India stumbles along a long corruption trail/ John Elliott

A truck driver was reported to have been beaten to death by officials in north India earlier this week for not paying a Rs500 bribe………
-   A former cabinet minister for telecoms, Dayanidhi Maran, is about to be charged for corruption in an ongoing telecoms scandal. He is the second ex-telecom minister to be charged in the case – the first, Andimuthu Raja, has been held in a Delhi jail since February pending trial, along with various others………
-   A crisis has split and preoccupied the top levels of the government in the past week over whether Pranab Mukherjee, the finance minister, tried some months ago in a ministry memo to implicate Palaniappan Chidambaram, his predecessor and now home minister, in that scandal. This has been partially and unsatisfactorily resolved tonight by a joint statement from the two men denying any rift………..

कितना कमाते हैं भारतीय मंत्री?

क्या आप जानते हैं कि भारत सरकार के मंत्री कितना कमाते हैं या उनकी संपत्ति किस रफ़्तार से बढ़ती है?

आप कितने भी कल्पनाशील हो जाएँ तो वहाँ तक नहीं पहुँच सकते जो आंकड़े बताते हैं.

प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय को जो विवरण इन मंत्रियों ने दिए हैं उसी के आधार पर देखें तो मंत्रियों की संपत्ति दो वर्षों में औसतन 3.3 करोड़ बढ़ गई है.

ये सिर्फ़ औसत है. एक मंत्री की संपत्ति तो वर्ष 2009 से 2011 के बीच 1092 प्रतिशत बढ़ गई है. जबकि दो और मंत्रियों की संपत्ति 828 और 705 प्रतिशत बढ़ी है.

जिस एयर इंडिया के पास अपने कर्मचारियों को तनख़्वाह बाँटने के लिए पैसों के लाले पड़े थे उसी विभाग के मंत्री रहे प्रफ़ुल्ल पटेल की संपत्ति 2009 से 2011 के बीच 42.20 करोड़ रुपए बढ़ी है.

Anna Hazare and beyond

Anna Hazare is literally rocking the country and how! It is amazing to see how something that started as a small campaign has turned into a revolution of sorts and has engulfed the entire nation in a matter of time. Despite many differences, the Anna revolution can be counted as one amongst the many uprisings happening all across the globe, especially in the Arab countries. Everywhere the common man has found a collective voice. The methodology used is however different. The one in India is soaked in the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence.

Ramlila ground is the new Kurukshetra, all sorts of people have been converging here . some truly understand the cause they are supporting, some have a vague idea, some only interested in the word 'corruption' and many I am sure joining in just to be a part of the so called second freedom fight, but still they are there.

India has not seen such a mass movement since the original August Kranti. Indians are an unbelievably tolerant class of people but that tag comes with conditions applies warning. The tolerant part holds true only for issues, which concerns the nation or your next-door neighbour. For larger issues we continue to suffer until we reach the high point and then surprisingly we cool off again. The vicious cycle continues. When it comes to corruption, the tipping point was breached a long time back. We were just waiting for someone else to fire the shots.

Why is Karunanidhi getting a pass in the Rajiv killers’ case?

by Sandip Roy
A woman setting herself ablaze to demand mercy for the three men sentenced to hang for the Rajiv Gandhi assassination is one thing. Political parties demanding clemency for Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan is quite another.
Obviously Karunanidhi, still licking his wounds from his election drubbing and family scandals, sees this as a way to put Amma on the spot. And Amma, knowing she has a hot potato on her hands, is trying to pass the buck to the Centre.
Rajiv Gandhi’s role in the Sri Lankan civil war might be unpardonable in the eyes of many Tamils. But he was still the PM. In a country where the hint of dissent can get Arundhati Roy threatened with sedition charges, how do major political parties get away with cozying up to men convicted in the assassination of a former PM?

India moving towards a Constitutional Crisis?

The Constitution of India bestows an exclusive right upon the Parliament to represent the people of the country. Following this mandate, since independence, the voters have sent their representatives to the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and the state legislative assemblies. The 545-member Lok Sabha represents the entire country. Its primary task involves making and amending laws for the nation, making different policies for the welfare of the people, or in other words serving the country and society. Our freedom fighters and founding fathers of our Constitution dreamt of a country where these elected representatives will take the country ahead and will make it self sufficient in every aspect.

Manmohan Singh & MS Dhoni - The similarities in their rise & fall

By H Natarajan

Manmohan Singh and Mahendra Singh – two of the most powerful men in India. One leading the world’s largest democracy, the other leading the national team of world cricket’s financial powerhouse. However, the two “MS” find themselves in the grip of an unprecedented siege that has made them the focus of global attention.

On the face of it, Dr Manmohan Singh and Dhoni may seem two contrasting personalities, but if you dig deep there are fascinating similarities between the two.