DNA of Homo-sapiens : "India's Daughter"

"India's Daughter" is sparking quite a row worldwide and most importantly in India. I do not understand why ? Come on, we are adept at killing daughters for long time now. The sole difference is we kill daughters before they see the life.

Leslee Udwin, an Israeli born documentary film maker is holding the mirror for all men who think like Mukesh Singh. Their identities really do not matter. They are all Mukesh Singh for that matter. We are not ashamed of it, rather we are proud of it and attribute it to male dominating society which per se showcases egos of men who have their moral compasses turned completely South. And most interestingly, our brutal thinking towards women has been recognized by other countries and has shaken them so vigorously that they felt the urgent need to tell it to world. 

What are we thinking ? Which world are we living in ?

A documentary and an interview with convict with no remorse at all can never put light on the atrocity and barbarity which was on wheels on cold December night of 2012. India's daughter is just a minute version of the acts these people committed that night in just 20 minutes of ravaging from 2134 hrs to 2154 hrs. One cannot even imagine the ghastly acts committed by these savages. These men could send chilling terror down the spine of every citizen who came to know about the dastardly manner in which the act was executed ensuring victim should not remain alive.

Its but distressing patience of Constitution of India and judicial system which gives equal rights of representation to every man in relation to any crime, even Kasab was represented legally. Even law identifies with the prudence of common man when it comes to sentencing for any crime whatsoever. It keeps in mind the conscience of a layman who would want holder of judicial power to sentence the convict in appropriate manner after knowing his acts. So in toto judicial system works as per conscience of a man of ordinary prudence. And in this case it proved it yet again that such criminals are a threat to society and they should be removed from it.

Unimpeachable and utmost professional acumen by Delhi Police was openly commended by the Sessions Judge who tried the 16/12 case originally. A 237 page judgement including most of it describing their inhumane act by Sessions Court plus Order of sentence of 47 pages, the case was investigated with impeccable and unquestionable investigation process if we go through the facts and findings of the case and which brought justice home in dot 9 months. Kudos to all these men who lived with this barbarity till the sentence pronounced and probed into it to more deeper levels than anybody even knows.

Its wrong to say police does nothing, it does if it comes to.

All convicts sentenced to death and now waiting in the dark of it hanging in front of them. There is no point accusing them of being insensitive and deprecatory because these  men, they do not belong to human race. These men do not belong to civilized society, and quite interestingly, everyone else who belongs to their cadre is standing right with them and advocating not to air and show the reality of these barbarians to the world out there. Being proud of something heinous is their right and privilege.

In fact question / concern should be : When did these savages gained entry into human DNA and while it was happening, what "WE" were doing to stop them from becoming so. We cannot just blame the system for the damages because we let it happen due to our inability to stand against such barbarians. We overstepped our boundaries of protecting a child for his misdemeanors, and we are doing it yet again by coercing producers of this film not to air it. We are conducting dharnas, rallies, public meetings just to save our ugly face. Where were all these people when society they belong to was and is still killing daughters inside their very homes. Why is it that India in its history has never saw any protest being made to save males or male child ?

Community has been providing protection to people involved in such acts, its a collective conscience even in legal system which determines the quantum of sentence to convict. What can we do, when WE as a community have no clear conscience which might differentiate right to wrong in absolute manner. Why do not we protect our girl child when she comes to a womb, or do we need theatrics to make our point. There is no point screaming when we selectively recognize incidents. Do we really need a platform for saving our daughters ! Every daughter is India's Daughter.

We have white collared people who are in consonance with this convict's mindset. So should we think that this man is speaking the brains of all those politicians, influential or not so influential people, khaps, panchayats led by the makers of this breed or to consider people in rather vicinity are those who have killed a girl before she took birth.

So what is the question now ?

This documentary should not be given permission, because we are ashamed of our brutal faces to be made public and let it be known to world that we kill daughters and have male dominating bestiality towards women !

or 

Should such documentaries be shot and spread worldwide and made mandatory to be seen to let people know that human DNA has undergone a brutal change, compromised to the extent that steps must be taken right away at their doors and in their homes lest it becomes a homeland for savages and beasts !

I think
if we can see it inside, 
we can restore it outside... !!

The Idea of Free India

Indian Regionalism has come in three varieties - Regionalism properly so called, Parochialism (provincialism) and Secessionism as was being observed in Kashmir uptil last elections.
There are 8 main reasons to a unified India, 8 factors that keep this crew somewhat together. Four are the bequest of the British,
(i) The Game of Cricket (ii) The Railways (iii) The Civil Service and (iv) the English Language.

Four others are of "Indigenous" origin.
The first is the Hindi film, providing a shared worship of heroes and a shared Vocabulary in which to speak of them.Second are the Epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which gives us a shared moral (and sometimes immoral) Universe. Third is the territorial boundedness by the Himalayas and the Oceans. Fourth and the most significant of all is, the integrative idea of India embodied in the Constitution.

Scientist and polymath J.B.S. Haldane in one of the finest tributes to "Gandhi-Tagore-Nehru-Ambedkar-Idea of India" had applied for Indian Citizenship in 1956. He once called India "the closest approximation to the Free World" and to this a scientist from New York protested "India has its fair share of scoundrels and a tremendous amount of poor unthinking and disgustingly subservient individuals who are not attractive"

To which Haldane responded - "Perhaps one is freer to be a scoundrel in India than elsewhere... They do indulge in riots and refuse to abide by the Law but I don’t think their activities are very efficient, but that is not the question at issue.." in effort to advocate the Idea of Free India.

Now we need to stop and think..!!!!

Do we really deserve this advocacy ????

Disclaimer Notice ..!!!

Every time we take exams we feel as if we are confused enough with the answers examiner actually is looking forward to.. because the more we read, the more we are confused with the accuracy of the desired answers.How to eradicate this evil from our society, that is, "Exams"

I believe that education institutes should lift the responsibility of information disseminated during the session to the students and relieve them from the troubles with results. Because these days the rate of death in colleges is increasing day by day just due to the very fact that whatever students wrote examiner did not wanted that and made life miserable for students and compels them to take such drastic steps. Boards have already introduced grading system in schools for students and waived the fear of revelation of "most dreaded" marks accumulated.

What if we suggest a disclaimer after every exam and make it mandatory to ensure and disclose the source of information and texts and answers and chits...(not to mention). This would impart a sigh of relief to every student who is "brighter enough" after every such disclosure in exams. Students will start thinking positive for exams and their results. Because basically in exams what we get in terms of marks is not what we "did not" write well, but its what examiner knows "basically good enough" to be evaluated by them efficiently. After all we are writing from their self written books only.

So shall we initiate some action regarding such disclaimer like.. some conventional Disclaimer Notices we get to see after every publication or write up or whatever... It would go something like that.. at the end of every answer sheet.

"I hereby declare that answers written above are true to the best of mine and my friend's knowledge and  I claim no responsibility whatsoever for any mistakes above. If you are not the intended examiner or responsible for evaluation of the answer sheets you may not evaluate, mark, distribute or deliver results to anyone for this answer sheet (or any part of its contents ) or take any action on it. In such case, you would destroy the performance by me. In an effort to be original all I have written above  is truly fictitious & any resemblance with the Subject Matter is purely Coincidental."

If we take the Global Point Of View, "It takes 15 trees to produce the amount of paper that we use to write our exam once (excluding supplementary). So Join us in promoting the noble cause of saving trees...

"Save Trees, Save Environment, Save Earth, Go Green and Say NO to EXAMS...."

Even Bigger than any cause ever existed..

Religious Identity In Armed Forces

The answers are not easy. So lets start an open debate to address the issue in civil society apart from order in the court.

An Indian Air Force NCO had challenged the IAF order of 2003 not allowing Muslims serving in the IAF to keep beards. Prior to that, Muslims serving in the IAF could do it with the sanction of a senior authority. This is what the Indian government has told the Supreme Court now.
"All Air Force personnel, while on duty, are required to wear similar uniform and do not display any sign or object which marks him distinct from others. In an armed force, it is always intended that to the extent possible, all personnel should look identifiably similar so that they may work in a cohesive, co-operative and co-ordinate manner" The Indian Express 18 Jan'2009.
The reasoning sounds pretty cogent and the principle of a distinct religious identity in uniform should be followed across the board, without any exceptions. The problem in executing that order in the IAF lies with practitioners of Sikhism.

According to Cplash ( A Citizen Journalism Site)
"In this connection, it may be mentioned that when IAF is allowing its Sikh personnel to grow long hair and beard as it is in keeping with the injunctions of the Sikh religion, it must not disallow its Muslim personnel from keeping beard as it is enjoined upon the Muslims by Sunnah and Hadith to keep beard. The IAF can in no case be discriminatory against the Muslims. It has either to ask its Sikh personnel also to shave off their long hair and beard or else it must allow Muslims to grow a beard. That would meet the ends of the justice. Moreover, I think that IAF is allowing its Muslim personnel to have upto four living wives. So, it is not totally free of religion as it claims.
The Additional Solicitor General had earlier provided the argument that would make it difficult for the IAF to keep the Sikhs out of the scope of this new order.


The government is bound to respect religious freedom. But there is an overdriving concept of public interest when one is working in the Armed Forces. Can one sport a beard as an act of distinctiveness when the person is expected to work in an environment of cohesiveness ? The pursuit of faith is not abrogated, but standing out is what concerns the forces.
Should a personnel deserve his identity as a matter of duty or his faith? The State is free of any religion. Those who have already entered service and are keeping a beard, we are not stopping them. But for fresh recruits, we are applying a uniform rule. TOI says.
France had earlier faced much turmoil when banned all conspicuous religious symbols from state schools– Islamic headscarves, Jewish skullcaps, Sikh turbans and large Christian crosses — in 2004. The separation of state from religion has been a debatable issue in all pluralist, democratic societies and India is no exception.


I admit limited knowledge of various religions and their symbols, but one principle clearly seems right for the Indian Armed Forces — No visible symbols of distinctiveness should be allowed in uniform. But that brings into debate the tricky issue of the Sikh community, which has been a mainstay of the Indian Armed Forces for centuries now. It has worn its own distinctive symbols, which have not hampered their outstanding performance as military personnel. And if Islam is under the spotlight today because of its association with terror, then Sikhism has had its own brush with terror. It even led to mutiny by some serving Sikh soldiers after Operation Blue Star in 1984.
There are no simple solutions to this vexed question. History, tradition, freedom of pursuing religion (as deemed fit by an individual) versus public service norms, secularism (separation of religion from the state) and efficiency of the Armed Fforces. This needs to be vigorously debated.
Perhaps, a note similar to the note issued by Council of Europe on wearing of religious symbols in public areas needs to be brought out in the Indian context as a starting point for the debate. It is not only Europe, even the United States is struggling with restriction on displaying religious symbols in military cemeteries.
We hope that the Indian society and polity is mature enough to debate such fundamental issues in a healthy and frank manner. Or is the nation better keeping a controversy at bay by letting the court make its pronouncements on the subject.
Your thought provoking suggestions are the need of the hour so as not to let this issue be the another in the queues of controversies we have a record of.

On Fifteenth General Elections...

One of the favourite anecdotes of Ramchandra Guha about Indian democracy and elections.
In the first weeks of 1967, the Times of London dispatched a reporter to cover the Indian elections. Travelling around the country, he saw - or thought he saw - a mood of apathy and helplessness. Some Indians he talked to had expressed a “readiness for the rejection of parliamentary democracy”.
The journalist himself was dismayed by the conflict and the corruption. He could spy “the already fraying fabric of the nation itself”, with the states “already beginning to act like sub-nations”.

He concluded that “the great experiment of developing India within a democratic framework has failed”. Indians would thus soon vote in “the fourth - and surely last - general election”.

Well, that prophet of doom has been proved wrong and India is upon its fifteenth general elections now. It is incumbent upon all eligible Indians to go forth and vote.

Voting is our right and we must exercise it or should stop wailing for Sampoorna Kranti as we have discussed in previous blogs. We have got one of those workable options which can make a difference if we avail them.

Voting is Hazardous Activity

Political parties in India who have delivered high economic growth have lost elections in the past.
Predicting election outcomes in India is a hazardous activity; inferring them from economic performance is even more hazardous.
Going by per-capita income growth, one would predict a resounding victory for the ruling Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
At 7.4%, per-capita income growth during the first four years of the UPA rule has been by far the highest of any four-year period in India's post-independence history.
Yet, if the electorate goes by the contribution the present government has made to the accelerated growth in incomes, it would hand the latter its worst defeat. The UPA government has perhaps done the least of all governments since the 1991 Narasimha Rao-led Congress administration to advance economic reforms.
The government of Mr Rao, which came to power in June 1991, is credited with launching the most far-reaching and systematic economic reforms. The reforms not only stabilised the economy following the 1991 balance of payments crisis, they also delivered the hefty 6.5% per annum growth during the last three years of his tenure.
Yet, he lost the 1996 election.
In a similar vein, led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP-led NDA government undertook massive reforms in virtually all areas of economic activity during its tenure from 1998 to 2004. Those reforms made a significant contribution to the shift in India's growth rate to the current 8% to 9% growth trajectory. In the last fiscal year of the NDA government, 2003-04, the economy grew 8.5%.
Yet, the NDA government lost power to the UPA.

Today, Congress has only 153 of the 272 seats it needs for a majority in parliament. The UPA consists of 11 parties and still needs the outside support of half a dozen other parties to achieve a majority.
A dramatic example of the importance of coalition politics is provided by the role played by the southern regional party, the DMK, in 2004. It had been with the NDA in the 1999 election but switched allegiance to the UPA in the 2004 election. Its 16 seats, subtracted from the NDA and added to the UPA, provided the balance of votes the UPA needed to from the government.


In recent years, voters have returned state governments to power only when the latter have provided decisively good management and delivered perceptible improvement in living standards. Therefore, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat represent a handful of the cases in which the electorate returned the incumbent governments back to power.


The key factor behind the change in voter attitude was the "revolution of rising expectations" unleashed by the reforms and the resulting growth acceleration.
In most cases, the electorate has handed punishing defeats to incumbents even if it has meant replacing them with another equally incompetent government. the voter remained in the grip of fatalism: kya karen, bhagwan ki marzi hai, but once reforms showed him that change was possible and that poverty was not God's will, he became more demanding. If the incumbent won't deliver fast enough, he would try someone else.
Moral of the story is : "All politics is local" as said by former US House Speaker Tip O'Neal. So is it in India. Within a week's time all the voters are going to try next set of Politicians with another set of Principles and it is rightly remarked that the "Government is basically chosen by all those educated and civilized citizens who do not vote, in addition to all those who mere exercise their right to vote".

Lieutenant is lieu-tenant

An interesting bit of information about the starting officer rank in the Indian army from the OUP Blog..

…the word lieutenant. The word arrived in English from French in 1375 and within 100 years the English were pronouncing it “left-tenant” as if there were a “right-tenant” as well. Yet the spelling that influences Americans to say “loo-tenant” survived this pronunciation change back in the old country and also shows us in stark clarity where the word comes from.
If you write lieutenant out, but put a space after lieu, the result is two other common English words.
Lieu might have a bit of a legalistic flavor to it but most people recognize that it means “instead of” or “in place of”—for example: “in lieu of paying me the money, she took me out to dinner.”
Of course a tenant is someone who rents an apartment. They hold the lease on the place and if it’s a nice apartment, in a desirable neighborhood, they might hold onto it tenaciously.From Latin then, lieutenant literally means “place holder” and the military lieutenant acts on behalf of—or in place of—their commanding officer.

General Indicted Again… Whom To Blame Now !!

Read my previous blog posts on the matter in addition to  here, here and here.

In  the atonement to its previous CoI Indian Army had revisited the facts and Court Of Inquiry was reconvened in order to permit accused General   to cross examine the witnesses which allegedly was not followed in previous Court of Inquiry (though there were speculations during the previous CoI that the officer was present during the proceedings but refused to cross examine the witnesses). 

Well the fresh CoI has completed its investigations and cross examination of witnesses again as challenged and petitioned for by the accused General in Armed Forces Tribunal and Hon'ble Supreme Court few days back and has not blessed the accused General with any primary reprieve.

The CoI has submitted its fresh report of findings and has comprehensively found Lt Gen Avdhesh Prakash (the senior most Army Official so far to be indicted and have faced Court Martial) guilty again. Seems that how hard you may try but law certainly finds its upper hand, more so after the Hon'ble Supreme Court’s summary dismissal of the petition by the General  anticipating “more skeletons might tumble out of the closet” and suggesting general to revisit the Supreme Court if he finds himself aggrieved by the findings or decisions of the Army’s CoI (again).

So the fresh CoI report has been sent over to Army Judge Advocate General’s  Branch presently headed by Maj Gen C S Nair. The report is to be put up to Gen V K Singh as then Eastern Army commander who recommended summary dismissal of the officer.

Moral of The Story:

You Can Run You Cannot Hide, Because You Are Running And You Are The Guide.. 

Production Shearing Contract - Update 2

Read here my earlier Blog post on the Battling Brothers

After almost one year of the row made by Mr. Anil Ambani in his AGM last year in July now when the Govt. has upheld the fact openly and substantially that all oil reserves belong to the Govt. and it has power and authority to allocate the price. Now Govt. has given six weeks period to the family to settle issues between them which was evolved by Kokilaben Ambani to sort out long unsavory battle between two sons regarding gas distribution.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has already made it abundantly clear in last July for both parties that he is “personally appalled and disgusted at how the two brothers are fighting over something that does not belong to them. Natural gas belongs to the government and is a public asset just like uranium or coal or iron ore.”

The point worth a note here is as I have already mentioned in my earlier post that Anil Ambani is not asking for ownership of gas but his entitlement from RIL's share.

Apex Court said that “Under the PSC, RIL does not become the owner of the natural gas, and there is nothing like specified physical quantities of natural gas to be shared by GoI and RIL”. It also endorsed “that renegotiation shall be within the framework of governmental policy and approvals regarding price, quantity and tenure of supply of gas”.

To make it rather easier to understand….

“Reliance Industries said the gas can’t be sold for less than $4.20 per million Btu. Reliance Natural can’t buy the gas as agreed unless the government approves the sale while the government in September 2007 set the price of gas from the Krishna Godavari field at $4.20 per million British thermal units when the price of crude oil is equal to or more than $60 a barrel. That’s 79 percent higher than the price agreed by both”

Justice Reddy also gave a direction to the government, he said “It is high time for the government to frame a comprehensive policy /suitable legislation for energy security of India and supply of natural gas under the PSC.”

Now the verdict of Supreme Court is out as a vindication of Govt’s stance. It said the company can sell gas to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. at government-set prices that are higher than those in a 2005 family accord. It asked the parties to renegotiate their contract within six weeks.

So next Six weeks are going to be cumbersome and deciding for Anil Ambani’s ADAG which already had faced a harsh slump the day prior up to 22% in stock market post Supreme court’s verdict.

Moral of the Story:  

Why Do We Fight ?

To get what we don’t have is the most convenient and viable option but When Ambani’s are concerned..  All I can think of is 

“What A Waste”

Myths, Maoists, Tribal, Adivasis, Agenda, Politics.

The dissonant merger of Maoists and Tribals in public conversations has been a debatable topic as old as Maoists and Tribals existence "politically". Recently I was travelling with Avni and Prabhaharan from Heifer International during one of the visits by them where this topic somehow caught up the conversation and they were discussing this Maoist and Tribal problem and differences between both terms which are used conveniently and interchangeably by the Political Masters and general public. Since silence is the best knowledge when we are ignorant of the facts and at the same time after a while silent person knows at least something. Same applied to me that day and I learnt a lot about Maoists and Tribals in that one hour about which I was totally clueless until that day apart from my experience when as a part of my previous job I had to send consignment of around fifteen truck loads to the different areas of Orissa and I faced a great difficulty in hiring trucks for that area due to Maoist problem. I could not find any transporter to serve that area in particular.That day I seriously thought about this overlap of interests among Maoists and Tribals and their reasons for rage and fight. 
Today morning as usual I was reading daily news while this piece of article caught my attention which tried efficiently to explain what probably is going on here in disguise of all Political stunts in India. Pragmatic Euphony has tried to differentiate between the perceived state and actual state of fight and the fighters in tribal areas of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand.
The debate was brought in open by The " Times of India" and "The Hindu" in Feb. 2010. Difference between the tribals and the non-tribals is best understood by reading these two interviews on " Naxal Terror Watch" and " Tehelka" of an ex-Maoist leader of tribal origin, Gurucharan Kisku aka Marshal. Have a detailed piece of information on Outlook Web about overlap of Maoists and Tribal identity.
The challenge is to define the distinction between these two and create public awareness about this issue and generate a public opinion for people like me who deliberately deprive themselves of any news containing bloodbath and politics.
I feel government should act and deal differently and more importantly, sensibly to solve this long standing problem and take real responsibility of its actions converging themselves into results positively.


Government must act fast so that children from these areas should not learn new A to Z, that says, A for Ammunition, B for Blood, C for Chopping, D for Death and so on.... 

Passing On The Gift

"Sharing and Caring" and " Passing On The Gift" is a Simple Statement, yet it is powerful enough to have changed so many lives in a considerably short span of time. Heifer International made me realize this Subtly, Sensibly and Effortlessly.


Visiting Heifer International Projects in India was an eye opener for me. I had an enriching experience with Clive Baillie, Dawn Baillie, Brigitte Lacombe, Merian Lacombe, Whitney Robinson, Pamela and Avani Malhotra and R. Prabhaharan from Heifer International India. Account of it may be read on a Blog Post by Annie Bergman Copywriter for Heifer Project International  on Heifer's Blog and with whom I had a great pleasure working for three days and these are the most memorable days of my life. It was indeed an amazing learning experience for me. Here is a brief account of my experience.
On Day One of our visit we met a group of women who had no source of income before they were assisted by the Project for "Community Development through Livestock Rearing" initiated and supported by Heifer Project International [HPI], USA with their project partner "IBTADA" an NGO working towards the Girl Child Education and women empowerment in Alwar area. They received assistance in the form of livestock and now over a period of less than 3 years they are able to distinguish themselves with the state they were in prior to receive such assistance. Goat rearing has alleviated their standard of living considerably and women are imparting this growth in the form of goats to other members of the group and community which has conclusively improved the community's state of living.
The idea of Goat distribution by Heifer International is very considerate in a manner as these people are not able to afford water buffaloes given their state of seasonal employment and erratic income structure. They were distributed Goats as a part of project.
On Day Two we met a group of women who have significantly and expressly empowered themselves and have carved a niche for themselves in the backdrop of cunning restrictions by the society. The project has brought about a definite substance in their lives which they were unable to realize before the Gender Training they were given under project. During one such training session we observed they were simply asked to mention the restrictions (if they feel there were any) on them as a women, to which they denied unanimously but when called for symbolic demonstration by ways of tying Black Ribbons (one for each restriction) we witnessed that how unknowingly and without even realizing it they tied a lady with ribbons on almost every part of her body signifying restrictions posed on her, on mouth signifying restricted speech, hands signifying deprivation of education, on feet signifying her restricted movement and restriction that moved me most was the restriction on their stomach signifying ruthlessly that women are meant for procreation and bearing a male heir for their family and as long as she is unable to bear a male child procreation is just hit and trial for her until she achieves it resulting into large families which they are unable to support, educate and maintain. But after Gender Training they have started respecting themselves for what they are now and are able to understand that children should not be discriminated on gender basis rather treated equally ensuring their holistic development which was imparted subtly under project.
On Day Three we met the women from old project areas where the project has been functioning for over 8 years now. They are "Original Groups" who received their livestock in order to support themselves also this is the group where these Self Help groups have been functioning very smoothly and orderly for around ten years now being old project areas. They are running their own banking system to support the members of group and community. We met a lady Anandi Devi, 47,  who is the leader of the group by the virtue of her innate qualities and has been working as a Para Veterinarian for more than 14 months now and as per her estimation she has already treated over 1000 goats and water buffaloes after she got formal training for the same by IBTADA. She is a role model for the village Moreda and everyone in the village respects her and treats her equivalent to Veterinary Doctor and Anandi Devi feels proud about it and is determined to tread on the path to pass it on to others.


To sum up the entire project and assistance by Heifer Project International and IBTADA has brought a significant change in their lives and it has acted as a trigger to their self worth, self esteem and sense of responsibility towards themselves and for those around them. The efforts by women who were deprived of social life, self employment, self identity, who were restricted and homebound, who were not even able to comprehend and realize their worth are now able to taste the success and fruit bearing efforts in the recent past and are self motivated now to keep it going and "Pass It On To The Next Generation".


Passing On The Gifts is mere significant of wider implementation of ideas and resources for sustainable development effortlessly. 

House For MesS

House no: 519, Sector 23 Gurgaon--Yes that's the address of the Rs 10 crore residence!!

While the Court of Inquiry, involving former MS Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash, is being re-convened in the Kolkata-based Eastern Command, in an exclusive follow up according to defence journalists it has been learnt that above mentioned house in Gurgaon is ready for the officer, which he started constructing after he came to South Block as MS on May 1, 2008. Also, South Block buzz has it that he was involved in taking bribe from officers for getting them posted to Delhi.
Even after VIth pay commission, we fail to comprehend that a retired Indian army officer- even three star rank - can own a house worth Rs 10 crores ? Will this be inquired into, does  Mr. A K Antony will take notice.. or whether he is aware ...

MesS is Even Messier Now For Former M(es)S

Courtsey: Chindits

Not All The Grass Is Olive Green....

As the Title says it all and is applicable for few who have Green Glasses and need to be shown the colour of deeds.. Its goes right like this...

Overruling the army chief, defence minister A.K. Antony has asked for disciplinary proceedings that may lead to a court martial against the military secretary, Lt Gen. Avadhesh Prakash, after he was indicted by an internal inquiry in the Sukna land transfer case. Army chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor had issued a showcause notice to Prakash demanding an explanation why administrative action should not be taken against him as "The Telegraph" stated.
Lt Gen Prakash is due to retire at the end of this week and Senior officers in army headquarters are scheduled to attend his “dining out” farewell party tomorrow. If a court martial is ordered, Lt Gen Prakash will have to appear before it even after his retirement on January 31. Antony had made his views known to the army chief after the military secretary had responded to the showcause notice on 25th January. Lt Gen Prakash may be the seniormost officer to be court-martialled.

The move to direct a switch from “administrative action” to “disciplinary action” can be seen as evidence of the mild-mannered Antony having concluded that the army chief was being too protective of his principal staff officer. 
It also means that the government has taken the Sukna land transfer issue as much larger than a case of suspected corruption involving the military secretary and Siliguri-based realtor Dilip Agarwal.
More important, it was a breach of security rules in the strategic “chicken’s neck” or Siliguri Corridor. This was brought out in the report of the court of inquiry convened by Lt. Gen. V.K. Singh.“Administrative action” can mean non-recordable censure, recordable censure or sacking. While the censure can be given by the army chief, it is only the government that can terminate the services of an officer as punishment. After the investigation in Calcutta the army chief issued a showcause notice to Prakash asking him to explain why administrative action should not be taken against him. A source in the army headquarters said the chief was contemplating a “censure”.
Court martial sentences can vary from censure to cashiering (being stripped of rank and privileges and dismissal). 
By ordering disciplinary proceedings against Prakash, Antony has sent a political message too that the instrument of court martial will now be used against senior officers also.

The grass is no more OG for those who think OG

Show Cause to General.... Generally..

The Army Chief, Gen Deepak Kapoor, letting off MS, Lt Gen Avdhesh Prakash, before his retirement without any punishment, is a known fact. It was well understood that the MS would be let off with something like an explanation on paper, followed by perhaps a severe displeasure.

If MS was taken high-handedly, he would have certainly got the Chief too in deep shit, who along with the MS met the Maharaja of Jodhpur, for whatever reason and also his wife Keerti Kapoor as one of the trustees of the School Board.

According to a defence journalist, Chief has three options, which are to give recordable censure to the officer, which means no promotions for him in the next three years, or non-recordable censure; which actually means nothing , just a letter of displeasure, or a dismissal from service which has to be brought through the President of India's office, via MoD, after invoking the clause of the President's displeasure which freezes the officer's pensionary benefits etc----this was also the case in former Naval Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat's case. Adm Bhagwat got administrative action as dismissal as displeasure of the President, which affected his pension, which he got restored after going to the Supreme Court.

We all have to wait till the MS replies and see how convincing his reply is and how much is the Chief convinced, but by the time all this happens the MS retires !! Lt Gen Rath faces court martial and the other two also have to reply to their show-causes!!

Close to the end of his tenure, General Kapoor is under a cloud after failing to act decisively in a succession of scandals: from dubious procurements during his command in Udhampur, to the recent land scam allegedly involving his close affiliate. While investigating those unsparingly, the MoD owes support to a respected institution — the Chief of Army Staff — when it is under gratuitous media attack.

Jack fell down.. Jill come Tumbling After..

As the Court of Inquiry findings of the land scam case involving the Military Secretary, Lt Gen Avdhesh Prakash awaits a decision at the top, It has been discovered that Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur, who is also a patron of the Ajmer-based Mayo College, was approached by the Chief of Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor and Military Secy Lt Gen Avdhesh. The meeting which took place in Jodhpur was to rope in the Maharaja into the project, which is to make a chain of schools on similar lines, under Geetanjali Educational Trust. MS is connected with the land broker who was facilitating the deal, Dilip Agarwal.

The Maharaja is said to have refused to do anything with the Trust, which claims to have an affiliation with Mayo. Mrs Keerti Kapoor also finds her name on the Board of Trustees of the Educational Trust. As the scam gets murkier, sources have said that it is quite unlikely that the Chief would take any action against the MS, who is just 20 days to retire from service, as the Chief also would find himself dragged into the controversial scam, if the MS was questioned. The Chief superannuates on March 31, 2010, and it would be a huge embarrassment for the Government to question the Chief, take action against him and send him home before Mar 31st.

Military Secretary, Lt Gen Avdhesh Prakash, when questioned if he had met the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh, in the Court of Inquiry in Kolkata, he admitted to having met him, to which he was asked further if someone else also went with him, his answer to which was, "I don't remember".

But it is certain as per reliable sources that the MS and the Chief of Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor, had met the Maharaja last year to get the school-chain endorsed, as Gaj Singh is a patron of the Ajmer-based Mayo College, to which the Maharaja refused.

The CoI and the Eastern Army Commander, Lt Gen V K Singh, were aware of this clandestine meeting, according to reliable sources, which is why this question was brought up during the inquiry, and was left at that, when the MS said he doesn't remember. The decision of the matter, (which is under the AG, Lt Gen Mukesh Sabharwal, a Rajput officer, the same regiment as the next Chief Lt Gen V K Singh), is solely the Chief's decision, and can't be questioned even by the MoD. Section 123 can be invoked, (Section 123 of the Army Act, which empowers army to take action against individuals who have retired.) if a Court Martial is announced before the officer retires and thereafter is attached for further inquiry and recording of summary of evidence.Even if Lt Gen Prakash opts to quit from service, he will need to get clearance from the vigilance department before his resignation is accepted by the Defence Ministry. It has been indicated, that what the Chief fears is the former deputy chief designate Lieutenant General P K Rath, more than the MS, which is what explains why everyone in this case are likely to go scot-free. AG can only recommend, but the final decision lies with the Chief!!

"Lets see skeletons have started tumbling out of the closet."

Action By The Generals, For the Generals and Of The Generals

An Army inquiry into the Darjeeling land scam, has recommended “termination of services” of Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash, Military Secretary at Army HQ and one of the seniormost Generals, and court martial proceedings against Lt Gen P K Rath. The inquiry also favoured disciplinary action and court martial against Major General P Sen and administrative action against Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali, currently commanding the 11 Corps. A separate inquiry has also been recommended against a Colonel of the legal department for giving dubious advice regarding the land deal.  

The recommendation for termination of services of Prakash were given by Eastern Army Commander, Lt Gen V K Singh, on the basis of the court of inquiry findings and opinion by the Army’s legal department. While the recommendations have been forwarded by the Eastern Army command, the onus for action against Lt Gen Prakash, who is one of the seven Principal Staff Officers (PSO) at Army HQ, now lies with Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor.

The Army Chief, now has the choice to accept the recommendations and terminate Lt Gen Prakash’s services who is slated to retire on 31st January 2010, or overrule the matter on sound legal grounds.If the recommendation is accepted, Lt Gen Prakash can either accept dismissal or face court martial proceedings where he can contest the charges against hi. 

The news on the block that is yet to hit hard Lt Gen Prakash is, the unearthing of another scam regarding misappropriation of Regimental Funds as I have already detailed in the last posts during his days in Kumaon Regiment. 

The man with the deepest sense of grief  and profound debilitating situation is now Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor who holds the onus to the outcome of this scam and expected to raise the flag high for the Nation at the same time, forgetting all the close ties left behind with the decision he takes.

Nation is Watching , so are the decision makers and takers.

3 C's : from Darjeeling to Uttrakhand

While the original case pertains to Illegal NOC's (No Objection Certificates) granted to an educational institution for transfer of land near 33 Corps HQ in Sukhna, a probe has brought to light that the same institution was allegedly in negotiations to purchase another chunk of land belonging to the Ranikhet-based Kumaon Regimental Centre in Uttarakhand. The Educational Institution — comprising four firms JF Low and Company Ltd, Sheetala Vyapar Pvt Ltd, Mata Vaishnodevi Mercantile Pvt Ltd and Akshara Vanijya Pvt Ltd — was in talks to purchase land in Uttarakhand for supposedly opening a school. The sale was halted after an inquiry was launched into the Darjeeling fraud.

The Kumaon Regimental Centre is under the shadow of Army land scam case in which same Educational Institution was close to purchasing regimental land in Uttrakhand under the garb of starting a school posing as an affiliate of the Mayo College in Ajmer. The name of Lt Gen Awdhesh Prakash is in limelight in Darjeeling land scam case too.The Army top brass has been rocked by another controversy and inquiry being ordered into alleged irregularities in the construction of a War Memorial and Renovation of a Museum at the Ranikhet-based Kumaon Regimental Centre.

Brigadier Bhupinder Singh, who was heading the centre, has been attached to the Lucknow-based Central Command for the inquiry into charges of diverting funds for the museum and memorial against the norms, the probe has also brought Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash under the scanner.The inquiry is looking into the role of the (then Colonel) of the Kumaon Regiment (now) Lt Gen Awdhesh Prakash for allegedly sanctioning funds to the tune of Rs 1 crore for the museum and memorial against the norms. The inquiry commenced in Lucknow under a Major General, is looking into allegations that the Regimental centre concealed from Central Authorities that it had received funds of over Rs 80 lakh from the Cultural Department to construct the Museum in violation of procedures.Another charge being probed is that over Rs 30 lakh was allegedly taken out from the Welfare funds of the Regimental Centre—funds that are earmarked for the welfare of ex-servicemen—to construct the Museum and Memorial.

The promotion of  Brigadier  Bhupinder Singh, (who had been approved for the rank of a Major General) has been put on hold pending Inquiry. Army officials defending the decision to grant sanctions for the museum said the funds were utilised “as per the Standing Operating Procedure” and “proper sanctions” were given. The inquiry was ordered after the Central Command discovered that the massive amount of funds had been sanctioned without its approval. According to Sources the contract for the design and construction of the war memorial was given to the daughter of a serving General, again in a violation of norms and no open tender was invited by the regimental centre.

On Oct 30th 2009 Defence Minister A K Antony asked Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar to order an inquiry into the case that has brought the seniormost Army officers under the scanner. The Ministry Inquiry will be separate from the Court of Inquiry (CoI) that has been convened by the Army.Apart from  Mother India, Indian Army is in worship to other Gods like Kuber and Laxmi and the list ranges and variates with the Arm they are serving with. These officers in Indian Army are somewhat trying to prove at its best that :

"THEY CAN DO ANYTHING FOR THESE GODS AND GODDESSES".

Epilogue:

Forget the supposed evidence , phone records, statement by the real estate developer comparing the indicted General to God, Attempts to deflect attention by involving the West Bengal government by filing defamation case against it by Gen Awdhesh and the statement by a General  Rath's brother drawing the Army Chief and the Eastern Army Commander into the controversy.

First the Army PRO tried to dowse the speculative fires about the land scam at Sukhna but to little avail. Then the Army Chief publicly turned defensive about the whole finger-pointing business. Then he has also tried to contact friendly opinion makers to control the damage emanating from this incident with some of the folks who are already at work in the national media batting for the army.

The incidents may differ but the questions will remain the same.

One is about having Zero Tolerance towards any corruption in the armed forces.

Second, and the more important one, is about the excuses being furnished that mean little except delaying the inevitable.

Defence Minister Mr. AK Antony is not a man of accomodation with such incidences in Army with very soft hand as he has proved it time and again earlier.

There is a call for hour --- A systemic plan to reform and restructure the defence services.

3 C's of Indian Army Corps, Corrosion and Corruption

The cat is again out of the bag, three Top Army Generals are again in the news for all the bad reasons Army would like to shy away from. But democracy is giving everybody chance to defend themselves and it is yet to be established as to how and when these officers, the so called Top Eight Generals of Indian Army and Advisors to Chief of Indian Army would be inflicted by these reasons alone surviving such defence. The three Generals will now face the sack orders.

In the major embarrassment to the Army The list of new celebrities of Indian Army goes like this:

Lt. Gen Awdhesh Prakash, Military Secretary, Indian Army,
Lt Gen. Ramesh Halgali, Commander 11 Corps , Jalandhar,
Lt Gen. P.K. Rath, Deputy Chief Designate,
Maj. Gen P.Sen (then Brigadier), and
Two Colonels who were grilled at COI (Court of Inquiry).

Lt. Gen. Prakash is currently posted as Military Secretary at the army headquarters in Delhi. Lt Gen Rath was all set to go to the Army Headquarters as Deputy Chief but his posting has been kept in abeyance pending the probe.

The court of enquiry has found Lt. Gen. Awadesh Prakash, "blameworthy", said an official, not divulging further details of the findings of the report.

An Army Court of Inquiry (COI) headed by Tezpur-based 4 Corps Commander Lt Gen K T Parnaik has indicted Military Secretary Lt Gen Awadhesh Prakash and Lt Gen P K Rath for their role in issuing a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to a private establishment that falsely claimed to be establishing an affiliate of the famed Ajmer-based Mayo College. (It is noteworthy here that preliminary Army probe had revealed that the institution had no connection with Mayo College, the premise under which the NOC was issued.)

The Army is tight-lipped about the deal. Lt. Gen Prakash agreed to give away the Army land on long lease to a private educational firm though the earlier Commanders had rejected the proposal on security reasons as an Army helipad is close by. A no objection certificate is mandatory for sale of land adjacent to military stations due to security reasons. According to sources Gen Prakash was promised a plum post by the private company after his retirement.
 
The Court of Inquiry into the Darjeeling land scam case has brought out that a Siliguri real estate developer Dilip Agarwal and Lt General Awdhesh Prakash were in constant touch while a dubious Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was being drafted to clinch the land deal.

However, an army projection in December 2008 had highlighted that the land - located near the 33 Corps headquarters in Sukhna - be acquired by the army for security reasons.

The CoI has established through phone records that real estate developer Dilip Agarwal, who inked the MoU to obtain No Objection Certificates from the Army for 71 acres near the 33 Corps HQ in Sukna Cantonment, was in constant touch with Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash, Military Secretary (MS) at Army HQ, while the deal was being sealed.

While Lt Gen Prakash did not have a direct role in granting the NOCs, the CoI has brought out that he used his influence as one of the senior most officers in the Army to ensure that the deal went through.

Lt Gen Prakash had 'coerced' Lt Gen Rath to strike the deal. Since Gen Prakash was Incharge of promotions and other matters, Gen Rath agreed to the deal.

The case, which is turning out to be a big 300+ Crore scandal involving top Army officers, unravelled after it came to light that a massive land deal in Sukna is cleared by the Army against norms.

The army had initially refused an NOC for selling the land adjacent to the Sukna military station but the decision was reportedly reversed by the senior officers. Also the documents relating to the NOC were forged and the original documents rejecting the NOC were replaced with forged papers in the army records.

Lt Gen Prakash, who was called to Kolkata for questioning in the case, admitted he had known Agarwal for more than a decade. He was called for questioning after Lt Gen P K Rath, whose appointment as Deputy Chief of Army Staff has since been scrapped by the Ministry of Defence, told the CoI that an educational institution had been recommended by Lt Gen Prakash and that he was just following the orders by Lt. Gen Prakash.

The inquiry has also established that Lt Gen Prakash was in constant touch with Lt Gen Rath and Agarwal while the deal was being struck.

The following phone records were presented at the CoI:

- February 7: Lt Gen Prakash called Dilip Agarwal a day before the 33 Corps HQ gave an undertaking to the Commissioner General of Land Reforms, West Bengal on February 8 that the Army had "no objection if an educational institution and residential facility is set up in the proposed land measuring about 71 acres". This MoU was in direct contradiction to an earlier projection made by the Army in December 2008 that the land should be acquired by the military for security reasons.

- March 19: A day before the MoU was to be signed, Agarwal and Lt Gen Prakash spoke four times between 10.30 am and 12.40 pm. This was allegedly the time when the MoU was being drafted in Darjeeling.

- March 20: The day the MoU granting NoC's for transfer of land was signed between the Army and the educational institution, Agarwal spoke to Lt Gen Prakash on his official phone number at Army HQ at 10.49 am. At 3.49 pm, after the MoU had been signed, Agarwal spoke to Lt Gen Prakash again, this time on his mobile. Agarwal was one of the persons who signed the MoU with the Army.

It was also probed as per the statement by the real estate developer himself that Lt Gen Prakash was being offered the role to head the upcoming school as a Director if the deal went through.

I would like to reiterate few words from Senior Army Official that "if an Officer of such a cadre is corrupt, that means he has not become corrupt all of a sudden, it means he has been corrupt for a long time until it was found." As usual, Army has been asked to expedite the inquiry and fix responsibility at the earliest by Defence Ministry.

According to trusted sources, apart from personal visits by Lt Gen Awdhesh Prakash, Dilip Agrawal has been favouring Lt. Gen Awdhesh Prakash and his wife in terms of shopping, presents and few more lucrative offers during their visits to Siliguri and more and he did even offered him to take retirement and join him and make more money than what he is making in Army. (So there might be a cake involved in the deal too.)

Let's see what turn events are going to take up in next few days as the heat is still on and the nation demands explanation from these "Celebrity Officer Breed" cropping up here and there in the system and spoiling the reputation of the Organization.

Wait and watch these Three C's of System unfolding in the best of their ways.

"Corps, Corrosion and Corruption" converting to "Core Corrosion by Corruption"