of Fascism and racism, and
that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is personification of such ideology
and, therefore, it must be condemned.
Three years before Chatterji, Mathew had received the Tipu Sultan Award for
"courageously serving India and India's interests" from the IMC.
The AID is the other prominent outfit under the PROXSA. It facilitates
funding to various leftist extremist outfits by showing the financiers
legally valid ways of routing the money. On different pages of the AID
website, one finds campaign material for Binayak Sen and Kopa Kunjam,
criticism of Salwa Judum, critique of Operation Green Hunt, Land Acquisition
Act, Chhattisgarh administration and police etc.
The AID also collects funds for the AAP. On September 20, 2011, The Times of
India had reported that "Arvind Kejriwal's NGO Parivartan was supported by
AID in 2008 to pursue the RTI campaign". A page on the AID website shows it
was, in 2011, soliciting money for IAC as well. Another page on the website
hosts an article by Prashant Bhushan criticising the Government's version of
the then Lokpal Bill.
In quite a few other pages of the website, Arvind Kejriwal has been
described as "AID Saathi", including one where the outfit is seen soliciting
donations for the AAP. Further, AID sent its volunteers to the AAP to help
the party in its campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections.
Forget nation, AAP can
<http://www.niticentral.com/2014/04/08/forget-nation-aap- cant-hold-its-own-h
ouse-together-208839.html> 't hold its own house together
AID co-hosted an event with the radical Council on American Islamic
Relations (CAIR). Communications director and civil rights coordinator of
the CAIR, Randall Ismail Royer was arrested and convicted for conspiring
with Lashkar-e-Tayyeba to execute terror strikes in India. Royer had earlier
pleaded guilty to charges of using and discharging a firearm during - and in
relation to - a crime of violence; and with carrying an explosive during
commission of a felony. A decade before that, he had joined the Bosnian
Forces fighting Serbs in 1994.
Royer was the third person with ties to CAIR's leadership who has either
been convicted, or is under suspicion of aiding militant Islam. Several
other CAIR officials have either proven or suspected ties to militant Islam.
Bassem K Khafagi has pleaded guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud in
federal court in Detroit. Charges were brought against Khafagi for his role
with the Islamic Assembly of North America. Khafagi was community affairs
director for CAIR at the time of his arrest. On February 2, 1995, Siraj
Wahhaj was named as one of the "unindicted persons who may be alleged as
co-conspirators" in the attempt to blow up targets in New York. Wahhaj, on
CAIR's advisory board, was described by CAIR as "one of the most respected
Muslim leaders in America."
The most paradoxical ideology of the CAIR involves helping Leftist
extremists in India but promoting Islam in the US, which it wants to turn
into the world headquarters of Islamic movements in this century.
Shockingly, a member of this sinister circle is Sugata Bose, grandnephew of
Subhas Chandra Bose, whose acceptance of Government of India's version of
Netaji's death was proved ill-informed or politically motivated (or both)
last year by author Anuj Dhar through the book, "India's Biggest Cover-Up."
Bose had co-authored a book, "Modern South Asia: History, Culture and
Political Economy', with Ayesha Jalal, a Pakistani-origin professor of
history at the Tufts University in 1998. The book glorified Mughal bigot
Aurangzeb as the best ruler India had ever had. Bose, Jalal and Chatterji
(associate of Fai and Roy mentioned early in this report) have together, on
numerous occasions, issued statements that reflect the Pakistani point of
view on Kashmir.
Now we come to another wing of this international mafia. In 1999, Teesta
Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand's magazines Sabrang and Communalism
Combat had, through their channels in the Indian National Congress,
Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India (Marxist)
[CPI(M)], extracted $15 million to project the BJP as an anti-minority,
anti-woman party. Recently, the couple accepted that they had diverted part
of the fund for their NGO for personal use. Some of their witnesses in the
cases related to the riots in Gujarat in 2002 have turned hostile and
accused the couple of putting words in their mouths via signatures and thumb
impressions on affidavits submitted to the court, whose contents were
dictated at will by Setalvad.
Finally, let's see how all these people and their shady organisations are
connected to each other. In 2000, Australia-based International Council of
Evangelical Churches had instituted the International Award for Religious
Harmony in the memory of slain Graham Staines. This award was first given to
All India Christian Council's general secretary John Dayal, known for his
Dalit-Christian persecution complex and association with the infamous Dalit
Freedom Network.
In 2003, the award went jointly to Setalvad and Admiral Laxminarayan
Ramdass. The latter went on to become the AAP's internal lokpal while almost
his whole family was posted in the party's policy committees.
Kaleem Khwaja of the Association of Indian Muslims in America, infamous for
his article, "Brother, can you spare a tear for Taliban," published by the
Milli Gazette, is another recipient of IMC's Tipu Sultan Award.
We will now see how the AAP is linked with this international racket.
Kejriwal received the Ramon Magsaysay Award after he was promoted by
National Advisory Council's Aruna Roy following citation of his work by the
World Bank. Documents of the CIA show its links with the Ford Foundation,
Rockefeller Foundation and the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation. The papers show
how these foundations financially support intellectuals, students and
activists across the world through mutual coordination. Our focus is on the
AAP.
Internal democracy a farce in AAP<http://www.niticentral.com/2014/03/14/internal-democracy- a-farce-in-aap-199
804.html>
The World Bank featured the insignificant work of Parivartan in their
report, "Social Accountability Stocktaking Exercise for South and East Asia"
[World Bank Institute, Washington DC, 2005, pages 30-32]. Kejriwal was
selected for the Ramon Magsaysay Award only after featuring in the World
Bank report above. Narayana Murthy, the Infosys chief, is a Trustee of the
Ford Foundation. He apparently advocated Kejriwal's case for the award, as
did Aruna Roy.
The CIA's unusual interest in the AAP is evident in the fact that in 2012,
right after the party was registered by the Election Commission of India,
the American spy agency released a list of "significant" parties in this
country. Every party that featured in the list except the AAP was a
recognised party - one that has participated in elections in at least four
States of the country and secured 6 per cent of the total votes polled.
This, when the AAP was just one month old with no record of participation in
elections!
A few years before that, a New York University researcher Shimrit Lee
visited Manish Sisodia's NGO Kabir and prepared a report, "Public Power:
India and Other Democracies" (2010). She assisted in Kabir's campaign for
the Right to Information (RTI) and Local Self-Rule. She went on to work
actively in Egypt. Is it mere coincidence that, while the IAC launched the
Jan Lokpal Movement in India after she left, when she went to Egypt and left
that country, it witnessed the Tahrir Square uprising? The Union Home
Ministry has no record of Kabir having sought its clearance to host a
suspicious researcher who has been active in some countries of the Middle
East and Chad in Africa, required as per law of the land.
The Union Home Ministry does not come across as clean in this whole deal
either. While Kabir was registered in 2007, Sisodia had got the ministry's
clearance to receive foreign funds in 2005! This is evident from the
official papers Upadhyay has unearthed and handed over to this
correspondent.
Did the Home Ministry bend the rules for Kabir at the behest of the
Congress? If not, what was Kejriwal doing with Sonia Gandhi acolyte Ashish
Talwar in Germany in 2005, Upadhyay questions. And why is Talwar now the
head of the AAP's Delhi unit?
The World Bank had committed a similar fishy act in 2002. It funded
Kejriwal's Jan Sunvai activity when his NGO was not even registered. And
several of the donors of NGOs of Kejriwal and Sisodia mentioned above went
on to adjudicate who would get the Ramon Magsaysay Award for the year 2006!
Kabir received funds from the Ford Foundation (Rs 86,61,742), PRIA (Rs
2,37,035), Manjunath Shanmugam Trust (Rs 3,70,000), Dutch Embassy (Rs
19,61,968), Association for India's Development (Rs 15,00,000), India's
Friends Association (Rs 7,86,500), United Nationals Development Programme
(Rs12,52,742) while Rs 11,35,857 were collected from individual donations
between 2007 to 2010.
Ford Foundation India Representative Steven Solnick admitted on 31 August
2012 that Foundation's last instalment to Kabir was donated in 2010. "Our
first grant to the NGO was of $ 1,72,000 in 2005; the second was in 2008 of
$ 1,97,000", he said, adding that the Magsaysay Award for Emergent
Leadership was funded by the Ford Foundation.
Lawyer Manohar Lal had filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court - WP (C)
3412/2012 - on 21 May 2012 against the dubious means NGOs employed to
receive foreign funds. Following this, Kabir was raided by the Union Home
Ministry officials for a suspected violation of Foreign Contribution
Regulation Act (FCRA) on 22 August 2012 after a court order. Following these
developments, the Government lawyer submitted to the court that the state
could lay its hands only on minor billing discrepancies in Kabir's account
(as well as in the account of an NGO run by Kiran Bedi).
Two months ago, however, the controversy surrounding Kabir resurfaced in
newspapers with evidence of Sisodia misappropriating the foreign funds
received by Kabir. Moreover, the papers revealed that Kejriwal is a part of
Kabir, too.
Kejriwal's NGO network goes beyond PCRF and Kabir. He also heads Parivartan
that claimed it "is not registered under any Act as a society or a trust or
a Company. It is a people's movement. For Income Tax purposes, it is an
Association of Persons." However, it had advertised through various mediums
in June 2002 that "all donations made to Parivartan are tax exempt under
section 80 G. Parivartan is also registered under section 12A of Income Tax
Act." This is misleading as its present document says, "Parivartan
Foundation for Socio Economic Development filed for tax exemption to donors
under Section 80G on 10 August, 2009. The permission was granted on January
8, 2010 and was valid for all donations between April 1, 2009 and March 31,
2010. This has been further extended through an order dated March 29, 2011
for all donations from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013. The foundation also
has clearance under Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961."
Kejriwal represented Sampoorna Parivartan, too. The secretary of this NGO
worked in the Commission Advisory Committee of the Delhi Electricity
Regulatory Commission, which was constituted vide notification
F1(135)/DERC/2000-01/5092 Delhi, March 27, 2003. This implies that the
responsibility of power rate hike and installation of faulty metres that the
AAP has been crying foul about partly lies on people associated with this
very political party!
The website of both Parivartan and Kabir were withdrawn when they came under
scrutiny in 2012. Even the Ford Foundation hid all the details about funding
to Kabir when some blogs revealed their IAC/AAP connection in October 2012.
We can now see the circle complete with the Ramdas family - L Ramdas, Kavita
N Ramdas, Lalita Ramdas and Sagari R Ramdas - as a vital link between
anti-India organisations, Ford Foundation and the AAP. While the admiral was
felicitated by evangelists, his daughter Kavita is the India representative
of Ford Foundation and married to Zulfiqar Ahmad, a writer and researcher on
peace and security issues in South Asia and the Middle East; this vocation
gives him an opportunity to hobnob with other 'South Asia experts' and
activists mentioned in this report. Admiral Ramdas's wife Lalita Ramdas and
the other daughter Sagari Ramdas are in the AAP's policy committees, too.Kind Regards,Suresh MangalagiriOverseas Friends Of BJP UK
↧
↧
Discovery of Dwaraka
SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2014
Discovery of Dwaraka
- 12,000 year city on the western coast of India. Sensational findings, definitely worth watching. And there goes the AIT fable! (...check the video from 40m37s on)
- Graham Hancock's Underworld - Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age.
- Pulp Fiction: Watch the shredding of Mortimer Wheeler's fantasies. (...check the video from 17m12s on)
↧
Meluhha hieroglyphs on cylinder and other seals of Bronze Age
This note is a ninth sequel to the work: Philosophy of symbolic forms in Meluhha cipher.
See the first to eighth sequels at:
1.http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/meluhha-metallurgy-hieroglyphs-of.html Meluhha metallurgy: hieroglyphs of pomegranate, mangrove date-palm cone (raphia farinifera), an elephant's head terracotta Nausharo, Sarasvati civilization
2.http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/ant-twisted-rope-and-other-meluhha.html Twisted rope, ant and other Meluhha hieroglyphs on Ancient Near East and Indian seals3.http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/perforated-plaques-of-tello-lagash.html Perforated plaques of Tello, Lagash, Sumerian artifacts, and Meluhha hieroglyphs 4.http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/zimrilims-palace-mural-painting-and.html Zimrilim's palace mural painting and Meluhha hieroglyphs (Compliments to Jack M. Sasson) 5. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/tin-road-assur-kanesh-trade.html Tin road -- Assur-Kanesh -- trade transactions and Meluhha hieroglyphs6. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/revisiting-cire-perdue-in.html Revisiting cire perdue in archaeological context and Meluhh7. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/revisiting-ayo-ayas-barbar-temple-seals.html Revisiting ayo, ayas, Barbar temple seals, dhokra kamar, 'cire perdue' specialists and Meluhha hieroglyphs8. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/representations-of-metallurgical.html Representations of metallurgical processes in Meluhha hieroglyphs Meluhha language has left a legacy of lexemes in many Indian languages. India was a sprachbund (language union) in the Bronze Age and many present-day languages, the lingua franca, continue to denote the lexical repertoire which originated in the Bronze Age.
Meluhha cipher, using Meluhha glosses as cypher texts, underlies the use of hieroglyphs (or, 'little fill-elements' on cylinder and other seals and other artifacts such as sculptural friezes) of Ancient India, Ancient Near East and Fertile Crescent. The cypher texts are converted to plain texts substituting Meluhha glosses for the hieroglyphs.
The clusters of Meluhha glosses provide a language framework for reasonably suggesting the phonetic form and underlying meaning of the sememes in the context of life-activities during the early Bronze Age.
In all the cases evidenced by Meluhha cipher, Meluhha sememes are in pairs: one sememe suggesting an identification of a hieroglyph or its allograph and the other sugesting the 'meaning(s)' of a homonymous word(s) in the context of life-activities of the Bronze-age artisans and traders.
Rebus readings as Meluhha hieroglyph of Meluhha language establish the functions served by the deployment of the hieroglyphs on seals/seal impressions used in trade transactions by sea-faring merchants carrying cargo on boats, or merchant caravans of donkey-loads on the Tin Road of the Bronze Age, thus providing a firm archaeological framework for validating the Meluhha cipher:
Hieroglyph: 'rim-of-jar': Phonetic forms: kan-ka (Santali) karṇika (Sanskrit) Rebus: karṇī, supercargo for a boat shipment. karṇīka ‘account (scribe)’.
One-horned young bull together with a 'standard-device' in front is shown on over 1159 epigraphs (c. Corpus of Indus script inscriptions of Mahadevan).
Harappa seal and seal impression, h006
One example is adequate to demonstrate the hieroglyphs of 'one-horned young bull' and 'lathe/portable furnace'. On the text, a 'ladder' hieroglyph occurs: panǰā́r ‘ladder, stairs’(Bshk.)(CDIAL 7760) Rebus: pasra ‘smithy’ (Santali) śrēṇikā f. ʻhouse ~ ladderʼ Rebus:śreṇiin meaning “guild” (Sanskrit) seniya‘soldier’.
Executive summary: The 'standard device' portrays: a collection of tools, implements sangāṭh संगाठ् । सामग्री. The 'one-horned heifer' portrays:an engraver, (producing) turned (metalworked, forged) artifacts.
The hieroglyphs have a number of glyphic elements: one-horn, pannier, young bull, rings on face/neck; gimlet, portable furnace. Rebus Meluhha readings of the hieroglyphs provide the 'meaning' intended by the scribe.
sangaḍa 'lathe, furnace'. Rebus: sang ‘stone’, gaḍa ‘large stone’.sã̄gāḍā m. ʻ frame of a building ʼ; sangara ‘fortification’; Rebus: jangaḍ 'entrustment note' (Gujarati) jangaḍ accounting for mercatile transactions ‘goods entrusted on approval basis’. (Gujarati) sangāṭhसंगाठ् । सामग्री m. (sg. dat. sangāṭas संगाटस् ), a collection (of implements, tools, materials, for any object), apparatus, furniture, a collection of the things wanted on a journey, luggage (Kashmiri)
sangaḍa 'lathe, furnace'. Rebus: sang ‘stone’, gaḍa ‘large stone’.sã̄gāḍā m. ʻ frame of a building ʼ; sangara ‘fortification’; Rebus: jangaḍ 'entrustment note' (Gujarati) jangaḍ accounting for mercatile transactions ‘goods entrusted on approval basis’. (Gujarati) sangāṭh
खोंडी [ khōṇḍī ] f An outspread shovelform sack (as formed temporarily out of a कांबळा, to hold or fend off grain, chaff &c.) (Marathi) kondh ‘heifer’. kōḍu horn (Kannada. Tulu. Tamil) Rebus: Bshk. kōr ʻlarge stoneʼ (CDIAL 3018). Rebus: koḍ ’workshop’.
खोंड [khōṇḍa] m A young bull, a bullcalf. (Marathi) Rebus: kõdā ‘lathe-turner’. kũdār ‘turner, brass worker’. कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi) kũdār, kũdāri (B.); kundāru (Or.); kundau to turn on a lathe, to carve, to chase; kundau dhiri = a hewn stone; kundau murhut = a graven image (Santali) kunda a turner's lathe (Skt.)(CDIAL 3295). Rebus: कोंड [kōṇḍa] A circular hamlet; a division of a मौजा or village, composed generally of the huts of one caste. कोंडण [kōṇḍaṇa] f A fold or pen. (Marathi) खोट [khōṭa] Alloyed--a metal (Marathi).
Indus script “fish-eyes” were traded with Ur as evidenced by cuneiform texts.
Harappa miniature, incised tablets in fish-shapes and with fish-eyed: h329, h330
(as shown on the the obverse of h329 tablet). Rebus Meluhha readings of the hieroglyphs provide the 'meaning' of the phrase: 'fish-eyes' used in cuneiform texts.
Hieroglyph: ayo ‘fish’ Rebus: ayo‘iron’. ayah, ayas = metal (Sanskrit)
For example, the hieroglyphs deployed on some cylinder seals (Elamite and other Ancient Near East) presented are: ram, culm (stalk or little tree), star, aquatic bird, seated person with bull's horns. These hieroglyphs are read rebus in the context of bronze-age artifacts, the products of Meluhha artisan competence.
karaṛa‘a very large aquatic bird’ (Sindhi) Rebus: करडा [karaḍā] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. A color of horses, iron grey.
Or. kāṇḍa, kã̄ṛ ʻstalk, arrow ʼ(CDIAL 3023).Rebus: khāṇḍā ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’.
खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). (Marathi) Rebus: khāṇḍā ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’.
ṭagara 'ram' Rebus: damgar 'merchant' (Akkadian) ṭhakkura,‘idol’, ṭhākur ʻ blacksmith ʼ, ṭhākur m. ʻmaster’.ḍhangar ‘blacksmith’.
meḍha ‘polar star’ (Marathi). meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Mu.)
kōḍu horn (Kannada. Tulu. Tamil) Rebus 1: Bshk. kōr ʻlarge stoneʼ (CDIAL 3018). Rebus2: koḍ ’workshop’.
Hieroglyph on an Elamite cylinder seal (See illustration embedded)S. kã̄ḍo ʻ thorny ʼ (CDIAL 3022).kāˊṇḍa (kāṇḍá -- TS.) m.n. ʻ single joint of a plant ʼ AV., ʻ arrow ʼ MBh., ʻ cluster, heap ʼ (in tr̥ṇa -- kāṇḍa -- Pāṇ. Kāś.). [Poss. connexion with
Hieroglyph: division across the length
Glyph 123 (Indus script)
Glyph 99 (Indus script)खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). A rough furrow, ravine, gully. (Marathi)
Rebus: pots and pans, metal tools
खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A kind of sword, straight, broad-bladed, two-edged, and round-ended. H. lokhaṇḍ m. ʻ iron tools, pots and pans ʼ; G. lokhãḍ n. ʻ tools, iron, ironware ʼ; M. lokhãḍ n. ʻ iron ʼ (LM 400 < -- khaṇḍa -- ).*lōhōpaskara ʻ iron tools ʼ. [lōhá -- , upaskara -- 1 ]N. lokhar ʻ bag in which a barber keeps his tools ʼ; H. lokhar m. ʻ iron tools, pots and pans ʼ; -- X lauhabhāṇḍa -- : Ku. lokhaṛ ʻ iron tools ʼ; (CDIAL 11171) laúha -- ʻ made of copper or iron ʼ Gr̥Śr., ʻ red ʼ MBh., n. ʻ iron, metal ʼ Bhaṭṭ. [lōhá -- ]Pk. lōha -- ʻ made of iron ʼ; L. lohā ʻ iron -- coloured, reddish ʼ; P. lohā ʻ reddish -- brown (of cattle) ʼ.[Dial. au ~ ō (in lōhá -- ) < IE. ou T. Burrow BSOAS xxxviii 74](CDIAL 11172a) 11173 lauhabhāṇḍa n. ʻ iron pot, iron mortar ʼ lex. [laúha -- , bhāṇḍa -- 1 ]Pa. lōhabhaṇḍa -- n. ʻ copper or brass ware ʼ; S. luhã̄ḍ̠iṛī f. ʻ iron pot ʼ, L.awāṇ. luhã̄ḍā; P. luhã̄ḍā, lohṇḍā, ludh. lō̃hḍā m. ʻ frying pan ʼ; N. luhũṛe ʻ iron cooking pot ʼ; A. lohorā ʻ iron pan ʼ; Bi. lohãṛā ʻ iron vessel for drawing water for irrigation ʼ; H. lohaṇḍā, luh° m. ʻ iron pot ʼ; G. loḍhũ n. ʻ iron, razor ʼ, pl. ʻ car<-> penter's tools ʼ,loḍhī f. ʻ iron pan ʼ(CDIAL 11173).
Rebus: sangāṭh संगाठ् । सामग्री m. (sg. dat. sangāṭas संगाटस् ), a collection (of implements, tools, materials, for any object), apparatus, furniture, a collection of the things wanted on a journey, luggage, and so on. -- karun -- करुन् । सामग्रीसंग्रहः m.inf. to collect the ab. (L.V. 17).(Kashmiri)
Reference to a cargo: hārka
Reference to a cargo: hārka
Mohenjo-daro m0309 Seal. Hieroglyph: khōṇḍa 'leafless tree' (Marathi). Rebus: kõdār 'turner' (Bengali);kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’ (Bengali).कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi) https://www.academia.edu/6574626/Near_East_cylinder_seals_tell_small_histories Tom van Bakel provides evidences of cylinder seals with 'fill elements'. I call them hieroglyphs.
The following are some examples from Tom van Bakel:
Seal published: The seal cylinders of Western Asia The cuneiform inscription reads: "Hu-uku-
ili, patesi of Mash, Governor of Madka”, since he crushed Unu, the servant of Zini."
Seal published: The Elamite Cylinder seal corpus c. 3500-1000 BCE
Seal published: The Elamite Cylinder seal corpus: c. 3500-1000 BCE.
Mirrored at: https://www.academia.edu/6898842/Meluhha_hieroglyphs_on_cylinder_and_other_seals_of_Bronze_Age
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Modi, Pawan hold the Andhra fort -- Y Mallikarjun.
HYDERABAD, April 29, 2014
Updated: April 29, 2014 00:50 IST
BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, senior leader Sushma Swaraj and Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan were among the star campaigners who tried to boost BJP and its alliance partner Telugu Desam’s prospects in Telangana as hectic electioneering ended on Monday.While Mr. Modi addressed meetings at Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Mahabubnagar and Hyderabad, Ms. Sushma Swaraj spoke at rallies in Narsapur( Medak), Warangal, Chouttuppal and Hyderabad. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan addressed meetings at Jangaon and Karwan in city, while Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar interacted with intellectuals.
Actor Pawan Kalyan, who extended his support to Mr. Modi, addressed rallies with him at Nizamabad and here. He also campaigned for the party at Kamareddi, Korutla, Nalgonda, Husnabad and in different constituencies in the State capital. Film stars Jeevitha and her husband Rajashekhar participated in electioneering along with Telangana BJP president G. Kishan Reddy at Mancherial, Chennur and Bhoopalapally. BJP national spokesperson, Prakash Javadekar addressed meetings in Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar and in the city. Other top BJP leaders who campaigned were Mukthar Abbas Naqvi and Subramanian Swamy.
The leitmotif of the BJP leaders was ‘Stable government, able leader, good governance and development’. Mr. Modi during his tour attacked Congress for dynasty politics and hit out at the Centre for hurting the Telugu spirit by the manner in which the State was bifurcated. He told the Telangana people that this was not an ordinary but a significant election and urged them to elect a good government.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/modi-pawan-hold-the-fort/article5957243.ece
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Narendra Modi is wrong. Mamata' painitings fethced Rs.6.47cr in two years -- Arshad Ali
| Tuesday , April 29 , 2014 |![]()
Calcutta, April 28: The Trinamul Congress and the BJP were today locked in splitting hairs over the painting controversy raked up by Narendra Modi but the key question why anyone would pay lakhs of rupees for a work of art by Mamata Banerjee remained unanswered.
BJP state president Rahul Sinha clarified that Modi had meant a cumulative figure when he said “Rs 1.80 crore” yesterday and not the price of one single painting as had been mentioned by the party’s candidate for Prime Minister in Serampore.
Trinamul has made the specific amount the focus of its rebuttal, filing a complaint of “personal attack” with the Election Commission and threatening to file a defamation suit against Modi if he failed to apologise or furnish proof that a painting had fetched Rs 1.8 crore.
However, during the course of the day, Shuvaprasanna, well-known painter and key member of Mamata’s culture clan, said that some of her “big paintings” had sold for as much as Rs 6 lakh.
For A-listers in art, Rs 6 lakh is nothing to write home about but in a country where beginners consider themselves fortunate if their works sell for between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, prices in lakhs are not everyday affairs.
Curiously, although it is not illegal to buy paintings, few people other than four businesspersons were willing to confirm on record today that they had bought paintings by Mamata Banerjee.
A person involved in a high-profile personal care venture, who had a few years ago made it a point to let it be known that a Mamata painting would be added to the home collection, today asked in response to a question: “Should I tell you which fish I bought from the market, too?”
But several persons spoke on condition of anonymity. Asked what prompted them to pay lakhs of rupees for the paintings, a real estate developer active in Bengal said: “Not always do you buy because of the painting. Sometimes, it depends on who the artist is.”
Asked if he was a patron of art, the businessmen replied with a question: “Do we go to all exhibitions we are invited to or buy from there?”
In reply to another question, about where Mamata’s paintings were being kept, the businessman said: “I cannot recall readily. They could be in our offices. It is difficult to say offhand which painting is where.”
Another businessman, whose venture is based in Calcutta, said nobody wanted to be “conspicuous by absence” at these exhibitions. “You don’t want not to be there. And it’s a pretty small amount to pay, not worth talking about. Must be a few lakhs only,” he added.
One industrialist made it a point to underscore that the chief minister never forced anyone to buy the paintings. “On the day of inauguration, she would be extremely polite. She would say, ‘Please don’t buy the paintings because of me. Buy them only if you like them’,” he said.
However, the following day, some people claiming to be “powerful politicians” would call up and request the industrialist to pick up a piece. “I cannot say who called me because I don’t know who were at the other end (of the line). In any case, do you expect me to verify who called and then take a decision?” he asked.
The same industrialist said he probably would have bought a few paintings on his own because they were by the chief minister. “So there is push and pull,” he added.
One businessman said his group bought three paintings of Mamata for around Rs 3 lakh each after Shuvaprasanna told them of an exhibition.
Asked, Shuvaprasanna said: “Who am I to recommend when a professional art gallery is presenting her work? I was not in charge of the exhibition. I was there to inaugurate the show. When I had organised her first exhibition, I had personally requested a lot of people to come, browse and buy because it was going to go towards Nandigram relief.”
Shuvaprasanna added: “Since people know that I know Mamata and am aware of her artwork, some people asked me for suggestions on which painting to select at the Galerie 88 exhibition but I did not go out of my way to invite or recommend (any painting) to anyone.”
Shuvaprasanna mentioned a city gallery but Supriya Banerjee, who runs Galerie 88, had said earlier in the day: “No Mamata Banerjee painting was sold from my gallery.”
Since some businesspersons who had bought the paintings and Shuvaprasanna mentioned the gallery, this newspaper tried to reach Banerjee again but the effort proved futile. There is nothing wrong in exhibiting paintings and it is possible that the gallery may have allowed the space to be used and was not associated with the sale.
Trinamul said all the earnings from the paintings were accounted for and the poll panel had been kept informed. The party also pointed out that the proceeds were used for good causes or elections.
Trinamul underscored that Mamata did not make any personal gains from the paintings, saying the proceeds went to charity and election work. The contention skirts the fact that the beneficiary of the election expenses and the goodwill generated by the charity efforts was Trinamul itself.
If the paintings indeed fetched lakhs of rupees from businessmen as they are claiming in private, it would mean that the money was used to earn goodwill for Trinamul and win elections.
That still leaves unanswered the fundamental question of why businessmen would spend lakhs — even if some of them consider it “a pretty small amount”.
Trinamul all-India general secretary Mukul Roy and finance minister Amit Mitra today held a news conference at Trinamul Bhavan and alleged that Modi had made a “personal attack” on Mamata.
Roy and Mitra said the party had lodged a complaint with the Election Commission.
BJP state president Rahul Sinha, who had yesterday “corrected” Modi when the Gujarat chief minister mentioned a figure of Rs 1 crore, today clarified that by Rs 1.8 crore, the prime ministerial candidate had referred to the proceeds from all paintings at an exhibition.
After Sinha “corrected” him, Modi had said yesterday: “Will you please tell the people of Bengal who bought one of your paintings for Rs 1.8 crore?”
Trinamul’s Roy said Modi “should prove that Mamata Banerjee’s painting was sold for Rs 1.8 crore in an exhibition. If he can’t, then he will have to apologise publicly. We have lodged a complaint with the Election Commission as we feel this is a personal attack and violates the model code of conduct.”
Roy said the Trinamul weekly mouthpiece Jago Bangla had organised some exhibitions since 2004 to sell Mamata’s paintings. “Every time, the amount we received from such exhibitions was donated for a social cause. In 2004, the amount was given to the Spastics Society. In 2011, money collected from an exhibition was used to fund our Assembly election (expenses). In addition to that, Rs 1 crore was given to the chief minister’s relief fund,” Roy said.
The Trinamul leader asserted that the money generated from the exhibitions was audited and income-tax returns filed.
“All the paintings were sold through cheques only and after each exhibition, we audited the income and incorporated it in income-tax returns. We informed the Election Commission too,” Roy said.
Asked if Saradha chief Sudipta Sen had bought any painting, Roy said: “This is an internal matter. Will you reveal how much you earned from advertisements of Saradha? If you do, then I will give you every information the next day.”
He added: “The whole of India knows Mamata Banerjee. She is known for her dedication and honesty. I challenge him (Modi) to prove that paintings of Mamata Banerjee were sold at abnormally high prices.”
Finance minister Mitra said it was not justified to “malign” a leader like Mamata, who, according to him, did not draw her salary as chief minister and didn’t use government cars. “If he (Modi) fails to prove the allegation he has levelled, he should be ready to face a defamation suit,” Mitra said.
Mamata refused comment on the issue, saying she would not react to what “a thief” had said.
Saradha chief Sen, who was produced before the Shyamal Sen commission today, said on his way out that he had not bought any painting by Mamata. “I did not buy any painting,” he said.
Sources in the Election Commission said Mamata’s affidavits for the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and the 2011 Assembly by-elections did not mention her earnings from the sale of paintings.
Told that Roy had said the Election Commission had been informed about the income from the paintings, the commission sources said from Delhi: “The mention could be in the complaint, which we are yet to see.”
Bengal chief electoral officer Sunil Kumar Gupta said a report had been sought from the Hooghly administration on Modi’s speech. He added that video footage of the speech had also been sought.
The great Bengal art mart
Artist matters, says buyer
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140429/images/29zzfare1big.jpg
Didi’s paintbrush fetched party Rs 6.47 crore in two years
SUMMARY
The state leadership of the BJP and the Congress, too, have alleged chit fund companies were among the buyers of the paintings.
Mamata at work at home. PTI/File
In the last two years, the Trinamool Congress has earned nearly Rs 6.47 crore from the sale of Mamata Banerjee’s paintings, the subject of a bitter exchange between Mamata and Narendra Modi.
A balance sheet of the party submitted to the Election Commission shows her paintings fetched Rs 2.53 crore in 2012-2013 and just under Rs 3.94 crore the previous year. In 2010-2011, which was before her party came to power, no Mamata painting was sold, show copies of the three balance sheets accessed by The Indian Express.
“If the Election Commission feels it necessary, it will ask for a breakup of the list. As of now, there has been no intimation to us,” said Amit Bhattacharya, officer on special duty at the office of the West Bengal chief electoral officer.
Girish N Pande, chief commissioner of income tax in Kolkata, said the EC would send the department the details after the elections. “The EC will send us these financial statements and accounts and if we find anything we need to probe, we will,” he said.
Modi questioned Sunday how one Mamata painting could fetch Rs 1.80 crore. The state leadership of the BJP and the Congress, too, have alleged chit fund companies were among the buyers of the paintings.
“The buyers are owners of chit fund companies and some unscrupulous industrialists who paid heavy amounts to the chief minister who became such a celebrated painter overnight. We demand that the list of buyers be put up on the public domain,” said Congress state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
BJP state president Rahul Sinha said this is a route the CM has taken to legalise black money. “This is money collected from chit fund companies which the party is showing as sale of paintings. We want to know how the paintings were sold. Through auction or at random?” he said.
CPI(M) leader Md Selim said, “More than anything, they are painting black money into white.”
to help us personalise your reading experience.
The statements, with covering letters of the party general secretary Mukul Roy along with the auditor’s report, show that in two years after the party came into power, sale of its annual magazine too shot up — from Rs 3,79,280 in 2010-11 to Rs 12,64,319 and Rs 10,70,230 in the subsequent two years.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/didis-paintbrush-fetched-party-rs-6-47-crore-in-two-years/↧
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NaMo's march in Varanasi: a world of symbols, politically coded to perfection -- Shiv Visvanathan
April 29, 2014
A roadshow to remember
Shiv Visvanathan
Politics is often a symbolic domain, where the grammar of a world and its historic logic are played out for a nation to watch. On April 24, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi filed his nomination from Varanasi. The roadshow that preceded it had all the power of a staged ritual. It was as powerful as a Republic Day tableau but it reached deeper into the subconscious. In his march to power, Mr. Modi was rewriting history, outlining the India of his imagination. As a semiotic act, it was perfectly executed.A day earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener, Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Modi’s great challenger, had filed his nomination and experts were stunned by the crowds he drew. The procession was huge, the crowds enthusiastic and curious. There was an improvisional edge to Mr. Kejriwal’s struggle, a relaxed ease. This was no march of history, but an impromptu walk, full of delight and surprise. Politics becomes conversational, as power walks amiably through the neighbourhood of a great city. Mr. Kejriwal makes politics impromptu, accessible and inviting like conversation at a paan shop or a dhaba.
Symbolic political triangle
The Kejriwal style can be contrasted with the Congress’ approach to politics. There is a loose tokenism about the Congress with the Gandhis confusing family and nation. The mistakes became more blatant with Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra. Her entry was supposed to ease the electoral pressure on the Congress. Her style was reminiscent of Indira Gandhi, her poise created a tremor of confidence for the Congress. In actual fact, Priyanka sounded like a housewife complaining about her in-laws, about how her husband was attacked. Her promissory note, like Rahul Gandhi’s, was dated, having been encashed decades earlier. This was about her family’s services to India now presented as a bill to the nation. The Gandhis had become anachronistic. They spoke the contented language of entitlements rather than the rhetoric of responsibility. With Priyanka, history repeats itself twice, a second time with the full costumed idiocy of a farce.
Narendra Modi’s is the third part of this symbolic triangle. The nomination had to be a memorable ritual, more evocative of a yajna in the old sense of the term; a statement of power which had to be a discourse on history. This is precisely what the BJP’s Amit Shah and his team choreographed to precision.
Great moments of drama often begin with a sideshow of a farce. Arvind Kejriwal struck the false note accusing Mr. Modi of helicopter politics, of swooping down to spend time with the people. It was not the right countermove for this moment of battle. It was clear that Mr. Modi was enacting a symbolic crusade, remapping history as he retraced the landmarks of a city. In mapping space, he was reclaiming history, the rejected or slighted history of a nation.
A new solidarity
The roadshow, as it was modestly dubbed by TV, was to begin at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). The choice was apt. BHU was the legendary national university set up by Madan Mohan Malaviya. Malaviya, ignored today, was one of the classic characters of the national movement, the arch interrogator among the Indians during the great drama of the Indian Industrial Commission. Malaviya was Hindu, a modernist, a nationalist who sought to blend Hindu society and modernity. In garlanding Malaviya, Mr. Modi was garlanding a Hindu vision of modernity, often ignored in a search for abstract secularism. In honouring Malaviya, Mr. Modi was recovering a different sense of modernity, different from the Nehruvian state. In his march to power, Mr. Modi was tracing a different historical lineage.
From Malaviya to Patel, as the next statue, was immaculate strategy. Both were great Congressmen and Mr. Modi had swiftly, subtly appropriated both for the BJP, almost hinting that the best possibilities of the Great Indian Congress lay through the BJP. It was both a salute to the nation and a summoning of castes. As Malaviya’s statue stood stiff and formal, we watch an animated Modi. He bows from the waist to a city and a nation. There is humility to the act and grace to the elasticity as his supporters remark, it is Kashi after all.
From Patel’s statue, the cavalcade moves to Vivekananda, Mr. Modi’s exemplar, a man who provided Hinduism with a whiff of modernity, who added to its religious monasticism, a touch of this worldly asceticism. The pracharak is only a secular variant of the monk armed with culture to march into modernity with a different language of service rather than the egotism of individualistic self. The spectator realises that a new organicity is being created, an organic nation state signalling a new solidarity.
I had switched off the sound on the TV and watched the procession as if it were a silent movie. One was reminded of another movement in his political autobiography. It was his body language during the Sambhavna Yatra which was stiff and unyielding. If Mr. Modi had bowed and apologised with similar gravitas, the nation would have been different today.
The crowd was swelling. A procession had become a surge. A sea of saffron was a trite metaphor. It was more like a gigantic river carrying the flotsam of life and history. Even BJP organisers sensed the unbelievable and the unprecedented. This roadshow was the true juggernaut to office as Mr. Modi moved to garland Ambedkar signalling that the BJP was not just the old casteist Hinduism but a theory of inclusion and justice, a coalition of Brahmins, Dalits and OBCs clamouring for a new nation state.
Suddenly one sees Amit Shah, Mr. Modi’s main organiser on the vehicle. It creates a pause as one realises the staged power of this ritual. One senses Mr. Shah, the propagandist, digging deep into the emotional core of the crowd. The next move becomes obvious. As the crowd reaches the barricade, one senses only the four proposers of Mr. Modi can enter with him. His nomination was to be filed by a boatman, a weaver, a singer and a judge. It was a judicious mix of the vocations of the city invoking the childhood ditty of tinker, tailor, soldier, spy. The boatman evoked the Ganges as an inseparable part of Varanasi. The weaver, possibly Muslim, heralded the great crafts of the city. The singer invoked the great gharanas of Benaras and the judge, in this case a grandson of Malaviya, the new occupations. It was a perfect quartet of nominees, combining the city and uniting it to the history of the nation. Benaras as a microcosm and India as a macrocosm were being juxtaposed in this moment of history we call the roadshow.
Development and diversity had found a new axis in Mr. Modi. The presentation is so compelling that alternative readings or dissent are/is impossible. It is a closed world of symbols, politically coded to perfection.
Lost opportunity for Congress
The crowd strikes awe and silence in one. The only distraction which splits the TV frame is Mr. Kejriwal. He improvises an alternative spectacle, though a modest one. He starts a dharna at Assi Ghat with his supporters, objecting to the manhandling of AAP’s Somnath Bharti. It is a footnote but serves both as a distraction and a warning that what one is watching is a spectacle, although a powerful one. It makes one reflect on tactics, possibilities and alternative histories. It makes one ask what if the Congress had emerged from its political autism and challenged Mr. Modi not with a Bhumihar MLA but with Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra.
Many experts feel it would have galvanised the Congress, injected adrenalin into Congress cadres. Even Priyanka, instead of playing the tame agent, would have become a new protagonist, an agency in her own right rather than a background editorial, an addendum to politics. A self-inflicted silliness might have yielded to an inventive politics. An opportunity was lost to make history, to give the Congress a sense of a different future. While Mr. Modi grabbed the symbolism of Benaras, the Congress retreated into an embalmed sense of itself. Democracy lost out because Benaras might have been the signal of a Congress returning to battle than of a Modi rolling his way to Lutyens’ Delhi. The tragedy lies in the ifs and buts of politics and history.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/a-roadshow-to-remember/article5956987.ece?homepage=true
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'What will Modi do?' Many will tell you! -- Arun Shourie
Instigating reforms
SUMMARY
Let’s not wait for the next government. We can work out the solutions.
A necessary part of explaining reforms is to shake people into realising how not doing these things will doom us. CR Sasikumar
Let’s not wait for the next government. We can work out the solutions.
“What will Modi do?” At every meeting, in particular of investors, that is the question. No one knows, to paraphrase the great philosopher, but many will tell you!
Even if Modi were not there, and even if everything that we need to know about him were known, the same question would be making the rounds. For, it does what we want done: it shifts responsibility on to someone other than us — in this case, Modi and the civil servants that he may choose. On the one hand, we declare, “The government structure is moribund. It just cannot come up with out-of-the-box, lateral solutions.” On the other, we ask, “What will government do?” In this, we are like the politicians: in one breath, they shout, “The CBI is the Congress Bureau of Investigation”; in the next, “We demand a CBI inquiry.”
Instead, we should take reforms into our own hands. Instead of waiting for Modi to come up with brilliant ideas, we should work out solutions. And we should work them out in detail. Our “solution” must not just be, “Do away with the subsidy on kerosene — everyone knows that subsidised kerosene is being used to adulterate diesel,” but what may be done instead. Shyam Saran gives a good example. He points to the experiment that the IOC launched in a part of Alwar district. Instead of giving kerosene at the subsidised price, the IOC calculated the amount of kerosene subsidy to which the BPL family was entitled, and transferred the amount to its bank account. The family was now to buy kerosene in the market. The result? Kerosene off-take went down by 40 per cent.
Working out solutions in detail is all the more important in this round — the new government will have only six weeks in which to prepare its budget. As the room for manoeuvre in regard to revenues and expenditures is very limited — what with the artificial ways in which the deficit figure was kept down — the only way for the budget to be a meaningful document, a document that will re-establish hope, is for it to furnish a roadmap for reforms. As with all governments on the way in, we can be reasonably sure that, one, this roadmap has not been worked out in the detail that is required; and, two, that the new government will need all the help it can get to lay it out in just six weeks. It is indeed a comment on our times that, till some years ago, organisations like FICCI and CII used to spell out proposals in detail — alas, they became event managers for whoever was in office!
So, the first rule for getting reforms going again is: Work them out, work them out, work them out — yourselves. Do not leave doing so to others, especially not to governments.
The second rule is just as important. There is some point in reaching the solutions to ministers and senior civil servants, of course. But they must, at all times, be a very small part of the audience. Even if we assume that the key ministers and civil servants are well-informed, reforms have to be carried out in the face of a political class and of a public that is not so. Quite the contrary, the political class and the general public have been taught to fear change, they have been taught to think of reforms as a code-word for skewing affairs even more in favour of the rich. Nor is the problem just one of perception. The dread of the future can trigger real consequences, on the street.
Those who will be dislocated by change are here, they are organised, they are vocal, they have 60 years of leftist hectoring on their side. And, because of the perverse nature of the media, these persons get a disproportionate amount of coverage. On the other side, those who will eventually benefit from the change are in the womb of the future. They are not organised. And, in spite of the clearest contrast between the stagnation in the period before 1990 and the growth in the period after that, the advocates of change remain on the defensive. No prime minister, howsoever strong, can disregard this balance of forces. Nor can he disregard the lack of knowledge and the consequential clamour of his party, of the political class a whole — in Parliament and beyond it.
Hence, the second rule is Explain, explain, explain.
A necessary part of doing so is to shake people into realising how not doing these things will doom us. Consider an example. A study points out that in the next 10 years, 240 million are expected to join the labour force. If we set aside vacancies that would arise because of retirements, etc, we will need to create at least 150 million new jobs. That means we need to create at least 15 million new jobs every year. In the last seven years, we have been creating 1.5 to 2 million jobs per year — that is, about a tenth of that number. At this rate, in the 10 years during which 240 million would enter the labour force, we would have created 15 to 20 million jobs. Can there be a surer recipe for a social and violent explosion?
Just as, to ward off danger, we must act “with the urgency of a man whose hair is on fire”, we must also act with the same urgency to avail of the opportunities that have arisen and will just as swiftly rush away. Consider the disquiet that has erupted among several firms that have been operating in China. Wages have risen rapidly in China in the last few years. Intellectual property continues to be open to pillage. And since 2008, there is the overt aggressiveness of China and the Chinese. In just the last month, analysts reported anxieties of German firms and others. The Japanese firms — which have been among the largest contributors to China’s growth — are today facing intimidation of various kinds: a Chinese court has just ordered a Japanese ship to be impounded in regard to compensation claims dating from World War II.
Such factors have caused many a firm to shift operations, at the least to locate additional facilities elsewhere. India would be a natural potential base that they would think about — it is the only country in the region that can provide the kind of scale that China provides for their operations. But our archaic laws, our unpredictable policies, the meteors that descend out of our tax and enforcement offices, corruption, our interminable processes and the rest, together, push those firms to relocate in Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, rather than India.
Similarly, to get things going again, we must bare to the people the truth about the “pro-people” laws and the populist schemes that have been projected as great achievements. Should the handouts through the public distribution system be taken at face-value, when survey after survey shows that anywhere between 30 to 90 per cent of the commodities distributed are siphoned off along the way? Do our anti-employment labour laws, our provisions to prevent bankruptcy, the law by which any seven workers in an establishment can form a trade union, actually protect the millions who labour or do they just perpetuate a labour aristocracy? Does the Apprenticeship Act protect the apprentices or, as a fine report of Manish Sabharwal and his colleagues to the Planning Commission shows, is it one of the main reasons on account of which India has only 3 lakh apprentices while the so much smaller Germany has 10 million, to say nothing of China, which has 40 million?
Similarly, competitive populism among political parties focuses on each “pro-farmer”, “pro-worker” measure separately. It obscures the consequences of one for the other, it obscures the vicious cycles that they trigger together. We groan about inflation. We eventually say it is “food inflation”. But if we keep throwing money into the countryside — through debt write-offs, through NREGA and the rest, without raising agricultural productivity; if we go on raising minimum support prices, as every political party shouts the government must do, how will inflation, specifically food inflation, not be the consequence? How will the requisite acreage be set aside for the items for which demand is rising fastest — fruits and vegetables — when it is in growing cereals that the farmer has an assured minimum price? In a country in which we import three-quarters of the oil we use, how will we be able to control our current account deficit (CAD) when we continue to subsidise petroleum products?
“Explaining” must include setting out the whole truth. Have our analysts, have our industry organisations spoken up about the fraudulent way in which our fiscal deficit has been shown to have been lowered? Have you heard them nail how that dressing up of figures has narrowed the options for the coming year? Surely, industry knows how the enhanced duty on gold — without any tightening of customs administration — led to a spurt in the smuggling of gold, and that this was one of the main items that enabled us to declare that the recorded CAD had been controlled?
The fact is that very difficult decisions are now inescapable. They are bound to hurt many in the immediate future. Unless the reasons for them have been drilled into the people again and again, how will such decisions be taken?
The third rule is to shift from merely listing out our suggestions to showing how they are to be put into effect. We routinely propose the most radical changes. And yet we know that Parliament will remain paralysed. Even if disruptions abate, for the coming year or two, the non-NDA parties will continue to have a majority in Rajya Sabha. How then are these changes to be brought about? Here are two examples.
One way is to break up the problem into smaller pieces. Enable progressive states to move ahead on their own. So many of the laws that are impeding growth fall in the Concurrent List. Article 254 of the Constitution deals with such subjects. In public discourse, we tend to focus on the first clause of this article — namely, that if there are both a Central and a state law on the subject, and their provisions are opposed to each other, the provisions of the Central law shall prevail. But Clause 2 of this article provides that the state provision shall prevail in the concerned state, provided the president — that is, the Central government — gives the requisite permission. Why not declare that, in regard to education, labour, industrial disputes, agricultural marketing, etc, state laws that enable it to compete with countries that we have to face — say, Southeast Asian countries — shall automatically have the Centre’s approval? A few progressive states will adopt the changes. The advantages that will accrue to them will goad and encourage others to follow suite.
A similar device would be to make allocations to states contingent on their adopting improved practices and policies. For decades and decades, ever since the Gadgil-Mukherjee formula was adopted, the poorer a government ensured its state remained, the more it got from the Centre. Why not turn this around? We have an acute shortage of teachers, we do not have requisite leadership programmes for our seven lakh headmasters? Make allocations to a state contingent on its multiplying and upgrading teacher-training facilities, on its roping in the best institutions and firms in the state to institute leadership programmes. Our literacy rates are low? The quality of teachers varies? Make allocations contingent on their deploying technology to overcome these: the “total immersion” method for enabling persons to read used by F.C. Kohli to such dramatic effect in Andhra Pradesh; linking colleges by information and communications technology (ICT) so that the best teacher on the topic in the state delivers the lecture, and it is seen and heard by students across the state. This is not a “one size fits all” device. Naturally, the states must have great flexibility to tweak the scheme to what suits them best. Naturally, the Centre must continually improve the scheme as it learns from successes in the states.
The fourth rule is not about doing this or doing that; it is about not doing, it is a rule of self-denial. When at last a reform is indeed instituted, when at last an aperture is opened, do not misuse it. As it is, the enemies of change are ever-ready to pounce at every step, to denounce it, to charge that it has been done to benefit “X” or “Y”. If, by the influence they command, “X” or “Y” are in fact able to twist the step to their advantage, or to keep their rivals down, they strike a blow not just at that measure, but at reforms in general.
For any of this to come about, industry leaders as much as academics, as much as us journalists, have to stop being onlookers — waiting for manna to fall from Delhi. Leaders of industry, in particular, have to shed the mentality of the licence-quota period — the mentality that the way ahead is for each to cut a deal for himself by suborning a minister or civil servant, rather than striving to improve the system. They have to stop being clients. They have to stop being event managers for whoever is in office.
Start by not giving “9 out of 10” to every budget!
Start by not giving “9 out of 10” to every budget!
The writer, a former Rajya Sabha MP from the BJP, was Union minister for communications, information technology and disinvestment.
This article is based on recent remarks to the Capital Markets Committee of FICCI
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Afroz Fatta: No hawala connection with NaMo --ED. But, seen on photo with Congress MP Azharuddin -- BJP
No hawala connection between Narendra Modi and Afroz Fatta, says Enforcement Directorate
Virendrasingh Ghunawat Mumbai, April 29, 2014 | UPDATED 11:22 IST
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with hawala accused Afroz Fatta.
The revelation comes a day after the Congress released photos of the BJP's prime ministerial candidate with Fatta, who was arrested in connection with a Rs.1,000-crore hawala racket.
"What is the nature of relationship, connection and protection offered by Modi to Fatta, the alleged hawala kingpin who features in a number of photos along with the Gujarat Chief Minister in various social and political functions?" asked Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala at a press conference on Monday.
Though Modi has not replied to the allegations, but a source in the Enforcement Directorate in Ahmedabad told IndiaToday.in that "Modi has no connection with Fatta, till now."
One senior said: "We have been tracking Afroz Fatta since 2004. He is a businessman with hawala connections. Even in this Rs.1,000-crore hawala racket, Fatta played a major role, which we are investigating. But connecting Modi with Fatta looks politically motivated. Till today, we have not found any connection of Modi directly or indirectly with Fatta in this case or any other hawala case in Gujarat."
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Ahmedabad police and now the Enforcement Directorate have been investigating the massive hawala racket which was exposed in Surat in March.
"FIR details are awaited from the EOW. Once it comes, we will register a case against some individuals and entities under PMLA [Prevention of Money Laundering Act]," said a source in ED.
Investigation till now shows that the major chunk of money in the hawala racket, unearthed in Gujarat, belonged to Delhi and Mumbai businessmen and share brokers of Gujarat who were utilising it to smuggle gold.
Fatta and his accomplice used to deposit fake bills of entries of imports in banks and the remittances were paid to unknown people outside India.
The major chunk of money was being sent to Hong Kong.
"The money sent abroad through hawala was used for buying gold. This gold was later smuggled into the country. Some money got invested in stock market through foreign institutional investors (FIIs)," the ED official said.
Till now, ED officials have frozen five bank accounts of Fatta in Surat and Mumbai. The process to freeze the accounts of the companies owned and headed by Fatta has also been initiated. Eight demat accounts of Fatta in a Surat-based brokerage firm, which contained shares worth Rs.15 crore, were also frozen.
The ED has filed a case under PMLA against Fatta, his partner, his brother, brother-in-law and his sister.
The hawala racket was unearthed by ED in Surat on March 21.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/narendra-modi-has-no-hawala-connection-with-fatta-ed/1/358108.html
BJP releases photo of hawala accused Afroz Fatta with Md Azharuddin
PTI New Delhi, April 28, 2014 | UPDATED 10:25 IST
Hours after Congress released a CD purportedly showing Narendra Modi in pictures with hawala accused Afroz Fatta, BJP hit back by coming out with pictures showing the same man with Congress MP Md Azharuddin.
BJP legislator Harsh R Sanghavi brought out a picture showing Fatta with cricketer-turned-politician Azharuddin and questioned Congress on it.
![Md Azharuddin with hawala accused Afroz Fatta]( "Md Azharuddin with hawala accused Afroz Fatta")
"Afroz Phatta with Congressi Leader @azhrudeen will Congress answer what's there connection with him?," Sanghavi tweeted.
His tweet, along with the picture of the two, was retweeted by Modi's confidante and BJP leader Amit Shah but deleted the same from his twitter account soon thereafter.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala came out with the CD claiming Fatta to be a "well known BJP supporter and a protege of Modi".
The CD was brought out a day after BJP released a video CD targetting Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi and husband of Priyanka Gandhi, over his alleged land deals.
BJP legislator Harsh R Sanghavi brought out a picture showing Fatta with cricketer-turned-politician Azharuddin and questioned Congress on it.
Md Azharuddin with hawala accused Afroz Fatta.
"Afroz Phatta with Congressi Leader @azhrudeen will Congress answer what's there connection with him?," Sanghavi tweeted.
His tweet, along with the picture of the two, was retweeted by Modi's confidante and BJP leader Amit Shah but deleted the same from his twitter account soon thereafter.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala came out with the CD claiming Fatta to be a "well known BJP supporter and a protege of Modi".
The CD was brought out a day after BJP released a video CD targetting Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi and husband of Priyanka Gandhi, over his alleged land deals.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bjp-narendra-modi-releases-pix-of-hawala-accused-afroz-fatta-with-md-azharuddin/1/358048.html
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