Former chief election commissioner rewarded with Cabinet Post
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"Making persons who have held constitutional posts an MP first and then minister on party nomination definitely raises the question of propriety because this can be interpreted as rewards for past work," party spokesperson Prakash Javdekar said here. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Expect current election commissioner to be rewarded too in future since he's gone the extra mile to keep UPA happy.
<b>Our minister for youth affairs is 71</b>!<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->So whom does our scholarly prime minister appoint as minister for youth affairs and sports? A man who faces 72 candles on the birthday cake two months from today! Can you think of anything sillier?
Actually, 'silly' is not the word for this particular appointment; I think 'dangerous' might be the better choice of word. Because the man in question is none other than that former Chief Election Commissioner Dr M S Gill, and in appointing him the prime minister has crossed a line.
...........
A prime minister sitting in the Rajya Sabha and a former chief election commissioner joining party politics are not crimes, Dr Manmohan Singh, but they are certainly blunders.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What else one can expect from Moron SIngh , appointed Prime Minsiter of India, he had to promote his brother somehow.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Poor are eating more and it's a challenge: Kamal Nath; south indians eat chapati's causing wheat shortage: Sharad Pawar
Wow, the great genius, economic-pundits have spoken. What survey did Kamal Nath or Sharad Pawar conduct through the GOI machineries, to arrive at these breath-taking conclusions about changes in eating habits of poor people and about the tamarind-eating south Indians? (Patanjali had noted that Dravida-s are so called because they eat tamarind).
Is it because they are eating more that many poor farmers are also driven to suicide?
If the economic mismanagement of the economy by open loot of funds from the central exchequer (Lalu's fodder scam pales into insignificance compared to this ongoing loot during the last few years), can result in poor people eating more, Sonia Gandhi and her chamcha-s can go round the country and claim it as a victory of the UPA's policies supported by the CPM. The rural employment guarantee scheme launched on the advice the Belgian-born economic kid on the block (Jean Dreze) means an open loot of the exchequer with no accountability and no work to show anyb contribution to enhancing nation's wealth. A culture of dependence is sought to be built among the poor people of the nation by using what Arun Shourie has rightly called 'My hoon na...' answer to every problem related to mismanagement of the annual budget or fiscal policy or allowing share markets to run riot using bogus derivative instruments and promissory notes.
I hope the opposition parties using these great one-liners of Kamal Nath and also Sharad Pawar to wipe the UPA and CPM-chamcha's out of India's political scene.
xxx
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Poor are eating more and it's a challenge: Kamal Nath
By - Kay Benedict
NEW DELHI: The inflation rate touched a three-year high of 7% on Friday pushing a panic button in the government as the ruling Congress continued to grope in the dark to arrest the galloping prices of essential commodities.
A few days after agriculture minister Sharad <b><span style='color:red'>Pawar blamed the south Indians for eating more chapatis causing wheat shortage, commerce minister Kamal Nath on Friday said increased food consumption by poor people is a challenge before the government. </b></span>
"We have great supply-side challenges in India at the moment with 15 million people moving from having one meal a day to two meals a day," Nath said on the the sidelines of a conference in Singapore.
"Consumption of foodgrains have nearly doubled," he said. Nath also said the government will take stern action against hoarders and blackmarketeers, a step, the Left parties have been demanding since several months, to contain price rise.
Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, undaunted by criticism by a section of Congressmen for his being indifferent to the price rise, said, "there was sufficient foodgrains in the stock and therefore there is no need to worry. And that the steps taken by the government would take a few days to yield results."
Under pressure from the allies, especially the Left which is threatening to launch a "militant" agitation across the country, the union cabinet had on Monday announced a slew of measures to contain spiralling prices. Not satisfied by the "half-hearted" steps such as slashing import duty on crude edible oil and other edible oils, the CPI(M) is planning to call on prime minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the issue.
The Left in conjunction with the United National Progressive Alliance parties are meeting here on Tuesday to discuss contours of a joint agitation against skyward prices.
"Well, I would say this particular price increase is really the effect of certain situations in the international economic," said noted economist Arjun Sengupta. "The problem that has been caused recently is metal price increase. Wheat prices have started slackening, the essential commodity prices are not going up as fast. There is a major problem and it is what to do with the essential commodities," Sengupta said.
"The mistake that everybody is making - according to me - is talking about inflation in general. This inflation is not a momentary phenomenon because our domestic demand has not got out of sync with international demand," he said.
Putting up a brave front Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, "wait for a few weeks more for the cumulative impact of the measures we have taken. There is no magic button. If the opposition knows one, they should let us know. We are more concerned than anybody else."
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1158662
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Pawar blamed the south Indians for eating more chapatis causing wheat shortage, commerce minister Kamal Nath on Friday said increased food consumption by poor people is a challenge before the government. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Congress solution, add stones in wheat.
I just can't believe morons of India had started talking from their behinds.
2% growth rate works for Congress. Vajpayee Government started very wrong culture, now people have started asking more, expectations are high. Taking U-turn may not work now.
No jail records of Priyankaâs visit <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Though Ms Vadra has confirmed her meeting with Nalini, officials at the Prison Department in Tamil Nadu maintained that prison records had no entry about the visit.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
How the rules are being bent by the high and mighty.
Play review in Asian Age. Read till the end to see how it pertains to this thread!
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Khurshid plays a new role
Meanwhile | Sarju Kaul
London: Itâs a snapshot of Mughal history with Bahadur Shah Zafar acting as a guide.
Former Union minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid, has returned to writing fiction with his play Sons of Babur, which is named Babur Ki Aulad in Hindi and Urdu versions.
Khurshid, who in his college days in St Stephenâs, Delhi, had written what he described as a "small novel" about an Indian Air Force pilot called Answer At Dawn, said he was keen to write a novel for a long time now. However, due to time constraints, he decided to write a play instead.
The title of the two-and-a-half-hour play was based on the jibe that many Muslims face, Khurshid said, adding that despite some of his politician colleagues being worried about the title, he went ahead with it.
Mr Khurshid, who started writing the play seven years ago, said it was hard to juggle writing with being a full-time politician, especially as he had two stints as the president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee during the period.
However, the actual writing time was not more than six months, he said. "I would keep losing those little bit of writings I used to manage. However, the 150th anniversary of the first war of Independence in 1857 inspired me to wrap up the play," he said. "I took some time off and finally finished the play," he added.
The play, said the lawyer-turned-politician, attempts to rediscover the term "nationhood" and explores the reasons for communal conflict in the country.
Bahadur Shah Zafar, who was deposed by the British after the 1857 uprising, is one of the main characters in the play along with a young university student, Rudra.
The young student travels back in time to visit the first Mughal emperor Babur and a snapshot of the Mughal history unfolds.
<b>Zafar takes Rudra "through the bloodstained and eventful passages of the Mughal history to unravel its workings and intrigues; sacrifices and disappointments."</b>
The story is old, itâs history, but the freshness is in its presentation, Khurshid said. He said he consulted his historian friends to ensure that the historical events he was referring to in his play were correct.
Khurshid said he sent the play to actor-director Naseeruddin Shah before it was published.
"He has shown interest in staging the play. There are no concrete plans as yet, he said, but added that there would be play reading next month in Mumbai.
Khurshid is keen on staging the play and said once the play is staged only then would he consider a TV series or a film.
The play, which has already been translated in Urdu and Hindi, will be staged by the Urdu Academy of Delhi at the Old Fort in a huge, lavish presentation. The author said his play will be translated into other regional languages and also in French.
Khurshid said politicians need to make contributions in fields apart from politics. "I had always desired to remain connected to literature even though I did not pursue it as my career after that first novel," he said.
Reactions to his play have been mostly positive, he said, adding that the toughest part was that others could not differentiate between a writer and a politician. "Mostly people see it as a political statement," he said.
<b>Khurshid also defended his decision to dedicate the play to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.</b>
<b>"It is not sycophancy," he said, adding that it just acknowledged work and sacrifices of the Congress leader, who faced the identity issue.</b>
As he has taken to writing fiction, Khurshid said in no way should his fellow politicians think that he was slowing his pace or even thinking of retiring from politics.
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I had mentioned to one of our members that a body of the INC thinks its time for a Christian dynasty to rule India. Here Salman Khurshid invokes Babur to shore up Sonia Gandhi's identity and addresses the average Hindu student "Rudra".
I think its very important to call this Sonia Gandhi dynasty and not Nehru-Gandhi dynasty for there is a significant change in the charcter and makeup of this coterie.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL BANKRUPTCY OF THE CONGRESS PARTY
Dr. Babu Suseelan
Hinduism is the central part of India civilization. Yet, since independence, Hindu culture, values, and spiritual practices had been ignored, neglected, or disparaged by the ruling Congress Party. It seems that that few Congress Party politicians understand the importance of Hindu culture, its eclectic philosophy and all inclusive nature. Without Hinduism there can be no freedom, pluralism, secularism, harmony and coexistence.
How could the Congress Party has been successful in deceiving the general public for long with its bogus secularism, Islamic appeasement and corruption? The Congress Party has failed miserably to defending our borders, Hindus, Hindu culture, or to do anything more than protecting their own narrow political interests. As a party, the Congress has reduced its mind and heart to the level of intellectual and moral bankruptcy, outright dishonesty, corruption, ineptitude, nepotism, and inefficiency. These immoral practices have become the fallback mode of the Congress leaders. In the name of pseudo secularism, Congress moral relativists, atheists, and agnostics want to appease Muslims and want to overturn traditional Hindu culture and moral values.
Now the Congress Party headed by the Italian Catholic Sonia is devising new cunning schemes to restrict our liberties. For several years, Hindu organizations around the world had exposed Congress leaders despicable behavior and corrupt practices.
For the last few years, Indian American Intellectual Forum in New York is in forefront in exposing corrupt and immoral practices of the Congress Party and its Italian catholic leader Sonia. Narain Ktaria, Arish Sahani and Indian American Intellectual Forum members have expressed concerns about Jihadi terrorism, Sonia's deceptive statements about her background including her education and corrupt practices of the Congress Party. Indian American Intellectual Forum and its leaders have been trying to inform Hindus on the corrosive, violent, and immoral effect of the Congress Party. The public is aware Indian American Intellectual Forum is one of the most important organizations devoted solely to finding and amplifying sane and progressive voices. The Congress Party leaders are offended by Indian American Intellectual Forum and its leader's claim to the moral high ground.
Now Sonia and her ilk have filed a law suit against Narain Kataria and Arish Sahani, leaders of Indian American Intellectual Forum. It is an act of cold blooded strategy to silence Hindus. It is directed not merely against Indian American Intellectual Form, Narain Kataria, and Arish Sahani but it is directed against all Hindus. It is a sinister strategy to silence, intimidate, threaten and coerce all Hindus around the world.
What is the lawsuit really about? It seems is intimidation--intimidation of anyone inclined to raise questions or express concerns about the Italian Catholic Sonia who head the Congress Party. It is meant to silence her critics. Faced with the cost and time of defending themselves, plus the emotional drain the threat of lawsuit poses, the intent is to make the defendant give up, shut up and go away.
With this lawsuit, Congress bullies actually think they can fool, frighten and intimidate Hindus around the world. What is more. This legal intimidation has galvanized Hindus around the world and they have determined with all its strength to stop Sonia's plan to export the Congress culture sewage to the rest of the world. The lawsuit also exposes the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the Congress Party headed by the Italian Catholic Sonia.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Nationality issue: Congress MP may have to quit</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Controversial Congress parliamentarian from Assam's Tezpur constituency, Mani Kumar Subba who has been asked by the Supreme Court to respond to CBI's report that he is a Nepalese and his birth certificate is fake, is under pressure from both his own and opposition parties to resign.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why forced, they should just terminate his membership? And slam case against him. He should be behind bar for falsifying record. May not, Queen also filed wrong affidavit to Election Commission. So no Penal Code 420 on them.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Incorrect information </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
A prison visit can't be a state secret
On April 15, 2008, a newspaper broke the story of Ms Priyanka Vadra's meeting in a Vellore prison with Nalini Murugan, convicted for the murder of Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister and the father of Ms Vadra. Later in the day, Ms Vadra confirmed the meeting and requested - as did the Congress - that her privacy be respected, and that she had sought the meeting to bring an extremely painful and traumatic memory to closure. The sentiment is unexceptional and, largely, the media, politicians and people have abided by its spirit. Yet, there is a curious sub-text to the chapter that now requires urgent clarification. <b>On April 8, a lawyer in Chennai moved an application under the Right to Information Act, seeking details of those who met Nalini Murugan in her cell on March 19. On April 11, the superintendent of the Vellore Special Prison for Women, Ms B Rajasoundari, replied to the RTI application, denying that anybody had met Nalini Murugan. The laywer-RTI applicant formally received the denial on April 16. The reply in his hands had been contradicted by the previous day's news frenzy and by Ms Vadra's statement as well. This has led to one of two conclusions. First, Ms Rajasoundari lied, resorted to deliberate misinformation while fulfilling her duties as a public servant and dealing with an RTI application. In essence, she played foul with the transparency the Right to Information Act has sought to institutionalise, and thus severely damaged its credibility. She deserves exemplary punishment, as per the provisions of the law. Her case should be an example for all civil servants who seek to obfuscate the truth under political pressure or to protect the secrecy of well-connected individuals. However, a second conclusion can be arrived at as well. It is possible that Ms Rajasoundari is technically not lying. Perhaps Ms Vadra's visit was extra-legal and covert and, therefore, no official file records it. If that is so, it is a gross breach of the rules and of the principle of equality before the law, for which the Tamil Nadu Government and the Union Home Ministry are both answerable. </b>
It must be stressed that there is no evidence yet that Ms Vadra is guilty of initiating wrongdoing. She merely expressed her desire to meet Nalini Murugan - as, indeed, Devdas Gandhi, the son of the Mahatma, had sought permission to meet Nathuram Godse just before the latter's execution. That matter had gone up to the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who had turned down the request, seeing it as irregular and capable of setting a disquieting precedent. It is possible that the UPA Government has decided to take a more liberal view on the right of murder convicts and death-row prisoners to meet visitors, and has therefore upturned Nehru's wisdom. It would, however, help if the exact rules were made public and were applied equally to all classes of prisoners and visitors. As an economist, the Prime Minister surely knows that a system of exceptions and exemptions, which privileges some citizens over others, is designed to invite suspicion and is also profoundly anti-egalitarian and undemocratic. <b>In the current situation, the overzealousness of the Government, or at any rate of its officials, has led Ms Vadra to embarrassment and caused her to violate rules she may not even have known existed.</b>
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And PM is as usual sleeping. No law of land is applicable on Sonia' s family.
<!--emo&:furious--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' /><!--endemo--> SEX ABUSE SCANDAL: SRINAGAR
Cong in spot after MP alleges Sonia, CM shielded leaders
Muzamil Jaleel
Posted online: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 at 2346 hrs Print Email
SRINAGAR, MAY 5: Jolting his own party in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress MP from Jammu-Rajouri Madan Lal Sharma has alleged that two senior state party leaders, including Assembly Speaker Tara Chand, escaped arrest in the Srinagar sex scandal probe âonly because of the intervention of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azadâ.
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Sharma made these allegations at Sundayâs public rally in Akhnoor. Though today he was disowning his own remarks, he told the gathering in Akhnoor that âhe (Sharma) fell at the feet of Sonia Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azadâ and âsaved Tara Chand and (then Pradesh Congress Committee chief) Peerzada Mohammad Sayeedâ from arrest. He even said these leaders should have been behind bars like Pappu Yadav.
With the BJP demanding his resignation for âshieldingâ Congress leaders, Azad declined comment on the charges, dismissing them as âfrivolousâ. A rattled Azad also convened a meeting of senior party colleagues to discuss damage control measures, while Sonia has summoned Sharma to Delhi.
Allegations about the involvement of senior politicians in the sex scandal did the rounds of Srinagar in the initial days of the probe. In fact, the name of a state minister came up during the proceedings in the court.
Sharmaâs allegations are being seen in the light of the internal politics of the state Congress. A party stalwart from Jammu, Sharma became MP after he was elbowed out of the coalition cabinet. He also left his Assembly constituency in Jammu where the Congress fielded his brother. This slowly took Sharma away from the centrestage of state politics.
Tara Chand, who was elected from a neighbouring constituency, became Speaker of the Legislative Assembly â he emerged as a new power centre in the area. Once close, Sharma and Tara Chand began drifting apart, competing for the Congress leadership and influence in the area.
Reacting to Sharmaâs charge, the Speaker said on Monday: âI am hurt that some top guns in the state are trying to conspire against me... everybody in my constituency and outside knows my image.â
Sharmaâs outburst about his own party colleagues has also put the Congress in a spot. At the political level in Jammu, the Congressâs arch rivals BJP as well as the National Conference will try to make the most of these allegations. And in the Valley, this will create problems for both the Congress and PDP, as here many suspect that the probe was never exhaustive and that the more high profile were shielded.
http://news.hinduworld.com/click_frameset....nia%2F306943%2F
Donât need certificate of patriotism from BJP: Sonia
----
Yeah, b****, you already have a huge laminated certificate from the Vatican. Why does the mighty imperial Gori Chamdi Durga need certificates from the heathens anyway?
Hopes of getting Sarabjit reunited with his family received a jolt by moronic statements by Home minister Patilwho wants to play political football <!--emo&:mad--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Stoking the Afzal Guru row and linking it with that of Sarabjit Singhâs release, the Home Minister Shivraj Patil said, âIf you are asking for Afzalâs hanging how can you ask pardon for Sarabjit.â He said that the attack on Parliament was a personal blow to him but one particular community canât be blamed for everything while saying that âwe will do whatever is appropriate according to law.â
Afzal Guru had been ordered to be hanged till death by the Supreme Court.
Reacting to it, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said that <b>his statement was complete nonsense and said that while Sarabjit Singh's case was one of mistaken identity, Afzal Guru had been punished by the highest court in the country</b>. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
With a dozen bomb blasts cases remaining unsolved, Patil's diverting attention from his dismal performance.
Afzal Guru is from Kashmir. Why do people want to link that to a Pakistan-India issue.
I think this must be a deal between Congress Party and Pakistan, Pakistan must have asked them, please release our asset, a great soul who wanted to destroy Indian democracy and create chaos in India by common Indian citizen.
That is why I always say, Mushy is very smart man.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Google hands over user information in India</b>
<i>'Do no evil' motto looking increasingly strained</i>
Written by Iain Thomson
An Indian man is facing five years in jail for making an "offensive" comment after Google handed his personal data to local police.
Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid, a 22 year-old IT consultant, was arrested after posting derogatory comments on Google's Orkut social networking site.
Vaid was posting in a forum called 'I hate Soniya Gandhi' and was identified after the police asked Google to hand over his email address.
Vaid was arrested after a police raid on his house on Friday and has been charged with breaking section 292 of the Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
If found guilty he faces a possible five years in prison as well as a fine.
The case highlights a curious facet of Indian law. The creator of the forum cannot be punished, since an individual's dislike is covered under personal freedom of choice. However, the information Vaid posted is classed as "vulgar", thus the arrest.
Vaid's arrest also highlights Google's increasingly tarnished reputation, despite its unofficial motto of 'Do no evil'.
The motto gained the company much kudos in the IT industry but, after Google's activities in China, many are now questioning its stance on human rights.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2217063/...ser-information.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Google is revealing its true colors - a greedy corporate smitten by its own sense of self-importance. Recall what it did in China? Now, because of its hypocricy, a 22 year old is languishing in an Indian prison.
Sonia (note - I didn't use the offending word "Antonia"), and her band of sycophants, are going about like she was a dictator. Indians are expected to bow and scrape before her and her family when they walk past. All freedom of expression, related to this family, is being curbed. Congratulations, Sonia, you now join the elitist dictator-club of Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Saddam Hussien and your very best friend from across the border, Musha-Ruff!
Actually, I am happy, it will open eyes of new generation More she will try to supress better results will come out. Remember Emergency. Her people are from Emergency era and they using same way to stay in power.
<b>Arjun heaps praise on Sonia, Rahul</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"Only a person who is totally committed to the nation can make an attempt like Rajiv Gandhi did to bring murderers of his mother into the mainstream", the HRD minister.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If my knowledge serve right and I rechecked it.
<i>Satwant Singh was arrested and later sentenced to death along with conspirator Kehar Singh. The sentence was carried out on January 6, 1989. Satwant Singh was the last man to be hanged in Tihar Jail in Delhi</i>
Arjun Singh should retire, he need help.
On roots of despotism.
<!--QuoteBegin-dhu+May 23 2008, 07:56 AM-->QUOTE(dhu @ May 23 2008, 07:56 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><b> How to Read a Society</b>
Theodore Dalrymple
[right][snapback]81939[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Congress report card:
2004: Won: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra.
Lost: Karnataka, Orissa, Sikkim
2005: Won: Haryana.
Lost: Jharkhand, Bihar
2006: Won: Assam, Pondicherry: Congress retains power.
Lost: Bengal, Kerala In Tamil Nadu, the party is a minor ally of the winning DMK.
2007:: Won: Manipur, Goa
Lost: Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat
<b>2008: Won: None
Lost: Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Karnataka</b>
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/may/25kk.htm
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