Nuke scam: Loot of atomic mineral wealth and Indo-US nuke deal

May 23, 2013, 6:41 pm

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Is a nuke scam unfolding? Are the loot of atomic mineral wealth of the nation and Indo-US nuke deal (which included the cash-for-votes scam) linked?

As it unfolds, the nuke scam is likely to be larger than the SoniaG UPA's 2G and Coalgate, even on a SoniaG UPA scam-scale. The loss of the nation's mineral wealth is likely to be larger than Rs. 1.9 lakh crores.

The loss has been enabled by issuance and implementation of an illegal notification by DAE in gross violation of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act of 1957 which continues to list ilmenite, zircon, monazite, rutile, leucoxine etc. as atomic minerals. The illegal notification declared almost all minerals excepting monazite as on Open General List and allowed private parties to export the placer sands containing all these minerals.

The procedure for issuance of a monazite clearance certificate by DAE was discontinued following the issuance in 2006 by DAE of the illegal notification. This certification was intended to check if there was any radioactivity in the consignments transported and shipped to foreign customers.

Nuclear Suppliers Group lists monazite and other atomic minerals as nuclear supplies and enforces stringent controls on and inspections of the nuclear supplies. Since India is now a party to the regulations of this group with the Indo-US nuke deal, why is Govt. of India continuing to allow the export of precious atomic minerals from the country? There is a danger that the exports may end up with the enemies of the nation, creating a national security risk.

This is one reason why the Nuke scam is larger than even Coalgate because India was said to possess the largest reserves of thorium-containing monazite of the world and allowing this wealth to be depleted by exports reduces the nation's ability to follow the declared program of Nuclear Doctrine outlined as Homi Bhabha's 3-stage dual-use nuclear energy development program.

Will Govt. of India wake up and immediately ban the export of atomic minerals, remove the atomic minerals from the Open General List and enforce strict security measures along the coastline of the nation to safeguard the rich wealth of the nation contained in placer sand complexes?

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/ban-export-of-beach-sand-minerals-bjp.html Ban export of beach sand minerals: BJP MP Hansraj Ahir

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/great-thorium-robbery-ongoing.html Great thorium robbery, ongoing...

Kalyanaraman

Thursday 16 August 1973

MARINE PLACER DEPOSITS CONTAINING MONAZITE-ILMENITE-RUTILE-ZIRCON GARNET SANDS ARE BEING WORKED FROM MEAN HIGH REPEAT HIGH TIDE LANDWARD ON THE COASTS OF KERALA AND TAMIL NADU.MOYNIHAN

http://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1973NEWDE09497_b.html

1974 October 10, 23:53 (Thursday)

1. DURING HIS MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY OCTOBER 3, AMBASSADOR MOYNIHAN WAS ASKED ABOUT CURRENT STATUS INDIAN STUDY OF EFFECTS ON HUMANS OF PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO SOUTH INDIAN MONAZITE SANDS. 2. COMMITTEE STAFF HAS ADVISED IT WAS REFERRING TO A PAPER GIVEN AT THE 4TH CONFERENCE ON PEACEFUL USES OF ATOMIC ENERGY IN GENEVA IN 1971 ENTITLED: "EVALUATION OF THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF HIGH BACKGROUND RADIATION ON SELECTED POPULATION GROUPS OF THE KERALA COAST" (A/CONF/49/P/545). PAPER WAS WRITTEN BY GOPAL-AYENGAR, ET. AL. 3. WOULD APPRECIATE ANY AVAILABLE UPDATE ON THIS STUDY FOR FORWARDING TO THE JOINT COMMITTEE, WHICH HAS CON- SIDERABLE INTEREST IN SUBJECT. INGERSOLL

http://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1974STATE224395_b.html

1974 October 16, 14:45 (Wednesday)

PLEASE PASS THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE TO JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY CHAIRMAN PRICE FROM AMBASSADOR MOYNIHAN 1. WE DON'T YET HAVE AN UP-TO-DATE REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE GOI STUDY OF THE EFFECTS ON HUMANS OF PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO SOUTH INDIAN MONAZITE SANDS BUT WE HAVE ALL OUR LINES OUT. I PLAN TO TRAVEL TO BOMBAY NEXT WEEK TO SEE IAEC CHAIRMAN SETHNA AND EXPECT THAT HE WILL BE ABLE TO PUT US ONTO THE LATEST INFORMATION WHICH WE'LL BE PLEASED TO PASS ALONG JUST AS SOON AS AVAILABLE. IMMENSELY ENJOYED MY SESSION WITH YOU. THIS LAYMAN WAS HIGHLY IMPRESSED. MOYNIHAN

http://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1974NEWDE13861_b.html

India's three-stage nuclear power programme was formulated by Dr. Homi Bhabha in the 1950s to secure the country’s long term energy independence, through the use ofuranium and thorium reserves found in the monazite sands of coastal regions of South India.

According to Siegfried Hecker, a former director (1986–1997) of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the U.S., "India has the most technically ambitious and innovative nuclear energy program in the world. The extent and functionality of its nuclear experimental facilities are matched only by those in Russia and are far ahead of what is left in the US…"

Indian government proceeded to negotiate and execute the Indo-US Nuclear Deal, which then paved the way for the NSG waiver on international uranium imports to India in 2008.

· According to one foreign analyst, the deal could “over time… result in India being weaned away from its… three-phase nuclear program involving FBRs and advanced PHWRs. This would occur should India become confident that it would have assured supplies of relatively cheap natural uranium, including from Australia. Of course, nobody in the Indian nuclear establishment would yet admit to that possibility.” (Gordon, Sandy (September 2008), "Implications of the Sale of Australian Uranium to India" (pdf), Working Paper No. 410(Canberra: Strategic and Defence Studies Centre), retrieved 27 March 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India's_three-stage_nuclear_power_programme

What Exactly is this Thorium Scam?

Monday, September 3rd, 2012 | by News Desk

A mammoth Thorium scam, which has swindled the national exchequer of Rs 48 Lakh Crore is supposed to have been unearthed by RTI activists and the Statesman Newspaper. Sources state that the missing thorium, estimated at $100 a tonne will make all other scams the UPA has embroiled itself in, seem very dwarf-like. It has been stated that 2.1 million tones of monazite, which is equivalent to 195,300 tonnes of thorium at 9.3% recovery, has disappeared from Indian shores after 2004, the year Manmohan Singh became India’s Prime Minister.

On 30 November, 2011, an RTI activist, Kodikunnel Suresh sought the Prime Minister’s response regarding the export of monazite, whether companies of mining beach sand have violated the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board rules. To this, V Narayanaswamy, Minister of State, PMO, said that beach sands with heavy minerals were exported. But monazite was excluded from this.

Narayanaswamy stated that licence under the Atomic Energy Act was necessary for monazite and thorium export. However, being prescribed substances, no licence was given for its export. The Prime Minister, who heads the Department of Atomic Energy, delisted these heavy minerals from the prescribed substances list vide SO 61 (E) dated 20 January, 2006. This was done to facilitate their export by private companies, with licences being granted with the proviso that “having undertaken to comply with the conditions prescribed in the Atomic Energy (Working of mines, minerals hand handling of prescribed substances) Rules, 1984, licence is issued with the approval of the Licensing Authority.”

Reports state that radioactive minerals, vital for nuclear energy programme, are taken out of the country without any restriction, inspite of the Indian Rare Earths being the only organization being authorized to extract thorium from monazite sands. To add to this, private exporters of prohibited minerals are also presented with Special Awards and Certificates of Merit by Chemicals and Allied Products Export Promotion Council of the Government of India.

As stated before, Indian Rare Earths Limited is the only authorized body that can extract Thorium because indiscriminate and non-monitored mining can cause severe erosion in coastal areas. The Chief Controller of Mines, which comes under Union Ministry of Mines is the Licencing Authority. However, following the retirement of CP Ambrose, Chief Controller of Mines, on 30 June 2008, the post is being kept open deliberately. It is also stated by sources that Ranjan Sahai, Controller of Mines of the Central Zone, is now allowed to officiate in place of the Chief Controller. He is alleged to be close to mineral industrialists of the private placer.

http://indiawires.com/12911/news/national/what-exactly-is-this-thorium-scam/

Brutus Singh and the Thorium scam

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 by ARYAPUTR in ARTICLES, FEATURED with 0 COMMENTS

Back in July 2008, I’d written a piece

Deal or No-deal? The US-India Nuclear disagreement “on the rocks”

which detailed why the US-India Nuclear deal was possibly India’s biggest strategic blunder, why it would cripple our long-term indigenous N-program, who would retain the key controlling interests, and who would profit the most from the ‘letter of the law’.

Turns out, there was more to it than was just all that.
Our own Brutus Singh, the ‘honorable’ man, got Thorium

removed

from the strategic minerals list on 20 Jan 2006, two years before the N-deal took center-stage, and enabled private players to extract and sell Thorium to foreign companies. The same honorable Singh who as Coal minister gave Coal blocks to buddies at throw away non-auction prices (‘silence is Coal-den’) also okay-ed the unrestricted sale of the one resource vital to our indigenous N-program.

The scale of what has been sold presents two significant losses.
The first is Strategic, the second is Monetary.

India is gifted in nature to have about 21+% of the world’s Thorium resources, i.e estimated around 520K tonnes. (IAEA, 2005) We need to have large reserves for our N-program, and our energy needs cannot reasonably be compared with any country’s except China. Thorium is a clean fuel, has low radio-toxicity, and its reactors are leaps and bounds safer than the Fukushima-type (Uranium) reactors which are common around the world.

China, among other nations is waking up to what Homi Bhabha knew and envisioned a half-century ago for India, and is pushing heavily in the direction of Thorium reactors.

In the last 7 years, apparently 2.1 million tonnes of Monazite ore has been sold from beaches in Tamil-Nadu, Kerala and Orissa, ore which is ultra-rich in Thorium, Titanium and other key metals.
Refer Rajappa’s two-part series in The Statesman:

Sam Rajappa

Part I | In the Name of God, Resign and Go
Part II | The Great Thorium Robbery

Now, Thorium has a recovery rate of 5-9% from Monazite,
so anywhere between 105-190K tonnes of Thorium has been sold.
We’ve apparently sold between 20-40% of our reserves.

What is the र value of this? I don’t know. I’ve no idea what the price of thorium is, I tried looking but quite hard to ascertain. Sam Rajappa, who heads The Statesman, goes with an estimate of $100 per ton. Even assuming 30% of this figure, the loss ranges from 16 thousand Crores to 28 thousand Crores. Mutliply this range by whatever the real price of Thorium is.

The more significant loss of course, is the resource loss having prostituted the world’s most resource-rich coastline.

A period of pitch darkness before a new inevitable era of light?

Key Thorium deposits India [source : DowntoEarth.org.in]

http://www.aryaputr.com/2012/09/brutus-singh-and-the-thorium-scam/

Indo-US Nuclear Deal -

The Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement, also known as the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then US President George W.Bush in 2005. It segregates India’s civil and military nuclear facilities and the civil nuclear facilities are placed under International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A) safeguards. The U.S government in exchange will provide its cooperation in technology and equipments useful for the Indian civil nuclear facilities. In 2009 IAEA Board of Governors signed the India-specific safeguards agreement with the Indian government.

In the separation plan India has identified 35 civil nuclear facilities for inspection. In 2008 the US government also approached for the grant of an exemption for India by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an export-control cartel that had been formed mainly in response to India’s first nuclear test in 1974. The 45-nation NSG granted the waiver to India on September 6, 2008 allowing it to access civilian nuclear technology and fuel from other countries .The implementation of this waiver makes India the only known country with nuclear weapons which is not a party to the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but is still allowed to carry out nuclear commerce with the rest of the world.

The US House of Representatives passed the bill on 28 September 2008. Two days later, India and France inked a similar nuclear pact making France the first country to have such an agreement with India. On October 1, 2008 the US Senate also approved the civilian nuclear agreement allowing India to purchase nuclear fuel and technology from the United States. U.S. President, George W. Bush, signed the legislation on the Indo-US nuclear deal, approved by the U.S. Congress, into law, now called the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act, on October 8, 2008. According to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, the agreement will help India meet its goal of adding 25,000 MW of nuclear power capacity through imports of nuclear reactors and fuel by 2020.

Non Proliferation Treaty: The objective of NPT is to prevent spread of nuclear weapons and weapon technology and to achieve complete nuclear disarmament. The Treaty promotes use of nuclear fissile material for peaceful purposes. It is an international treaty, opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970. A total of 187 parties have joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon States. Various political parties opposed the nuclear deal since it can generate a ban on military nuclear tests.

http://todpoint.com/view-article.php?pid=85

Taking Stock of the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal

Remarks

Geoffrey Pyatt
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs

Mumbai, India

September 30, 2011

...In 2006, bipartisan majorities in our Congress passed the U.S.-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act, which exempted this cooperation from certain requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Next, we were able to negotiate, sign, and eventually pass through Congress the U.S.-India 123 Agreement. Finally, we worked with our partners in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to reach consensus on a waiver for civilian nuclear exports to India in the summer of 2008. Each of these steps required a large investment of political capital, as well as the persistence, patience, and hard work of our diplomats and lawmakers who spent countless hours at negotiating tables in Washington, New Delhi, Vienna and capitals around the world.

But none of our efforts would have been possible without India’s agreement to implement a series of enhanced nonproliferation commitments which ensured that our cooperation strengthened the international nonproliferation system, from which India itself benefits and of which India is a critical stakeholder. India agreed to adopt the same responsibilities and practices as other leading countries with advanced nuclear technology, by taking a number of concrete steps.

First, India agreed to draw a clear line between its civilian and military nuclear facilities, and to voluntarily place its civilian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards. India’s 2005 Separation Plan identified 14 thermal power reactors, and well as a number of upstream and downstream facilities, and nine research facilities for the safeguarded side of India's nuclear complex.
Next, India filed its declaration with the IAEA regarding these civilian facilities, and to demonstrate that the facilities would not in any way contribute to India’s strategic program, India further agreed to an Additional Protocol applicable to those facilities.
Then, to help ensure that Indian companies comply with India’s international commitments to not transfer sensitive technologies to countries of concern, India harmonized its national export controls with the control lists and guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime.
Finally, India committed to maintain its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, and agreed to work with the U.S. to conclude a multilateral Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty to irreversibly and on a global basis reduce the amount of fissile material available for nuclear weapons.

These steps clearly demonstrated to the world India’s commitment to preventing proliferation from its civil-nuclear program and brought India’s domestic system into closer conformity with international nonproliferation standards.

http://www.state.gov/p/sca/rls/rmks/2011/174883.htm

WikiLeaks Cables Cause Uproar in India Over Nuke Deal With US

Mar 22, 2011 – 5:26 PM

Betwa SharmaContributor

Indian politicians are in a stew over cables released by WikiLeakssuggesting that Indian lawmakers were paid millions of dollars to vote in favor of a civil nuclear deal with the U.S.

The deal was regarded as a milestone in Indo-American relations. But it was opposed by several groups in India, especially the Communist Party, which withdrew support from the governing coalition as the deal was being finalized in 2008.

Brinda Karat, a senior leader of the Communist Party, told AOL News that the cables exposed howCongress Party leaders tried to "whitewash the political crimes that have been committed."

The 2008 civil nuclear agreement was a first step in repairing India-U.S. relations, which had worsened after the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on India for conducting underground nuclear tests in 1998.

The deal was signed under the Bush administration and is still being finessed by the Obama administration, which hosted its first state dinner in 2009 for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The leaked cable, published in The Hindu, said that an Indian political aide showed an American diplomat two chests of cash, allegedly part of a $25 million fund to pay for votes.

Before the vote of confidence on the nuclear deal in 2008, leaders of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, produced cash on the floor of the House and claimed that votes had been bought. A subsequent investigation, however, did not lead to any concrete findings.

The cables have brought the issue to the forefront again, according to Karat, who has called on Congress Party leaders to confess and asked the government to conduct criminal prosecutions immediately.

Several analysts in India have expressed concern that the government is bending over backward to accommodate the U.S., which they say is running the show.

The immediate question, however, is whether the Congress-led government will survive. Many observers have suggested that this scandal -- like many others -- will blow over, especially because the allegations are old and the deal has moved forward since then. And WikiLeaks has said that it will reveal more India-related cables, which could distract the public and media with another scandal.

"In normal circumstances, the government would not survive, but we don't live in normal times. ... The corruption has become so deep-rooted," said Prashant Bhushan, a prominent Indian lawyer and activist, who convinced the Supreme Court to investigate the loss of $40 billion from the Indian Treasury in the "2G Spectrum" scam last year.

Still, Bhushan observed that the fragile polity, if hit with another blow, could crumble in the coming months.

Following the recent uproar, Prime Minister Singh told the Indian Parliament that the cables were "speculative, unverified and unverifiable."

"It is unfortunate that the opposition continues to raise old charges that have been debated, discussed and rejected by the people of India," he said last week.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, however, insists that the cables are authentic and that Singh is misleading the public.

"The comments that I've been hearing from Prime Minister Singh, these to me seem like a deliberate attempt to mislead the public by suggesting that governments around the world do not accept this material and that it's not verified," Assange told Indian news channel NDTV.

"That does not mean every fact in them is correct. You have to look at their sources and how they gave this information," he said Monday.

Shoma Chaudhury, the managing editor of Tehelka, an Indian news magazine known for its undercover exposes, argues that the cables have too many "ifs and buts" and are only of "speculative value."

"They are not conclusive by a long shot," she said, adding that the Indian political aide who showed the money to the American official was a junior operative and could have been exaggerating.

While the Congress Party has been mired in a series of billion-dollar corruption scams, its soft-spoken leader is generally regarded as being clean. But in the wake of the new scandal, the BJP has called for his resignation.

It is unlikely that the current scandal will lead to Singh's resignation, according to Vinod Mudgal, who runs a project to improve rural livelihood in India that includes more transparency in governance.

"In South Asia, corruption is endemic ... The poor have to pay more bribes than the rich in their everyday life," he said. "But there will be a limited impact."

Today, the opposition staged a walkout of a parliamentary session, saying Singh had misled the House in 2008 by claiming that lawmakers had not been bribed.

But the BJP hasn't escaped the scandal unscathed. Shortly after the first revelation, WikiLeaks released cables that suggested the opposition party publicly slammed the nuclear deal but privately reassured the Americans they were OK with it.

"The result of all this is that even the opposition party has no moral authority," Bhushan said.

The BJP has denied engaging in any hypocrisy.

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/22/wikileaks-cables-cause-uproar-in-india-over-nuke-deal-with-us/

Cumulative list of blogposts with label 'Thorium' (May 24, 2013):

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/ban-export-of-beach-sand-minerals-bjp.html Ban export of beach sand minerals: BJP MP Hansraj Ahir

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/great-thorium-robbery-ongoing.html Great thorium robbery, ongoing...

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/03/great-rare-earths-robbery-in-india.htmlGreat Rare Earths' robbery in India. Fight by a citizens' forum

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/01/citizens-petition-for-action-against.htmlCitizens' petition for action against perpetrators of the Great Rare Earths' Robbery in India

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/01/china-moving-to-thorium-as-safe-nuclear.htmlChina moving to thorium as safe nuclear fuel. GOI, protect and use India's thorium reserves for energy needs of Indian Ocean Community.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/01/china-blazes-trail-for-clean-nuclear.htmlChina blazes trail for 'clean' nuclear power from thorium

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/12/dae-oct-2012-reply-on-thorium-loot-full.htmlDAE's Oct. 2012 reply on Thorium loot full of loopholes. DAE is yet to explain how Atomic Minerals list was changed without Parliament approval.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/12/is-safe-green-thorium-power-finally_5438.html

Is safe, green thorium power finally ready for prime time? -- John Hewitt

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/12/takashi-kamei-thorium-china-environment.html

Thorium, China, Environment , Energy Takashi Kamei (Video 33:47)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/illegal-notification-of-18-jan-2006-on.html

Illegal notification of 18 Jan. 2006 on Atomic Minerals and loot of Rs. 96,120 Crores worth Atomic Minerals - Complaints

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/govt.html

Govt. of India should act now to stop illegal mining of Atomic Minerals

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/india-announces-plan-to-build-thorium.html

India announces plan to build thorium reactor. Congrats to India's nuclear scientists.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/letter-to-chairman-atomic-energy.html

Illegal mining of Atomic minerals worth Rs. 96,120 crores

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/submit-viewssuggestions-on-mines-and.html

Submit views/suggestions on Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill No. 110 of 2011

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/cause-and-effect-case-study-in-and.html

Cause and effect: a case study in and dossiers on Rare earths/Atomic Minerals of India

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/dae-cancel-and-withdraw-illegal.html

DAE, cancel and withdraw an illegal notification issued in January 2006.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/atomic-minerals-include-thorium-uranium.html

Atomic minerals include thorium, uranium, monazite, zircon, ilmenite, rutile and leucoxene (Part B of First Schedule of the Act 1957)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/pm-should-ban-placer-sands-mining.html

PM should ban placer sands mining, nationalise minerals of national importance consistent with Shah Commission recommendations on manganese/iron ore mining

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/11/our-nuclear-program-will-be-thorium.html

Our nuclear program will be thorium based - APJ Abdul Kalam

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/protection-of-thorium-other-rare-earth.html

Protection of thorium & other rare earth minerals - Swamy refutes DAE claims

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/our-policy-is-to-reprocess-all-fuel-put.html

‘Our policy is to reprocess all the fuel put into a nuclear reactor’ -- Sekhar Basu

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/protection-of-thorium-reserves-in.html

Protection of thorium and rare earth reserves in the country

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/cheap-nuclear-energy-is-illusion-kumar.html

Cheap nuclear energy is an illusion -- Kumar Chellappan

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/dae-press-release-xport-of-monazite.html

DAE Press release : Export of Monazite from India. India backtracks on involving private miners in monazite - Ajoy K Das

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/thorium-loot-no-private-parties.html

Thorium loot: No private parties permitted to produce monazite, says DAE

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/cheapabundant-very-safe-nuclear.html

Cheap,abundant & very safe nuclear power.....Thorium

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2012/10/protection-of-thorium-reserves-in_14.html

Protection of thorium reserves in the country

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/thorium-loot-spells-strategic-loss.html

Thorium loot spells strategic loss

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/kerala-metals-and-minerals-ltd-causing.html

Kerala Metals and Minerals Ltd causing radiation: PIL

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/separation-of-monazite-from-placer.html

Separation of monazite from placer sands and strategic needs of India's energy programme.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/nuclear-thorium-country-needs-thorium.html

Nuclear Thorium: Country needs thorium-based fast breeders -- Dr. Kalam

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/near-monopoly-position-of-company-in.html

Near monopoly position of a company in garnet placer sands

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/estimated-value-of-thorium-loot-in.html

Estimated value of Manavalakurichi placer sands loot in a decade: Rs. 1 lakh crore

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/placer-sands-exports-detailed-in.html

Placer sands exports detailed in a Criminal Petition in Hon’ble Supreme Court

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/govt-misled-parliament-on-thorium-loot.html

Govt. misled Parliament on thorium loot. Thorium a game changer for India's power needs?

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/export-profiles-of-placer-sands-of.html

Power of Thorium - two books reviewed. 'Super Fuel':Martin. ‘Thorium: energy cheaper than coal’: Robert Hargraves

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/10/thorium-upas-new-coalgate.html

Thorium UPA's new coalgate?

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/how-far-off-is-thorium-energy-it-is.html

How far off is thorium energy? It is producing energy already -- in many reactors of India...

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/india-all-set-to-tap-thorium-resources.html

India all set to tap thorium resources

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/india-canada-nuke-pact-days-are-gone-we.html

India-Canada Nuke pact. "Those days are gone. We're not so stupid," Dr. Chaitanyamoy Ganguly, Nuclear scientist.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-to-transform-nuclear-power-pair.html Thorium to transform nuclear power. A pair of MIT students set up Transatomic Power

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/cumulative-list-of-blogposts-with-label.html

Cumulative list of blogposts with label "Thorium" (September 27, 2012). National imperative of protecting Rare earths including thorium.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-nuclear-fuel-and-iphone-are.html

Thorium -- a nuclear fuel and iPhone are born of Mother Earth. Govt. of India, conserve and protect rare earths including thorium.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/take-steps-to-protect-strategic.html

Take steps to protect strategic monazite reserves: Subramanian Swamy to PM

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-and-imperative-of-national.html

Thorium and imperative of national security - Dr. Swamy's letter to PM

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-as-strategic-mineral-greener.html

Thorium as strategic mineral: a greener alternative to uranium. India should protect her thorium reserves.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/dae-makes-strides-towards-thorium-fuel_1207.html

DAE makes strides towards thorium fuel supplies for AHWR

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-figures-unconfirmed-irel.html

‘Thorium figures unconfirmed’ - IREL

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/vver-voda-voda-energo-reactor-water.html

VVER: Voda Voda Energo Reactor, Water-cooled, water-moderated energy reactor

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/protect-india-thorium-to-transform.html

Protect India's thorium to transform the world of energy

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/a-future-energy-giant-indias-thorium.html

A future energy giant? India's thorium-based nuclear plans

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/india-should-enforce-nsg-guidelines-for.html

India should enforce NSG guidelines for protection of thorium

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/nuclear-energys-future-thorium.html

Nuclear Energy’s Future: Thorium

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/q-thorium-reactor-designer-ratan-kumar.html

Q&A: Thorium Reactor Designer Ratan Kumar Sinha

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-fuelled-dreams-for-indias_13.html

Thorium-fuelled dreams for India’s energy future. How India’s science is taking over the world.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-poster-source-thorium-australia.html

Thorium poster (Source: Thorium Australia campaign)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/briefings-on-nuclear-technology-in.html

Protect India's thorium. Briefings on nuclear technology in India -- PK Iyengar, Retd. Chairman, AEC, May 2009

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/new-all-party-uk-parliamentary-group-on.html

New All-Party UK Parliamentary Group on Thorium

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/china-takes-lead-in-race-for-clean.html

China Takes Lead in Race for Clean Nuclear Power -- using thorium.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/the-issue-is-india-as-nuke-power-anti.html

The issue is India as nuke power. Anti-Kudankulam leaders manipulate innocents - Pioneer Edit

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2012/09/india-ventures-into-rare-earths-to.html

India Ventures Into Rare Earths, To Launch Soon Monazite Processing Plant

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-is-nuclear-fuel-and-should.html

Thorium is nuclear fuel and should command immediate attention of GOI to conserve and protect the wealth of the nation.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-key-to-indias-energy-security.html

Thorium key to India’s energy security -- Sandhya Jain

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/india-plans-nuclear-plant-powered-by.html

Thorium advocates launch pressure group in UK. India plans nuclear plant powered bythorium - Guardian, UK

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/feature-article-thorium-reactor.html

Feature article: A Thorium Reactor (American Scientist, 2010)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-as-nuclear-fuel.html

Thorium As Nuclear Fuel

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thoriumgate-34-blogposts-seize-moment.html

Thoriumgate. 34 blogposts. Seize the moment to strengthen India's nuclear doctrine and energy future.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/is-thorium-biggest-energy-breakthrough.html

Is Thorium the Biggest Energy Breakthrough Since Fire? Possibly.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/are-beachfuls-of-thorium-sand-curse.html

Are beachfuls of thorium sand a curse? -- Rrishi Raote

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/why-should-foreign-companies-private.html

Why should foreign companies & private parties work in monazite placer deposits?

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/krisastha-koil-kundal-uvari.html

Karisastha koil, Kundal, Uvari

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-reactors-dr-y-federation-of.html

Thorium for dummies. Thorium reactors - Dr. Y (Federation of American Scientists)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/upas-thoriumgate-toyota-tsusho-enters_6.html

UPA's Thoriumgate? Toyota Tsusho enters the scene.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/monazite-reserves-of-india-18-million.html

Monazite reserves of India 18 Million Tonnes (A review of seabed and placer mining deposits in India by Abhineet Kumar (May, 2011. Dept. of Mining Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, 2011)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-which-can-breed-uranium-233-is.html

Thorium which can breed uranium 233 is the future energy source for India. Rare earth elements; Indian rare earths -- Its genesis and growth (TK Mukherjee, IREL)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/proof-that-coir-was-used-to-export.html

Proof that coir was used to export thorium oxide in monazite. Now Toyota is inmonazite processing in India.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/wyoming-nuclear-task-force-hears.html

Wyoming nuclear task force hears thorium reactor plan

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/indian-rare-earths-genesis-and-growth.html

Indian rare earths: genesis and growth -- TK Mukherjee, IREL

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/who-looted-indias-missing-thorium.html

Who looted India’s missing thorium? -- Sandeep Balakrishna

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/after-coal-did-india-give-away-thorium.html

After coal, did India give away Thorium at pittance too?

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/great-thorium-robbery-impacting-india.html

Great thorium robbery impacting India's nuclear doctrine and energy security

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/67-years-nuclear-energy-nuclear.html

67 Years Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Destruction

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/15-billion-hole-in-ground-thorium-for.html

$15 billion hole in ground. Thorium for clean energy

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-reserve-in-country-narayanasamy.html

Thorium Reserve in the Country - Narayanasamy informs Lok Sabha

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/09/thorium-fuelled-dreams-for-indias.html

Thorium-fuelled dreams for India's energy future. How India's science is taking over the world.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/nuclear-materials-suppliers-group-nsg.html

Nuclear materials, suppliers group (NSG) and safeguards

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2012/08/depletion-of-thorium-reserves-from.html

Depletion of thorium reserves from South Indian beaches, impacting India's nucleardoctrine and energy security: 14 blogposts

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/black-monazite-sand-deposits-found-on.html

Black Monazite sand deposits found on beaches (India)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/thorium-fuel-cycle-potential-benefits.html

Thorium fuel cycle - potential benefits for India - IAEA publication (2005)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/thorium-alleged-export-of-sands-august.html

Thorium: alleged export of sands (August 2007 report)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/key-reserve-profiles-of-placer-deposits.html

Key reserve profiles of placer deposits: Chavara and Manavalakurichi (From Ph.D. thesis of Ajith G. Nair, 2001)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/valmikis-knowledge-of-oceanography-and.html

Valmiki's knowledge of oceanography and Mannar volcanic

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/mining-of-monazite-goi-response-in-lok.html

Mining of monazite (GOI response in Lok Sabha on 30 Nov. 2011)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/indian-rare-earths-limited.html

Indian Rare Earths Limited

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2012/08/vv-mineral-achievements.html

VV Mineral: achievements

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/theres-nuclear-gold-in-this-sand-and.html

There’s nuclear gold in this sand. And it’s being sent out with impunity – Tehelka

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/manavalakurichi.html

Manavalakurichi

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/irregularities-in-bureaucratic.html

Scam of the century involving Rs. 1340 billion thorium reserves. Irregularities inbureaucratic processes which led to encouragement of illegal mining of thorium

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/10-point-plan-nationalise-thorium.html

10-point plan: Nationalise thorium resources of India and institute strategic command for protecting and conserving Nuclear Fuel complexes

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/illegal-thorium-mining-in-india-value.html

Illegal thorium mining in India. Value of India’s thorium reserves: Rs. 1340 billion est.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/08/monday-august-13-2012-must-look-into.html

‘PM must look into illegal thorium mining’

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3900879694651725760#editor/target=post;postID=876222689095259079

Uranium Is So Last Century — Enter Thorium, the New Green Nuke | Magazine

↧

IPL scam and a loveboat. PepsiCo pulling the plug? -- Venky Vembu

May 23, 2013, 8:12 pm

≫ Next: Caring for parents by quitting jobs if needed -- Japan reports. Will India's fiscal system strengthen family ties?

≪ Previous: Nuke scam: Loot of atomic mineral wealth and Indo-US nuke deal

Going for Gurunath: Bookie trail leading to IPL’s rotten core?

by Venky Vembu May 24, 2013

You don’t have to check the ballast to see if a ship is keeling over and sinking: the rats that begin trooping out will confirm it for you just fine.

When the IPL cruise ship hit an iceberg with the sensational arrest of three Rajasthan Royals players last fortnight, it was possible to delude ourselves into believing that this was an inconsequential aberration, and that the sturdy ocean liner would sail along just fine. But steadily, with each passing day, the seaworthiness of the IPL loveboat is being called into question.

Today, the sleaze trail of bookies (and booze and babes) is leading, from all accounts, right up to the doors of the proximate family of Indian cricket’s topmost administrator. On Thursday, a Mumbai Police team turned up at the Chennai home of Chennai Super King CEO Gurunath Meiyappan, who is the son-in-law of BCCI president N Srinivasan, and served notice on him to turn up and account for his connections with Vindoo Dara Singh, an accused in the spot-fixing scandal.

Mumbai Police officers at CSK CEO Gurunath Meiyappan’s home in Chennai. PTI

Meiyappan isn’t yet an accused in the case: he is being merely asked to submit himself for questioning. And to be fair, both his paternal family, which owns a big-banner Tamil cinema production house, and Vindoo’s father, the legendary Dara Singh, had organic professional links that bind the next generation as well. But just the fact that the Mumbai Police has dug out circumstantial evidence of potentially incriminating phone conversations between Meiyappan and Vindoo – and are now closing in for the kill – has set off a death-rattle of skeletons in commodious cricketing cupboards.

All this has been enough to send the moneybags, which grease the tracks of the IPL, scurrying for cover. The IPL’s title sponsor PepsiCo is evidently so concerned about the steady stream of sleazy stories associated with the cricket carnival that it has served notice on the BCCI that it wishes to dissociate itself from the IPL. The Indian Express reports, citing top officials at PepsiCo as well as the BCCI as saying that the company, which paid nearly Rs 400 crore for the title rights for five years, is looking to pull the plug following concerns about the “possible negative rub-off on its brand image” arising from the spot-fixing scandal.

This comes barely days after Sahara withdrew its Pune Warriors India franchise citing ongoing problems with the BCCI.

Money was always the oxygen that kept the IPL carnival in full flow. So long as the money wheels continued to spin, it may have been possible to pretend that all was well with the IPL – and that the show, for all its freaky nature, must go on. But once the lucrative lubricant that greases the tracks of the IPL gravy train runs out, the squeaky wheels are at risk of coming unhinged. So devalued is the IPL brand equity today that it would take immense corporate courage for any established brand to be associated with it.

To the extent that the BCCI, starting from its president downwards, has been impervious to long-running demands to clean up their act – because it only understands the language of money – PepsiCo’s threat to pull the plug could serve as a kick in the butt for the BCCI to clean up its act. Even given the extraordinary inventiveness of the cricket board administrators, no longer may it be possible for them to rearrange the deck-chairs on board the IPL ocean liner and pretend that the iceberg that it hit was of no consequences.

The ship is taking water, and the big-money sponsors are trooping out. Unless the IPL circus cleans up its act, it will have to fold up its tents and leave town in ignominy.

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/ipl/going-for-gurunath-bookie-trail-leading-to-ipls-rotten-core-811049.html

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Caring for parents by quitting jobs if needed -- Japan reports. Will India's fiscal system strengthen family ties?

May 23, 2013, 9:45 pm

≫ Next: IPL scam: An IPL team boss lost a khoka -- Vindu

≪ Previous: IPL scam and a loveboat. PepsiCo pulling the plug? -- Venky Vembu

I find in this report an echo of the Hindu traditions of joint family where it is the responsibility of the family to care for the elderly. This has been for a millennia an effective social security system.

I hope a similar survey will reveal a similar situation in India, that is Bharat.

Fiscal policies should be so framed as to strengthen the Hindu joint family system which is, in effect, a social security system by the community without depending upon a State-led social security system.

Kalyanaraman

13% of middle-aged men quitting jobs to take care of parents

KYODO

Middle-aged men are quitting paid work to care for elderly parents in increasing numbers, a new study shows.

According to the study by the Institute for Research on Household Economics, 13.4 percent of men aged between 40 and 64 living with parents requiring nursing care had quit their jobs at some stage to tend to the relatives, compared with 27.6 percent of women facing the same situation.

“Turnover among men to provide care (to their parents) is rising,” said Keiko Tanaka, a researcher at the institute.

The increase apparently reflects more men remaining unmarried and not having reliable siblings around them.

Women are meanwhile more likely to be in a position to quit work and care for parents due to having a primary breadwinner spouse.

The study was based on a survey conducted between September and November 2011 on the Internet, with 206 men and 264 women responding. The average age of the respondents was 52.6, while that of their parents stood at 82.7.

Given that the respondents had to spend around ¥69,000 on average per month for home-based care, Tanaka said “they are squeezed by high nursing costs.” She stressed the need to provide enough public support to caregivers.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/13/national/13-of-middle-aged-men-quitting-jobs-to-take-care-of-parents/#.UZ7vfNIwevd

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IPL scam: An IPL team boss lost a khoka -- Vindu

May 23, 2013, 9:58 pm

≫ Next: SoniaG UPA strategy to tackle corruption: Covering up murky defence deals by making Defence secy CAG

≪ Previous: Caring for parents by quitting jobs if needed -- Japan reports. Will India's fiscal system strengthen family ties?

IPL spot-fixing: Mumbai Police refuses to extend time for Meiyappan's questioning

INDIA TODAY ONLINE | Mumbai, May 24, 2013 | 11:38

Gurunath Meiyappan

According sources, the Mumbai Police has refused to entertain Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan's request for extension of the deadline to appear for questioning.

Mumbai Police Crime Branch sources say Meiyappan must appear to today's deadline to appear for questioning.

The police pasted summons outside his house, asking him to appear before the police at 11 am on Friday. Later, Meiyappan is said to have contacted the Mumbai Police and told them that he would be available on Monday.

Earlier, sources say BCCI chief N. Srinivasan's son-in-law Meiyappan started placing bets on IPL matches in 2011.

They say actor Vindu Dara Singh's interrogation has revealed that Gurunath started with bets of Rs 10 lakh that went upto Rs 1 crore per match. Sources also add that Gurunath placed bets on three CSK matches this season and also placed bets on other games.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/mumbai-police-refuses-to-extend-time-for-meiyappans-questioning/1/272766.html

Team boss lost a crore on IPL bets this year: Vindu Dara Singh

S Ahmed Ali, TNN | May 24, 2013, 01.47 AM IST

IPL fixing scandal: Vindu Dara Singh names Bollywood biggies

MUMBAI: Vindu Dara Singh, arrested on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in the IPLfixing scandal, has told the crime branch of the Mumbai police that an IPL team boss, who's been in the news lately, lost a 'khoka' (Rs 1 crore) in bets placed through him on IPL games this season. The veracity of Vindu's claim is yet to be established.

If this is indeed a fact, the team boss cannot claim that his connections with Vindu are purely friendly and have nothing to do with betting or fixing.

Cops are considering two scenarios:

One, that the team boss placed bets through Vindu on IPL matches in general and not on his own team. This would be illegal, but not outright criminal;

Two, that he passed on information about his own team to Vindu, who then placed bets on his behalf with bookies on the basis of that information (the same way corporate executives can play the stock market with insider information).

He could still lose money because the information may not necessarily guarantee the final outcome.

Both these scenarios involve betting and not fixing. Whether any fixing was also involved is not yet known.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/spot-fixing-hits-ipl-6/news/Team-boss-lost-a-crore-on-IPL-bets-this-year-Vindu-Dara-Singh/articleshow/20234934.cms

Published: May 23, 2013 14:07 IST | Updated: May 24, 2013 02:17 IST

The jackpot followed friendship with Meiyappan

Alok Deshpande

S. Vijay Kumar

PTIA file photo of Gurunath Meiyappan.

Vindoo Dara Singh became friends with Gurnath two years ago

The fortunes of Vindoo Dara Singh, a habitual but unsuccessful bettor, changed after he became friends with Gurunath Meiyappan, Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings. “He became friends with Gurunath two years ago and, according to his confession, he had earned more than Rs.17 lakh in this IPL for the first time,” said a police officer investigating the case. Singh, also known in betting circles as Jack, had placed bets on matches all through the last five editions of the tournament and suffered heavy losses. “We have not drawn any conclusions. But we are investigating the reasons behind his sudden success,” an officer said.

Meanwhile, sources close to Mr. Meiyappan’s legal team said Mr. Srinivasan’s son-in-law has told the Mumbai Crime Branch that he would appear before it on Monday, a day after the finals of IPL-6, to be played in Kolkata on Sunday.

Earlier on Thursday morning, a four-member team of the Mumbai police led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Satyanarayan Chowdhari arrived at the residence of Mr. Meiyappan only to find he was not present at the time. “We issued the summons to him at his residence and office in Chennai,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy.

Even as Mr. Meiyappan sought more time to appear before the Mumbai crime branch, the police are likely to call Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf for questioning.

While analysing the mobile phone calls of Vindoo, the police found that the Bollywood actor was in frequent touch with Mr. Meiyappan. Mr. Singh was also seen in the VIP stand of CSK during a match in Chennai, police sources said. According to sources, Mr. Singh was introduced to Mr. Meiyappan by a person who was closely associated with a popular Indian cricketer.

Officials said the actor has been mentioning the names of a number of famous personalities, including an actor, an actress, and a former cricketer-turned-commentator.

“He has been saying a lot of things about Gurunath and others. Unless we get a chance to question Gurunath, we won’t be able to confirm anything,” said an officer, adding that Mr. Singh said he would often place bets for Mr. Meiyappan.

In a related development, the Crime Branch-CID of the Tamil Nadu police, which investigates the betting scandal in Chennai, arrested Kitty alias Uttam Chunnilal Jain, one of the high-profile bookies who was on the run. The 35-year-old businessman had at least 30 punters, including some industrialists, who actively indulged in betting.

“A special team arrested Kitty on Thursday evening. The minimum betting he would entertain in his business was Rs. 50,000… Kitty is one of the most important bookies. Investigation has revealed that he activated several SIM cards using fake documents,” a CB-CID official told The Hindu.

The agency has so far arrested seven bookies in Chennai and efforts are on to apprehend a few others, including Sanjay Bafna who is believed to have gone to South Africa.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-jackpot-followed-friendship-with-meiyappan/article4742492.ece?homepage=true

↧

SoniaG UPA strategy to tackle corruption: Covering up murky defence deals by making Defence secy CAG

May 23, 2013, 11:20 pm

≫ Next: Indus writing in ancient Near East (Dilmun seal readings)

≪ Previous: IPL scam: An IPL team boss lost a khoka -- Vindu

Defence secretary made CAG; appointment raises questions

New Delhi, May 21, 2013, DHNS;

Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma was on Tuesday appointed Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. He takes over from Vinod Rai, who retires on Wednesday.

Sharma, a 1976 batch Bihar cadre officer and an old hand in the Defence Ministry, will assume charge on May 23. R K Mathur, Secretary, Defence Production, is likely to become the new defence secretary.

Even before Sharma could take over, there were whispers in the corridors of power whether he would be able to maintain the standards set by Rai, who gave countless sleepless nights to the United Progressive Alliance government by his audit reports on massive financial irregularities seen during Commonwealth Games, allocation of 2G spectrum for telecommunication operators and allotment of coal blocks.

Launching an attack on Sharma, Aam Aadmi Party leader and Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan questioned the legality of the appointment because of the “conflict of interests” as Sharma had served the Defence Ministry for over 10 years in key posts and “a major part of CAG’s job is to audit defence purchases.”

At a press conference, Bhushan said Sharma’s appointment was illegal and liable to be struck down for the conflict of interest entailed in his assignment. “Sharma worked in the Defence Ministry for 10 years when all important defence acquisitions were made. Such a long period for a bureaucrat in the same ministry is unusual. The UPA even granted him an extension after retirement. This indicates his proximity to UPA bosses.”

Sharma held the posts of joint secretary, additional secretary, director-general (acquisition) and defence secretary. During his tenure, defence budget swelled from around Rs 25,000 crore to more than Rs 2 lakh crore as India emerged as one of the most lucrative markets for military business.

Bhushan said the government decided to appoint “pliable” people to such posts which function as constitutional watchdogs like the Election Commission, Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Information Commission.

Pradip Kumar, Sharma's predecessor in the Defence Ministry, has been appointed the CVC by the UPA government.

Bhushan alleged the CAG “is appointed” not in a transparent and arbitrary manner as “there is no formal” system—no selection committee and no eligibility criteria. The appointment of a person as the CAG through such an arbitrary and non-transparent process compromises the principle of “institutional integrity which the Supreme Court had laid down while quashing the appointment of the previous CVC who was appointed in similar circumstances.”

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/333764/defence-secretary-made-cag-appointment.html

SC to hear pil on cag

23 May 2013

statesman news service

NEW DELHI, 23 MAY: The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a PIL challenging the appointment of Shashi Kant Sharma as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). A Bench of Justice B S Chauhan and Dipak Misra, however, said there is no urgency in taking

up the matter during vacation and posted the case for hearing in July.

Mr Sharma, a Bihar cadre IAS officer, was sworn in as the new CAG by President Pranab Mukherjee during the day. Mr Sharma, 61, a former defence secretary, succeeds Mr Vinod Rai, who demitted office yesterday on retirement. The new CAG will serve till 24 September 2017. Mr Sharma's appointment comes at a time when the CAG has come under sharp attack from the government.

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Supreme Court lawyer Mr Prashant Bhushan flayed Mr Sharma's appointment as the CAG, terming it illegal and unconstitutional. Mr Bhushan contended that Mr Sharma has held several positions in the Defence ministry in the past 10 years and his appointment as the CAG would mean a conflict of interest.

http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=457799&catid=35

edits

21 May 2013

CAG NOT A LAP-DOG
Institution deserves more respect

THE Comptroller and Auditor-General of India is the watchdog of the nation and not the lap-dog of the ruling dispensation. In the appointment of Shashi Kant Sharma as the new CAG to succeed Vinod Rai who lays down office today (Wednesday), the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government has flouted every guideline laid down by the Supreme Court for the appointment of persons for sensitive constitutional posts. Sharma, a 1976-batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre who has been the Defence Secretary for the last two years, had earlier served as Director-General (Acquisition) in the defence ministry earlier, and his record of service is not without blemish. The near Rs 8,000-crore cost escalation of the yet-to-be delivered aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov that drew sharp criticism from the CAG happened during his period as DG, Acquisition. As Defence Secretary, he could not have been insulated from the manipulation of the date of birth of General VK Singh as well as the scary report of a military coup allegedly engineered by the Army Chief. His taking over as the CAG when many of the defence deals under his watch are under the scrutiny of this very constitutional body, is a travesty of the high office.
When the Constituent Assembly was discussing the office of the CAG, BR Ambedkar said: “I am of the opinion that this dignitary is probably the most important officer under the Constitution of India. He is the man who is going to see that the expenses voted by Parliament are not exceeded or varied from what has been laid down by Parliament in the Appropriation Act. If this functionary is to carry out his duties which are far more important than that of the judiciary, he should be certainly as independent as the judiciary. I cannot help saying that we have not given him the same independence we have given to the judiciary.” President Rajendra Prasad, at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the CAG building in New Delhi in 1954, said, “I am afraid the task devolving on the CAG and his auditors is not always pleasant. He has to carry on these functions without fear or favour in the larger interests of the nation.”
The choice of Sharma as CAG is a replay of the appointment of PJ Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner, struck down by the Supreme Court as non est. The apex court ruled that institution was more important than an individual. When institutional integrity is in question, the touchstone should be “public interest” which has to be taken into consideration in the selection process, the court ruled. The system of governance established by the Constitution is based on distribution of powers among the three organs of the State, one of them being the Executive whose duty is to enforce the laws made by Parliament and administer the country through various statutory bodies like the CAG, CVC and the Election Commission.
The CAG, by virtue of being a unitary authority in a federal structure, is the singular head of a hierarchical audit authority, assisted by deputy CAGs. This singularity has been consistently threatened by successive governments ever since Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister, including the present one which tried to make it a multi-member body with a view to cutting Vinod Rai down to size. The political adventurism of the UPA government in naming Sharma as the new CAG is not likely to go unchallenged in the Supreme Court. President Pranab Mukherjee, if he is true to the oath he has taken to protect and uphold the Constitution, should ponder before swearing Sharma in.
http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=457378&catid=38

↧

Indus writing in ancient Near East (Dilmun seal readings)

May 24, 2013, 2:04 am

≫ Next: Ball-by-ball IPL scam commentary. SC said BCCI took their eye off the ball.

≪ Previous: SoniaG UPA strategy to tackle corruption: Covering up murky defence deals by making Defence secy CAG

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/bahrain-digs-unveil-one-of-oldest.html

Bahrain digs unveil one of oldest civilisations -- BBC

See: Harriet Crawford, Early Dilmun seals from Saar, Art and Commerce in Bronze Age Bahrain, Archaeology International, London (2001) http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-456-1/dissemination/pdf/Saar_Report_2.pdf

Mirror: http://www.scribd.com/doc/143096331/Early-Dilmun-seals-from-Saar-Art-and-Commerce-in-Bronze-Age-Bahrain-Archaeology-International-London-Harriet-Crawford-2001

Many of these seals are in Indus writing. See details in S. Kalyanaraman, 2013, Indus writing in ancient near East: Corpora and a Dictionary, Herndon

The following monograph presents readings of some Dilmun seal hieroglyphs using Meluhha (mleccha) lexemes of Indian sprachbund:

Indus writing in ancient Near East (Dilmun seal readings)
The following are the rebus Meluhha (mleccha) readings of glyphs on Dilmun seals (appended): Back of proto-Dilmun style seal from Saar (2622:05; dia. 1.9 cm.)
Copulation or erotic narratives
kamḍa, khamḍa 'copulation' (Santali) Rebus: kaṇḍ ‘furnace, fire-altar, consecrated fire’.

“The links between Susa and Dilmun are well attested in the texts and the archaeology. It has already been mentioned that the erotic scenes showing women with their legs wide apart, found in the Early Dilmun style seal repertoire, show links with simpler scenes, with a long prehistory in Elam. One Persian Gulf seal with Indus writing, three Early Dilmun style seals, two cylinder seals decorated with Early Dilmun style motifs, and one possible Dilmun sealing from a lenticular bulla were found at Susa, and are illustrated by Amiet (1972, Nos. 1643, 1716–18, 1975, 2021 and 240). The usage of the route north from Susa at this period is suggested by a single Dilmun seal found in the treasury of the Kititum temple at Ischali in the Diyala valley (Hill et al. 1990), and by a dedication to Inzac of Dilmun by a king of Eshnunna on a stone amulet found on the island of Cythera (Potts 1990, p. 225).” (p.31)

Read on...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/143371932/Indus-Writing-in-Ancient-Near-East-Dilmun-Seals

Indus Writing in Ancient Near East (Dilmun Seals)

↧

Ball-by-ball IPL scam commentary. SC said BCCI took their eye off the ball.

May 24, 2013, 3:39 am

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See: http://cricketfixed.blogspot.in/

Update

Spot-fixing: Meiyappan arrested, pressure mounts on Srinivasan to resign

PTI | Mumbai, May 25, 2013 | 00:20

Gurunath Meiyappan. Photo: Bhaskar Paul/India Today

Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan and owner of Chennai Super Kings, was arrested here late tonight for his alleged involvment in betting on IPL matches, raising questions over the future of the franchise.

Chennai Super In-Laws | Also read: Meiyappan not CEO of Chennai Super Kings, says India Cements |Government plans to fix match-fixers with new MCOCA-like law

Photo: Bhaskar Paul/India Today

"We have interrogated Gurunath based on information we have. We have found his involvement in the offence related to IPL betting case. We have placed him under arrest", Joint Commissioner (Crime) of Mumbai Police Himanshu Roy told reporters.

35-year-old Gurunath was summoned by Mumbai Police for questioning after actor Vindoo Dara Singh implicated him in betting.

Photo: Bhaskar Paul/India Today

Gurunath flew here by a chartered aircraft from Madurai a little after missing the 5 pm deadline set by police for questioning.

Gurunath reached Mumbai late in the evening accompanied by noted Chennai lawyer P S Raman.

He was taken from the Mumbai airport to the Crime Branch headquarters and subjected to interrogation before being arrested.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ipl-spot-fixing-mumbai-police-arrest-gurunath-meiyappan/1/272942.html

20. 05 pm: M Gurunath being taken to crime branch by Mumbai police

Finally! After almost 45 minutes of wait M Gurunath is seen walking out from the Mumbai airport accompanied by police officials. He is now being taken to the crime branch.

20.00 pm: Meiyappan has not been detained, say police

It’s been more than half an hour that Meiyappan landed at the Mumbai airport, but there’s still no sight of him. Police are reportedly inside the airport with Meiyappan and says they will escort him to the crime branch.

“Gurunath Meiyappan will be quizzed on betting, spot-fixing and passing on information,” Mumbai police told CNN-IBN. However, police have confirmed that they have not detained Meiyappan.

CNN-IBN correspondent Smitha Nair quotes Mumbai police as saying “Gurunath Meiyappan is the key link.”

19. 19 pm: Meiyappan reaches Mumbai airport

The crime branch that has been waiting for CSK boss Meiyappan will take him to the crime branch office. Reports say he is likely to be arrested as they have enough evidence against him.

Senior police officers will interrogate Gurunath Meiyappan tonight.

18. 44 pm: Meiyappan to be arrested?

The crime branch team has reached Mumbai airport and reports say they are likely to arrest Meiyappan from there where his plane is about to land.

17:45 pm: Voila! Gurunath Meiyappan’s Twitter profile undergoes quick makeover

Gurunath Meiyappan’s Twitter profile has undergone a quick makeover and now reflects his designation within the team. The first image is the original Twitter profile and the second image is the updated profile:

17:30 pm: Roy says Srinivasan should quit

“If I am betting or even my son is betting, it is wrong. We can make teams win or lose if we want,” Roy said, adding however that the police would decide the guilt of Meiyappan.

He also denied any knowledge of any betting in the T20 league or the paying of black money to players by teams to hold on to them.

“Black money is something Sahara does not believe in it,” Roy said, adding that his company only worked in legitimate businesses.

He also sought that sports bodies be improved across the country.

Roy said that Sahara had a great relation with the BCCI until Srinivasan took over.

17: 25 pm: Roy says Srinivasan has conflict of interest, says his problem only with BCCI chief and not the organisation

“There should be minimum culture…” Roy said, adding ”This way one cannot be with anybody.”

He also protested the manner in which the BCCI had taken the bank guarantees submitted from the IPL after the last league match that the Pune team played.

When asked if his problem was only with N Srinivasan, Roy said,”I have only a problem with him.”

Roy also raised questions about how Srinivasan could be the head of the disciplinary committee while owning a team playing in the IPL.

“With this system, we have had a bad feeling all along. We are treated like we are nothing in cricket,” Roy said.

He said he didn’t know what other franchise owners thought of Srinivasan, but they had expressed the sentiment that they were unhappy with the BCCI.

17: 20 pm: Subrata Roy blames BCCI and N Srinivasan for leaving IPL

Describing the sequence of events as “sad, irritating and disgusting” Sahara chief Subrata Roy painted a sorry picture of himself and blamed the BCCI for the Pune Warriors backing out of the IPL.

“In the last 13-14 years we enjoyed harmony with the BCCI till Mr Shashank Manohar was there…After that it is so disgusting,” Roy told Times Now.

“A sports body should have a sportsman spirit and should not be egoistic,” he said.

Roy wrote to the president but didn’t even get an acknowledgement. he also spoke of a telephone conversation where he said the BCCI chief fobbed him off saying he was busy with his grandchild.

Roy said he had been advised to withdraw from the IPL after the tournament began but had chosen not to do so and spoke to the IPL commissioner Rajiv Shukla about it.

16:45 pm: CSK disowns Meiyappan, says he’s neither CEO or owner

Ahead of his appearance before the Mumbai crime branch the Chennai Super Kings has issued a statement stating that he is neither the CEO or the owner of the team.

In a brief statement, the company said:

India Cements clarifies that Mr. Gurunath Meiyappan is neither the Owner, nor CEO / Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings. Mr. Gurunath is only one of the Members (Honorary) of the Management Team of Chennai Super Kings.

India Cements follows zero tolerance policy and if anyone is proved guilty, strict action will be taken immediately. India Cements assures full co-operation with BCCI and the Law Enforcement authorities.

Curiously enough Meiyappan was the Team Principal of the Chennai Super Kings until the beginning of the season and even he seems to be unaware of the fact that he has been demoted. His profile on Twitter still reflects his original status :

Team Principal Chennai Super Kings,managing director AVM productions and entertainment,AVM studios,AVM constructions.

Here’s a screengrab:

It isn’t clear if this change in profile was effected during the Kodaikanal trip he made earlier today. If Meiyappan were to be arrested it could mean that the Chennai Super Kings could face elimination from the IPL finals. However, if he is not the team prinicipal he wasn’t aware of it when he gave interviews this year.

16: 25 pm: NCP wants N Srinivasan to quit immediately

The NCP has condemned N Srinivasan’s insistence on staying on as the cricket board chief and demanded that he step down immediately

“If he has an iota of honesty he should step down immediately,” the party has said, reportedCNN-IBN.

And just in case you’re wondering why the NCP is so outraged, remember that party chiefSharad Pawar was edged out by Srinivasan and might just have decided its payback time.

RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav has also joined in the chorus and has demanded the strongest possible action against those guilty of betting and spot-fixing.

“It is a game of money and because of it the nation’s name is being sullied,” Lalu observed, demanding the strongest possible action.

15:50 pm: Vindoo taken to court

Vindoo Dara Singh has been taken to a Mumbai metropolitan magistrate’s court and the police is to seek an additional four days of custody, reported Times Now.

One reason that is likely to be stated is that the police might confront Chennai Super Kings chief Gurunath Meiyappan with the actor, but whether the court will grant custody remains to be seen.

Remember, the six bookies who were arrested in the case were sent to judicial custody after the court said that the police failed to present adequate evidence.

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/ipl/ipl-spot-fixing-live-meiyappan-being-taken-to-crime-branch-787311.html

Probe fire under BCCI chair

G.C. SHEKHAR AND SAMYABRATA RAY GOSWAMI

May 23: Mumbai police today delivered a summons at the home of Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of Indian cricket boss N. Srinivasan, asking him to appear for questioning in connection with his phone conversations with a spot-fixing accused.

The summons set Gurunath, who was not at his Chennai residence, a Friday 5pm deadline to come to Mumbai and face crime branch interrogators or risk being declared a fugitive.

Gurunath later faxed a request to be given time till Monday because the IPL final is scheduled in Calcutta on Sunday, crime branch deputy commissioner Ambadas Pote said.

Mumbai police claim to have traced “at least 12 phone calls, spanning 30 minutes”, between Gurunath and wrestler Dara Singh’s son Vindoo, arrested on the charge of facilitating IPL betting and spot-fixing.

“We know Gurunath is in India but we have no information where he is. He is not an accused yet — just someone we need to question because of the phone calls between him and Vindoo on April 6 while the Super Kings were playing in Chennai,” a top police source said. “We would like to question Gurunath in Vindoo’s presence.”

The Telegraph had until now refrained from identifying Gurunath as the IPL team executive who had come under investigation following Vindoo’s interrogation because police had not officially said they were going to question him. Now that a summons has been delivered, we are naming him.

The Mumbai police source said: “Vindoo has given us some details about the possible involvement of a politician. But that cannot be verified at this stage; so we won’t summon anybody else based on Vindoo’s claims. Gurunath’s case is different as we have corroborative evidence from the phone calls.”

Gurunath’s whereabouts have remained a mystery since Vindoo’s arrest on Tuesday. A friend today said the Super Kings boss was holidaying with his family.

Equally intriguing has been the total silence from Srinivasan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India president. Enquiries at the Chennai office of the Srinivasan-owned India Cements failed to elicit any information on his whereabouts.

The four-member Mumbai police team, led by inspector Milind Khatare, was initially made to wait outside the gates of Gurunath’s two-storey home in Chennai and later told by security that Gurunath was not in town.

When the police said they would paste the summons on the gate unless someone responsible showed up, frantic phone calls were made and Rama Subbu, India Cements chief security officer, arrived after 20 minutes. He agreed to receive the summons on Gurunath’s behalf.

Subbu confirmed that the Mumbai police team had earlier stopped over at the Super Kings office and was told that Gurunath had not come there for a week.

Mumbai police said they had earlier sent a team to Kodaikanal, where they thought Gurunath might be holidaying, but it returned empty-handed. They dropped a plan to send a team to Calcutta after learning he would not accompany the team there.

But a family friend of Gurunath said: “He will return to Chennai tomorrow and fly to Calcutta on Saturday. Since he has been travelling with the team, he used the short break after the first play-off to spend time with his family on a short holiday.”

The friend confirmed that Dara Singh was close to Gurunath’s grandfather A.V. Meiyappan, who founded the AVM television and film production house. He added that this was how Gurunath and his father Balasubramaniam became close to Vindoo.

“There is no need for Gurunath to make money from betting. He is a multi-millionaire from his father’s side and his wife Rupa is the sole heir to Srinivasan’s wealth,” the friend said.

Camera crew and reporters had gathered outside Gurunath’s house in the morning after news broke that a Mumbai police team was on its way. The gates of the house were shut but the journalists climbed onto a cement bench outside the walls to peek inside and take pictures.

Two SUVs and two sedans were parked in the compound while the watchman played football with a German Shepherd. A red flag was planted in a corner. “If he were inside, a green flag would be planted,” concluded a local journalist.

In the evening, the BCCI swung into action to show its pro-activeness. Board chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty and IPL CEO Sundar Raman personally delivered the report of an internal inquiry to Mumbai police joint commissioner Himangshu Roy.

Umpire axed

World cricket body ICC has withdrawn Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf from the June 6-21 Champions Trophy in England following media reports about the police investigating him in connection with the spot-fixing case, a PTI report said. Police sources said Rauf would be questioned soon.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130524/jsp/frontpage/story_16932619.jsp#.UZ9FTtIwevc

IPL spot-fixing live: Srinivasan to quit if Meiyappan arrested, say sources

by Ashish Magotra 15 mins ago

15:36 pm: Meiyappan always had links with bookies, reveals Srinivasan’s son Ashwin

Ashwin (Srinivasan’s son), 44, minces no words while disclosing his brother-in-law’s alleged involvement in betting and spot-fixing.

“Guru (he addresses Meiyappan that way) had several connections with known bookies from Chennai and Dubai and was regularly in touch with them even before the IPL started.” he said. “What began as a relatively smaller side-business became a full-fledged one over the years.”

Read the full article in the DNA here.

15:15 pm: Delhi police chief says there’s no clash with Mumbai police

The Delhi police and their counterparts in Mumbai may be arguing over the relevance of the contents of Sreesanth’s iPad and closed circuit television footage, but Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar says there’s no problem.

“There is no acrimony,” he told Times Now, adding that the was in constant touch with the Mumbai Police chief to ensure the two police forces were on the same page.

However, he clarified that the two probes are currently divergent, with the Delhi police probing spot fixing and Mumbai illegal betting, and have no common ground for now.

15:05 pm: Will N Srinivasan go if Meiyappan arrested?

According to CNN-IBN, unnamed sources have said BCCI chief N Srinivasan will step down if his son-in-law is to be arrested today.

The channel reported that Arun Jaitley and Rajiv Shukla, who met earlier today, spoke with him following the meeting and have apprised him of the situation and sentiment among the various cricketing boards.

Chennai Super Kings may also be in trouble if Meiyappan in arrested, given the IPL‘s rules states that if the head of any team is arrested the team must be disqualified, CNN-IBNreported.

However, NDTV reports that the Chennai team may scrape through a loop hole and claim that Meiyappan isn’t the owner of the team and is an employee of the team.

15:00 pm: Meiyappan to turn up with legal team in tow

Facing tough questions from the Mumbai Police, Gurunath Meiyappan is expected to be accompanied by a team of legal eagles, who will assist him in getting through the interrogation.

Writing about the Meiyappan saga Firstpost’s Venky Vembu says:

Meiyappan hasn’t been named as an accused in the case; he is only being sought for questioning in connection with the allegation made by Vindoo Dara Singh that he was punting on his team’s fortunes. And, to be abundantly clear, Meiyappan is within his legal rights to seek an alternative date for his appearance for questioning in connection with a criminal case – although that luxury isn’t always afforded to those without political or other clout.

But just the sight of Meiyappan playing hide-and-seek games with the police, when he has so much of his reputation – and that of his father-in-law – riding on clearing his name from the taint of association with the sensational scandal makes for bad – and deeply incriminating – optics.

Read more here

14.06 pm: Meiyappan heads for Mumbai

Gurunath Meiyappan who was last spotted in Kodaikanal with his father-in-law BCCI president N Srinivasan, is now on his way to Mumbai, CNN-IBN reported.

It is unclear if the Chennai Super Kings CEO will be able to make it to Mumbai before his 5pm deadline ends.

The Mumbai police reportedly want him to answer questions due to his close links with Vindoo Dara Singh and asked him to appear before the city crime branch between 11am and 5pm. He asked for an extension but did not receive it.

13.26 pm: FICCI Calls for Regulating Sports Betting to Counter Spot Fixing

In the wake of latest controversies related to spot fixing case in cricket and revelations of role of underworld in leveraging ban in sports betting, FICCI has once again reinitiated its call for regulating sports betting in India.

Despite several attempts to ban it, betting is continuing albeit in an underground way and substantial resources have been invested into enforcing such a ban; Thus middle way out is it should be regulated in a way which reduces this to an acceptable level. Hence, the Government should think of legalizing and regulating betting.

India is continuing to lose billions of dollars in taxable revenue (an estimated Rs. 12-20,000 crore annually) through black marketing operations in sports betting. According to FICCI, the greatest advantage of regulating sports betting is going to be the accountability for the large amounts of money transferred through illegal channels and reduction in cases of match fixing, money laundering and crimes.

If gaming and betting is regulated in India, it will benefit exchequer and could potentially fund sports development, social protection or welfare schemes and infrastructure development plans.

13.13 pm: Meiyappan in Kodaikanal with Srinivasan

TV Channels flashing images of Meiyappan in Kodaikanal with Srinivasan. We already knew that Srinivasan was there but now the son-in-law has also been spotted there.

The Mumbai Police had told Meiyappan to appear before the crime branch latest by 5.00 pm. It will be difficult for Meiyappan to make it.

12.09 pm: BCCI top brass in a huddle

Arun Jaitley, Rajeev Shukla met Law Minister Kapil Sibal. They will also be meeting the Sports Minister. Srinivasan, meanwhile, is said to be chilling in Kodaikanal.

Shukla said: “We told Mr Sibal that we need a strong law in place to control match fixing. We want a law enacted as quickly as possible.”

11.45 am: Pepsi says they have not sent any communication to BCCI

Pepsi has issued a statement saying that they will not be pulling out of the IPL, as reported by some sections of the media.

“The stories in a certain section of the media today, on PepsiCo regarding IPL, are speculative in nature. As a company policy we do not comment on speculation. PepsiCo has not sent any communication to BCCI as referred in a certain section of the media”, the company said.

11.18 am: No extension for Meiyappan

Chennai Super Kings boss Gurunath Meiyappan who reportedly asked for more time to appear before the Mumbai crime branch, is unlikely to get an extension, CNN-IBN reported.

Meiyappan was issued with a summons to appear before the Mumbai crime branch between 11am and 5pm today, as he was not at home to answer questions by a Mumbai police team who went to his Chennai residence on Thursday.

Meiyappan had reportedly asked for more time, but CNN-IBN quoted Mumbai police sources as saying that they were unlikely to entertain his request.

“If we were going to grant an extension, we would not have personally delivered a summons all the way to Chennai”, Times Now, quoted Mumbai police as saying.

On Thursday it was declared that if Meiyappan failed to show up, he would be declared a fugitive.

11.11 am: Vindoo to appear in court today

Vindoo Dara Singh is due to appear in court again. The Mumbai Police are likely to ask the court to extend his custody.

Meanwhile in Delhi, three bookies are due in court today.

10.49 am: International bookie arrested

According to TV reports, an international bookie, Mohammad, has been arrested — he is thought to be one of the main links in the spot-fixing probe. He was attempting to escape to Dubai via Hyderabad.

10.44 am: The ‘sourced’ truth may not be real

Everyday, the newspapers and the TV channels are filled with stories – straight from the sources mouth – about a new revelation, an exclusive angle or a new break in the case. And everyday we wonder how true these stories are… it’s juicy, it’s sleazy but is it the truth? Will half-truths do simply because everyone else has access to them too?

Normal journalism practice dictates that a source is someone you’ve known for a while; someone whose words you have come to trust completely because of the number of times he has given you information that has been completely true and he is not named in your copy because you need to protect his identity.

But in this case, everyone seems to have the same source – for all the quotes read the same

Read the full piece here

10.27 am: Pepsi should pull out of IPL: Oh, yes, abhi!

Anant Rangaswami writes on the impact the spot-fixing scandal could have on the title sponsor Pepsi.

It’s just over six months since Pepsi stunned the advertising and marketing world in India when they bid a whopping Rs 397 crore for the honour of becoming the title sponsor of the IPL for five years, starting 2013.

When the news broke, there was only one question that was debated in the industry: would the IPL deliver the audience numbers to justify Pepsi’s investment?

Read the full piece here

10.25 am: Ex-BCCI chief Manohar feels every match in the 2013 IPL should be investigated

Shashank Manohar, the former president of the BCCI, has said that the BCCI is not equipped to investigate spot-fixing and should rely on the police to punish players as suspensions do not work.

“BCCI has no machinery to investigate”, Manohar told Business Standard. “Therefore, I reiterate that BCCI should have filed a complaint to the police on its own. Suspension of players will not work. If the player is put behind bars even for a day, it will create a fear psychosis and become a deterrent to others.”

Read the full story here.

10.13 am: Delhi police chief: Not probing Meiyappan’s role in spot-fixing

The Delhi Police chief has come out and said that 3 players and 12 bookies have been arrested. They have also said that they are not probing N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan’s role in the spot-fixing scandal.

We need to remember that the Delhi police is only investigation the spot-fixing scandal. The Mumbai police, which has issued a summons to Meiyappan, is looking at betting in cricket.

10.04 am: Vindoo was in touch with three CSK players

Three Chennai Super Kings players, one of them quite senior, were in touch with Vindoo Dara Singh during the ongoing T20 season, the actor, arrested in connection with the spot-fixing probe, has told investigators. “Yes, he has dropped some names, we are verifying the authenticity of his claims,” the joint commissioner of police (crime), Himanshu Roy told the Hindustan Times.

The police might question the players once they corroborate Vindoo’s claims, sources said.

9.15 am: Gurunath was betting heavily on IPL, say Mumbai police

CNN-IBN has quoted Mumbai police sources as saying that Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan was betting heavily on IPL matches since 2011, and had been placing bets between Rs 10 lakh to a crore on matches.

The Mumbai police had also reportedly said that Meiyappan had bet heavily on three CSK matches this season, and had also placed bets on other matches in the league.

Meiyappan has been issued a summons to present himself before the Mumbai crime division before 5pm on Friday. The summons came after a Mumbai police team went to Meiyappan’s Chennai residence to question him and were told that he was not at home.

Meiyappan is being probed for his close links with Vindoo Dara Singh who has been arrested in the IPL spot-fixing scam. Police have said that there were as many as 30 calls exchanged between the two in a few days.

Updates for 23 May 2013 end

8.43 pm: IPL CEO, BCCI top official in Mumbai Crime Branch

Chief Administrative Officer of BCCI Ratnakar Shetty and IPL CEO today met with Mumbai’s Crime Branch chief Himanshu Roy in connection with the IPL spot fixing scandal.

7.53 pm I-T, ED will step in after cops get concrete evidence, syas Chidu

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said, “The police is probing IPL spot fixing and when investigations reach a concrete stage other agencies like the I-T and ED will step in.”

7.34pm: Chennai Super Kings CEO Guru Meiyappan seeks more time, to appear before Mumbai Police at 11am on Monday, reports CNN-IBN.

7.15pm: Former Pakistan cricket team captain Aamir Sohail to Times Now

Expressing disappointment over the sudden decision of the ICC to drop Asad Rauf from the Champions Trophy, former Pakistan cricket team captain Aamir Sohail told Times Now,”Have they (ICC) given any evidence? They can’t do that on mere speculation.”

The former Pakistani opener blasted the ICC vigilance team for failing to detect these wrongdoings until external agencies intervened.

“How are they (ICC) not pulling out people from the anti-corruption unit? Everything happened under their nose,” he said. “ICC is not clean. That’s why this game is suffering.”

6.55pm Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf may be called for questioning by Mumbai Police.

6.41pm: Zaka Ashraf, Chairman, Pakistan Cricket Board to Times Now

“It is not in our knowledge. I have heard it from you,” Ashraf told Times Now from Pakistan.

“Neither did he go with our permission nor is he coming back with our permission. The Pakistan Cricket Board has nothing to do with it. But if he has done anything wrong he should be punished,” he said.

Questioning the slack management in the IPL, Ashraf said,”I don’t know why things are not being tightened up in the IPL? This is something that the IPL management must seriously look into.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board chief said that the cricket board will soon meet to take steps against wrong practices by officials involved in the game.

“We are going to have a Board meeting so that to set up norms to bring all Pakistani umpires, match referees under the domain of the Pakistan Cricket Board,” he said.

However, the Pakistan Cricket Board chief said that if Asad Rauf was involved in unfair practices before he should have been allowed to participate in this version of the IPL.

“Why is he there now if he did anything wrong before?” Ashraf asked.

18.22 pm: ICC withdraws Asad Rauf from ICC Champions Trophy 2013

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that it has withdrawn elite panel umpire Asad Rauf from the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 that will be staged in England and Wales from 6-23 June.

The decision has been made after media reports on Wednesday indicated that the umpire was under investigation by Mumbai Police.

Explaining the decision, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf’s activities, we feel that it is in Asad’s best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself, that he is withdrawn from participating in the ICC Champions Trophy.”

18.12 pm: Sreesanth fought with Upton?

According to the Delhi Police, When he was not included in the Rajasthan Royal team after the May nine IPL match, a drunk Sreesanth fought with coach.

18.04 pm: Was Babu Rao Yadav a double agent?

Was Babu Rao Yadav, the former Vidharbha Ranji cricketer, a double agent who dealt with the ICC ACSU and the bookies? Well, some TV reports say he was.

17.45 pm: Ajit Chandila fixed IPL 5 matches

Meanwhil, Bookie Sunil Bhatia gave Rs.12 lakh to Ajit Chandila for fixing IPL-5 matches last year, says the Delhi Police.

The Delhi police further added: Chandila failed to deliver and was asked to return the money. He gave back Rs.4 lakh while cheques for remaining amount bounced.

17.30 pm: Thakur is confident the Delhi police will do a good job

“Let us see how Delhi Police will go forward with the probe and then wait for it to end. Let’s not prempt anything,” said BCCI joint-secretary Anurag Thakur.

17.02 pm: Vindoo names Bollywood stars

According to TV reports, Vindoo has named top Bollywood stars during his interrogation by the police. The police also wants to question Meiyappan and Vindoo together.

16.28 pm: ED registers case

Enforcement Directorate begins money laundering probe in IPL spot-fixing case, registers criminal case.

15.37 pm: The Delhi, Mumbai police fight again

On Wednesday, the Mumbai police had refused to share their evidence with the Delhi cops. The Delhi cops in turn approached the hotel directly but the hotel was warned by the Mumbai police to not share the CCTV footage.

This is pretty embarrassing.

15.27 pm: Mumbai police issue summons to CSK’s Gurunath

Meiyappan was not at home but he was been asked to reach Mumbai for questioning by tomorrow. If he doesn’t appear in Mumbai between 11 am and 5 pm, he will be declared a fugitive.

Mumbai police want to specifically check CSK’s boss Gurunath’s mobile phone record.

15.14 pm: ED starts probe

Three Raids have been conducted in Mumbai. ED has found documentary link to IPL betting.

15.11 pm: Rajeev Shukla defends BCCI boss

Rajeev Shukla has come out and defending the BCCI chief, N Srinivasan.

“No proof against Srinivasan’s son-in-law. Let’s wait. Let the probe be over. No one will be spared. No matter how big the name. IPL has got a bad name now, but a few can’t taint all.”

15.00 pm: Police have left the CSK CEO’s residence

Police have left the CSK CEO’s residence. They have pasted a copy of the summons on his door. According to CNN-IBN sources, CSK management will meet with the police officials today.

The sources also say that Meiyappan is expected to be back tomorrow.

14.40 pm: Mumbai police at Gurunath’s residence

The police had to wait for 10 minutes but they are now in Gurunath’s house. They have been wanting to speak to the CSK boss about his alleged links with Vindoo Dara Singh.

Meiyappan, however, is not at home. How convenient…

Anyway, other sources are telling CNN-IBN that the officials have served a formal summons to Meiyappan.

14.30 pm: Mumbai police right outside Gurunath’s house

The Mumbai police is right outside Gurunath Meiyappan’s house. They have men from the Chennai police with them. But at the moment, CSK boss Gurunath doesn’t seem to be home.

14.21 pm: Delhi police want broadcasters to give footage of all RR matches

The Delhi Police have now asked the broadcasters to give them the raw footage of all the matches that were played in the league stage. Earlier, the police had asked for footage of only three matches but now it seems that all the matches will be scrutinized.

According to TV reports, the RR team management has still not been given a clean chit by the police.

14.05 pm: Mumbai police refuse to share evidence with Delhi police

J&K Cricket Association chairman Farooq Abdullah has spoken about the IPL spot-fixing scandal in an interview to CNN-IBN.

“I don’t think u can ban IPL. It’s unfortunate that this match fixing has emerged. We should get to the bottom of it that cricket lovers aren’t disappointed,” he said. “All Indians are embarrassed. It’s a wake up call if you want to keep it as a gentleman’s sport.”

On N Srinivasan stepping down: Nothing has been proved till now. This man might has been just been Vindoo’s son. Unless its proved that his son-in-law is involved we shouldn’t tarnish his image. He will clear himself once investigation gets through.

12.50 pm: Mumbai police refuse to share evidence with Delhi police

And in yet another sign of an increasing turf war between the Delhi and Mumbai police in the IPL spot-fixing case, the Times Now channel is reporting that the Mumbai police are refusing to share evidence collected from Sreesanth’s hotel room in the city.

As Firstpost said earlier, The Delhi Police may have made the arrests in the sensational IPL spot fixing case, but the case has sparked off a turf war between them and their Mumbai counterparts with both of them claiming to have more dirt than the other in the scandal.

Since the Mumbai police had no access to Sreesanth after his arrest by the Delhi police, they quickly did the next best thing. They raided his hotel room. Diaries and a few electronic items emerged and accompanying it were leaks about how the fast bowler was both a troubled soul wanting to improve himself and a man with an eye for a pretty face.

The Mumbai Police hasn’t been very clear on what the seizure of vigour tablets or photos from a casting director have to do with the Delhi police’s probe into spot fixing, and not surprisingly their north Indian counterparts are having a bit of a laugh at their disclosures.

“They (Mumbai Police) are only trying to save their face. All this IPL spot-fixing was happening in Mumbai but they did not do anything. People should try to appreciate the good work done by the Delhi Police, which has shown a lot of ills that were going on in IPL,” a caustic SN Srivastava, who is heading the Delhi police probe, told the Economic Times.

Claiming that the Mumbai Police was left holding ‘leftovers,’ Srivastava said the Delhi police had already taken what it needed from the hotel rooms of the three arrested players. The Mumbai police not surprisingly has chosen to remain mum on these claims.

In this particular case, the Delhi Police had earlier said that they had not co-ordinated with the Mumbai Police to preserve the secrecy of their operation, but the face off between the two police forces is hardly new and at times have stretched to cases related to terrorism as well.

Unfortunately in this case, the only loser seems to be Sreesanth who can expect any dirty secret he may have had in his diaries or electronic devices to quickly be made public as the two police forces try to one up each other.

12.31 pm: Bookie arrested in Ajmer

Ajmer police have arrested an alleged bookie but have refused to divulge any details saying they will wait for more concrete details to come out through interrogation.

Times Now reported that the arrested bookie had been engaged in betting for the last two to three years.

More details are awaited.

12.06 pm: Gurunath Meiyappan, not at his residence

Mumbai police have reached Chennai to quiz Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan, but he is not at his residence, reports Times Now. The channel said that Gurunath, who is also the son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan, was not at his home, and there was no indication as to where he was.

The Mumbai police have reportedly now sought the assistance of local Chennai police to help with investigations. Police are reportedly

11.22 am: Too early to announce anyone guilty: BCCI

Anurag Thakur,the Joint Secretary of BCCI has said that it is too premature to announce anyone as guilty in the IPL betting scam, saying that the Delhi police had not yet concluded its investigation.

“Once the inquiry is complete we will be in a position to take the strongest action. Unless Delhi Police concludes its investigation can’t announce someone guilty”, ANI quoted him as saying.

10.59 am: Mumbai police team in Chennai to question Srinivasan’s son-in-law

A Mumbai police team has reached Chennai to question Srinivasan’s son-in-law and CEO of the Chennai Super Kings, Gurunath Meiyappan in relation to the spot-fixing case, CNN-IBNreported.

The channel added that in addition to Meiyappan, the police team is likely to question other top officials from the Chennai Super Kings.

Gurunath was allegedly in constant touch with Vindoo Dara Singh, and it is because of this constant contact that the police has decided to call him in for questioning.

You can read more on that here.

However Vindoo has reportedly claimed that he had made the calls to the team owner purely for personal reasons.

The actor has claimed that the calls made to Gurunath had little to do with the betting racket and they were “just friends”, reported the channel.

10.31 pm: ‘Upcoming’ Delhi player under the scanner

Another day, another name, another link. The IPL spot-fixing scam seems to be getting murkier and murkier. The latest person to come under the scanner is a rising Delhi Ranjiplayer whose profile had been found in a bookie’s social networking account, reports theHindustan Times. The player has not been named, but the report says,

“The hype built around the player and the manner in which he got out in the matches he played in the current T20 league has stirred the suspicion of investigators”.

Several agencies are reportedly studying the footage of all the matches he played in.

9.36 am: Vindoo Dara Singh had links with three players, placed bet for Bollywood stars

The spot-fixing scandal is getting murkier by the day with the police net now spreading to Kolkata. Police arrested nine people from the city on Thursday night in connection to the scandal. One of the nine people arrested is Ajit Sureka, a well-known bookie in the Indian cricket circles. According to Zee News, Rs 3 lakh in cash, eight mobile phones, two laptops which had betting software installed in them, were seized.

The accused will be produced in court today.

Meanwhile, small-time actor Vindoo Dara Singh, who is in police custody for his links with the betting, revealed that he used to place bets on behalf of ‘big Bollywood stars’. CNN IBNreports that Vindoo named three more players who were involved in the betting racket.

Meanwhile, Delhi CP Neeraj Kumar said that the police is tracking two other IPL teams and suspects that the betting racket is spread across the country and abroad.

While all fingers were being pointed at the possible Dawood connection, the gangster’s aide told in an interview on Aaj Tak that he doesn’t have anything to do with it. Chhota Shakeel distanced himself from the scam and said that it was Chhota Rajan, another mafia don, who is to be blamed for the muck.

Ironically enough, Dawood is so keen on distancing himself from the betting racket that he made Chhota Shakeel call up TOI and help clear his name. “Bhai doesn’t want haraam ka money from betting (Dawood doesn’t want money earned from dishonest cricketers),” Shakeel, weirdly enough, told the Times of India reporter.

Updates from 22 May end

6.37 pm: IPL should not stop: Sports Minister

“The IPL must not stop. We must ensure more responsibility for all,” Sports Minister Jitendra Singh told CNN-IBN in an interview. He also says that the IPL spot-fixing row has brought a bad name to sport.

5.49 pm: Chandila took an advance of Rs 15 lakh from bookies

Police have said that Ajit Chandila took an advance of Rs 15 lakh from bookies in April in order to fix a 17 May match between Rajasthan Royals & Hyderabad Sunrisers in Hyderabad.

5.11 pm: Sreesanth wanted to start betting house

He may deny the allegations of indulging in spot fixing in the current edition of the IPL, but documents reveal that fast bowler S Sreesanth’s company planned to enter many ventures including starting betting houses either in India or abroad.

S36 Sports and Entertainment Private Limited, in which the bowler reportedly has a 74 percent stake, in its filing with the Registrar of Companies has said that one of its obejctives was to start betting houses in India and abroad.

“According to S36′s memorandum of association filed with the registrar of companies in Bengaluru, the company’s main objectives are: “To run in India and/or abroad coaching centres, gymnasiums, health clubs, fitness centres, betting houses, indoor stadiums, sports physiotherapy centres, sports bars…“ the Deccan Chronicle quotes the document as saying.

However Sreesanth’s former coach P Sivakumar who was a director in the company until 2012 defended the player, saying it is a normal practice to list as many objectives, when a company is registered.

“It is a normal practice to list as many objectives, when a company is registered. The company was formed for Sreesanth’s post retirement life. If Sreesanth settles abroad, he can run a betting house. There are many countries where betting is allowed. We have not committed any illegality”, he said to CNN-IBN.

Sivakumar reportedly holds a 26 percent stake in the company, named after Sreesanth’s sports shop S36 in Kochi.

4.45 pm: Spot-fixing not restricted to IPL, ICL and Bangladesh Premier league also affected.

Police sources have said that it has emerged that Ajit Chandila had been paid for spot-fixing as early as April. This is separate from the Rs.20 lakh recovered from his cricket kit.

Meanwhile it looks as though the spot-fixing malaise is not limited to the IPL. PTI reported that one of the bookies, Sunil Bhatia admits he fixed some ICL matches with the help of Baburao Yadav. After ICL players were banned,
Bhatia took Yadav to Bangladesh.

Bhatia also reportedly claimed he has good contacts with a prominent Bangladeshi player. However they had to return as the ICC anti-corruption team spotted the bookie.

4.40 pm: Sreesanth’s girlfriend being questioned by cops

CNN-IBN reports that Sreesanth’s girlfriend, identified as Sakshi Jhala is being questioned by police with regards to the spot-fixing case.

Earlier reports came in that the former India pace bowler had spent a lot of his spot-fixing cash on his girlfriend, including a Rs 42,000 BlackBerry Z10 device that he paid for in cash.

Meanwhile NDTV quoting sources, reported that the mobile phones of a bookie had been found at Vindoo Dara Singh’s Juhu residence. Police had been conducting raids there since this morning. Singh was remanded to police custody till 24 May.

4.21 pm: Six bookies remanded to judicial custody till 5 May

A local court today remanded six bookies, arrested in connection with alleged IPL betting syndicate, to judicial custody till 5 June.

“Despite ample opportunities provided, the investigating officer has not pointed out who has been cheated and why,” additional metropolitan magistrate MN Saleem observed while remanding all the accused in judicial custody.

Mumbai Police has so far arrested six bookies – Ramesh Vyas, Pandurang Kadam, Ashok Vyas, Neeraj Shah, Pravin Bera and Pankaj Shah alias Lotus in connection with the IPL betting case.

All the bookies have filed bail applications and the Mumbai crime branch will file a reply on 24 May.

The magistrate also reprimanded the police saying the ground for taking custody written in the remand application is similar to the earlier submitted remand plea.

The court also observed that the phone instruments and other gadgets used for betting have been recovered from the bookies and in view of the above facts “there is no sufficient ground for police custody”.

The crime branch told the court that it wants to confront the six accused with Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh, son of late wrestler-actor Dara Singh, arrested yesterday for his alleged association with bookies.

The officials also said voice samples of the accused have to be taken and they have to confront the accused with each other.

However, defence lawyers pointed out that the custody is not required for recording voice samples and for confronting with other accused.

On May 20, the city police, which had arrested six bookies in connection with the IPL betting, told the court that they would investigate if the Pakistanis with whom the bookies were in touch had any terror links or connections with the organised crime syndicates.

The arrested bookies were allegedly not only accepting the betting but were also connecting calls from bookies in Pakistan and Dubai.

The Crime branch told the court that they want to elicit information about the absconding bookies from the arrested bookies.

(PTI)

3.19 pm: Sreesanth and Co also charged under section 409

Police today invoked a stringent section pertaining to criminal breach of trust against the players and bookies arrested in the IPL spot-fixing scandal which could land them in jail for life.

Investigators added Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) to the case against 18 players and bookies arrested in the scandal after IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals filed a formal complaint with Delhi Police.

Police had earlier registered a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy.

In its complaint, Rajasthan Royals said it had entered into an agreement with the three players stipulating that they will abide by the rules and regulations laid by ICC, BCCI and IPL.

Sources said the franchise said they came to know that the players indulged in spot-fixing with a personal motive and for financial gains and that they “fundamentally eroded” the sanctity of the game.

They sought registration of case against the players under Section 420 (cheating), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust) while adding 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent).

PTI

2.43 pm: UPA also involved in IPL, says Swamy

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was involved in all the recently unearthed scams, including spot fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and the involvement of some of its ministers would emerge, Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy said.

“The names of some UPA ministers will soon surface in the IPL spot fixing racket,” he told reporters. “There can be no scams and scandals without the blessings of the UPA government. They are in Coalgate, Commonwealth Games scandal and also the IPL scandal.”

(IANS)

2:00 pm: Madras HC issues notice over PIL

A PIL was today filed in the Madras High Court bench here seeking to direct the government to take over the management and administration of the Indian Premier League and Board of Control for Cricket as it had “failed” to promote the game.

In his petition, city-based lawyer V Santhakumaresan alleged that conduct of certain activities and receipt of income were totally commercial and there was no element of charity in the conduct of BCCI.

The surplus generated by BCCI was shared with players instead of being used for promoting the game, he claimed.

The court should direct CBI to conduct investigation into the entire affairs relating to sources of income, financial status, betting, and match fixing, Santhakumaresan said.

BCCI should desist from using the name “Indian Cricket team” for its team till disposal of the petition, the petitioner said.

He also sought a stay on the IPL 20-20 matches to be held from today till 26 May.

A Division Bench of Justices M M Sundresh and R Mala ordered issue of notice to the Secretary, Department of Culture and Youth Affairs, IPL Chairman, BCCI President, among others, returnable by June six. (PTI)

1:45 pm: Now cops say that Vindoo only made personal calls to CSK franchise CEO Gurunath

Just as soon as the news broke that the police could question Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan, now reports state that Vindoo has claimed that he had made the calls to the team owner purely for personal reasons.

The actor has claimed that the calls made to Gurunath had little to do with the betting racket and they were “just friends”, reported the channel.

The police has reportedly said that they are verifying the actor’s statement.

However, if the police stand by their statement that the actor would call the Chennai team chief and then bookies it raises questions why they wouldn’t want to question Gurunath.

1:05 pm: Mumbai police to question Chennai Super Kings CEO M Gurunathan in betting case

And now the Mumbai police has said that they will question Gurunath Meiyappan in connection with the betting racket in which actor Vindoo Dara Singh was arrested yesterday,CNN-IBN reports.

Gurunath was allegedly in constant touch with Vindoo and it is because of this constant contact that the police has decided to call him in for questioning.

You can read more on that here.

1:00 pm: Sreesanth reveals names of other players, including foreign players indulging in spot-fixing

The Delhi police now claims that Sreesanth has named other players who are allegedly involved in the betting racket in which he has been arrested.

A Delhi Police official is quoted in a Hindustan Times article saying that they have enough evidence to close in on four cricketers, including a foreign player, from two other teams and they could be arrested this week.

“During his questioning, he has named other players attached to two other teams. Since their recorded conversations do not figure in our telephone intercepts, we will move in on them only after we have enough proof which is being gathered. Fresh arrests will be made soon,” the official said.

Read more here

12:45 pm: HC quashes petition to ban remainder of IPL games

The Delhi High Court has thrown out a petition which was seeking a ban on IPL games.

The petition had sought the ban on IPL and other aspects that are part of the current way in which the event is telecast, the lawyers for the petitioner said.

They had also sought that the Ministry of Sport take over the BCCI.

12:15 pm: Vindoo’s brother says he can’t believe his brothers’ involved

“I can never believe that he is involved in any way. Let investigations take place, Vindoo will come out clean,” Amrik Singh told reporters at the airport here before leaving for
Mumbai.

He said many people know Vindoo, winner of reality television show Bigg Boss season 3, as he is a known figure in Mumbai.

“Almost whole of Mumbai knows him. But that does not mean there is anything criminal… Moreover, by the grace of God, we have everything and we don’t need anything from anyone,” Amrik said. (PTI)

11.19 am: Cops hint that umpires are part of the scam

While the Delhi Police has cleared everyone in the Indian Premier League of their involvement in the spot fixing scandal, the Mumbai Police has hinted that the involvement of an umpire cannot be ruled out just yet.

The Mumbai Police has hinted at the involvement of a Pakistani umpire in the IPL spot fixing racket. This umpire reportedly officiated in one of the matches in which the three Rajasthan Royals cricketers arrested by the Delhi Police indulged in spot fixing, the Times of India reported.

The police has said they were analysing the activities of the umpire but helpfully added, just in case you wondered who it was, that the umpire was recently in the centre of a controversy over allegations of sexual assault by a model. In case you’re still wondering, the Mumbai Police is hinting at Asad Rauf.

Read more here.

9. 30 am: Celebrity status is what worked against Sreesanth, says lawyer

It is no secret that the only other people who receive as much adoration and fame as Bollywood stars in India are its cricketers. But, Sreesanth’s lawyers say that this very adoration and fame is what worked to his disadvantage today.

“The judgement is impinged by the celebrity status of the person,” said Rebecca John, a senior lawyer representing the cricketer.

“My client’s case is nothing but a huge overreaction in the media and elsewhere. Even if there is a charge against my client, the maximum he would have done is tinker with an over in a match. There are much larger issues in this country and nobody is taking cognisance of those,” John told Firstpost.

Read more here.

20.21 pm: Vindoo Dara Singh confesses to betting

TV actor Vindoo Dara Singh on being questioned by the police has confessed to betting in the sixth season of the IPL, reported Times Now.

Vindoo has also confessed to the police that he met bookies Sanjay and Jupiter, the report said.

Vindoo was arrested this morning and taken in for questioning.

18:30 pm: It’s not related, but Sahara’s pulled out of the IPL

Meanwhile, after the BCCI made Sahara cough up its guarantees after failing to pay the franchise fee the corporate has announced that it will no longer participate in the IPL.

So no Pune Warriors India next year as it stands. Does this have anything to do with the fact that Sahara’s supposed to cough up around Rs 24,000 crore to pay back investors? They’re not saying for now.

Read more here

18:15 pm: Delhi cops get Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan’s custody for another five days

Firstpost‘s Arlene Chang reports from the Saket court that the custody of the three cricketers has been extended for another five days.

Seven other accused in the case have also been granted additional police custody for another five days.

The former Ranji cricket player Babu Yadav has also been sent to police custody.

18:00 pm: Mumbai police says Rs 1 crore recovered and little else

Joint Commissioner of Police Himanshu Roy has begun the press conference by displaying the dramatic visuals of Rs one crore that they recovered from the bookie Alpesh Patel.

“The crime branch has made three fresh arrests – first is Alpesh Patel from whom we have recovered 1 crore,” Roy said.

Patel is alleged to be a hawala operator and merely carried the money to fund the betting activities.

“Vindoo Dara Singh has also been arrested for links with bookies who are wanted by us,” he said.

The third person arrested has been identified as Prem Taneja, another bookie.

The top cop has promised to interrogate the arrested individuals, revealed little else and left. Expect more salacious details off the camera.

17: 56 pm: Delhi court extends custody of three Rajasthan Royals players

The Delhi court has extended the police custody of all three players from the Rajasthan Royals, reports NDTV.

However, the channel hasn’t clarified for how long the trio are expected to remain in police custody.

17:45: Exclusive images of Sreesanth at Delhi court

We have some exclusive pictures of Sreesanth in the Delhi court today thanks to our photojournalist Naresh Sharma. You can check out the images here.

17: 40 pm: Sreesanth’s lawyer opposes cops plea for more custody

PTI reports that Sreesanth’s lawyer has opposed the plea by the Delhi police seeking five additional days of custody. He has also opposed the addition of the additional charge of criminal breach of trust against the cricketer.

Meanwhile, CNN-IBN’s Bhupendra Chaubey tells us on Twitter that the masala in the scandal is no where close to over and there could be one more Bollywood name in the mix:

Who can it be now?

17:25 pm: Sreesanth bought Blackberry z10 for girlfriend, spent Rs 2 lakh on clothes in one trip to store

The Delhi police has told the court hearing the remand application of Sreesanth in the spot fixing case that the fast bowler used money from spot-fixing to gift a Blackberry to girlfriend, reports PTI.

Sreesanth being produced at Saket court today. Naresh Sharma/ Firstpost

Meanwhile, the cops have also said that Sreesanth had bought Rs 1.95 lakh worth of clothes bought from a designer brand in Mumbai during a single trip and they are still identifying bills for the items he purchased, reportedCNN-IBN.

The police also say that they have raided a house in Jaipur based on information obtained from the fast bowler.

17:20 pm: On a lighter note…

Ok so we’re all going a little gaga over the pictures of Vindoo Dara Singh at an IPL match sitting next to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s wife. Here’s one wise opinion from Twitter on it:

17: 15 pm: Cops say they have taken voice and handwriting samples of three players

Delhi Police sources have told ANI that they have taken voice and handwriting samples of 9 people taken.

They have also taken Sreesanth’s voice sample as part of their investigations.

17: 10 pm: Delhi police seeks custody of three Rajasthan Royals players for 10 more days

The Delhi police seems to be in no mood to grant Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan any reprieve and have sought 10 days police custody for all three of them, reportsCNN-IBN.

Will Sreesanth’s lawyers pull off a Houdini act and get him bail? Watch this space.

17:05 pm: 4 bookies sent to judicial custody by Delhi court

Four of the bookies arrested by the Delhi police in connection with the spot fixing case have been remanded by the court to 14 days in judicial custody, reported CNN-IBN.

17:02 pm: Court remands Vindoo Dara Singh till 24 May

A magistrate’s court has remanded actor Vindoo Dara Singh to police custody till 24 May, reports say.

17:00 pm: Cops tell court Vindoo was link between bookies, players

The Mumbai police while seeking the custody of Vindoo Dara Singh has said that he was reportedly the link between bookies and players, reports CNN-IBN.

Singh has reportedly been booked under sections of forgery and is presently being accused of helping bookies obtain telephone connnections using forged documents, the channel reported.

However, the Mumbai police hasn’t revealed who the players the actor was in touch with depriving us of all the masala.

Another suspect Kalpesh Patel has also been arrested along with Singh for his links with bookies, CNN-IBN reported.

16:55 pm: Sreesanth brought to Saket court, will he get bail?

Sreesanth is being taken to the Saket court where he is likely to seek bail, while the Delhi police is likely to seek an extension of his custody.

ANI has kindly tweeted out an image of the cricketer en route to the court:

16.17 pm: Vindoo taken to court

The police is likely to seek custody for five days. As he was being taken to court, a reporter asked: ‘Toh Vindoo, kitne ki betting ki thi?” (How much did you bet?)

Unfortunately there was no reply from the actor. The Mumbai police, however, is expected to speak soon on the alleged involvement of the actor in the betting racket.

16.06 pm: BCCI hasn’t forgiven any match-fixer, says Rajiv Shukla

Rajeev Shukla, IPL Chairman: “BCCI is one body that has ensured that the match-fixers haven’t been spared. All match-fixers have been banned and they are still serving their bans. Other Boards have not done this. Only we have.”

“Betting goes on. The IPL is only on for one and a half months. But what about the rest of the year. There is betting on everything — on cricket, one election. We welcome a new law against betting. We will spare no one.”

Shukla added that the arrest of Vindoo Dara Singh showed how it difficult it was to identify bookies. ‘Anyone can be a bookie. There are thousands of them”, he said.

15.58 pm: Vindoo Dara Singh has confessed

Sources have told CNN-IBN that Vindoo Dara Singh has confessed to his links with the bookies. He was reportedly a go-between cricketers and bookies.

15.48 pm: Vindoo Dara Singh arrested

The first Bollywood link to the IPL spot-fixing scandal. He has been arrested for links with bookies by the Mumbai Crime Branch. He is the son of Dara Singh and is also a winner of Bigg Boss. This arrest follows the arrest of Ramesh Vyas, who was arrested a few days back. Vyas had links to key bookies Jupiter and others who were named by the Delhi police.

He is being questioned by the Mumbai Crime Branch at the moment. During IPL 6, he has been spotted with MS Dhoni’s wife, Sakhshi at the Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings match on April 6.

According to TV sources, the cops have evidence linking Vindoo to bookies. They have also said that Vindoo was in constant touch with bookies. He was picked up late last evening.

14.23 pm: SC pulls up BCCI, refuses to ban IPL matches

SC refuses to ban IPL matches, saying it cannot be done just because of certain irregularities on the part of a few players. The tournament will go on. In the 20-minute hearing, the SC ordered the BCCI to take the necessary action. They need to stop the lackadaisical attitude. SC also directed the one-man committee appointed by BCCI to submit its report within 15 days.

“There has to be scientific, rational, dispassionate approach on part of BCCI to solve the problem,” said the SC.

SC added: “Let the cricket remain a gentleman’s game and not tainted by irregularities and scams.”

Read the full report HERE

13.29 pm: Law Minister convenes special meeting

The Law Minister Kapil Sibal had mentioned earlier that match fixing needs to be made a criminal offence. The meeting looked at that aspect.

“We believe that match-fixing is neither gambling nor betting. Because in betting you don’t know the result. In fixing, that’s known. We have decided to put up a case to the attorney general of India as soon as he returns from abroad. Then a national legislation can be drafted. If he says yes, then we will try and draft the law. We will then speak to the sports ministry, who will then take it forward and bring it up in the Parliament,” said Kapil Sibal.

12.56 pm: Sending Sreesanth and Co to jail will be tough

Given the reports that have come thick and fast about the police’s investigation into the alleged spot-fixing racket in the IPL, it would appear that the case against the three Rajasthan Royals players is a slam dunk. But it won’t be so easy to prove criminal liability in a court of law where the prosecution will need to convince a judge beyond a reasonable doubt, say lawyers.

“It is going to be very, very difficult,” Desh Gaurav Sekhri, a sports lawyer, told Firstpost. The first issue is who is going to serve as the complainant. It is for this reason that the Rajasthan Royals have been asked to file an FIR. “It is pretty clear they are the only ones who have a case against the players,” Sekhri said.

Read Tariq Engineer’s piece HERE

12.53 pm: RR Chairman Ranjit Barthakur meets police

The Rajasthan Royal’s Chairman Ranjit Barthakur meets investogators at Delhi Police special cell.

11.30 am: Sreesanth and Co questioned again

The Delhi police special cell is questioning the trio again. The custody ends today and the players are due it court later in the day. The police will be looking to extend the custody by another 5 days. Sreesanth is expected to ask for bail.

11.01 am: Another bookie arrested in Chennai

According to TV channels, IPL betting kingpin Prashanth has been arrested in Chennai. Rs 6 lakhs in cash has been recovered. Prasanth was arrested in 2002 in relation to a havala case.

11.00 am: SC to hear PIL on spot fixing

The PIL wants a stay on the matches. SC will take it up for further hearing at 1400 hrs IST.

The petitioner, a Lucknow resident, has made all IPL franchises and BCCI party in the case along with the Centre.

“There are many irregularities in the IPL beginning from auction of players. Black money and money from anti-social elements are involved in the IPL which needs to be probed,” advocate Vishnu Jain, who filed the petition, said.

The petition sought a stay on remaining four matches including final match of the IPL till the probe is completed.

10.39 am: Kapil Sibal seeks law to make match-fixing a criminal offence

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has said that there should be a law to prevent match fixing by making it a criminal offence.

The comment comes after the BCCI allegedly wrote to the government seeking a law to prevent match fixing in the future.

Sreesanth’s lawyers will attempt to get bail for their client. BCCI

9.46 am: Police to seek further custody of Sreesanth as he is not cooperating with probe

Reports just coming in state that police will oppose former India pace bowler Sreesanth’s bail application on the grounds that he is not cooperating with the investigation. Police sources were quoted by the Times Nowchannel as saying that not only was Sreesanth an active participant in the spot-fixing, but they also had no idea where the money that he was paid by one of the bookies was.

Police will seek an additional five-days custody.

Sreesanth’s lawyer Deepak Prakash has said that he will go all out to seek bail for his client.

9.19 am: Sreesanth’s lawyers to apply for bail as police custody ends today

The five-day police remand of Indian pacer S Sreesanth, the most high-profile among those arrested so far by the Delhi Police Special Cell in the sensational IPL spot-fixing scandal, ends on Tuesday.

So what is next for the cricketer?

Will the police seek an extension of his custody? Not an unlikely scenario in such cases, given that the investigation is ongoing. Three more people were arrested in connection with scandal on 19 May and remanded to police custody for five days on Sunday.

The top priority for Sreesanth’s lawyers at this point is getting him out on bail and they will move the application when he is produced in court this afternoon.

Cheating (Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code), which the cricketer has been charged with along with criminal conspiracy (Section 120B), is a non-bailable offence.

However, his lawyer Deepak Prakash seems confident that Sreesanth will be granted bail although he didn’t specify the grounds on which he would argue for bail for his client.

While the prosecution is certain to oppose Sreesanth’s bail, the likely grounds on which it could be opposed are – the nature of the charges against Sreesanth, gravity of the crime, the huge a

×Comments for this thread are now closed.

harkol • 6 days ago
poor Mr. Tharoor. Couldn't think up a better sentence?
While everyone has a right to presumption of innocence till his guilt is proven in court, No one has a right to be treated normal till such an innocence is proven in face of prima facie evidence.
So, it should be "Suspect until proven innocent".
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Brijesh Kumar • 6 days ago
I don't see any problem if we impose huge penalties on such acts in cricket on organization like IPL, & BCCI. which will certainly improve their monitoring and ineffective anti corruption squad.
The same penalties can be used improving other sports.
There should be heavy penalty on IPL for such acts which disillusioned million fans.
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sroops • 7 days ago
hussein al ---
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Hussein Al - Lesbini • 7 days ago
Match Fixing should be legalized as Cricket is an entertainment like Bollywood films and WWE wrestling . Indians like to watch Cricket and Bollywood films to forget their miserable lives and conditions of their country .
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nicethoughts • 7 days ago
what is exactly the whole issue..with delhi police acting as if they caught a spy! Even if the players have taken money not a single spectators were affected ..yes the team may have lost and that could have disappointed the fans. the IPL is all about money and fun. so let the players make money in what way they want. these police are acting crazy and should have concentrated on more important L&O problems. what these politicians are raising the voices against?? does any one think all these white clad are Harischandras??? if they are serious abt the corruption stop the IPL.
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raja • 7 days ago
Wherever Bollywood is involved , D connection exists. Most of the ipl teams are owned by BW stars
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Krakenz • 7 days ago
Very well spoken Mr. UN Undersecretary General!! Well spoken. Show the world that this dummy demo country does have quality citizens who express values of democracy.
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Tuzzzy • 7 days ago
Bagal mein chorra aur gaon bhar dindhora....
The real culprit is just near the police... smells of rice and cement.
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CA Satish Shetty • 7 days ago
Even Mohd Azaruddin had match fixing charges.However he is a Congress MP now.
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- deep zpain CA Satish Shetty 7 days ago
  You mean we would witness Sreesanth as MP from kerala in coming years
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Wiki • 7 days ago
wny are these politicians involved in the game...They are not able to do their one job properly
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microseahorse • 7 days ago
kerala channels now portrait him as a innocent hero...believe or not kerala is the worst state their good people were ignored and worst theifs and lunactic become hero and leader..this state is worst creepy minded and biased in india..
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- naveen dhighe microseahorse 7 days ago
  you are bang on dot microseahorse
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athreya • 7 days ago
All politicians and bollywood actors who are involved in IPP should be investigated and it is the player who gets caught . ICC should ask BCCI to get rid of all politicians from the various cricket boards in India . The spot fixing is due to politicians , underworld and bollywood nexus and our FM says not to exaggerate corruption that is at the all time high and probably the highest in the world.
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Disgusted Indian • 7 days ago
Who watches IPL anyway? Instead of catching these cricket players, may be the Delhi police should concentrate on shady dealings of BCCI, Hyderabad CA, Congress, BJP, Indian Swiss Bank account holders, Communal atrocities & Terrorists. Home minister congratulates the Delhi police? Why? He should probably rapture the Delhi police for letting the innocent women get raped in the capital city or anywhere in India. When ever I see the list of parliamentarians, my head shakes in disbelief and disgust. Shame shame India.
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arun • 7 days ago
"I am innocent until proven guilty" - seems to have become the national slogan for our country!!
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- NM arun 7 days ago
  "Law will take its own C(O)URSE"?
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- due process arun 7 days ago
  there must be due process of law moron - you can't just fling accusations and ruin people's lives.
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blore • 7 days ago
and why are we whinning about betting scandal...most of us knew from beginning that IPL is not clean ..its more of Cricket's Bollywood than actual cricket ...and every one does there best to increase the BO collections
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blore • 7 days ago
People should stop balming Dravid for this, until unless there is some proof....using there logic I can say that Tendulkar , Kumble, and all would have been involved in match fixing as they played under the captaincy of Md. Azhar...
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Gurunathan Sivaraman • 7 days ago
what about rahul Dravid?
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Ashwin • 7 days ago
Dear First Post.
Its Amit Singh, not Amit Shah. Please correct your little typo, before it embarrasses you.
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retromonkey • 7 days ago
"There is no money transfer or calls to him established. He is innocent. Please support Sreesanth,” Prakash told reporters today.There is no money transfer or calls to him established. He is innocent. Please support Sreesanth,” Prakash told reporters today"""unquote.......is he a Lawyer or a PR Manager.....If he retains Prakash, Sreesant will surely go to jail...convicted
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ashish • 7 days ago
How likely is it that the selection process gets investigated ? How come a player of the caliber of Chandila get into a team, when there are many more talented ones who did not get an opportunity ? How likely is it that the selector got him (Chandila) in, so that he (selector) can make some quick bucks thru this guy ... which would not have been possible thru any other reputed player ??
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dhrao rao • 7 days ago
Delhi police commssioner neeraj kumar want to escape from rapes and crime responsibility by highlighting these useless cases to cover wp his inefficiency
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Raja Scammohan Singh • 7 days ago
I think cricket is a good avenue to make quick bucks so the Scamgress has been milking this cow. Khangress first bought Azharchudin who during elections rallys realized he was a muslim so ill-treated something he did not realize when he was captain on India team and selling everything from chaddi baniyan to washing powder. Then they hired Tendulkar. Now wont be surprised if Sreesanth also gets poll tickets from scamgress.No wonder tharoor is the one giving clean chits now like uncle kutil shitbal.
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db • 7 days ago
what is wrong in fixing a match when PM of india him self fixed by other.
don't complain later on that PM of india was fixed.
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db • 7 days ago
here is sanjay dutt comment (future comment) after his 4 years of jail.
" oh i am stupid . why should i kept just one AK47? if i had more then 20 AK47 and some more bomb blast material, i would might have been on top position in indian politics. any way i enjoyed jailed in india. it is nice and safe and got lot of internal contact for success" i hope people will vote me in next election when i got the ticket from congress. we indian are so kind. thanks in advance for selecting me as your MP. i will bring more investment from middle east for you next generation.
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db • 7 days ago
i don't have time to read whole article. so i am saving time for other people by giving some summary. althought this kind of summary suppose to provide by our media but they are from same community.
ok, summary is
"sreeshant got the ticket from congress and now he will be MP" court said he is innocent just like MMS. there is no any involvement of dawood. dawood now a days is holy man and we india should give some share in 2g , coalgate so he can manage our people better way. we like more reservation for people of dawood in government"
i am sure dumb india must be proud for karanatak result. i can't wait to see your next generation slavery.
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Cricket Fan • 7 days ago
I feel that Sreesanth should switch on to a good lawyer to get enlarged on bail Obvious is the fact that if he clings to the present one, he would languish in jail for a lifetime :) The lawyer who states that Court emphatically observed that there was no prima facie case against Sreesanth should hang his head down because, in such a situation, Sree being sent to police custody for five days explicitly exhibits the incompetency of the lawyer. When asked about the legal facets by Mathrubhumi channel yesterday, the lawyer could not even set forth the real legal aspects involved or atleast convincingly address the public regarding non-maintainability of the charges viz., Ss. 120_b and 420 IPC.
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Ramchi • 7 days ago
Ok,Politicians and Dawood gang deployed Lawyers to defend the fixing syndicate!!!! Looks like Srishanth himself must be at risk of being attacked by Middle Eastern betting syndicates and Pakistan terrorists along with ICC (now located in Middle East)...
Only option for Srishanth not to get hurt is telling the truth instead of risking his life
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Guest • 7 days ago
Confessions given to the police don't mean squat.. they can always recant their statements and contest otherwise.
Unless they are booked under a special act.
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Krakenz • 7 days ago
so now Ashish changes his headline?? xD
Good for you!
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Krakenz • 7 days ago
Sreesanth confessed?? confessed to what? that he took the money or played th over accordingly?? This is only speculations of what the delhi police feels. so far nothing conclusive has come on sreesanths involvement. Just so everyone knows the real facts. Ankeet chavan is the only one who has accepted the mistake. he has also confessed that chandila was the one that involved him. no mention of sreesanth here. not even once. he has also claimed that chandila took the whole 60 laks in cashand took his cut from it and rest was given to chavan.
Another fact, which this Ashish has not mentioned on this post. Sreesanth was with some female friends when he was arested, which was not included in the chargesheet. whereas chandila was caught from the hotel with the 2 bookies, and chavan from the hotel as well. Many things have been omitted from the arrest surrounding sreesanth, for which his lawyer is taking action accordingly.
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greatness60 • 7 days ago
Has somebody realised the over 17 to 20 just changes even the most boring matches...Even if you think the match is going to be won by the bowling side it suddenly takes a twist...Even on commentary shastri said over no 17 is the most cruicial for any side...Did he give away something?? Iam sure the commentators know a lot about these matches....
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king julian • 7 days ago
wonder how many more cricketers (smart ones ) who are counting their money and thanking their luck ...now difficult to believe this happened only in 3 matches .....and wonder how the franchise owners are involved after all this is business for them and at the end of the day have to make money ....it impossible to make money when you are shelling out so much for BCCI and players and the travel 5 star hotels and the parties ......the entire IPL system BCCI /Franchise owners,organisers,team management ,TV bosses ,commentators are to share the blame ...every on suspects and murmurs but have no guts to spill it out for the fear of loosing their jobs mega bucks fame and high life ......I expected Dravid to resign .as captain ...I guess he cant take on the powerful owners and BCCI ......
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rohan_M • 7 days ago
IPL seems to have been designed underworld and bookies for betting purposes only and hence needs to be banned altogether as the other two formats of the game are more than enough for entertainment of true cricket lovers.
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Khairnar • 7 days ago
We fully support and praise Delhi Police, particularly, Commissioner, Neeraj Kumar on his courageous investigation and arrests he made on cricket corruption. However, we feel that since this corruption is highly involved in high celebrities and underworld gangs and the supports coming from the political class to the arrested players, particularly from the ruling class, we feel the conviction and proper trial and justice will get to the people of India on this corruption case also. We also expect that such type of sincerity the force under Neeraj Kumar shows on the corruption cases involved in the highly political ruling class, as the root of corruption lies in Indian Political Class, particularly the ruling political party or parties. We for the citizen of India wants that all types of interrogations in police and judicial custody should be made transparent for all the cases going on in India and should be in camera as Indian Police is famous for torturing the persons in custody and that is why all the cases filing by the Indian Police is escaped from proper conviction when it reaches to the court as people will inform the courts that they are forcefully asked to confirm the police version to keep to escape from proper intelligent interrogation which needs commonsense, intelligence and knowledge of Police Laws and respect of democracy and democratic values and constitution of India.
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- bulesha Khairnar 7 days ago
  Surprising Neeraj Kumar not to be seen during so many rape cases, kept mum, and now every where in channel to channel. What a stupidly of Indian including me.
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varun • 7 days ago
So says the media. God only knows what is the truth. Media in its TRP frenzy will link everything from sex to drugs to dons to this affair. They make it sound as if a player needs a booker to arrange an escort for them ... Funny logic and theories. Honestly havent seen enuf to keep sreesanth in jail. I think Arnab Goswami called sreesanth a CHEAT in national television even before a court has judged the whole thing. Indian media people need some course correction for sure.
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- sanjay varun 7 days ago
  It is only due to the attitude that the rich and famous can do no wrong that our country has been looted and plundered from all directions and by all means for the past 65 years. Since people remain silent and accept this with a “CHALTA HAI” attitude that the corrupt and criminals are getting away in a brazen manner.
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  - varun sanjay 7 days ago
    
    And the solution to that is to jump to conclusions and do trial by media ? Not sure what you mean Sanjay.
    
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subu • 7 days ago
Sree 420!
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This comment was deleted.
- varun Guest 7 days ago
  Rohan watch what you write. Dont be stupid and get into trouble. And dont trust indian media and police blindly. All this theory and fantasy has to stand in court. It is very easy to malign someone based on fantasy stories. We have seen enough examples but havent learnt from it.
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sanjay • 7 days ago
The match between RR and CSK a few days ago changed so dramatically after the 10 Overs (RR batting at 50/4 in 10 Over’s at the time of strategic time out) after that
in the next 4-5 Over RR scored almost 60-70 runs which clearly shows that
something dubious happened during the strategic timeout, and similarly CSK
losing to MI scoring just 79 (all out) should also be investigated. It will not be wrong to conclude that the entire IPL is just a money laundering machine of the underworld and wealthy people and this incident is just a “TIP OF THE ICEBERG”. The media may be pretending to be shocked but the public are not shocked as they were always suspicious about the manner in which the teams suddenly won or lost.By the lack of transparency and also by not coming under the RTI the BCCI has proved beyond doubt that it has lot of skeletons in its cupboard.
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sanjay • 7 days ago
Public should not watch IPL and fool themselves by spending thousands of Rupees on tickets and also wasting hours of their precious time spending in the stadiums and in front of the Television watching the farce. When people are taken for a ride in
the form of fixed matches and when the BCCI is turning a blind by calling such
a massive fraud as "a case of few bad eggs" then its time people stood up and raised their voice instead of remaining dumb and indirectly allowing this fraud to continue.
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Guest • 7 days ago
Pollar's 3 back to back drop catches of Michael Hussey, CSK rolled out for 79 in the same match....anyone? Oh yeah, we fans are blind.
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Ram • 7 days ago
What else you can expect from a country where the federal and legislative leadership is corrupt beyond any words to describe. Inspired by the true Indian leaders !!!!
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galman • 7 days ago
I have been watching the news on this IPL match fixing since last evening, I really do not understand why the media is so hyped about this incident. In my opinion, these guys have not done a big deal, after all, in our nation where the corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and others make money to the tune of lakhs of crores , these guys are "bacchas" when compared to the scams we have seen in the last couple of years, 2G, Coalgate, Fodder Scam, Helicopter scam, etc etc....
I think the media should focus more on the corruption issue, black money etc rather than IPL which is pure entertainment !

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dna exclusive: Gurunath Meiyappan always had links with bookies of Chennai, Dubai, reveals BCCI chief N Srinivasan's son Ashwin
Friday, May 24, 2013, 8:46 IST | Agency: DNA
Yogesh Pawar

In a startling revelation to dna's Yogesh Pawar, Ashwin alleges his sister's husband was into betting for a long time. He also alludes that his father has Dubai connections and not just with the ICC.

Ashwin (left) and father N Srinivasan
His family is turning out to be his biggest enemy. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief N Srinivasan, who is already facing the heat with his son-in law Gurunath Meiyappan being sought by the police in connection with the probe into the spot-fixing scandal in the IPL, now has to contend with his disgruntled son, who has opened a can of worms about the family’s “dubious connections”.

Ashwin, 44, minces no words while disclosing his brother-in-law’s alleged involvement in betting and spot-fixing. “Guru (he addresses Meiyappan that way) had several connections with known bookies from Chennai and Dubai and was regularly in touch with them even before the IPL started.” he said. “What began as a relatively smaller side-business became a full-fledged one over the years.”

Pointing out how Meiyappan is a Chettiar, a community known for its affinity to trade and business, Ashwin told dna: “He has been steadily increasing his foothold over my father’s business. Publicly, his wife and my sister Rupa is an executive director in India Cements, my father’s company, and Guru has agreed to merely remain the head of Chennai Super Kings.”

The MBA in finance from Cornell University is equally forthcoming about his father’s “questionable” decision to invest in a small aircraft, which needed refuelling, when he could own one. “On all his trips, to and from anywhere abroad, isn’t it strange that the mighty N Srinivasan has to waste four hours in Dubai every time while his aircraft refuels? And mind you, the fuel halt will not be at Kuwait, Sharjah or anywhere else,” the son of BCCI’s most powerful man disclosed.

“Who are these regular golf partners he plays with on these halts?” According to Ashwin, Srinivasan has the wherewithal to buy a bigger aircraft, but still chose to invest in one which requires a fuelling halt “for convenient reasons”.

Turning his ire to his brother-in-law again, Ashwin says Guru is purposely poisoning his parents’ mind to ensure that the rift between them widens. A year ago, Ashwin accused his father of homophobia and of using his clout to unleash a cycle of violence against him and his partner Avi Mukherjee. The couple alleged that the police picked them up from Escobar, an upmarket Bandra restaurant-pub, on April 30, 2012, and beat them with iron rods at the behest of Srinivasan.

Calling his brother-in-law ungrateful, Ashwin said: “He keeps raising my drug-addiction problem to tell people how he was pushed into lending a helping hand in my father’s businesses when even he knows that I am more qualified and experienced than him.” As proof that his partner and he stayed away from drugs since 2002, Ashwin showed dna their urine reports. Their psychiatrist Dr SL Khanna confirmed the same.

Ashwin reveals that his parents were unhappy when Guru and Rupa started dating each other after meeting at the Madras Club while playing pool. “They were livid because he was not a Brahmin, but a Chettiar. My mother, Chitra, threatened to disown Rupa, but my father, who cursed Guru and his family to the skies after gulping down five scotches every evening, had no qualms joining him over golf given the clout of his family-run AVM Group,” said Ashwin, who has in the past headed the projects department at the ABB Group’s Zurich office.

According to him, his parents were in talks with chess champion Viswanathan Anand for marrying Rupa, but she eventually married Guru. “When my maternal uncle Shankar passed away, my parents did not want to call them for the last rites, but I persisted with my mother and saw to it that they were called,” he revealed.
“Though Rupa and Guru have not spoken to me since I fell foul with my parents, I feel no rancour against them. But how can I tolerate him maligning me for a drug problem from a decade ago to manipulate my parents?”

Repeated attempts to reach Meiyappan and Srinivasan on their cellphones and their Chennai and Kodaikanal residences drew a blank.

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/1838768/report-dna-exclusive-gurunath-meiyappan-always-had-links-with-bookies-of-chennai-dubai-reveals-bcci-chief-n-srinivasan-s-son-ashwin

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/ipl/ipl-spot-fixing-live-vindoo-taken-to-court-cops-to-seek-custody-787311.html

↧

Covenant of security in UK -- Omar Bakri Mohammed

May 24, 2013, 4:13 am

≫ Next: Vivek express. On the longest train journey in India -- Aasheesh Sharma

≪ Previous: Ball-by-ball IPL scam commentary. SC said BCCI took their eye off the ball.

One of the suspected killers who attempted to behead and disembowel a young soldier in the horrific Woolwich attack had listened to the preachings of a radical Muslim cleric banned from Britain over extremist activities, including alleged links to al-Qa’ida, The Independent has learnt.

The cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed has been secretly filmed stating that decapitation of the enemies of Islam was permitted. Today, in comments met with outrage, he told The Independent that he could understand the feeling of rage that had motivated the attackers and that what they had done could be justified under certain interpretations of Islam.

Michael Adebolajo, a British-Muslim convert of Nigerian origin who gave a video interview with a meat cleaver in his bloodied hands while the body of 25-year-old Drummer Lee Rigby lay on the street behind him, declared that he was fighting for “Almighty Allah”.

Last night the second suspect was understood to be Michael Adebowale, 22, of Greenwich.

Mr Bakri Muhammed, who now lives in Lebanon, told The Independent: “I saw the film and we could see that he [the suspect] was being very courageous.

“Under Islam this can be justified, he was not targeting civilians, he was taking on a military man in an operation. To people around here [in the Middle East] he is a hero for what he has done.”

Mr Bakri Muhammed said of the suspect: “I knew him as Michael when he came to the meetings and then he converted and he became known as Abdullah; I hear he then started calling himself Mujahid. He asked questions about religion, he was curious. He had first started coming when there was a lot of anger about the Iraq war and the war on terror. Whether I influenced him or not, I do not know. But he was a quiet boy, so something must have happened.”

In other developments, two new arrests were made: a man and a woman on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, following raids at six addresses in London and Lincoln.

Shocking footage also surfaced of the pair being shot by armed response officers from the Metropolitan Police.

A clip on the Daily Mirror's website shows one of the men charge at police and drop one of his knives before being gunned down.

His accomplice is seen raising his arm and aiming a handgun at officers before he too is downed, as eight shots ring out in total.

It also emerged that the two suspected killers of Drummer Rigby were already known to MI5 and, almost certainly, to counter-terrorism officers in the police. One of the men was stopped from travelling to Somalia to join the Islamist militia Al-Shabaab last year.

Security officials insisted that there had been no evidence that either of the two men were planning an imminent attack. Nor was there any evidence, they say, that they were discussing beheading. They point out that there were plenty of references to it in Islamist websites.

In 2007, following the conviction of a group British Pakistanis who had plotted to kidnap and behead a British soldier, a secret recording emerged of Mr Bakri Muhammed saying: “When you meet [Westerners], slice their own necks. And when you make the blood spill all over, and the enemy becomes so tired, now start to take from them prisoners. Then free them or exchange them until the war is finished.

“Verily they remind the sunnah of removing the head of the enemy. They remind the sunnah of slaughtering the enemy. They remind the sunnah of how to strike the neck of the enemy. They removed the head of the enemy. Use the sword and remove the head of the enemy.”

In another message, Mr Bakri Muhammed had said he hoped that “British Muslims who are in the Army over there” (Afghanistan) can be captured.

Mr Bakri Muhammed, who is Syrian-born, and has named one of his sons after Osama bin Laden, stated that he and his followers were not involved in violence while residing in the UK due to what had become known as the “covenant of security” under which Islamist organisations were allowed to carry out their activities, but desisted from taking armed action in the country which had given them refuge.

“But in this case obviously the covenant of security did not apply,” he said.

“Beheading is how criminals were executed under the laws; but that must happen with a Sharia court and decision by judges with criminals. On this occasion he was taking military action, not a legal one.”

Mr Bakri Muhammed had set up the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir in the UK, where he had claimed asylum in 1986, but split with them after doctrinal disagreements and set up the Al-Muhajiroun group which attracted hundreds of followers including Adebolajo. That was also wound up but at least a dozen of its members are thought to have become or affiliated to suicide bombers.

Mr Bakri Muhammed left London soon after the 2005 bombings because, he said, of constant harassment by the authorities. When Israel carried out attacks on Lebanon during its war with Hizbullah a year later he attempted to join civilians being evacuated from Lebanon by the British military, but was refused. He protested at the time: “What concerns me is my safety. I’d be happy with a month’s visa but this morning they told me I couldn’t because I’m not a British citizen any more.”

He was subsequently informed by the UK government that he would not be allowed to return here. Since then Mr Bakri Muhammed had repeatedly warned that the foreign policy being pursued by the UK would lead to retaliation by Muslims in the West and states would be powerless to prevent this.

A 29-year-old woman at a home in south London, and a man of the same age, were arrested in arrested at an undisclosed location.

The two men shot by police remain in hospital with non-fatal injuries but it is understood officers are yet to interview the pair. It emerged that the shooting was captured by a council camera. Two officers fired their guns and a third fired a taser weapon, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said.

'Angel' did not want victim to die alone

The son of a woman who became known as the "angel" of the Woolwich attacks has spoken about what made his mother stay praying by the side of dying soldier Lee Rigby.

He told The Independent: "She just thought at the time, imagine if that was my son. No one wants to die with no one by their side. She just wanted to comfort the guy." He did not want to be named.

Family friend Joe Tallant said: "She wanted to comfort the man... She put her hands on his chest and prayed."

Emily Dugan

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/exclusive-woolwich-suspect-michael-adebolajo-was-inspired-by-cleric-banned-from-uk-after-urging-followers-to-behead-enemies-of-islam-8630125.html

↧

Vivek express. On the longest train journey in India -- Aasheesh Sharma

May 24, 2013, 4:38 am

≫ Next: Explosions near Indian Embasy in Kabul; Indian Army contingent should protect Embassy staff -- Dr. Subramanian Swamy

≪ Previous: Covenant of security in UK -- Omar Bakri Mohammed

Friday, May 24, 2013

Opening showers: The skies open up at Dibrugarh, where the journey to Kanyakumari begins.

Aasheesh Sharma, Hindustan Times
May 17, 2013

First Published: 13:18 IST(17/5/2013)
Last Updated: 14:16 IST(19/5/2013)

Cover Story: how is it to be on the longest train journey in India?

On A hot summer afternoon in 1853, as the first steam locomotive pulled out of Bombay, India entered the rail era. Today, 160 years later, even at a time when the Railways are making headlines for the wrong reasons, a ride aboard the Vivek Express is the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s India’s longest train ride, starting from Dibrugarh in Assam and sweeping down the eastern coast to culminate at Kanyakumari. It covers a staggering 4,300 km (more than 1/10th the earth’s circumference), in an unforgettable four-night-three-day grind.

Having grown up reading the works of adventurers such as Jules Verne and Rudyard Kipling, I wasn’t short of inspiration. Boning up on railway fiction might help you prepare for 82 hours on the tracks, but as India flashes by the window, nothing prepares you for what lies inside: a journey that opens your eyes to ways of travelling and surviving the Great Indian Railways experience. Perhaps, a line by author Paul Theroux about the romance of travel comes close: “You go away for a long time and return a different person - you never come all the way back.”

First Post
In 1881, the British set up a 65-km metre gauge line from Dibrugarh in north Assam to the Margherita Garden Estate, mainly for transportation of tea and coal. Today Dibrugarh, a bustling town on the Himalayan foothills, is the only non-Capital city in the country to have important trains such as the Rajdhani Express and Vivek Express originating from it.
After braving a downpour, as we await the station master and train staff at the crew lobby, we chance upon an intriguing procedure:

Driver Mohammad Rahimuddin, 55, blows hard into an alcometer for a breathalyser test done to ensure drivers aren't tipsy when they guide the train. That done, he gets an update on the locomotive's load capacity, electrical output and power certification from the staff before he heads to the pilot's cabin.

"Most of the 22 coaches of the Vivek Express have been built in the integrated rail coach factory at Kapurthala and the rest at Perambur. A majority of passengers on the train are soldiers manning our borders since China is just 220 kilometres from Dibrugarh," station in-charge R. Bhattacharjee tells us over tea-bag chai and biscuits.

Riding on hope
Author Bill Aitken, whose Branch Line to Eternity introduced readers to the romance of feeder railway lines, says spending four days on a slow, squalid train is worth it just for the great value for money it offers. "Travelling 4200 kilometres for peanuts must be the cheapest fare in the world anywhere?" he surmises.
Aitken isn't off the mark. The Vivek Express takes you across more than 600 stations, halting at 56 major destinations spread across eight states (see map) in two tier air-conditioned comfort for Rs. 3475. The ticket for third AC is Rs. 2305, the sleeper class Rs. 925 and for the general class Rs. 545.

The general compartment, where more than 200 people are crammed into a space fit for just 90, is where this economics is at play. Bodies dripping sweat, satchels welded to the arm and voices raised to holler at those stepping on their toes: the compartment begins to fill with workers and tea-pickers at Dibrugarh itself.

By the time the train reaches Tinsukiya in Assam, the closest station to Arunachal Pradesh, a catchment area for Kafkaesque contractors looking for cheap labour - it is spilling at the seams, and then, where it doesn't seem likely: Six workers invade the train loo, Occupy Wall Street style, and refuse to come out. After all, they too have a ticket to ride and no standing room.

"What can one do? The cheap fare is provided by contractors who take their cut. It isn't our job to check tickets here. That will be done by the flying squad," philosophises a moon-faced ticket inspector who refuses to divulge his name. Oblivious to the heat, grime and noise, clad in similar vests, flip flops and jeans, a group of youngsters is engrossed in a game of cards.

What drives these agricultural workers, who form the biblical salt of the earth, to seek employment thousands of kilometres away in Kerala and Tamil Nadu? Dilip Sonowal, 25, who boards the train along with eight others from Tinsukiya, has an answer: "Higher wages and assured employment through the year. The highest we can make in Assam is Rs. 200 even if we work overtime. In Kerala, if we get an extra Rs. 30 every additional hour, we can earn as much as Rs. 350. Aur phir, videsh jaa kar kuch naya dekhenge." Travel, the ultimate teacher, did someone say? In the tradition of a Columbus and Robinson Crusoe, it is the feeling of being the first man in new terrain that has inspired Mangal Jyoti Chakma, 18, a tribal farmer from Arunachal Pradesh, to head for a rubber factory in Tamil Nadu's Kottayam district. No one in the last five generations of Chakmas has worked in a rubber plant. But the prospect doesn't daunt him. "I will learn and earn. When I go back home, it will be in air-conditioned," he declares, eyes gleaming, high on hope and youth.
Thoughts for food
As I settle my portly 85-kg frame into the lower berth, an old Indian Railways tagline: "To learn a thousand dialects, eat a thousand cuisines and meet a million people, you need just one berth," comes to mind and for a few moments, I let my mind wander. When one negotiates more than 4000 km on the longest train journey in India, one comes across mountains, rivers, backwaters and the sea. One unravels local tongues and makes friends with fellow-passengers even as one's tastebuds explode with a smattering of food flavours.

Food, yes, as usual, it manages to derail my train of thought! I make my way across my two-tier AC through the vestibule and decide to meet pantry manager Ramen Mahato.

He can't be serious! I blurt out aloud. The subject of my incredulity is Mahato's statement: "This is a cooking-free train. Aboard the Vivek Express, meals are prepared only for the staff, not travellers," he says triumphantly and I have visions of turning carnivorous. "What about ticket holders?" I ask in my best Hannibal Lecter voice. "Are we meant to go on a fast and die a slow death?" "For them, the service staff picks up meals. Lunch from Guwahati, dinner at Alipur Duar, breakfast at Durgapur and so on," says Mahato, making it sound like Breakfast at Tiffany's and my stomach rumbles in relief. It is another matter though, that the staple fare of rivers of watery dal running through mountains of rice and a squiggle of bright red chillie pickle is painting its own, unappetising landscape which would usher in insurgency in the belly, once we reach Delhi.

As we leave Lumdig in Assam and move towards Dimapur in Nagaland, the first lot of public pariahs - urchins, beggars and a group of eunuchs - makes an appearance. An arm-less beggar looks for alms, finds little success but goes through the vestibules from second AC to three-tier, to sleeper, to general, with a beatific smile. "Even the cops don't harass us. They know better. They just extracted Rs. 200 from a fauji for having whisky from his consignment of canteen booze," the disabled beggar who goes by the name of Jishnu, tells me with a wink. "What's a couple of swigs of Mansion House whisky when the country has other important matters to discuss? Tell me, what about the Chinese incursion in Ladakh?" asks a Border Roads Force subedar, who refuses to give me his name, as he draws dark red curtains over the side berth and draws at his glass, before retiring for the night and unleashing a fusillade of snoring glory.

The insurgency-ravaged Seven Sisters of the North-East are home to a sizeable number of Army and paramilitary soldiers - mainly from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Assam Rifles, The Madras Regiment, BSF and CRPF - who hail from Southern India. Till the Vivek Express was launched, a soldier, say, from Kerala, stationed in Arunachal Pradesh, had to change trains at least four times to reach his destination. "Earlier, we spent close to six days going to our unit. From Trivandrum one took a train to Chennai. From here we reached Howrah two days later. The train in the evening which took us to Guwahati took one day and a night and from Guwahati to our post was another long, backbreaking journey," says BSF constable SK Nair, 30, stationed in Siliguri. "With a direct train, all that is a distant memory," adds Nair with a smile.

The flag-bearer: The guard is the lord of all he surveys. M Abubacker let the HT Brunch team travel with him in the brake van in the final stretch from Trivandrum to Kanyakumari

The two additional days he gets to spend with his family are worth their weight in gold biscuits from the Gulf, says Simon K.M. of Assam Rifles. The 54-year-old Havaldar, stationed in Arunachal Pradesh, is looking forward to catching up with his 24-year old son. "He has just got a job at the Pathanamthitta town collectorate," he says with palpable pride. "He has taken after me. He is six feet tall, you will see when he comes to pick me up at Chenganur," he adds. For his 22-year-old daughter, Simon, working with the Assam Rifles for more than 30 years, is taking along saplings of cacti grown in Nagaland, which bear colourful flowers in 13 resplendent hues. "Originally found in the north-east, it survives in Kerala beautifully. I had taken four saplings the last time I came home," adds the veteran soldier, who says he can't afford more than two chhutis a year (one in the summer and another at Christmas).

A trip by train from one end of the country to another is also special because it is microcosmic of the Indian way of life. Remember Yatra, Shyam Benegal's iconic series where Om Puri played the protagonist, which followed the route of the Himsagar Express, the longest train journey in India which connected Kashmir to Kanyakumari before Vivek Express was launched in 2011? On the Vivek Express, the role of the railways in uniting a multiplicity of people across diverse states permeates through strongly.

A seasoned passenger on the train, Beryl King, 24, could unwittingly become a brand ambassador for this brand of integration, railways-style. The polyglot 24-year-old montessori teacher, who boards the train in Dimapur, is headed to Ernakulam, where she goes to meet her aunt and extended family on her departed father's side, every six months. "The train is ideal for somebody like me who has family in the North-East as well as relatives down the Vindhyas. I am going from my mom's hometown in Dimapur to my late father's native place," she says. King's father, a highway engineer from Kerala, couldn't converse in anything but Malayalam and English when he was working in Nagaland. Her mother, for whom anything other than Nagamese (a mixture of Naga, Assamese and Hindi) was alien, didn't know English. "But love knows no language and they got married. Who knows where I'll find my soulmate - in Nagaland or Kerala?" wonders King, as she breaks into a grin and a giggle routine. That she can break the ice by breaking into fluent Malayalam as well as Nagamese, make her popular with many of her fellow travellers.
In the three-tier AC section, as Boney M's 'Hooray, hooray, it's a holi-holiday/What a world of fun for everyone, holi-holiday' blares from their smartphones, a nattily dressed Naga girl duo from Dimapur stands out with its exuberant disposition. "I am like, super-excited!" announces Avi Chishi, a 24-year-old student of theology, as she puts out the loudspeaker and gives her headphones to her friend Vikali Sumi, 22. "We hadn't ever ventured beyond Guwahati till yesterday. And today, here we are, headed to the tip of the subcontinent on a trip of a lifetime," says Sumi. "Inside the campus of Dimapur's New Life Bible College, we mostly listen to gospel musicians such as Paul Baloche and Max Locado. But on a holiday, we can choose to listen to classic rock," adds Sumi.

Great Railways Bazaar
As the hilly terrain of Assam makes way for Bengal, rows and rows of thatched roof houses run alongside the rail track. The landscape becomes flatter and on the garishly painted walls of the rare concrete dwelling, advertisements for Amul Macho 'yeh to bahut toing hai' innerwear compete with Ultratech cement and railway employee union slogans in Bengali.

At Alipur Duar, the first station in Mamata country, the silence of the coach is broken by the high-pitched sales pitch of Rahul Das.
"Nothing less than Rs. 10 for a cup," he bellows and manages to convince a few buyers. As the warm liquid breaks the lethargy of the evening, we quiz him on his revenue stream. "Between Alipur Duar and Rampur Haat (four stations) I will earn Rs. 700 and then return home on another train," says Das.

It isn't exactly an incursion, but selling their wares on a moving train is a revenue model which thrives on Chinese imports. So, we have vendors at New Jalpaiguri, trying to peddle a smartphone for Rs. 1200 and a Tab for Rs. 8000, all Chinese-made. I settle for a Teng Peng multi-point charger with colourful sockets in fluorescent orange, yellow, pink and blue for Rs. 100 and plug it into the power point provided in the coach for mobile charging. Soon, I am the most popular person on the train, with people from adjoining coaches, the pantry staff and even strangers from sleeper class approaching me with requests to charge their gadgets, many of them bearing the inscription: MADE IN CHINA.

The sisterhood: Sister Janet Baby, a teacher in Arunachal Pradesh’s Miao Diocese, says coming by train helped her mingle with other nuns (unlike the time she went by air)

Riding with the loco pilots
Doi, doi, mishti doi. At Durgapur, the first vendors of sweetened curd bring that unmistakable Bengali touch to the platform. With a 30-minute stop for refuelling and change of engine from diesel to electric, the halt is ideal to make acquaintance with the charioteers of our train, one thinks. So, between the industrial town best known for its steel plant and Asansol, we request loco pilot RB Ram and his assistant Rajiv Kumar to allow us a peek into their cabin and they oblige.

Outside the drivers' cabin, truck after truck of coal extracted from the Raniganj coalfields just outside Durgapur, drives past. The undulating landscape is a maze of giant factories, tin sheds, lorry drivers and electrical wires. Inside, with the assurance of a pro, Ram is shouting instructions to his junior on impending railway signals.

Manning their console, with meters to check air flow, braking pressure and speed, needs knowledge of both the mechanical and electrical aspects of locomotive engineering, says Ram, 53, a native of Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh, who has made Asansol his home for the 20 years he has been with the Railways. "As you can see, we can't use mobile phones or take loo breaks. Other than that, the job isn't tough, not after having driven goods trains for close to 15 years," he says with a smile. "He is a good teacher, so the long hours don't bother me," says Ram's assistant Rajiv Kumar, 26. "The most enjoyable part of the trip is when we get the engine from Asansol to Durgapur, before it is attached to the train. We are the most crucial personnel on the train. So, we should get adequate rest to keep fresh," says Kumar.

Freedom song: Avi Chishi and Vikali Sumi, students from Dimapur, Nagaland, are excited about their first holiday outside the North-East, in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu

Vijayawada Mystery
On the morning of the third day, we approach Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada junction, one of the busiest stations in southern India, which handles more than 320 trains every day. Apart from vendors selling piping fresh dosai, idlis and vadais, the eye goes to the vendors' fluorescent orange T-shirts that proclaim 'Beware of thieves' in English, Telugu and Hindi. Curiosity piqued and an Idly-Vada picked, one asks them why they are sporting the intriguing message.

"It's on the instructions of cops," is as forthcoming as the answers get. Befuddled, I look for the closest person in wearing khaki, pot belly and stick and quiz him on the same. The cop summons me and we begin walking in the direction of the train's last cabin. With about 2 minutes left for the train to leave I am nervous, when he points me to a hoarding and says: "Good officer, saar!" Opposite me is a giant hoarding like a split-screen TV discussion, replete with badly translated moral science lessons such as 'Lane Mein Jayiye Choron Se Bachiye' (join the queue to avoid thieves), 'Sona Mat Pahaniye' and 'Buddha Aadmiyon Se Madad Karo' (help the elderly), courtesy Dr M. Kantha Rao, SP, Railway Police, along with photographs of the 'good' officer demonstrating what he is preaching and his phone number.

The provocation: a spate of chain snatchings around Vijayawada. During this investigation, the train's electric horn begins to blare and one rushes to catch the moving locomotive, only to end up breathless in the pantry section!

Being confined for hours together in a common space brings out even the most introverted characters out of their shell and spontaneous friendships formed on trains are sometimes known to last lifetimes. Shyamoshree, 34 a homemaker from Dimapur, Nagaland, for instance, is travelling with her five-year -old daughter Ashtha to Kottayam to visit family friends. They met Ratna Ghosh and her six year old daughter Sayantika, natives of Dibrugarh, a few hours back on the train and have become great friends since. The two girls play antakshri, Atlas, watch games on Shyamoshree's laptop and transform themselves into announcers on the train's non-existent public address system every time it slows down at a station.

Sweet somethings: At Durgapur Junction in West Bengal, the first vendors of mishti doi make their appearance. It is the best dessert one can hope to feast on, on this journey

Out Patients Department
As one takes leave of Andhra Pradesh towards Tamil Nadu, one notices a group of travellers preparing to de-board at Katpadi Junction, near the Christian Medical College, Vellore (CMC). Swarup Dutta, a 32-year-old telecom engineer from Dibrugarh is taking his father Subir Kumar Dutta, 60, a former National Assurance Company executive, for treatment of his lower-back. "The extent of personal care for patients there is much better than Assam. So one doesn't mind the travel," says Dutta Junior. Arati Sarkar, 59, a housewife from Assam, who is travelling with her daughter and granddaughter to CMC Vellore to get a gum infection treated, agrees. "It's a shame that the North-east which is home to 40 million people, almost equal to the population of England, doesn't have decent medical facilities," says Sarkar.
Then there was Nun
At Chengannur the Vivek Express turns into a ghost train. Most of the migrant workers have alighted. The general, sleeper and air-conditioned coaches are deserted and one does a recce to find out if there are any travellers left. It is here, in the two-tier compartment that the smiling countenance and sparkling eyes of Sister Janet Baby catch your attention. Almost hidden on a side berth, the 37-year-old assistant teacher in Arunachal Pradesh's Miao Diocese is viewing the lush green landscape from the window, as she prepares to reach home to her village in Trivandrum district. "This has been my first trip on this train and it was special. The last time we came by plane spending a steep Rs. 20,000, I could never mingle with other sisters and fathers. From eating together, to recounting stories, to moving around and meeting other sisters on the Vijayawada platform, it can only be possible here. That is the biggest charm of a train journey," she says.

Destiny’s child: Beryl King, 24, from Dimapur, is one of those rare passengers who has family in both Kerala as well as Nagaland. She says the train is an ideal choice for people like her

Guard's Own Country
On the fourth morning, in the final stretch of our sojourn after Trivendrum Central, through cajolement and coercion, we persuade Senior Guard M Abubacker to let us travel with him in the brake-van. It turns out to be the best part of our 82-hour journey. We are cruising through the backwaters, with the landscape a lush expanse of green, with swaying palms, the smell of the ocean nearby and the company of a raconteur.

We count four tunnels and three trains pass us by, as Abubacker Sahib, 57, opens his trunk (that has among other sundry supplies such as flags, maps, torches and rulebooks, a detonator) and heart to us.

The guard's cabin is a hallowed space. Unlike engine drivers (two of them confined to a small space), he is the lord of all he surveys. "Saar, I am like one-man army. I don't need assistants," says Abubacker as he goes on to explain how a guard may need to put a detonator on the tracks in case of a derailment to protect the train. When he joined the Railways 34 years back, the native of Alleppey, known for its powder beaches and backwaters, Abubacker served as a forge-man. He cleared an exam to become a guard and now, after marrying off both his daughters to 'suitable' boys in the Gulf, he has no points left to prove. Abubacker's sense of pride comes from a sense of finality: "

After close to 12 guards have changed hands over 4200 kilometres, in the last stretch, for the final 80-odd kilometres from Trivandrum to Kanyakumari, a guard from Quilon division is guiding the Vivek Express, the longest train journey in the country. Personally, it is a matter of great honour, Sir!" The pride is infectious. Suddenly, even my photographer colleague and I are gripped by a sense of having achieved something. Great signal, guard sahib!

Vivekanand Rocks
On the fifth morning, at Kanyakumari, the final station, a few stragglers alight from the train, apart from the train staff. Beyond that is the sea. Kanyakumari at the Cape Comerin, is the Land's End of the country and believed to have multi-coloured sands. The sleepy township is revered for its Kanya Kumari Shrine and the Vivekananda Memorial, named after the Bengali philosopher, which becomes an island at high tide. The legend goes, that standing in the waters of Kanyakumari if one had three legs, one could plant them each in the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. It is a logical conclusion for a journey where all Indian rivers of faith, creed, culture and languages finally submerge. The track stops here.

Windows 2013: A window view of the general compartment. It is meant for close to 90 people, but actually had more than 200

From HT Brunch, May 19
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Rahul • 4 days ago
"Tamil Nadu's Kottayam district"??? Kottayam district is in Kerala & most of the migrant laborers from Assam head to Kerala where they get handsome pay -- about Rs 500 a day. Please get your facts straight, else the travelogue looks good.
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gautam • 5 days ago
This is a lovely article. It captures the true sense of travel in india - and especially how watching the world go by (from a train) is fun to watch !
Travelling by train in india is a lot more fun than by air anyways. My recent trip was early this year in shatabdi between Del <> Kol and the entire journey was fun ... i have to admit the food on-board was really good !
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Rajiv • 5 days ago
Very well written
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RAJIV • 5 days ago
A WONDERFUL TRAVEL EXPRIENCE BUT LITTLE BIT SHORT . H T NEED MORE THESE TYPE OF STORIES
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Ganesh Baskaran • 6 days ago
We need bullet trains in this route
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- Raman Ganesh Baskaran 6 days ago
  Bullet train is preferable when the topography of the land is flat. Then you can maintain a constant speed. Some part of this train travel via hilly track and as such are not suitable for bullet train. We do not have to copy the rest and if we offer the comfort along with punctuality, that would suffice for all. My wish is they should run a fast train on that corridor with few stops so that we can cut down on time. Just sayin.
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  - gautam Raman 5 days ago
    i feel perhaps the existing trains could have cleaner, better and bigger washrooms - plus some method to ensure that passengers thmselves try to maintain cleanliness. Afterall, who wants to be in a bullet train if you are surrounded by green landscape , hugging hills and endless geography !
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Explosions near Indian Embasy in Kabul; Indian Army contingent should protect Embassy staff -- Dr. Subramanian Swamy

May 24, 2013, 6:20 am

≫ Next: Enacting a Rs. 1.8 cr. gas scam, SoniaG UPA's favour to RIL: Gurdas Dasgupta

≪ Previous: Vivek express. On the longest train journey in India -- Aasheesh Sharma

Smoke was seen rising over central Kabul

May 24, 2013

Subject: Statement of Dr. Subramanian Swamy

Following today's explosions near the Indian Embassy in Kabul the Prime Minister must despatch a division of the Indian Army and a squadron of the Airforce to Kabul to defend the Embassy staff. India cannot passively watch while the Taliban terrorises all to capitulate. A secure Afghanistan is essential for India's national interests. Moreover as a SAARC sister country of Afghanistan, India has a duty to protect that country since the President Karzai has invited us.

24 May 2013 Last updated at 13:23 GMT

Explosion and gunfire shake Kabul

There has been a large explosion in the centre of the Afghan capital, Kabul, followed by heavy gunfire.

Afghan Channel One TV quoted police as saying a group of assailants had entered the Directorate of the Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF).

It said some of the attackers had taken up positions in the building.

"We are dealing with a well co-ordinated attack," said Kabul police chief Gen Ayub Salangi. "Afghan forces will deal with them."

Some reports said there had been several blasts, with Channel One reporting at least one suicide bomber in the APPF building. Ambulances were shown heading for the scene of the attack.

The Taliban said they were responsible for the attack, according to a report by AFP news agency.

Reports say smoke was seen over the centre of the city and the blast was felt several kilometres away.

Shopkeepers in the area said the explosion had shattered their windows. Part of Kabul was cordoned off.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22656758

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Enacting a Rs. 1.8 cr. gas scam, SoniaG UPA's favour to RIL: Gurdas Dasgupta

May 24, 2013, 6:54 am

≫ Next: Go ahead, Sebi, “be fearless,” and send the FM a notice -- R Jagannathan

≪ Previous: Explosions near Indian Embasy in Kabul; Indian Army contingent should protect Embassy staff -- Dr. Subramanian Swamy

MOILY SEEKS TO RAISE GAS PRICE TO FAVOUR RIL: CPI

Friday, 24 May 2013 | PNS | New Delhi

Alleging that Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily is out to favour Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) by trying to increase the price of gas from KG Basin, the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Thursday sought the Prime Minister’s immediate intervention in the matter.

Addressing the media in the Capital, CPI National Secretary Gurudas Dasgupta demanded Moily’s resignation for “facilitating” Mukesh Ambani in looting national assets by ignoring suggestions of the Fertilizer and Power Ministries against increasing the price of gas.

Producing documents and Cabinet notes, the veteran CPI leader alleged that certain Cabinet Ministers, led by Moily, were trying to increase the price of natural gas from $4.2 per mmbtu to $14 per mmbtu (Million Metric British Thermal Units), as desired by Mukesh Ambani’s RIL.

In his detailed letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which was released to the media, Dasgupta pointed out that disregarding the objections of the two Ministries of Fertiliser and Power would prove disaster. He said all the suggestions of the Finance Ministry, the Planning Commission and even the recommendation of the Rangarajan Committee should be discarded in the interest of the nation.

“This is a gigantic scam that is in the process of being enacted through the generous assistance of the Petroleum Ministry. This is loot of the country’s natural resources which will cause deepest anger in our people. This is the biggest crime if it is allowed to happen,” the CPI leader stated in his letter to the PM seeking a pre-emptive action for the sake of the country.

Dasgupta pointed out that even the Rangarajan Committee, comprising eminent personalities appointed by the PM, had recommended the price of the natural gas to be “at least eight dollars per mmbtu. “This figure is a very huge one and cannot be acceptable. The Power Ministry had already said that at this price, power generation would not be possible and would lead to increase in power tariff in the country,” he said.

Dasgupta pointed out that Fertiliser Ministry’s suggestion would help decrease the price of the gas. But a big lobby is working for Reliance to ignore this detailed formula, he claimed.

“One would have expected that Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission will balance the interest of the users and the producers by suitable modulating the Rangarajan Committee’s formula downward. However, to my utter dismay, they have actually suggested formulations that are closer to the demand of RIL and so far, more than what has been envisaged by the Ranagarajan Committee,” Dasgupta pointed out to the Prime Minister in the letter.

He blamed Planning Commission for recommending the Government to switch to international pricing formula “as desired by Mukesh Ambani.” The veteran CPI leader said the things were going in a way to provide huge benefits to RIL in collusion with the Petroleum Minister Moily.

“It is regrettable that the Petroleum Ministry is just copying and pasting the suggestions of Reliance. If the demand of Reliance to increase the gas price from 4.2 dollars to 14 dollars is accepted, in five years the public exchequer would suffer a subsidy of Rs 1,80,000 crore and Reliance will pocket an additional profit of Rs.1,62,000 crore,” said Dasgupta, accusing the Petroleum, Finance Ministries and Planning Commission for facilitating the demands of RIL.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/moily-seeks-to-raise-gas--price-to-favour-ril-cpi.html

PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

****

Petroleum Minister Refutes allegations regarding Proposed Gas Price Revision

PRESS NOTE

This is with regard to media reports based on press briefing by one of the Hon’ble Members of Parliament regarding proposed revision in gas pricing. The issues highlighted in these reports and some baseless allegations made by the Hon’ble Member are not only devoid of merits but are malicious and based on distorted facts. In order to put the record straight, the following facts are briefly highlighted.

The Government of India constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister in May, 2012 to suggest structure and elements of the guidelines for determining the basis or formula for the price of domestically produced gas in India . The Committee submitted its Report in December, 2012 and the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas is in the process of finalizing a Cabinet Note to be placed before the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs for a decision on the recommendations of the Dr. Rangarajan Committee. The proposed guidelines will be effective from 1^st April, 2014 for pricing of domestic natural gas based on the methodology suggested by Dr. Rangarajan Committee, consequent to the approval by the CCEA. It is needless to emphasize that views of the other Ministries and Planning Commission shall be part of the proposed Cabinet Note and will be placed before the Cabinet for consideration. The proposed pricing guidelines shall be equally applicable to both the private and public sector companies engaged in production of natural gas. It may also be highlighted that more than 60% of the natural gas in India is still produced by the Public Sector Companies. Therefore, the allegation that the price is being revised for the benefit of the private sector is completely misconceived.

Majority of the gas presently under production are pertaining to the blocks allotted under various rounds of NELP and governed under the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) signed between the Government and the producers. The PSCs provide for sale of gas at competitive arm’s length price to the benefit of parties to the contract and that the gas price formula or basis on which the prices shall be determined, shall be approved by the Government. The proposed guidelines based on the methodology suggested by Dr. Rangarajan Committee is aimed at fulfilling the above mentioned contractual obligation under the PSC.

The indigenous production of oil and gas in India has not been able to produce the expected results and therefore, the country is heavily dependent on import of petroleum products which has a huge bearing on the fiscal imbalance. In the year 2012-13, the average natural gas production was about 111 mmscmd as against a requirement of approximately 286 mmscmd. The gap between the demand and supply is likely to get further widened during the 12^th Five Year Plan, if effective steps are not taken expeditiously to enhance the domestic production. The annual import bill for import of oil and gas is approximately 160 billion US $ (more than 7.00 Lakh crores). The estimated financial outgo on account of import of natural gas is likely to increase to 17.82 billion US$ in 2016-17 from 8.79 billion US $ in 1012-13. Apart from its impact on the fiscal imbalance, heavy dependence on import also increases the subsidy burden for Power and Fertilizer sector. The natural gas is imported in India at more than 14 – 15 dollars per mmbtu which is more than double the proposed revision in gas price. As such the subsidy outgo for Fertilizer and Power will be 2 to 3 times more if these sectors remain dependent on imported LNG. In addition, huge installed capacity in the Power Sector is lying idle for want of gas which has severe cascading effect on the national economy. Therefore, the choice is between import of LNG at a much higher price and the relatively cheaper domestically produced natural gas. Moreover, the enhanced domestic production will also provide great boost to the national economy.

Gas prices in India , therefore, can incentivize investment in the Indian upstream sector so that the production in India reaches optimum levels and all explorable reserves are put to production expeditiously.

***

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

New Delhi, May 24, 2013

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=96212

↧

Go ahead, Sebi, “be fearless,” and send the FM a notice -- R Jagannathan

May 24, 2013, 8:15 am

≫ Next: Islamic reformation in India -- Tufail Ahmad

≪ Previous: Enacting a Rs. 1.8 cr. gas scam, SoniaG UPA's favour to RIL: Gurdas Dasgupta

Go ahead, Sebi, “be fearless,” and send the FM a notice

by R Jagannathan May 24, 2013

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, speaking at the 25th anniversary function of Sebi today, advised the markets regulator to “be a fearless regulator.”

If Sebi Chairman UK Sinha wants to take him up on his word, he could fly a trial balloon today itself. He can do no better than toss the Finance Minister’s own words at him and seek a clarification on what he meant in a statement he made on oil subsidies today. The FM’s statements have serious market implications and impact investor rights.

Everyone and the dog at the lamp-post knows that India’s oil companies are at the mercy of the Finance Minister when it comes to receiving their yearly subsidies. Last year’s subsidies were cleared only this year, which left just Rs 20,000 crore for this year’s potential subsidy payments.

Sebi should send the FM a notice seeking clarifications. Reuters

From a 2013-14 budget kitty of Rs 65,000 crore for oil subsidies, Rs 45,000 crore went to pay last year’s bills – since the government does not follow basic budgeting principles such as the accrual-based system where the fiscal deficit is worked out after adding up all accrued revenues and expenses, regardless of whether they are actually received or paid out.

This is how he got away with claiming a low fiscal deficit of 5.2 percent in 2012-13, when Rs 45,000 crore of subsidies were yet to be paid.

However, that part of bad accounting practice is for parliament to grapple with.

When it comes to Sebi, it is investors who need to be protected. And Chidambaram’s statements today in Business Standard rank right up there in terms of dubious practices. The newspaper quoted Chidambaram as saying that this year’s subsidies will be half that of last year, at around Rs 80,000 crore. So far, so good.

But where is this Rs 80,000 crore to come from when he is left with only Rs 20,000 crore in terms of available outlays after paying out last year’s subsidies?

Hear Chidambaram on this: “We still have Rs 20,000 crore and another Rs 60,000 crore will come from upstream companies. So, we have got Rs 80,000 crore and we do not think the oil subsidy bill for this year would exceed Rs 80,000 crore.”

The upstream companies he is referring to are ONGC, Gail and Oil India Ltd, all of which are publicly listed companies with minority shareholders. The Rs 60,000 crore that Chidambaram “verbally” swiped from their surpluses is not his money to redistribute at will. It belongs not only to the government, but also minority shareholders in these three companies.

If Tata Steel had debts to pay and Cyrus Mistry glibly announced that he will transfer that money from Tata Motors, Sebi chief UK Sinha would surely object. So why should he not do so when Chidambaram announced the same with listed oil companies?

But there is a double jeopardy involved here.

Under the oil burden sharing formula, the upstream oil companies were to pay 38-40 percent of the subsidies, and the government the remaining 60 percent.

But next year, if Chidambaram plans to apportion Rs 60,000 crore of the Rs 80,000 crore subsidy from the oil companies’ surpluses to the oil marketing companies, the share will have gone up to 75 percent.

Is he saying the upstream companies will now pay 75 percent of the subsidy?

Investors in ONGC, Gail and Oil India should yell blue murder. And Sebi should really send the FM a notice asking him to clarify his remarks.

So, dear Sebi, go ahead and be fearless. The FM wants you to do this.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/go-ahead-sebi-be-fearless-and-send-the-fm-a-notice-813489.html

↧

Islamic reformation in India -- Tufail Ahmad

May 24, 2013, 6:16 pm

≫ Next: Controversial conversations on the origins of the Taj Mahal -- BBC

≪ Previous: Go ahead, Sebi, “be fearless,” and send the FM a notice -- R Jagannathan

Islamic reformation in India

Author: Tufail Ahmad

Published Date: May 24, 2013 7:23 AM
Last Updated: May 24, 2013 7:23 AM

Reformist Islamic writer and activist Asghar Ali Engineer, who passed away on May 14, devoted his life to reinterpreting Islam to counter Muslim fundamentalism, strengthen women’s rights and forge communal harmony in India. His writings, invariably based on reinterpretation of Islamic literature from early Islam, are a repository for a new generation of Islamic reformists, who are influenced by democracy and its associated ideas of individual liberty and human rights.
Works of Islamic jurisprudence were written much before the age of democracy, rendering Islamism relevant for modern times. Writing after 9/11, American academic James Q Wilson summed up the wedge between Islam and the democratic age: “When the West reconciled religion and freedom, it did so by making the individual the focus of society, and the price it has paid has been individualism run rampant, in the form of weak marriages, high rates of crime, and alienated personalities. When Islam kept religion at the expense of freedom, it did so by making the individual subordinate to society, and the price it has paid has been autocratic governments, religious intolerance, and little personal freedom.”

Like engineer, Islamic reformists are now breathing in democratic times, inspired essentially by a range of individual rights and political freedoms unleashed by democracy. Symbolically, the democratic age began when America became free in 1776, expelling British colonists and engendering decolonisation which gained momentum after the World War II, leading to freedom for a number of African and Asian nations, including India.

However, it is only in the 1980s, when democracy emerged, in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, as the only legitimate form of government deemed to be in conflict with all other systems. The tide of people’s opinion began turning in favour of democracy with much force after the fall of Berlin Wall in 1989 and freeing of Central Asian nations, and more so following the 9/11 attacks.

A forceful, though rhetorical, defence of democracy after 9/11 by US President George W Bush, who made it a point to travel to New Delhi in 2006 to stress the message of democracy for Muslims, may have contributed seeds for the Arab Spring. However, the lack of an infrastructure of democratic ideas in the Middle East prevented the Arab Spring from blooming while a strong presence of democratic institutions in India is not only widening the sphere of political liberty for its people but is also seeding a new generation of Islamic reformists and activists. A thriving democracy acts as a bulwark against Islamists: for example, Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan produce extremists, but the same Deobandi seminaries in India do not.

In the history of Islamic reformation in India, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan stands out. After the fall of Mughal rule in 1857, two movements in Islam emerged. One was led by Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi, who established the Darul Uloom Deoband, which has trained hundreds of thousands of orthodox Islamic clerics. The other was led by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who founded the Aligarh Muslim University, a centre of modern education. Sir Syed wrote a number of books, magazines and an interpretation of the Koran to stress the need for modernity among Muslims, but he did so in pre-democracy times. And this is the key point: Islamic reformists working in post-independence India are influenced, unlike their counterparts in earlier times, by democracy and its associated freedoms.

In this context, Hamid Dalwai, a Muslim reformer of Maharashtra who died at the young age of 44 in 1977 but his works were recently discovered by historian Ramachandra Guha, stands out as more astute in his thinking than Sir Syed. Dalwai truly represented a democratic age and argued for a uniform civil code as a liberty project for Muslims. He also saw protection of people’s rights in democratic institutions and secularism. Dalwai argued that secularism of Hindus who treat Muslims as a minority encourages the anti-secularism of Muslims; and minorities in a democracy like India have equal rights, not special privileges. His belief that the rights and freedoms of Muslims and non-Muslims alike will flourish in the Indian democracy is actualising.

When compared, India has emerged as the best country for Muslims, offering a range of political freedoms, educational access and economic opportunities not available in other Islamic nations. Indian Muslims experience expanding spheres of democratic freedoms in everyday life, and, just as an example, Muslim actors do not have to change their names to Dilip Kumar, Madhubala and Meena Kumari.

Democracy is also tearing apart prevailing Islamic orthodoxies. In Afghanistan, the Taliban are forced to ponder over the use of referendums and elections, though as a tactic inspired by Egyptian Islamists. With regard to caste, Islam was a total failure in the Indian subcontinent, with Syeds and Khans refusing to marry girls from lower caste Muslims; and in parts of India separate boundaries were marked in graveyards for lower caste Muslims. In fact, even Sufis did not hand over their spiritual orders to those from the lower Muslim castes. Steadily now, the political freedoms guaranteed by Indian democracy are aiding Islamic reformers to challenge obscurant practices and dominant orthodoxies among Muslims.

Notable reformers and activists include Maulana Wahiduddin Khan who has authored scores of books reinterpreting Islam for modern times, Daud Sharifa who thought of India’s first mosque for Muslim women, the brave Shaista Ambar who has challenged clerics publicly, Syeda Saiyidain Hameed who has questioned orthodox interpretations of Islam, Uzma Naheed who works to empower women in Mumbai, and the like. Significantly, their work and activisms are possible in an atmosphere of freedom created by Indian democracy while in neighbouring Pakistan reformists like Javed Ghamidi are forced to leave the country due to Talibanisation. The works of Ambar, Hameed, Naheed and Sharifa denote one thing: India may be witnessing the emergence of a unique brand of Islamic feminism, characterised by attempts to explore the limits of liberty within Islam, as Engineer endeavoured in his life.

Tufail Ahmad is director of South Asia Studies Project at the Middle East Media Research Institute, Washington DC.

Comments(4)

One wishes that there are more intellectuals like late Shri A A Engineer. But, unfortunately, today s scenario is far more complicated and is something like this: (a) Terrorist organizations like LeT and Taliban are openly supporting violence in the name of Islam. Saner elements in Muslim nations all over the world are not forcefully contradicting this view of terrorists. (b) The extremists in Muslim communities all over the world are not ready to accommodate a view that is different from theirs and they (extremists) are often proclaiming that non-Muslims have no right to live in this world. (c) More worrying is the fact that saner elements in Muslim communities in our country and elsewhere are being weakened day by day. If the religious reforms in the Islamic countries and in other countries where there is sizeable Muslim population make the Muslim masses aware of the need to understand today s world in today s context, it will lead to a meaningful dialogue with non- Muslims.

Posted by Narendra M Apte at 05/24/2013 19:42 Reply to this Report abuse

Evidence on ground demonstrates that Islamic community in India is far from the possibility of being reformed. It keeps growing in numbers and not in civilization. And the leaders that emerge from them are hardly representative of any scope for reform - the Abdullas or Bukharis or Owaisis can only nurture rowdy elements, not civilized elements. And the community overall kept standing behind such people consistently.

Posted by Kumaran at 05/24/2013 20:28 Reply to this Report abuse

It is the need of the hour not only in India, but around the globe. Mr. Apte's remarks about the current rheotric by the so-called islamists is true and should be condemned. All beings are the creation of the almighty and have equal rights to enjoy all HIS bounties. During the time of Prophet Muhammad, (PBUH), there were muslims and non-muslims. The prophet was always kind to everyone. How can anyone in their right minds question anyone's right to follow their own beleifs. I remember what a famous Indian poet, Kunraw mahender singh Bedi said about Islam, meree nazron me.n to Islaam Muhabbat kaa hai naam Amn ka, aashiqi ka, mehro-murawwat ka hai Naam, Ussate Qalb ka, iqraaje-e-quwwat ka hai naam, Taqta-e-daar pe bhi, haqqo sadaqat ka hai Naam, Mera ISlaam nek-o-naam hai, Budnaam nahiN, Baat itni hai ki, ab aam yeh Islam nahiN.

Posted by syed Ali at 05/24/2013 23:54 Reply to this Report abuse

the comments mentioned here are irrelevant. its written by a scholar based in US having no idea of the ground reality. the biggest problem facing muslims in india is security. so many riots take place on flimsy grounds. there is no investigation as to who is behind them. the perpetrators are never arrested. whats worse- most of the victims are always muslims. whenever muslims try to improve their position, riots take place bringing them back to square one. as for unifrom law code, it is just a flimsy excuse to impose hindu laws and customs on muslims. this way they will succeed in removing islamic cultural values. part if the greater project of saffronists.

Posted by ali at 05/25/2013 04:19 Reply to this Report abuse

http://newindianexpress.com/opinion/Islamic-reformation-in-India/2013/05/24/article1602972.ece#

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Controversial conversations on the origins of the Taj Mahal -- BBC

May 24, 2013, 6:30 pm

≫ Next: IPL scam: Waiting for sports politico's to surface from the mud

≪ Previous: Islamic reformation in India -- Tufail Ahmad

ॐ Narayan Viswam ॐ ‏@nviswam5h
@ramayanfestival @Swamy39 Many rooms in the Taj Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan's time, and are still inaccessible to the public
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Subramanian Swamy ‏@Swamy394h
@nviswam @ramayanfestival : I was denied entry by Morarji (by persuasion)
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Chanemougam R ‏@rchanemougam41m
@Swamy39 @nviswam @ramayanfestival if Padmanabha Swamy temple treasures can be opened why not Taj?
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Architects fear Taj Mahal is slowly sinking

(Video) 13 March 2012 Last updated at 19:08 GMTHelp

The Taj Mahal, built to stand as an eternal symbol of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, could slowly be sinking according to architects.

The building's foundations require a steady stream of moisture from the Yamuna River to retain its strength - but the river is slowly drying up.

Mehvish Hussain reports. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-17359756

See :

http://missionisi.wordpress.com/2007/11/24/taj-mahal-or-tejo-mahalaya-2/

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/was_the_taj_mahal_a_vedic_temple.htm

The Controversy Surrounding the Origins of the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal, located near the Indian city of Agra, is one of the world's greatest architectural treasures. The almost supernatural beauty of the Taj Mahal and its grounds transcends culture and history, and speaks with a voice of its own to visitors from all over the world of feelings that are common to all humanity.

There are two stories of how the Taj came to be.

The Taj's Love Story

It has been called the most beautiful temple in the world, despite the fact that it was built at the cost of much human life. The Taj Mahal is a real monument of one man's love for a woman. The story is a sad one, told many times. But it never hurts to tell it again.

In 1631, when his wife died in childbirth, the emperor Shah Jahan brought to Agra the most skilled craftsmen from all Asia and even Europe, to build the white marble mausoleum that is the Taj Mahal. He intended to build a black marble mausoleum for himself, and the link between the two was to be a silver bridge. This fantastic plan suffered a dramatic and permanent setback when the Shah himself died.

Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond description, particularly at dawn and at sunset when it seems to glow in the light. On a foggy morning, it looks as though the Taj is suspended in mid-air when viewed from across the Jamuna river.

This is, of course, an illusion. The Taj stands on a raised square platform with its four corners truncated, forming an unequal octagon. The architectural design uses the interlocking arabesque concept, in which each element stands on its own and perfectly integrates with the main structure. It uses the principles of self-replicating geometry and a symmetry of architectural elements.

If you don't want the huge crowds to distract you from your view, try arriving just as it opens or is about to close. A few minutes alone in the perpetually echoing inner sanctum will reward you far more than several hours spent on a guided tour. Especially if your tour guide is Murbat Singh, who makes it his job to find a new comic slant on the Taj story every time he tells it.

To really do the Taj Mahal justice, you should plan to spend at least a full day in the grounds, to see this stunning piece of architecture at dawn, midday, and at dusk. The colours and atmosphere of the gardens and the Taj itself constantly change throughout the day. Under moonlight the marble glows.

The Taj's Other Story

If you have ever visited the Taj Mahal then your guide probably told you that it was designed by Ustad Isa of Iran, and built by the Moghul Emperor, Shah Jahan, in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Indian children are taught that it was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world.

This story has been challenged by Professor P.N. Oak, author of Taj Mahal: The True Story, who believes that the whole world has been duped. He claims that the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya), worshipped by the Rajputs of Agra city.

In the course of his research, Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace had been usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. Shah Jahan then remodelled the palace into his wife's memorial. In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai Singh for Mumtaz's burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur is said to retain in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for the surrender of the Taj building.

The use of captured temples and mansions as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers. For example, Hamayun, Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions.

Oak's inquiries begin with the name Taj Mahal. He says this term does not occur in any Moghul court papers or chronicles, even after Shah Jahan's time. The term 'Mahal' has never been used for a building in any of the Muslim countries, from Afghanistan to Algeria.
'The usual explanation that the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal is illogical in at least two respects. Firstly, her name was never Mumtaz Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani,' he writes. 'Secondly, one cannot omit the first three letters from a woman's name to derive the remainder as the name for the building.'

Taj Mahal is, he claims, a corrupt version of Tejo-mahalaya, or the Shiva's Palace. Oak also says that the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy tale created by court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archaeologists. Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan's time corroborates the love story.

Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting that the Taj Mahal predates Shah Jahan's era:

Professor Marvin Miller of New York took samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon dating tests revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan.
European traveller Johan Albert Mandelslo, who visited Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life of the city in his memoirs, but makes no reference to the Taj Mahal being built.
The writings of Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra within a year of Mumtaz's death, also suggest that the Taj was a noteworthy building long well before Shah Jahan's time.

Oak also points out a number of design and architectural inconsistencies that support the belief that the Taj Mahal is a typical Hindu temple rather than a mausoleum.
Many rooms in the Taj Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan's time, and are still inaccessible to the public. Oak asserts they contain a headless statue of Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples.

Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi's government tried to have Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the first edition with dire consequences.

The only way to really validate or discredit Oak's research is to open the sealed rooms of the Taj Mahal, and allow international experts to investigate.

Discuss this EntryPeople have been talking about this Guide Entry. Here are the most recent Conversations:
Oak needs a Psychiatrist (Last Posting: Jun 30, 2011)
taj mahal history (Last Posting: Oct 2, 2010)
taj versus tejo (Last Posting: Oct 2, 2010)
taj mahal (Last Posting: Oct 2, 2010)
Taj Mahal: The other story " Vedic Temple" (Last Posting: Oct 2, 2010)
tejo mahalaya (Last Posting: Oct 2, 2010)
About P. N. Oak, the author of 'The Taj Mahal Is a Temple Place' (Last Posting: Jan 29, 2010)
Oak's views have no credibility whatsoever. (Last Posting: Jul 3, 2009)
Truth behind it (Last Posting: Jan 28, 2008)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-london/plain/A5220

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IPL scam: Waiting for sports politico's to surface from the mud

May 24, 2013, 6:44 pm

≫ Next: PM should investigate IPL and terror financing. Srinivasan should not resign -- Dr. Subramanian Swamy

≪ Previous: Controversial conversations on the origins of the Taj Mahal -- BBC

‏@kalyan971m

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/ipl2013/boards-reputation-is-the-mud-says-muthiah/article4747111.ece … Muthiah bowls to Srinivasan Claims IPL scam tip of iceberg. Naturally. Wait for sports politico's to surface :)--

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Published: May 25, 2013 01:24 IST | Updated: May 25, 2013 01:25 IST

Board’s reputation is the mud, says Muthiah

S. Dinakar

‘IPL has demolished its prestige and the whole exercise is totally commercial’

The Former BCCI president, A.C. Muthiah, believes the spot-fixing scandal is just the “tip of the iceberg.” He was at the helm in 2000 when the BCCI took strong action against cricketers found to be involved in match-fixing.

The 72-year-old Muthiah, whose ‘conflict of interest’ case against BCCI president N. Srinivasan is pending before the Supreme Court, spoke candidly to The Hindu on Friday.

What are your views on the challenges confronting the BCCI following the spot-fixing scandal? What’s your take on the IPL itself?

This is such a pathetic situation to be in for the Board. The IPL has demolished the prestige of the Board. The whole exercise is totally commercial. The Board’s reputation is on the ground. The president should own up responsibility and step down. Because of the situation the president finds himself in, he is not able to take hard decisions when it comes to the IPL. Now, his son-in-law’s alleged involvement in a wrongdoing makes the situation worse for him. He is not able to act aggressively. It’s sad.

Do you think spot-fixing, which can eventually influence the outcome of a match, is restricted to a handful of cricketers?

I think many more players and officials could be involved. The franchise cannot escape responsibility either. They are responsible for the players and officials.

You have been critical of the IPL becoming a part of the BCCI. Haven’t you?

The IPL should never have been a part of the BCCI, and the rules should not have been amended in the first place for one man. In fact, I wrote two letters to Sharad Pawar about this when he was the Board president. The entire focus here is on money-making. The IPL should be detached from the BCCI. And the mess following the fall-out of the spot-fixing episode should be cleaned up.

You were the BCCI president when you acted strongly against cricketers found to be involved in match-fixing. There were several high-profile names including that of a former Indian captain, is that not right?

I tried my bit. We took stern action. From all over the country I got messages congratulating me on the tough decision taken by the BCCI. India was the only country that took such robust action. It’s unfortunate that the BCCI, subsequently, did not pursue those cases strong enough.

Was there any pressure on you during that phase?

There was a lot of political pressure, I must admit. But I took the stand in the interest of the game.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/ipl2013/boards-reputation-is-the-mud-says-muthiah/article4747111.ece

↧

PM should investigate IPL and terror financing. Srinivasan should not resign -- Dr. Subramanian Swamy

May 24, 2013, 7:19 pm

≫ Next: Deleterious Neglect: Will the U.S. Navy Surrender Maritime Asia? -- Toshi Yoshihara & James Holmes. Form Indian Ocean Community -- Kalyan

≪ Previous: IPL scam: Waiting for sports politico's to surface from the mud

STATEMENT OF DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY, fmr UNION LAW & JUSTICE MINISTER

On May 25, 2013 in New Delhi

In the interest of national security I urge Mr. N. Srinivasan not to resign from the President of the BCCI, or accede to the chorus for his quitting in the wake of prima facie evidence that his son-in-law Mr. Meiyappan was engaged in betting on IPL match outcomes for which he has now been arrested for custodial interrogation. Srinivasan need not pay attention to media double standard of demanding his resignation but not of Ms. Sonia Gandhi for the same reason.

The demand for Mr. Srinivasan’s resignation is being orchestrated from Mumbai by the underworld whose operational headquarters is in Dubai. Many of the Indian politicians and businessmaen who are baying for Srinivasan’s scalp are frequent visitors to Dubai and have travelled frequently to that city on the private plane of Shahid Balwas, who is a charged accused in the 2G Spectrum Scam trial. Mr. Balwas connection to Dubai gangsters is well known.

In the past the IPL has been used indirectly for terrorist financing and compromising key politicians on honey traps with imported call-girls to compromise India’s national security. With Mr. Srinivasan’s taking over the President’s post, not only the cricket capital shifted to Chennai, and thus logistically severed from Dubai, but also the Chennai team trounced the Mumbai cricket supremacy.

It is therefore ludicrous to see the Sahara Chief demanding Srinivasan’s resignation, considering he himself is on the way to jail.

I urge Srinivasan not to resign hence, following Ms. Sonia Gandhi’s example of not resigning for the Himalayan fraud committed by her son-in-law Robert Vadra [now ordinarily resident in Dubai], but urge him to hold a press conference and expose the dangerous national security risk of Dubai-Mumbai nexus in seeking control of the IPL cash flow and ultimately undermine cricket.

I also demand that the Prime Minster direct the setting of a Commission of Inquiry under a sitting judge of the Supreme Court to go into this sinister nexus of foreign terrorist patrons, corrupt Indian politicians and businesspersons, and IPL.

↧

Deleterious Neglect: Will the U.S. Navy Surrender Maritime Asia? -- Toshi Yoshihara & James Holmes. Form Indian Ocean Community -- Kalyan

May 24, 2013, 8:06 pm

≫ Next: Himalayan blunder to himalayan handshake -- Claude Arpi

≪ Previous: PM should investigate IPL and terror financing. Srinivasan should not resign -- Dr. Subramanian Swamy

Deleterious Neglect:

Will the U.S. Navy Surrender Maritime Asia?

EAST ASIA | POLITICS | SECURITY

May 20, 2013By Toshi Yoshihara and James Holmes

Unchallenged for decades, and facing budget cuts, the U.S. Navy risks losing its capability to challenge the PLA in its near seas.

Image credit:Flickr (compacflt)

The Chinese navy's surface forces are on the march. Destroyers, frigates, corvettes, fast-attack craft, and, most recently, the newly commissioned aircraft carrier comprise the surface fleet. Over the past two decades, the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy) has put to sea four Sovremenny-class guided-missile destroyers procured from Russia, along with ten new classes of indigenously built destroyers and frigates. Some of the latter ship types have entered serial production, adding mass to the fleet. This is an impressive feat by any standard.

The PLA Navy's metamorphosis from a coastal defense force into a modern naval service has riveted the attention of the U.S. defense community. In 2009 the Office of Naval Intelligence — a body not known for hyperbole — described the advances of China's surface fleet as "remarkable." Similarly, the Pentagon's most recent annual report on Chinese military power notes the "robust" buildup of PLA Navy major combatants since 2008.

The Liaoning carrier understandably captures the public imagination. But the true vanguard of the PLA Navy's prowess will be its surface combatants — the workhorses of any navy — that will make China's turn to the seas felt in maritime Asia and beyond. In the coming years, these warships will serve as pickets guarding the carrier, project power on their own in surface action groups, maintain a visible presence in disputed waters, defend good order at sea in distant theaters, and conduct naval diplomacy around the world.

Yet debate persists over this metamorphosis. Skeptics doubt the PLA Navy will translate its growing material heft into real combat effectiveness. One sanguine view holds that the U.S. Navy surface fleet is more than a match for any rival in the contest for sea control — the arbiter of any naval war — and will remain so for the foreseeable future. The implication is that while Beijing may be able to exact a price from the U.S. Navy for attempting to use the seas and airspace in China's environs, the United States will still command the seas when the chips are down.

At the tactical level, this comforting narrative holds that U.S. naval forces remain able to land a devastating blow before opposing warships get close enough to fire their first shot. In a fleet-on-fleet engagement, for example, carrier-based warplanes would unleash missiles at enemy surface combatants from standoff distances, meaning beyond the engagement range of the opponent's anti-ship arsenal. This scenario conforms to the longstanding American doctrinal preference for shooting the archer before the archer can let fly his arrow.

This tactical and technological margin of superiority will endure and perhaps even widen, so goes this storyline, letting the U.S. Navy retain its dominant position in maritime Asia.

We're not so sure.

For one thing, China's surface fleet is quickly catching up. Mariners are cementing core competencies while closing the capability gap. For years, Chinese ships' lack of sophisticated area-wide air defenses exposed them to air and missile attacks. This shortcoming reaffirmed U.S. commanders' conviction that carrier aviators would handily defeat the PLA Navy in a fight. Now, however, near-state-of-the-art systems on board some Chinese combatants outrange the anti-ship weaponry sported by U.S. aircraft. The Luyang-class guided-missile destroyers are apparently equipped with phased-array radars similar in appearance — and, according to Chinese pundits, in capability — to the American Aegis combat system, a combination radar, computer, and fire-control system that can detect and target multiple aircraft simultaneously at long range.

At the same time, the PLA Navy has armed its warships to the teeth with a family of Russian- and Chinese-made anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) boasting ranges of 120-130 nautical miles. The only comparable weapon in the U.S. inventory is the nearly-four-decade-old Harpoon anti-ship missile, whose advertised striking range is less than 70 nautical miles. In other words, major Chinese combatants can not only keep U.S. aircraft at bay, but can also close in on the U.S. fleet to unleash volleys of ASCMs outside the weapons range of U.S. vessels. Not American but Chinese archers may now hold the initiative.

Thus both the defensive and offensive sides of sea combat are stacking up in China's favor — progressively eroding the tactical advantages of U.S. naval power.

Furthermore, it is unclear whether the U.S. Navy's surface battle capacity has kept up with the times. Since the Cold War, the navy has grown accustomed to operating in uncontested waters. Indeed, directives from on high stated that no one was likely to dispute American command of the sea. Owing to such strong bureaucratic signals, the surface fleet has let the skills and hardware for striking at sea atrophy. Why practice fighting for something no one can dispute?

Other missions have preoccupied the service since the Cold War. Naval aviators have spent the past decade supporting ground forces rather than girding to duel enemy armadas. Dropping smart bombs on insurgents and terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan demands different skill sets from evading enemy defenses and pummeling enemy men-of-war. Meanwhile, guided-missile destroyers have been burdened with an ever wider array of missions, including ballistic-missile defense (BMD). Competing missions — some of which, like BMD, command national-level scrutiny — siphon finite resources, crews' attention, and, equally important, physical space aboard ship away from the combat function.

In effect, then, the service has demoted war at sea, the raison d'être for any navy, to secondary status. Both the hardware (weaponry, sensors, and hulls) and the software (training and exercises) for sea control have doubtless suffered as a result. In an era of tight budgetary constraints, reversing two decades of steady decline in surface warfare will be neither easy nor quick. In short, prevailing assumptions about American naval supremacy are coming under strain.

It would be a grievous mistake, nonetheless, to concentrate wholly on the operational progress the PLA Navy surface fleet has made or the tactical travails that could hold back the U.S. Navy surface fleet. Competition is about more than just gee-whiz weaponry or comparing entries in Jane's Fighting Ships. The only meaningful standard by which to gauge a seagoing force's adequacy is its ability to muster superior combat power at the decisive time, at the decisive point on the nautical chart, against the strongest probable adversary. As a great man once proclaimed, there is no substitute for victory.

It is far from clear that the United States retains its accustomed supremacy by that unforgiving standard, any more than it does in technological terms. For a variety of reasons — distance from the theater, the consequent need for forward bases and logistics fleets, expensive weaponry, salaries, and pensions — it costs the United States far more than China to stage a unit of combat power at a given place in maritime Asia. Whether the Pentagon can afford to mount superior strength in a rival great power's backyard, whether the sea services are investing in the right people and hardware to constitute that strength, and whether American seafarers have the requisite skills to prevail when battle is joined are the only questions worth asking.

That casts U.S.-China competition in a whole new light, doesn't it? A purely fleet-on-fleet engagement is improbable within the China seas or the western reaches of the Pacific Ocean. In those expanses, Beijing has the luxury of throwing the combined weight of Chinese sea power into a sea fight, dispatching not just its surface fleet but missile-toting submarines and swarms of patrol craft. Furthermore, land-based implements of sea power can strike a blow in any fleet action that takes place within their combat radii. PLA Air Force warplanes can join the fray, as can anti-ship missiles fielded by the PLA Second Artillery Corps. Lord Nelson, who knew a thing or two about operating fleets under the shadow of shore-based weaponry, sagely counseled that a ship's a fool to fight a fort. That's doubly true today, when Fortress China can reach scores or hundreds of miles out to sea.

One part of the U.S. Navy, then, could conceivably confront the whole of China's maritime might. The U.S. sea services are dispersed throughout Asia and the world. To estimate the outcome of a fleet action, we thus have to determine how the contingent the U.S. Navy is likely to commit to battle — including its aerial and subsurface components, along with any assets supplied by allies like the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or South Korean Navy — stacks up to the massed power of the PLA Navy fleet, backed by the array of anti-access weaponry at PLA commanders' disposal. (This assumes Chinese commanders do the smart thing in wartime and mass their fleets for action.) If China's navy outmatches the U.S. or combined fleet contingent under such conditions, it is adequate to the tasks entrusted to it by the political leadership. If not, the advantage resides with the United States and its allies.

The unenviable task before Washington, then, is to preserve or extend the margin of superiority of part of its naval force over the whole maritime force, sea and land, that's available to Beijing. It's tough to pull off such a feat, especially under present circumstances. Finances are straitened. Overall numbers are under stress as a result, as is the military's capacity to innovate. To make ends meet, the U.S. Navy is substituting light combatants such as the new Littoral Combat Ship for multi-mission warships bristling with heavier firepower. To compound these problems, the fleet finds itself outranged by its most likely antagonist. It will be several years before a new anti-ship missile restores long-range hitting power to the fleet, or until exotic armaments such as electromagnetic rail guns or shipboard lasers augment the main battery.

From a grand-strategic standpoint, the lag in weapons development could open a danger zone in which Beijing is tempted to strike before its range advantage lapses. Imperial Japan made a similar now-or-never calculation in 1904, realizing that rival Russia was constructing new battlewagons for its Pacific squadron. It struck before St. Petersburg could amass insuperable strength in Far Eastern waters. In 1941, likewise, Tokyo hit the U.S. Pacific Fleet before the entirely new fleet being built under the Two-Ocean Navy Act of 1940 could arrive in the theater and shift the naval balance against Japan. U.S. and allied leaders must remain watchful, lest Beijing too succumb to the temptation to settle disputes around its nautical periphery by force.

Are submarines the great equalizer, a U.S. Navy game-changer akin to the "assassin's mace" that so beguiles Chinese strategists? Many Westerners appear to think so. They consider undersea warfare a talisman, assuming that the U.S. Navy can simply dive beneath the waves and pummel the PLA Navy from below. Submariners voice confidence in the superiority of American and allied boats over anything China has put to sea. We see no reason to question the allies' qualitative superiority in this sphere, and indeed we have depicted the subsurface fleet as a core competitive advantage for the United States.

But while quality remains on the allied side, numbers are more problematic. Yes, under the pivot to Asia, sixty percent of the U.S. Navy’s 72-vessel submarine force now calls the Pacific Ocean home. But 18 of those 72 submarines are Ohio-class ballistic- or cruise-missile boats (14 SSBNs, 4 SSGNs) meant for shore bombardment. That leaves 54 attack submarines (SSNs) suitable for a tilt against the PLA Navy, sixty percent (32-33 submarines) of which will be in the Pacific. That may sound like a lot, but bear in mind that no unit is ready for service all of the time. Routine upkeep, extended overhauls and refueling, crew rest, and training all have claims on a vessel's schedule.

A hoary U.S. Navy axiom holds that it takes three ships to keep one on foreign station. One is in the shipyards and completely out of service, another is preparing for deployment, and the third is actually on cruise. If anything, the 3:1 ratio actually overstates the proportion of ships available for combat duty. Even using this ratio, however, U.S. naval commanders can expect to have 11 fully combat-ready subs at their disposal at any time. Assuming the rhythm from overhaul to deployment holds up, another 11 may be available in varying states of readiness.

Twenty-two SSNs, no matter how good individually, is a slender force to cover the China seas and Western Pacific in wartime. Theorist Julian S. Corbett advises commanders to post vessels at the origin of an enemy fleet's voyage; at its destination, if known; or at focal points such as straits where shipping has to congregate as it passes from point A to point B. Otherwise it may be hard to make contact. Monitoring Chinese seaports, along with narrow seas such as the Luzon Strait and the passages through the Ryukyu Islands, will stretch the tactically proficient but lean U.S. submarine fleet. That in turn will leave broad operating grounds open to the PLA Navy.

Undersea warfare, then, remains an advantage, owing not just to American skill but to the PLA Navy's neglect of antisubmarine warfare. But the U.S. Navy needs more mass — meaning more boats — if it is to vanquish China's navy from the depths. Practitioners and pundits err if they view the silent service as it currently stands as a panacea. Doubling the submarine force would be a prudent move for Washington in its strategic competition with Beijing.

Where does all of this leave us? It's commonplace among China-watchers to make the U.S. Navy the benchmark by which to judge the PLA Navy's size and composition. This misleads. As noted here, the proper yardstick is the navy's capacity to fulfill the goals assigned to it by political leaders, in the expanses that matter, against the strongest likely opponent. Beijing's immediate goals and its likely opponents fall within reach of the abundant shore-based armaments festooning Fortress China. Combining land- with sea-based implements of marine combat yields a force far more formidable than side-by-side comparisons of surface fleets would indicate. The PLA Navy, then, may not need a surface fleet symmetrical with the U.S. Navy's — in terms of flattops, air wings, destroyers, etc. — to get its job done.

Observers must apply standards unique to China to determine whether China's Navy has struck the right balance of capabilities. Comparing it to a globe-spanning navy like America's reveals little.

Toshi Yoshihara and James Holmes are professors of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College, where Yoshihara occupies the John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies. The views voiced here are theirs alone.

http://thediplomat.com/2013/05/20/deleterious-neglect-will-the-u-s-navy-surrender-maritime-asia/?print=yes

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Himalayan blunder to himalayan handshake -- Claude Arpi

May 24, 2013, 8:30 pm

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HIMALAYAN BLUNDER TO HIMALAYAN HANDSHAKE

Thursday, 23 May 2013 | Claude Arpi | in Edit

India should demand concrete gestures from China. Then we shall see whether Beijing is ready to match its words with deeds, and agrees to exchange the border maps pertaining to the Eastern and the Western sectors

I am confused. Is Mr Li Keqiang, the new Chinese Premier, a sincere person or is he, like his illustrious predecessor Zhou Enlai, only a smooth-talker? Indeed, he speaks sweetly. In an Op-Ed in a national newspaper, he says: “China and India are destined to be together. They should work hand in hand if Asia is to become the anchor of world peace”. That sounds great. He also says: “We live in an age of change, but there are always certain things that are enduring, forever refreshing and attractive. India is such a nation, at once old and young. …[India and China] represent the two pillars of the civilisation of the East.” But when he states: “Today, the handshake across the Himalayas is even stronger”, is it really true after the border incident in Ladakh?

For Mr Li, the present problems are left-overs from ‘history’. One can’t deny this; for centuries the towering Himalayas, as the Chinese Premier calls the border, were ruled by the Dalai Lamas in Lhasa, and the Emperors of the Middle Kingdom had, except for very short periods, little say on the Roof of the World. For India, the ‘left-over of history’ is the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950.

Stranger is when Mr Li speaks philosophy to stress the importance of making friends with neighbours: “Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you”, he says. Then why did he order his troops to plant their tents on Indian territory? Was he expecting India to do the same to China? Who is the real Mr Li? The one who nostalgically speaks of his student days when he visited India? Or the powerful leader of an authoritarian regime which has disputes with most of its neighbours?

Assuming that China had some grievances against India, why could these not be taken up at one of the scheduled bilateral meetings (External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s visit to Beijing or Mr Li’s present trip to India)? Visits to China by the Union Minister for Defence and the Indian Prime Minister are also planned for later this year. There were at least four occasions to solve pending issues, so why take the extreme step of setting up a camp on Indian territory, creating bitterness and distrust? The strangest thing is that Mr Li did not mention any serious grievance against India (at least publicly) during his stay in India.

One reason could be that one arm of China (the State Council) did not know what the other (the PLA) was planning. It is not easy to prove, but it remains a strong possibility with scary implications. Is this why Mr S Jaishankar, the Indian Ambassador to China, referred to the Chinese incursion in Ladakh as ‘very unusual’? This is a charitable way to explain the two faces of the Chinese leadership.

What does not help is that opposite the young and affable-looking Chinese Prime Minister is his shy Indian counterpart. Take the dams under construction on the Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra in Tibet. In his Joint Statement with Mr Li, Mr Manmohan Singh said: “It would be useful for the mandate of our Expert Level Mechanism to be expanded to include information sharing on upstream development projects on these rivers.” Why say “would be useful”, and not just that India demands a legal mechanism/agreement to access the upstream developments on the Brahmaputra. Small mercy, the Joint Statement does not utter the ‘One China’ policy or mention that “Tibet is an inseparable part of China”. In any case, it has been said ad nauseam.

Regarding the border, the Joint Statement suggests: “Pending the resolution of the boundary question, the two sides shall work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas in line with the previous agreements.” What does “in line with the previous agreements” mean? As seen in the Depsang Plains in Ladakh, the Chinese are ready to break all existing agreements when it suits them. This is not unusual for China which often professes something and does something else.

In the Joint Statement, India and China reaffirm their opposition to weaponisation and an arms race in outer space. A week earlier, Reuters mentioned that China had launched a rocket into the space and that later the object re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. For Washington, DC, this was the first test for a new interceptor that could be used to destroy a satellite in orbit. Apparently, the Chinese rocket reached 10,000 km above Earth, the highest suborbital launch since 1976. Is this launch not contributing to the arms race in the outer space? Why get India to reaffirm its commitment when China simply does what it wants?

In the present circumstances, what can be done? The Prime Minster of India announced that the Special Representatives will soon meet to seek an “early agreement on a framework for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable boundary settlement”. India should ask for concrete gestures from China; it is the only way for Mr Li to show that China is ready to match its words with its deeds. The first and most important action is for India and China to exchange maps of all sectors of their common border. It has apparently already been done in the Middle Sector (Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand); it should be done without prevarication in the Western and Eastern Sectors as well. It is the minimum that one can expect from ‘a friend and a partner’.

But a mere exchange of maps is not enough; the respective ground positions should be made public. Citizens are entitled to know what is happening on their nation’s borders. The Depsang incident has shown that even ‘experts’ lack basic knowledge of the situation on the ground. The blame should be squarely put on the Indian Government whose responsibility it is to inform the Indian public. It is high time that the Government of India publishes a White Paper on its border with China, as was done in the past by the Ministry of External Affairs (between 1959 and 1965, as many as 15 White Papers on the border issue were tabled in Parliament). A well-informed Indian public could eventually provide tremendous support to protect the borders against unwanted intrusions.

Another meaningful gesture would be the re-opening of Demchok, the traditional pilgrimage route to Kailash. Though the Joint Statement says that China will provide greater facilitation to Indian pilgrims for the Gang Renpoche [‘Kang Rinpoche’ is wrongly spelt in the Statement] which is the Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra, the only route which make sense for a large number of Indian pilgrims is the Ladakh road via Demchok which would make the journey considerably shorter and more comfortable. Of course, like most of the places near the Tibetan border, Demchok is claimed by China (though occupied by India).

But if China’s Line of Actual Control perceptions could be put aside on this small area, it would create tremendous goodwill in India and make tens of thousands of pilgrims realise the dream of their life. Chinese leaders like to speak of China’s Dream; they should let Indians dream too. Let Demchok be re-opened, Mr Li! China’s image will receive a tremendous boost.

Jitendra Desai • 2 days ago
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UPA II is not only the weakest govt that we have seen, it is also the meekest when it comes to dealing with foreign powers. MEA appears to be manned by stenographers busy typing and retyping those long winded statements and communiques.Till China talks sense, we should stop talking to them and also STOP IMPORTING THEIR GOODS.
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Raveendranath MN • 2 days ago
The hard reality is that there is no level playing field for India and China in military prowess.This is glaringly evident in the body language of dynasty's iconic acolyte and the diminutive defence minister who has made India as the largest arms importing nation in the world. China, in the meantime, has recently replaced Britain from the 5th position of world's largest arms exporting nation. Can an arms importing nation stand up to the frowns of a 5th largest arms exporting nation? Antony's body language tells them all.
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s.kurup • 2 days ago
Congress dream is to marginalise hindus. that's all
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- R Prasad s.kurup a day ago
  Not just that, Congress's dream is to marginalize all Indians and make them slaves to West and Arabs.
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Jose • 2 days ago
What is the point of beating incompetent MMS, when we all know that he is only good for following Italian bartender's orders...
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http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/edit/himalayan-blunder-to-himalayan-handshake.html

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IPL Scam commentary ball-by-ball. Now it is Arun Jaitley's turn to bowl.

May 24, 2013, 10:00 pm

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IPL spot-fixing Live: Meiyappan in court today, Srinivasan says he’s not going

by Ashish Magotra May 25, 2013

10: 15 am: Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrests bookie

The Ahmedabad Crime Branch has arrested a bookie with alleged links to the illegal betting ookie racket and has seized Rs 1.28 crore and other equipment from him, CNN-IBN reported

The role of the bookie, Vinod Mulchandani, is exactly clear right now, but given the crackdown on bookies across the country the arrest doesn’t come as a surprise.

08: 30 am: Meiyappan to be produced before court, Srinivasan says he won’t go

Meiyappan, who was dramatically arrested last night is to be produced before a Mumbai court today where the police is likely to seek his custody in order to interrogate him with Vindu Dara Singh.

However, father-in-law and BCCI chief N Srinivasan, apart from allegedly threatening to “fix” a journalist, has said that he has no intention of leaving the BCCI chief’s post just yet.

“There is no controversy. As for my resignation, why, there is no need. I will not resign,” he is quoted as telling the Mumbai Mirror in an interview last evening.

He also claimed he had no knowledge of what his son-in-law was up to and whether he had done anything wrong.

“If anyone has done anything wrong then I will not spare them,” Srinivasan said.

What this means for Meiyappan isn’t very clear given he’s still an honorary member of theChennai Super Kings.

However, later in the night when he was called by Headlines Today for a statement, this is what an angry BCCI president had to say:

01. 45 am: Arun Jaitley refuses to react on Meiyappan arrest

While the drama of IPL spot-fixing has continued well into the night, Arun Jaitley has stayed away from making any comments on the late night arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan.

“Why should I comment on Meiyappan’s arrest?” CNN-IBN quoted Jaitley as saying.

01.40 am: Meiyappan asked more than 100 questions, may face same charges as Vindoo

CNN-IBN is reporting that Meiyappan was asked more than a hundred questions, and the word is that he may be facing the same charges as Vindoo Dara Singh. However, the crime branch has not confirmed the charges against him.

01.19 am: BCCI top brass want Arun Jaitley as chief

Meanwhile, BCCI sources have told CNN-IBN that the top brass in the cricket body wants Arun Jaitley to take over as the BCCI chief

But N Srinivasan has reportedly told the news channel that he is not resigning.

00. 13 am: Meiyappan arrested by Mumbai crime branch

The Mumbai Crime Branch have arrested BCCI chief N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan after questioning.

Mumbai Joint commissioner Himanshu Roy said, “We have interrogated Mr Gurunath. We have gone through questioning with him in detail and after due deliberation we have come to the conclusion that there is evidence of his involvement in the offense we are investigating.

“And therefore he has been placed under arrest and will be produced before a court within 24 hours as per the law.”

However, Roy did not specify the specific charges against Meiyappan. According to CNN-IBN, there are nine charges that pertain to the case, including sections 4 and 5 of the Gambling Act, as well as cheating forgery and fraud. The police will need to specify the specific charges against Meiyappan when they produce him in court.

Meiyappan’s lawyer PS Raman said: “We are exploring all legal possibilities. We are waiting for the remand report before reading the charges against him.”

21.13 pm Meiyappan, Vindoo may be questioned together

CNN-IBN Mumbai bureau chief Smitha Nair quoted sources as saying that at the moment top crime branch officials are interrogating Gurunath Meiyappan and the process may continue well into the night.

CNN-IBN sources also allegedly said that Vindoo Dara Singh may be brought in to be questioned along with Meiyappan.

21. 02 pm: Meiyappan reaches Mumbai crime branch

Gurunath Meiyappan has at last reached the Mumbai crime branch.

CNN-IBN reports say that he has been taken to Joint Commissioner of police Himnashu Roy’s room for a briefing before being questioned. It is still not clear whether Roy will himself question Meiyappan.

Also, Bharat Raman, the gentleman accompanying Meiyappan is the brother of PS Raman, a senior lawyer who is close to the DMK. He was the advocate general of Tamil Nadu during the DMK regime and had appeared for Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam case, said CNN-IBN.