Anna's Globe

How the Guy Fawkes masks inspired by a graphic novel became the symbol of anti-greed protests across the globe

2011-11-06T00:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday, November 5, was Guy Fawkes Day in Britain marking the day he tried to blow up Parliament.

It is also known as Bonfire Night, a celebration involving fireworks, bonfires and children having fun.

Four hundred years later Guy Fawkes's face is now a global symbol of protest with the Occupy movement.

Vienna: Protesters take over the downtown area in Occupy Vienna on the global day of rage on October 15

In the last month alone, that devilish grin, moustache and thin goatee has shown up in Latin America, North America, Europe, South Korea and Hong Kong.

The mask has been adopted as the talisman for a new disaffected generation who are raging at corporate greed and increasing economic inequality.

The gains of the human rights movements of the 20th Century have been overshadowed, it seems, by the 99 per cent factor.

Sinister: Hugo Weaving as V in the movie adaptation of V For Vendetta

Rome: A protester wears the mask on the back of his head during violent disturbances in Rome

Lisbon: A demonstrator at the Portuguese parliament on October 15

Across the continents: Protesters don the masks in Frankfurt, Germany, and, right, Seattle

Berlin: Demonstrators in front of the German Reichstag on October 22

The over-arching theme in all the protests worldwide is that one per cent hold all the wealth while the rest struggle to survive.

In the comic book series V For Vendetta, which started in 1982, and its 2006 film adaptation, the main character wore a Guy Fawkes mask.

In the comic and in the film, 'V' succeeds in blowing up the Houses of Parliament on 5 November.

Its film adaptation opening shows a dramatised depiction of Fawkes's arrest and execution, against the backdrop of the first lines of the poem of Guy Fawkes Night: Remember, Remember, The Fifth of November.

In terms of protests, the mask first came to prominence in 2008 when members of the hacking group Anonymous showed up in various places wearing them, CNN reports.

Initially they wore them to hide their identities at protests against the Church of Scientology.

Now both groups - Anonymous and Occupy - have come together at St Paul's Cathedral in London, camping in tents in support of the '99 per cent.'

Even Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the poster boy of hacking, wore one at a demonstration.

It is estimated that 100,000 masks were sold last year.

New York: The omni-present mask at the place where it all started, Zuccotti Park in Manhattan

Frankfurt: A protester in front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank on October 18

London: Two women wear the masks outside St Paul's Cathedral

The original: The cover to the graphic novel V For Vendetta

The terrible irony is that the mask is a paid-for product, owned by a major corporation.

Time Warner owns the rights to the masks and with every mask sold more money is deposited into that corporation's bank account.

The movement is working its way around that with replica masks.

According to CNN, replicas are now being mass produced in Asia.

London protester Joshua Whitfield, 19, told CNN that instead of buying an officially licensed mask at a store in the city, he bought one considerably cheaper from an Anonymous member.

He said: 'Some people wear it to make a fashion statement, others because they know what it's about.

'I thought I would show my support for the book and for Anonymous by picking up a mask and being part of the movement.'

Fellow protester and Anonymous member Malcolm said: 'We don't really want people putting money into corporate pockets, and this is one of our solutions.'

Asked why the mask is so popular, he said it's because it has become 'an international symbol for rebellion and anonymity.'

He also cited one, time-honoured observation. He said: 'As they say - Guy Fawkes was the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions.'

The world covered: A demonstrator in Seoul, South Korea, and in Guadalajara in Mexico

Bucharest: A protester makes signs during Occupy Bucharest on October 15

Oakland, California: Protesters on November 2 in the city where the police actions have galvanized the movement

London: A masked group of school friends aged 11 and 12 pose at the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest camp

Frankfurt: Demonstrators outside a branch of Commerzbank on October 29

Los Angeles: Protesters pass through a tunnel during a march through the downtown financial district

London: A show of solidarity at the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest on October 22

Hong Kong: The movement stretched to Fat East on October 15

ANNA EFFECT: SONIA GANDHI WILL BE DEFEATED IN RAE BARELI

2011-11-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

ONLY 5% PEOPLE WILL SUPPORT

SONIA & HER PARTY !!!

Activists of India Against Corruption (IAC), headed by Anna Hazare, Saturday claimed ‘massive support’ for the Jan Lokpal bill in Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

Announcing the results of a referendum conducted in Rae Bareli district to assess public perception on the draft anti-graft bill, IAC activists claimed 99.5 percent of people supported it.

‘These people are of the opinion that they would not support Sonia Gandhi or her party in the upcoming polls if the Congress-led government failed to pass the Jan Lokpal bill in the winter session of the parliament,’ IAC co-ordinator Archana Srivastava told reporters in Rae Bareli, some 80 km from Lucknow.

‘Just five percent of the people were of the view that they would continue to support Sonia Gandhi and her party even if the Jan Lokpal bill is not passed during the winter session of parliament,’ she added.

According to IAC activists, the referendum was conducted from Oct 2 to Nov 4 in rural and urban areas of Rae Bareli.

As many as 140,000 referendum forms with a question – Whether you will vote for MP Sonia Gandhi or her party if she or the Congress opposes the Jan Lokpal bill? – were distributed in Rae Bareli.

‘Of the 140,000 forms, we received over 107,110 forms till Nov 4, out of which over 106,900 forms were in support of Anna Hazare,’ claimed Srivastava.

She said the IAC’s Rae Bareli unit was in possession of the records like address, occupation and other information of all those who participated in the referendum.

‘We have all the records that can be presented before any outfit or an individual doubting the results of the referendum,’ said Srivastava.

Weeding Out Corruption in India

2011-11-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

This is something that will benefit not only India, but also those who are her partners. It's crucial for the West to understand and appreciate the monumental struggle now unfolding in India -- a critical ally in the fight for worldwide democracy, prosperity and secularism.

Why Now?

Indians from all walks of life have been the real heroes of the modern anti-corruption movement in India. However, for a long time there was virtually no national-level civil society in India -- most activity was regional, language or religion-based. Much of the media, which could have acted as a national unifier, is owned by some of the same large companies that have benefitted from the existing system. As a result, there was no real challenge to the arbitrary misuse of power.

But several things have changed since the time of Nehru. And key among them are:
Economic liberalization
Positive effects of globalization (including a growing awareness of other ways of doing things)
Increased use of English
Social Media

Economic liberalization.

Until the end of the 1980s, most of the big companies in India were run by the public sector. This large economic turnover offered equally large opportunities for the misuse of funds by the 'corporate' sector and their political overseers. (As a side note, this is the current situation in Iran, where the Revolutionary Guard runs large sectors of the economy.)

Things began to change in 1992, with the economic liberalization policy of Indian Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. Public control of the 'commanding heights' of the economy was diluted. At the beginning, those personally closer to key government officials developed faster.

During this period of 'influence-based capitalism', many well-connected companies expanded quickly. Naturally, they also used their influence to get changes in policy that favored their businesses. The result was that the growth was often based not on business efficiencies, but on favorable policies.

Devesh Kapur, director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania, describes how that affects the Indian middle class by saying: "This middle class is less about 'what the state can do for me' than 'the state is preventing me from doing what I want to do.'"

In the mid-1990s, there was a growth breakthrough in sectors unconstrained by regulations. For example, the vast regulatory system was slow to catch on to the IT sector and service industries. As a result of this blind spot, both sectors grew exponentially, and quickly became global players.

This has resulted in the creation of a new class of business people who have succeeded not through corruption, but in spite of it. While previously, industry grew through influence/corruption, the new private sector finds corruption not an asset, but a hindrance.

Positive Effects of Globalization.

This new globally competitive business sector is largely fluent in English and social mediasavvy. They see how things are being done elsewhere and want the same efficiencies and freedom from corruption at home.

And it's not just the business sector. The number of people with a vested interest in an honest system has exploded. From the newly educated middle class to those in rural areas, people are becoming aware that the local corrupt officials are part of a larger system that is smothering the country and stealing the future from their children.

Through the common use of English and technological innovations like cheap mobile phones and Internet access, a truly national Indian civil society is coming of age. It has seen that corruption is not necessary. For example, not long ago, something as simple as booking a rail ticket or flight could require a bribe. Now it can be done cleanly online. Before, getting a phone line put into a home or office took months and a pay-off. Now you can get a mobile phone and SIM card at the corner shop.

Times have changed. And, when it comes to corruption, the Indian public isn't going to take it anymore.

What now?

As understanding grows that corruption isn't fixable in a one-off solution, those who have been tracking and analyzing these issues for decades are stepping forward. On October 14th, India's newly formed Action Committee Against Corruption in India (ACACI) held its first official meeting. The Committee's core team consists of many key members of the brain trust who have been guiding the movement since the early days, and is a who's who of the anti-corruption wars.

Some of the members:

The Committee is chaired by Dr. Subramanian Swamy, a Harvard professor and former Indian government Law Minister. Firebrand Dr. Swamy has a track record of bringing to book some of the biggest political players so far caught up in the corruption scandals, including a governmentminister.

Prof R. Vaidyanathan, from the Indian Institute for Management Bangalore, has been systematically looking at the issue since the mid-1990s, producing groundbreaking research on the causes and reach of the challenge.

Journalist M. D. Nalapat wrote a series of columns in the 1970s condemning public sector illegalities and was forced to quit as editor of Mathrubhumi newspaper as long back as 1984 because of his anti-corruption coverage. When he was finally hired by the Times of India in 1989, his first story was about how the Chief Minister of Karnataka was giving away expensive land on the cheap to favorites. Another series on corruption in 1995 finally got him pushed out from theTimes, as well. Nalapat turned to academics and column writing. In a sign of the changing times, Nalapat recently returned to a staff position in journalism, becoming a columnist for the Sunday Guardian.

The Committee's objectives include analyzing, and proposing counters to, the root causes of corruption in India. A main goal is to give information to Indian civil society.

For many, social activist Anna Hazare, recently arrested and released in connection with his anti-corruption fast, has become an important symbol of the anti-corruption movement. However, there is growing concern that, in spite of his best intension, and those of his followers, his single shot solution (an anti-corruption superagency that itself, despite the best of efforts, risks becoming corrupt) may not be enough to inoculate the system from the debilitating parasite of corruption. The challenges are too complex and embedded. There is a growing need and demand for systemic solutions. Which is where the new Committee comes in.

While many brave individuals have been fighting the anti-corruption battles for a long time, they have been largely voices in the wilderness, until recently.

However, as these experts combine forces with the new wave of courageous, aware and engaged Indian civil society, there is a chance that the hold corruption has over India may start to weaken. Through the efforts of Indian civil society, India as a nation is truly coming of age.

This is something that will benefit not only India, but also those who are her partners. It's crucial for the West to understand and appreciate the monumental struggle now unfolding in India -- a critical ally in the fight for worldwide democracy, prosperity and secularism.

This is Part Two of a two part series on the roots of corruption in India, and some of what is being done to weed it out. This first part looked at causes of corruption in modern India. The second part looks at how the battle against corruption in India is being waged, and why winning that fight is critical not just for India, but also for global security.

Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill-Will Sonia Issue 'Fatwa' To Vote For Anna's Bill Now !!??!!

2011-11-03T00:55:00.000-07:00

Team Anna members meet the Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C.Khanduri in Dehradun on Monday.

India’s northern hill state of Uttarakhand earlier this week became the first in the nation to establish a strong anti-graft watchdog similar to the Jan Lokpal, or people’s ombudsman, that is being pushed at the national level by Gandhian activist Anna Hazare and his team.

The anti-corruption law known as the “Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill” was passed in the state assembly Monday and includes in its purview the chief minister and other ministers, legislators, and all government officials. It also covers the lower judiciary in the state but exempts high court judges.

The small hill state that was once a part of Uttar Pradesh is governed by India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Passage of the law may give the BJP some advantage against the ruling Congress party in New Delhi when Parliament convenes for the winter session later this month by allowing the BJP to claim it has been actively implementing Mr. Hazare’s proposals and is serious about introducing anti-corruption measures.

Mr. Hazare rocked India with a hunger strike in August designed to pressure the government into adopting his version of anti-graft legislation. The government has said it will take up the issue in the upcoming Parliamentary session.

Uttarakhand already had a Lokayukta but it carried little power. Prakash Pant, the state’s parliamentary minister, said in an interview that the changes will “tighten the weak ombudsman institution” in the state and “go a long way in the fight against corruption.”

With the passage of the new law, the Lokayukta would no more be a single-person institution but a panel with a chairman and five to seven other members — half of whom will have a legal background, he said.

A separate committee – comprising the chief minister, the leader of the opposition, and the chief justice of the Uttarakhan High Court –that now selects the state’s Lokayukta or People’s Commissioner will be expanded to include eminent citizens and will be responsible for choosing the new Lokayukta chairman and panel members.

The Lokayukta would also have the power to recommend punishment, removal or demotion of government officials after the completion of an investigation of no longer than 12 months.

The law envisages that “for any act of corruption, the punishment shall not be less than six months of rigorous imprisonment and may extend up to ten years. In the rarest of rare cases, the punishment may be extended up to life imprisonment.”

On Wednesday, Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Hazare’s close aide, congratulated the Uttarakhand government at a press conference in New Delhi for introducing a “comprehensive law” and said the Congress party-led government at the center should use it as a “reference point.”

The law passed by the Uttarakhand assembly requires the federal government’s approval before it becomes effective in the state.Mr. Kejriwal said they were waiting to see if the center would “supersede” the bill by enacting a “weak law” at the national level.

The move was also welcomed by India’s law minister, Salman Khurshid.“It is good Uttarakhand has passed the Lokayukta bill. Every state should pass its own bill and the center should pass the Lokpal bill,” he said at a television press conference in New Delhi Wednesday.

The new Lokayukta bill, however, has been slammed by anti-corruption advocate Avdhash Kaushal, who heads a non-governmental organization called the Rural Litigation & Entitlement Kendra in the state’s capital of Dehra Dun.

He explained the law lays down special provisions for top bureaucrats, the chief minister and legislators. For instance, all Lokayukta members must give their consent for investigations into them but not to other government officers.“Such measures are discriminatory and unconstitutional,” he said.

Sanjay Kumar, fellow at the New Delhi-based Center for the Study of Developing Societies, said the BJP is “hoping to reap electoral dividends” by coming up with legislation mirroring Mr. Hazare’s version of the anti-graft watchdog ahead of state assembly elections early next year.

“It could have a ripple-effect on the edgy political spectrum, with pressure on others to follow suit,” Mr. Kumar said.

Anna Says," Inculcate Gandhiji’s thought with technology and thus accomplish our goals"

2011-11-03T00:39:00.000-07:00

Me and my Blog !

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Namaskar.

I would like to thank Indian Express (Mr. Atikh Rashid) for showing their interest in my blog and asking me ‘How do I feel about my Blog?’

Today Information Technology has achieved great heights. One can easily see the worldwide fierce competition among them. The ever changing scenario and progress is mind-boggling. It is a matter of pride that India is not left behind. Though I am the one to give credence to Mahatma Gandhi’s school of thought I am sure if the same information and technology was available during his time he would surely have used it to the best of his advantage. Every second is important in human life and technology saves time.

Gandhiji was of the opinion that development that takes place without exploiting nature and humans is sustainable development. But development that happens through means of exploitation is absolutely unethical development.

(Information) Technology has enabled us to save on fuel and cars. Important aspect is development happening without pollution. This technology has brought the world closer. Now it is time we try to bring people close to each other. For this to happen we should inculcate Gandhiji’s thought with technology and thus accomplish our goals.

When millions of people read my thoughts on my blog I feel this is the effect of the same technology.

Jai Hind! Vande Mataram! Bharat Mata ki Jai!

Anna Hazare

RaleganSiddhi.

Goa 'HERALD' Paid News Shame: Was An Editorial Error, Says Editor Sujay Gupta !!??!!

2011-11-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

Herald denies ‘paid news’ charge but ball in

Press Council court now

PRAKASH KAMAT

Sujay Gupta: I will resign
than permit something
like this

Mr. Sujay Gupta denied any financial transaction occurred, saying: “I would rather resign than permit something like this.” He told The Hindu, however, that the decision to carry interviews of first- time candidates “where it looks like you are promoting a person” was an editorial error of judgment which The Herald would rectify immediately. But insisted that this was done in absolute honesty.

Armed with recordings, transcripts, emails and cuttings, Mayabhushan Nagvenkar has taken the matter of what he calls “an open and shut case” of ‘paid news' against OHeraldO of Goa to the Press Council of India.

The Press Council defines ‘paid news' as “any news or analysis appearing in any media [print or electronic] for a price in cash or kind as consideration.” Mr. Nagvenkar backs his complaint with audios and transcripts of four telephonic conversations with the Herald's marketing manager, Tulshidas Desai, recorded between October 20 and 22. The conversations, he charges, indicate that the newspaper regularly indulges in such paid political news. He also alleges that Mr. Desai could not have pushed a deal like this without the consent, “tacit or otherwise,” of the editorial leadership.

Asked for his response, Mr. Desai flatly rejected the charges and asserted he had only been talking of an “advertorial concept.” He denied ever interfering in “the editorial area.” In a statement responding to the complaint to the PCI, Herald editor Sujay Gupta emphatically denied that “any editorial content which has appeared in the Herald, without the “advertorial” tag line has been paid for.” And even said that such suggestions were “hugely defamatory.” He warns that the “Herald will respond to these allegations urgently and appropriately in a proper forum.”

Meanwhile, the Goa Union of Journalists has come out with a strong statement against ‘paid news,' noting it was “rampant in the 2007 Assembly elections.” The GUJ also “accepted Mr. Nagvenkar's contention that the sting was undertaken in the public interest and in the interest of the professional ethics.”

One point of convergence — so far, anyway: Nobody has denied the conversations or questioned the authenticity of the telephone recordings. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Gupta described Mr. Desai's statements as “absolutely incorrect” and stated that “he has overreached himself.” He described the manager's words as “highly irresponsible” and made in a sales and marketing conversation and said the entire management and editor disassociated themselves from these. “Even if he has said it, they may claim anything, it has to ultimately pass through the editor. I will never allow any such thing to happen. It is eventually the editorial decision, where I put my foot down,” he said.

Mr. Nagvenkar, though, is combative. “Desai told me, [as Bernard Costa], that I could get a political campaign interview [15 inches by eight news columns, to be exact] in the newspaper for Rs. 86,400, and for an additional Rs. 50,000, I could be interviewed on the Herald Cable Network [HCN], the local cable news channel operated by the same media group. And assured me that none of the paid content will carry an ‘advertorial' tag.” He also points to Mr. Desai's acknowledging that Raymond D'Sa of Cortalim had paid Rs. 2 lakh for his ‘interview.'

Mr. Gupta denied any financial transaction occurred, saying: “I would rather resign than permit something like this.” He told The Hindu, however, that the decision to carry interviews of first- time candidates “where it looks like you are promoting a person” was an editorial error of judgment which The Herald would rectify immediately. But insisted that this was done in absolute honesty.

In his public statement, he also asserts that: “As Editor, my stated position both within and outside the organisation has been that paid content cannot be disguised as news.” Politicians' messages, claims of achievements and any other such information through a paid route, “we have prominently stated that they are advertorials,” said Mr. Gupta and went on to reiterate that “Editorial was not in the know of any such negotiations or discussions…”

“If the Herald has a system to channel paid content as ‘advertorials' then why does the marketing manager agree to shed the ‘advertorial' tag?” counters Mr. Nagvenkar.

In the recording, Mr. Nagvenkar can be heard telling Mr. Desai he needs some kind of written estimate or quotation to clinch the deal.

“Something yaar...so that I also have to show that somewhere no?

“Ok I'll do that,” says Mr. Desai.

An email from Mr. Desai follows. He confirms the sums of Rs. 86,400 and Rs. 50,000 for an interview in the Herald and the HCN channel respectively. Mr. Nagvenkar, posing as Bernard Costa, writes back asking for confirmation that the interview will be published in such a way that readers believe it is a news item and not an advertisement. “Once we meet in our office, we will discuss on this,” the Herald marketing manager replies, evidently wary of leaving a paper trail. Costa's answer: “Ok, ok, I will come with the cash Monday or Tuesday.”

(Courtesy: The Hindu & Prakash Kamat)

Origins of Corruption in Modern India - I

2011-11-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

There is a revolution in India.

Individual by individual, an anti-corruption wave is growing within Indian civil society. In recent months, people from all sectors of Indian society have said 'enough is enough' and, each in their own way, are doing something about it. Some are taking to the streets, others are online, some are using the courts, others have turned to the media. The swelling wave has already washed away one government minister and is lapping at the ankles of some of the country's biggest players.

The implications are global. As the West and India work more closely together, corruption in India risks spilling over into partner systems. By cleaning up India, Indians are not only reclaiming their own country, they are making the world a more stable place. For anyone interested in lasting global security, it's important to understand how India has ended up where it is today, and what Indian civil society is fighting for.

Origins of Corruption in Modern India include:
Public sector pay and powers
The tax collecting system
Campaign financing

1. Public Sector Pay and Powers.

When the British took over large sections of what is now India from the East India Company, the British government acknowledged that, given the vast discretionary powers of the administrators, there could be the temptation to skim from the booty. So, they put in place a system that ensured that British officials posted to India would be very well paid -- and punished for dishonesty -- in order to mitigate the urge to dip into the coffers.

When India gained Independence in 1947, Prime Minister Nehru retained the extensive powers of the British colonial administration -- including laws that gave officials the right to intervene in almost any aspect of daily life. However, at the same time, he also dramatically reduced salaries in the public sector.

The result was a system in which an enormous number of poorly paid public employees had wide-ranging opportunities to 'make a bit on the side' through administrative coercion. It was almost inevitable that corruption would start to infect the system.

For example, the average Indian policeman is paid so poorly that taking bribes is almost part of the salary structure. In 2009, the housing allowance for the head of a police station in Mumbai, one of the most expensive cities in the world, was $45 a month. To be able to afford to house themselves and their family, it is not surprising if some have resorted to taking bribes. Usually the informal 'income supplement' is limited to relatively minor cases, like a small pay-off to get out of a traffic stop, but once the rot sets in, it can spread fast and deep.

Similarly, the Indian legal system is staffed by underpaid law clerks, prosecutors and lawyers, and moves at the lethargic, erratic pace of a drunken slug. Wealthy accused can give bribes for bail or for stay orders that can last for decades or a lifetime, if necessary. As a result, the Indian legal system is a weak deterrent to crime.

The problems with the system were so obvious that when Lee Kwan Yew set up his administration in Singapore, he was careful not to replicate India's mistakes. He ensured that officials were well paid (and harshly punished for indiscretions). Currently, in Singapore, the Prime Minister earns over five times the salary of President Obama and top ministers are paid around $1million a year. Corruption is extremely low.

2. Taxation.

In India, the situation grew even worse with Nehru's introduction of a tax scheme designed in large part by Hungarian Nicholas Kaldor. By the 1970s, the highest earners were required to pay 93.5 percent in tax. And, in some cases, the combined wealth and income taxes exceeded actual income. In many cases, it was simply not possible to survive if you paid the tax that was legally required. Combine this with the enormous discretionary powers of the tax collectors and, again, it was inevitable that tax evasion through corruption began on a massive scale.

3. Campaign financing.

Simultaneously, a range of profitable sectors were heavily restricted by the government, including some foreign trade and the sale of liquor. The result was that by the 1960s, as in the United States during prohibition, mafia elements took control of the sectors, generating huge amounts of black money.

That illegal money started to slosh around the system, contaminating all it touched, including campaign financing. While the cost of running for office in India is astronomically high, legal spending limits for campaigns are unrealistically low. This means that many potential candidates start their political careers by having to engage in illegal activities such as forging campaign documents, securing funding from dodgy sources and owing debts to various mafias.

Once elected, this has the twin effect of leaving the newly elected politicians open to blackmail and also of having to repay the money borrowed to get into office. Through blackmail, they may be pressured into enacting legislation that favors the illegal sectors. In order to repay debts, they may use their position to extract bribes and provide favors.

Additionally, officially, politics pays very poorly and, as the politicians might only be in office for a single term, they only have those 4 years or so to secure their family's fortune and set up connections that will serve them well out of office or ensure their reelection.

If so inclined, and they use their position to generate cash, they might also use hawala networks and the like to stash their illegal money in safe havens, which then makes the politicians vulnerable not only to domestic blackmail but to the influence of international terrorist networks, as well.

As a result of all these factors and more, India is now caught in a situation where many sectors are steeped in endemic corruption, including those charged with controlling the corruption itself: from the politicians who write the laws to the police charged with enforcing it. Recently the amount of Indian black money in offshore accounts was estimated to be about $1.4 trillion.

This is Part One of a two part series on the roots of corruption in India, and what is being done to weed it out. This first part looks at causes of corruption in modern India. The second part looks at how the battle against corruption in India is being waged, and why winning that fight is critical not just for India, but also for global security. Part Two will look at the growing role of Indian civil society in fighting corruption, and why it's crucial for the West to understand the importance of the monumental struggle now unfolding in India -- a critical ally in the fight for worldwide democracy, prosperity and secularism.

Anna Hazare - Student of Gandhi VS Nation of Gandhi

2011-11-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

Though the student of Gandhi has been fighting with the nation of Gandhi which has been transformed from a land of cultures and values to the land of greed and corruption where though the leaders wear the white but the black is still hidden in the hearts of their selfish souls.

In the time when the history of 20th century was about to be written, when the voice of Leninists was echoing around, when the world was waiting for a new villain of the mankind, the decade when sun was started to set in the all time shiny empire under the sheets of union jack.
There was one corner in the world of spices where the non violence was raging the storm of freedom bringing the nation together while encouraging the wombs to produce the sons of soil. There was a family in Bhingar village of Hinganghat in Maharashtra who was expecting the star to be born and the moment came on 15 June 1937 when Hazare couple Laxmibai Hazare and Baburao Hazare gets their future in the shape of son who would reshape 21st century India.
Kisan Baburao Hazare or Anna Hazare is a self made man born in the Gandhian era and is the only national figure of importance who knows the value of the Indian freedom and the sacrifice which it had demanded. In 1952 when his father resigned from the job and shifted to his native village Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmadnagar district of Maharashtra, his poor economic condition forced him to take up an employment while he was in seventh standard. Despite not being meeting the physical requirements he was recruited at the age of 25 emergency recruitments which were being made during Indo-China war in 1962 when the large scale of army requirements were the norms of the national importance.
He started his full fledged army career in 1963 as a driver. During 1965 Indo-Pak war he was the only survival in the convoy which was attacked in the Khem Karan sector near the border where he was posted. The incident changed his life and his mindset completely but he got his new direction from a titled of the book written by Swami Vivekananda “Call to the youth for nation building.” After 12 years of his service in Indian Army he took voluntary retirement in 1978.
He was apprised by Sainya Seva Medal, Nine Years Long Service Medal, Sangram Medal, 25th Independent Anniversary Medal, and Pashimi Star award. But who knew that this leader who had returned to his native village of Ralegan Siddhi will start a new definition of irrigation in the drought prone region where hardly a drop of water falls in rain shadow area. Where the population was living under acute poverty, but the lion had already took the charge of the battle which was about to be fought against the bureaucracy, social discrimination, and other anti social odds.
Within few years of his campaign the results were started to yield fruits in the village, from mere 75 acres of land under cultivation his campaign and innovative drip irrigation system converted 2500 acres of land under sustainable agriculture. He gives a new definition of the rain water harvesting and its irrigation usages. He encouraged youth to help in building the region into a role model for the whole nation. Millions of saplings were planted on the eroded slopes of the naked hills hence improving the environment and soil holding process to its prime.
His native village, a land where only hunger and poverty had lived since the time unknown was transformed into a prosperous fertile land of happiness where ban on alcohol, ban on tree felling, ban on grazing and volunteer labor gave the new life to the dry lands of his rural heartland into a flourishing agricultural fields. He brought the different communities together to work as one unit hence abolishing the caste system from the lives of his people.
His campaign in 1998 and 2006 forced the government to amend Gram Sabha Act and include the participation of villagers into the development and other matters concerned to their locality. This gave much needed teeth to the rural population in the country. Nevertheless, the major boon to his Gandhian philosophy came when he started the campaign for RTI ACT or Right to Information Act to fight against the growing corruption menace in the country.
Various organizations and activists came forward to support him against the government finally forcing the state to bring the RTI in 2009. This gave the power to the Indians of accessing the public information and its accounts. The benchmarking act transformed him from a mere soldier to a national leader, whom the people admire him as a modern Gandhi, who has once again showed the nation a true picture of the father of nation.
Due to this act numerous scams were exposed and many public servants and ministers were brought to trial. But the this was not enough, the hurricane was about to reach the coast of National Parliament when the doors were to be shattered with the foot falls of the general public who will show the power of a true vibrant democracy and whose sound will make the ears of corrupt cabinet deaf.
And the democracy was turned into an arena where the battle of corruption will be fought which will decide the fate of the nation
Since, the public extensively uses the weapon of RTI the curtains of corruption fallen of the records covered under the dust of scams done in the past and in the present day scenarios. This has raged the storm of this student of Gandhi who is being driving the nation against the democratic donkeys who don’t know how to rule the country and function for its people.
He first went on fast on 5th April 2011 forcing the government to present the Lokpal Bill or Anti Corruption Bill in the Parliament and within no time the effect of his fasting was showing its signs, the cabinet formed a standing committee for the review of the respective bill and call team Anna for discussing their point of view and requirements to be added into the bill but as Anna quit fasting and his storm slows down the bill matter comes into the bureaucratic jittery and the draft which was presented into the house did not include the points raised by Anna and the general public in it.
It was found later that many departments including the PMO were kept out of the jurisdiction and monitoring of Lok Pal Bill. Then the series of warnings and letter conversation took off in the air which attracted the attention of the general public and all the public figures but the ruling coalition seems to be insensitive to the matter and showed no signs of coming to the agreeable terms of Anna. As the rains sets in and the parliament of the world’s biggest democracy begins its monsoon session, the date came 28th July 2011 when Anna spokes out to PM and other government officials in public:
“Why are you (government) sending the wrong draft? We have faith in Parliament. But first send the right draft; our agitation is against government, not Parliament. The government has overlooked many points. How will it fight corruption by excluding government employees, CBI and prime minister from the Lokpal’s purview? We were told that both the drafts would be sent to the Cabinet. But only the government’s draft was sent. This is a deceitful government. They are lying. How will they run the country? Now I have no trust in this government. If it is really serious about fighting corruption, why is it not bringing government employees and CBI under Lokpal?” – Anna Hazare
But as it is very well said that there was silence before the arrival of the storm and the silence broke in the rainy afternoon of 15th August 2011 when Anna just went inside the Rajghat the Mausoleum of Mahatma Gandhi when he without warning or any official declaration or permission started fasting, seeing the great spirit alongside the another the huge crowd of visitors and supporters gathered and offered him the support, by the evening he was arrested and taken to jail where he spent 24 hours under custody but he didn’t break his fast and continued with it.
Feeling the heat of agitation and the anger of public the orders were passed for his release, from that day to till this day when this article was being written he was still fasting and the country of more than a billion heads is running on the road, protesting in front of every minister and bureaucrat to either support them or if not then resign from the service.
The path of non-violence and peace which the great philosopher and a legend Mahatma Gandhi or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has been risen like phoenix risen from its sleep of 100 years. This has proven once again the non violence has always been a lethal weapon against those who thinks they are powerful if they carry bullets in the ballot.
Though the student of Gandhi has been fighting with the nation of Gandhi which has been transformed from a land of cultures and values to the land of greed and corruption where though the leaders wear the white but the black is still hidden in the hearts of their selfish souls.
Though the power of ballot has changed this country a lot but the choice of ballot has always controlled the flow of prosperity for which the country has dreamt of. Once the Late PM Rajiv Gandhi had said that I am aware that the government sends 100 rupees to the public but only 15 rupees reaches the needy.
After the gap of two decades his son and a respected member of parliament Rahul Gandhi says though the government send 100 rupees but now only 10 rupees reaches the common public, but these are the hollow statements whereas the truth is even more worse general public hardly receives a single penny now these days the corruption has spread so deep into the daily working public system that even the private sectors has also fallen into the same line of practicing.
So the slow isolated campaign which was started long ago has now taken the shape of a revolution into a world’s biggest fight against corruption. It has now been proven that it is just like a second freedom struggle which is being fought on the grounds against the disease called corruption.
In his welfare career history Anna Hazare was awarded by many honors and the prominent among them are Padma Sri in 1990 and Padma Bhushan in 1992, the two being among the highest civilian awards. And most recently he was honored by World Bank in 2008 with Jit Gill Memorial Award.
The nation salutes this hero who has never asked for any monetary or social comfort but has always remained committed towards his country and his people.

Friends of Shehla Masood take her mission forward: re-file her pending applications

2011-11-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

Three RTI Anonymous anti-corruption "Musketeers" !!!

Vinita Deshmukh

Besides re-filing 40-odd RTI applications which the late Shehla Masood had filed and the information of which was pending, her friends have recently launched a website ‘getup4change’which encourages citizens to file RTI queries anonymously under the banner of RTI Anonymous (RTIA)

Friends of the late Shehla Masood, the RTI (Right to Information) activist who was brutally assassinated, have formed www.getup4change.orgwhich also encourages citizens to file RTI queries anonymously under the banner RTI Anonymous (RTIA). The ‘getup4change’ team volunteers will perform the role of RTI applicants for citizens who want to remain anonymous.

Noted Bhopal-based RTI activist Shehla Masood had asked for information regarding expenditure of travel and stay in luxury hotelsillegally borne by the state government of 12 serving High Court Judges who attended the wedding of the son of Principal Secretary (law) Ashok Kumar in December 2010. At the time of her death, this application was pending.

In short, documents uploaded on the website reveal that Rajendra Prasad Mishra, Deputy Secretary, has been convicted in this matter as hospitality was provided to the 12 judges flouting the protocol of the state government’s hospitality rules. Chief Justice of Rajasthan Arun Mishra did not attend the wedding but his wife was the beneficiary of her husband’s official privileges, thus illegally giving her the status of a state guest.Payment to Hotel Noor-Us-Sabah Palace Bhopal from the State Treasury was made in the name of Justice Arun Mishra although he was absent for the wedding; various other hotels and transport agencies were also paid for felicitations and transport of these judges, flouting norms for state guests. The scandal has serious implications as the Chief Minister is personally involved since it was at the behest of his office’s orders that the expenditure was approved.

Ritesh Singh, one of the three founders, is a third-year B Tech student of IIT-Kharagpur and sat for all the 12 days on fast with Anna Hazare at the Ramlila Grounds. He has so far filed around 100 RTI applications and is a veteran amongst the three founders in RTI activism. He said, “Shehla Masood was brutally murdered on 16th August 2011, as she sat in her car on her way to Boat Club in Bhopal to fast with Anna Hazare for the Jan Lokpal Bill. The bullet pierced her… turning this Tigress, as she was known among her close friends and who was a deadly cocktail for the corrupt, into a harmless corpse.”

Then quickly correcting himself, Ritesh said, “Did I say “harmless”? No. Shehla Masood has made her point most forcefully in her death. A group of her close friends have pledged to not let this victimisation of social reformers continue any further. They have decided to punish the people who killed her, in a novel way. While the investigation has been disappointing so far, this group of her friends has decided to re-file her 40-odd pending RTI applications to trouble exactly those who wanted to silence her because they didn’t want to reply to her pending RTI applications.”

Shehla’s group of friends who are passionate about keeping her memory alive by carrying on her work of exposing the corrupt include people from varied backgrounds. Anand Sharma, Senior Engineer at Seagate Technology in Colorado, US, steers the team enthusiastically from there. He said, “Shehla was Ritesh’s close friend and both used to do RTI activism together. Ritesh and Shehla had envisaged a slightly different service named ‘RTI Leaks’ which was planned to be a one-stop source for all RTI-related exposés throughout India. While the plan was materialising, Shehla attained martyrdom.

“After about one month of activism through our Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/JusticeForShehlaMasood and other initiatives, we noticed that people who dared to stand up against corruption were being victimised. We thought RTI Anonymous (RTIA) is one solution that would hopefully reduce this issue to a significant extent. After several brainstorming sessions between three of us that is, Ritesh Singh, Avnish Singh (who is an IT entrepreneur and) I, we decided to launch the websitewww.getup4change.org through which we would implement the idea of RTIA.”

The RTIA was formed on 15th October and its activities are visible through the website www.getup4change.org. Mr Sharma said, “We have had an overwhelming response from people and it was highly motivating to see that they started believing us and putting their faith in our organisation.” They already have near to 150 RTI requests and the number is growing by the day.

Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also an RTI activist and convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She can be reached at vinitapune@gmail.com

10 things you may like to know about ex-IRS officer Arvind Kejriwal

2011-11-01T03:29:00.000-07:00

ONE of Team Anna Hazare’s key aides, Arvind Kejriwal, was an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who worked as Additional Commissioner of Income Tax inDelhi before opting for a quiet exit of his high profile government job. A crusader for stringent anti-corruption laws in India now, Kejriwal once met Mother Teresa in Kolkata and worked for her for two months. He started his NGO Parivartan informally even when he was in the Income-Tax department. Here are 10 things you may like to know about Kejriwal, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and a confidante of Anna Hazare.

1. Hailing from Haryana, 43 year-old Kejriwal is an engineer from IIT-Kharagpur.
2. Worked for the Tata Group before joining Indian Revenue Service in 1995.
3. Before leaving the Tata and joining the IRS, he met Mother Teresa who asked him to work at Kalighat in Kolkata. Kejriwal worked for Mother Teresa for two months.

Spot Kejriwal: IRS officers of 1995 batch

4. He also traveled inside Bodoland of Assam when militancy was at its peak.
5. Kejriwal thought he would be a misfit in the IRS service, but did not leave the job immediately.
6. Started his NGO Parivartan informally even when he was an Income Tax officer. Received Rs 50,000 donation from his relatives to begin the process. The idea was to appeal people that “don’t pay bribe in the tax department, get your work done through Parivartan”.
7. Won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006.
8. Played a key role in lobbying for the Right To Information Act passed.
9. Kejriwal’s wife Sunita is also an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer. They have two children.10. He lives at Kaushambi in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh. It’s just at the outskirts of Delhi.

School of Thought: More schools may come up in corrupt bureaucrats' houses in Bihar

2011-11-01T03:22:00.000-07:00

The IAS officer's confiscated house at Bailey Road, Patna

Students enjoy the spoils of suspended babu – is what one of the national dailies gave a headline to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s politically brilliant idea of converting suspended 1981 batch IAS Shiv Shankar Verma’s Patna mansion into a school for Dalit children. As children were puzzled to find a new environment, a three-story house with marbles from Rajasthan and furnished with expensive interiors, Bihar chief minister was reportedly “excited” over the development and vowed to humiliate more corrupt bureaucrats in this innovative fashion.

With 16 more such cases of confiscation in the pipeline, the question is whether Bihar CM would succeed in creating more such schools.
Meanwhile, Verma has reportedly moved the Supreme Court, challenging Patna high court order of August 19, 2011, upholding the confiscation of his property under the provisions of Bihar Special Courts Act, 2009. Originally hailing from UP, Verma has been under suspension from July 2007 after Special Vigilance Unit raided his place and assets worth about Rs 1.4 crore were unearthed.
According to media reports, 361 of 3,321 primary schools in Patna district alone do not have buildings of their own. Armed with a new legislation, chief minister Kumar said he would like to see more schools run from palatial buildings of corrupt government officials.
As Kumar’s earlier move of keeping bureaucrats’ list of properties in public domain forced the Centre to do the same for its own officers, it remains to be seen whetherNew Delhi too comes up with a better idea of what to do with confiscated properties of corrupt bureaucrats.

Should we Blacklist ‘Herald’?

2011-10-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Savio Rodrigues

A lot has been said and a lot will be said about the integrity of ‘Herald’ – its management and owner Raul Fernandes and its editor Sujay Gupta. Frankly speaking Mayabhushan Nagvenkar’s sting operation has put Herald in an unpredictable situation.

I have seen many comments on GoaChronicle.com and other blogs looking into the personal issues of Sujay and Raul and I do not think it has any relevance to the professional misconduct issue raised.

That Thulasidas Desai was indulging in an unethical media practice of taking money for news coverage from a political aspirant is a proven fact in this sting operation. More so Thulasidas Desai is known in the political circles to indulge in such practices, so it is not the first time that he has strayed from the ethics of the media profession. The exuberance of marketing to complete the targets to please the business bosses can never survive without the patronage of the editorial, so if Thulasidas has been doing such acts for some time now, then someone in the editorial would also be involved.
If Thulasidas Desai was working alone or with a few in editorial on such paid-news, all Herald would have to do is conduct an enquiry and sack the concerned people involved. But what throws serious suspicion on the entire episode is that Thulasidas in the telephonic conversation says that the cheque can be made on the Herald Publications Pvt Ltd, which clearly indicates that the Herald Business is too benefiting from this paid-news act. So someone in marketing or in the business affairs would have to have known that such money is coming to the Herald account and what is its reason, since it is certainly not advertising. Maybe in their books of account it may show as advertorial, that is anybody’s guess. But we will only know the truth on this if Herald management explains itself and clear this question that has been raised.
The act of Herald has put a lot of question on the integrity and credibility of most publications in Goa; because too many people within and outside of Goa, feel that publications are either controlled by politicians or mining barons. But being a media person let me state this for a fact, media today is a business and in a competitive environment it is about survival; many have and many will fall prey to decision between good business decision and good journalistic decision, sometimes some make the right decision in the eyes of their business which might be wrong in the eyes of their readers, who expect good journalism; and sometime they make the right decision in the eyes of the people which might be wrong in the long run of the business. In the end of the day no decision is right or wrong. But in the interest of the business we have started which is media and in the interest of the people who make their decision based on the information we dissipate to them, it becomes our core and moral responsibility to always stand by the truth, considering that there are many creative avenues within a combination of marketing and editorial that do not need to infringe on the basic ethics of journalism.
But the question I ask in the heat of all the discussion on ‘Herald’ is whether it should be black-listed and my answer is – no, it should not be blacklisted. And I say this not because I am an ardent reader of Herald, in fact at most time I find the overall reporting average, bar a few good exposes and columnists, but that’s my personal opinion. Also not known to many is that Herald too has not been kind or supportive of GoaChronicle.com on certain occasions when we have taken any issue up off-line, I remember one editorial of Sujay Gupta completely derogating me and GoaChronicle.com. But having said that, I still strongly believe that Herald should not be blacklisted because from some wrong that a few of its important employees have done, we cannot run it to the ground and forget all the good work it has done for many years and the hope it has presented to the people of Goa on numerous occasion. I cannot comment on the business strategy of the Herald business, because quite clearly I do not know what their business model is, but its journalism has had some spark of brilliance and if my memory serves me right it has been a newspaper many Goans in the past have sworn by.
It is important for Herald to conduct an enquiry into the sting operation and sack the culprits within its organization and if it includes even the top most executives of the organization, then so be it. People will want to know from one of its favorite newspaper what went wrong and what they are doing to correct it. Not saying or doing anything about it, so that the matter dies down will not help in the long-run.
I refuse to indulge or comment on any personal attacks on either the editor Sujay Gupta or Raul Fernandes, simple because what they do personally in their life is of no concern to me or GoaChronicle.com and I would hope that my fellow Goans will see it that way too; because I have seen many comments on GoaChronicle.com and other blogs looking into the personal issues of Sujay and Raul and I do not think it has any relevance to the professional misconduct issue raised.
If Herald takes a corrective action in interest of its people, I will consider that it is a wise decision and people need to continue to support it. But if they chose not to, then the people of Goa will automatically stop reading the Herald.

(Courtesy: Goa Chronicle.com)

Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary: Goan Miners Next Target !!!

2011-10-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Some of the wildlife found in Netravali are the Great Pied Hornbills,
Black Panther, Slender Loris and the Giant Squirrel

The Government mapping of the mining leases within a wildlife sanctuary, in a land use map has ruffled the feathers of the State’s anti-mining lobby, which is already gunning for the heads of those in the Government, who had permitted the illegal mining.

“The Goa Government is trying to bring in 336 other mining leases, which are non-operational for years, by including them in the Regional Plan 2021. There is no mining there for years now... why is the CM reviving them now?” noted environment activist Dr.Claude Alvares said.

“Out of 336 leases, 63 are in the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, which is a protected area. Is the next mining thrust going to happen there?” Alvares said.

The Regional Plan is a land use document prepared by the Goa Governments, town and country planning department which was released recently. Mining within the sanctuary was brought to a halt after the area was notified as a wildlife sanctuary in 1996. Claude believes that this could be a means to revive the old dead leases.

The Netravali wildlife sanctuary is situated in the Sanguem Taluka in Eastern Goa. The government of Goa declared Netravali as a wildlife sanctuary to protect its Western Ghat range. It covers an area of 211 sq. km, is connected to the Madei Wildlife Sanctuary and together they cover an area of 420 sq. km.

The Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary which is an extremely significant source of fresh water is known to be named after the Netravali or Neturli which is an important tributary of the Zuari River. One can also see a high range of mountains here which the local habitants consider religious and which are of socio cultural importance to them.

To the north of the Netravali wildlife sanctuary lies the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and the Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary lies to its south. Some of the wildlife found here are the Great Pied Hornbills, Black Panther, Slender Loris and the Giant Squirrel. Also a number of many other animals are found.

Caurem Youths Dared To Challenge Goa's Mining Mafia !!!

2011-10-30T00:11:00.000-07:00

The youth of Caurem, a tribal village,

fight on despite threats

Nilesh Gaonkar (his hand is in plaster) and his friends have formed a front to fight for the rights of the 2,000 residents of Caurem (Photos: Ashwin Aghor)

While the authorities are busy calculating the losses caused by Goa's mining mafia to the state exchequer, little attention has been paid to the few people who dared to challenge the state's mining mafia.

Residents of the tribal village Caurem, situated eight-odd kilometres from Quepem town, once had everything in abundance in the village. They rarely had to visit Quepem for any needs. But the situation has now changed since their paddy fields, coconut and jackfruit plantations are getting destroyed. The reason: heavy contamination of ground water due to five mines operating within a one km radius of the village.

Five mines are operating within a one km radius of Caurem

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat once visited Caurem to inspect the extent of damage due to mining

After visiting the area, he assured that all the mines in the vicinity of the village would be closed immediately. But nothing concrete has happened

The mines are operated by powerful politicians and businessmen of the state. The mines which are being operated in blatant violation of environmental and mining laws have destroyed groundwater aquifers in the village to the extent that all the perennial water streams have become dry.

Assaulted with iron rod

Disturbed by the extent of damage to environment and threat to their very livelihood, Nilesh Gaonkar, a 24-year-old youth from Caurem, decided to take on the might of powerful mining mafia. He is supported by Tuslidas Velip, Samir Gaonkar and several other friends. The youths in the village came together and formed the Caurem Adivasi Bachao Samiti (CABS) to save the livelihood of the 2,000-odd residents of the village. Recipient of news channel CNNIBN's bravery award this year, Nilesh Gaonkar holds a diploma in mechanical engineering. He works for a private company in Verna Industrial Estate, 10 km away near Panjim. He was brutally assaulted by two unidentified motorcycle-borne youths in mind-May this year and threatened with dire consequences if he did not give up his fight against illegal mining.

Dumpers lined up near the mine operated by Sheikh Mukhtar

“I was on my way to work when a person assaulted me with iron rod from behind. The first blow was on shoulder and before I could react, came the second blow on my left hand. After hitting me twice, the youths fled the scene,” says Nilesh, who is now more determined to fight illegal mining. Though police detained two youths in connection with the assault, they were let off within a couple of days and the case remains unsolved till date. The police at Quepem declined to comment, saying the Centre is probing illegal mining in the area.

The youths of Caurem village today want only one thing. Complete closure of all the mines operating in the vicinity and ecological restoration of the area. “We do not want the ore at the cost of our lives. Mine operators are earning huge profits by destroying us and we are left to the mercy of God,” says Tulsidas Velip. Mining has destroyed farming and blocked the water sources of the village, including a tributary of the Kushawati River that flows through the village.

The road connecting Quepem and Caurem, which is less than 10 metres wide, has become death trap with round the clock movement of trucks carrying ores from mines to jetties and loading spots. “The uncontrolled movement of overloaded ore trucks has made it difficult for children and senior citizens to use the road. Especially, the school going children, who find it difficult to reach their school right across the road,” says Nilesh.

Nilesh, Tulsidas and others mobilised the villagers and built a front against the mine operated by one Sheikh Mukhtar. After several representations to the mining ministry, state and central governments the villagers have only got assurances. “Chief Minister Digambar Kamat once visited Caurem to inspect the extent of damage due to the mines. After visiting the area, he assured that all the mines in the vicinity of the village would be closed immediately. But nothing concrete has happened,” Nilesh says.

Anna’s team is one of the most powerful lobby groups India has ever seen

2011-10-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

Is Hazare the new swing factor in polls?

Chetan Bhagat

So the Congress party lost all three by-elections last week. As expected , their spokespersons continued to display false bravado, trying to shrug off the defeat and underplaying the Anna factor. Their fake overconfidence is almost cute. You want to give them a hug for trying to do their job even in the worst circumstances. The winners too, particularly the BJP, seemed somewhat surprised. Still figuring out how to react, they were dismissive of Anna’s role, claiming the victory as entirely their own.

And yet, one hopes the parties do not believe the spin they dish out. There are big lessons from the recent elections for both. No, neither is it game over for the Congress, nor is it guaranteed victory for the BJP. Also, team Anna does not decide who wins an election or who doesn’t. Yet, having them on your side or against significantly affects a party’s election results. The victory margins in Indian polls are slim, with a significant portion of voters being passive – that is, they vote in a predictable pattern that doesn’t change over time. In such a scenario, a relatively small number of enlightened, floating votes can alter election results. Statisticians will agree that even if 20 million Indians switch their vote, the election results will be dramatically different. Anna’s team is clearly inching towards having that kind of support base.

The Congress (or any party) should realize, that even though team Anna members cannot win an election (given passive voters will never vote for them), they can influence enough voters to make a party win or lose an election. In that sense, Anna’s team is one of the most powerful lobby groups India has ever seen. Fortunately, they are lobbying for a corruption free India, a cause that is good for the country.

Hence, just three tips for the Congress. One, do not give mixed signals to team Anna. While one day a minister will fold hands and speak obsequiously to ‘Anna ji’ , the next day he would dare Arvind Kejriwal to contest an election. That is foolish. Simply accept team Anna as part of Indian political reality. Two, figure out who the next leader is – if it is Rahul Gandhi, he has to begin taking centrestage. This strategy of letting others take the muck and wiping his chair clean until he arrives, will not work. Either he should take the heat, or give someone else the reins. It may be abold move, but replacing the PM right now may just be what the doctor ordered to show that you are serious about change. Such big scams have happened; in any other organization, heads would have rolled. Why haven’t they in the Congress?

Three, blatantly obvious, is to pass the Lokpal bill. No whining, no clever debates, no bashing team Anna , media or opposition. As one ad says – just do it. And when you do it, don’t get super-clever , high-IQ lawyers to modify clauses that take away the spirit and essence of the bill. Too many eyes are on the bill now, and frankly, no matter how smart your people are, they can’t outsmart millions.

These are exciting times for Indian politics. Younger leaders of both major parties can use the current turmoil to initiate change within their own party, which not only positions their party to win elections, but is also good for the nation. For, whether Congress or BJP, all we want is a better India, isn’t it?

Team RTI Anonymous: The fire of activism was always there within three of them !!!

2011-10-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ritesh Singh

Anand Sharma

1a. Could you briefly tell me how Ritesh , Avnish and Anand came to collaborate on this
initiative.
The fire of activism was always there within the three of us. Anna’s 14 day fast, spurred us into action.
Ritesh (19 yr. old 3rd Computer Sc. Student IIT Kharagpur) ended up fasting for 14 days in Ramlila Ground and was admitted to ICU.
Avnish (An Entreprenuer, who heads various web-based companies) was a volunteer in Ramlila Ground, helping in the cleanup/crowd control, getting beaten up/yelled at by huge amount of people in Ramlila.
Anand Sharma (Sr. Staff Engineer - Seagate Technology, USA, was involved in various protests during Anna’s fast).

We three were part of the the IAC facebook group and started posting our opinions on what should be done next, on various facebook IAC forums. That led to chatting over facebook and google talk. The Chat graduated to 3-way conference calls from Anand in US to Ritesh and Avnish in Kharagpur and Delhi respectively. Currently, our daily communication is thru skype/Voice over IP Telephones/Email/Google Chat.
We may have not touched each other physically, but have seen/heard & read about each other, with the help of today’s technology

1b. One of Ritesh's article mentions, that he had envisaged RTI Anonymous originally with Shehla Masood. Was that the original inspiration for the initiative?
Shehla was Ritesh’s close friend and both used to do RTI activism together. Ritesh & Shehla had envisaged a slightly different service named RTI Leaks. RTI Leaks was planned to be a one stop source for all RTI related expose throughout India. While the plan was materialising, Shehla attained martyrdom.

After about one month of activism through our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForShehlaMasood and other initiatives, we noticed that there was a gaping hole in the existing anti-corruption laws. People who dared to stand-up against corruption, were being being victimised. RTI Anonymous, is one solution that would hopefully reduce this issue to a significant extent.

Long brainstorming sessions between the three of us, finally resulted in this idea.
With the technical expertise, experience and background that the three of us already have, implementing this idea on a website was the next most logical thing to do. And thus RTI Anonymous was born.

1c. How many individuals form your core team?
Ours is a movement where everybody is welcome and there is no specific core team.
However right now, we three (Ritesh, Anand and Avnish) are working the hardest for the cause and we like to fondly call ourselves the core team.

2a. When was RTI anonymous operationalised (rough date).
The site was operationalised on Oct 15th 2011

2b. What has been the response of the public, as of now?
From the day of launch (Oct 15th), we have had an overwhelming response from people and it was highly motivating to see that they started believing us and putting their faith in our organization.
As of Oct 30th (within 15 days) we have a a total of 130 RTI Requests.
What started of with just three people has now expanded to a volunteer group of about 35 people, from different parts of India & USA. .
We now have a team of about 15 IIT Kharagpur Students, working through the night, learning and drafting RTI’s
We have about few retired government officials, who are not only experts in legal matters/labor laws & state laws, but have also been Public Information Officer for few years, before retiring. They now do a final review of all RTI applications.
For Example: Mr. Ramakrishna Manja of Bangalore is a 65 year old retired Registrar and had been a Public Information Officer in the Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

We have about 10 experienced RTI activists from different parts of India, who are helping us too.
So the response is two fold -- 105 RTI Requests & about 35 volunteers and this number is growing

2c. Any success story you'll would like to highlight? (Eg: Your site shows number of RTIs filed/printed/resolved etc. Are those the latest figures or please send me the latest ones.
Yes, we have a very important success story that we want to highlight. It is about Madhya Pradesh High Court Judges given undue favours by Chief Minister’s Office. This can be a big story since the Chief Minister's Office was directly involved (see Document Number 3 from top on http://getup4change.org/rti/madhya-pradesh-high-court-judges-given-undue-favours/) and it was because of recommendation from that office that public money was used to pay for the judges' trips. Furthermore, 4th Document from top clearly shows written records by Sahayak Satkaar Adhikari stating that wife of Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Shri Arun Mishra utilized all facilities provided by the state even though she wasn't officially a state guest.
This is clearly a misuse of Public Money for personal luxury and shows one instance of how Chief Ministers can keep High Court Judges Impressed, even more so when India is a country of starving millions. It has taken a lot of time for us to expose this. Your coverage will help to prevent such irregularities in future.
Yes, all figures available on the site are latest.

3) At a time when the government is trying to clamp down on the reach of the RTI, what according to you is the role/importance of a platform like yours.
RTI Anonymous clearly assumes much more importance in current scenarios where RTI Activists are frequently being victimised. About Government clamping down on the reach of RTI, we as part of RTI Activist community are fairly confident that we won’t allow that to happen through peaceful and democratic assertion.

4a) Could you elaborate a little about how your initiative actually functions?
On RTI Anonymous, a user can simply click on ‘Submit RTI’ on the homepage to file an RTI Application. They can also send their request directly to us through email (by creating a dummy email address).
He/she has an option to give his email address if he/she wants to be notified about the status/progress of his RTI Application through his email. Otherwise he/she can very well file it through a dummy username. Once the user Submits his/her RTI Application on RTI Anonymous, we extensively edit it to make it stronger and less ambiguous.
And then we file it through a random volunteer, who are based in different parts of India completely bypassing possibility of any victimisation” So this means a volunteer in Delhi with a proper Delhi Residential Address will file an RTI for an issue with say BBMP-Bangalore.

4b) Does an RTI applicant need to pay RTI Anonymous any fees for the data he/she desires? What about RTI charges or xerox charges for documents that need retrieving?
We don’t charge anybody for any of our services. We are self funded but also supported by few generous donors. All our accounts are openly available on the website since we believe in 100 % transparency: http://getup4change.org/rti/fund-rtis-save-india/.
There are absolutely no charges of any kind we charge from applicants. All the charges related to RTI filing is been covered by organization itself. 5a) As you are aware RTI activists across the country have been under attack. What are the measures you think the government needs to incorporate to ensure the safety of such individuals.
We need strong whistle blowers protection clause as part of the Lokpal Bill with provision of severe punishment for harassing and threatening RTI activists
We never care about threats, every threat makes us more stronger and more determined towards our goal. The more you try to eliminate us, more we will increase in numbers and every time more stronger than earlier.However, we also do believe that RTI Anonymous can do a really good job in solving the problem of whistle blower victimisation.
5b) Have you'll had any such experience of threats/intimidation since the platform was floated? Given the experience of Wikileaks, do you'll fear a similar backlash from powers-that-be?
We did face hacking attempts to get our website down a few weeks ago.
We are prepared to face any such threat at all levels. Avnish himself is a x-Anonymous activist (an international group of people working for anonymous activism) and actively participated in Wikileaks movement. We have helped Wikileaks and IAC (India Against Corruption) technologically, by managing their web traffic and mirroring their website. .
6) There could be a fair deal of skepticism among users about how your platform would ensure anonymity of RTI applicants. What are the measures you'll take to protect the identity of applicants?
We don’t ask for any detail whatsoever of any applicant on RTI Anonymous. We deliver the reply on the site and send an email notification to the applicant (if he has put in his/her email address while Submitting his RTI). Since even we ourselves don’t have any details of the applicants, there is no room for skepticism/doubt that we would reveal it.

7a) Have you'll had any prior experience with RTI or is this a first-time foray into the field.
Among the core team, Ritesh is the most experience , since he has so far filed more than 100 RTI’s. But as mentioned above. The organization comprises of about 10 RTI Activists, 5 Retired and highly experienced government officials, who have been Public Information Officers. These retired government officials are experts in legal matters, State labor laws and also the entire RTI process.

7b) What according to you are the biggest challenges facing the RTI movement in the country, currently?

A deliberate attempt to create red-tapism, by making the whole process of filing RTI’s extremely complicated
Lack of Whistleblower Protection Act
Government trying to dilute the RTI Act

8) Your site mentions that many members of your core group are based abroad. Could you please elaborate your source of funding the RTI applications, given the back-and-forth correspondence it would entail to India.
The original model of RTI-Anonymous was supposed to be a self-funded initiative and we consider any donations, as motivation and encouragement to our cause.
There are several people from India and abroad(NRIs) who have pledged to send us donations.

RTI Anonymous is going to train NRI’s in USA, to draft RTI’s, using Skype-based Conference Call on Nov 5th. We have so far had about 15 NRI’s from different parts of US, enrolled for this training.

Now, file RTI query online anonymously !!!

2011-10-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

A group of three, which had been actively associated with Anna Hazare’s recent agitation for the Jan Lokpal Bill, came out with an online service that enables citizens to file an RTI application incognito. Titled 'RTI Anonymous', the service (http://getup4change.org/) has been launched in the wake of the rise in attacks on the RTI applicants and threats issued to them.

Ritesh Singh, a third-year student from IIT Kharagpur; Avnish Singh, an entrepreneur from Delhi and Anand Sharma, an NRI based in USA, are the part of this initiative.

“So far, individuals who dared to stand-up against corruption were being victimised in one way or another. Some even lost their lives. RTI Anonymous, is one solution that would hopefully reduce this problem to a significant extent,” said 19-year old Ritesh, who fasted along with Hazare at the Ramlila Grounds and was subsequently admitted to the ICU due to his frail health.

On RTI Anonymous, a user can simply click on ‘Submit RTI’ on the homepage to file an application. One can also send his/her request directly through email by creating a dummy email address.

“Once the query is submitted, we extensively reframe it to make it stronger and less ambiguous, if needed. Then we file it through random volunteers, based in different parts of India, completely bypassing the possibility of any victimisation. We then upload the information obtained from public authorities on our website for the benefit of the public,” says Ritesh .

Among others, a few retired government officials, some of whom were Public Information Officers in the past and a team of IIT Kharagpur students have been rendering their help in dealing with the applications filed online.

“We are keen to develop volunteer support across India,” Ritesh said, adding that the online service already has some amount of support from Pune in the form of India Against Corruption (IAC) activists.

Significantly, since its recent inception, as many as 105 applicants have filed their queries through the site.

The trio of Ritesh, Avnish Singh and Sharma first came in contact through IAC’s Facebook campaign during Anna Hazare's agitation for the Jan Lokpal Bill.

What is RTI Anonymous?
RTI Anonymous is an online service through which any person can File Anonymous Right to Information (RTI) Applications WITHOUT REVEALING THEIR IDENTITY. This means that we file those RTI Applications in our name and upload the documents obtained from the government on this website for the person who filed the Application to see.

Why RTI Anonymous?
Since RTI act came into force, 28 RTI and Public Interest Litigation (PIL) activists have been brutally killed. Many more are living in the shadow of fear. We don't want to let this continue. We thought we could leverage technology to solve this problem, by acting as a facilitator.

Get Involved
Draft RTI's / Help Users: RTI Anonymous (RTIA) is a community based project. So, You, as a member of the community, are the biggest stake holder.
Login or Register

Go To UnFiled RTI's and then go to a post of your choice

If an RTI is possible for that post, Draft an RTI for it and post it as a Reply/Comment. We will take it over from there. Even if an RTI isn't possible for the post, try to help the author of the post as much as possible by posting informed Replies/Comments.

Make a News of RTI Anonymous (RTIA) or RTI Revelations: Are you a journalist? If so, covering us will help tens of thousands of victimised transparency activists and whistle blowers to use RTI Anonymous (RTIA) and stay safe. It will also help fight corruption by bringing attention to irregularities that we have exposed. We will do our bit, by spreading your article/story through social media as much as possible.
Spread the Word: The most important aspect by far for any community based project. Share RTI Anonymous (RTIA) and RTI Revelations on social media, blogs etc. as much as possible. It will also help fight corruption by bringing attention to irregularities that we have exposed.

Back link to RTI Anonymous (RTIA): Do you own a site? If so, back linking to us would be one of the biggest ways you can help us. It helps RTI Anonymous (RTIA) reach your audience too.

Dr.Kunal Saha - One Man Army

2011-10-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

Kunal Saha’s name still does not ring a bell in Indian media like the many lesser fighters who bask in the regular national channels’ spotlight. But the HIV/AIDS researcher from Ohio battling India’s corrupt healthcare system after his wife’s death from medical negligence in 1998 is a one-man army who this October was awarded the highest ever medical damage by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).

In one of the longest running cases of medical negligence, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) recently awarded compensation ofRs. 1.72 crore to the husband on an NRI doctor who had died due to medical negligence while on a social visit to Kolkata in May 1998.

This is the highest quantum of compensation in the medico-legal history of India so far. Till now the highest award was of Rs. 1 crore granted to software engineer Prasanta Dhanaka in May 2009.

The consumer court asked the Kolkata-based Advanced Medicare and Research Institute (AMRI) Hospital and its three doctors to pay up the compensation for the death of Anuradha Saha, a US-based child psychologist and wife of Dr Kunal Saha.

The hospital and the doctors were found guilty of negligence by the Supreme Court in 2009 and the case was referred to the consumer court for the sole purpose of determining quantum of compensation. The NCDRC earlier found no negligence by doctors or AMRI and had dismissed the case in 2006, forcing Saha to approach the apex court.

The compensation includes Rs. 41.9 lakh each to be paid by AMRI and Dr Sukumar Mukherjee, Rs. 27. 93 lakh each to be paid by Dr Baidyanath Halder and Dr Balaram Prasad. Another guilty doctor Abani Roychowdhury is dead so the amount due to be paid by him has been deducted from the compensation package.

The NCDRC has deducted 10 per cent of the amount for 'contributory negligence' on part of Saha himself as he interfered in the treatment. Saha had sought damages totalingRs. 77 crore.

"This judgment makes mockery of justice. It is too meager an amount of compensation in context of this case", Saha said while speaking from Columbus, Ohio.

He said he had spent far more than Rs. 1.77 crore during the 12-year long legal battle, making innumerable trips to India. In any case, he said, he had already pledged to donate the entire amount to People for Better Treatment, a voluntary group set up by him in Kolkata to fight against medical negligence and corruption in medical field.

In the past one decade, Saha has fought against corruption in the Medical Council of India, West Bengal Medical Council, the judicial system and exposed a scam in HIV kits. It was because of his incessant campaign that former MCI chief Dr Ketan Desai was disallowed to take over as President of the World Medical Association and lost his license to practice as a doctor.

Anuradha was a qualified child psychologist who died at an age of 36 years because of maltreatment.

"Apart from my personal loss, pain and suffering due to the untimely death of my wife, the direct loss of income even of a minimum wage earner in the US would amount to far more than the compensation awarded by the NCDRC," Saha said.

Though the judgment brings hope to victims of medical negligence, Saha said he would move SC again seeking enhancement of the compensation.

Goa's CM Digambar Kamat Exposed Yet Again: Union Mines Ministry Says, 50% of Mines Are Illegal !!!!

2011-10-28T04:59:00.000-07:00

Contradicting Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat's claim that there was no illegal mining in the state, the Union Mines Ministry has confirmed illegalities in nearly 50 percent of the operational mines.

In a letter, dated Oct 25, Joint Secretary, Mines G.Srinivas told state Mines Secretary S. Kumaraswamy to shore up measures to curb illegal mining in the state, rocked by a mega illegal mining scam, which the opposition has pegged at Rs.25,000 crore.

"Taken on a mine level basis, 44 mines had had exceeded the said 20 percent target production limits," Srinivas has said in his letter. Goa has nearly 100 operational open cast iron ore mines.

The letter confirming illegal and excessive mining in Goa comes on the heels of constant denials by Kamat - the minister of mines for 12 years - that illegal mining is marginal.

The Congress led coalition government in Goa has come under fire from the opposition over the scam.

The union mines ministry has also asked Goa's department of mines and geology (DMG) to conduct special field trips to establish whether mining in Goa's 100 odd operational mines is being conducted in accordance with the provisions of the forest conservation laws.

Anti mining agitators have complained that a majority of the mining operations fringing forest and wild life sanctuaries in Goa are brazenly flouting environment and forest norms.

"The ministry is of the view that mining operations should take place only with appropriate clearances, including, wherever required, under Forest (Conservation) Act 1980. In order to ensure compliance, you may like to issue directions to field units of the DMG to undertake the requisite inspections including follow up earlier inspections, so that there are no violations in this regard," Srinivas wrote.

"The DMG may also simultaneously prepare a list of such mining leases that have sought renewal but are pending environment and forest clearances and are operating under deemed extension, to ensure that such mines adhere to a mining plan," he said.

The mines ministry has also asked the state government to keep track and maintain an inventory of low grade iron ore reject dumps, which in the recent past were being illegally excavated and exported to China, which had opened markets to low grade iron ore to fuel its infrastructure projects.

To check large scale transportation of illegal ore, the union ministry has also asked the state to evolve a system of transit passes during transportation to ensure that the ore being ferries was legitimately extracted.

"In respect of operating mines, since an approved mining plan document is available with the state government, it is also necessary for the state government to introduce a check on the source of the ore and to introduce a system for allowing movement of minerals only through issue of transit passes after ensuring that not only royalty is paid for the mineral sought to be transported, but also after ensuring that the total minerals moved are accounted through the approved mining plan," the letter said.

Goa exported 54 million tons of iron ore in the last fiscal.

THE GOA'S PAID PIPER STORY IS DEFAMATORY, SAYS INTELLIGENT EDITOR SUJAY GUPTA

2011-10-28T03:19:00.000-07:00

GOA PAID NEWS SHAME:

“ Pucca” Editor Sujay Gupta challenges to check out his mettle and transparency in Journalistic matters !!??!!!

Readers and contributors of Goanet, a widely read Goan portal worldwide have literally (with pen) stripped and heckled this editor on numerous occasions on grounds of professional and ethical conducts. One of his former colleagues from the prestigious Times of India, Assam says about him that,"Old habits, never die" !!!!

Goa's oldest newspaper Herald's editor Sujay Gupta has responded to news about his newspaper involved in Paid News Scandal, at last. Sujay has a very good reputation within journalist circles, as he has literally moved around the country working with many newspapers, news channels, mining companies. In Goa, he is very well known in social as well as the journalistic community having edited Gomantak Times earlier and also serving a mining company as its Vice President (VP) – CORP COMM.

In his statement this all India acclaimed journalist, now editor of Herald has 'emphatically' denied having been involved in this alleged Paid News Scam, saying that those series of interviews of prospective candidates were part of their socio-political promotional series namely 'Kins & Kinship', where 'kins' of political heavyweights in Goa are interviewed and the opinion on development of Goa and its environment is addressed.

Former VP of a Goan giant mining company Fomento owned by philanthropist Audhut Timblo, Sujay Gupta has now earned unquestionable reputation as an upright editor of Herald. However, he agrees that with elections in Goa around the corner, we (journalists) need to be more vigilant and watchful to ensure that the media continues to function as a neutral and independent watcher and not an interested part.

Further in his statement, this all India acclaimed journalist, now an editor, Sujay Gupta contest the accusations of Paid News Scam, by arguing that to even suggest that the alleged paid interviews his newspaper carried were part of paid news package is hugely defamatory and Herald will respond to these allegations urgently and appropriately in a proper forum.

Citizens of Goa still remember that Sujay Gupta created history in Goa, when this all India ‘famed’ journalist filed a defamation suit of FIVE BILLION INDIAN RUPEES against an ordinary but sincere environmentalist and a green blogger, interestingly in Kolkata High Court.

Then, this intelligent journalist for time being was a vice president corporate communication at the Fomento Group of Industries, which operates several mines in Goa. The case he had filed in the ‘Kolkata high court’ was against Sebastian Rodrigues, an anti-mining activist, who had written about excesses of the mining company, which Sujay represented then.

In his +/- 750 words statement this "seasoned & well experienced" journalist cum editor Sujay Gupta has sincerely read the Paid News Scam story of investigative journalist Mayabhushan Nagvenkar along with the audio files about the alleged paid news negotiation between his newspapers advertisement dept manager and Mayabhushan and explained very carefully the definition & difference between paid news, advertorial and such other modified words, so that readers of his newspaper may know all the systematically classified parts of his newspapers. "editor" Sujay Gupta has in his statement, in fact, suggested that Mayabhushan should have paid Rs. 86400/- to checkout his “mettle and transparency in these matters " !!??!! Mayabhushan's interview would not have been published in Herald, after even paying this huge amount, editor Gupta claims with pride.

Meanwhile Investigative reporter Mayabhushan Nagvenkar has in a statement thanked to all those journalists who wrote back in support and appreciation of the story GOA'S PAID PIPER -- Paid political interview in Goa's Herald newspaper for Rs 86,400' .

Mr. Nagvenkar has given a befitting reply to herald editor Sujay Gupta to prove how his story on paid news scam by his newspaper stands, giving even some past 'good' deeds of editor Sujay Gupta persuading news-persons to publish some very 'important' news in their newspaper.
In his statement Nagvenkar says, “Thanks specifically to my senior colleagues in the media like P.Sainath who promised to take up this paid news case on the national forum and to noted media critic Pradyuman Maheshwari for running it on his newly launched media portal and to Outlook editor Krishna Prasad for featuring it on his blog. Incidentally, only Goa related web portals like goanet, targetgoa, nizgoenkar and goachronicle ran the story; a fact that I really appreciate, considering the fact that no print newspaper has done so. Perhaps… I should have paid for publishing this story … Joking of course…!!!"

It may recalled here that the editor in question here has been supposedly boycotted by many Goan forums and accused of pushing files for the very powerful mining lobby, as a result of which the newspaper he represents has seen steep decline in its readership, as many respected and prominent Christian businessmen and intellectuals have declared a social boycott.Even this editor gentlemen was accused of gatecrashing a party with another socialite 'mirchi' at a seven stars hotel in Goa and were shown the doors !!!!

Readers and contributors of Goanet, a widely read Goan portal worldwide have literally stripped and heckled this editor on numerous occasions on grounds of professional and ethical conducts. One of his former colleagues from Times of India, Assam says about him that,"Old habits, never die" !!!!

Below is the statement of Sujay Gupta and Mr. Mayabhushan Nagvenkar's response to it.

Sujay Gupta's statement

This is with reference to the complaint to the Press Council of India, by our esteemed and senior colleague in the profession for many years, Mayabhushan Nagvekar. (Para 1)

Since the matter concerns issues of editorial and journalistic propriety even though the conversations and interactions Mayabhushan, posing as one Bernard, has with our marketing Manager Tulsidas Desai,
I have chosen to respond to this. (Para 2)

Firstly, I wish to emphatically deny that any editorial content which has appeared in the Herald, without the “advertorial” tag line has been paid for. In his complaint, the complainant has attached newspaper clippings of several interviews we have conducted as part of our kins and kinship series of prospective new candidates in the fray.(Para 3)

The only exception was that of Somnath Zuwarkar, whose interview we carried after his return to politics. To even suggest that these interviews were part of a paid news package is hugely defamatory. Herald will respond to these allegations urgently and appropriately in a proper forum. (Para 4)

I wish to emphasize that I have been informed by my management that Desai’s remarks, (as heard on the audio) file in relation to any assurances given to “Bernard” for disguised editorial favours is absolutely incorrect. (Para 5)

As Editor, my stated position both within and outside the organisation has been that paid content cannot be disguised as news. Whenever politicians have sent out messages, statements of their achievements and other such information, through a paid route, we have prominently stated that they are advertorials. A case in point is the birthday of Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho where there were more than 2 pages of “news” items about Mauvin’s career and achievements. (Para 6)

Recently there was a four page advertorial supplement Vision 2015 where the Chief Minister’s interview was carried along with information on other departments. However, Herald has not softened its attack on this government on several issues, making a clear distinction between advertisements/advertorials and editorial. (Para
7)

Herald is the only newspaper which used the tag “advertorial” on top of their news pages so that the difference between editorial and advertorial is clearly established. (Para 8)

Coming to the proposed interview of the fictitious “Bernard” in HCN, our marketing team confirms that that such interviews are conducted with clear supers entitled “SPONSORED, indicating that its an advertorial. (Para 9)

The letter/email sent by Tulsidas Desai to the fictitious Bernard also clearly states that the rates were for advertising /advertorial rates. The marketing department is within its purview of seeking advertisements and advertorials with a clear understanding that they would be treated like any paid advertisement. (Para10)

Lastly and most significantly, Editorial was not in the know of any such negotiations or discussions the marketing had with any candidate or anyone else. The stray remark that “editos people” would be in the
know of any interview to HCN is also incorrect. (Para 11)

I am also clear that ultimately issues of newspaper ethics need to be addressed by the Editor directly since he is the custodian of content. At no given point of time have I allowed disguised and paid news to slip through as genuine editorial content. (Para 12)

However, it is imperative to ask if the media in Goa has done a serious introspection on whether we try hard enough to eliminate the ghost of paid news slipping through as genuine news. (Para13)

In the present case, too, it is naive to expect that the said Bernard’s interview would have been carried in any form. The final decision to run a story or not rests with me and my senior editorial colleagues so a clear distinction needs to be made between news and advertorials. The two cannot and don’t mix in The Herald. (Para 14)

If the complainant had indeed wanted to test Heralds mettle and transparency in these matters he should have tried paying the amount and getting his interview published as news and then taken us to task. (Para 15)

However, I agree that with elections around the corner, we need to be more vigilant and watchful to ensure that the media continues to function as a neutral and independent watcher and not an interested part. (Para 16)

MAYABHUSHAN NAGVENKAR'S RESPONSE

Para 3: I am not on the point that “any editorial content” which has appeared in the Herald, without the ‘advertorial’ tag has been paid for. The point I am trying to make is specific. That a fictitious proposition made by me for carrying my political paid news interview in the paper, has been accepted by a senior representative of your newspaper for a price after consulting with his editorial colleagues.

The representative, Herald’s marketing manager Tulsidas Desai has also told me that Raymond D’Sa’s interview (which was published as a news interview and not as an advertorial) which was published on Oct 20 in
the Herald had been paid for. It is on the basis of this information, which I have confirmed in course of the story, that I am saying that several from series of political interviews – some of which I have uploaded on the blog seem dubious and could have been published as ‘paid news’ in lieu of money.

Kins and Kinship: The choice of candidates according to the Editor is part of the newspaper’s series on ‘kins and kinship’. My question is, how do guys like Raymond D’Sa, Michael Lobo, Glenn Ticlo (whose press
clipping I did not manage to locate, if any of you guys have Glenn Ticlo’s interview cutting pls do scan and send it across), Somnath Zuwarkar, Sankalp Amonkar, fit this bracket. The only two who could pass off in a series defined under ‘kin and kinship’ are Tulio de Souza and Sameer Salgaonkar, who have kin in politics namely Dr
Wilfred de Souza and Anil Salgaonkar. Whose kin are the rest?

Para 4: Sujay Gupta has threatened me with defamation. I trust him to do it. The last defamation suit which Sujoy Gupta had filed was a Rs 5 billion one in 2009 in the Kolkata High court against a Goa based green blogger. Sujay was then vice president corporate communication at the Fomento Group of Industries, which operates several mines in Goa. The case he had filed in the ‘Kolkata high court’ was against Sebastian Rodrigues, an anti-mining activist, who had written about excesses of the mining company, which Sujay represented then.

Sujay had earlier tried to slip in stories in local newspapers including the Gomantak Times (GT). He had telephonically called GT's chief reporter Vithaldas Hegde -- an instance I am aware of because I was with Hegde on the other end of the phone, along with other staffers of the GT – which falsely projected Seby as a ‘naxalite’ who was whipping up unrest in the mining affected areas. The then executive editor of GT Derek Almeida and then deputy news editor Ashley do Rosario are aware of this incident as they were present when it happened.

Interestingly, Herald, the newspaper he now edits, had this to say about the entire episode.

Like in the Seby case (where attempts were made to brand him as a naxal), an attack on my credibility is something I expect now. I am only wondering how creative these guys are gonna be!

Para 6,7,8,9: If there were mechanisms existing in the Herald to route paid content as advertorials, then why does Tulsidas Desai, Herald’s marketing manager agree to shed the ‘advertorial’ tag as can be heard in the conversation with him in Tape III? Tulsidas is not some bottom rung marketing executive? He is a marketing manager and that’s a position of some responsibility. He assures me that the advertorial tag will be dropped. He also knows it is the wrong thing to do, when he says later in another conversation that he cannot put things like
this categorically on paper.

(Tape III excerpts; interview with Herald marketing manager Tulsidas Desai)

Me: In interview form.. I want in interview form so that people know no...
Tulsidas: Right... In that format only, how it has appeared today no
Me: And no advertorial no?
Tulsidas: Ah?
Me: No advertorial no
Tulsidas: Advertorial only
Me: But you are not going to say advertorial no?
Tulsidas: No... Today how nothing is mentioned no? Like that only...
Me: Ok ok.. and whom should I make payments and how much?

Para 10: Precisely my point. Herald’s marketing manager Tulsidas Desai already knows that paid news is not a kosher thing. He tells me in Tape IV that he cannot put down the exact quotation for the ‘paid news interview’ on paper in the way I have asked him. He knows he is in the wrong. He is selling me a paid news slot for my ‘political campaign’ and not a slot for a paid advertisement.

Please see transcripts below.
(Tape IV excerpts; interview with Herald marketing manager Tulsidas Desai)

Me: On Herald. Two interviews for the same price that you mentioned.
So that 86 (000) four hundred no?
Tulsidas: 86,400 right
Me: Into two.
Tulsidas: Ya ok
Me: But I want them
Tulsidas: Monday you are coming no?
Me: Ya but can you just send me a quotation? A rough quotation?
Tulsidas: No.. Actually this kind of this no... this is like a
editorial kind of things no, I cant mention on the paper you know
Me: Something yaar... so that I also have to show that somewhere no?
Tulsidas: Ok I'll do that
Me: Take my email address

Para 11: Once again I would like to remind Sujay about the fact that Tulsidas here is a marketing manager not a foot-soldier salesman of the Herald. How can you disqualify his statement made during a sales pitch that the editorial people were in the know? Do Herald reps fib during their sales pitches to their clients? If the editorial was not in the know of any such negotiations, then how did Tulsidas come back to me with a price? Whose were the people he consulted in between Tape I and Tape II and Tape III before he came back to me with his final
quote of Rs 86,400? He has consulted people back in the office. Who were these people with whom he talked about the rates with? Who were these guys with whom he discussed and confirmed (and later communicated to me in Tape III and Tape IV), that an interview would be carried in the newspaper as well as the cable news channel operated by Herald. You guys need to track these guys down? If you do not know, Tulsidas certainly will.

Para 12: If you have not Sujay, then someone else has. Your marketing manager himself says so.

Para 13: Point taken, but the scourge of ‘paid news’ can be tackled, if you first acknowledge that it exists in the first place. By denying its existence, in face of an admission by a senior marketing professional of the newspaper, is allowing paid news another lease of life.

Para 14: According to Tulsidas Desai, the twain have mixed. His clear reference to the fact that the Raymond D’sa interview has been paid for and published on October 20 without the ‘advertorial’ tag is testimony to the fact.

Para 15: This is sheer gall. If I had a whopping sum of Rs 86,400 bucks to shell out Sujay, it is more likely Sujay that I would have been dealing in paid news myself!!!. Establishing a senior Herald official’s intent in publishing a paid news story in return for a few phone calls, a few photo copies and CD writing expenses (hard copies
submitted to the Press Council of India and the Goa Union of Journalists) is good enough for me.

--
Mayabhushan Nagvenkar
1392, Anjuna, Bardez, Goa
pin code 403509
# 09420976862

Putting the Global Occupy Movement in Context: Who Are These Protesters, and What Do They Want?

2011-10-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

Protesters demonstrate at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, on Oct. 15, 2011, during a worldwide demonstration sparked by anger against corporations and government cutbacks.

At first glance, the synchronized protests that took place in more than 900 cities around the globe on Oct. 15 seemed to indicate that Occupy Wall Street had achieved a kind of worldwide resonance.

But the truth is more complex. Many of the protests elsewhere grew out of movements that pre-date Occupy Wall Street and out of frustrations that, though similar in some ways, are also specific to their countries.
Here’s a look at the origins, demands and affects of five of these global protests, as well as the criticism they’ve faced.

In Chile, Students Protesting for Free Education Occupy Schools

The Santiago protest in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street took place during a week of ongoing national demonstrations. Since May, Chilean students have been staging protestsdemanding that the government make education free to all.

Secondary school students have occupied their schools, sleeping on the floor and holding their own classes. Last week, protesting students occupied Chile’s senate building in Santiago. Hundreds of thousands of people have participated in marches over the past six months. At times, the protests have become violent, with police using tear gas and water cannons on the protesters, and “masked assailants” setting fire to a city bus.

Opinion polls show more than 80 percent of Chile’s citizens support the protesting students, who also have the backing of labor unions and teachers. Government officials,including the president, have resisted the demands, saying the government cannot afford to pay for education for all students.

In Israel, a Summer Protest Against Rent Prices, Cost of Living

Protesters in Tel Aviv returned Oct. 15 to Rothschild Boulevard, the site of a summer occupation that prefigured the Occupy Wall Street movement.

During those demonstrations, which began July 14, hundreds of people set up tents along the most prestigious street in Tel Aviv’s financial district to protest the high cost of rent. Government ministers mocked the protesters, calling them “sushi-eaters” and “nargila [hookah] smokers with guitars.”

But over two months, demonstrations against Israel’s high cost of living brought out a record-breaking numbers of participants. A march on Sept. 3 drew 450,000 people, orroughly six percent of Israel’s population. In response, Israel’s prime minister proposed reforms, and, when they were rejected as insufficient, assembled a task force to consider ways to improve the standard of living for Israel’s middle class.
Tel Aviv’s tent city was dismantled earlier this month.

In Spain, High Youth Unemployment Rate Sparks Tent Occupations

The idea for a global day of protest on Oct. 15 was originally proposed by participants in Spain’s 15-M or “Los Indignados” movement.

The “indignados” movement began in May, when hundreds of protesters set up tents in Madrid’s historic Puerta del Sol, and others gathered elsewhere to protest Spain’sextremely high unemployment. Overall, unemployment was at more than 20 percent, and youth unemployment was at nearly 50 percent. On Oct. 15, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Madrid, Barcelona and Seville.

Like the Wall Street protesters, protesters in Spain faced criticism for having no clear demands and using the protest as an excuse for a big party. Madrid’s tent city, which largely disbanded in June, was leaderless and had a legal advice tent, a library, a kitchen set up to prepare donated food. It also had a general assembly where participants made decisions through consensus on issues such as how to deal with police or complaints from neighbors. Some neighboring merchants were not enthused about the occupation, but, as in New York, the 24-hour pizzeria didn’t seem to mind.

In the UK, Occupation Follows Protests on Education Cuts, Riots Over Police Brutality

Over the past year, the UK has seen major student protests over rising school fees, as well as violent riots and looting this August after a young black man from a low-income neighborhood was killed by the police.

In comparison with the roughly 50,000 protesters who turned out last November todemonstrate against tuition increases, the Occupy London Stock Exchange movement is small: an estimated 600 people are camped out by St. Paul’s Cathedral, and a smaller cluster have gathered near London’s Royal Bank of Scotland and JP Morgan buildings. (At times, an estimated 2,000 protesters have gathered at the encampment. There also have been smaller protests in other cities across the UK.)

The encampment has prompted the closure of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is reported to be considering legal action to dislodge the protesters.

Like those in New York, the Occupy London protesters have been criticized—by the Mayor of London, among others—for not having a clear set of demands. A Guardian reporter who spent a few days at the encampment reported that “a few of the key facilitators in last winter’s student protests haven’t come down” because “they’re not sure it’s radical enough.”

But the reporter, Patrick Kingsley, concluded that the lack of demands may be part of the point: “If anything, the camp itself is their demand, and their solution: the stab at an alternative society that at least aims to operate without hierarchy, and with full, participatory democracy. And to be fair, in its small way, it kind of works,” he wrote.

In Germany, a Country Less Burdened by the Financial Crisis, Protest May Reflect Fears for the Future

In Frankfurt, Europe’s financial center, roughly a hundred protesters are currently camped out in front of the European Central Bank, and at least 4,000 more took to the streets again last weekend to protest the banking system. (Smaller numbers protested in Berlin.)

The protests, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, have been greeted with some bewilderment by commentators. While the American protests have focused on the nation’s increasing inequality and wealth disparity, Germany “has one of the most equitable distributions of family income in the world,” according to Foreign Policy magazine. German youth are not saddled with student loan debt, the Wall Street Journal points out, and have a very low unemployment rate of 9.7 percent.

Trying to explain the reason for protests in a country “largely unscathed by the global financial crisis,” German newspapers suggested that there was “bitter disappointment” that state bailouts of banks did not result in reforms to the financial system, or that the protests were forward-looking, sparked by “young people who are afraid that the debt crisis is robbing them of their future."

Occupy Wall Street: The World Economic Crisis and its Solutions

2011-10-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

Thousands of demonstrators who are gathering in front of the famous Wall Street, the financial centre of the USA and the world in New York are demanding a serious change in the world financial system that does not care about the people but only about the profit of the investment banks. Initially it was the debt problem of some smaller European countries like Greece, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Iceland and the Baltic States. Now it has spread to the banking system of both USA and UK creating panic in the world economy.

Greek crisis, resulting into Greece’s submission to the IMF and the forthcoming social unrest is related to the Global crisis of finance both in Europe and in USA. The result can very well be a global recession, from which the merging countries like India cannot escape. Globalization has massively increased the vulnerability of the world’s financial and economic system. Every day trillions of dollars is transacted at the speed of light, much of it unregulated. The derivative products or gambling of various kinds on every financial future market have accrued to the level of hundreds of trillions of dollars, unmonitored by any governmental authority. In essence, a vast global financial superstructure has been erected on a fragile foundation by arranging massive loans by some investment banks to countries who cannot afford to pay back. This is just as worst as the sub-prime securities or loans to poor American to buy houses knowing their inability to repay but then selling these loans as assets to the rest of the world.

The situation has already created a fear psychosis all over the world of an impending recession of the world economy. European governments decided to fund a bailout largely out of fear that a Greek default might lead to a new financial crisis and the bankruptcy of other countries, such as Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Credit rating agencies recently downgraded both countries’ debt. If Greece will collapse, others will follow.

Greek Debts:

Greek government of Prime Minister Giorgios Papandreou announced massive social cuts worked out in negotiations with European and International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials to pay off the Greek debt to its international creditors. In exchange for these austerity measures, the European financial ministers decided earlier to implement a €110 billion bailout package for Greece so that Greece will not default, which would ruin the European monetary system and its currency Euro. It’s more than likely that austerity package will be rejected by the Greek people who would prefer to default on the debt. If Greece can get away with a default, that will make the prospect of default for Ireland, Portugal and even Spain a much more realistic possibility. Greece has a national debt of 330 billion Euro out of that about half are due to international banks mainly American, other half are from German and French banks. French banks hold $75.4 billion worth of Greek debt, followed by Swiss institutions, at $64 billion, according to the Bank for International Settlements. German banks’ exposure stands at $43.2 billion. That gives the Greek debt crisis an international dimension with worldwide impacts. One possible way out for Greece is to default on its debts and quit the European Monetary system. This would allow Greece to devalue, to improve its balance of payments with cheaper exports. However, in that case Greece will be unable to borrow in future from the European Central Bank and people will get rid of their own currency to have more Euro to survive the uncertainly. That will exhaust its foreign exchange reserve. A default would hurt French and German banks in particular. They were some of the biggest lenders, holding more than two-thirds of the Greek government bonds in international lenders’ hands at the end of last year.

How Greece fell into the Debt Trap:

Greeks are some of the world’s richest people. The National Bank of Greece, Eurobank, Alphabank and Piraeus bank, have 164 billion Euros in deposits alone. The estimated loans taken from the foreigners are about 216 Billion Euros. Greece has extremely low household debt / GDP ratio; low corporate debt/ GDP ratio; low bank debt/ GDP ratio; a manageable total debt / GDP ratio, but a very poor Government debt / GDP ratio, above 100% of GDP.

In 1980, when Greece has joined the European Union, Government Debt/GDP ratio was 30% and it would have been much lower were it not for the high costs of defense. When Greece joined the EU in 1980, it became a party time. A small oligarchy then was the only source of capital and had the acumen, education and experience to deploy it as the country developed. Old families controlled the steel, cement, foodstuffs and construction companies that rebuilt Greece after the war.

Money that was sent from the European Commission to build the Greek infrastructure, about 6% of Greek GDP for the last 30 years, was funneled directly into the pockets of the oligarchy due to high level of corruption in Greece. Most part of that money could be used in socially desirable projects, but instead the bulk ended up in the pockets of the twenty families who run Greek business and own all the banks. Low rate of interest from the European banks, have allowed the Government of Greece to be borrow more and more but the people on the street never saw the benefit of the 300 billion the government has borrowed. Even then, Greece should not have any difficulty given the deposits and assets of the Greek banks.

Greece then fell into the trap of debt due mainly to a financial derivative called Credit-Default Swap. The contract, known as credit-default swaps, means if a company or, in this case Greece, an entire country, fails to pay its debts, Banks and financial institutions who own these swaps stand to profit. It’s like buying fireinsurance on your neighbour’s house — you will be motivated to burn down the house of your neighbour so that you can receive a huge insurance payment subsequently. Similar conditions were created for Greece by a number of Banks, some of which are Greek. Greece was encouraged to borrow heavily by these banks to finance its budget deficit. At the same time, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and about a dozen other banks had created an index that enabled market players to bet on whether Greece and other European nations would go bust.

As banks and others rush into these swaps, the cost of insuring Greece’s debt rises. Alarmed by that signal, bond investors then started rejecting Greek bonds, making it harder for the Greece to borrow. That, in turn, adds to the anxiety that Greece cannot repay its existing debts by borrowing more. Anxiety now covers other troubled economies like Ireland, the Baltic States of the former Soviet Union, Portugal and Spain.

Role of the US Financial Institutions and the Financial Derivatives:

Greece has come under pressure recently to explain allegations that it used complex financial products, provided by US investment banks, to conceal the true state of its debt pile over the last decade. Goldman Sachs and other banks set up a new index or derivative, in plain English a bet, in September of 2001 that investors could use to bet on the likelihood that Western European countries like Greece would default on their debt. The very same company that created this index set up a similar index in early 2006 that allowed investors to bet on the likelihood of defaults in the subprime bond market in USA. That index was a collaboration between two companies Markit and CDS IndexCo, a consortium of 16 banks, including Goldman Sachs. The acting chairman of CDS IndexCo was Goldman Sachs managing director Bradford Levy. Goldman Sachs and a hedge fund manager John Paulson, who made billions betting against the subprime sector, were the major buyers of these Index or derivative.

Goldman is, in fact, using swaps to bet heavily on the likelihood of a Greek default, At the same time that it is helping Greece to hide its debts. The game plan is fairly simple: create government bonds to hide true levels of debt, then make profitable bets that the government will fail to pay off . This would create a financial crisis. The country would expect other governments and the International Monetary Fund would take the responsibility for its debt. The bets will earn enormous profits for these investment banks.

Goldman Sachs and John Paulson did this with AIG before to create the financial crisis in USA and subsequently for the world, devising complex securities known as “synthetic CDOs” which were composed entirely of bets on a set of mortgage loans given to poor Americans who can not afford these. Paulson has collected the contracts for these mortgage loans, selecting the ones that were most likely to have default. Goldman then created the securities combing these mortgage loan contracts and sold them as investments to investors like AIG ( American Insurance Group). The bets were essentially designed to fail, with Paulson (and Goldman) on the winning end. The hidden cost of default was massive enough to make AIG bankrupt, threaten the world financial system, and necessitate a help from all G-20 countries.

These bailout funds were then passed on to Goldman Sachs. Due to the activities of Goldman Sachs and Paulson, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission of USA, Royal Bank of Scotland and Germany’s IKB Deutsche lost about $1 billion on the deal, which was later financed by the respective governments of Britain and Germany. Similarly, Greek government now has to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund for the game Goldman Sachs and Paulson played. John Paulson’s investment firm earned more than $15 billion in 2007 and Goldman Sachs earned $4.79 billion in the last quarter of 2009 alone. The Greek crisis is created using the similar technique, when Greek banks have enough assets to walk over the crisis.

However, when Greece is dealing with the prospect of financial ruin, Goldman Sachs and Paulson have been speculating heavily in Greek debt markets with a team of 20-30 traders focused on the country. As New York Times reported, that on Jan. 28 and 29 2011 this year, analysts from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. took a group of investors on a field trip to meet with Deputy Finance Minister of Greece and head of other private banks in Greece. Greece appears to have been negotiating for its economic future with Goldman Sachs and its network of hedge fund colluders, many of whom have taken large speculative positions on Greek debt. The Wall Street Journal reported on a Manhattan dinner party where a group of hedge fund managers discussed their bets against the Euro, which is now seriously affected by the crisis in Greece and possible crisis of Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Italy.

Effects of the Rescue Plan for Greece:

The IMF plan to have any chance of success will tighten Greece’s austerity plan further. Greek GDP will fall further if the IMF demands a further tightening. The Greek government is seeking to reduce the budget deficit from 14 percent to 4 percent of Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP), which stands at roughly €245 billion. As it absorbs the impact of these cuts, the Greek economy is expected to contract by 4 percent this year.
Public sector workers face another cut in their official wages, which will then be frozen until 2014. Pensioners also face massive cuts. Sales taxes—which fall most heavily on the working class—will be increased. Greece also plans to privatize mass transit and utilities—moves that will doubtless dramatically increase user fees, just as workers face plunging wages and rising unemployment. There will also be large cuts in spending on hospital equipment and medical care.

How USA got into involved in this crisis:

More than 70 % of America’s GDP is derived from consumer spending. Accordingly, in this time of economic crisis, the government must substitute for the downfall in retail and business activity by regenerating demand in the economy. In the America that gave birth to the global financial crisis and credit crunch, the government’s finances have been driven to the brink of bankruptcy by vastly excessive military expenditures, run amok by a losing war in Afghanistan and an unnecessary war in Iraq.

America’s superiority was based on its military infrastructure, and the capability to project power thousands of miles from its shores, inflicting “shock and awe” on any foreign enemy. However, that military industrial complex required a massively productive and successful economy to maintain itself. During the last ten years, while America replaced its ability to create goods that the world needed with complex financial instruments and securitized mortgages as its primary export product, it relied on foreign creditors to subsidize the American military establishment and the cost of the foreign wars it was engaged in. That bubble has busted. European banks are not in a position, due to the defaults of several smaller European countries like Greece, to extend loans to USA.

The consumer demand of the U.S., driven by debt, is now collapsing with the growing jobs crisis. This is leading to demand destruction for those export goods developing economies around the world depend on to employ their teeming masses. During the course of the year the jobs crisis will clearly be a global phenomena, as are all the other factors that characterize the ongoing World Economic Crisis.

For USA, to finance the massive amount of spending planned by the Obama administration; at least a trillion dollars of additional money have to be borrowed from abroad. The American stimulus package alone has cost over one trillion dollars in the last two years. This comes on top of the $700 billion program of George Bush initiated. The only way the U.S. will be able to attract foreign credit in this context is through much higher interest rates. This will kill private borrowing, stifling investment and ultimately defeating the purpose of the stimulus spending. The other alternative is to simply print the money, and produce the hyperinflation, as Nixon did in early 1970s. The viable alternative is to reduce USA’s massive defence spending, which is the cause of its huge budget deficits.

The American consumers, always over-burdened with debt, are always ready to purchase more by the easy access to credit. Now they are denied this. With the collapse of consumer demand in the United States, factories in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia are throwing millions of employees out of work. This in turn is collapsing internal consumer demand in those countries, further exacerbating the shortages of global demand. The Asian contraction in consumption is leading to global demand destruction in commodities, facilitating the deadly virus of global deflation.

Policy Recommendations:

There were two reasons behind the financial crisis of 2008; both of them are the result of this liberalization of the economy started since 1980s. The first is the idea that people can take care of their housing needs without any help from the government. The second is to consider liability as asset by building some new financial schemes to turn speculative gambling bets on future market as respectable assets. Neither of these can happen if there is a public ownership of financial institutions and if the government takes the responsibility for the basic needs of the people. Greece is now a victim of both the speculative activities of the global investment banks and corruptions and greed of the private sector companies and banks of Greece.

The stream of virtual money or derivatives are nothing but some kind of gambling bets on the expected future prices of various commodities, gold, shares of companies, rate of interests and exchange rates of various countries and of course the price of these Mortgage Backed Securities. It has created gambling casinos in the futures market, where different financial institutions are betting for the future values of various financial instruments. These betting have resulted into more and more bankruptcies of famous institutions like Barring Bank or Equitable Life Insurance Company. The game went on describing what can be called dangerous financial risks as assets just by attaching values on them. The fundamental idea is that past bahaviours can predict the future. However, there is one very important lesson from the past is missing here: the experience of 1930’s crash of the US Stock market, that speculative bubble would burst sooner or later and no mathematics can predict when that would happen.

However, their greed has no limit. After nearly destroying the financial system of both USA and UK in 2008, they are now trying to ruin country after country by offering them loans and creating derivative or bets that the country cannot pay back the loans. They know that richer countries like Germany and IMF would not allow a country like Greece to go bankrupt. However, ultimately the people of Greece will have to pay, for the corruption and short sightedness of its Government and the corruption and greed of the captains of its private sector, in terms of their much lower standard of living.

India has a lesson to learn from the Greek tragedy. Indian companies are borrowing heavily in the international market to acquire properties abroad; more than half of Indian foreign borrowings are of these private business companies. India also allows huge amount of short-term borrowings by its institutions from the international market. International private financial institutions are allowed to operate in the Indian stock market, real estate market and in the food and agricultural market, thus creating inflation. Thus, India is getting more and more exposed to the speculative games that these financial institutions play to ruin a country. In 1998, several East Asian countries became their victims, in the same way as Greece and several European countries are today.

The cause of the problem comes from speculation, as it was the cause for the great depression of 1930s as well. Before the 1930s depression for about 15 years there was totally free speculations where most of the companies, banks and financial institutions were free to behave, as they wanted. Since 1980 as well we have seen the same deregulation process to free the companies from many obligations to the society at large. Now added to the speculation in the share market we have also speculations about possible future movements of every financial or economic indicators and prices of commodities and services, which are called ‘Financial Derivatives’. Added to that we also have a new financial innovation called ‘Mortgage Backed Securities’ which are nothing but loan obligations of the banks, which were sold as assets to the world banking system. People were told that they are buying shares of properties, but in reality they were sold existing ‘debts’, which are hard to recover.

There are two types of solution short-run solution so that the economic system of the world will not collapse creating mass unemployment. There is also a long-term solution, so that this type of crisis would not occur in future. Short-term solution must look at the immediate causes of the crisis and try to resolve these. The long-term solutions must be aimed at reforming the present system so that this type of crisis would not occur in future.

Immediate cause of the crisis is lack of resources in the banks to maintain the credit system flowing so that companies that depend on the banking system can survive. Another cause is the huge stocks of worthless option, derivatives and mortgage backed securities, which are now reduced to the status of junk bonds. Throwing money to the banks and the companies will not solve the problem, as the US government is trying to do now. Nationalisation of the entire banking system along with the major companies is needed to solve this problem. Nationalisation will help the government to refinance the depleted stock of the banks and to help major companies to survive. That will help their supplier companies and their sales outlets along with the trading companies to survive.

For the long-term solution we need to go back to the advice of two great economists, during the 1930s depression, which were so far rejected by the world. In 1934 Ragner Frisch (Circulation Planning: Proposal for a National Organization of a Commodity and Service Exchange”, Econometrica, 1934) has suggested a National Exchange replacing the stock market, where the companies will be allowed to sell their shares only if they will provide complete information about their business. Investors must keep these shares for a specified period and cannot do speculation trading with these. If they want to sell the shares they must sell these back to the company itself. The company can sell more of its shares only if it permitted by the National Exchange provided it has good prospect. Thus, the valuation of a company will not depend on the speculation and rumours in the stock market but on the honest information collected by the National Exchange about these companies.

This will rule out speculation altogether, as the secondary stock markets today do not contribute directly to the investment funds of the companies, but only create artificial often misleading valuation of the companies. Those today depend on these artificial valuations of the stock market and do trading can be ruined easily. This is the situation for most of the large investment funds, pension funds, unit trusts, which were mislead by the stock market and now facing bankruptcies ruining the lives of millions of investors and pensioners. Other speculative instruments like options, derivatives, and future prices must be disallowed as well by the National Exchange, who would advice the banks to invest directly to the companies as they do in both Germany and Japan today. Both Japan and Germany are comparatively more stable than the Anglo-American world.

John Keynes suggested another long-term solution in 1948 at the time of the foundation of the International Monetary Fund to redesign the world’s financial architecture (‘Shaping the Post-War World: The Clearing Union’, in The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes. Vol. XXV. Activities). The idea is that no country will be allowed to keep more than a certain amount of its surplus from the balance of payments. Today, China’s reserve of foreign currencies has exceeded a trillion US Dollar causing blockages of the financial flows. Keynes idea was that the member countries of the IMF might keep up to one year’s import costs as reserve of foreign currency. The rest they have to deposit to the IMF, so that these surplus can be distributed to the countries in need of investments.

However, these are not enough. American crisis is the result of a trading system that provides no supports for the workers who are the consumers. If the American workers have no jobs, their consumption spending will fall, creating less and less demand for the domestic economy, creating more unemployment and less tax revenues for the government. This cycle of misery was created about 20 years ago, when serious effort to dismantle trade restriction was initiated. The result is the massive rise of China, who has kept its exchange rate at a very low level artificially by having a fixed exchange rate, which does not depend on the international currency market. Yet China, which has no trade union, with massively abused worker with very low wages, control on all aspects of investments, was admitted in the World Trade Organization as a market economy, because China supplies cheap products to the Western corporations, who consider their profit more valuable than the fortune of their own people.

For all countries, it would be better to have a trade management system in which each country pays for its imports with its own currency. A country cannot import if its currency has no demand or in other wards it has nothing to export. In that case, an exporting country would be obliged to buy from the country to which it exports. Thus, China will be obliged to buy from USA if it wants to export to USA. The system would not lead to a massive surplus for one country and a deficit for another, but rather to a balanced trade regime that benefits everyone. The WTO, instead of being an arbitrator and promoter of “free trade,” should be an advisory council for planning such a trade system so as to maximize the interests of everyone.

Conclusion:

Nationalization of the banks, including the Federal Reserve System of USA, which is a private enterprise, will help countries to regulate the financial market for the benefit of the economy and the people. Abolition of speculative activities in the secondary stock market will protect the genuine investors. Abolition of derivative market and the credit-debt swap market and their reinsurance, which has caused the debt crisis in Greece and other European countries to provoke them to borrow more than their ability to pay, will help cool down the financial madness and help the banking system to survive. A managed trading system will rule out economic exploitation of one country by another by destroying economy of one country by another with cheap export items manufactured by slave labourers and an artificially low exchange rate, as China is doing now. Debt crisis in Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy were caused by the investment banks like Goldman Sachs who provokes countries and companies to take loan and then create derivative that they will fail to pay off. As a result, the debtor country suffers along with its companies and the people but the investment banks make gigantic profit. Debt crisis in USA was caused by excessive defence spending to finance the invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and possibly now Syria and the same speculative lending by these same investment banks to the American poor who could not afford to buy houses. The crisis of unemployment in USA, UK, and Japan are caused by a trading system where China has managed to ruin their manufacturing industries through its cheap exports. In India as well, about 26 percent of the manufacturing industry is now taken over by the Chinese exports causing serious unemployment.

The solution cannot be available within the given economic system. Thus an outside-of-the-box solution is needed. This is the real demand for the demonstrators in front of the Wall Street. They don’t want to destroy the system but want the system to respond to the needs of the people.

Goa "HERALD": Contact Tulsidas For "Paid News" Section

2011-10-25T02:05:00.000-07:00

GOA'S PAID PIPER -- Paid political interview in Goa's Herald newspaper for Rs 86,400

MAYABHUSHAN

“The phenomenon of ‘paid news’ has acquired serious dimensions. Today, it goes beyond the corruption of individual journalists and media companies and has become pervasive, structured and highly organized. In the process, it is undermining democracy in India.”

These are the grave opening remarks of the Press Council of India’s (PCI) report on paid news in the Indian media, in July last year. The report compiled by the PCI was based on the findings of its sub committee which pored through evidence, in form of published articles in newspapers both vernacular and English, which were suspected as ‘paid news’ content.

The four audio files and transcripts below go a step ahead. The conversations in these audio files with the marketing manager for both Herald newspaper, Goa’s leading English daily and Herald Cable Network (HCN) a cable news channel owned by the lay bare how a typical political paid news deal is struck, especially with elections around the corner. Many in the media and other informed sections of society, would already know that piety pouting newspapers across the country have been brazenly cracking ‘editorial content for cash’ deals, but these conversations show how easy it really is to crack a paid news deal in the Indian -- and case in point here -- the media in Goa.

Buying editorial space in a newspaper is almost as easy as walking up to a store counter and buying a change of underwear.

Here we have a reputed Goan media house welcoming paid news content and dishing out a rate chart for paid political interviews, both on behalf of its English daily news paper ‘Herald’ and for its local cable news channel, Herald Cable Newtork (HCN).

It is necessary to mention here, that although I am a journalist by profession, I have undertaken this ‘paid news buster’ exercise, solely as a reader of the newspaper, which I subscribe to at home. That is one of the reasons why I chose this newspaper.

The other reason being that, Herald over the last few weeks has been running dubious interview after interview of ‘potential’ candidates for the forthcoming state assembly elections which are scheduled to happen sometime next year.

A source in the Herald informed me that money was being exchanged by the newspaper’s employees – both editorial and marketing – for publishing the political interviews.

I called up the Herald boardline on October 20 posing as Bernard Costa, a fictitious person wanting to contest assembly elections from the Velim assembly constituency in south Goa. On the same day, Herald had carried another dubious and suspected paid political interview of Raymond D’Sa, who had claimed that he vying for a Congress ticket for the Cortalim assembly seat and had wanted to “serve the poor and needy” (sic).

The receptionist at the Herald gave me the number to Tulsidas Desai 9822568376 – a marketing manager at the Herald. What unfolded between Tulsidas and ‘Bernard’ (i.e. me) is represented below in form of four audio files. They are unedited phone conversations, transcripts for which are also available. Here's audio file number 2. http://youtu.be/JjhIhQSCkTw

I have already dispatched a complaint to the Press Council of India, Election Commission of India, Goa Union of Journalists as well as several media blogs, journalists and concerned civil society persons, in order to put the information I had in the public domain and with the relevant authorities.

Tulsidas Desai

Keeping the current example in context, Herald is not the only news paper which has been institutionally allowing paid news content in Goa at the moment, but I put forth this case because I could establish a connection between the editorial content and the price that is to be paid for it. There are a couple of other vernacular newspaper published from outside Goa, who have already cracked deals with a young Congress minister and it is showing in the content. The newspaper’s editor and the vernacular newspaper’s very special correspondent is involved in this particular deal.

In the Herald case too, it would be naive to believe that a marketing manager, in this case Tulsidas, can push a deal like this without the consent, tacit or otherwise, of the editorial leadership of the newspaper.

Here in the case before you, the deal Tulsidas cracked with me was to publish my interview in the Herald for Rs 86,400 (for a fifteen inch and eight column spread) and on HCN, a half an hour interview thrice a day.(audio file number 3) http://youtu.be/8U8YBT7Tv6M

And the gall of these guys to tell the interviewee to drop by with a questionnaire himself!!!!

The things to look out for in this story are:

We are not just talking about paid news in the air here. When Tulsidas is asked about the rates for political paid interviews, he mentioned the Raymond D’sa interview published in the Herald on Oct 20 and the nearabouts price the newspaper got paid for it. Tulsidas is no novice intern at the Herald, he is a marketing manager and obviously knows the paid news rate card set by the newspaper.

Raymond’s was not the only published paid political interview in print. There are several other dubious article which have been publised by the Herald earlier, which should be looked into by the Press Council of India and the newspaper’s readers. Interestingly most of these interviews were carried in the same slot, on Page four top deck.

There was an interview of Sankalp Amonkar, a potential Congress candidate published on October 3 also carrying the same byline.

There was Somnath Zuwarkar, another potential Congress candidate’s interview published on September 19

Another political hopeful Sameer Salgaonkar was interviewed on September 12.

Michael Lobo who is a potential BJP candidate from Calangute constituency has been interviewed on August 15

Tulio de Souza, son in law of former deputy chief minsiter Wilfred de Souza and also a potential election candidate from the Saligao constituency has already been positioned as a winner, in perhaps one of the most lopsided ‘constituency analysis’ segment.

Not too surprising, that all the potential candidates here have one thing common other than the fact that they have featured in Herald’s suspected paid news interviews. All of them are extremely rich folks.

How the silver earned in exchange for the paid news interviews was shared, is anybodys' guess!

P.S. If any media persons wants to run a story on this revelation, I could send across a zip file containing all the relevant details. I am on mayabhushan@gmail.com
P.P.S. Readers, who believe the paid news needs to be addressed can spread the story and the audio files around on mail and social networking sites.
P.P.S. If you guy wish to take up the paid news issue with Herald and want to register your protest, feel free to contact the 'people's paper' and its reps on:

Board numbers
0091-832-2224202, 2224460, 2228083/ info@oheraldo.in

Editor in chief and owner Raul Fernandes 0091 9822100188
Editor Sujay Gupta 0091 9923057937
General Manager Michael Pereira 9822122304
Marketing Manager Tulsidas Desai 9822568376

(COURTESY: MAYABHUSHAN & http://www.paidnewsingoa.blogspot.com/)

Anna Says, " चांडाळ-चौकडीला नेस्तनाबूत करा !"RISE AND FIGHT AGAINST ‘GANG OF FOUR’ !

2011-10-25T01:17:00.000-07:00

Anna literally writing for his blog !!!

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Namaskar!

Kiran Bedi has been accused of being involved in air-travel corruption. She has time and again made it clear that if she has done such a thing and used the money for the benefit of her family then the government should take help of one of its own inquiry agencies and if found guilty should take stringent actions against her.

But the government doesn’t seem forthcoming in taking such a step. To accuse and humiliate seems to be the mantra of the few. This is not the first time that such accusations have been leveled against Kiran Bedi. Every member of ‘Team Anna’ had to face accusations and character assassination by the ‘gang of four’. Who are these people? Those are the very same people who are not in favor of Janlokpal Bill.

Let’s give it a thought to the initial days of the movement when Joint Committee was to be formed to draft Janlokpal Bill. Who were the people opposing the Committee? You will realize these were the very same ‘gang of four’ who stood in opposition. After much deliberation on 5^th April 2011 I began my fast on Jantar mantar where people gathered in large numbers. It was then they realized their mistake and agreed to form a ‘Joint Committee’.

चांडाळ-चौकडीला नेस्तनाबूत करा !

On 4^th June 2011 as Ramdev Baba’s agitation was in progress on Ramlila Maidan I was supposed to meet him on the following day i.e. 5^th June 2011. But on the night of 4^thJune 2011, at 1:30 pm the Delhi police launched a brutal attack on the unsuspecting crowd of men and women old and young alike and innocent children. The Government’s intention was clear-‘Anna Hazare and Ramdev Baba should not meet’. By ruthlessly beating up women was the Delhi police trying to prove they are man enough? Who were these men who did lathi charge on the women? Those were the same people who are now playing accusatory games aren’t they? The mystery will surely unfold.

Joint Committee was formed but these people did not want the Janlokpal Bill passed. This ‘gang of four’ now started accusing Shri. Shanti Bhushan and Shri. Prashant Bhushan on the CD issue. Like Kiran Bedi, Shri. Shanti Bhushan and Shri. Prashant Bhushan too maintained their stand on being innocent and asked the government to conduct an enquiry in to the matter. But these people are aware that their aim will not be fulfilled if they follow the legal path. The only way out was to spread dissention in ‘Team Anna’ thereby spreading misconceptions among people who will be dissuaded from participating in the movement.

One of the honest members of Team Anna, retired Judge Shri Hegde Saheb who was responsible for sending the BJP Chief-Minister behind bars was also accused. Who were these people? You will soon understand that these were the same ‘gang of four.’ Accusations were leveled against Arvind Kejriwal and he was attacked with slipper in one of his gatherings. Who was behind this act? On 16^th August 2011, I was to hold a demonstration in Delhi demanding the government pass the Janlokpal Bill. It was for more than a month that I was trying to seek permission for obtaining a venue for the same through letters and personal visits. But purposefully we were not assigned a place for my fast and the matter was stretched until 15^th August 2011. They applied IPC 144 on all the public places in Delhi. Finally we de cided we will get ourselves arrested and go on fast in jail. The ‘gang of four’ were behind this conspiracy is now clear.

Early morning at 6’0 clock on 16^th August 2011, I was arrested from my house. I had not committed any crime hence they had no right to arrest me from my house. These people wanted to humiliate me intentionally. I was sent to Tihar Jail. It was four in the afternoon till necessary formalities were completed and we were taken in to Tihar Jail. We were allotted one room, set of clothes and at 6:00 pm an officer came with the news that my sentence was pardoned and I was free to leave. We have been directed to leave you at the place where you were arrested from.

I was surprised as the government had arrested me because my protest was causing disharmony and within next two hours I was set free! Had the government had some sort of divine intervention? Is this government a joke? You arrest someone at your whim and then set them free. Is this democracy? The police resorted to lathi charge on the peaceful protestors and whisked away Ramdev Baba to Haridwar in the middle of the night at 2:00 am by plane and was prohibited from stepping in to Delhi. His movement was crushed and now the ‘gang of four’ wanted to do the same to me. Their plan was to release me from jail and under the pretext of taking me home bundle me in to a car and take me to Delhi airport where an air-force plane was waiting to taxi out. Next I was to be flown to Pune and kept at unknown place; all this to thwart my m ovement in Delhi. Who was behind this conspiracy? These were the same people who were spreading derogatory remarks about ‘Team Anna’. Their conscious is not clear. I was suspicious right from the beginning when the jail authorities planned to release me within two hours of my arrest. I flatly refused to leave the jail premises. I told them if I was given a seven day sentence then I will stay in jail for seven days.

The said officer passed on my message to the senior D.I.G who said I had come out of the jail to meet him in his office hence I cannot go back. I replied, ‘I came here because you wanted to speak to me and now you say I cannot go back, this is wrong on your part. You are not letting me go back in the prison neither I am stepping out of the prison gate. You have to push me or else carry me out.’ I refused to budge out of the jail. Thus the tables were overturned on the ‘gang of four’ as the officers carried out discussions with the government past one in the night. My decision had landed them in trouble. They were clueless as to what was to be done. For the next three days I was neither in jail nor outside jail. I was in D.I.G’s office. I had not had my bath for three days as there was no bathing facility there. Thu s the people realized that the government had covert plan in its mind and hence the people lost their temper. The ‘gang of four’ had conspired to put me in jail so that they can cast aspersions on my team.

The government had no alternative but to grant permission to carry out my agitation on Ramlila grounds. When I came out of the jail I was overwhelmed by the large crowd that had gathered there. Whenever the ‘gang of four’ tried to play mischief their tables were overturned and once again they found themselves on the receiving end. For the next two and half months Joint Committee met seven times. The issues raised by Team Anna were discussed at length and then they did a turn-a-about. We will present your draft of Janlokpal Bill before the cabinet they assured us but in reality they presented government’s weak draft which had deadly loopholes in the issue bypassing what we had to say.

I do not blame all the ministers from the Congress party or the Government as a whole. There are some righteous and committed people in the government but they cannot raise their voice because of this ‘gang of four’. We are dashing off letters to all our members that saints, Mahatma’s, Prophets and Great men had to endure hardships and criticism when they tried to do good to humanity. (I appeal to my closer ones) Please do not react again and again on any or repeated allegations made by the ‘gang of four’ (and their agents from various fields). People are wise enough to understand what the truth is. Thus it becomes futile on their part. Corruption has driven people to their brink. People are weary of the rising corruption level. That is the reason the people of this country are unhappy with the present government.< /p>

Corruption has given way to inflation. It is becoming difficult for the common man to run his house. The common man understands we are fighting for his sake. Hence no matter how many aspersions are cast on us people’s support for us will remain undeterred. We have to move ahead through the obstacles. People who chose the path of righteousness always have to face difficulties. But truth has always prevailed as seen in history. So we should keep walking the path of truth.

The only thought that keeps us going and binds us together is it doesn’t matter if someone is trying to spread dissent in the ‘Team Anna’ or maligning our reputation. Why do people stoop so such low level? They have their own reasons. They are afraid if Janlokpal Bill is passed they will be stripped off their power. They will no longer be able to take bribe. Hence under any circumstances they will see to it that the Janlokpal Bill as a law does not come in to existence. They will keep blaming Team Anna so they can go on doing corruption.

The number of Ministers who are opposing Janlokpal Bill in Cabinet is handful. It is similar to a village where there are 2 to 4 goons who hold the entire village to ransom. In government there is a majority of people who are righteous but can’t go against these ruffians. Leaving aside these specific 4 to 6 people no one points a finger at us.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured us in writing that he will pass a law in favor of Janlokpal Bill during this winter session. He has also given this assurance before television channels. Shri. Salman Khurshid too has promised people that he will see to it that Janlokpal Bill is passed during the winter session. This shows that righteous people are in majority as to ‘gang of four’. The way these people are leveling allegations against Team Anna it shows they are not bothered for the well-being of our nation or society at large. They are casting aspersions on others for their own selfish interests. They are quite capable of pressurizing the government not to bring Janlokpal Bill and if need be might take help of the handful belonging to the opposition party.

But I think this storm will give birth to Lalbahadur Shastri’s Congress, Vallabh Bhai Patel’s Congress and Kamraj’s Congress. Today people will carefully sort out the unwanted from the list and this to happen is the need of the hour. In order to achieve a bright future and corruption free India the country and its country men have to do this. If need be I too will tour the nation and campaign for the cause.

I will be writing a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the draft for the Janlokpal Bill to be passed should be put on the internet so that people can have a look at it and not limit it to the Joint Committee. Late Prime Minister Shri. Rajiv Gandhi before making amendments in the 73^rd and 74rth Act had sent a letter to 5.5 lac villages to call for Gramsabha vote. When we speak about democracy, Independence and Republic we have to take the people of this country in confidence before any law is drafted. But as per Prime Minister and the other Ministers assurances I have kept on hold my agitation till the winter session. If the law is not passed in the winter session then I will tour the five places where assembly elections are due to be held and then tour the rest of India during national elections. People should make it a point that they form a resolution on the Janlokpal Bill to be passed in Winter Session or else we will once again agitate and send it across through their village panchayat and Gramsabha to Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and to the President. From all over India 35 to 40 lac resolutions should reach the government.

When resolution for Lokpal Bill is passed a bill for Lokayukt should be brought and the state’s Chief-Minister, Governor should pass a resolution for this purpose. The directives for Lokayukt Bill will be sent on behalf of the Government. Before that a resolution comprising of our demands should be sent to the Chief-Minister and the Governor of our own state. We are short on time hence please send the said resolution as soon as possible. Those who are trying to create mischief will learn a lesson. This is the only opportunity we have in order to get a corruption free India, ‘now or never’. If the Government goes back on its word and refrains from passing the Janlokpal Bill then it will have to face much more damage than they are facing now. But if a stringent Janlokpal Bill is passed then the government will be able to bounce back from the damage it has faced till now. For the past 25 to 30 years I have led agitations without taking in to consideration any political party, person, part of society, state but have always kept in mind the well-being of the nation. Henceforth my agitations won’t be any different.

Inquilab Zindabad! Vande Mataram! Bharat Mata Ki Jai!

K. B. Hazare (Anna)