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SC has directed CBI inquiry into Aircel-Maxis-FIPB ghotala, it appears Chidambaram will have to quit as FM (eased out using the ploy of party work)

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Since SC has directed CBI inquiry into aircel-maxis-fipb ghotala, it appears chidambaram will have to quit as fm (that is, eased out using the ploy of party work).

Kalyan

NEW DELHI, April 24, 2013

No prime ministerial ambitions, says Chidambaram
PTI

Finance Minister P Chidambaram yet again parried questions on his becoming the Prime Minister saying he has no such aspirations and would like to do party work.

“I have no such expectations. I have no such aspiration and I believe that in the few years that remain to me, I want to do (a) few other things, like travel,” he said when asked whom he would like to choose his Finance Minister after becoming the Prime Minister after 2014 general elections.

“The first part of the question, I reject it out of hand... Therefore, if I reject the first assumption out of hand, the second question does not arise. But I can certainly recommend you and many other names to the new Prime Minister,” he said in a lighter vein.

Answering questions at The Economist’s India Summit here, Mr. Chidambaram said he would like to “remain a worker of the Congress party“.

“I did not have enough opportunity to work at party level, except for brief period when I was general secretary of state Congress party. I want to prove that I can also do party work.

I will love to do party work, but I would do whatever the party asks me to do... I sincerely hope the party will allow me to travel, read and write,” Mr. Chidambaram said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/no-prime-ministerial-ambitions-says-chidambaram/article4649930.ece

Saradha group pays Rs. 1 crore to Ms Nalini Chidambaram as 'legal fees'

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Subramanian Swamy ‏@Swamy3912m
PTs: According to a letter written by Chit Fund Saradha group Chairman to the CBI, Ms. Nalini Chidambaram got Rs 1 crore as "legal fees" WOW

Rs. 1 crore legal fees to Nalini Chidambaram by Saradha group. MD arrested.

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Sudipta Sen, the Chairman and Managing Director of Saradha Group, a non-banking financial company (NBFC).

SEBI directs Saradha MD Sudipta Sen to wind up schemes, return money to depositors

INDIA TODAY ONLINE | New Delhi, April 24, 2013 | 12:43

Saradha Realty India Ltd and its managing director Sudipta Sen were directed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to wind up its existing collective investment schemes and refund the money collected with returns which are due to the investors within three months.

The company was also castigated for contravening the SEBI provisions by launching such schemes without its permission.

On a day Sen was arrested from Jammu and Kashmir, the order said: "Since the noticee (Saradha Realty India Ltd) has launched 'collective investment schemes' without obtaining certificate of registration from SEBI, it has contravened provisions of section 12(1B) of the SEBI Act and regulation 3 of the CIS Regulations."

Last week, the Saradha Group went bust and its offices downed shutters, unable to repay the depositors - mainly poor people in villages and small towns of West Bengal who had parked their hard earned money with the company, lured by the promise of high interest rates.

In an order, the SEBI directed that the company would have to submit a winding up and repayment report in accordance with the CIS regulations.

The capital market regulator said if the company failed to comply with the order, prosecution proceedings would be initiated against Saradha Realty and its directors.

It also said in such an eventuality, the matter would be referred to the state government or the local police to register civil/criminal cases against Saradha Realty India Ltd. and its directors and its officials in charge of the schemes "for apparent offences of fraud, cheating, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds".

The SEBI order, signed by its wholetime member Rajeev Kumar Agarwal, said the matter would also be refered to the ministry of corporate affairs, to initiate the process of winding up of Saradha Realty India Ltd.

The SEBI further directed Saradha Realty India Ltd and Sen not to access the capital market and "restrain and prohibit" from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in the securities market till all its collective investment schemes were would up "and all the monies mobilised through them are refunded to the investors".

The regulator had been inquiring into the operations and activities of the company after it received a letter exactly three years back from the Economic Offences Investigation Cell of West Bengal, informing that the company was collecting contributions of money from the public.

With IANS Inputs

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sebi-directs-saradha-md-sudipta-sen-to-return-money-to-depositors/1/267368.html

Subramanian Swamy ‏@Swamy39 29m
@drtapeshwarsehg :In the Aircel Maxis scam, she paid a visit to Kuala Lumpur,received at the airport by the CEO of Maxis and to a posh hotel
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Subramanian Swamy ‏@Swamy39 1h
PTs: According to a letter written by Chit Fund Saradha group Chairman to the CBI, Ms. Nalini Chidambaram got Rs 1 crore as "legal fees" WOW
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Chit fund scam: Court sends Sudipta Sen to 4-day transit remand
PTI Posted online: Wed Apr 24 2013, 13:12 hrs

New Delhi : A local court in Kashmir today granted four-day transit remand of chit fund scam accused Sudipto Sen and two others to Kolkata police.

Sen, chairman of Saradha group which is accused of defrauding thousands of depositors, along with director Debjani Mukherjee and another company official Arvind Singh Chauhan were presented before Chief Judicial Magistrate of Ganderbal, Parvez Hussain Kachroo, who granted the transit mremand.

The trio, who were detained from Sonamarg area of the district yesterday, will now be taken to Delhi on way toKolkata. A Scorpio vehicle with a West Bengal number plate has also been seized.

Earlier, Sen, Mukherjee and Chauhan were put through medical examination before being presented in the court. Doctors declared them fit to be taken out of the Valley by the Kolkata police team. Lakhs of investors of the chit fund group have hit the roads alleging they have been duped of over Rs 30,000 crore. Hundreds of agents of the company have also been rendered jobless.

The West Bengal government has announced formation of a Special Investigation Team and a high-level inquiry into chit fund companies after the collapse of Saradha group. The bubble burst after capital market regulator SEBI started cracking the whip on chit fund companies for flouting rules, triggering pressure on the group's finances.

I was used, blackmailed by Trinamool MPs: Saradha Group CMD to CBI

Saradha Group CMD Sudipta Sen has sent an 18-page letter to the CBI containing names of several key politicians, officials and legal experts who allegedly milked the company for money.

The letter, which reached the CBI in Delhi as Sen remained at large, was forwarded by the agency to its office in Kolkata, and it was subsequently referred to the Bidhannagar police commissionerate.

Bidhannagar police commissioner Rajeev Kumar received Sen's letter on April 19, top sources said. The letter could potentially blow the lid off the nexus between politicians and Bengal's chit fund industry, which has allowed lakhs of investors in villages and small towns to be duped of their savings.

Arnab Ghosh, DC, DD, Bidhannagar police commissionerate, confirmed having received the letter from CBI. "It is a letter from an accused who is on the run," Ghosh said.

The letter, which has reportedly been attested by Sen on each of its 18 pages, is believed to have described his close links with at least two Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha members and a minister of the Assam government.

The letter allegedly describes how Sen was "blackmailed" by these MPs and the minister for money. Sen's chit fund business was well entrenched in Assam, and his media company had a daily newspaper, Seven Sisters' Post, in Guwahati.

The paper has shut down, along with all the publications that he had opened or taken over in Bengal.

Attached to the letter is a list of 22 names of people who allegedly "used" Sen to make money. At least five senior political leaders are learnt to be among them, besides a dozen businessmen who ran their own chit fund businesses in the state.

The letter allegedly describes how Sen had been "forced" to take over an ailing and loss-making motorbike manufacturing unit in Polba near Singur by a business lobby close to the Trinamool Congress government. It alleges that the TMC MPs promised Sen a free run in his businesses, without any government "interruption and intervention".

Top CBI sources said the letter narrates the story of the origin and growth of Sen's chit fund business. It allegedly names a senior functionary of a Kolkata football club who promised to "manage" things for him by using a "special connection" he had with an influential central government minister. This football official allegedly took a huge fee to set up Sen's line with the minister.

The sources said the letter also mentions the wife of a top UPA government minister, who is a legal expert. Sen allegedly paid around Rs 1 crore to this woman advocate to draft the legal papers for his takeover of a local news channel.

The letter is also believed to mention how Sen's own employees cheated him, leaking "confidential datas" of the company to rival firms.

It is learnt that the letter also mentions a number of projects in which the Saradha Group spent a lot of money, only to be in the "good books" of the government. It mentions donations of ambulances, motorbikes and bicycles, which the state government allegedly distributed in Naxal-hit Junglemahal.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has denied knowledge of the scam, or of the now three-year-old SEBI probe against Sen. The rash of companies that operated under the Saradha Group umbrella were never registered with the government for collecting deposits from the public. But Sen continued to evade action for at least seven years during which his companies raised crores of rupees from depositors in various schemes.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/1106992/

Saradha chit fund chief arrested in J-K, depositors furious in West Bengal

  | Kolkata, April 24, 2013 | 08:46
Sealed office of Saradha Group chit fund company in West Bengal.
Sealed office of Saradha Group chit fund company in West Bengal.
Fifty-year-old Urmila Pramanik had invested Rs 30,000 in the Saradha Group, the chit fund company in West Bengal that has gone bust. Unable to bear the shock of her life savings wiped away, she took her life on Sunday by drinking poison.

Lakshman Ghorui (35), who collected money for the company as an agent, too tried to take his life but was unsuccessful.

He had collected Rs 60 lakh from depositors. They are not alone. The bust-up has driven thousands of depositors to the wall, reviving memories of the collapse of Sanchayita Investments in the early eighties when several investors and agents committed suicide. The Saradha Group's collapse is believed to have wiped out Rs 20,000 crore of depositors' money, a figure that could go up as more details emerge.

People protest after Saradha Group's collapse.
More than 1,000 journalists and non-journalists have lost their jobs after the group wound up at least 10 media organisations, newspapers and television channels it had launched or acquired since 2010. One of its entertainment channels, Tara Music, was closed on Bengali New Year (April 15) amid dramatic scenes of anchors and other television crew members breaking down in front of the camera.

Thousands of angry agents who worked for the group, including women, have staged protests across West Bengal seeking action against the company. Many offices of the group were damaged by disgruntled investors. There are more than three lakh agents of the Saradha Group spread across Bengal.

Breaking her silence, the chief minister on Monday squarely blamed the opposition CPM for the scam that has left lakhs of people in the lurch. Banerjee formed a high-level inquiry committee, led by retired Justice Shyamal Sen, and an investigation team to look into the matter. The inquiry was instituted under the Commission of Inquiry Act.

The bust-up has driven thousands of depositors to the wall.
"I'm very rough and tough. We will see how the money can be returned to the investors," Banerjee said.

Union minister of state for railways Adhir Chowdhury, however, blamed the TMC for promoting the group across Bengal. "While Kunal Ghosh was the CEO of the media cell, state transport minister Madan Mitra headed Saradha's agents' union. At a programme, he once said that he would save Saradha with all kinds of help. We demand an investigation to find out the role of the ruling regime into Saradha's business," Chowdhury told Mail Today.

Trinamool Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh was the group CEO of Saradha's media business that suddenly closed down almost a dozen magazines, TV channels and other media businesses over the past one month.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/saradha-group-west-bengal-chit-fund-company-kunal-ghosh-sudipta-sen/1/267316.html

Cheat fund boss' explosive note to CBI (Full text). Notable mentions: Pranabda, lady advocate, wife of Union Cabinet Minister.

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April 25, 2013 Daily Pioneer "...I am feeling helpless because of unscrupulous persons and cheats in the society..."

http://www.scribd.com/doc/137809857/Sudipta-Sen-CMD-Sarada-Group-Letter-to-CBI

Sudipta Sen, CMD Sarada Group Letter to CBI



See also: http://im.rediff.com/news/2013/apr/23sudipta-sen-letter-to-cbi.pdf

CHEAT FUND BOSS’ EXPLOSIVE NOTE TO CBI
Thursday, 25 April 2013 | J Gopikrishnan | New Delhi



Among several bigwigs from West Bengal, the Saradha group Chit Fund scam is also reaching the doorstep of a very senior Cabinet Minister of the UPA Government at the Centre. In his 18-page letter to CBI’s Kolkata Unit about the involvement of the persons who extracted huge money from him, the Group’s CMD Sudipta Sen has alleged that he was forced to strike a deal worth Rs 42 crore with the wife of the Union Cabinet Minister from the Congress party.

Sen has explained that the Cabinet Minister’s wife, who is a noted advocate, had executed the deal for setting up of a television channel in Assam. The copy of the letter available with The Pioneer shows that Cabinet Minister’s wife was paid Rs 1 crore by Sen for preparing the agreement related to the takeover of a channel in North-East. The Chit Fund scamster says he paid all air fares and hotel bills of the Cabinet Minister’s wife as and when she landed in Kolkata for the past five years.

On page 10 of the letter, Sen writes that along with a television baroness, Manoranjana Sinh, from North-East, he went to the Chennai office of the lady advocate. Sen said Ms Sinh wanted him to buy her Positive Group and for that purpose that meeting took place.

He said that the wife of the Union Cabinet Minister, who was Ms Sinh’s advocate, requested him to sell out Rs 42 crore for setting up the TV channel and herself prepared the agreement.

Ms Sinh reportedly assured Sen that if the Cabinet Minister’s “family slightly stood by him” then he will wield great clout in India. He said that the Minister’s wife, without assessing his financial strength, put pressure on him to give out Rs 42 crore. “So far I remember, I have already paid Rs 25 crore to Ms Manoranjana Sinh in the name of company GNN India PVT Limited.” He also revealed spending nearly Rs 3 crore on travel expenses of Ms Sinh and members of her family.

In his letter, Sen has appealed that “one special officer must be appointed by any court and Manoranjana Sinh must return this amount so that small investors who invested money in his company should get return.”

Sinh has also named Manoranjana Sinh’s ex-husband Matang Sinh in his letter and alleged that he took Rs 28 crore for 50 per cent share of NE Bangala.

Sen said in the letter that recently through Rajesh Bajaj, a businessman of Guwahati, he negotiated with Matang Sinh and cancelled the agreement of shareholding. Sinh issued him post dated cheques of Rs 28 crore under the cancellation agreement, but they are lying with Rajesh Bajaj. Sen said that cheques should be recovered from Bajaj and handed over to a special officer and the money returned to investors of Assam.

This explosive letter was written by Sen on April 6 to CBI’s Anti-Corruption Bureau in Kolkata. The CBI unit had passed the letter to Bidhan Nagar (Salt Lake) Police Commissioner, say sources.

The Saradha group head also accused two TMC MPs of forcing him to acquire a regional news channel for Rs 24 crore and alleged that the MPs did not reveal that the company had a liability of Rs 6 crore. In return, he says, the two MPs offered to “protect” his business from the State and Central Governments.

On Page 15 of the letter, Sen reveals how he was forced to pay Rs 5 crore to the alleged agents of another Union Minister, when SEBI issued notice to him. The letter reveals that every month he paid around Rs 80 lakh to the agents as protection money for keeping the SEBI at bay. Sen’s explosive letter exposed that he was on the radar of SEBI for the past three years, which intriguingly took no action against him.

On Page 13, Sen also described his dealing with a Chennai based group, accused in the 2G scam. He says he purchased a shopping mall forRs 16 crores and TARA Group channels through this 2G Scam hit NRI business tycoon from Chennai.

In the letter, Sen speaks about payment made to 22 persons including two MPs from Bengal and Ministers from Assam for the protection of his chit fund business.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/cheat-fund-boss-explosive-note-to-cbi.html

Excerpts of two paragraphs on Pages 10 and 11:

“Another two persons in huge manner damage me. One is Mrs. Maoranjana Sinh and one is Mr. Matang Sinh. Mrs. Manoranjana Sinh contacted us for selling her Positive Groups to us and took me to Chennai in the chamber of the Mrs. NALINI CHIDAMBARAM as her advocate. Madam Chidambaram requested me to help her for setting up a channel in North East in Guwahati and support her extending Rs. 42 crores to her company and Madam Chidambaram herself prepared he agreement wherein she is he sole arbitrator for it if at all any dispute arises and requested me to financially support her immediately and also Madam Chidambaram fixed her consultancy and during period of one and half years on which account more than Rs. 1 (One) Crores have been given to her. Most of the time when she visit Calcutta with Manoranjan Sinh her air fare and taj hotel bills have been paid by me that is also a very big amount. Manoranjana Sinh assured me that madam Chidambaram is the wife of Mr. P. Chidambaram the then Hon’ble Home Minister and if this Chidambaram family slightly stand by me then I will be great cloud in India. Though Madam Chidambaram never assured me like this but without assessing my financial strength she has also pressurized me for supporting her Rs. 42 crores. So far I remember that I have already paid Rs. 25 crores to Mrs. Manoranjana Sinh in the name of the Company GNN India Pvt. Ltd. and N.K. Gupta, his father who is also the Whole Time Director of GN India Pvt. Ltd. and for her troubling purpose hotel accommodations in various places in India not less than Rs. 3 Crores have been spent. His son Mayurat use to travel London to his aunty’s home along with his grandfather Mr. N.K. Gupta that London Ticket has been given through our travel desk but as and when we are in trouble we wanted refund of our money back but she always threatened us to bear all the consequences through her high level contacts.

My appeal before all the regulating authorities is that after my death, one special officer must be appointed by any course and Manoranjan Sinh must return this amount before the Special Officer so that the small investors invested money in our company should get return, though almost 60% of the amount in the Assam region we have already paid, but incidentally identification of the subscriber and utilization of the money deposited by the investor in the company has not been ascertained, though from the 2011 Arup Shankar Dhar highly educated and very sincere person never participated in any financial scam and his core team is also very dediated but exactly I don’t know that after my death who will give them the support, and what kind of support they can help to the Special Officer to be appointed by the court or by any regulating authority clearing the outstanding of the creditors.” (Pages 10 and 11 of Sudipta Sen’s letter of 6 April 2013 to ACB, Kolkata, CBI, 234/4 AJC Bose Road, 14th Floor, Nizam Palace, 2nd MSO Building, Kolkata 700020. Email: hobackol@cbi.gov.in)

Sugata Bose of Harvard alleged MISUSING FUNDS of Netaji Research Bureau

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Netaji Research Bureau Misusing Funds: Bose Family
KOLKATA | MAR 17, 2013

Alleging misuse of government funds and distortion of history related to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, some members of the freedom fighter's family are planning legal action against Netaji Research Bureau.

"By misusing government funds, the bureau has become a business and money-making racket by a couple of family members of the Bose family. The rest of the family members have therefore decided to file a PIL in this regard in the Calcutta High Court," Netaji's grandnephew and family spokesperson Chandra Kumar Bose told PTI.

The Netaji Research Bureau is located inside Netaji Bhawan, the nationalist leader's ancestral house, on Kolkata's Elgin Road.

Besides a library for research scholars, it also has a museum and archives preserving the memory of Netaji.

Former Trinamool MP Krishna Bose, niece-in-law of Netaji, holds the post of chairperson at the bureau. Her elder son Sugata Bose, a professor of history at Harvard University, is its executive director.

Both Krishna and Sugato remained unavailable for comment on the issue.

The duo have supported the theory that Netaji died in a plane crash in 1945 while the rest of the family members have openly refused to accept it.

"The museum there is also in a bad condition, the rare documents are not well-maintained. They don't come out with original research reports on Netaji. Then what have they been doing with the grants from the Centre. There is a clear indication of misuse of funds," questioned Chandra Bose.

He said they have received complaints from scholars and even university professors that they are not allowed to use the archives for research.

"The people of India have the right to do research on their beloved hero and they should be allowed to enter and have access to the documents which are kept in the archives at Netaji Research Bureau," the family members said.

They have also taken exception to the website of the bureau which states that Dr Sisir Kumar Bose founded it.

"Sarat Chandra Bose, elder brother of Subhas Chandra Bose, had donated this house for promoting activities related to Netaji. Till 1976, all brothers and sisters of Netaji were involved in the functioning of the house till Krishna drove them out," Chandra said.

The majority view of the Bose family members is that efforts should be made to acquire the Netaji Bhavan either by the state or the central government, which should appoint a professional team to organise the research work.

They have suggested that the National Archives may also take on this responsibility.

"It should be run and managed professionally. No one has the right to do business with Netaji's name and image," they said.

http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=792684

Bronze-age writing in ancient Near East: Two Samarra bowls and Warka vase

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Bronze-age writing in ancient Near East: Two Samarra bowls and Warka vase

Abstract

Elaborating on Denise Schmandt-Besserat’s observation that “art became narrative and went beyond accounting to become a comprehensive medium of communication,” three artifacts discussed in this note point to the use of hieroglyphs to communicate substantive information on the life-activities of artisans of the bronze age. The literate communication occurred using the rebus renderings of select substrate meluhha words of glosses from Indian sprachbund, for select glyphs deployed in Indus writing which can be attributed to artisans of Meluhha settlements in ancient Near East. Two bowls discovered by Ernst Herzfeld in the 1911-1914 campaign at Samarra and Warka vase of ancient Sumer (one of a pair) stolen in April 2003 and recovered in June 2003 for the Iraqi museum provide the evidence for identifying hieroglyphs read rebus. Cuneiform texts attest to the presence of Meluhha settlements in Sumer. While cuneiform was deployed to denote names or benedictions to superiors, glyphs of Indus writing continued to be used on hundreds of cylinder seals and other artifacts such as Samarra bowls or Warka vase.

Ancient Near East and Meluhha interaction area

[quote] MAGAN and MELUHHA Geographical terms for regions in the distant south and southeast of Mesopotamia. Both names first appear in royal inscriptions of the Akkad period; “ships from Magan and Meluhha” were said to have brought goods to the quays of Akkad and other cities. It has been proposed that Magan referred to the coast of Oman along the Persian Gulf, rich in copper and dates, and Meluhha in the Indus valley. In Neo-Assyrian texts of the first millennium B.C., Magan and Meluhha probably designated the African coast of the Red Sea (Upper Egypt and Sudan). [unquote]
The major contribution made by Meluhhans in Sumer was tin and zinc as alloying minerals to create tin-, zinc-bronzes (to complement naturally-occurring copper + arsenic ores for arsenic bronzes).

Meluhhan artisans in Sumer used Indus writing to create metal-ware catalogs.

Meluhhan settlements in ancient Near East have been discussed. Rebus readings are based on substrate lexemes of Indian sprachbund, a contact region.with pronounced bronze-age contributions of creating alloys with tin and zinc.

Hieroglyphs of two Samarra bowls and Warka vase

Image 1. Eight fish, four peacocks holding four fish, slanting strokes surround

Image 2. Six women, curl in hair, six scorpions

Image 3. Warka vase . Antelope, ingot tiger, ingot, face of bull, procession of bovidae, tabernae Montana stalks

Rebus readings of hieroglyphs which also recur on Indus writing corpora :

dhāḷ ‘a slope’; ‘inclination of a plane’ (G.); dhāḷako ‘large metal ingot’ (G.)

ayo ‘fish’; rebus: ayas ‘metal’

mora peacock; morā ‘peafowl’ (Hindi); rebus: morakkhaka loha, a kind of copper, grouped with pisācaloha (Pali). moraka "a kind of steel" (Sanskrit)

gaṇḍa set of four (Santali); rebus: kaṇḍ ‘fire-altar, furnace’ (Santali)

मेढा [mēḍhā] A twist or tangle arising in thread or cord, a curl or snarl (Marathi). S. mī˜ḍhī f., °ḍho m. ʻ braid in a woman's hair ʼ, L. mē̃ḍhī f.; G. mĩḍlɔ, miḍ° m. ʻbraid of hair on a girl's forehead ʼ (CDIAL 10312). Rebus: mē̃ḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.)

bicha, bichā ‘scorpion’ (Assamese) Rebus: bica ‘stone ore’ (Mu.) sambr.o bica = gold ore (Mundarica) meṛed-bica = iron stone ore, in contrast to bali-bica, iron sand ore (Mu.lex.)

bhaṭa ‘six ’; rebus: bhaṭa ‘furnace’.

satthiya ‘svastika glyph’; rebus: satthiya ‘zinc’, jasta ‘zinc’ (Kashmiri), satva, ‘zinc’ (Pkt.)

kola ‘woman’; rebus: kol ‘iron’. kola ‘blacksmith’ (Ka.); kollë ‘blacksmith’ (Koḍ)

muha -- n. ʻmouth, faceʼ (Pkt.) mũh ‘face’; rebus: mũh ‘ingot’ (Mu.)

kul ‘tiger’ (Santali); kōlu id. (Te.) kōlupuli = Bengal tiger (Te.) कोल्हा [ kōlhā ] कोल्हें [kōlhēṃ] A jackal (Marathi) rebus: kol ‘furnace, forge’ (Kuwi) kol ‘alloy of five metals, pañcaloha’ (Tamil) kol ‘working in iron, blacksmith’; kollaṉ ‘blacksmith’ (Tamil).

ṭagara = tabernae montana (Skt.) ṭagara ‘antelope’; rebus: ṭagara ‘tin’. Cf. cognate: tamkāru, damgar ‘merchant’(Sumerian).

ḍã̄gar ‘horned cattle’ (K.) rebus: ḍāṅgar ‘blacksmith’ (H.) damgar ‘merchant, trader’(Sumerian).

Sources for the images:

Image 1. The Samarra bowl (ca. 4000 BC) at on exhibit at the Pergamon museum, Berlin. The bowl was excavated as Samarra by Ernst Herzfeld in the 1911-1914 campaign, and described in a 1930 publication. The design consists of a rim, a circle of eight fish, and four fish swimming towards the center being caught by four birds. At the center is a swastika symbol. (Ernst Herzfeld, Die vorgeschichtlichen Töpfereien von Samarra, Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra 5, Berlin 1930.)

Image 2. Women with flowing hair and scorpions, Samarra, Iraq. After Ernst Herzfeld, Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra V: Die vorgeschichtischenTopfereien, Univ. of Texas Press, pl. 30. Courtesy Dietrich Reimer. This image is discussed in Denise Schmandt-Besserat, When writing met art, p.19. “The design features six humans in he center of the bowl and six scorpions around the inner rim. The six identical anthropomorphic figures, shown frontally, are generally interpreted as females because of their wide hips, large thighs, and long, flowing hair…Six identical scorpions, one following after the other in a single line, circle menacingly around the women.”

Image 3. “The Warka Vase or the Uruk Vase is a carved alabaster stone vessel found in the temple complex of the Sumerian goddess Inanna in the ruins of the ancient city of Uruk, located in the modern Al Muthanna Governorate, in southern Iraq. Like the Narmer Palette from Egypt, it is one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture, dated to c. 3,200–3000 BC. The vase was discovered as a collection of fragments by German Assyriologists in their sixth excavation season at Uruk in 1933/1934. It is named after the modern village of Warka - known as Uruk to the ancient Sumerians.”

Some examples of use of comparable hieroglyphs frp, Indus writing corpora may be cited:

Chanhu-daro Seal obverse and reverse. The oval sign of this Jhukar culture seal is comparable to other inscriptions. Fig. 1 and 1a of Plate L. After Mackay, 1943. The hieroglyphs of the seal relate representations of bun ingots to two orthographic representations of ‘antelopes’: one is shown walking, the other is shown with head turned backwards. A flower is shown, perhaps, a representation of tabernae Montana.

Stamp seal from Susa , at Louvre Museum. “Susa is one of the oldest known settlements of the world, possibly founded about 4200 BC, although the first traces of an inhabited village have been dated to ca. 7000 BCE. The seal depicts two goat-antelopes head to tail, outside an oval.”

Tin bun ingot. Late Bronze Age, 10th-9th century B.C.E. Salcombe shipwreck, 300 yards off the South Devon coast, England, 2009.

Cylinder seal: lion and sphinx over an antelope

The depiction of a bull’s head together with an antelope is significant and recalls the association of bull’s head with oxhide ingots. The antelope looking backwards is flanked by a lion (with three dots at the back of the head) and a winged animal (tiger?)

Bhirrana

Allograph: Kur. xolā tail. Malt. qoli id. (DEDR 2135). [The ‘short-tail’ is a hieroglyph which is ligatured to an ‘antelope’ – as a hieroglyph read rebus. Such a ligatured-tail evolved into a ‘sign’ of the Indus script which appears on inscribed copper-tablets.] Rebus: kol ‘working in iron (metal), blacksmith (in this case, tin-smith)’. baṭa ‘six’ (hence six short strokes)(G.); rebus: bhaṭa ‘furnace, smelter’ (Santali). The stalk in front of the antelope is explained rebus: kolmo ‘rice-plant’(Santali); rebus: kolami ‘smithy/forge’ (Te.) The antelope orthography shows a ‘ram’: tagara ‘ram’; if the plant is tabernae montana, tagaraka ‘tabernae montana’; rebus: tagara ‘tin’. The seal shows an artisan-merchant who has a smelter to produce tin ingots.Antelope: meḷh ‘goat’ (Br.) Rebus: meṛha, meḍhi ‘merchant’s clerk; (G.) meḍho ‘one who helps a merchant’ vi.138 ‘vaṇiksahāyah’ (deśi. Hemachandra). Cf. meluhha-mũh > mleccha-mukha ‘copper (ingot)’.

“The earliest (Indus) inscriptions date back to 3500 BC.” h1522A sherd. Slide 124. Inscribed Ravi sherd. The origins of Indus writing can now be traced to the Ravi Phase (c. 3300-2800 BCE) at Harappa. Some inscriptions were made on the bottom of the pottery before firing. Other inscriptions such as this one were made after firing. This inscription (c. 3300 BCE) appears to be three plant symbols arranged to appear almost anthropomorphic. The trident looking projections on these symbols seem to set the foundation for later symbols…

The glyph is tabernae montana, ‘mountain tulip’. A soft-stone flask, 6 cm. tall, from Bactria (northern Afghanistan) showing a winged female deity (?) flanked by two flowers similar to those shown on the comb from Tell Abraq. Ivory comb with Mountain Tulip motif and dotted circles. TA 1649 Tell Abraq.

Susa pot, from Meluhha, with metal artifacts. The pot has an inscription, painted with ‘fish’ hieroglyph.
Meluhha and contributions to tin and zinc alloys

[quote] “...the earliest brass in the world was in the Harappan site of Lothal and then in the early PGW site of Atranjikhera. The primacy of zinc metallurgy in India is established by three kinds of evidences: (a) second millennium BCE radiocarbon dating of zinc ore mine in Southern Rajasthan, (b) fourth century BCE brass vase in Taxila assaying 34% zinc, and (c) second century AD literature of Nagarjuna describing distillation of zinc…(paper) details…large scale zinc manufacture in medieval Zawar and the unique phenomenon of a technology transfer from India to the western world…The earliest method of making brass was possibly the cementation process in which finely divided copper fragments were intimately mixed with roasted zinc ore (oxide) and reducing agent, such as charcoal, and heated to 1000 degrees C in a sealed crucible. Zinc vapour formed dissolved into the copper fragments yielding a poor quality brazz, zinc percentage of which could not be easily controlled. Fusion of zinc with copper increases the strength, hardness and toughness of the latter. When the alloy is composed of 10-18% zinc, it has a pleasing golden yellow colour. It can also take very high polish and literally glitter like gold. For this property, brass has been widely used for casting statuary, covering temple roofs, fabricating vessels, etc…Lothal (2200-1500 BCE) showed one highly oxidized antiquity (No. 4189), which assayed 70.7# copper, 6.04# zinc, 0.9% Fe and 6.04% acid-soluble component (probably carbonate, a product of atmospheric corrosion)…Most of the brass samples in ancient India contained variable proportions of Zn, Sn and Pb…During the Harappan era, copper used to be alloyed with tin and arsenic; since these were scarce commodities, alternative alloying elements had to be looked for. Artisans in the Rajasthan-Gujarat region might have stumbled on to zinc ore deposit as a new source of alloying element…(Taxila vase BM 215-284)…dated to the 4th century BCE. This brass sample contains 34.34% zinc, 4.25% Sn, 3.0% Pb, 1.77% and 0.4% nickel. This is very strong evidence for the availability of metallic sinc in the 4th century BCE. Possibly India was the first to make this metal zinc (rasaka) by the distillation process, as practiced for other metal mercury (rasa)...The pseudo-Aristotelian work, ‘On marvelous things heard’ mentioned: “They also say that amongst the Indians the bronze is so bright, clean and free from corrosion that it is indistinguishable from gold, but that amongst the cups of Darius there is a considerable number that could not be distinguished from gold or bronze except by color.”...The Indian emphasis was on the ‘gold-like’ brass and not on the zinc metal…The discovery of three important hoards of metallic art objects at Mahudi of north Gujarat, Lilvadeva (north-east) and Akota of central Gujarat, dated between 6th and 11th centuries AD, proved that the artisans there had developed four varieties of alloys: (a) bronze, (b) zinc-bronze, (c) lead brass, and (d) conventional brass…The technical term ārakūṭa for brass persisted through centuries and we find this mentioned in the 4th century AD Jaina text Angavijja (as hārakūḍa) and also in Amarakośa (450 AD)…Pliny mentioned the Latin term aurichalcum (golden copper), made in India from cadmia, identified as calamine or the zinc ore. Samuel Beal suggested that the name cadmia came from Calamina, a port at the mouth of the Indus, which negotiated the export of the ore or the alloy of zinc. Ball, however, suggested that the port was Calliana or Kalyan near Bombay. The sixth century AD traveler Sopater had mentioned Calliana exporting brass…The earliest reference to zinc as a metl is found in Nagarjuna’s Rasa-Ratnākara. In one passage (RR 3) it was mentioned: “What wonder is that rasaka (zinc or zinc ore) roasted with three parts of śulva (copper) converts the latter into gold”. Actually, this was gold-coloured 25% zinc-brass, also known as pīta-tāla (pitala) or yellow alloy.”…jast (derived from Sanskrit jaśada or zinc)…On brass and zinc metallurgy, the primacy of India in the ancient and medieval world is now beyond any dispute.” [unquote]

[quote] "The first smelting of iron [ore] may have taken place as early as 5000 BC" at Samarra, Mesopotamia, but more commonly early iron was recovered from fallen meteors (yielding iron with a characteristic 4+% nickel content). By the middle of the fourth millennium BC, "both texts and objects reveal the presence of iron" in Mesopotamia, from where the Jaredites departed. Just possibly they brought with them to the New World technical knowledge of that metallurgy. Sporadically throughout the Bronze Age (about 3500 BC–1000 BC) in the Near East, wrought (nonmeteoric) iron objects were being produced, along with continued use of the meteoric type. Yet details of the history at that time are poorly known. The find of an iron artifact from Slovakia dated to the 17th century BC leads one researcher to lament "how little we actually know about the use of iron during the second millennium BCE." Steel is "iron that has been combined with carbon atoms through a controlled treatment of heating and cooling." Yet "the ancients possessed in the natural (meteoric) nickel-iron alloy a type of steel that was not manufactured by mankind before 1890." (It has been estimated that 50,000 tons of meteoritic material falls on the earth each day, although only a fraction of that is recoverable.) By 1400 BC, smiths in Armenia had discovered how to carburize iron by prolonged heating in contact with carbon (derived from the charcoal in their forges). This produced martensite, which forms a thin layer of steel on the exterior of the object (commonly a sword) being manufactured. Iron/steel jewelry, weapons, and tools (including tempered steel) were definitely made as early as 1300 BC (and perhaps earlier), as attested by excavations in present-day Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Israel, and Jordan. "Smiths were carburizing [i.e., making steel] intentionally on a fairly large scale by at least 1000 BC in the Eastern Mediterranean area." [unquote]

Conclusions

The continued use of hieroglyphs of Indus writing together with cuneiform texts is a characteristic feature of the evolution of writing in ancient Near East as it progressed from the use of tokens and bullae to the use of glyphs to denote many metallurgical categories. A method of rebus readings evidenced for Narmer palette in Egypt applied to the Indus writing glyphs reveals Meluhha (mleccha) substrate lexemes from Indian sprachbund.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/137862462/Bronze-Age-Writing-in-Ancient-Near-East

Bronze Age Writing in Ancient Near East

‘A Chinese Threat to Afghan Buddhas’ -- NYTimes

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Video: http://nyti.ms/15FpJT0
April 23, 2013
‘A Chinese Threat to Afghan Buddhas’
By BRENT E. HUFFMAN

When I first traveled to Afghanistan in 2004, I immediately fell in love with the country and its people, and I was optimistic that the young people in Kabul would soon have better lives. Yet my hopes dimmed as I learned about a revolving door of exploitation at the hands of the Russians, Americans and now the Chinese — who have begun mining Afghanistan’s plentiful natural resources and threatening priceless national heritage sites.

In 2007, the Chinese state-owned China Metallurgical Group Corporation (M.C.C.) won the rights to mine copper at a site called Mes Aynak. Situated in volatile Logar Province, Mes Aynak is home to one of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits — worth more than $100 billion. Yet, as this Op-Doc video shows, the site also houses the astonishing remains of an ancient Buddhist city, which archaeologists are now racing to save. An international team has only until June to finish the excavations, which began in 2009. So far they have uncovered golden Buddhist statues, dozens of buildings and fragile Buddhist manuscripts buried within temples. Yet perhaps 90 percent of the site remains underground and unseen. To finish the job could take decades. In all likelihood, the destruction of the Buddhist sites will begin later this year. The Afghan government is letting this happen — it’s a tragedy that echoes the notorious destruction of the Buddhas at Bamiyan in 2001.

Yet, even after four trips to Afghanistan to report this story, it’s difficult for me to know for sure what will become of Mes Aynak. Recent repeated attempts to contact the M.C.C. to confirm the mining timeline for this story have gone unanswered. There is widespread corruption and virtually no government transparency in Afghanistan, and the M.C.C. contract has never been made public.

I have heard arguments in favor of the mining. The copper deal is the largest foreign investment and private business venture in Afghanistan’s history. There is hope among some Afghans that this Chinese deal will bring real and positive change to Afghanistan — jobs, infrastructure and money to help fuel economic growth. Some of the Buddhist artifacts are being rescued, and it’s possible that not all of the ancient sites will be destroyed by the mining.

But I worry that nothing positive will come from this mining project. I fear the mineral resource is being undervalued, that money will be lost to corruption in the Afghan ministries and that jobs at the mine will go to Chinese immigrants. Geologists tell me that, as a result of the open-pit style of mining, the site will most likely become so toxic that nothing can ever live there again. Money can come and go, but these precious historical artifacts will be gone forever.

Brent E. Huffman is a documentary filmmaker and assistant professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is expanding the material in this Op-Doc into a feature-length documentary.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/opinion/a-chinese-threat-to-afghan-buddhas.html?pagewanted=print

Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. Why was a Chennai lady lawyer fixing deals in the Saradha scam? Congress minister must clarify -- AITMC

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Chit fund letter-bomb names Nalini Chidambaram, Trinamool attacks
Reported by Sunetra Choudhury, Edited by Prasad Sanyal | Updated: April 25, 2013 15:51 IST

New Delhi / Kolkata: Before he was arrested from a hotel in Kashmir, Sudipta Sen, head of the Saradha Group, sent a letter to the CBI in which he listed 22 people who he accuses of blackmailing or "using" him to make money.

Among them are senior leaders of the ruling party in Bengal, the Trinamool Congress, and national-level politicians. Mr Sen has also devoted a lengthy para to Nalini Chidambaram, a senior lawyer married to Finance Minister P Chidambaram. (Read: Chit fund chief's letter-bomb lists national leaders, Mamata MPs)

The Trinamool has denied links to the controversial entrepreneur, but has quickly moved to indict Mrs Chidambaram. On the party website, it does not name her, but asks," Why was a Chennai lady lawyer fixing deals in the Saradha scam? Congress minister must explain."

Chit fund scam: Mamata asks Bengal to smoke a little more to help raise Rs. 500-cr relief fund
Mr Sen's chit fund scheme went under last week, and triggering large street protests in Bengal and Assam.

In his 18-page note to the CBI, Mr Sen says he was forced to strike a series of business deals that were tilted heavily in favour of politicians. One of these deals for a TV channel in Guwahati, he says, was mediated by Mrs Chidambaram. The proposal for a 42-crore investment, he says, came from Manoranjana Singh, who was once married to Congress politician Matang Singh.

Mr Sen says that Mrs Chidambaram was paid over a crore as her legal fee.

He says that though Mrs Singh spoke of how Mr Chidambaram's "great clout" could be beneficial to him, Mrs Chidambaram "never assured me like this."

Sources close to Mrs Chidambaram say that she represented Mrs Singh in other cases, and therefore was asked to offer her professional advice in her negotiations with Mr Sen. Sources also say that Mrs Chidambaram advised her client against the 42 crore investment by Saradha group after reviewing his companies' financial track record. Her fee, they argue, was shared by both parties, as is standard practice, and was not exorbitant for a lawyer of her seniority.

On its website, the Trinamool Congress alleges, "A lady lawyer, wife of a powerful minister, allegedly charged Rs. 1 crore to draft an agreement other lawyers could have done for a much smaller sum. Why was she paid such a generous fee? What was the quid pro quo?"

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/chit-fund-letter-bomb-names-nalini-chidambaram-trinamool-attacks-358837

  
  

Why was a Chennai lady lawyer fixing deals in the Saradha scam? Congress minister must clarify
April 25, 2013

Page 10 of Sudipta Sen`s letter to the CBI has thrown up piquant and important questions in relation to the role of a lady lawyer from Chennai, the wife of a senior Congress Minister, in the goings-on of the Saradha Group and its bucket-shop operations. These questions need to be clarified by the lady and/or her husband.

1. Senior Advocates are usually barred from meeting clients directly. Why did the lady lawyer make an exception in the case of Sudipta Sen? Who was the solicitor? Why were conventions of the legal profession ignored in this `special` matter?

2. One Congress Minister`s lawyer-wife draws up an agreement to get Rs 42 crore in capital for a former Congress Minister`s wife for a dubious business project. What was the lady lawyer`s interest in the venture? Why was she soliciting capital and investment from Sudipta Sen, almost in the manner of an investment banker?

3. The proposed business venture ` a television channel ` and its promoter both belonged to the Northeast. So many good, senior lawyers are available in New Delhi and Guwahati. Why did the promoter go to a lawyer in faraway Chennai to draft the agreement and act as consultant? Was there a hint of political coercion and protection money?

4. The lady lawyer, wife of a powerful minister, allegedly charged Rs 1 crore to draft an agreement other lawyers could have done for a much smaller sum. Why was she paid such a generous fee? What was the quid pro quo?

5. Caesar`s wife must be above suspicion. This rule applies for the Trinamool in Kolkata. Does it apply for the Congress in New Delhi and Chennai?

https://www.aitmc.org/news_details.php?nid=1347


2G scam: Chuck out Chacko -- United Opposition. SoniaG Cong is subverting Constitution.

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CHUCK OUT CHACKO, SAYS UNITED OPP

Friday, 26 April 2013 | PNS | New Delhi


Rising above political and ideological differences, 15 members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing the 2G spectrum scam approached Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday expressing ‘no confidence’ in JPC Chairman PC Chacko.

This came after Chacko postponed the JPC meeting scheduled at 3 pm, citing the demise of a TMC Lok Sabha member, as the reason for doing so. Rattled by the Opposition’s onslaught, the Congress also shot off a letter to the Speaker demanding ouster of three BJP members from the JPC on the ground of conflict of interest.

The all-out war in the JPC started with arch rivals like Trinamool Congress and the Left from West Bengal and AIADMK and DMK from Tamil Nadu attending a joint meeting with BJP and JD(U) members at the Biju Janata Dal’s Parliamentary office here, to firm up a joint strategy against the Congress.

Those who petitioned the Speaker against Chacko include BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh, Gopinath Munde, Ravishankar Prasad, Harin Pathak and Dharmendra Pradhan, DMK leaders TR Baalu and T Siva, Sharad Yadav and RCP Singh from the JD-U, CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta, Sitaram Yechury of the CPM, Arjun Charan Sethi from the BJD, AIADMK leader M Thambidurai and Kalyan Banerjee of Trinamool Congress.

“After submission of no confidence motion signed by 15 members of the JPC, PC Chacko has no moral right to continue as the Chairman. No confidence motion against PC Chacko has been moved by majority of members of the JPC. Only six out of 15 signatories are from the BJP,” Lok Sabha’s leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj said.

The Opposition’s united strategy immediately triggered retaliation from the Congress and the ruling party demanded ouster of Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and Ravishankar Prasad from the JPC.

Some Congress MPs led by JP Aggarwal met Meira Kumar and submitted a letter demanding removal of the three BJP members on the ground that they were “instrumental in taking major decisions relating to the telecom sector that are being investigated by the JPC, as its terms of reference ranges from 1998 to 2009.”

Jaswant Singh was Chairman of a high-level Group on Telecom in 1998 and later head of a Group of Ministers on Telecom in which Yashwant Sinha and Ravishankar Prasad were members, they pointed out.

Significantly, at the time of the JPC’s inception also, the Congress had objected to their involvement on the same grounds, but had later accepted the Speaker’s decision approving their membership.The Congress’s knee jerk reaction signals the desperation in the ruling camp, which did not anticipate such a crisis hitting its JPC plans.

The Chacko-headed panel had stirred up a hornet’s nest by denying former Telecom Minister A Raja an opportunity to appear before the JPC, giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the scam and pointing fingers at former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, even without hearing him.

With half of the panel MPs seeking removal of Chacko, the Congress desperately needs the support of DS Chauhan and Satish Chandra Mishra of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Shailendra Kumar of the Samajwadi Party.

The SP said it would “oppose” the JPC draft report if former Telecom Minister A Raja is not allowed to personally depose before it, but ruled out siding with the BJP in demanding removal of Chacko as Chairman of the JPC.

“We wish to state very clearly that A Raja should be given an opportunity to appear before the JPC. If not, then we will oppose the draft report,” SP leader Naresh Agarwal told reporters outside Parliament House.

Chacko, who staunchly opposed the possibility of his quitting, was present at the Congress Core Group headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

The meeting decided to buy time so that the party’s political managers could try to break the Opposition’s unity and also ensure support of the BSP and SP.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath rejected the demand for Chacko’s removal while expressing confidence that the members will exercise correct judgement irrespective of their party affiliation.

The Congress banks on the fact that there is no rule under which the JPC Chairman can be removed, but realises that the fate of the JPC report would remain questionable if majority of the members reject it.

Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap admitted that there is no rule for removal of the JPC Chairman as those framing the Constitution did not visualize that Parliamentary panels would work on party lines, however, to retain the credibility and sanctity of the JPC the Speaker must seriously consider the request of the 15 members who have demanded Chacko’s removal.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/chuck-out-chacko-says-united-opp.html

Media duplicity. PC and wife Nalini Chidambaram silent as Trinamool Congress targets duo.

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Saradha scam and media’s duplicity

By Kanchan Gupta on April 25, 2013


Senior Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy is absolutely right when he says that a cheat’s allegations cannot be taken at face value. He was responding to a television anchor’s taunting questions about the Trinamool Congress’s connections with Saradha, the chit fund company that has turned turtle, sinking the fortunes of thousands of families, most of them from the lower income group, across several States.

Sudipta Sen, the fraud who operated the scam with more than ample political protection, purchased at a high price paid in cash to individuals, has released a letter he has written to the CBI. In this letter he has mentioned several names and levelled various allegations. It could well be a ploy to distract attention from his misdeeds. Or the charges could be true. Only a fair investigation can determine the truth.

One of the names mentioned by Sudipta Sen is Nalini Chidambaram who was allegedly paid Rs 42 crore towards ‘legal fees’. The charge is as yet unproved and may turn out to be entirely baseless. Also, it remains unknown what legal representation or service was offered by her, if she was indeed paid this kind of money. A PTI report quotes “sources close to Nalini Chidambaram” denying the allegations. But, as I said, the facts can be affirmed only through an impartial inquiry.

TMC questions Saradha payment to ‘lady lawyer’

Newspapers and news channels have been pitiless in naming (and, in the process, shaming) individuals, especially those associated with the Trinamool Congress, mentioned by Sudipta Sen in his letter. But barring The Hindu and The Telegraph, no other media organisation has named Nalini Chidambaram. The lame excuse that has been offered is remarkably laughable: Since there is no evidence, it is only fair she should not be named.

It’s laughable because such high concern for journalistic ethics has never prevented mainstream media from manufacturing, flinging and repeating the wildest allegations against Gujarat’s Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Such highfalutin bunk about ‘basics of journalism’ has not stopped mainstream media from defaming and vilifying Narendra Modi for more than a decade.

Yet, when it comes to Nalini Chidambaram, our media daredevils turn into timid pussy cats, purring their allegiance to journalistic ethics. This tells its own shameful story, a story about abhorrent mainstream media duplicity.

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/04/25/saradha-scam-and-medias-duplicity-70506.html

STUNG TMC TURNS TABLES ON CONG

Friday, 26 April 2013 | PNS | New Delhi/Kolkata

While Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his wife Nalini kept a stony silence on the accusation against the latter in the explosive revelation made by tainted chit fund owner Sudipta Ghosh, the Trinamool Congress on Thursday seized the opportunity to target the duo.

Lambasting certain media houses and the Congress for only highlighting the alleged role of their MPs — Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Ghosh — in the Bengal chit fund scam, TMC said either Chidambaram or Nalini should clarify Nalini’s deals with Saradha Group’s CMD Sudipta Sen. Reminding that ‘Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion’, TMC posed five questions to Chidambaram and his wife to answer.

“Page 10 of Sudipta Sen’s letter to the CBI has thrown up piquant and important questions in relation to the role of a lady lawyer from Chennai, the wife of a senior Congress Minister, in the goings-on of the Saradha Group and its bucket-shop operations. These questions need to be clarified by the lady and/or her husband:

Q1. Senior Advocates are usually barred from meeting clients directly. Why did the lady lawyer make an exception in the case of Sudipta Sen? Who was the solicitor? Why were conventions of the legal profession ignored in this `special` matter?

Q2. One Congress Minister`s lawyer-wife draws up an agreement to get `42 crore in capital for a former Congress Minister’s wife for a dubious business project. What was the lady lawyer’s interest in the venture? Why was she soliciting capital and investment from Sudipta Sen, almost in the manner of an investment banker?

Q3. The proposed business venture ‘a television channel’ and its promoter both belonged to the North-East. So many good, senior lawyers are available in New Delhi and Guwahati. Why did the promoter go to a lawyer in faraway Chennai to draft the agreement and act as consultant? Was there a hint of political coercion and protection money?

Q4. The lady lawyer, wife of a powerful Minister, allegedly charged `1 crore to draft an

agreement, while other lawyers could have done it for a much smaller sum. Why was she paid such a generous fee? What was the quid pro quo?

Q5. Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion. This rule applies for the Trinamool in Kolkata. “Does it apply for the Congress in New Delhi and Chennai,” asked TMC in a statement from Kolkata.

TMC pointed out that the Congress Minister AH Khan Chowdhury wrote to the Prime Minister last year in which he withdrew an earlier complaint that sought investigation into Saradha’s chit fund. Chowdhury wrote that when he had asked for an inquiry against Saradha in 2011, he was misinformed that Sen’s father was an infamous chit-fund owner who had duped thousands of people and committed suicide. The minister praised Saradha Realty for conducting “a prosperous and successful” business and said it had no links to a chit fund. Chowdhury on his part accused the TMC of “using the Congress to cover up their fault”.

The TMC, however, hit back saying the Congress must probe why its MP did a U-turn within six months. Demanding Chowdhury’s resignation, TMC MP Derek O’Brien said, “In September 2011, Chowdhury wrote a letter demanding strict action against Saradha group. Within six months, he does a U-turn and says the company be spared. The Congress has to give serious answers why its minister did this U-turn.”

Chowdhury defended himself saying: “In my previous note (a letter dated September 2011 in which he demands action against Saradha group) I had made some errors. It was a mistaken identity and I would be sued, so I had to change my opinion... I mistook Sudipta to be someone else... I met Sudipta only six months after my second letter,” he said.

In the 18-page letter to CBI, Sen alleged he was forced by Nalini to invest in a new television project in North-East worth Rs.42 crore. According to him, TV baroness Manoranjana Sinh, wife of former Congress Minister Matang Sinh took him to Nalini’s office in Chennai. When contacted, Nalini on Wednesday refused to speak to The Pioneer about her relationship with Sen.

The copy of the letter available with The Pioneer shows that Cabinet Minister’s wife was paid Rs 1 crore by Sen for preparing the agreement related to the takeover of a channel in North-East.

“Madam Chidambaram requested me to help her for setting up a channel in North-East in Guwahati and support her by extending Rs 42 crores to her company,” Sen writes adding Nalini herself prepared the agreement.

“Without assessing my financial strength she also pressurised me to support her with Rs 42 crores. So far I remember that I have already paid Rs 25 crore to Mrs Manoranjana Sinh in the name of the Company GNN India Pvt.Ltd,” said Sen.

Meanwhile BJP’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad said the role of a Tamil Nadu-based advocate, who is connected to Finance Minister, has come into focus and a proper probe must be held to reveal the level of her involvement in the scam.

The Congress defended Nalini Chidambaram on the ground that as a lawyer she had accepted the professional fee for advice/service rendered. Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury said that lawyers are entitled to get their fees for advice rendered.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/stung-tmc-turns-tables-on-cong.html


DIDI’S SIN TAX
Rs 500cr plan to refund poor victims


OUR BUREAU

Calcutta, April 24: If those who commit the sin of smoking sin a bit more, it will pay for some of the alleged sins of Sudipta Sen.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today announced a Rs 500-crore relief fund for the worst-affected poor depositors of the Saradha Group, signalling a 10 per cent additional tax on tobacco products to raise the money and asking smokers to light up “a little more” to fill the mercy purse.

The announcement, considered a political water-cannon to douse public anger, stunned officials who are bracing for an administrative nightmare.

Some wondered how the government could refund the investors when Sebi, the capital markets watchdog, had asked Sen to pay back the money in three months. “Is it a bailout package for the poor or for Sen?” asked an incredulous official.

Mamata cited compassion for the downtrodden — a theme that was at play in Singur when plots could not be returned and after a hooch tragedy near Diamond Harbour. “Despite our acute financial constraints, we have decided to set up a relief fund of Rs 500 crore. This will be exclusively for those depositors who are really poor, downtrodden and those who are banking exclusively on the money they had deposited with the company,” she said.

It was not clear how Mamata arrived at the figure of Rs 500 crore as the extent of the defaults is not yet fully known. Sen has put his liability between Rs 300 and 400 crore, though others had spoken of Rs 1,200 crore.

“I seek apology from everyone for having to say that we have decided to increase 10 per cent tax on cigarettes and all kinds of tobacco products…. Despite this measure, Rs 500 crore cannot be arranged as the tax increase will give us only Rs 150 crore. We will arrange for the remaining sum somehow,” the chief minister said.

She added: “Apnara ei kodin ektu beshi korey khan, taholey taratari uthey ashbey (please smoke a little more these few days, then the amount can be raised quickly).”

Public health specialists were aghast. About 36 per cent of adults in Bengal consume some form of tobacco, in contrast to 35 per cent in India, and 14 per cent adults smoke in Bengal, against 9 per cent across India.

“A move to raise taxes on tobacco would be in favour of public health — as it’s intended to reduce consumption. But such a move should certainly not be accompanied by suggestions that people should use more tobacco,” said Monika Arora of Public Health Foundation of India, a research institution in New Delhi.

“If this was intended to be a serious message, it would tantamount to a violation of the 2003 law that prohibits any person from promoting tobacco for any purpose,” said Amit Yadav, a lawyer with Hriday, a Delhi-based NGO.

The chief minister cited the examples of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, where taxes on tobacco products add up to around 50 per cent. She said that even after the hike, the tax would be only 40 per cent in Bengal.

Slapping a “sin tax” on addictive and harmful products is not unusual if the objective is to discourage their consumption and fund welfare projects. But few could recall an instance where the proceeds were used to repay deposits collected illegally amid allegations of links to those in power.

A comparison could be the $700-billion bailout the US government offered in 2008 to banks that triggered the crisis by reckless lending. But the default in Bengal does not have the global implications the US meltdown had — barring the political uncertainties confronting Trinamul.

“Why is the government shouldering the responsibility of Sen? Is the government trying to pay the price of the party’s proximity to the Saradha Group?” asked a city-based economist.

According to him, the chief minister should take measures to ferret out the money the group had collected.

Saradha Realty’s balance sheet for the year to March 2011 shows it had collected an advance of Rs 78 crore on account of bookings against property. Another unexplained advance of Rs 79 crore is shown. Saradha Tours and Travels, the other company raising deposits, shows Rs 17 crore under this head as on March 2012. Government officials felt the figures were too low, compared with the mobilisation drive.

According to the chief minister, the Justice Shyamal Sen commission will determine the beneficiaries of the relief fund.

A senior minister said he would not be surprised if people started queuing up outside BDO offices. “This may set a precedent as people will ask the government to return the money if other companies default,” he added.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130425/jsp/frontpage/story_16825376.jsp#.UXmUzqJTCvc

Enforcement Directorate steps into Saradha drama after Assam cops file case

New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Finance Ministry has registered a money laundering case to probe the allegations of financial irregularities by numerous depositors against the scam-hitSaradha group of Kolkata.

The ED has registered a regular case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at its Guwahati office after the Assam police registered a first information report (FIR) against the group following allegations by investors that they were duped of their hard earned money.

The group and its investments are already being probed by a host of agencies including the Securities & Exchange Board of India, the Income Tax department and investigation units under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

“The agency is looking for proceeds of crime and the illegal funds which could have been laundered by the agents and promoters. The probe will be in close coordination with other investigative agencies and police,” a source said.

The ED will also go through the FIRs registered by West Bengal police in this case.

The Saradha group has hit the headlines recently for allegedly defrauding thousands of depositors.

The ED, according to sources, will also go through the business and personal transactions of the Saradha group Chairman Sudipto Sen and his close associates and the business dealings of the groups' various investment schemes.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130425/jsp/frontpage/story_16827847.jsp#.UXmVZKJTCvc

Corporate Affairs Ministry to probe Saradha group

New Delhi, April 25 (PTI): The Corporate Affairs Ministry on Thursday decided to order a probe into the affairs of Saradha group companies, amid a growing controversy over alleged defrauding of investors by the Kolkata-based entity.

The decision followed a meeting held this morning by the Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot with senior ministry officials.

The meeting also deliberated on steps required to check suspected fraudulent activities of other chit fund companies, they said, while adding that a formal announcement of the probe would be made soon.

The alleged scam at Saradha group is said to have defrauded thousands of investors, including poor people, in West Bengal, while its chief Sudipta Sen has been brought to Calcutta after being arrested in Kashmir two days ago.

In the past, the ministry had received complaints of alleged ponzi schemes at 73 companies of about a dozen different groups operating in West Bengal.

These complaints, which include those against Saradha group entities, had been referred to agencies and departments concerned by the ministry.

The Securities & Exchange Board of India, the stock market regulator, is also probing the fund-raising activities of the Saradha group. Besides, the Income Tax department would also investigate investments and finances of Saradha group. It is already probing five other similar cases in West Bengal.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130425/jsp/frontpage/story_16825969.jsp

Chidambaram's wife and chit fund scandal -- Trinamool asks questions

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Mamata drags Chidambaram’s wife into chit fund scandal
TNN | Apr 26, 2013, 12.47 AM IST

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress on Thursday dragged finance minister P Chidambaram into the unfolding Saradha scam by questioning the payment of more than Rs 1 crore to his wife by Sudipta Sen, the disgraced chairman of the busted chit fund.


Moving aggressively to contain the political fallout from the unravelling of Saradha, in which thousands have put in their money, Mamata's Trinamool asked Chidambaram to clarify the links of his wife, Chennai-based senior lawyer Nalini Chidambaram, with the Saradha chief.

In an 18-page letter to the CBI, naming all those who were allegedly responsible for the ruination of his company, Sen has claimed he paid more than Rs 1 crore to Nalini Chidambaram at the instance of Manoranjana Singh, the estranged wife of Congress leader Matang Singh. Manoranjana is alleged to have been trying to get Saradha to give Rs 42 crore to set up a TV channel in Guwahati.

Sources close to Nalini Chidambaram dismissed the claim while clarifying that that she represented Manoranjana before the Company Law Board in a case relating to a splitting of assets between her and her estranged husband. The sources also said that contrary to Sudipta's claim, it was Saradha which wanted to invest in Manoranjana's company, and Nalini Chidambaram had actually advised her client against the arrangement.

The sources said that the payment Nalini Chidambaram received from Saradha was in keeping with the regular practice where companies, investors as well as those seeking investments, are charged for due diligence. Further, they claimed that a Bangalore-based audit firm was also paid by Saradha for the same purpose.

'I paid for Nalini's stay in 5-star hotel'

In Sen's letter, which police has confirmed as genuine, the Saradha boss alleged that he paid for Nalini Chidambaram's visits to Kolkata and for her stays in a 5-star hotel. He went on to add that Nalini pressured him to invest Rs 42 crore in Manoranjana's company without "assessing my financial strength".

Sources close to Nalini Chidambaram did not deny that she had received the payment, but said that it was her fee for conducting a due diligence on the Saradha Group on behalf of her client, Manoranjana Singh.

However, Trinamool leapt upon Sudipta's claim to launch an offensive against Chidambaram. "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. This rule applies for the Trinamool in Kolkata. Does it apply for the Congress in New Delhi?" Trinamool Congress asked in a statement provocatively titled, "Why was a Chennai lady lawyer fixing deals in the Saradha scam? Congress minister must clarify".

Although Trinamool did not name Chidambaram, it was hardly a concession given the offensive tone of the party's statement against the "Congress minister."

TMC shot off five questions to the "Congress minister," to drive home the point. "Senior advocates are usually barred from meeting clients directly. Why did the lady lawyer make an exception in the case of Sudipta Sen? Who was the solicitor? Why were conventions of the legal professional ignored in this 'special matter'?"

It further asked: "One Congress minister's lawyer-wife draws up an agreement to get Rs 42 crore in capital for a former Congress minister's wife for a dubious business project. What was lady lawyer's interest in the venture? Why was she soliciting capital and investments from Sudipta Sen almost in the manner of an investment banker?"

Continuing in this accusatory tone, the statement asked why Manoranjana had to go all the way to the Chennai-based Nalini for something which she could have got done in Kolkata or Guwahati. "The proposed business venture, a television channel and its promoter both belonged to Northeast. So many good lawyers are available in New Delhi and Guwahati. Why did the promoter go to a lawyer in faraway Chennai to draft the agreement and act as a consultant? Was there a hint of political coercion and protection money?"

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mamata-drags-Chidambarams-wife-into-chit-fund-scandal/articleshow/19731783.cms

SIT on Gujarat riots sticks to its stand: No evidence against Modi. Teesta in league with USA.

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Teesta in league with USA. See wikileak cable http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/04/counterterrorism-disingenuous-us.html
SIT on Gujarat riots sticks to its stand: No evidence against Modi
By PTI - AHMEDABAD 26th April 2013 12:32 AM
Photos

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. (File photo: PTI)
The lawyer of the Supreme Court-appointed SIT, which has given a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2002 post-Godhra riots case after investigating complaint filed by Zakia Jafri, today said that "Modi has never said that go and kill people".

Opposing the protest petition filed by Jafri against SIT's closure report, its lawyer R S Jamuar said, "(social activist) Teesta Setalvad and others have falsified the complaint targeting Chief Minister who had never said that go and kill people."

During the second day of arguments, SIT lawyer targeted Setalvad, who has taken up the cause of riot victims, and who is helping Zakia, whose husband, Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, was killed in the riots.

Dubbing Setalvad as the sole "writer" of "fictitious" complaint against Modi and others, advocate Jamuar said: "The so-called incident of CM giving instructions to high-level police officers not to take action against the rioters is a sole creation of Teesta Setalvad. There is no evidence."

Zakia's petition demands filing of chargesheet against Modi and 58 others who she had named in her complaint filed before the Supreme Court. She has also sought further investigations by an independent agency other than SIT.

"On Teesta's instruction a citizens' tribunal was formed under the leadership of Justice (retired) V R Krishna Iyyer... after collecting evidence (it) published a report in which it was claimed that Modi has, in a meeting at his residence on February 27, 2002, gave so-called instructions," said Jamuar.

"When SIT member A K Malhotra examined the members of tribunal, they said the then state minister Haren Pandya told them. But they never had any evidence, no recording of testimony, nothing and still they came up with such conclusion," Jamuar said.

"As per the tribunal's report... in that meeting apart from CM three ministers were also present, whereas Zakai's own witness, (suspended IPS officer) Sanjiv Bhatt, later claimed that except Modi no politician was present," the SIT lawyer argued.

"How can they implicate Narendra Modi? Did CM say go on a rampage, go on a carnage, kill people? Tribunal's report is one of the ugliest inquiry report I have ever seen."

Advocate Jamuar also contended that Zakia's complaint alleges larger conspiracy hatched by Modi, "but Modi came to Gujarat in 2001 and this all happened within almost three months after he became Chief Minister. How can he hatch a larger conspiracy within that short time?"

"Complaint takes objections to CM's statement terming Godhra incidence as a conspiracy hatched by ISI during his visit to Godhra on February 27, 2002. But what's wrong in it?" he asked.

"Whenever there is such an incident, politicians of our country tend to blame it as ISI conspiracy. There is nothing wrong in it. Every time, every politician does that," Jamuar argued.

The SIT lawyer also said that Zakia had herself admitted during her deposition before the court in the Gulburg Society massacre trial that she and other witnesses were telling whatever Teesta Setalvad and (former IPS officer) R B Sreekumar asked them to.


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Comments(4)
Why Supreme Court of India is not prosecuting Tetsa Setalvad who has misguided SC and also tried to create wrong witness by bribing and forcing some muslims who have already made statements many times. Why SC is taking soft approach against this anti-national and fake NGO.
Posted by AMP at 04/26/2013 02:26 Reply to this Report abuse
Theesta Stelvad is a fundamentalist Christian funded by Sonia and the Christian Church. Only in a HIindu country that claims to be secular because of it's Hindu uniqueness, people like Theesta are misusing the democracy and the largeness of the Indian Hindu people. If this was any other country Theesta would have been put on trial and particularly in Islamic country she would have been stoned. In Christian countries she would have been called a witch or a terrorist and for falsifying data against an elected representative. Time has come for Judiciary to cut this crap once for all and put Theesta in jail and all others who are trying to find that magical needle which does not exist in a haystack. Lets be honest. Did Rajiv Gandhi say "go and kill Sikhs"? Did Chiddu say, "Go and Kill Hindus in Assam?" Did Farooq Abdullah or his father say, "go and kill Pundits in J&K?" So will it be ok if we file a complaint against Sonia Gandhey for being wife of Rajive the butcher of Sikhs?
Posted by Shiva Prasad at 04/26/2013 02:36 Reply to this Report abuse
The whole aim is to attack NaMo and destroy him poloitically under direct supervision of Congress. It is not done with a view to getting so called justice for the riot victims,but pure personal vendetta! I hope atleast in this issue, justice prevails.
Posted by neelu at 04/26/2013 02:40 Reply to this Report abuse
The dgp Mr sreekumar mentioned in the article in the last para is a 100% marxist person from kerala , he is the main conspirator , after the incident he is extensively used by congress channels to polarise and communalise the riotes for 12 years in various channels ,he has provided a lawyer by communist leaders in kerala , even today he appeared in malayala manorama channel popular and owned by christians and reiterated about jafry case and lying about the whole incident live on channel , , this conspirators are eying large muslim votes in kerala who vote as a block always along with xtians in kerala , 60% hindu population in kerala are devided and ruled by muslims and christians have 5 ministers each in the 12 members assembly , and 2 idiotic hindus who are crappy seculars are singing to their tunes , But we just believe that satyameva jayathe !!!!!!!
Posted by sachin vijayan at 04/26/2013 03:56 Reply to this Report abuse

http://newindianexpress.com/nation/SIT-on-Gujarat-riots-sticks-to-its-stand-No-evidence-against-Modi/2013/04/26/article1561653.ece

Illegal for minors to open Facebook account: petition

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NEW DELHI, April 25, 2013
Illegal for minors to open Facebook account: petition

NIRNIMESH KUMAR
DEVESH K. PANDEY

AP Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to respond within 10 days to a petition by former BJP ideologue K.N. Govindacharya accusing Facebook and Google of not verifying details of its subscribers. File photos

Explain how minors are getting into Facebook and Google, Delhi High Court asks govt.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Union government to explain how it was allowing children below 18 years to open accounts in social networking sites such as Facebook and Google.

A Division Bench of Justices B.D. Ahmed and Vibhu Bakhru asked the Centre to respond within 10 days when counsel for the former BJP leader, K.N. Govindacharya, the petitioner in the matter, accused the two sites of not verifying the details of its subscribers. It posted the matter on May 13 for further hearing.

The court has been seized of the petition since June 2012.

The Bench also impleaded Facebook Inc. and Google Inc. as parties to the petition and issued notices to them. Their Indian subsidiaries had responded to the petition.

Earlier, lawyer Virag Gupta, arguing for the petitioner, said the agreements entered into by minors here with the sites were against the Indian Majority Act, the Indian Contract Act and the Information Technology Act. In June 2012, Facebook, in a statement filed before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said that more than eight crore of its registered users had given false identities. This might have further increased, he noted.

The government had framed detailed guidelines for ‘Know Your Customer’ norms for all sectors and more specifically for verification of mobile subscribers by telecom companies. However, these norms were not being followed by the sites, thus posing a grave security risk to the nation, he added.

He also raised the issue of invasion of privacy of users of the sites as their data was being transferred to the U.S. for commercial use.

Cyber law experts say that there may be merit in the petition, as misrepresentation can invite penal action. “Creating a false electronic record is an offence under the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code. Under Section 465, the offence would attract punishment up to two years’ imprisonment and if the account so opened is used for the purpose of cheating, it would be punishable with a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment,” said top cyber law expert Pavan Duggal.

Children “openly lying about their age to create accounts on these websites” were likely to face potential legal exposure” and even parents “who knowingly misrepresent information about their children while opening accounts in their names,” could be prosecuted under the IPC and the IT Act. “Ignorance of law is no excuse,” he said.

The cyber law expert added that the online contract between users and social networking sites is enforceable in India. Therefore, under Indian law, both sides must be competent to contract, which means that they must be adults and of sound mind and the contract must be for lawful purposes. “Therefore, any [online] contract with a minor is null and void under the Indian Contract Act. While the age of majority in India is 18 years, it varies from country to country,” Mr. Duggal said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/illegal-for-minors-to-open-facebook-account-petition/article4654571.ece?homepage=true

Boston Marathon suspects planned New York attack, says Mayor Bloomberg. Harvard, abandon Diana Eck's pluralism project.

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Boston suspects planned attack on New York City, Mayor Bloomberg says
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said to have told FBI investigators of plan to drive to New York and detonate explosives in Times Square

Adam Gabbatt in New York and Dan Roberts in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 25 April 2013 20.43 BST


Link to video: Boston Marathon suspects planned New York attack, says Mayor Bloomberg
The Boston marathon bombing suspects planned to drive to New York with their remaining arsenal of explosives and launch an attack on Times Square, the city's mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Thursday.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old surviving suspect, is said to have told investigators about his plan during interrogations earlier this week in the Boston hospital where he is being treated for gunshot wounds to the neck, hands and legs.

The plan was only said to have been thwarted when the brothers were intercepted by police in a Boston suburb. An ensuing gun battle left the older brother dead and prompted a day-long manhunt for the survivor.

Bloomberg's revelation came as pressure increased on US authorities over their handling of the case. Senators emerged from new briefings by the FBI on Capitol Hill with concerns over how a number of US agencies handled warnings from Russia about Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who died after a botched escape attempt last Thursday.

Police in Boston were also facing questions over how they handled the manhunt for the brothers as new details emerged that contradicted earlier accounts given by senior officers.

In New York, Bloomberg and the city's police chief Raymond Kelly held a joint news conference at City Hall to announce the latest revelations from the interrogation of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. "We were informed by the FBI that the surviving attacker revealed that New York City was next on their list of targets," Bloomberg said at a City Hall news conference.

Bloomberg said that the Tsarnaevs had built additional bombs beyond those set off at the race last week. "He and his older brother intended to drive to New York and detonate those explosives in Times Square," Bloomberg said.

Police commissioner Raymond Kelly said the two suspects had a pressure-cooker bomb and five pipe bombs they wanted to use in the city. Kelly said the brothers' plot to target New York was "spontaneous" and had been hatched in the days following the Boston blasts, which killed three and injured more than 260.


Raymond Kelly and Michael Bloomberg. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had earlier told the FBI that the pair had intended to drive to New York to "party", Kelly said. But in a second interview, on Sunday night into Monday morning, he revealed that the brothers planned to target Times Square, according to Kelly. Photos obtained by authorities show that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had travelled to New York at least once last year.

Investigators questioned Tsarnaev at Beth Israel Deaconess medical center in Boston over a period of 16 hours without reading him his constitutional rights. According to the Associated Press, he immediately stopped talking after a magistrate judge and a representative from the US attorney's office entered the room and gave him his Miranda warning.

The 19-year-old was charged on Monday with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, a count that carries a possible death penalty. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a confrontation with police in Watertown, Massachusetts, on Thursday. He was shot by police and was struck by a car driven by his younger brother.

More questions were raised about how US authorities handled the case on Thursday. Senators emerged from new briefings by the FBI on Capitol Hill with concerns over how a number of US agencies handled warnings from Russia about Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The FBI and the CIA both investigated the warnings, but concluded the elder Tsarnaev, who visited Dagestan during a six-month trip to Russia in 2012, was not a terrorist threat.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who has been vocal in his criticisms of past intelligence failings, was scathing after the FBI briefing. "Boston has become, to me, a case study in system failure," he said.

In Boston meanwhile, more details emerged about the hours before the surviving suspect was captured. According to reports in the New York Times and the Washington Post, officials now concede that Djhokhar Tsarnaev was unarmed when he was detained, after the boat in which he was hiding was showered in a hail of gunfire. It has also emerged that the boat was within the search perimeter laid down by local police, contrary to the earlier assertions of senior officers.

Photo and video footage showed bullet holes in the boat, and the boat's owner described it as looking "like Swiss cheese". After Tsarnaev was detained, Boston police commissioner Ed Davis claimed police had "exchanged gunfire with the suspect who was inside the boat". But it has now emerged that no weapon was recovered from the boat and Tsarnaev was unarmed.

In fact, only one gun connected to the Tsarnaevs has been recovered, from the scene of the shootout where Tamerlan died on Thursday night. Multiple reports said the serial number had been removed.

Speaking after the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Davis said that the boat where the suspect had been hiding was "outside of the perimeter" established by officers. But Davis now says the boat was inside the perimeter. "It was an area that should have been checked," he said. "We are not sure how long he was in the boat. There was a pool of blood near where the car was dumped about four or five blocks away from the boat."

Davis said the circumstances of the capture of Tsarnaev would be reviewed. "We will have to see what prompted the volley of shots before the cease-fire was ordered by a superintendent of the Boston police," he said.

In Russia, the Tsarnaevs' mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, said she regretted emigrating to the United States, while continuing to insist that her sons are innocent. "You know, my kids would be with us, and we would be fine [if we hadn't moved]," she told the Associated Press. "So, yes, I would prefer not to live in America now! Why did I even go there? Why? I thought America is going to protect us, our kids, it's going to be safe."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/25/boston-bomb-suspects-new-york-city-attack

Unripened RAW. An intelligence blog which stopped with Part 1. The 'agent' now claims to keep truth alive and to be living in safety.

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OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND HOW IT RAINED ONE NIGHT
TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2012

The new Innings
Have had a lot of events forcing me to stay away from this blog and publish the truth, in fact, I had to even bring down my first post due to certain difficulties. Thank you all of you for visiting this place and keeping the truth alive.

I promise to deliver the further parts of this "three funerals and a wedding" in the next few months, now that I am living in safety and there is no further threat to my near and dear ones. I do hope that fellow Indians will stand be me.

Thank You
POSTED BY EX INDIAN INTELLIGENCE

Playing with a nation’s choices
Part 1 : Three funerals and a wedding


Prologue

I was part of various analysis teams of Indian intelligence agencies during the 80’s and 90’s and now live a anonymous life in a distant land. What I am going to propagate over a 3 part series in the next few days might seem very farfetched and even fantastic to most people and many conspiracy theorists might gleefully accept it as vindication for whatever they have been screaming from rooftops for quite some time now. My attempt though is neither to please any one nor to prove someone else wrong or right; it is just to come out with the truth as we perceived it. Most of the theory that I am going to put forward in part 1 is the work of us 5 people in 1991 while analyzing all the intelligence inputs over the years in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. We in the intelligence parlays termed it as “the Rajiv brief”. Most conclusions that we had come up with were unanimous and unequivocal. I must hasten to add that many parts of this so called “the Rajiv brief” were also part of an earlier analysis done in the mid 80’s by another team investigating the conspiracy angle to Mrs Indira Gandhi’s death. Theoretic overlapping in terms of evidences, intelligence briefings and logical conclusions between these two analysis reports might be common, but there are also significant points of divergence in both of these reports and since I have been privy to both I would suggest that the number of points of convergence between both sets of analysis far outnumber the differences. Sometime in the middle of 1992 we were suddenly asked to debunk the whole theory and change our line of thinking by powers that be, and we had to let go of a “very strong” case that we were building then. Of the core group of 5 analysts who were working on that case, 3 are no more (all died of normal causes) and 2 of us are still living anonymously without being in touch with each other. This is my attempt (after almost 2 decades) to complete “the Rajiv brief” and take it to its logical conclusion with the benefit of hindsight. I must warn though, that this is at the end of the day, just a theory based on intelligence inputs and field analysis built on a very plausible premise. It is an attempt to fill in the blanks between the “if’s” and “buts” of history with the luxury of retrospective intelligence.

The Theory: Five people four scenarios and three events

Mrs Sonia Gandhi is today the most powerful person in India and probably one of the most powerful women on earth. Elections 2009 have only reinforced her power. How did she end up becoming the most powerful person in India? This is the story of that ascendancy. Five people, four scenarios and three events stood between Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her destiny. Over the next few pages I am going to explain those scenarios through the eyes of a former intelligence analyst.

Scenario 1: The Rajiv-Sonia marriage

At the outset there is nothing more than just another love story to Mr Rajiv Gandhi’s romance with Miss Antonia Albina Maino in the mid 1960’s. Any suggestion that there were characters in the Cambridge university campus that not only hooked them up but also nurtured the famous romance is too farfetched. But having said that, let us consider some of the London tabloid reports of that time which variously suggested Rajiv was “constantly influenced” by a couple of students of European origin (I would not take names and let researchers do some hard work) and that at least one of those students was later absorbed by the Vatican’s intelligence wing. It would also be farfetched to speculate on Indian intelligence requesting the help of MI5 to analyze the Rajiv-Sonia romance, at least am not aware of any such report ever being filed. All these rumours and theories have done their rounds in the intelligence quarters of Delhi, especially during 1991-1992, but then we are rushing ahead of time so we shall deal with that later. I would now present as to what intelligence agencies actually did, which was very little, and let people draw their own conclusion.

Background

Post World War 1, Turin was a hub of political activity. Communism was at its peak in Europe and many left leaning socialist organizations were dabbling with the Marxist ideology and as a counter balance to that the fascist forces were emerging as an attractive alternative to many Catholics of Italy, and Turin was no exception. The small village of Orbassano near Turin mainly composed of orthodox Roman Catholic families and they all dreaded the arrival of communists on their shores and decided to join hands with the fascists lead by Mussolini. Paolo Maino was one of them. Indian intelligence gathering techniques are never given their due credit, but we have done some first rate jobs which have never been acknowledged and Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s background check was one of them. It was found that after the end of Second World War when many fascists were purged, Paolo Maino was protected by the church and no less than the Vatican itself intervened in his case and all papers pertaining to him were there by transferred to the Vatican! It was furthermore established that one of the more mysterious uncles of Paolo Maino worked for the super secret intelligence organization of the Vatican, the Opus Dei. Paolo was a construction contractor and had little savings; he could not entirely afford the educational and other expenses of his children. This mysterious uncle; who was working for the Opus Dei and whose name had been deleted from all the intelligence files; sponsored Antonio Albina Maino’s education in Cambridge in the 1960’s.

During her stay in Cambridge Miss Antonio took an “unusually high degree” of interest in the activities of groups concerning students of Indian Diaspora much before she met Rajiv. In fact, their first meeting took place in the presence of other Indian origin students and not in a Greek cafe as widely reported later. But throughout all of this she continued her association with the church and its activities and was in constant touch with “certain sections of the Vatican” which were previously also associated with the fascists. When Indian intelligence officials later questioned one of Miss Antonio’s close associates during her stay in the Cambridge, he described her relationship with the Vatican as akin to “umbilical cord”. All of these titbits were filed by many field officers of various intelligence agencies over a period of years but most analysts in the intelligence parlays of India termed them as “innocent” at worst and “needs evaluation” at best. Of course one can always concede that the analysts of that era lack the luxury of retrospective analysis as we do have now, there was definitely some lax attitude shown by these analysts in trying to decipher these events. Thus one day in 1968, after 3 odd years of courtship Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and Miss Antonio Maino; the daughter of former Fascist soldier, Paolo Maino; were married in Delhi. Miss Maino then became Mrs Sonia Gandhi for all intentions and purposes and the stepping stone to her destiny was covered with roses.

Scenario 2: Event 1, June 23rd 1980

The first player in the political theatre to have been eliminated and also the most important first link to the series of events that led to the present dispensation in the corridors of Delhi. Circumstantial evidence in the June 23rd 1980 Sanjay Gandhi air crash near Safdarjung airport points to foul play but let’s not get sucked into those futile arguments that have been raging ever since. Just suffice it to say that the single-member enquiry commission headed by Mr M L Jain which was formed to study the circumstances that lead to the plane crash has never submitted any report what so ever to the government in 3 decades. Now isn’t that fishy?

Background

Anybody who is aware of the 70’s brand of politics in India would know that Sanjay was the most important political centre, around whom most of the power was concentrated and dispensed with. Many even believed that Sanjay wielded more power than Indira Gandhi herself. It thus became pertinent for most intelligence agencies concerned with India’s affairs to have a thick case file about Sanjay Gandhi and his activities. There were some widely debunked theories of the junior Gandhi leaning towards CIA and Mrs Gandhi not being in agreement with his ideas, I do not know the origin or the veracities of these hypotheses so I would not make any comment either to encourage or discourage them. The 1960’s and 70’s Delhi was a hub of international espionage (like any other capital of any other country) because most intelligence agencies (including CIA & KGB) of that era depended on HUMINT or human intelligence officers to gather intelligence rather than satellites and drones of today. Every other day there would be speculation in the media circles of a certain politician or a certain bureaucrat working in tandem with a certain foreign intelligence agency; I would be lying if I claimed that all these speculations were wrong, in fact there were quite a few surprises in the “official” list that the Indian intelligence agencies maintained, but that is a completely different subject altogether. Coming back to Sanjay Gandhi and the interest that he generated in foreign as well as Indian intelligence circles, one thing is clear, he never worked or had any relationship with any of the foreign intelligence agencies and that much I can vouch for, but the same cannot be said about his continuous indulgence and interference with the local intelligence agencies. He always used and had his men in various wings of Indian intelligence agencies. Amidst all of this originated the “Russian hypothesis”.

There is no agreement as to when the real “Russian hypothesis” came into being, some argue that just prior to emergency in 1975 the Soviets sponsored this study because they had prior intelligence that emergency would be imposed on India, while still others argue that its origin was sometime during the Morarji Desai regime. I for one tend to agree with the former because it is a known fact that Soviets were consulted by Mrs Gandhi about emergency. Another reason to support the 1975 theory is that a secret meeting of the dreaded VKR had taken place in Delhi in the summer of 1975 (VKR = Voennaya Kontra Razvedka) and it had baffled many Indian intelligence officials as to why VKR (Russian counter intelligence wing) would meet in India. After the imposition of emergency and the awareness about Mrs Gandhi’s soviet consultation, intelligence circles widely accepted the theory of VKR meeting in Delhi as a part of that Indo-Soviet collaboration on emergency until the emergence of the “Russian hypothesis” and the eventual demise of Mr. Sanjay Gandhi. KGB had strong presence in Delhi and across India in the 70’s and many left-leaning analysts openly and covertly co-operated with KGB and other Russian intelligence agencies. One such “analyst” was part of the team that had produced the “Russian hypothesis” and he later (in 1979) leaked parts of that document to Indian intelligence and that is how the jigsaw puzzle was cracked. In the hypothesis it was concluded that Mr Sanjay Gandhi was west leaning and a capitalist and would eventually side with the CIA, although there was no universal agreement about these conclusions amongst the team that had produced the “Russian hypothesis” most of them did agree to some extent of those conclusions. It was our belief that the Soviets had decided not to take any action, mainly because of the fact that it was unlikely of KGB and even more unlikely in the case of VKR to remain quiet for more than a few months after having reached a conclusion. This is when Opus Dei comes into picture. It is a well known fact that Opus Dei and parts of Russian intelligence had always collaborated on certain matters. Exactly how or when did Opus Dei come into the possession of “Russian hypothesis” is merely in the realm of speculation but what is incontrovertible is that the Vatican intelligence did have enormous influence on Josef Stavinoha, the man who was heading VKR at that time and thus KGB in active collaboration with Opus Dei decided to act on the “Russian hypothesis” sometime in March 1980. As a direct result of that, June 23rd 1980 happened as an accident.

Continuum

After the sudden demise of Mr Sanjay Gandhi, there was the question of two other people, the very political wife Mrs Maneka Gandhi and son Mr Varun Gandhi which had to be dealt with by the Gandhi family. While there is no denying the fact that Mrs Indira Gandhi and her daughter in law Mrs Maneka Gandhi had a less than cordial relationship (which was more accentuated after the arrival of Rajiv’s family, as per some household sources of the family) and usually had typical “saas-bahu” war of turfs, but what is also irrefutable is the fact that Mr Varun Gandhi was Mrs Gandhi’s favourite grandson and she simply doted on him. What exactly transpired and who facilitated the events are all debates of speculation for the tabloid media, but one thing is certain, both the widowed mother and son were completely sidelined and almost ceased to exist as far as the Gandhi family is concerned after ceremoniously being thrown out of the Prime Minister’s residence.

Scenario 3: 1984, the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi

It was one of those events in the young life of a nation that can be termed as a defining moment in history. At the outset it was a clear case of Khalistani fundamentalists avenging operation blue-star, but there were many characters at the periphery and many events preceding it which raised many an eyebrow in the intelligence communities of the world. This was also that one colossal event that catapulted the young Mr Rajiv Gandhi, a novice in politics, to the highest seat of power in South Asia and Mrs Sonia Gandhi was now the next in the line of succession by the virtue of being his wife.

Background

It is a historically well known fact that the Khalistan movement was nurtured by ISI and certain elements in Pakistan. Also well recorded are the initial reactions of some western countries like Canada who almost directly hobnobbed with the Sikh separatist leaders only to abandon them when the movement became increasingly violent. Tacit support of US and British intelligence agencies to the Khalistan intelligentsia was also much speculated upon those days. But what was a lesser known fact in the media and a matter of puzzling debates in the intelligence circles was the interest shown by the Vatican in the Khalistan movement. In 1980-81 Vatican had an open channel of discussions with certain groups of the so called “intellectuals” who were known sympathisers of the Sikh separatist movements. This interest and interactions continued well into the early 80’s and were explained as the “right of Vatican to have an interest in other religious organizations”. At the height of Khalistan movement just after operation Blue Star, many reliable Indian intelligence sources had given “definitive” information about Opus Dei funding parts of operations of Sikh separatists outside India!

After operation Blue Star there were many intelligence inputs about the threat to Mrs Gandhi’s life including some specific inputs about people in the core inner circle of Mrs Gandhi’s security system being vulnerable. Yet no action was taken, why? The assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi was a massive intelligence failure to say the least and yet no major enquiry was ordered to decipher the conspiracy theory, why? Sections of KGB and other Russian intelligence agencies had given a specific timeframe regarding “action” and yet their advice went unheeded, why? Soviet sources, in informal briefings had warned about certain western intelligence agencies being in cahoots with Sikh separatists and yet those warnings were disregarded, why?
A part of the answer to those questions can be explained as plain incompetence as usual. May be one can also argue that we now have the power of hindsight which we lacked then. But definitely there is a part of the answer to that question which is more complex and only takes my theory forward to its logical conclusion. It is not as if we did nothing, security experts and Intelligence aficionados gave at least 2 formal specific presentations to Mrs Gandhi on 2 different occasions about the need to re-haul the entire security apparatus around her. But on both these occasions apart from Mrs Gandhi’s nonchalance we met with the biggest resistance from one particular member of her core team. He was a very powerful member of what was then known to the media as “kitchen cabinet” and had also been described as a “power broker of the highest degree” by many media houses and visiting dignitaries. There was no reason to suspect any mal-intentions in him, as he was also known to be very close to Mr Rajiv Gandhi (unlike some members of the “kitchen cabinet” who had a turf war with the junior Gandhi). Post assassination there was a bit of a stir in the media about the same gentleman followed by hush-hush events. We in the intelligence were also surprised to know about his strong linkages with certain Western intelligence agencies. Nothing really happened after that for quite some time and Mr Rajiv Gandhi only restored the same gentleman back in his team with full honours and the whole episode was laid to rest. But the biggest revelation to the intelligence wings came a little later (and was not accorded much importance at that time). Unlike media perceptions that the said gentleman belonged to the Rajiv Gandhi coterie and to the “kitchen cabinet”, he actually owed both his positions and his re-instatement into the inner circles of power after the assassination of Mrs Gandhi to a certain Mrs Sonia Gandhi!

Scenario 4: 1991, the assassination of Mr Rajiv Gandhi

When Mr Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in Sriperumbudur on 21st May 1991, it did come as a shock to the intelligence community in India but it would be false to suggest that we had absolutely no clue about it. Tamil Tigers animosity towards Mr Rajiv Gandhi was by no means a universally accepted fact in the intelligence circles and yet there were “elements” in the establishment who had assessed the risk factors from time to time. Many analysts had pointed out way back in 1985 (when Rajiv first tried to establish channels to tigers) the unpredictable nature of the leadership of LTTE and their perceived closeness to “certain” European and Western intelligence agencies. Mr Rajiv Gandhi was more influenced by a section of foreign policy analysts and he paid little heed to whatever little reservations the Indian intelligence agencies had vis-à-vis Tamil Tigers. I must confess that intelligence community in India did not really cover themselves in glory in this whole episode, because it might come as a surprise to most readers to know that we had threat perception for Mr Rajiv Gandhi from many other quarters like Sikh separatists, Islamic (Pakistani funded) militant groups, Chinese sponsored mercenaries and even rogue KGB agents, but had very few inputs and analysis about Tamil Tigers! That was a grave error to say the least. Due to myriad intelligence inputs and even more complex analysis the enquiry following the assassination was mired in many ideas and was muddled in too many complexities.

Background

The Rajiv Gandhi era was defined by two major geo-political changes in India and South Asia;
· Pakistan’s involvement with separatist groups in Kashmir and the birth of Islamic terrorism in the valley
·
India’s direct mediation in Sri Lanka vis-à-vis Tamil issue

Both these geo-political affairs in South Asia had linkages to Western intelligence agencies at some point or other. It is a well known fact that CIA did help Kashmiri terror outfits in the initial years ostensibly to decrease Soviet influence in the region and also because US intelligence establishments were day dreaming about controlling all forms of Islamic extremist organisations from Afghanistan and Central Asia to the Middle-East and Western Africa. The results of those ill-fated forays have been disastrous as we have seen today, but that is a different story for some other time. Lesser known fact is the support to LTTE by many European intelligence agencies including MI5 & NIS (Norwegian Intelligence Service). Thus, although Mr Rajiv Gandhi considered Mr Vellupali Prabhakaran as a personal friend, the LTTE leader was more under the influence of many other intelligence organisations than India which should have been his natural ally. If the Western intelligence agencies wanted to eliminate Mr Rajiv Gandhi (for whatever myriad reasons) they had 2 very plausible ways to achieve their hit; Islamic Terror outfits in Kashmir and LTTE; apart from many other difficult options. LTTE having assassinated Mr Rajiv Gandhi unilaterally can be ruled out for all practical purposes as it was too much under the influence and control of many agencies and also it would have needed a thorough assurance that its own organization would not be eliminated following the assassination. Mr Prabhakaran, whatever else he was, was a practical man with very sensible ideas to survive for a long term struggle for Tamil Elam. He would have realized at the very outset that eliminating Mr Rajiv Gandhi could become an existential threat to LTTE itself. He had the precedence of the Khalistan movement being crushed following Mrs Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the might of IPKF, which had almost managed to destroy about 80% of LTTE.

Mr Prabhakaran apart from being Tamil was also a catholic and there is a theory that the Vatican had helped LTTE in the initial phases to establish a “catholic” land in the Northern parts of Sri Lanka independent of the “Buddhist” Sinhalese regime. I have many intelligence inputs to confirm these linkages between the Vatican and the LTTE. Norway which had always played a role in the Sri Lankan peace process had a commanding influence over LTTE, especially over the northern faction of LTTE comprising Prabhakaran and co. Norwegian intelligence or NIS had not only given financial assistance but also had provided military training and logistical support to many northern LTTE command groups. I must state here that the western part of LTTE led by Karuna and co was less under the influence of these organisations and was more open to collaboration with India. There was also an unconfirmed report that Karuna was against the whole plot to assassinate Mr Rajiv Gandhi and had even tried in vain to contact Indian intelligence agencies about the impending attack. NIS and other Scandinavian intelligence agencies in the 80’s and early 90’s were also heavily under the influence of Opus Dei and other intelligence establishments of the Vatican. There were many reasons for this, primary being the fact Norway’s borders with Soviet Russia and the Opus Dei’s final plans to liberate the orthodox Russian church from the communists. Finally, we have very strong intelligence inputs about NIS having given the final order of a “hit” on Mr Rajiv Gandhi and also the requisite assurance of “no-attack” from India on LTTE in any eventuality. Thus Prabhakaran decided to assassinate Mr Rajiv Gandhi despite internal opposition and many apprehensions. What is even more curious was the timing of attack (which was also a pre-condition by the Norwegian controllers of LTTE as per many intercepts of Russian intelligence revealed to India much later). It was as if someone wanted to influence the ensuing general elections in India by assassinating a tall leader (they had the precedent of 1985 elections following Mrs Gandhi’s killing). But, they only partly succeeded in that as congress could not get a majority on its own which was partially due to the fact that a part of those elections were held before the event and partially due to the changed political scenario of India in the beginning of the 90’s.

The Analysis

After the assassination many intelligence teams were working on many number of theories and officially SIT (special investigation team) was formed to fast track the whole process and at least theoretically all these intelligence teams were supposed to be working under the aegis of the SIT. We were a group of 5 analysts working on the conspiracy angle (there were other groups of people also working on many conspiracy theories) leading up to the assassination. This is when we first stumbled upon the theory of the Vatican’s interest in India’s 1st family (the Gandhi family), which was earlier researched by a team previously working on the killing of senior Mrs Gandhi. Layer by layer we were gathering all the previous inputs and seemingly farfetched hypothesises put forward by many people in the past. Most of the inputs that I have talked about till now throughout this paper (part 1) were discovered and analysed during those 6 months when we worked together in that team. Mr P. V. Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister of India then and he had made it a point to get all the reports on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case delivered to him directly (with no intermediaries) at regular intervals. I remember it correctly, when we had sent our detailed analysis report with all the relevant intelligence inputs to the PMO on a Thursday afternoon. The report contained all the various theories that we had suggested but we had not reached any conclusions.

The first time it’s a chance, the second time it’s a coincidence and the third time it’s a pattern. I guess it was just a matter of time before we would reach the conclusion that the sole beneficiary of all these scenarios and events was the one and only Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the widow of Mr Rajiv Gandhi. How 3 events (assassination &“unnatural” deaths of the three Gandhis) and the 4 scenarios involving 5 people who were either eliminated or completely sidelined leading to the final destiny of Mrs Sonia Gandhi is really a fascinating story. On Monday morning our team was dismantled, we were asked to work on another theory of CIA’s involvement with the LTTE and about understanding the financial structuring of the Tamil Tigers and we were told in no uncertain terms to abandon our “farfetched” theories and to work on more “realistic” aspects that would provide more tangible results.

After that we never mentioned about “the Rajiv brief” or about what had happened in those 6 months. But I have been keeping track of events since then. One important loophole about the theory as explained till now would be the reluctance of Mrs Sonia Gandhi to accept the position of power after the 1991 elections. I would like to deal with the post Rajiv era in part 2 when I will hopefully explain all of those issues. I have formulated my own set of theories and have reached my own conclusions, but they will be elaborated upon in the next 2 parts of this treatise.
... To be continued.

40 COMMENTS:


nishkamyaJuly 29, 2011 at 6:29 PM
So when are you going to continue this?

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DPtoshniwal1July 30, 2011 at 2:18 AM
Dear fellow citizens,visit it, see logically what is truth,& why media is not keeping us in light regarding all these events.

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tnjjp77August 1, 2011 at 2:51 AM
as a member of the CBI/SIT which investigated RG case i am still wondering what is the actual truth and who was behind the assassination.i had a strong suspicion during the course of investigation that it was a tailored to suit some vested interests.i am eagerly awaiting the remaining parts.

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DPtoshniwal1August 1, 2011 at 3:26 AM
kind atten: tnijp77; kindly let the people know the truth.

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nishkamyaAugust 1, 2011 at 6:29 PM
Why has this gentleman not written more - worrisome

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tnjjp77August 12, 2011 at 3:31 AM
search for chadraswamy and rajiv assassination,and search for KP kumaran padmanathan of ltte ,you will know what went wrong.during the investigation only the small prays were caught and big shots like vaiko,subbulakshmi jagadeesan son of maragathm chandrasekar were let off.all the leads which would led to important break through were not pursued.The master killar sivarasan was allowed to commit suicide deliberately. wp16642/1999 madras high court will throw more light.

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DruvAugust 17, 2011 at 7:58 PM
Nice Article, keep up the good work. Cant wait for your next article

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chintaaAugust 17, 2011 at 11:37 PM
Are you alive ?

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A Soul In ExileAugust 18, 2011 at 8:31 PM
I am 100% sure he has been murdered.

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VenkyAugust 18, 2011 at 9:09 PM
Those interested in knowing more about Antonio Maino (aka Sonia Gandi) should also see http://janataparty.org/sonia.html

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ram111111August 23, 2011 at 1:55 AM
Author of this nice article would have gone to the place where madhava rao scindia, rajesh pilot and jijendra prasad senior leaders who opposed the queen ace were shown the door to this place. Did any one see the photograph of rajesh pilot car accident in delhi-jaipur road
All the sons of above noble souls of senior congress leaders who were close friends of rajiv gandhi have now been rewarded with ministrial post to wash the sins of catholic lady as ordered by confession box.Same way priyanka gandhis husband robert vodura who disowned his parents and brothers/sister and filed case in delhi court had to see finally that his father was dead in a hotel under mysterious circumstances, Brother fernando vadura committed sucide and his sister michelle
vadura died in car accident at delhi-jaipur road.only vaduras mother an irish or italian lady is living in europe out of fear after seeing every members of her family is packed off. so imagine the power of vatigan.

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rodentAugust 31, 2011 at 10:41 AM
Sir, where are the other parts?

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rajeevAugust 31, 2011 at 4:22 PM
If you are alive, please post remaining part.

Thanks

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Piyush KulshreshthaAugust 31, 2011 at 10:24 PM
Its been 2 years. Now either the author is dead, or the author has decided to remain silent. What is unfortunate is that his other partner has never bothered to write anything. What is also unfortunate is that nobody in RAW has a similar RAW nerve.

I just wish that the Author had posted the entire story in One Single Shot.

I am sure he knew the sensitivity of saying what he's said. And the profession he was in, I am sure he knew that his life was under threat. In that situation, it was only logical that whatever he wanted to say was posted in one shot.

Anyway, we'll never know this truth. Already I see that security establishment is getting filled with Christians at the top.

Air Force has NAK Browne as its chief and Navy also got a Christian Vice Chief just recently.

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rodentSeptember 1, 2011 at 2:11 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.

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rodentSeptember 1, 2011 at 2:19 AM
hmmm! so much for religion, all religious motives are filled with bullshit whether it be christian, muslim, hindu or whichever.
Religion is the most powerful control in the hands of the powerful, the control the hands of the weak.

Anyways, I agree with the comment above this. And if this bugger was really a Ex Intel Agent, he would have been intelligent enough to know the consequences of this publication and so would also know that if he had one shot, he might as well spill it all out in one go. It is confusing. May be he just got senile and didn't really have the foresight to envisage the dangers that might have already played out during his attempt to post the rest, hence the incomplete post.

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Col NR KurupSeptember 1, 2011 at 4:05 AM
We should read this along with Dr.Swamy's views on Ms Sonia Gandhi and entire episode. In fact he answer as to how Ms Sonia Gandhi could not become PM.

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vipinSeptember 1, 2011 at 10:30 AM
This theory makes a lot of sense and if its true then GOD help our nation.Its like entire political history of our nation was/is manipulated by aforesaid intelligence agency.If you think about it Mrs.G got into prominence immediately after Mr.PVR was NoT PM of india.

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vipinSeptember 1, 2011 at 10:31 AM
I hope the author is alive....

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Vijay DharSeptember 1, 2011 at 10:16 PM
We have suspected it for long time, how the key players were being eliminated and cannot be sheer coincidence.
This article only vindicate our stand of the dubious role holding on to Black money in swiss bank.
In olden times they were called as Poison girls(vish Kanya)

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jainrishabhSeptember 2, 2011 at 9:52 AM
I bet the author is alive. Check he removed the comment by rodent and the blogspot now says "This post has been removed by the author." So now i detect some foul play.....

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nishkamyaSeptember 3, 2011 at 7:14 PM
^^^ There could be other people controlling this

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pradeepSeptember 12, 2011 at 2:22 AM
The first comment on the post is on 29th july 2011.

But the write-up was posted 2 years back.

Smells more fishy.

It is strange that no one commented(or noticed) this article in 2 years ????

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DPtoshniwal1September 12, 2011 at 9:50 PM
gumnam hai koi;

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Rocky SaggooSeptember 16, 2011 at 1:24 AM
Sonia has got him kidnapped.

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mickeyDecember 17, 2011 at 2:16 PM
yes the author is alive and if you people read it carefully he was an employee in 80's 90's, if mentioned correct by him doesn't make him old enough, in a country where retirement age for spooks is 60 yrs he just choose to live with family somewhere far. Now for great 'honest' nature of cops and bureaucrats, Indians are known all over the world. I live outside India too and trust me I am sick of telling locals that India is not like that. NIS was active but we (Indians)could not afford to offend Norway because they supported us in Kashmir issue during the early 60's as they were UN security council member, and then of course, Vatican had vested interest in India. Indians have 'human resource' meaning our mind, which is valued by the world, yet we cant scratch our own balls. We send fwd mails to friends, that India this and that, yet when it comes an important issue our 1.17 billion people pee their pants. Lot of you like to read and watch movies, would like to think the author is dead, but remember his entire service he has not talked about work, and could not have for 15 yrs after leaving (these are terms of service) then also he had the balls to tell us after so long, keeping in mind of his obligation to the country. And i see some convinced skeptics here who like to think he is dead and why first comment 2 yrs late??.....my dear readers remember we know about this after the email was circulated..can any one ansr me who had this mail 2 yrs ago??
One thing 'hats off' to the writer who has tried to tell 750 million Indians under the age of 40 to wake the fuck up.
"Its never what it looks like, and way bigger than what it seems"
Jai Hind

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Replies

KBFebruary 3, 2013 at 10:03 AM
Good one Mickey. Instead of appreciating his efforts, many went to wrong questions.
Please wake the F up India.
Jai Hind.

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DPtoshniwal1December 17, 2011 at 10:42 PM
oh ,though too late, yet someone has come forward to say that the author is alive,great, hope other visitors of this blog will take a note of it, move ahead with the facts mentioned their in the blog.

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mickeyDecember 19, 2011 at 6:50 PM
Mr. DP....its never too late, but you know our people would be like " arre jaane do yaar panga pad jayega". would like to sit with you one day and talk. other readers read it but no one wants to say anything

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mzsadeDecember 22, 2011 at 10:26 PM
You should take up writing pot-boilers and those two dime novels, clearly you have the talent for it.

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mickeyDecember 25, 2011 at 3:49 PM
noted, thanks for observing my talent Einstein

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ChakruJanuary 10, 2012 at 10:36 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.

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ChakruJanuary 10, 2012 at 10:37 AM
I think its about time the author should post the other two parts!! Whoever you are please do not be afraid as the people of this country need to know the truth.

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Kunal DharamsiNovember 27, 2012 at 9:45 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.

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Kunal DharamsiNovember 27, 2012 at 9:50 AM
I tested this above.

If you delete your own comment it will appear as "This comment has been removed by the author."

So the blogger has been inactive since a long time and he hasn't removed any comments whatsoever.

Why is the blog date TUESDAY, MAY 29, '2012' ?

Taking this site down would have been a more sensible choice than killing the author. I think he's alive. God bless you sir.

I hope we see the next 2 parts.



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सौरभ भारती (Shaurabh Bharti)November 27, 2012 at 12:05 PM
at least we totally believe in that Sonia was plugged into Rajiv's life and planted into India's political scenario.

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Anil GuptaDecember 24, 2012 at 4:43 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.

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SudhirMarch 8, 2013 at 3:16 AM
As thrilling as this sounds, talks about the perilous position the country is holding on to.
Mr Author: Could you please do a service by continuing the rest of the posts in one shot and let the rest of us know more about our country?
Thanks for your effort!

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JunkieFunkieMarch 25, 2013 at 1:29 AM
good one. Waiting for the remaining ones..

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Vasanth RajApril 17, 2013 at 4:12 AM
But Vellupillai Prabhakaran was a hindu, not a Christian as the author claims, anyone who is interested in Rajiv's assaniation should read about the killing of Swedish Prime minister Olaf Palme.

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The new Innings
Playing with a nation’s choices

POSTED BY EX INDIAN INTELLIGENCE AT 8:33 AM
http://indianintelligence2009.blogspot.in/2012_05_01_archive.html

Ponzi unlimited. What was PC doing as HM & FM? Who opened up hawala-PNote routes?

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Agents and investors of Saradha Group protest in Kolkata on Thursday. Partha Paul

SEBI digs deeper, chit scam gets biggerP. Vaidyanathan Iyer : Kolkata, Fri Apr 26 2013, 03:00 hrs

Saradha Realty Ltd, which has gone bust now, may be just the beginning of the unfolding of a deeply entrenched Ponzi scheme network involving dozens of other companies in West Bengal, some of which also wield considerable media power given their ownership of television channels and newspapers.
According to information available with the union corporate affairs and finance ministries, six companies, against whom market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has already moved, are running a variety of doubtful and exotic deposit schemes and have raised in excess of Rs 7,000 crore so far. But, regulatory sources said, most of these companies have developed political connections with the ruling party, resulting in a situation where SEBI's every move is resisted by the state government and the police.

Two companies of the Rose Valley group — Rose Valley Real Estate and Construction Ltd and Rose Valley Hotels and Entertainment Ltd — have separately raised Rs 1,272 crore and Rs 2,900 crore respectively. Though SEBI passed an ad interim ex parte order restraining Rose Valley Real Estate and Constructions from accepting further deposits on January 3, 2011, the company continues to raise money. It has so far stalled all efforts by the regulator to give effect to its order by approaching the courts.

For SEBI, it has been a long, lonely and frustrating battle against not just the Rose Valley group, but five more companies, including Saradha, where lakhs of investors have deposited money in various schemes. At the regulator's instance, the Union Finance Ministry wrote to the West Bengal government almost a year back to rein in such companies that are defrauding investors. But little or no action has been forthcoming so far, said sources in regulatory agencies.

All the six companies under SEBI scanner have either filed writ petitions in the Calcutta high court or managed to get injunction orders from district courts. "It is ridiculous that district courts are issuing injunctions against our restraint orders in collective investment schemes," said a SEBI official on condition of anonymity.

Besides the two Rose Valley companies, MPS Greenery Developers Ltd, Sun-Plant Agro Ltd and Sumangal Industries Ltd have challenged SEBI's orders in various courts.

MPS Greenery Developers Ltd, which is led by Pramatha Nath Manna as its managing director, raised Rs 1,520 crore as on September-end last year. The company has challenged SEBI's December 6, 2012 order directing it to wind up its collective investment scheme (CIS) and refund the money. Here too, SEBI hit a wall.

In the case of Sun-Plant Agro Ltd — which, according to latest information available with the government, had collected Rs 24 crore till March 31, 2009 — SEBI asked the company to wind up its CIS schemes and refund depositors through an order on May 3, 2011. The company challenged the order through a writ petition. SEBI issued a showcause notice to the company's promoters this January.

Similarly, SEBI had barred Sumangal Industries Ltd under Section 11B of the SEBI Act on April 10 this year, directing it, among other things, not to raise money from investors and also not to dispose off any assets or properties related to its schemes. The company promptly filed a writ petition in the Calcutta high court within a week on April 17.

PONZI UNLIMITED

* Rose Valley Hotels & Entertainment Ltd

Rs 2,900 cr as on 31.3.2012

* MPS Greenery Developers Ltd

Rs 1,520 cr as on 30.9.2012

* Rose Valley Real Estate & Constructions Ltd

Rs 1,272 cr as on 31.3.2010

* Saradha Realty Ltd

Rs 1,200 cr (gone bust)

* Sun-Plant Agro Ltd

Rs 24 cr as on 31.3.2009

* Sumangal Industries Ltd

Sum raised: Unavailable

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sebi-digs-deeper-chit-scam-gets-bigger/1107848/0

Indus writing and numeration - Dr. BV Subbarayappa. Indus writing and Brāhmī - Dr. Subhash Kak

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Presented herein are three extraordinarily insightful articles which should lead to further evaluation of the evidence provided by the Indus writing corpora.

Dr. Subbarayappa presents fresh perspectives on the continuity in the use of numerals in early inscriptions of Brāhmī and Kharoṣṭī with parallels in Indus writing. He also discusses the parallels between proto-Elamite and Rigvedic cultures.

Dr. Subhash Kak presents fresh perspectives on the continuity of glyphs used in Brāhmī script as an evolution from Indus writing. He also discusses the development of the zero sign from ancient India.

My comment is that these insights are hypotheses which should be validated by reading the inscriptions in Indus writing; the corpora now exceed over 5000 inscriptions not only in sites such as Mohenjodaro and Harappa but in newly excavated sites such as Bhirrana and Kanmer and also in ancient Near East including Persian Gulf settlements.

Kalyanaraman

Item 1. BVSubbarayappa the Rigvedic People Their Identity 1995, in LK Srinivasan and S. Nagaraju, eds., Sri Nagabhinandanam Dr. MS Nagaraja Rao Festschrift, Bangalore, Dr. MS Nagaraja Rao Felicitation Committee, pp. 83-97

http://www.scribd.com/doc/138058489/BVSubbarayappa-the-Rigvedic-People-Their-Identity-1995

BVSubbarayappa the Rigvedic People Their Identity 1995



Item 2. BVSubbaryappa Indus Numeration QJMS Vol 100 No 4 Oct Dec 2009 Indus numeration, inscriptional confirmatory evidence in Quarterly Journal of Mythical Society, Vol. 100 No. 4, Oct. - Dec. 2009

http://www.scribd.com/doc/138059142/BVSubbaryappa-Indus-Numeration-QJMS-Vol-100-No-4-Oct-Dec-2009

BVSubbaryappa Indus Numeration QJMS Vol 100 No 4 Oct Dec 2009



Item 3. Subhash Kak, 1994, Evolution of early writing in India, IJHS 29(3), 1994

http://www.scribd.com/doc/138057508/Subhash-Kak-Evolution-of-Writing-in-India-IJHS-29-3-1994

Subhash Kak Evolution of Writing in India, IJHS 29(3) 1994

Rama Setu- An Engineering Marvel of 5076 BCE -- Bharath Gyan

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Please click on the link below to watch the film "Dating of Rama - 12:30 pm, 10 Jan, 5114 BCE "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCmRi3EHgEI



Dating of Rama - 12:30 pm, 10 Jan, 5114 BCE
BharathGyan·10 videos

We have created a short film on Historical Rama. Please watch it and share it.

"Is Rama historical? Is Ramayana a mere story? Or is it the 7127 year antiquity of this land? If yes, then can we confidently put a finger on the time and date on which Rama was born? This short film highlights the historicity of Rama from different perspectives, corroborating data from the sky charts available in the texts, the legend of the land, geography and science. Watch it. Share it. It's your history. "

Published on Apr 19, 2013

Is Rama historical? Is Ramayana a mere story? Or is it the 7127 year antiquity of this land? If yes, then can we confidently put a finger on the time and date on which Rama was born? This short film highlights the historicity of Rama from different perspectives, corroborating data from the sky charts available in the texts, the legend of the land, geography and science. Watch it. Share it. It's your history.

Set aside ego and bring 'brother' B S Yeddyurappa back -- Uma Bharti

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Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa is like my elder brother, says BJP vice president Uma Bharti. (IE Photo)

Set aside ego and bring 'brother' B S Yeddyurappa back, says Uma Bharti

PTI : Bangalore, Fri Apr 26 2013, 20:58 hrs

BJP vice president Uma Bharti today favoured bringing former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa back into the party fold by "setting aside ego".

The firebrand leader said those "at the helm of affairs" should take the initiative as "we should toe the line that 'the country first, individuals second'. Ego has to be set aside".

Asked if she would take the initiative to bring Yeddyurappa back into the party fold, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said she was not a senior leader and does not consider herself eligible for the task.

"Those who are at the helm of affairs... they should do it," said Bharti, who was in the city for campaigning for party candidates of the May 5 Assembly elections.

Describing Yeddyurappa, who quit BJP late last year and formed a regional party Karnataka Janatha Paksha, as a "swayamsevak" who had been a dedicated BJP worker, Bharti said she had been attached to the former Karnataka chief minister. "He is like my elder brother.

"... and the message is that right now, our country is facing a crisis, the crisis in many forms, like never before. So, we all have to be together," she said favouring Yeddyurappa's return, adding, the BJP should not make any attempts to weaken the party.

Asked if BJP electoral prospects are better with or without Yeddyurappa, she said it's very difficult to say, but added that BJP is a cadre-based party.

Recalling that she was out of BJP for about five years, Bharti said she has realised that fighting the BJP only harmed "national interests", adding, she is sure others who had left BJP felt exactly the same way.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/set-aside-ego-and-bring-brother-b-s-yeddyurappa-back-says-uma-bharti/1108083/

Sadhus want Narendra Modi declared NDA’s PM candidate

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Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi with Baba Ramdev and other sadhus in Haridwar. (PTI Photo)

http://aajtak.intoday.in/video/i-want-happiness-for-all-modi-1-728635.html Listen to Modi's speech: सिर्फ हिंदू ही नहीं, 'सबको' लुभाने में जुटे मोदीआजतक ब्‍यूरो | हरिद्वार, 26 अप्रैल 2013 | अपडेटेड : 18:29 IST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=63K5aaa_07k Streamed live on Apr 26, 2013

Shri Narendra Modi addresses function at Patanjali Yogpeeth-II, Haridwar 

 


Sadhus want Narendra Modi declared NDA’s PM candidate
D S Kunwar, TNN | Apr 27, 2013, 12.11 AM IST

HARIDWAR: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi chose an important Hindu gathering to assert that his description as a Hindu leader is misleading.

"If someone says I represent Hindus alone, it would be unfair. I am a leader of the masses and strongly believe in serving all communities equally and fairly," Modi said at the inauguration of Ramdev's new school, Acharya Kulam on Friday.

This display of secular intent comes at a time when his name for NDA's prime ministerial candidature has run into trouble with allies like JD(U) that say Modi lacks secular credentials.

That Modi chose a gathering of sadhus, many of whom are close to the Hindutva ideology, may have looked a bit ironical. But many sadhus stuck to their description of Modi as the custodian of Hindu faith.

For the Gujarat CM, who is expected to campaign in Karnataka by addressing a public meeting in Bangalore on Sunday, the endorsement will help him against the resistance he faces from some members of the BJP parliamentary board, as also a section of VHP owing allegiance to Modi's known opponent, Praveen Togadia. His approval by prominent sadhus and gurus will help strengthen the momentum for Modi, strengthening other VHP stalwarts like Ashok Singhal who are seen as favourably disposed towards him.

Ram Dev and other prominent spiritual leaders like Swami Chidanand Muni, Murari Bapu, Ramesh Ojha Hari Ketananand, Swami Krishan Muni Maharaj, Swami Parmatanand ji Maharaj, held a half-an-hour closed door meeting. Ramdev and his aide Balkrishan presented a letter of appreciation, a Prashansa Patra to Modi for his role as most capable CM of Gujarat.

Several preachers including two from Gujarat, Murari Bapu and Parmatmanandji Maharaj, said Modi should be declared NDA's candidate for prime ministership. Ramdev, who in the past has often spoken in favour of Modi, too, gave the campaign a fillip, praising him as an able administrator. Only a few weeks ago in Indore, Ramdev had said crores of Indians are pinning their hopes on Modi, and described the Gujarat CM as a symbol of development and good governance, asking people to support him.

"Modi is a symbol of development and good governance and people have a lot of expectations from him. He is a good leader and the people should support such a leader," Ramdev had said.

Modi returned the compliment saying the country was built by its spiritual tradition and its saints and religious leaders, and not by any politician. "I want to announce from this stage that not a single religious leader has ever asked for anything from me. Today I am happy that in Haridwar I have received the honour to meet saints," Modi said.

Earlier, Congress workers greeted Modi with black flags, but an undeterred Modi, addressing a gathering of at least 10,000 people, said the objective of his visit to Patanjali Yogpeeth was not to seek spiritual gurus' blessings or acquire any seat of power, but ensure that he does not do anything wrong and continues to serve all sections of societies irrespective of their creed, caste and community. "I am sure, these seers' blessings will help me correct myself as like others I may also have certain shortcomings," Modi said.

Defending yoga guru Ramdev in his campaign against black money and rampant corruption, Modi said whatever actions Ramdev initiates would help. He then attacked the UPA government for harassing Ramdev by ordering raids on his herbal medicine plants with the aim of hurting his image. "Is this the job of the Central government?" Modi asked. "What will you get out of torturing a spiritual figure like Ramdev, whose motto is to serve society selflessly," Modi said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sadhus-want-Narendra-Modi-declared-NDAs-PM-candidate/articleshow/19746944.cms

From Shivagiri to Haridwar: NaMo’s message

By Shashi Shekhar on April 26, 2013

Back in 2009, during the run-up to the Lok Sabha election, one of the most regretful development was the exit of the Biju Janata Da,(BJD), from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as seat-sharing talks over Odisha broke down. One of the primary reasons for the BJD’s to exit was the runaway violence in Kandhamal and the conduct of some of the members of the BJP in the aftermath of the riots in Kandhamal. There were two lessons for the BJP from Odisha back in 2009 which seem to have been finally learnt in 2013 as we witness a quiet transformation underway from Shivagiri in Kerala to Haridwar in Uttarakhand.

There is no denying the fact that the BJP’s core political constituency has always been located in a high degree of Hindu Identity Consciousness. The challenge for the BJP in the last two decades in general and in States like Odisha in specific has been its inability to appeal to this Hindu Identity Consciousness going beyond rhetoric of Hindu victimhood. The other challenge for the BJP was its inability to localise this Hindu Identity Consciousness through local icons, symbols and a message with local resonance.

From Shivagiri to Haridwar, if there is one message that has come through this week, it is of a new kind of Hindu Politics — benign in its rhetoric and reformist in its appeal.

From extolling the reformist values of Shri Narayana Guru in Kerala to sharing stage with a new-age Hindu movement in Haridwar that’s as much at ease with modern science and technology as it is with Hindu spirituality, the trajectory Narendra Modi’s travels have taken this week signal a significant shift in the remaking of the BJP’s core constituency.

It would be myopic to be dismissive of the significance of this shift. Let us, for a moment, pay attention to what was missing in the speeches at both Shivagiri Mutt and Patanjali Peeth. There was no fear-mongering and paranoia over threat from other faiths. There was no rhetoric of victimhood over unresolved culture conflicts and the many communal faultlines from the century gone by. Instead the speeches focused on universal values, social reform, education and attempts to blend spirituality with modern science and technology.

There was no doubt an unmistakable political message in the speeches at both events held at prominent Hindu religious institutions. But that message was more a statement against status quo within the ‘establishment’ rather than over any kind of majoritarian agenda.

Much debate has ensued in recent days over ‘secularism’ including one much-discussed Column by Pratap Bhanu Mehta. While Hindutva politics of the 1990s were a reaction to the perverse variety of secularism practiced in India during the decades after independence, the many flaws and serious limitations of Hindutva politics of the 1990s became quite evident during the 2000s. Between the extremities of a secularism focused excessively on minority victimhood and a secularism rooted in equal opportunity pandering to religion, India has struggled with what shape its secular state must take that harmonises Constitutional values with the demands of electoral politics.

Listening to the speeches from Shivagiri Mutt and Patanjali Peeth on the political expectations from prominent Hindu religious leaders, I am reminded of a profound comment in the book The White Umbrella – Indian Political Thought from Manu to Gandhi by Mackenzie Brown. In the book, Mackenzie Brown observes how the ‘White Umbrella’ has been a constant symbol of the sovereign power of the state from Rama to Akbar to Shivaji and beyond. Elaborating on the ‘political tradition’ symbolised by the White Umbrella, Mackenzie Brown writes:

“The personal integrity of the ruler and the moral sense of the citizenry are the keys to sound government and prosperous society offered by Manu and Gandhi alike…. the core of the tradition symbolized by “Shveta Chhatra” or “White Umbrella” is essentially this: The problem of Government is the ethical problem of the individual projected into the field of the State. Its solution lies in Dharma”.
It was this non-theocratic political tradition guided by Dharma that was visible in abundance in Haridwar and Shivagiri Mutt as various leaders of Hindu religious institutions took the unusual step of expressing a political preference towards Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. It was also this non-theocratic and minimally secular political tradition that Narendra Modi was alluding to in his articulation of ‘India first’.

It is too early to assess the impact this fusion of politics with a benign Hindu identity consciousness. It however, must be noted that the primary movers and shakers of this movement are Hindu leaders drawn from non upper-caste sections of the Hindu society. This, in and of itself, is a radical change with profound implications for society in general outside of politics.

While political pundits and election junkies obsess over whether this means a ‘Hindu vote-bank consolidation’ we must welcome the fact that Hindu identity consciousness can be harnessed as a force for change without getting trapped within narratives of victimhood and communal polemics of the century gone by.

This is the message from Shivagiri to Haridwar.

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/04/26/from-shivagiri-to-haridwar-namo%E2%80%99s-message-70769.html

 

“Society which gains strength from history can create history”: Shri Modi at Haridwar 

Saturday, April 27th 2013

It is great fortune to be sitting next to such great saints and seers. Their words are 'prasad' and being in their presence is in itself a great honour: Shri Modi


Ramdev ji is a teacher who inspires millions every day to take up Yoga: Shri Modi

It is our misfortune that we do not talk about our inherent strengths: Shri Modi

Ever since I was young, I was pulled towards saints: Shri Modi

I don’t believe Baba Ramdev has an agenda. He started out wanting to spread message of health to people, but in the course of his journey, he noticed that the nation's health also needs fixing: Shri Modi

Whenever Indian society was being overrun by social evils, it was this society itself, which gave us reformers and champions: Shri Modi

My manifesto is the welfare of all -- "Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah”: Shri Modi

After the 2002 elections, I had said, those who voted for me are mine, those who did not vote for me are also mine: Shri Modi

The work of nation building is being done by saints, we should at least see and acknowledge their work: Shri Modi

If 6 cr Gujaratis can lead Gujarat to such success, I am confident that 125 cr Indians can create a great impression in the World: Shri Modi

 

 

On April 26th 2013, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated Acharyakulam Shikshan Sansthanam at Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar. Prominent saints and seers from all over the country were present at the function and praised Shri Modi’s work and dedication. Among those present were Baba Ramdev ji, Shri Ramesh Bhai Ojha and Shri Morari Bapu.

During the ceremony, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated a book on Ayurveda.

Below are excerpts from Shri Modi’s speech:

 

It is great fortune to be sitting next to such great saints and seers. Their words are ‘prasad’ and being in their presence is in itself a great honour.

It is considered fortunate to sit at the feet of such saints. Crores come from far to hear them speak. These illustrious saints, have been blessed by Maa Saraswati, you can imagine what I must be feeling.

It is great fortune to be sitting next to such great saints and seers. Their words are ‘prasad’ and being in their presence is in itself a great honour.

Since I started understanding things, I have attended every single Kumbh Mela, sometimes I stayed for the entire duration. But I missed doing so this time. I felt bad about it. I feel that god has given the opportunity to compensate for that loss by attending today’s gathering.

In our country, it is easy to say anything about anyone. Saying without understanding the strength and value of words has become a habit.

I have been the CM of Gujarat for quite long now. There is not even one among the saints present here who has ever asked Gujarat Government for anything. These are the people who give. Because of this, the strength of their words multiplies.

 

Ramdev ji is a teacher who inspires millions every day to undertake Yoga. 

I have known Baba Ramdev for years, since he used to ride a bicycle. He is an embodiment of one man, one mission.

Ramdev ji is a teacher who inspires millions every day to undertake Yoga. If Baba Ramdev’s movement had happened in any other country, he would have been the subject of several academic studies.

The Guinness Book should consider Baba Ramdev’s record. I don’t think any other individual has met so many people.

 

It is our misfortune that we do not talk about our inherent strengths.

It is our misfortune that we do not talk about our inherent strengths. Someone spoke about the Kumbh mela. Organization of the Kumbh Mela is very difficult. The number of people who come there are equivalent to the population of a European country

They stay there without fights or troubles, these people come without invitation. Teachers of Management should learn.

We have lost self respect, it is important that every Indian showcase our strengths and provide inspiration to the world.

It was Sri Aurobindo, who dreamt that India will not only be independent, but it will also become a world leader.

Swami Vivekananda had said a long time back that India will one day be a Jagad-Guru. Is it not the responsibility of every Indian to fulfil his dreams?

 

Ever since I was young, I was pulled towards saints.

Navratri just got over. I long wanted to visit Maa Kali & the pious land of Bellur Math. I was fortunate that I got a chance to visit these places & the land of Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans  and refresh my memories. Later I got to visit Kerala, the place of Shree Narayan Guru.

Shree Narayan Guru had spent his life for the less fortunate, it is his work that today Kerala leads in education.

Ever since I was young, I was pulled towards saints.

Earlier people said, saints only sleep and talk but when they do work, people ask them is this your work? Today people ask Baba Ramdev ji is this your work? He shouldn’t answer these people.

Our saints have not kept their teachings limited to sermons, they have focussed on actions. I am confident that ‘Kapal Bharti’ will serve to abolish Kapal Bhrantis (mental delusions).

If anyone wishes to stay in Haridwar for a year without spending a rupee, he can. It is the saints of Haridwar who will selflessly serve as they serve anyone who is hungry.

 

I don’t believe Baba Ramdev has an agenda. He started out wanting to spread message of health to people, but in the course of his journey, he noticed that the nation’s health also needs fixing.

I am pained by the adversities that Baba Ramdev has had to face. Is it a crime in modern India to hold views opposite to others?

I don’t believe Baba Ramdev has an agenda. He started out wanting to spread message of health and reduce prices of medicines to people, but in the course of his journey, he noticed that the nation’s health also needs fixing.

 

Any society which lets go of its roots, that society cannot create history, that society which gains strength form history can create history

Those who think India was born on August 15, 1947, make a mistake. They ignore the thousands of years of historical heritage. A society that cuts itself off from its roots, never prospers.

Any society which lets go of its roots, that society cannot create history, that society which gains strength form history can create history

The work of saving our society was done by our family system, but today we are moving towards micro families.

 

Whenever Indian society was been overrun by social ills, it was this society itself, which has given us reformers and champions.

Whenever Indian society was been overrun by social ills, it was this society itself, which has given us reformers and champions.

Gandhiji helped us move away from untouchability, Swami Vivekananda told us to worship the poor and not idols. Individuals came from within to tackle ills like mistreatment of widows.

Political leaders and governments have not made this country, our saints and seers have made this country.

 

My manifesto is the welfare of all — “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah”

I believe in hope. After the 2001 earthquake everyone predicted the end of Gujarat, even our well-wishers were sad, they said the State will never recover. But we recovered within 3 years. Today, even the World Bank agrees that it takes even developed countries 7 years to recover from devastating earthquakes.

Today, talk of development goes alongside any mention of Gujarat. I am not solely responsible for it. The Gujarati people themselves have brought themselves out of tragedy. If 6 crore Gujaratis can do this, then 100 cr indians can create an inspiration for the world.

My manifesto is the welfare of all — “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah”. No other tradition has defined the picture of human social welfare in two lines.

 

After the 2002 elections, I had said, those who voted for me are mine, those who did not vote for me are also mine.

When I won the elections in 2002, some people were unhappy, I had delivered a speech that day. I had said, elections are over, time for politics is over, the time has now come to move Gujarat forward.  I had said, those who voted for me are mine, those who did not vote for me are also mine.

There has been no communal riot in Gujarat for 12 years now. This is because my Government has worked for the benefit of all.

If 6 cr Gujaratis can lead Gujarat to such success, I am confident that 125 cr Indians can create a great impression in the World.

 

The work of nation building is being done by saints, we should at least see and acknowledge their work.

I would like to congratulate Patanjali Yogpeeth for resuscitating the Yogic tradition of India. Patanjali yogpeeth have believed in our inherent strength and made efforts to revive them.

I don’t feel I deserve all the praise that has been bestowed on me today. But the confidence that the saints have expressed in me will inspire me the way a mother’s confidence inspires a child to walk on his own legs.

I request Baba Ramdev, that there should be a conference of all the educational works being done by saints. This is the work of nation building done by saints, we should at least see and acknowledge their work.

http://www.narendramodi.in/%E2%80%9Csociety-which-gains-strength-from-history-can-create-history%E2%80%9D-shri-modi-at-haridwar/

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