Quote:WHISTLEBLOWERS INDIA







(An action group for Whistleblowers in India)

___________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________



14th January 2010



1) Smt. Sonia Gandhi,

President, Indian National Congress

10, Janpath,

New Delhi – 110 001







2) Dr. Manmohan Singh,

Prime Minister,

New Delhi



3) Mr. Prithviraj Chavan,

Minister of State – Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions,

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO), South Block, Raisina Hill,

New Delhi -110 011.





4) Shri Ashok Chavan,

Chief Minister, Maharashtra,

Mantralaya, Mumbai – 400 032

Tel. 22025151 / 22025222. Fax 23633272.



5) Shri R.R.Patil,

Home Minister, Maharashtra,

Mantralaya, Mumbai – 400 032

Tel. 30235555



6) Shri J. P. Dange,

Chief Secretary, Maharashtra,

Mantralaya, Mumbai – 400 032

Tel. 22025042 / 22028762, Ext. 3747. Fax 22028594





7) Smt. Chandra Iyengar,

Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Maharashtra,

Mantralaya, Mumbai – 400 032

Tel. 22029959, Ext. 3757. Fax 22854646.



8) Smt. Medha Gadgil,

Principal Secretary (Home), Maharashtra,

Mantralaya, Mumbai – 400 032

Tel. 22028648, Ext 3283. Fax 22026070.





9) Shri A. N. Roy,

Director General of Police, Maharashtra State,

State Police Head Quarters, Opposite Regal Cinema, Mumbai – 400 039.

Tel. 22026072.





10) Shri Pratap Dighavkar,

Superintendent of Police, Pune (Rural),

Chavan Nagar, Pashan Road, Pune - 8.

Tel. 020-25657878. Fax 020-25655050.





Respected Madam / Sir,



Subject : Brutal Murder of Whistleblower Satish Shetty of Pune District.



Reference : Several newspaper reports including Times of India, Indian Express, Mid-Day, Hindu, Pune Mirror.



Shri Satish Shetty, 38 years old, was killed by swords by unidentified masked attackers while he was taking a walk yesterday at about 7 am near Talegaon. The murder triggered instant protests in the city with shop owners in the Panchavati and Jijamata chowk area downing shutters in protest. Only last week, Shetty had filed a complaint that a two-wheeler had tried to run him over at Jijamata chowk in Talegaon. He had also applied for police protection which was under process.



Shetty had exposed several major land scams in the Talegaon-Lonavala region, involving wrongful gains of about Rs.4,000 crores; apart from several other frauds, illegal constructions & black marketeering in kerosene. Earlier, he had also exposed certain corrupt land deals in & around the Mumbai-Pune expressway.



Shetty had dedicated his life to helping people, to public causes & to improving governance by using RTI, filing criminal complaints & petitioning courts. Shetty was a genuine social worker & an iconic anti-corruption crusader, hence the nation owes itself justice delivery on a war footing.



We pray for the following actions :



1) Identification of accused on a war-footing & their arrest.

2) Proper collection of evidence & witness protection.

3) Adequate police custody and unbiased investigation.

4) Timely submission of charge-sheet. No police delay.

5) Timely trial & conviction. No judicial delay.

6) Exemplary punishment to anyone who tries to protect the accused.







Yours truly,

Quote:The number of people claiming benefits reserved for the poor using the so-called BPL card in some states, such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, exceeds the total number of households.

In other words there are more BPL-card-holding families than the total number of households in the state. And that means people who need assistance — such as low-cost grain — don’t get their share of it.



To be sure, this is not a new trend, but the latest data — as on March 31, 2009 — with the food ministry indicates that the situation has worsened. This is significant in the context of the government’s food security agenda. The implementation of the food security bill without a clean-up would imply largescale leakages.



The BPL card helps obtain benefits under the government’s poverty alleviation schemes as well as to access cheap foodgrains from the public distribution system, subsidised health insurance and scholarships.



According to data from the ministry, in 10 states at least one in two households held a BPL card. In Tamil Nadu and Andhra, the proportion of BPL cardholders to total number of households was 142% and 120.20% respectively.



The number of BPL families is estimated by the Planning Commission based on surveys every five years by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Based on the 61st round of NSSO, the Commission classified 28.30% of rural households as BPL.

...

Quote:The Indian Air Force has approached the Delhi High Court to recover dues amounting to nearly Rs 54 lakhs from former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda for the use of official aircraft allegedly for non-official purposes.



The force has been trying to recover the dues from the former prime minister since 1996-97 when the alleged use of the IAF planes was made for purposes other than official, a series of RTI replies show.



"It is mentioned that Chandrashekhar, P V Narasimha Rao, H D Deve Gowda and V C Shukla had availed airlift facilities of IAF for non-official purposes during their tenure as Prime Ministers and Cabinet Minister," IAF had said in an RTI reply in 2008.



According to IAF, it has to recover dues of about Rs 5.91 crore from Chandrashekhar, Rs 54.61 lakh from Deve Gowda and Rs 4.60 lakh from former Union Minister V C Shukla. It had said the amount was due from their "political parties".



"A case for recovery of outstanding amount against former Prime Minister H D Devegowda for his non-official use of IAF aircraft during his tenure as PM is pending in the court of Registrar, High Court of Delhi. The case is at an admission stage. The next date of hearing in July 1, 2010," the IAF said in the RTI reply dated June 23, 2010 on the

issue.



The force said Defence Ministry has resorted to various legal and administrative measures including filing of civil suits to recover the amount.

The civil suit filed against Chandrashekhar in Delhi High Court in 2001 has been dismissed on January 24, 2008 as he passed away.

Quote:Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers MK Alagiri is embroiled in a fresh controversy – Horlicks scandal. The Minister recently distributed about 9,000 packets of Horlicks as freebies at a medical camp. The Horlicks packets are now being allegedly linked to robbery of the health drink packets being transported from Haryana on a truck six days before the medical camp. The truck was looted close to the medical camp site in Andipatti in Tamil Nadu.

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Quote:Asking people to treat the Commonwealth Games as a national festival, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday exuded confidence that the country will successfully host the October event, preparations for which have been plagued by controversies.



"The Commonwealth Games will start in Delhi after about one-and-a-half months. This will be a proud moment for the whole country and especially for Delhi," Singh said addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.



"I am convinced that all our countrymen will treat the Games as a national festival and will leave no stone unturned to make them a success," he said.



The Prime Minister said a successful Delhi Games would also be a signal that India is rapidly marching ahead.



"The successful organisation of Commonwealth Games would be another signal to the world that India is rapidly marching ahead with confidence," he said.



The preparations for Commonwealth Games have been marred by a spate of corruption charges and delay in construction works following which the Prime Minister stepped in and gave overriding powers to a committee of secretaries to supervise the event.



Observing that there have been slippages in time schedules and deficiencies, Singh yesterday directed thorough probes into complaints of procedural and other irregularities by the ministries concerned and said that those found guilty should face severe and exemplary punishment.