Sonia Gandhi: Supreme power with no responsibility – M.D. Nalapat

In times past, a section of society was treated as “untouchable” by the rest. They were not allowed to approach the others, and if by mistake one of them made physical contact with the “touchable” part of society, the unfortunate individual was put to death. In the south, a section of society was not merely “untouchable” but “unseeable”. This lowest of the low was forced to ring bells or shout out their location, so that others may be warned to keep away. They were not allowed to use the same paths as others did, having to content themselves with moving around inside fields and jungles, out of sight of others. The rigid stratification of society –which after a while became based on birth – helped weaken the different kingdoms within the country such that they became easy prey for invaders from Afghanistan, Arabia, Central Asia and the territory that is modern-day Iran.

One of the few benefits of British rule was the springing up of reform movements within the Hindu religion, many led by thinkers from Bengal. Raja Rammohun Roy and others like him understood that there was no way India could expel the British, unless society itself became more just. For millenia, learning had been confined to a small proportion of the total population. The rest were given no opportunity to study. This state of affairs continued till the Mughal era, when several from the lower orders of society discovered that they could vastly improve their status by adopting the faith of their conquerors. Of course, such individuals could not dream of equality with the Mughal princes and their retinue, just as later on Christian converts in India were still treated as inferior to the British,despite both having the same faith. However, the treatment given to them was far better than the discrimination they had endured when they were in their previous faith, a factor that encouraged a steady flow of converts for several centuries.
Ever since the 1857 uprising, the British in India were reluctant to force social change,or to impose their systems and standards on those who did not want them. Hence the country had to wait till independence in 1947 for laws to get passed that criminalized discrimination on the basis of caste. A section of government jobs was set aside for those from the castes that had suffered discrimination. This was meant to be a temporary measure, but now seems to have become permanent. Thanks to such policies, many from the former “untouchable” castes got educated, and these days, include within their midst some of the country’s most talented people. Since the 1990s, they have begun to vote tactically, such that in several parts of the country, chief ministers have come from their midst. An example is Chief Minister Mayawati of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. She has proved to be an effective administrator, as well as a determined campaigner.
Should she succeed in coalescing the underprivileged across the country, she may even emerge as India’s first-ever “Dalit” ( or “untouchable”) Prime Minister. At present, her only challenger for such an honour is the telegenic Speaker of the Lok Sabha ( or Lower House of Parliament), Meira Kumar, who entered the Indian Foreign Service due to her studious qualities, is the daughter of the late Jagjivan Ram, who for decades was a Union Cabinet Minister under successive PMs. Each portfolio that he handled was administered well. This columnist’s father was in charge of rural credit at the Reserve Bank,and he used to say that he found Minister Ram to be “the most efficient member of the Cabinet”. His daughter has clearly inherited these qualities, for she is handling her duties as Speaker very well, without once losing her temper. As a senior leader of the Congress Party, Meira Kumar has a chance to be the PM, except that she is scrupulously honest, and hence not popular with other party leaders, most of whom view politics as a means to riches. However, the decision on whether or not she gets selected as a replacement for Manmohan Singh is entirely in the hands of Sonia Gandhi. Of course, the choice of a non-family member to be PM is only in the event that her son Rahul decides not to take up the job. So deep-rooted is loyalty to the Nehru family within the Congress Party that Rahul Gandhi would have the support of 100% of Congress MPs,including current PM Manmohan Singh, if his mother decided to appoint him. His father Rajiv Gandhi was about the same age when he took charge of the country in 1984, and like Rahul today, Rajiv too had zero experience in government before taking up the Prime Ministership.
The steady drumbeat of scandal has lowered the chances of Home Minister Chidambaram or others in the Union Cabinet of ever replacing Manmohan Singh. Each day fresh reports of corruption are emerging, the latest being allegations of favouritism shown to two oil companies, one foreign and the other Indian. Should this scandal become too hot to handle,the way the telecom scam has developed, it is possible that some minister or the other may first be thrown out of the Union Cabinet and thereafter be sent to Tihar jail, the way the former Telecom Minister has been. The calculation would be that the sacrifice of a minister would satisfy the people and douse their anger. However, the reality in India is that although others sign on the files,the real decision-making power vests with Sonia Gandhi. Trusted officials and party members convey her commands to the ministers and even the PM.
Indeed, Manmohan Singh has been honest enough to admit before television cameras that he follows the “orders of Soniaji and Rahulji”
That Sonia Gandhi frequently uses the corporate aircraft of one of the oil companies that is the subject of public
attention is known to mediapersons and others in the national capital. That Sonia Gandhi, her two children and her two sisters travel extensively is equally known. Many times,such visits are made on corporate jets, although no photographer is permitted near the runway when such flights take off and land. The media in India is silent as a mouse about such travels of the First Family of the Republic.
And while the same ministers who dance to her commands get excoriated for possible corruption, Sonia Gandhi herself is kept out of controversy. Recently a Canadian diplomat even wrote in a newspaper that she was among the country’s most determined corruption fighters, an image shared by the foreign media, who give her favourable coverage even as they have now begun to expose the failings of Prime Minister Singh. Indeed, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has become the new “untouchable”, only this time, she is at the top of the heap rather than at the bottom. Whether it is key decisions or changes in personnel, hers is the final – often the only – say. So pervasive is her authority that many are now saying that it would be best for the constitutional fabric of the country if she were to take charge as PM, rather than – as now – exercise power without responsibility.
– Pakistan Observer, Islamabad, June 14, 2010

» Prof. M.D. Nalapat is Vice-Chair, Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair & Professor of Geopolitics, Manipal University, Karnataka State, India.

Termites eat up Rs 1 crore at SBI branch in Uttar Pradesh

Barabanki (UP), 2011 April 21: Currency notes worth over Rs 1 crore were reduced to dust in the chest of State Bank of India (SBI) in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district, officials said on Thursday. The mutilated notes were found in the chest on Wednesday. Apparently, termites ate the stacks of notes. The officials at the bank remained non-committal about the amount of cash destroyed. However they estimated that the loss of currencies could be worth over Rs 1 crore.



The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been informed about the incident and anti-termite treatment was underway at the branch. Branch Manager Sunil Dwivedi said, "I am not sure where the termites came from, but as you can see this building is quite old. Anti-termite treatment is now underway."

Lucknow, April 22: Though the exact amount of loss arising out of termites eating up currency notes inside a steel chest at a State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh is yet to be quantified, it will be borne solely by the SBI itself and there would be no loss to the public at large. This was stated by Amarendra Sahoo, regional director of Reserve Bank of India, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal.



Talking to FE, Sahoo said that the joint team of senior RBI and SBI officials, which had visited the bank in Barabanki, has found that though mutilated, most of the notes eaten up by the termites had their numbers intact. “Those notes in which the numbers are intact, will be replicated by the RBI while the fate of those which have been mutilated beyond repair will be adjudicated once the investigation is complete,” said Sahoo, adding “there would be no loss to the public. The bank will bear the loss, if any.”



It may be mentioned that in an almost outlandish case, aghast bank officials on Wednesday found termites to have made a hearty meal out of currency notes worth approximately Rs 1 crore kept inside the strong room at a SBI branch in Fatehpur block of Barabank district near Lucknow. A team of senior officials of the SBI and RBI visited the branch on Thursday to investigate the matter. SBI AGM Geeta Tripathi, who headed the inquiry team said after the visit prima facie it appeared that the notes in the currency chest had been damaged by termites as the branch was housed in a very old building which was ridden by termites. Cases of files and furniture being damaged due to this malice had already been brought to the notice of the management and efforts were on to relocate the bank at some other place.



The SBI, had in a press release late on Thursday night clarified that “no discrepancy has been detected in the currency chest except that some notes have been found to be slightly damaged. We don't expect any loss arising out of this and all corrective measures have been taken”.

HACKING FOR DIVORCE - INDIAN I.T STYLE

Pune techies turn hackers for divorce, alimony
Mid-Day.com, Updated: August 26, 2010 12:56 IST

Pune: IT professionals in troubled marriages are hacking into their spouse's email account for proof of extramarital affair or salary, say lawyers and cyber
experts.
Cyber experts say a growing number of cases have come to light where couples are hacking into each other's email accounts to collect evidence for
divorce. And some are going a step further by fabricating electronic evidence for early separation.
In one case, an IT professional sent a fabricated email to an unknown person from his wife's account to prove that she was in an extramarital relationship.
The forgery came to light during cross-examination.
In another case, a woman got irritated by her husband's attitude of ignoring her emails demanding alimony and found a way of monitoring his account. The
smart techie wife registered with a website which provided her the exact time when her husband opened her email. This made it impossible for him to deny
that he had not read her mails.
In yet another case, a man managed to get a fake salary slip to show a lower income so that he would not have to pay high alimony, but the wife hacked
into his account to get the printout of his original salary slip.
Niranjan Reddy, founder and CTO of NetConclave Systems, has handled a couple of such cases.
"In most cases spouses just forget to change the password when the process of separation starts, and in many cases even if they change it, the other partner
manages to hack the password," said Reddy.
Lawyers also claim that couples on the verge of separation are increasingly resorting to hacking techniques to score on each other.
"No good lawyer would advise the litigants to hack into each other's accounts, but we are coming across many litigants who come to us already in
possession of sheets of conversation wherein it becomes clear that the other person is having a relationship outside of marriage that goes beyond mere
friendship," said Advocate Ajit Kulkarni.
According to lawyers in the city, 30 per cent of all divorces that happen in the city every year are among couples working in the IT sector.

"Gen Next relies on the Internet for almost everything it does, right from online banking to shopping, so when it is time to gather electronic evidence there
are growing cases where in couples are also relying on Internet," said Advocate Abhay Apte.
Advocate Pratibha Ghorpade said, "In many cases people meet on social networking sites and choose to marry without checking each other's background,
and when it is time for separation they once again resort to the Internet and submit sheets of conversations between their spouse and the man or the
woman who has allegedly jeopardised the marriage."

Indian Elections are Rigged

The voting begins on April 16; but the results come out only on May 16! This is because it takes a few days for the Rigging program in the EVMs to work. The Illuminati have already decided the results and rigged them into rhe machines. The EVMs have no Audit Trails.
Look at the casual way in which the Congress deals with the breaking up of the UPA. They already know how the results would be.

Our Peaceful North East

India's restive northeastern region saw the maximum number of fatalities in terror strikes in 2008, surpassing Jammu and Kashmir in the latest figures released by an independent security think tank.
The northeast, particularly Assam and Manipur, has turned into a veritable killing field with the region accounting for 1,057 deaths compared to 539 casualties in Kashmir in the past year.
According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), a New Delhi-based security analysis agency, Assam reported 372 fatalities while the death toll in Manipur was 500, second only to Kashmir, which recorded 539 deaths.
The SATP figures show that the total number of deaths in the northeast has increased from 640 in 2006 to 1,057 in 2008.
And most of the casualties in the northeastern states like Assam, Manipur, and Tripura were in towns and cities with urban terrorism rearing its ugly head in a new trend.
"This is a really dangerous trend with Assam and other northeastern states now witnessing a new form of terrorism where militants or terrorists are striking innocuous civilian targets to get maximum mileage without really confronting the mighty Indian security forces," said Nani Gopal Mahanta, coordinator of the Peace and Conflict Studies department at Gauhati University.
The Oct 30 serial bombings in Assam killed about 95 people and wounded 400 more, some of them maimed for life.
In 2008, Assam, Manipur and Tripura witnessed close to 70 explosions, most of them at crowded marketplaces, besides a systematic pogrom against non-Assamese people, particularly targeting Hindi-speaking migrant workers.
"Militants in Manipur were not known to target civilians in the past, but now we see rebels attacking civilians in markets," said A. Singh, a rights campaigner in Manipur.
While 2008 saw the northeast surpassing Kashmir in terms of terror casualties, the New Year too began on a chilling note with serial explosions rocking Assam's main city of Guwahati Jan 1, killing six people and injuring 50.
The terror attacks on New Year's day shook New Delhi and exposed holes in the security and intelligence gathering mechanism in Assam.
"We are committed to tackling terror firmly and hence trying to introduce tough anti-terror laws in the state," Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told IANS.
On Monday, the Assam government tabled an amendment bill in the state assembly seeking extension of judicial custody for a terror suspect from six months to two years.
"We want to have more stringent steps to tackle terror and hence tabled the amendment bill called the Assam Preventive Detention (Amendment) Act, 2009," Gogoi said.
The impact of terror on the region's already beleaguered economy has doubled with investors shying away from setting up businesses in the state coupled with flight of capital.
Assam is seeking compensation from the central government for the whopping loss of about Rs.250 billion that the state has incurred due to 30 years of insurgency.
"In the last 30 years, Assam's economy has been badly affected due to insurgency, leading to fall in investments and damage of infrastructure," the chief minister said in a memorandum submitted to the 13th Finance Commission last month.
"We want Assam to be treated like other insurgency-affected states like Jammu and Kashmir and want financial dispensation from the central government to the tune of Rs.250 billion for the economic losses incurred due to insurgency," Gogoi said.
"It is impossible to fight militants and terrorists with obsolete weapons and hence we need to modernize our police force, for which we require funds in the next five years from the commission," said Ajit Singh, Assam's parliamentary secretary for finance.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/print.aspx?artid=Mx0hlr3L5kc=
Report on 6th January 2009