karmayog : Messages : 72402-72431 of 89162

And it generates 7000 crores as bribe. How many of us really pay penalty?? We
bribe and get off. Besides they collect yearly bribe of 5000 crores from
Transport operators, tanker , tempo,auto ,taxi , bus operators. Towing van
suppliers who r retired bureaucrats and home ministry officials make another
6000 crores. Pl. note that per towing govt gets 100/- and towing van owner gets
Rs 200/-

Alok Tholiya
--- In karmayog@yahoogroups.com, Tanya Mahajan wrote:
>
> Give us just share from revenue: RTO
> Somit Sen, TNN, Jan 30, 2011, 12.44am IST
>
> MUMBAI: Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in Maharashtra generate
> annual revenue of Rs 3,500 crore, but receive only 1.6% of this amount
> for infrastructure upgrade and other investments.
>
> Officials are demanding that at least 5% of the revenue-which is
> between Rs 175 to Rs 200 crores-should be given back to the department
> annually. A proposal is likely to be sent to the state government
> soon. "One needs funds for computerization of RTO records," said a
> senior RTO official. The manual process for issuing challans
> (receipts) and collecting taxes is the prime reason for growing
> corruption in the department in the past one year. In fact, several
> officials at Thane RTO are under the Anti-Corruption Bureau scanner
> for their role in the challan scam.
>
> "There is need to do away with the manual challans and replace it with
> a computerized system," said an official.
>
> He stated that all records pertaining to collection of profession tax
> (recovered from owners of commercial vehicles) should be computerized
> soon. They also need funds for training staff. "At present, taxpayers
> are issued challans, but their records are not maintained properly.
> For example, if a person pays a single annual profession tax (Rs
> 2,500) for his business of running 14 trucks (multiple vehicles),
> there is no proper record of every vehicle for which tax is paid.
> There is an urgent need to computerize transactions so that one cannot
> manipulate the manual challans," he said.
>
>
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-30/mumbai/28375641_1_thane-r\
to-challans-regional-transport-offices
>

#72403

From: "Sheetal - Karmayog" <info@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 9:47 am
Subject: Event by Oxfam - GROW - for food justice in India

info@...

URL: http://epaper-beta.mid-day.com/showtext.aspx?boxid=7262926&parentid=138589&issuedate=01062011&edd123=mumbai

Food for thought....Soma Das
A PHOTO EXHIBITION, A DANCE DRAMA AND FOLK SONGS BY RURAL ARTISTS WILL SERVE AS CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS OF HUNGER FACED BY FARMERS. THESE EVENTS ARE PART OF OXFAM INDIA�S NEW FOOD JUSTICE CAMPAIGN, GROW, WHICH KICKS OFF SIMULTANEOUSLY ACROSS 45 COUNTRIES, INCLUDING SIX INDIAN CITIES, TODAY

It is one of the ironies of life that the farmers who grow crops and provide daily meals to Indians are the ones who go to bed hungry. � Nearly 80% of Indian farmers are small scale cultivators who own barely 1- 2 acres of land. This is a global problem and is faced by farmers living in other Asian countries and in sub- Saharan Africa,� informs Bipasha Majumder, Communications Officer, Oxfam India ( Mumbai).

Oxfam ( initially, Oxford Committee for Famine Relief) was instituted in Great Britain to provide lasting solutions to poverty and injustice.

The NGO�s latest global campaign, Grow, targets food injustice and aims to improve food growth and distribution amongst marginal farmers through cultural activities relevant to rural Maharashtra.

To raise awareness, Oxfam will hold a photo exhibition � Portraits of Hunger � with 27 photographs by two national and two international artists.

The photographers have captured moving, poignant images of poverty and destitution from villages in Bihar, UP, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

Performers from Naman, a local dance troupe from Alibag will perform a dancedrama on issues faced by farmers. This dance has won the international Celesta Dance Competition twice.

Watch out for the Pune- based band Rehmaniya and a local folk group from the Marathwada region ( which witnesses several farmer suicides), who will sing songs expressing the angst of the rural populace. There will also be a celebratory Shetkari dance, typically performed by farmers after a good harvest.

Grow is planned as a fouryear campaign, to be flagged off on June 1, across 45 countries. � If there is more awareness, it might convince the government to take action and change their official policies towards farmers,� says Majumder.

She adds that the issue is not just about insufficient produce. � Other factors are also at play such as a market monopoly by conglomerates, illegal land grabbing and climate change. We will highlight the plight of women farmers who toil hard but are denied the land rights enjoyed by male farmers,� shares Majumder. Apart from Mumbai, the campaign will also take place in Delhi, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Patna and Lucknow.

ON June 1, 6.30 pm onwards AT KR Cama Hall, Kala Ghoda, Fort.

FREE ENTRY

#72404

From: Krishnaraj Rao <sahasipadyatri@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 9:40 am
Subject: Write this letter to PM to dismiss Sharad Pawar & Vilasrao Deshmukh, and freeze their assets

sahasipadyatri@...

Write this letter to PM to dismiss Sharad Pawar & Vilasrao Deshmukh, and freeze their assets

Dear All

Read this Tehelka report: http://tinyurl.com/Land-Scam-Prevention-Measure ��

This is a welcome development. The voice of common man is having its effect, and the era of land scams may be coming to an end.

�

The Prime Minister�s orders are that henceforth, sale or lease of government land and premises would only happen after approval of the Union Cabinet, or a Cabinet Committee. However, it is strange that Sharad Pawar and Vilasrao Deshmukh � who gave prime land to private parties at throwaway prices or even free � are on the Union Cabinet. With such corrupt heavyweights on board, how can the Union Govt curb the abuse of land allotment powers?

�

DEMAND THEIR DISMISSAL. PLEASE SPEAK OUT, AND LET YOUR INDIVIDUAL VOICES BE HEARD:

�

Please download & send this letter to the PM:� http://tinyurl.com/Dismiss-Pawar-Deshmukh-letter ��

(This letter is also copy-pasted below.)

You may send this on your own letterhead at the earliest.

Alternatively, you may ask G R Vora grvora@... �to include your name, NGO designation etc in a letter that he will dispatch the letter by 4 pm tomorrow (Thursday 2nd June).

�

DETAILS OF ABUSE OF DISCRETIONARY POWERS FOR LAND ALLOTMENT:

�

Over the past 15 years, Government Discretionary Quotas have been used to allot plots of land to hundreds of politicians, IAS and IPS officers, judges, builders and other private businessmen, making them all part of a massive crime ring. In many cases, the plots are allotted without formal applications. These decisions have no control mechanisms, no system of checks and balances. After Right to Information Act 2005 was passed, several RTI activists are taking up the matter, and great numbers of these transactions are coming to light in several States.

�

MAHARASHTRA: http://tinyurl.com/Land-Abuse-Maharashtra ��

�

KARNATAKA: �� (a) http://tinyurl.com/Land-Abuse-Karnataka �

�� (b) http://tinyurl.com/Land-Abuse-Karnataka-2 �

�

TAMIL NADU: http://tinyurl.com/Land-Abuse-TamilNadu �

�

KERALA: http://tinyurl.com/Land-Abuse-Kerala �

�

In past decades, the common man passively accepted abuse of power. In fact, he felt that it was the God-given right of every legislator and minister to bestow favours on friends and relatives. He believed that bending rules and breaking laws was the natural privilege of the ruling class. But, as you know, there has been a great awakening in recent years. The common man is now up in arms against such social injustices and unconstitutional behaviour. He wants the nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and their super-rich friends to be broken.

The time for change has come. Demand the change.

�

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

�

DRAFT OF LETTER

1 June, 2011

Dr Manmohan Singh,

Prime Minister of India,

South Block, New Delhi � 110 001.

�

Sub: Having Sharad Pawar & Vilasrao Deshmukh in Union Cabinet is
a slap on the face of the common man.

Please dismiss them and freeze their assets

�

Sir,

�

Thank you for your proactive stance to curb land scams all over India. We are referring to measures outlined in this report: http://tinyurl.com/Land-Scam-Prevention-Measure

�

Sir, please remove all tainted persons from the cabinet committee for approving the transfer of government lands. In fact, we would urge you to drop all tainted persons from the Cabinet itself.

�

The continuance of Mr Pawar and Mr Deshmukh on the cabinet is a slap on the face of the common man. Over the last 15 years, they have used their public office and plundered the common man�s wealth to build up their own private empires. Some examples:

�

Sharad Pawar, Union Agriculture Minister:

�� Tech Park One, a company owned by Mr Pawar�s family and close friends acquired defence land for 7 crore. Its market value was Rs 70 crore. His daughter, Supriya Sule, a Lok Sabha MP, holds a stake in Tech Park One, which constructed Panchsheel Tech Park on the defence plot, earning annual rent of Rs 27 crore. She owns substantial stakes in multi-billion-dollar real estate projects along with her husband.

�� In 1989, when Sharad Pawar was CM, the Pune collector passed an order gifting 322.7 acres to a family trust of Vinod Goenka, a partner of DB Realty�s Shahid Balwa. The trust got the land for free. Later, the Pune Collector took voluntary retirement and joined Pawar�s Nationalist Congress Party. He won the Lok Sabha elections in 1999 and 2004. In 1992, when Mr Pawar was called to the Centre to head the Defence Ministry, the State Revenue Department challenged the Pune Collector�s order in a court of law. It said that the order passed by the previous collector was a colossal mistake, illegal and against public interest and pleaded with the court to revoke the land transfer. In 2003, Sushilkumar Shinde�s government settled this matter out-of-court with Mr Goenka�s trust, and gave away 80 acres in the heart of Pune for free as part of the settlement.

�

Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj:

�� A CAG report indicted Mr Deshmukh for illegally allotting a 2 lakh sq metre plot at throwaway prices to the Vilasrao Deshmukh Foundation, a family trust.

�� In 2002, when Mr Deshmukh was CM, and Ashok Chavan was his revenue minister, a private builder paid the government Rs 4,058 only for 102 acres in Senapati Bapat Road in Pune. The approximate value of the land was Rs 2,500 cr.

�� Mr Deshmukh and Mr Ashok Chavan together sanctioned six township projects by invoking state slum rehabilitation laws which no CM had ever used. These projects worth a total of Rs 55,000 crore were awarded on first-come first- served basis without inviting a competitive bid. In sizes of 40-125 acres in prime locations of Mumbai, each project involved gross revenues in the range of 1,000- 14,000 crore for private developers. In one of these projects, a part of the land was owned by the Air Force, while another part belonged to the customs department. In some projects, portions came under Coastal Regulation Zone or salt pan lands or mangroves. These were given without clearances from the Environment ministry, or any other relevant department.

�

Sir, please remove Mr Pawar and Mr Deshmukh immediately, and initiate CBI investigations against them. Also, freeze their assets pending such investigations.

�

In Maharashtra, NCP�s Ajit Pawar is the Deputy Chief Minister in the Congress-led government.� He is party to the land scams carried out by Sharad Pawar� and Supriya Sule, and many more too. Setting aside considerations of coalition politics, please remove him and investigate the sources of his ill-gotten wealth.

�

Please do this quickly, lest the common man should lose confidence in your government.

�

Yours sincerely,

�

(Your signature, name, address, phone number)

�

Copy to:�

�� Sonia Gandhi, NAC Chairperson, 10 Janpath, New Delhi - 110001

Prithviraj Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mantralaya, 6th Floor, Madame Cama Road, Mumbai 400032

�

#72405

From: "Sheetal - Karmayog" <info@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 9:17 am
Subject: Beware of dogs, say BMC figures

info@...

URL: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/jun/010611-dog-bites-sterilisation-canine-population-mumbai-BMC.htm

Beware of dogs, say BMC figures....Priyanka Vora
Figures released by the civic body indicate that the number of canine attacks in Mumbai are on the rise. Vets, civic body officials and activists disagree about why this is so

Is the city's canine population getting more menacing and aggressive by the day? If the figures from the civic body are anything to go by, the number of dog bites suffered by Mumbaikars has increased in the first half of 2011.

Compared to the 30,971 dog bites reported in the period of January-April last year, this year has seen a considerable rise in the number, touching 32,127.

The non-governmental organisations working in the field of animal birth control (ABC) have opined that the low rate of sterilisation in the city has indirectly increased the canine population in the city, which in turn has led to the rise in the number of reported attacks.

The figures released by the civic body give some cause for concern, since this year's increase is actually a case of deterioration, made more conspicuous by the fact that the instances of dog bite had actually dropped from 77,652 in the year 2009 to 70,130 in the year 2010. This year's figures thus seem to have brought the BMC back to square one.

Dr A P Chaudhari, medical superintendent at GT Hospital said, "We tend to at least four to five cases of dog bites every day. Most victims come to the hospital to take the anti-rabies injections as a precautionary measure." The casualty department at the civic-run Nair Hospital has also been receiving an average of four to five cases of dog-bites every day.

Activist speak
Animal activist Amol Shinde, a member of the Animal Protection Club, said, "The rate of sterilisation is rather low in the city, and a female dog can deliver twice a year. If she is not sterilised, she will have a litter of at least 10 to 12 puppies. The population thus increases manifold, leading to more incidences of dog attacks and bites."

Echoing Shinde's sentiments, Sunish Subramanian, founder of the organisation PAWS, said, "The rate of sterilisation is extremely low, as a result of which the canine population has increased. The number of sterilisation centres should be increased in wards.

Ideally, there should be at least one centre in each ward. Besides, efforts should be made to increase the level of general awareness about how to approach dogs."

At present, Mumbai has only eight sterilisation centres in the city. The civic body pays a sum of Rs 800 for the sterilization of each dog.

Canine temper?
Veterinarians are of the opinion that the sudden rise in canine aggression could be attributed to the scorching summer heat. Dr JC Khanna, secretary, BSPCA Hospital, said, "Just like humans, the dogs too are in search of shelter from the sultry weather. Dogs end up encroaching upon what is considered 'human territory' and this leads to a conflict between humans and dogs. Thus there is usually a rise in attacks during summer months."

Official speak
Officials of the civic body, however, have offered a contending cause for the rise in the number of attacks. Dr G T Ambe, executive health officer, BMC, said, "We have increased the number of anti-rabies vaccination centres across the city from 35 to 49.

Since more people now have access to treatment at these centres, more cases are being reported. We are administering the expensive anti-rabies injections free of cost. Naturally, more people are coming in for treatment."

Another BMC official said, "At times people take the vaccine even if when they have been bitten by cats and rats. Others opt for vaccination even when a dog scratches them. A distinction should be made between these cases."

Stay safe from canine wrath
> Do not leave small children unsupervised with pets.

> Do not run away from a dog. Abstain from shouting or making loud noises in front of a dog.

> Be sensitive to the animal's needs and moods. Don't mistreat it.

* Incidents of dog bites in the city have increased in the first half of 2011. Animal activists opine that the canine population has gone up because of the low rate of sterilisation

#72406

From: Tanya Mahajan
Date: Mon May 30, 2011 3:49 pm
Subject: Computerised RTOs in Kolhapur, Pune, Nashik, Thane, Nagpur, Amravati & Aurangabad

mahajantanya

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_digitisation-of-mumbai-rto_1066355

Digitisation of Mumbai RTO

Published: Sunday, Nov 26, 2006, 22:47 IST
By Shweta Karnik

Computerised RTO will help in tracking down repeat offenders

It is shocking but true. A city which has over 200 new cars running on its roads everyday does not have its Regional Transport Office (RTO) organised with data compiled in digitised form. It is necessary to have digitised information for Mumbai RTO as the vehicular density is 591 vehicles per km as against the international standard of 300 vehicles per km.

While RTOs of Kolhapur, Pune, Nashik, Thane, Nagpur, Amravati and Aurangabad have information compiled in a digitised form, Mumbai RTO is putting the plan to computerise its system on the backburner. A decade ago, the state government had mooted a plan to computerise all its RTOs thereby enabling not only the respective traffic police to take action against the habitual offenders but also help car owners to trace their licence or aid the police in getting their lost vehicle back. Time and again, the city traffic police have been urging the RTO to computerise its data, but in vain.

When asked as to why RTO has been delaying the implementation in Mumbai, state transport commissioner SS Shinde said, “We are not deliberately delaying the project. The software has been introduced in seven other RTOs on a pilot basis. However, due to lack of infrastructure, the project could not start in Mumbai.”But senior officials from the state transport claim that this is untrue especially in the city which plans to introduce Area Traffic Control System (ATCS) and CCTVs besides getting other gadgets for safety reasons.

“Vehicle registration and details of licences issued is digitised in cities like Kolkatta, Chandigarh and Delhi which helps in enhancing enforcement as the habitual offenders can be prosecuted with corresponding sections of the Motor Vehicle Act 1988. But since this option is not available to the traffic police in Mumbai, it hampers the capacity to prosecute the offenders,” said Satish Mathur, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

Most often than not, when a person is caught violating traffic rules, the traffic police takes the possession of his licence in Mumbai. This licence is sent to the court where the individual has to pay the fine and collect his licence. However, in majority of the cases people avoid going to the court and paying the fine to prevent humiliation and instead approach the RTO once again to make a new licence.

Currently, there are over 2.82 lakh cases pending where people have not come back to claim their existing licences. However, if computerised information is available it would be easier for the police to prosecute the offenders.

Shinde said that they are now working towards introducing this system. “With the help of two softwares — Wahan for registration of licences and Sarathi for issuing driving licences this project will be implemented at the Mumbai Central branch of RTO. This has been provided by central government National Information Centre, Pune.”

The computerisation will be implemented in all 45 offices across the state. “In the next six months all the offices are expected to get digitised,” said an officer from RTO.

#72407

From: "Sheetal - Karmayog" <info@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 10:28 am
Subject: 19 city retailers booked for fleecing consumers

info@...

URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/tabloid-news/mumbai/19-city-retailers-booked-for-fleecing-consumers/Article1-704280.aspx

19 city retailers booked for fleecing consumers....Prajakta Chavan
Statewide Drive Legal metrology department cracks down on MRP violations on aerated drinks

During a statewide drive to catch retailers charging consumers more than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for aerated drinks, the legal metrology department registered 41 cases, of which 19 were filed against retailers in the city. The department launched the special drive from May 22-28 following reports published in the Hindustan Times on May 20 and 21 on MRP violations on sale of aerated drink bottles across the city.

�After learning about the increasing number of MRP violations through the Hindustan Times, we conducted special drive. In Mumbai alone, 19 cases were booked while 22 retailers were booked in other cities such as Pune, Nagpur and Nashik,� said Maadhava Saanap, controller, Maharashtra state legal metrology department.

During the drive, major violations were found at general stores, hospital canteens, bus depots, multiplexes and university canteens, where retailers overcharged those who bought aerated drinks.

Retailers claimed they charge Re1 to Rs3 more than the MRP to cover the refrigeration cost. But officials from the legal metrology department explained that retailers cannot charge separately for refrigeration as the MRP includes all central, state and civic taxes. Once the MRP is printed on the product, it is illegal to sell it at a higher price.

Saanap said that the department will continue to crack down on errant retailers. �Inspections are a continuous process but considering the increasing number of violations we will periodically conduct special drives,� he added.

All 41 cases are booked under the Legal Metrology Act 2009, (Package Commodities) rule 2011, wherein the offender will be charged compounding penalty of maximum Rs2,000.

�If the offender pays the compounding penalty within three months, the case will be closed, else it will be tried in the respective magistrate�s court,� said Saanap.

But, consumer activists feel the action is too little and too late. �Moreover, the department�s helpline � 22886666 � is hardly accessible. Our complaints are either not registered or the status of the case not informed to us,� said Chinmay Gavankar, founder-member of Jagruk Nagrik Sanga. �Even private companies should join the propaganda to fight against retailers charging more than the MRP.�

#72408

From: "Sheetal - Karmayog" <info@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 11:44 am
Subject: Food prices to double by 2030, Oxfam warns

info@...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/31/oxfam-food-prices-double-2030

Food prices to double by 2030, Oxfam warns....Felicity Lawrence
Charity says era of permanent food crisis will hit poorest people hardest and spark social unrest

The average price of staple foods will more than double in the next 20 years, leading to an unprecedented reversal in human development, Oxfam has warned.

The world's poorest people, who spend up to 80% of their income of food, will be hit hardest according to the charity. It said the world is entering an era of permanent food crisis, which is likely to be accompanied by political unrest and will require radical reform of the international food system.

Research to be published on Wednesday forecasts international prices of staples such as maize could rise by as much as 180% by 2030, with half of that rise due to the impacts of climate change.

After decades of steady decline in the number of hungry people around the world, the numbers are rapidly increasing as demand outpaces food production. The average growth rate in agricultural yields has almost halved since 1990 and is set to decline to a fraction of 1% in the next decade.

A devastating combination of factors � climate change, depleting natural resources, a global scramble for land and water, the rush to turn food into biofuels, a growing global population, and changing diets � have created the conditions for an increase in deep poverty.

"We are sleepwalking towards an age of avoidable crisis," Oxfam's chief executive, Barbara Stocking, said. "One in seven people on the planet go hungry every day despite the fact that the world is capable of feeding everyone. The food system must be overhauled."

Oxfam called on the prime minister, David Cameron, and other G20 leaders to agree new rules to govern food markets. It wants greater regulation of commodities markets to contain volatility in prices.

It said global food reserves must be urgently increased and western governments must end biofuels policies that divert food to fuel for cars.

It also attacked excessive corporate concentration in the food sector, particularly in grain trading and in seed and agrochemicals.

The Oxfam report followed warnings from the UN last week that food prices are likely to hit new highs in the next few weeks, triggering unrest in developing countries. The average global price of cereals jumped by 71% to a new record in the year to April last month.

Drought in the major crop-growing areas of Europe and intense rain and tornadoes in the US have led to fears of shortfalls in this year's crops.

The World Bank warned last month that rising food prices have pushed 44 million people into poverty since last June.

* Staple crops such as maize could have risen in price by 180% by 2030, a new report by Oxfam predicts. Photograph: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

#72409

From: "Rani" <rani.patel43@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 1:12 pm
Subject: Re: BE CAREFUL ABOUT THE BIGGEST FRAUD BY "VFUNDS"

rani.patel43@...

Dear friends being NGO people we should come in action instead of writing each
other.Because of the uproariousness of cyber use,these kind of frauds are very
much expected.we should seriously think that how we can help our government to
check

Reply | Messages in this Topic (6)

#72410

From: "icrpc" <consumerhelp@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 3:49 pm
Subject: Food is being sold at double the rates by railways.

icrpc

Food is being sold at more than double the rates in trains.

Veg cutlet costing Rs 17 is sold for Rs 25 to Rs 35. Veg meal costing Rs 30 is
being sold for Rs 65 in Paschim Express.

In almost all the trains, food is being sold at high prices.
Visit www.consumergrievance.com to know the prescribed rates of the food that is
sold in pantry.

If you want to complain to the authorities, complain to:

Mr. Ravindra Gupta
SDGM and Chief Vigilance Officer
Central Railway
Mumbai CST
Fax: 022-22621913, E-mail: sdgm@...

Best regards,

Arun Saxena
International Consumer Rights Protection Council (ICRPC)

#72411

From: Karmayog Events <events@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 6:25 pm
Subject: Upcoming and New Events Posted on Karmayog

events@...

--------------------------------------------------
  Upcoming Events - in the next 3 days
--------------------------------------------------
__________________________________________________
Thursday, 2 June 2011 - Sunday, 5 June 2011
Nature's Bounty Camp in Konkan
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/content/natures-bounty-camp-konkan
__________________________________________________
Thursday, 2 June 2011
GREEN CARNIVAL AT SAHAKARI BHANDAR FOR GO GREEN CAMPAIGN - Day 1
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/green-carnival-sahakari-bhandar-go-green-c\
ampaign-day-1
__________________________________________________
Thursday, 2 June 2011
AMI Montessori Children's House Assistants Course - Day 9
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/content/ami-montessori-childrens-house-ass\
istants-course-day-9
__________________________________________________
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Strand Book Sale - Day 6
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/strand-book-sale-day-6
__________________________________________________
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Environment Day seminar on Importance of Trees
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/content/environment-day-seminar-importance\
-trees
__________________________________________________
Thursday, 2 June 2011
CERTIFICATE COURSE IN COUNSELLING & PSYCHOTHERAPY - Day 3
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/certificate-course-counselling-psychothera\
py-day-3
__________________________________________________
Thursday, 2 June 2011
LEARN COUNSELLING - Day 2
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/learn-counselling-day-2
__________________________________________________
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Brainstorming session on "Towards Sustainable Practices & Strategies for
Efficient Water Resources Management for Mumbai (MMR)"
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/brainstorming-session-towards-sustainable-\
practices-strategies-efficient-water-resources-management
__________________________________________________
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Go Green Campaign at Sahakari Bhandar - Day 1
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/go-green-campaign-sahakari-bhandar-day-1
__________________________________________________
Friday, 3 June 2011 - Monday, 6 June 2011
BNHS Camp to Tadoba National Park
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/content/bnhs-camp-tadoba-national-park
__________________________________________________
Friday, 3 June 2011
GREEN CARNIVAL AT SAHAKARI BHANDAR FOR GO GREEN CAMPAIGN - Day 2
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/green-carnival-sahakari-bhandar-go-green-c\
ampaign-day-2
__________________________________________________
Friday, 3 June 2011
AMI Montessori Children's House Assistants Course - Day 10
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/content/ami-montessori-childrens-house-ass\
istants-course-day-10
__________________________________________________
Friday, 3 June 2011
Strand Book Sale - Day 7
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/strand-book-sale-day-7
__________________________________________________
Friday, 3 June 2011
LEARN COUNSELLING - Day 3
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/learn-counselling-day-3
__________________________________________________
Friday, 3 June 2011
CERTIFICATE COURSE IN COUNSELLING & PSYCHOTHERAPY - Day 4
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/certificate-course-counselling-psychothera\
py-day-4
__________________________________________________
Friday, 3 June 2011
Go Green Campaign at Sahakari Bhandar - Day 2
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/go-green-campaign-sahakari-bhandar-day-2
__________________________________________________
Friday, 3 June 2011
TRAINING IN ROBERT CARKHUFF MODEL OF COUNSELLING - Day 1
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/training-robert-carkhuff-model-counselling\
-day-1
__________________________________________________
Friday, 3 June 2011
Book launch of 'Truly Madly Deeply'
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/content/book-launch-truly-madly-deeply
__________________________________________________
Saturday, 4 June 2011
GREEN CARNIVAL AT SAHAKARI BHANDAR FOR GO GREEN CAMPAIGN - Day 3
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/green-carnival-sahakari-bhandar-go-green-c\
ampaign-day-3
__________________________________________________
Saturday, 4 June 2011
AMI Montessori Children's House Assistants Course - Day 11
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/content/ami-montessori-childrens-house-ass\
istants-course-day-11
__________________________________________________
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Strand Book Sale - Day 8
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/strand-book-sale-day-8
__________________________________________________
Saturday, 4 June 2011
CERTIFICATE COURSE IN COUNSELLING & PSYCHOTHERAPY - Day 5
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/certificate-course-counselling-psychothera\
py-day-5
__________________________________________________
Saturday, 4 June 2011
LEARN COUNSELLING - Day 4
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/learn-counselling-day-4
__________________________________________________
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Go Green Campaign at Sahakari Bhandar - Day 3
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/go-green-campaign-sahakari-bhandar-day-3
__________________________________________________
Saturday, 4 June 2011
TRAINING IN ROBERT CARKHUFF MODEL OF COUNSELLING - Day 2
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/training-robert-carkhuff-model-counselling\
-day-2
__________________________________________________
Saturday, 4 June 2011
RTI Union Meeting on Building & Coop. Hsg. Soc. matters
http://www.karmayog.in/connect/events/rti-union-meeting-building-coop-hsg-soc-ma\
tters
__________________________________________________

Reply | Messages in this Topic (996)

#72412

From: "sadhak_insight" <sadhak_insight@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 6:53 pm
Subject: Scrap the Slaughter House Policy

sadhak_insight

Campaign against slaughter houses in U.P.

UNITE TOGETHER FOR A VERY NOBLE CAUSE !

HOW YOU CAN HELP !!!!

1) Please, 'immediately write to CM UP Mayawati Ji' to stop grant of licenses to
8 new slaughter houses.
500 emails to her should be the target for one day.

EMAIL IDS to send email to:
cmup@..., upinformationdeptt@..., doeuplko@...

2) write on the SUBJECT LINE: ��Scrap the Slaughter House Policy��


3) COPY PASTE THE FOLLOWING LETTER AND SEND IMMEDIATELY !

To,

Ms. Mayawati, Chief Minister, U.P.

Respected Madam,

Your Government has issued licenses for establishment of new slaughter houses in
the state of Uttar Pradesh. I believe that the complete facts have not been
given to you on the issue else you would have not given your approval.
Therefore, I would like to put some concern before you:

No economic benefits can be derived by killing of innocent animals by the people
or the Govt except the Company, which is involved. I would rather say that your
Government can earn 5-10 times more benefits by the conservation of these
creatures of the God in comparison to export of their meat (kindly analyze the
data release by Central Statistical Organisation, GOI, 2009) . Cattle are the
life line of villagers, they give milk, dung for fuel, manure for farming, and
transportation for villagers, conservation of environment etc. They are useful
in many other ways.

Moreover, slaughterhouses are big threat to the environment. The whole world has
accepted this fact and moving towards greener path and adopting vegetarian die
to control Global warming. Many nations have started closing of slaughter
houses; India is the land of Mahavira, Gautam Buddha, Ram-Krishna, who taught us
the lesson of Ahimsa. Jain Munishri Maitriprabh Sagarji is on his Fast unto
death at Baraut, Baagpat since last 11 days in protest of licenses to new
slaughter houses, you should be aware. I am aware that you have great respect
towards sadhus and Indian culture of Ahimsa/jeevdaya.

We request you to look into the matter and ask the concerned department to
reconsider their decision and withdraw it. Please cancel the new licenses of
slaughter houses with immediate effect. I am sure that your stand to promote
Ahimsa/Jeevdaya will bring you greater support and honour from the Aam Aadmi.

Regards,

Name/Place/ Your Email:

4) FORWARD TO YOUR MAILING LIST OR ON SOCIAL NETWORK sites
5) PRAY from within or in small gathering, in local temples etc. PRAYERS can
make a big difference. A few of minutes of your time can save many lives.
Thank you with deep sincerity,



=========================================================

��Scrap the Slaughter House Policy��

Dear All,

With the U. P. Government is giving licenses to new abattoirs in the state,
there��s simply no way that we can ignore the cries of the Lakhs of innocent
animals who fall victim to this barbaric cruelty and mass butchering. All the
proposed ultra modern slaughter houses will have capacity to butcher
10,000-20,000 animals per day and the meat will be exported out of India. Enough
is enough.

You all are aware that U.P. Govt has issued licenses to 8 new Slaughter Houses.
These slaughter houses are against the humanity and means of destroying animal
wealth of the state. In protest, Jain Monk Munishri Maitriprabh Sagarji has
started his fast unto death from 26th April 2011 at Baraut, Distt. Baagpat,
Uttar Pradesh. Locals from the surrounding area and various organisations have
given their support to the Honorable saint but nothing fruitful has been
achieved till date. Local administration there has imposed section 144 in the
city and disrupting the non violence agitation for no good reason and adopting
tactics to discourage the public.

We all know that the slaughter house licenses have been given for the benefit of
few companies. Neither the Uttar Pradesh nor the country will benefit in any way
by opening of such cruel and barbaric slaughter houses. See our article on
��benefits from animal wealth: http://ahimsasangh.net/wp/?p=1118.

We��re standing up against the mandate of Government of U. P. State by any means
necessary in support of Jain Monk Munishri Maitriprabh Sagarji, and we need your
help to stop these horrible projects of animal slaughter for good.

Here are 5 ways that you can take action and spread the word to all your friends
and family:

1. Start Group Prayers ( 1-2 hours Paath of Namokar Mantra/ Gayatri Mantra/
Hanuman Chalisa/ Ramayan/Bhaktamar Stotra/ Gurwani Kirtan etc) in your nearest
Temple/Gurudwara or Community Hall for the success of campaign against slaughter
houses and better health of Muni Shri Maitri Prabh Sagarji.

2. Spread the word about ��Scrap the Slaughter House Policy�� and help expose
Government��s shameful secret through emails, sms, blogs, websites etc. You can
also send us your Support Letter (Samarthan Patra) on the letterhead of your
group/organisation/society or community on our email: tuturanjan@...; this
will be of immense help.

3. Do you have 10 minutes to save animals? Share this film on animal killings:
economic loss to India, which reveals the true facts about the massacre and the
loss of taxpayer money each year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmATxnfygE8

4. No religion in this world supports killing of animals. Watch ABKHVS��s
vegetarian quotes video and then share it on Facebook and anywhere else!
http://ahimsasangh.net/wp/?page_id=44

5. Have you seen what happens to cows in India? Watch this shocking video that
will open your eyes to India��s cruel cow slaughter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZGMpAyWmZ8

OUR TARGET 500 EMAILS DAILY TO MISS MAYAWATI, CM OF UTTAR PRADESH:

Please help us keep the pressure on Government of Uttar Pradesh and the Central
Government �C write emails/fax/post cards to UP Govt. officials / start
Signature Campaign in your locality/area to and tell them to scrap the Slaughter
House Policy.

Following are the target email ids:
1.Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh: cmup@...
2.PR Department: CM office, Uttar Pradesh: upinformationdeptt@...
3.Directorate of Environment, Uttar Pradesh: doeuplko@...
Standard format for post card letter/fax/email:

To,

Ms. Mayawati, Chief Minister, U.P.

Respected Madam,

Your Government has issued licenses for establishment of new slaughter houses in
the state of Uttar Pradesh. I believe that the complete facts have not been
given to you on the issue else you would have not given your approval.
Therefore, I would like to put some concern before you:

No economic benefits can be derived by killing of innocent animals by the people
or the Govt except the Company, which is involved. I would rather say that your
Government can earn 5-10 times more benefits by the conservation of these
creatures of the God in comparison to export of their meat (kindly analyze the
data release by Central Statistical Organisation, GOI, 2009) . Cattle are the
life line of villagers, they give milk, dung for fuel, manure for farming, and
transportation for villagers, conservation of environment etc. They are useful
in many other ways.

Moreover, slaughterhouses are big threat to the environment. The whole world has
accepted this fact and moving towards greener path and adopting vegetarian die
to control Global warming. Many nations have started closing of slaughter
houses; India is the land of Mahavira, Gautam Buddha, Ram-Krishna, who taught us
the lesson of Ahimsa. Jain Munishri Maitriprabh Sagarji is on his Fast unto
death at Baraut, Baagpat since last 11 days in protest of licenses to new
slaughter houses, you should be aware. I am aware that you have great respect
towards sadhus and Indian culture of Ahimsa/jeevdaya.

We request you to look into the matter and ask the concerned department to
reconsider their decision and withdraw it. Please cancel the new licenses of
slaughter houses with immediate effect. I am sure that your stand to promote
Ahimsa/Jeevdaya will bring you greater support and honour from the Aam Aadmi.

Regards,

Name/Place/Email:

You can start sending Post cards/ fax to: 1. Ku. Mayawati, Chief
Minister, U. P. Office of the Chief Minister, Lucknow, U. P. Office:
0522-2236181, 2239296, 2215501 Residence: 2236838, 2236985
Fax to CM-0522-2235733, Governor- 0522-2225995

Permanent address: C- 57, INDRAPURI, NEW DELHI �C 110 012 Phone no.
011-23356363, 23356565 2. Director, Department of Information & Public
Relations, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Suchna Bhawan, Park Road Lucknow �C
226001 3. Shri Pradeep Kumar Jain ��Aditya�� Union Minister of State,
Rural Development Permanent Address: 52, Gusain Pura, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh
Tels. (0510) 2440030 Cell no. 09871103294 Present Address: 78, Lodhi Estates,
New Delhi -110 003 Tels. (011) 23388879 (O), 24644994 (R) Fax. (011) 24644996
(R) 23388827 (O)
This entry was posted in featured-image and tagged Campaign against slaughter
houses in U.P., jain muni on fast untill death. Bookmark the permalink.
�� यांत्रिक
बूचड़खानों
के खिलाफ है
मेरा आमरण
अनशन:
मैत्रीप्रभ
सागर
प्रशासन की
सख्ती नहीं
चली, महारैली
हुई सफल ��
Tulika


"IF EVEN ONE LIVING BEING HAS BREATHED MORE EASILY BECAUSE YOU LIVED, CONSIDER
THAT YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED....." RALPH WALDO EMERSON







==================================

All who can PLEASE come on June 2nd, 9 am to June 3, 2011 9 am at JANTAR MANTAR,
NEW DELHI for 24 hour ... and support us, this hunger fast to oppose the
decision by Congress and Mayawati of UP government with regards to the opening 8
new slaughter houses.
It is our sincere prayer that please come there and support us, our phone
number is 09999645170, 09873553307, 09711315927


IN HINDI
KIRPYA AAPLOG 2 JUNE 2011 SUBAH 9 BAJE SE 3 JUNE 2011 SUBAH 9 BAJE TAK JANTAR
MANTAR NEW DELHI MEIN 24 GHANTE KE ANSHAN PAR AAKAE HAMARA SATH DE HAMARA YEH
ANSHAN CONGRESS SARKAR AUR MAYAWATI UP SARKAR DWARA LIYE GAYE 8 NAYE SLAUGHTER
HOUSE KHOLNE KE FAISLE KE KHILAF HOGA AAP SABSE PRATHNA HAI WAHAN AAKAR HAMARA
SATH DE, HAMARE NUMBER 09999645170, 09873553307, 09711315927
-----------------------------------------------------

Hari SharaNam,

My dear brothers & sisters,

My requests to you all, Please do support to protect the Mother Cow representing
Mother Earth and its happiness in the form of DHARMA.
Humanity should not be measured in "How Humans alone can live with
materialistic comforts." but but it should be measured in "How Humans can live
happily with the happiness of all the beings."

Thanks a lot!
May God bless you!
Niteesh Dubey

------------------------------------------------------------

Namaste,
We are making a commercial film on this very grave concern, the effort is to
create an awareness amongst our people
about what ever is being cooked, by the bureaucrats sitting oversees and its
effect on every thing under the sun for this
land of saints "Bharat".


Minds who wish to associate with us with what ever ability, please come forward.


Jai Gau Gange mata ki
Dhanyawaad,
Sanjay S. Devkar

---------------------------------------------------------

There is a parallel protest going on on the ban of beef food at karnataka,
please food lovers join in
Divya Rajagopal
---------------------------------------------------------




-----------------------------------------------------



Ms. Mayawati, Chief Minister, U.P.
Respected Madam,
Your Government has issued licenses for establishment of new slaughter houses in
the state of Uttar Pradesh. I believe that the complete facts have not been
given to you on the issue else you would have not given your approval.
Therefore, I would like to put some concern before you:
No economic benefits can be derived by killing of innocent animals by the people
or the Govt except the Company, which is involved. I would rather say that your
Government can earn 5-10 times more benefits by the conservation of these
creatures of the God in comparison to export of their meat (kindly analyze the
data release by Central Statistical Organisation, GOI, 2009) . Cattle are the
life line of villagers, they give milk, dung for fuel, manure for farming, and
transportation for villagers, conservation of environment etc. They are useful
in many other ways.
Moreover, slaughterhouses are big threat to the environment. The whole world has
accepted this fact and moving towards greener path and adopting vegetarian die
to control Global warming. Many nations have started closing of slaughter
houses; India is the land of Mahavira, Gautam Buddha, Ram-Krishna, who taught us
the lesson of Ahimsa. Jain Munishri Maitriprabh Sagarji is on his Fast unto
death at Baraut, Baagpat since last 16 DAYS in protest of licenses to new
slaughter houses, you should be aware. I am aware that you have great respect
towards sadhus and Indian culture of Ahimsa/jeevdaya.
We request you to look into the matter and ask the concerned department to
reconsider their decision and withdraw it. Please cancel the new licenses of
slaughter houses with immediate effect. I am sure that your stand to promote
Ahimsa/Jeevdaya will bring you greater support and honour from the Aam Aadmi.
Best regards.
J.K.JAIN
JAIN SAMAJ, KAUSHAMBI & VAISHALI,
GHAZIABAD.




Dear Sadhaks,

Cow has to be feeded first roti in every hindu house. It is said doing so
destroys sins, gives wealth, fortune fame etc. Jaina texts say giving cow first
roti gives 100 types of sukh to the person. 33 crore devidevatas have place in
cow.

One cow of indian breed can only do mracles which 1000 jerseys cant do.my
experience). Couples not having child if they feed cow empty stomach in morning
for one year and ask for child can get one. its because of cow killing that
women dont bear child.

Killing a cow brahmin caste and snake is the henioust sin in world according to
shastras. you must have seen foriengers having red eruptions on skin its because
of beef. red meat causes various diseases as compared to normal meat (which also
causes diseases) just see how many medicines non-vegs take.

cows meat lasts for 11 days so it is prefered for killing and is secretly mixed
by butchers, hotels etc for money madness parlysis, defunct bones is because of
sin of cow killing.

ravans only dosha was that despite begin pustalya rishis vansaj is he killed
cows and saints. thats why lord Ram killed him(Vipra, dhenu, sant hit lej dev
avtar).

Krishanji siddi is not possible without cow. He was a cowheard. Gowardhan and
gavalas are respected in indian caste system because they were the clan in which
Krishanji took avtar. On gopatami and gopdwadshi gavalas(cowheards) are given
honoured with malas, tilak, maoney, clothes.

In diwali cow dung is worshipped for laxmi. agnihotra, panchgavya is incomplete
without cow milk, curd, cow urine dung. cow urine fresh if sprinkled within 30
min destroys ghosts in house . cow urine cures many diseases

In our history Mahraj dilip of Raguvansha offered his body to a lion to save a
cow. are we so despicable that we treat cow as a animal . remember cow ganga are
mothers mother.

Muslim countries meat eating is allowed not beacuse of qurbani or nabis orders
that cow goat can be used as food. but beacuse of a simple logic that arabs
didnt have food, crops it was desert so it was must in past to eat meat. So
qurbani was just a food culture.You can get mangos, basmati in UAE, Arab , USA,
UK as transport is easy now so avoid cow and any meat. krishna the supreme yogi
has said in bhagavat gita that tamasic food is meat,
wine , drugs etc.

Its sorry that modern education is destroying our faith. tommorow if one tells
to kill your mother will you kill her. no.isnt it.

feeding saving cows gives beauty, wealth, fame, good looking husband wife good
sanakari children.

(courtesy "Astha TV: Please see "Gau Katha" by "Gopal Maniji" for these
knowledge and faith)
their is a gau hatya ghat at haridwar to get mukta of cow killing evenn in last
birth)

Manas dhenu by shri gopal maniji is a lighthouse for cow rearing and protection.
Gita press also has a Gau seva Ank. For cow. with ancient treatments and wisdom

cowdung is more powerful in making soil fertile as compared to urea.

dont import jersey or mix breed with jersey save our indian breed cow if you
want to let world swril(arth, ddharma. kama. moksha). only indian cow can do
wonders as a brahmin only can dleiver havya kavya to god not a forienger or
other caste person. so protect nasal(breed of brahmins and cow and save the
world.

Jai gau mata, har har gange, jai kashiviswanath ki, Jai brindavan,

namaskar

do take pledge that irrespective or your nationality, religion save cows dont
kill them. In India a dead cow in not given to butcher it is buried.

pass this message to 10 persons any if you want to save 1,00,000 cows,

In India Gokaran(in bhagvat katha) and Gorakhnath were born from cow.

We have a great religion which decipers God to such extent that nothing no
prophecy can stand to its complexity of rvelations. all religions are copy cut
paste. go for real dont buy pirated. So buy gods word.

with thanks pledge to watch gau katha on astha tv.

With regards

K. krishnaachandra pande



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
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---------

Shree Hari Ram Ram

ENGLISH TRANSLATION FROM A LECTURE: BY SWAMI RAMSUKHDASJI

Killing of Cows
It is a very sad thing that in our Country there is killing of cows going on in
a very large scale. In the last 10-12 years, the killing in Calcutta and in
Kerala, is happening on a very large scale. The minister of Kerala had said
that in the last twelve months in our state more than 14 lakh cows have been
slaughtered. He said, that we do not kill the cows from our own State; we are
slaughtering those cows that are brought here from others States ! In Mumbai,
Devanaar slaughter house, bulls are slaughtered. According to the law, only old
bulls can be killed, but in Mumbai, even youthful, young bulls are slaughtered -
we have visited that place. There is unrighteouness that is definitely going on
in this act, but along with act that unrighteousness that is going on in the
entire country.

Both food and clothing come from farming. Where farming is done using bulls and
cows, it is OK, but where machinery is used, many scholars have said that the
resources such as petroleum, gas, diesel etc. will be exhausted in approximately
two to three decades. At that time this automation will be of limited use.
Right now, coming under the sway of this machinery, you are neglecting the bulls
and cows. You are destroying them, but when this equipment will no longer be
useful and there are no more cows and bulls, then what will be the condition !
How will farming be done ? Without farming, how will you get food and clothing ?
Without food and clothing, how will life be sustained ? In Rajasthan in many
places, the bulls are used for drawing water from wells. When these bulls are
destroyed, how will you get water? It is a very great dilemma, but brothers we
are not paying attention towards such things. How much thoughtless activity
(anarth) is taking place, we are simply not aware of such things.

When we tell the younger and older children, to study, but they do not have the
same level of interest and engagement in studying, that they have in playing and
having fun. In the same way, you too are engaged in playing, not in deep study.
It is a grave mistake that right now you are not instrospecting on your future.
In the future the mistakes will be so paramount, that it will become very
difficult to put your hands around it. We have seen in the Deonar slaugher house
in Mumbai, where flocks and flocks of cattle are there at a distance, and few
men are revolting and striking against these hideous acts to not allow the bulls
to be slaughtered. The police catch the men and drive them off to other
locations. The bulls are then taken inside and slaughtered. Now people are not
standing up for the rights of these animals. Like those who are in deep slumber,
they too are sleeping. When a young girl becomes a widow, the mother worries,
because the mother sees to her future that is unknown to the young
girl. Similar misfortune is happening in our country today. It is a grave
mistake. But for earning money and for accumulation of things, and due to
greed, men have become blind and are intensely engaged in killing cows. They
have no idea what they will do with all that money ? But leaving that money
behind they will die someday, that you, I and every one else knows. What
difference does it make whether we leave 10-20 lakhs or 1 - 2 crores of rupees
behind or even more behind. When the eyes are permanently shut, there is nothing
there. But today, our attention does not go to that, we are not alert as to what
the condition of the country will be ? Even the government is not thinking about
this. All we are thinking is that simply anyhow we must get money. The greed for
money has made man so blind - there is no end in sight !

In my understanding, just as the dependency on God can lead a man to his
salvation, similarly, dependency on wealth, can lead a man to hell and trapped
in the birth and death cycles of 8.4 million different wombs. It is not the
money itself, but the dependence on money, reliance on money, greed for money,
attachment to money, fondness of money which are all the root causes of one's
downfall. There is no other mistake, no other fault, no other flaw, no other
sin, no other sorrow, no other type of envy or jealousy, no other remorse or
suffering, that is not resulting from the greed for money. All the sorrow that
exists, all is resulting from greed for money only. If one sacrifices this greed
and utilizes this money for good causes then this wealth of yours will be a
success. Your life will be a success and this world will also be relieved of
it's problems. One day, all this wealth will leave you, but that will not
benefit you in your salvation. If salvation is through parting at time of death,
then all who were dying would have attained salvation, because their wealth,
their estates, their family, their power, etc. all would separate from them. But
with that, he does not get released from bondage. Freedom comes from renouncing
from within. Greed is within and the money is on the outside. The money is not
at fault. The greed for money, the love and fondness for money,
the intense longing for wanting more and more money - these tendencies are the
cause of the most senseless and improper acts. Therefore divine souls ! If you
become alert and careful then it will be a very good thing. Within thirty years
we would have grown up and become somewhat old but what thoughts and concerns
have you had for the upcoming generations ? What will be their state of affairs
? It is definitely something to think about. But man simply does not take a long
term view in these things ! For how long will this Government position (elected
chair) that you are holding last ? On the other hand, there is no attention at
all to thoughtless acts that will weigh heavy on you later on. But who to
explain this to? Who to share this with ?

Therefore brother, become alert ! Come to your senses and think for yourself
that what will be the state of affairs of the Country ? A lot of wealth (cows
and other cattle) has already been destroyed. If now you save it, then some can
still be saved.

Simply for the greed of money you are trading in leather, meat, cows, bulls
etc., as these can generate more income and wealth for you. Separating meat,
bones, blood, tongue, intestines, horns, nails, liver, heart, skin, etc so that
you can get more money. As the cow nears the slaughter house, it's price
increases ten folds. Simply for the greed of money, this killing of cows is
taking place.

There are three gates to hell that have been described - desire, anger, and
greed. Of these, the greatest gate to hell is enjoyment of pleasures and greed
for accumulation of wealth. Therefore it is my sincere prayer that simply awaken
! What can you do ? Do not utilize leather, and one more thing, every family
member must daily keep aside a handful of food item for the protection of the
cows and donate it to a gaushala (shed that cares for and protects cows) etc.
This point has been expressed by me, contrary to my nature. If you put this
point to use, then it will be very good, and if you don't then the choice is
yours. There are many such points, you all can contemplate more on them.

FROM: LECTURE BY SWAMI RAMSUKHDASJI
Ram Ram

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
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-------------------------

shree hari ram ram

Please see this video of the ill treatment of loving animals in our country.
We each can take personal responsibility in our shopping decisions and in our
eating habits. Let us pray for the protection of the weak and helpless !!! Let
us live by Dharma! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb8lZyRkoGg&feature=share

Ram Ram

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
\
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\
--------------------------

Let there be love for all of creation .........

Beauty without cruelty -

Millions of animals are tortured for research and product safety without helping
humans much, because clinical trials on humans follow before marketing....
Boycotting products tested on animals is increasing in popularity. DO NOT USE
PRODUCTS THAT HAVE BEEN TESTED ON ANIMALS.

All food poisoning is caused by non-vegeterian foods whcih also contaminate veg
dishes. Eggs have the highest count of Coliform bacteria, which can result in
Salmonella infection. Every year, around 20,000,000 people get this infection
and 200,000 of them die woldwide. GO VEG !!

We can easily choose packaged veg foods. Unmarked products are usually
non-veg. Use soaps and cosmetics marked veg. (i.e. no animal bi-products)

Pigs are born, raised and killed for pork and sausage. Hog bristles are
obtained through torture. Synthetic brushes are as good, if not better. Use
synthetic bristle brushes to paint, and other brushes etc. GO VEG !

Animals are used as LIVE LURES ... (rabbits, cats etc) As part of the training,
half stared grey hounds are made to chase rabbits and tear them apart.
Recalling the taste of frest blood, they willingly chase mechanical lures on
race tracks. Join the campaign to get greyhound racing halted in Punjab
(search for online petition)
BWC is a way of life which causes no creature of land, sea or air terror,
torture or death.

GO VEG !
Beauty without Cruelty
===========================================================

---------------------------------------------------------

I do not think Cows should be slaughtered.
But have we all thought about should tomatoes, cucumbers or other vegetables be
cut ?

Anything made by Nature has life, not just cows.
Cows in India are all over, disturbing traffic and making a mess.
While preaching non-killing of cows, we should address the public nuisance
created in the name of our own religion.

Also, please do not cut any vegetables. Thay have feelings too ...........!!
What wre we all going to eat ?
I do not think Gods live on food made on earth, and we should all begin to live
on Love and Fresh Air.

d

Durgesh Mankikar,MD

---------------------------------------------------


This is a petition to prevent slaughter of 15000 cows per day in DEONAR
SLAUGHTER HOUSE. Please sign it to participate in opposing this demoniac
attempt to modernize cow slaughterhouse.

the link is

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?prtst12d

Do visit to prevent slaughter of 15000 cows per day in Mumbai...

Website for your information on the petition - www.jivdaya.net

Shocking Decision

- B.M.C. want to make it ultramodern
- Per day 14,000 cows will get killed
- 50 lakhs to be killed in just 1 year
- 125 crore estimate expenses
- 6 crore consultancy fees
- 75% of meat will get exported
- Use of 50 lacs liter water daily for slaughter of animals

Effects On Us

- Water Shortages in Mumbai
- Hike in Milk Prices upto Rs.50 / Litre
- Free Spreading of Diseases amongst us
- Creation of Unemployment resulting suicide death of farmers in Maharashtra
- Unwanted parts of animals mixed in other vegetarian food products.
- Drainage system failed due to heavy waste material of animals.
- Cows-Buffaloes can be seen only in Books.

sent in by P. Subramani
sent by Giriraj Daga

==============================

PLEASE READ PREVIOUS GITA TALK MESSAGE ON:

What should be Our Attitude towards Birds, Animals and Other Creatures ?

BEAUTY WITHOUT CRUELTY - has many tips and awareness material for protecting
the animals and other creatures. Please visit their site.
- Cruelty towards snakes who are cruely defanged for the Nag Panchami day
celebration
- incisions made in oysters to simulate natural accident resulting in painful
suffering and oyster's death
- The physiological and psychological reactions of animals to pain are similar
to humans'
- become aware of ALL products where animals are being exploited - cosmetics,
toiletries, clothes, accessories, foods, medicines, sports, entertainment,
religion etc.
BWC

==================================================


Shree Hari

Ram Ram

Priya sadhak, prasana ke liye dhanyavad!

Swamiji Maharaj has explained "Why cow is so sacred" very beatifully
in Sadhaka Sanjivani (Ref: Gita 18-44, page 1947 in English). Some of
the points from the commentary are:

1. In the materialistic world of today, a cow is very useful. Her
milk, ghee and cow-dung add to the wealth of a nation. India being
primarily an agricultural country, bullocks are used to plough the
land. The land can also be ploughed by male-buffaloes or camels.
Buffaloes cannot work so efficiently as bullocks because the bullocks
have more sattvic strength, they can work for a longer time in the
sun compared to buffaloes. Camels cost lot more than the bullocks.

2. The grains produced by cow-dung and urine of the cows as manure
are considered pure. Dung and urine of cows make the land more
fertile as compared to chemical fertilizers as has been learnt by
conducting experiments. Chemical fertilizers destroy the fertility of
land in a few years and make it barren. Cow-dung is being exported to
foreign countries so that the lost fertility of the land may be
restored

3. Cows of India are gentle and sattvic in nature. Their sattvic milk
sharpens the intellect and makes the nature of the person mild.
Foreign cows give more milk but they are angry by nature, their milk
makes one cruel. A she-buffalo gives more milk than a cow but her
milk is of rajasic nature. Those who drink cow's milk are more active
than those who drink a she-buffalo's milk. Once an experiment was
conducted on military horses, it was found that horses fed on cow-
milk could cross a river while the horses fed on buffalo-milk could
not do though the later seemed stronger. The milk of she-camel being
of tamasic nature is not useful and it is not used to curd and butter.


4. Cow occupies an important place in performing all religious rites. Her milk,
ghee and dung are used in performing rites and ceremonies at birth, tonsure and
sacred thread. Cow-dung purifies the places too where these rites are performed.
Cow's milk is used in preparing
sweet dishes which are offered to Brahmans, in honor of manes. When a
cow is offered to a Brahman it is considered as a punya or high
merit. Also cow's ghee is used in religious sacrifices which are
performed to satisfy desires.

5. The cow is a sacred animal, even the air which touches her body
becomes pure. Her dung and urine, check epidemics such as plague and
cholera. Houses plastered with cow-dung are not so much affected by
bombs as the cemented houses. Cow-dung eliminates poison. In
Varanasi, there was a case of a saint saving a man who was supposed
to be dead by a snake-bite, just by smearing the body with cow-dung
two times. Urine of cow is very useful in heart diseases. A little
quantity of urine of a she-calf, as a dose everyday cures stomach
diseases. A saint suffering from asthma had a lot of relief by
drinking a little urine of the she-calf. These days several medicines
are prepared from cow-dung and urine of cows. Cooking gas is made
from cow-dung also.

6. Service to the cow without expectation of any reward leads to
purification of heart and enables eventually one to achieve
salvation. Lord Krishana is known as Gopala because He staged a human
play as a cowherd with bare feet. In ancient times in India sages
reared cows so that they could have nourishment from the cow's milk
& ghee to sharpen their intellect. Because of the sharp intellects,
they could create such great and rare classic literature. Cow's milk
and butter provided them with longevity, great emperors went to these
sages for expert advice on complex matters related to their kingdoms.

7. In Indian historical records, innumerable names are mentioned who
sacrifices their lives for the protection of cows. But today, it is
sad plight that thousands of cows are slaughtered daily, out of greed only. If
this state of affairs continues, cows will totally
disappear. Then of course cow-dung will not be available. Without cow-
dung land will go barren and there will not be production of corn,
wheat and cotton. People will be deprived of the bare necessities of
life, such as food & clothing and they will have a miserable life.
Slaughter of cows is the main cause of increasing number of natural
disasters such as famine, droughts, volcanoes etc.

Ram Ram

Humble regards,
Madan kaura

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cow is holy because the Vedas and the vedic literaure says so.

Krishna says: krushi gauraksha vaaNijyam vaishya karama svabhaavajam.

It is dharma to keep cows, especially for the merchantile people,
for the benefit of the society.

The Vedic people need to give higher prices for the cow milk and
milk products in order to encourage farmers to keep cows and make
the business attractive for them. Thus by engaging in cow seva we
can continue to make milk and milk products available.
jai sri krishna!
-sv
(Suresh Vyas)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

|| Shree Hari ||
Ram Ram

31st March 2010, Tuesday, Vaishaka Krishna Pratipada, Budhvar
Vikram Samvat 2067, Sri Krishna Samvaat 5236

The cow is the Mother of this world. The mother that gives birth to a child
feeds milk for the initial years, but the Cow feeds us milk for the rest of our
lives. Even at time of death, curd (yoghurt) made of Cow's milk is given. She
is the mother, and grand-mother, and great grand-mother from both sides of the
family. She gives milk to all. She is the mother of this entire world. She is
the protector. At one place some thieves broke into the farm house, a cow in
the farm chased them away. Just as mother protects, likewise she protects, she
fosters, she loves, she caresses. By remembering "Gau Mata" (Mother Cow), the
inner-being (antahkaran) is purified. By petting, stroking a cow, many
incurable diseases are cured. If you think it proper, do it and see for
yourself. By protecting the cows, we are naturally protected. Nowadays, people
have stopped wanting to know about the greatness of cows. By the grace of Cows,
both this life and beyond is improved. By Mother Cow's grace, the impossible
become possible.
Cows have immense strength. If they are made happy, if they are made pleased,
then she provides all kinds of happiness and protection. If one sincerely and
honestly takes care of a cow, then for its upkeep and maintenance, there will be
no shortage of any resources. With your heart, try it and see for yourself.
You keep one-two cows in your backyard, than very easily they will be taken care
off. Nowadays, people's sentiments have really diminished regarding cows.
Mother Cows bestows all four �C Dharma, Artha, Kaama, Moksha. The medicines made
from Cow urine, has significant benefits.
He who destroys cows, they will be destroyed. This incident happened during the
reign of the Britishers. The hindus and muslims were fighting, when some very
strong muslim men were returning after wrangling. They caught hold of a cow,
thinking they would kill and cook it. They asked one of the men to hold on to
the cow, while they went to get supplies for the feast. The man felt sympathy
and released the cow. The five men were later caught and ordered to be hung.
All died, except the one who had saved the cow. The cow came and stood under
the rope where he was hanging from and by the support of her horns, the man was
saved. This is a real incident.

Real incidents were shared in the "Kalyan Prakashit." There was a Brahmin from
Hissar who was going to Bikaner. He fell seriously ill on his way in Churu. He
wrote a letter to his brother, to come for his aid, as he was in a very bad
state. At night he dreamt of a Cow, who said to him that you saved my life, I
will do the same to you. He had saved a cow caught in the quick sand. On waking
up, the gentleman was completely cured.

Gather up all the greens, vegetable peels/remains, wheat / other flour etc. from
your kitchen and serve these to the cows, then there will not be a need to incur
additional expenses and the cows will be taken care off. The cows eat with
great delight Green grass, long stringy vegetables (guvaar). How will the cows
be pleased, how can she be made, these sentiments must remain within each of us.
Things can be limited, but sentiments can be unlimited. By this service you
will attain salvation. Do not sell your cows, or else it is likely they will
end up in the slaughter house. It is difficult to take care of thousands of
cows in one place, but if all householders keep one cow each, then easily the
cows will be protected.

It is a grave sin to inject a cow for milk. Such milk should not even be
consumed. Previously there were 36 crore animals, now in a count there were
only 10 crore animals remaining. Do not use plastics. Plastics bags with food
thrown in streets are often swallowed by street cows and many unknowingly eat
the plastic and die. 12-13 kgs of plastic was found inside the dead cows.
Therefore use paper bags and cloth bags. If the cows die from pain and
suffering, all these manufacturers of plastic bags and everyone down the chain
who is involved will have to share in the sin. Nowadays there is great
misfortune for cows and hindus. Do not do family planning. Let the children be
born, it is a sin to do family planning. Even in the western countries there
is opposition to abortion. Whatever way cows and hindus are protected one must
try, or else it will be a great loss. The void caused by family planning and
not allowing human beings to be born, can never be filled.
From summary of discourse in hindi on October 28, 1998 at 8:30 a.m. by Swami
Ramsukhdasji.
Ram Ram

------------------------------------------------------------------

Reply | Messages in this Topic (3)

#72413

From: "karmayog.org" <info@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 11:36 am
Subject: World Bank approves $1 billion for National Ganga River Basin Project

info@...

From: World Bank India

On May 31, 2011, the World Bank approved a loan and credit of $1 billion in support of India's efforts to clean the iconic Ganga, India's holiest and most important river. The river's sprawling basin accounts for one-fourth of the country's water resources and is home to more than 400 million people.

Read More:
www.worldbank.org/in

#72414

From: "Sheetal - Karmayog" <info@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 11:26 am
Subject: Rejected by all, toxic ship heading for India

info@...

URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/newdelhi/Toxic-ship-may-seek-berth-at-Alang/Article1-704266.aspx

Rejected by all, toxic ship heading for India....Chetan Chauhan

She wants a final resting place. But after everybody turned her back � as her death could bring devastation to several others � the destination of the Gulf Josh may now be Alang in Gujarat. The ship, originally known as the Probe Koala and owned by London-based Refigure, was used to refine low-grade naphtha with caustic soda on the Mediterranean Sea as the technology cannot be used on land anywhere in the world because of environmental hazards.

The Gulf Josh is believed to be carrying toxic chemicals, including mercaptans � a group of sulphur-containing substances � that attack the respiratory system and hydrogen that affects the central nervous system.

The ship has been on the move since 2007 from Ivory Coast to the United States to West Asia to Vietnam in a bid to find a place to dump its waste and get dismantled.

The US-based Global Marketing Systems, which is at present operating the ship, specialises in ship-breaking. But the owner of the company, Anil Sharma, did not respond to calls from Hindustan Times nor did his company respond to an email questionnaire.

Now, the Gulf Jash may be on her way from Vietnam to the Alang ship-breaking yard after Bangladesh refused her entry last week. Chittagong in Bangladesh and Alang in Gujarat are the world�s two biggest sites for dismantling ships.

�We have directed the ship-breakers� association, the port authorities and the Coast Guard not to allow the Gulf Jash into Bangladeshi territorial waters,� government official Zafar Alam told the media.

Rizwana Hasan, director of Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association told HT: �After Chittagong, the only place where such a ship can be dismantled is Alang.�

But the Indian government is still clueless. �We have no information about the ship,� said environment minister Jairam Ramesh.

#72415

From: <info@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 6:00 pm
Subject: NGO updates on Karmayog.org today

info@...

Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Below is the list of 1 new NGO registrations, profiles, events, needs, and uploads on www.karmayog.org today
It can be directly accessed at http://www.karmayog.org/ngoupdates/

List of Non-Profits registered on Karmayog on Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Global Welfare Bahu-uddeshiya Sanstha - Sangli - Maharashtra

Reply | Messages in this Topic (1071)

#72416

From: "Sheetal - Karmayog" <info@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 10:43 am
Subject: Legal metrology department's helpline about the Maximum Retail Price violations in your neighbourhood

info@...

To complan, Dial 22886666 the legal metrology department's helpline about the Maximum Retail Price violations in your neighbourhood.

-----------------------------------------------

Action will be initiated against the errant retailer under the Legal Metrology Act 2009, (Package Commodities) rule 2011, and he or she will be charged a compounding penalty of maximum Rs2,000. If the penalty is not paid within three months, the department will move court.

Source: Hindustan Times, Page No 07, Dated: June 01, 2011

#72417

From: "Sheetal - Karmayog" <info@...>
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2011 10:34 am
Subject: Interview with Maadhava Saanap - Controller, MSLMD : Will conduct drives for other products too

info@...

URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Will-conduct-drives-for-other-products-too/Article1-704274.aspx

Will conduct drives for other products too....Prajakta Chavan
Q & A
Interview with Maadhava Saanap....Controller, Maharashtra State Legal Metrology department

After targeting retailers for overcharging consumers buying aerated drinks, Maadhava Saanap, controller, Maharashtra state legal metrology department, said there will be more drives to curb MRP violations on other products.

Following Hindustan Times� reports, what action did the legal metro logy department take to curb MRP violations?
We conducted a special drive focused on the MRP violations of aerated drink bottles and filed 41 cases across the state. The inspections were held on those locations reported in the Hindustan Times such as bus depots and hospital canteens.

Do you have adequate infrastructure to keep a check on the MRP violations?
Across the state, we have 282 inspectors, but of these 20 posts are vacant... despite limited resources we are implementing the law. We need more vehicles for our staff during checks.

Will such drives be conducted for other products as well?
We will conduct drives to check on other products such as milk and sweets, depending on the supply-demand ratio of the commodity.

Consumers complain that your helpline number is not accessible?
The helpline number �22886666 � is always accessible on working days.

#72418

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 5:38 pm
Subject: Intro to: ANET - Andamans & Nicobar Environmental Team

info@...

http://www.anetindia.org/

ANDAMAN and NICOBAR ENVIRONMENTAL TEAM

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal are an archipelago of
approximately 527 islands, islets and rocks. This underwater mountain range
manifests itself above water as a chain of emerald islands of exceptional
beauty and conservational importance. The islands' immense biological
diversity is a result of ocean boundaries enclosing a wide range of
ecosystems - open oceans, shallow seas and reefs, sandy beaches, rocky
shores and sea caves, mangroves and wetlands, littoral forests, giant
lowland evergreens and hill top forests on this 6000sq km land.

ANET's aim is to further the understanding of the islands' biological
diversity and to actively contribute towards their conservation through
education, research and the development of sustainable resource
utilization..

VISION
The development of effective conservation strategies for the Andaman Islands
depends on a sound understanding of the diversity of the islands flora &
fauna, its abundance and distribution, and its connection to the needs of
indigenous tribes and settlers inhabiting this land.

The aim of ANET is to advance such an understanding of the islands'
terrestrial, coastal and marine habitats and to actively contribute towards
their conservation through education and development of sustainable resource
utilization programs.

ANET promotes an interdisciplinary understanding within the islands by
involving organizations with similar visions and goals - thereby creating a
centre for the mutual exchange of information, and a base station accessible
to visiting scientists and students from institutions around the world.

HISTORY
The Andaman & Nicobar Islands attracted the attention of researchers and
naturalists long before they appeared on the pages of guidebooks and travel
magazines. By virtue of its isolation and distance from mainland India, the
island chain's healthy ecosystems display a robust biological diversity with
a high level of endemism.

This unique attribute attracted many working in the field of
natural/wildlife research on the mainland. Added to this attribute is the
presence of indigenous and settled islanders who face the onslaught of
colonization and market oriented economic growth amidst their livelihood
strategies of foraging and agriculture. ANET is one among a slew of
individuals and institutions interested in the equitable and ecologically
appropriate development of these islands.

In the mid 1970s, Romulus Whitaker along with a few colleagues began
crocodile and herpetofaunal surveys on the islands. Sea turtle expert Satish
Bhaskar commenced his study of the island's turtle populations in 1977. This
small fraternity of herpetologists realized the value of this natural
heritage and the pressing need for its study and attempts towards
conservation.

In the late 1980s, Romulus Whitaker, Satish Bhaskar and Alok Mallick set up
a research base in Wandoor, South Andaman for herpetological and other
ecological studies on islands. Following this, The Andaman and Nicobar
Islands Environmental Team (ANET), a division of the Madras Crocodile Bank
Trust, was constituted in 1990. In 1993, with grants from Conservation
International and the Royal Netherlands Embassy, five acres of land was
purchased at Wandoor on the southern tip of the South Andaman Island.
Further grants enabled the construction & establishment of a base for
conservation, research, and education.
Since then, ANET has undertaken extensive studies on the islands' flora,
terrestrial and marine reptiles, marine turtles, herpetofaunal biogeography,
bats, other small mammals, resource and land use, coral reefs and the
various socio-economic factors impacting them.

Surveys by Indraneil Das were instrumental in the discovery of eight species
and several new records within the region.

Several seasonal field camps have been set up over the years at key sea
turtle nesting beaches in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago to monitor
nesting dynamics.

ANET also works extensively with the Forest Department; helping devise
ecologically sound management plans for Protected Areas. Additionally, it
has an ongoing environment education program. ANET's collaboration with
Kalpavriksh Pune and the Centre for Environmental Education, produced a
teacher-training manual ( 'Treasured Islands' ) in English and Hindi, for
the schools in the region.

Today ANET remains the primary active environmental NGO and the only
research base of its kind in the islands.

By virtue of its twenty-year-old research and education base, experienced
staff and its good relationship with local communities and various
government bodies, ANET is uniquely positioned to undertake, encourage and
facilitate further tangible contributions to conservation efforts within the
archipelago.

#72419

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 7:19 pm
Subject: Good or Bad? Former SAIL chief joins Vedanta

info@...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Former-SAIL-chief-Roo\
ngta-joins-Vedanta/articleshow/8688155.cms

Former SAIL chief Roongta joins Vedanta

NEW DELHI: Former Steel Authority of India chairman Sushil Kumar Roongta
will on Thursday join Vedanta Aluminium, a group firm of London Stock
Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources , as a MD. "He will head the aluminium
business of the group, including BALCO, comprising 3 million tonnes of fully
integrated aluminium manufacturing facilities, together with 6,000 MW of
captive power plants," Vedanta Resources said.

Roongta was at the helm of affairs of SAIL between August 2006, and May
2010, and under his leadership the Maharatna firm embarked upon a major
expansion plan to double capacity to over 26 million tonnes per annum by
2013-14.

Roongta had worked with SAIL for 38 years in different capacities.

#72420

From: Sunita Singh Sengupta <sunita.singhsengupta@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 7:19 am
Subject: CALL FOR PAPER Ontology Of Consciousness

sunita.singhsengupta@...

Dear All,

ISOL Centre for Consciousness Studies happily announces the National Workshop On �Ontology Of Consciousness�: Integrating Mathematics, Physics and Spirituality� during December 15-17, 2011 in Delhi India. This National Workshop is built on the strength of �National Workshop on Integrating Mathematical Science and Spirituality� held at University of Delhi, December 21-23, 2009.

�The proposed workshop intends to initiate discussions on logical approach to understand the nature of consciousness, interconnected and inseparable patterns of energy and the mathematics of quantum physics and its relations to spirituality and cosmic self. Recognizing the importance and place of the outer and inner sciences, the workshop will make the participants learn to integrate both to create harmony in our lives at all levels.

�The thematic discussions will focus on:

1.�� Development of Indian Mathematical Science in the context of Spirituality.

2.�� Mathematical Science as a Form of Spirituality and Spirituality as a Type of Science.

3.�� Mathematical Science and Supra-mental Consciousness.

4.�� Mathematical Science and Mystical Experience.

5.�� Cognitive Framework of Consciousness Mind.

6.�� Relevance of Vedantic Models of Mind into Artificial Intelligence.

7.�� Mathematics of Infinites: Insights from Wisdom Traditions.

8.�� Quantum Approaches to Consciousness.

9.�� Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics.

10.�� Mind and Matter: Interconnectedness between Epistemological Assumptions and ��

�� Neurophysiological Levels of Description.

�

The details are available at: http://isolresearchfoundation.org/� or ��http://isolresearchfoundation.org/study.html

�The last date of abstract submission is: October 31, 2011.

I humbly request you to also forward this email to your colleagues to contribute a paper on any topic of their choice. The Registration Form is attached herewith.

Please feel free to contact me for any queries, if you have.

Looking forward to welcome you.

Sunita Singh Sengupta, Ph.D.
Founder & Convener
ISOL Centre for Consciousness Studies
(A Unit of ISOL Research Foundation)

C-17, Raj International Business Center, Gurunanak Pura, Laxminagar, Near Scope Minar

Delhi - 110 092, India
www.isolresearchfoundation.org
Contact No. 9873167484
Email: sengupta.sunitasingh@...; sunita.singhsengupta@...

�

Hopes of Today are Realizations of Tomorrow
�

#72421

From: "kachaguna" <checkhersbyme@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 6:41 am
Subject: A visit to an RTO in Mumbai for a simple work - interesting....

checkhersbyme

I recently visited an RTO in Mumbai to renew my driving licence, armed with
photographs, stationery, etc. according to the info given by the Mumbai Traffic
police website and this to ensure I get the work done that day itself and
without the assistance of the touts/agents/ whathaveyou.  I'm writing this
taking some time doing it, not to criticize the traffic dept. but if they're
reading this, to make them aware of what's seen from the other side and do
something about it.  And also that anyone going there can expect what's in
store.

At the enquiry counter I was asked for the licence then given 7 forms, 5 in
English and two in Marathi. Why 7 forms, well I had to change from the book
licence to the smartcard licence. Why two in Marathi or five in English, well,
the forms sometimes are in English and sometimes in Marathi and whatever is
available is given. Since I know Marathi well, I wouldn't have a problem but
what about those who don't?  I was also told to go to counter 169 in 'F' Block.

As I went through the forms a man approached me and asked what I needed; I
initially ignored him but then got talking and told him that if he were an agent
I wouldn't be interested on which he told me to pay him only 40 rupees so he
could get my medicals done and then guide me to the right window.  Now I needed
to have the medicals done, so agreed.  I told him to wait so I could fill the
forms.  He asked that I quickly fill the form pertaining to the medicals and
soon after pasting a photograph he took it while I was still filling the others
and was back within a couple of mins., form duly filled in with the stamp of a
medical officer, all without a single question being asked of me!!!  All is well
was what the medical form said which is true.
I was amazed and wondered, if I had gone personally would it take the same time?

He then took all my filled forms, just scanned them and asked me to fill in some
things I had left blank and then he and I went to the 'F' block.

He told that I needed a 'drinking clearance' so we went to a fellow who looked
very suspiciously at me; since my demeanor seemed tough, he signed the form and
gave it back to my man, no questions asked. I realised then that he was the one
to stamp clearance on whether the person drank or not!!!!

Above counter 169, it was written 'Head Clerk'.  A man who was supposedly that,
was sitting not facing the person opp the counter, but at a right angle looking
very important.  As I approached it, the agent told me that that wasn't the
place to go but rather he asked for the year my licence was issued and since it
was in 1989, he scanned the counters and took me to one of them, where again the
clerk who was to sit there was seated about three meters away with a horde of
files, forms, etc.  He and another youngster were the men, who manned these
counters.  My agent called the one seated away and gave him the forms.  He took
them, looked at me and told me to be back in 30 mins.

Rather than moving away, I waited to see the working of the fellows within, as
my agent moved away having finished his deal and I thank God I hadn't shooed him
away or I'd have wasted literally half to one hour just getting to the right
place!  I saw most people had their agent with them and for some very few people
like me, information was very hard to come by with even the agents and touts not
bothering to answer, giving off a veneer of toughness for they know, they are
the real kings of the place!!!

I looked inside, I saw a dank and dirty office piled with files with tons of
dust on it.  Yeah, thick dust and dirty looking papers and men who resembled
construction workers except without the cement.  Of these I quickly realised
many were touts and the rest the clerks.  And papers kept moving up and down and
the touts shouting at the clerks of course in polite tones and the clerks in
turn bossing over them, etc.

Eventually I got my forms and  was told to meet the 'sahib' an inspector or
perhaps senior inspector (RTO) dressed in khaki.  He had almost five to six
people around him, some seated some standing.  Opp. him sat another guy
(official perhaps?) in plain clothes.  The clerk who gave the former official my
papers, looked at me and indicated that his job was over and I take over.  The
man signed the papers and just kept them aside.  The other guy (official
perhaps) took the papers and also signed and looking at me tore off two forms
and gave them to me for the 'photo' for the smart card. I wished to ask the
official how much time it would take etc. but quickly realised that he dwelt in
'sanctum sanctorum', inaccessible to the hoi polloi to which I belonged, never
mind if I and my ilk make possible the fires of his kitchen burning; and decided
rather to ask this other 'official' who from his expression seemed to find the
question meaningless as the licence would be delivered home but only problem
being that if it was beyond 30 days the counterfoil of the payment for renewal
would be invalid.  He curtly mentioned bet. 15 - 20 days. I went then to the
place got the photograph clicked, etc and asked the same question.  the lady
told me 20 -30 days.  There was a clerk sitting there and I asked him too and he
told me bet. 25 -30 days.  This was progressively moving away from my comfort
zone and truly not knowing the state of things, rather than create a ruckus,
thought that if I didn't get it in 20 days, then act and moved away.

A 'Mumbai Mirror report
(http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=CITY%20-%20Briefs&\
sectid=35&contentid=20100530201005311539527667e1d3449) indicates that the
licence will be delivered within 72 hours - wishful thinking?

This experience is enough to explain why many people like me would prefer to go
the agent route even if they wanted to do it directly.  Besides, the attitude of
the people inside left much much to be desired but I don't blame them, sitting
in such conditions, would propel me to act and behave like them.  If at all
after the experience, I'm glad I am through and hope I don't have to do anything
further to get the licence on time.

Francis Dias
9820290167
Mumbai

#72422

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 4:56 pm
Subject: Maharashtra Sold - by Sharad Pawar in Pune, when CM of Maharashtra

info@...

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne280511Coverstory.asp

Sharad Pawar
Union Agriculture Minister
Tech Park One, a company owned by Pawar's family and close friends acquired
defence land for 7 crore. Its market value: Rs 70 crore

Case 3An IAS officer who was to later join the NCP gave away 322.7 acres
saying it was lying vacant

Royal loot Prime land in Pune's Yerwada locality landed in the lap of Mukund
Bhavan Trust

ON 20 August 1953, the Mukund Bhavan Trust controlled by KM Goenka, Vinod's
father, got revenue rights over 3.27 acres of land in Yerwada village, Pune.
The rights were granted under controversial circumstances. The trust and the
district administration had been locked in a civil suit before a local court
where the latter was opposing a claim made by the former of being an
inamdar - a royal title in Maharashtra by which kings used to confer revenue
rights to their loyalists - of a 3.27- acre plot.

The title was abolished in Maharashtra on 1 August 1953, when the Bombay
Personal Inam Abolition Act came into force. However, 20 days after the
abolition, the trust and the government pleader struck an out-of-court
compromise whereby the pleader, who actually didn't have any authority to
strike any kind of deal with the litigant, agreed to recognise the revenue
rights claimed by Goenka's trust. The court passed a compromise decree,
which remained unchallenged until 1956, when Mukund Bhavan Trust approached
a civil court pleading to execute the 1953 decree. The district
administration strongly opposed the move, claiming that the compromise
struck by the government pleader was illegal.

The litigation continued till 1988, when Pawar became CM. Suddenly, the
government did a volte face. The then district collector Shriniwas Patil,
who later took voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service
in 1999 and got into the Lok Sabha from Pawar's party, the NCP, in 1999 and
2004, accepted the claims of the Trust. But instead of awarding 3.27 acres,
the collector shockingly gave away 322.7 acres of prime land in Pune city's
Yerwada locality - and added for good measure that the entire chunk of land
was in vacant and peaceful position with the government. He also mentioned
that he had already handed over 97 acres of land, which he claimed was lying
vacant to the Trust. In reality, the land had various government offices and
institutions like jail, mental hospital, military installations, etc.
Accordingly, the civil judge of Pune passed a consent decree on the
out-ofcourt compromise reached between the trust and the district collector.
On 25 May 1990, the Pune collectorate changed the title of 70 acres of land
in favour of Mukund Bhavan Trust.

In 1991, when the Trust again approached the government demanding possession
of the entire 322.7 acres of land, the officials of the revenue department
at the secretariat panicked. By now Pawar had gone to the Centre and
Sudhakarrao Naik had taken over as CM.

Realising the magnitude of the scam, they asked the court to declare the
previous Collector's order null and void. The Maharashtra government now
claimed that there was no such vacant land. On the contrary, it hosted
institutions like Yerwada jail, offices and forests. The government said
that some of the land was earmarked for schools, playground, green belt,
community shopping centre, maternity home, parks and community residential
schemes.

In 2003, the Sushilkumar Shinde government in an outof- court settlement
transfers the land to the trust.

#72423

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 4:58 pm
Subject: Maharashtra Sold - to Hiranandani Bldrs. in Powai for 40paise/acre

info@...

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne280511Coverstory.asp

Case 4
Hiranandani built posh Powai where the poor were to live

High treason On 80-year lease at 40 paise per acre, this township is a steal
for realtors

IN 1977, the Maharashtra government announced a housing scheme for
economically weaker sections, Powai Housing Development Scheme, to be
implemented over 140 hectares in the villages of Powai, Kopri and Tirandaz.

On 19 November 1986, the government entered into an agreement with builder
Niranjan Hiranandani, handing over 230 acres on an 80-year lease at the rate
of 40 paise per acre. In return, the builder was supposed to construct flats
for economically weaker sections at the rate of Rs 150 per sq ft.

Shockingly, an inquiry initiated by the MMRDA Commissioner with the help of
the civic administration in 2009 revealed that out of the 5.74 lakh sq m of
builtup area that was sanctioned by the government, the developer had used
just 76,120 sq m, that is just 15 percent, for low-income housing. The rest
was converted into luxury apartments measuring 2,000-5,000 sq ft and sold at
the rate of Rs 8,000- Rs 15,000 per sq ft.

The MMRDA imposed a fine of Rs 1,993 crore but the builder has only paid Rs
3 crore so far. The NGO Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan has filed a PIL
before the high court praying for the confiscation of over Rs 30,000 crore
that they estimate the builder has earned from the scam. The matter is now
pending before the Bombay High Court.

#72424

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 5:02 pm
Subject: Maharashtra Sold - by Vilasrao Deshmukh, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule

info@...

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne280511Coverstory.asp

3. Vilasrao Deshmukh
Rural Development And Panchayati Raj Minister
A CAG report indicted Vilasrao for illegally allotting a 2 lakh sq m plot at
throwaway prices to the Vilasrao Deshmukh Foundation, a trust run by Deshmukh
and his family

4. Ajit Pawar
Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra
Gave away 2 lakh sq ft of land to AG Mercantile. It later emerged that Ajit
Pawar had owned 8,800 shares of the company when 2G scam accused Vinod Goenka
was its director

5.Supriya Sule
Lok Sabha MP
Along with her husband, Supriya holds substantial stakes in multi-billion-dollar
real estate projects. Has a stake in Tech Park One, which constructed Panchsheel
Tech Park on a defence plot, earning an annual rent of Rs 27 crore

#72425

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 4:46 pm
Subject: Tehelka cover: Maharashtra Sold - the politician-builder nexus

info@...

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne280511Coverstory.asp

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 8, Issue 21, Dated 28 May 2011
CURRENT AFFAIRS COVER STORY

The politician-builder nexus in Maharashtra has plundered away prime land. Can Prithviraj Chavan break the vice-like grip the realtors have over the state? Ashish Khetan reports

A FEW DAYS after Prithviraj Chavan was inaugurated as Maharashtra chief minister last November, an over-ambitious Congress MP from Mumbai rang up the chief minister�s office and sought an appointment. A few hours later, the MP, who everybody knew was constructing a slum rehabilitation project in Andheri besides many small real estate projects that he had set up in the name of his brother, received a call from the CM�s office confirming the appointment. But there was a caveat. �Sahab has asked me to ensure that you are coming alone. So please don�t bring anybody along,� said the new CM�s personal secretary. The MP got the message. Builders and real estate developers were persona non grata with the new CM.

An aide to a senior Congress leader told TEHELKA that if the visitor�s book and security log books maintained at Varsha, the chief�s minister�s official bungalow at Malabar Hill, are checked for the last week of Ashok Chavan�s tenure as CM, one would come to know many builders turned up to push their files, worried that the tainted CM was on his way out.

The lines between politicians, the supposed guardians of public interest, and the realtors, who are driven purely by private gain, have got so blurred in Mumbai, that the new chief minister�s intent to keep a safe distance from profligate realtors was seen as an iconoclastic act.

The ruling party MPs and MLAs were soon heard calling Prithviraj as being na�ve and impractical. �Which builder will give you money during elections if his work is not done?� the snubbed MP was heard telling his party colleagues.

The need to raise party funds is the most common excuse given by state politicians for their nexus with builders.

For most in the state unit of the Congress, Prithviraj was an unknown commodity. The 65-year-old was an engineer by training and had chucked his cushy job in aircraft instrumentation in the United States to inherit his parents� political legacy. Between them, his father, the late DR Chavan and mother Premlata Tai, had won the Lok Sabha seat of Karad in Satara for the Congress as many as six times; DR Chavan also served as a minister in the Cabinets of Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.

Since his return to India in 1991, Prithviraj, however, had opted for a quiet political career at the Centre, away from the rough and tumble of Maharashtra politics, holding several critical but low-key portfolios in the Manmohan Singh government like Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and the Prime Minister�s Office.

Ironically, his biggest weakness � almost zero connect with today�s groundlevel politics of Maharashtra � proved to be his major qualification for the coveted job. Reeling under an avalanche of scams, the Congress needed a chief minister who could start on a clean slate.

Though it�s still early days, Prithviraj seems to be charting his own course. In an informal discussion with a small group of journalists at his residence on 12 May, he expressed his dismay with the way the multi-billion rupee Dharavi slum rehabilitation project was structured by his predecessor, Ashok Chavan.

�We have over half-a-dozen town planning and housing government agencies in this city,� said Prithiviraj. �I don�t understand why we should hand over precious public land to private developers when we ourselves can do the rehabilitation and redevelopment work. The government will stand to earn hundreds of crores of rupees from the land that would otherwise go into the pockets of private builders.�

12,500 cr

The total worth of the township projects that were scrapped by Prithviraj. The projects had been cleared on the morning of 11 November 2010, just hours before Prithviraj took over

Dharavi, Asia�s largest slum, is spread over 500 acres in the heart of Mumbai. Out of the 500 acres, 150 acres has already been redeveloped. But the redevelopment proposal of the remaining 350 acres has been in limbo for the past 15 years, primarily because both the builders and politicians are wrangling over their share of the spoils.

The government owns almost 80 percent of this land (75 percent belongs to the state government and the rest to the Central government). The government files show that after relocating more than 60,000 families living on this 350 acres, at least 4.35 crore sq ft of built-up area will be available for sale in the free market. According to a very conservative estimate (based on a projection made by a government official and is part of the official file), the private developers will stand to earn a gross revenue of more than Rs 26,000 crore. The market estimates put the figure in excess of Rs 50,000 crore.

The Dharavi project file shows that Ashok Chavan and four chief ministers before him (two from the NCP-Congress combine and two from the Shiv Sena-BJP government) had wanted to give this prime real estate to private developers after taking a premium of just Rs 250-450 per sq ft. Once redeveloped, the market experts estimate that the developed real estate would fetch anywhere in the range of Rs 20,000- Rs 30,000 per sq ft.

The question that arises is, why wouldn�t the government want to make this money? Why should it give away public land to private developers who become rich at the expense of the exchequer? It could be done by the dozen-odd urban development and housing departments and agencies in the state that employ a legion of engineers, town planners and bureaucrats and who draw crores of rupees of salary at the cost of the taxpayer.

�The land thus freed after rehabilitating 60,000 slum dwellers could be then auctioned. The government earned hundreds of crores of rupees from auctioning the land at Bandra-Kurla complex to big multinational and blue-chip companies a few years ago. Why can�t we do the same thing in the case of Dharavi?� a nonplussed Prithviraj asked the reporters.

An official, who has been part of the project from the time it was first conceived, told TEHELKA, �The project drawn by the government divided the entire 500 acres of slum land into five sectors. Since 1997, prowhich was when the project was first conceptualised, every man who has been in power in the state has wanted 100- 150 crore as kickback from each sector. Over the past 15 years, there had been constant manipulation of the bidding procedures, tender conditions and project detailing. To begin with, there were 19 developers who were interested in the project. Finally, the tender conditions were made such that only five big developers were in a position to qualify, while the rest were disqualified. Twice the bids were cancelled at the last minute as there was a disagreement over the division of the plunder.�

Prithviraj is expected to make an announcement soon awarding the redevelopment and rehabilitation work in one out of the five clusters to Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the government agency constituted in 1977 to provide affordable housing to the common man. But private developers are lobbying hard to prevail upon the CM to give the remaining four sectors to private developers.

ON MAY 7, Prithviraj scrapped two special township projects worth over 12,500 crore that had been awarded by Ashok Chavan to private developers without inviting any competitive bidding. The projects were given clearance on the morning of 11 November 2010, just hours before Prithviraj was administered the oath.

Between 1-10 November, files related to these projects moved at an astonishing speed between half-a-dozen government departments before finally being sanctioned by Ashok Chavan just a couple of hours prior to Prithviraj�s oath ceremony.

Now Prithviraj has not only scrapped these two projects, he has also put another four integrated township projects � the cumulative worth of all the six projects is about 55,000 crore � awarded by Ashok Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh under review. All these six projects were approved arbitrarily and without inviting any competitive bids or public tenders. (See the box on 3K).

55,000 cr

Cumulative worth of six projects awarded by Ashok Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh now under review. They were approved arbitrarily without inviting any competitive bids

When contacted, Deshmukh told TEHELKA, �I don�t have the project files with me anymore. But what I can say is that the projects were sanctioned as per the rules.� Ashok Chavan refused to comment on the issue saying that the matter was sub-judice.

But if the Adarsh Housing Society scam was appalling, what will you do after reading the following disclosures?

On 9 January 2002, when Ashok Chavan was the revenue minister in Deshmukh�s government, he passed a �scandalous order� whereby he allegedly gifted away 102 acres in the heart of Pune to a private builder. The land was situated in one of Pune�s most posh localities, Senapati Bapat Road.

The prevailing property rate in the area was Rs 12,000- Rs 14,000 per sq ft for residential and Rs 20,000- Rs 22,000 per sq ft for commercial use. The approximate worth of the land was Rs 2,500 crore. But thanks to Ashok Chavan�s alleged largesse, all that the government received was a mere Rs 4,058 for the entire patch of land. This paltry amount was calculated at the tax rates levied by the British government.

At the time of Ashok Chavan�s order, the beneficiary builders, Jayant Shah and his son Manav, were widely believed to be very close to his family. When the Adarsh Society scam erupted last year, it emerged that Chavan, besides benefiting his own family, had also allegedly got the fatherson duo two flats at the society. The nexus was out in the open.

In March, a full nine years after Ashok Chavan�s controversial order, the then Pune Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Zagade passed an order calling the land transfer and other related clearances given by Chavan illegal. His order said that in 2002, all the clearances and ownership changes made with regard to the 102 acres were illegal. He also recommended that strict legal and punitive action be taken against the guilty. But the builder had already made hundreds of crores by carving out plots and selling them in the market.

So how did Ashok Chavan script this alleged brazen scam with such impunity and manage to make great strides in his political career without getting caught, until of course Adarsh ran him aground? After all, he was Rahul Gandhi�s choice for the post of Maharashtra chief minister after Deshmukh was caught on camera taking his actor son Riteish Deshmukh and his producer-director friend Ram Gopal Varma to a terror picnic at the Taj Hotel a day after the gunbattle at the hotel had ended. The ensuing public anger had forced the Congress leadership to fire Deshmukh.

It�s partly because of the complex nature of land and property laws, land allotment procedures and other issues surrounding it that the politician-builder continues to thrive. Land scams seldom get nailed and politicians tend to think that they would get away with it without the common man ever getting so much as a whiff.

4,058

The amount a private builder paid the government for 102 acres in Senapati Bapat Road in Pune in 2002. The approximate worth was Rs 2,500 cr. Deshmukh was CM, Ashok his revenue minister

But largely, land scams become possible in Maharashtra because the bureaucracy is hand-in-glove with politicians. Virtually everybody from top to bottom is on the gravy train and works overtime to provide illegal gains to realtors, rather acting as custodians of public interest. The alleged Pune land scam done under Ashok is the embodiment of this deep-rooted malaise (see box on Pune).

The usual system of checks and balances has collapsed as far the Revenue, Housing and Urban Development departments of Maharashtra are concerned.

Look at the following chain of events:
1. In 1989, when Sharad Pawar was CM, the Pune collector passed an �illegal� order and gifted away 322.7 acres to a trust controlled by the family of Vinod Goenka, who has been in the news recently as a partner of DB Realty�s Shahid Balwa. The trust got the land for free. Later, the Pune Collector took voluntary retirement and joined Pawar�s Nationalist Congress Party. He won two successive Lok Sabha elections in 1999 and 2004.
2. In 1992, the Revenue department (Pawar was called to the Centre to head the defence ministry in Narasimha Rao�s government and Sudhakarrao Naik became CM) challenged the Pune Collector�s order and the consent decree signed as a result of this order in a court of law. The department calls the earlier order passed by the previous collector as a colossal mistake and plead with the court to revoke the land transfer as it was illegal and against public interest.
3. On 10 March 2003, the Sushilkumar Shinde government did an out-of-court compromise with Goenka�s trust and gave away around 80 acres in the heart of Pune for free. Shinde had become CM in January 2003 by replacing Deshmukh, who had been heading the government since 1999. In 2004, the Congress high command plucked out Shinde and brought Deshmukh back. Shinde was seen as being too soft on Pawar, making the Congress lose ground to NCP in the 2004 Assembly election.
4. On 25 November 2003, Pawar�s family and a few close friends incorporate a company named Tech Park One. Pawar�s daughter Supriya Sule and her husband Sadanand Sule own substantial shares in the company.
5. On 1 October 2004, Tech Park One bought about 26,000 sq m from Mukund Bhavan Trust. The property records showed that the land actually belonged to the military since 1930.
6. The industry experts have valued the property at 70 crore.
7. The company constructs the Panchsheel Tech Park that currently, according to industry estimates, earns an annual rent of 27 crore.
8. Interestingly, it was Balwa�s DB Realty that did all the correspondence with the Union ministry of environment, which was under A Raja at the time, for environmental clearance for this project.
9. On the remaining 68 acres, Goenka and his partner Balwa launch three massive commercial projects. At the moment, the construction is in full swing.

As with the alleged Ashok Chavanscripted Pune scam, the case of Mukund Bhavan Trust shows the complexity around land issues that has allowed wrongdoings of politicians to have a sustained life in the state (see the box on Mukund Bhavan Trust).

Atul Choradia of Panchsheel Tech Park told TEHELKA, �Panchsheel purchased the said plot of 26,000 sq m for a consideration of Rs 7 crore, which was more than double the market value of Rs 3.93 crore prevailing at the said time as per the government ready reckoner.� He also denied any linkages between Panchsheel and Balwa. �There is no connection of DB Realty to Panchsheel. It is a misinterpretation due to the survey number being the same,� he said in an email response.

250/sq ft

Rate at which Ashok Chavan and four chief ministers before him wanted to give away the government�s share in Dharavi to private builders. The redeveloped land would have fetched Rs 20,000- Rs 30,000 per sq ft

NCP spokesman Jitendra Awhad told TEHELKA, �It�s a malicious campaign against the Pawar family. It was at the high court�s instructions that the out-of-court settlement was negotiated. Mukund Bhavan Trust is the legitimate owner of the land. Supriya Sule and her husband invested about Rs 90 lakh in Panchsheel Park and have only 9 percent stake in the project. Sadanand Sule comes from a renowned business family and has every right to enter into legitimate business deals.�

LEADER OF the Opposition Eknath Khadse raised the matter of the Mukund Bhavan Trust scam in the Assembly in April. �The entire scam should be investigated by the CBI,� Khadse told TEHELKA.

But like the alleged Chavan-Shah scam, the Mukund Bhavan Trust scam came to light not because of the Opposition�s vigil, but because of the efforts of Ravi Bharate, who dug out all the documents using RTI and then gave it to the press and the Opposition parties.

Despite a regular eruption of scams and a deluge of corruption charges against prominent NCP and Congress leaders, very seldom has there been a genuine investigation that resulted in prosecution.

One reason is that almost every major leader, across the political spectrum, has had a finger in the pie.

�Opposition leaders from the Shiv Sena and BJP have been hand-in-glove with the Congress-NCP regime. So many times, issues of land scam and financial irregularities are raised in the Assembly but then as media focus shifts to other stories, the scams are given a quiet burial,� says Ramesh Joshi, a former Janata Party councillor who, disgusted with the reigning corruption in the civic body, resigned from his post in 1999.

�In 1987-90, Pawar as Congress chief minister de-reserved as many as 285 plots in Mumbai to give to builders. Around the same time, the Shiv Sena, which controlled the BMC, changed the land usage of over 4,000 plots. Our party led an agitation against these scams, both inside and outside the House. But then nothing happened. By 1991, Shiv Sena replaced Janata Party as the principal Opposition party. Shiv Sena and Pawar were hand-in-glove,� alleges Joshi, who along with Janata Party�s Mrinal Gore led a spirited campaign against Pawar�s alleged nexus with builders in the 1990s.

In Mumbai, almost every MLA and MP, both past and present, cutting across political lines, owns at least one real estate project, either directly or through family members or a proxy, at any given point of time.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray runs a big construction company named Matoshree Infrastructure. Right now, this company is redeveloping a cluster of over a dozen residential buildings in Mulund.

Former chief minister and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi and Raj had together bought the 4.8-acre Kohinoor Mill Land for Rs 421 crore in 2005 amidst a slew of controversies and allegations. In 2009, Raj sold his stake for Rs 300 crore, according to market estimates (though Matoshree�s spokesperson had claimed that the stake was sold for Rs 62 crore). Raj�s company also constructed one of the first slum rehabilitation projects in the city.

The brother of Shiv Sena MLA from Goregaon, Subhash Desai, has several multi- crore real estate projects in the suburbs.

BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha (Malabar constituency) is today one of the top real estate developers in the city. Lodha first became an MLA in 1999 and has not looked back since then. Lodha Group, which he started in 1980, currently has 38 real estate projects under construction covering over 29 million sq ft of built-up area.

People often say that Raj and Uddhav Thackeray will never contest elections. Why? Because then they will have to declare their assets, both movable and immovable.

Similarly, the stories surrounding the alleged illegal gains of Sharad Pawar, who in the last Lok Sabha election declared his total worth as 8.73 crore, are the stuff of urban legend. While in the past, Pawar has often been accused of holding properties through proxies, of late it has come to light that his daughter and son-in-law had substantial shareholdings in at least two multi- billion-dollar real estate projects.

322.7

Acres of land in Pune that was gifted for free by the collector�s order to a trust controlled by the family of Vinod Goenka, partner of the now infamous Shahid Balwa. The collector later went on to join the NCP

And then there are the likes of Balwa, who have become real estate tycoons on the strength of their political connections. Balwa, 37, the son of a restaurant owner who grew up in a small home at Mumbai Central, has been listed by the Forbes as India�s 66th richest man with a net worth of $1.06 billion.

But yet, in Maharashtra, Balwa is among several builders who have befriended influential politicians and have achieved a meteoric rise in the real estate industry.

Another such example is Sudhakar Shetty, who owned just a popular dance bar a few years ago, but today is a real estate tycoon, his worth estimated at over 500 crore. Shetty is believed to be the frontman for a political family from North India.

TWO YEARS ago, a 25-year-old land scam of thousands of crores involving Hiranandani Developers came to light. The scam apparently started in 1987 and continued over the next quarter-century without any government, political outfit or government official raising the flag. Finally, it was left to a few civil and RTI activists to do the document-digging and file a PIL in court.

After a detailed probe, the then head of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, (MMRDA) Ratnakar Gaikwad passed an order dated 1 January 2009, finding the builder guilty of several illegalities and imposed a fine of Rs 1,993 crore.

�The official figure of Rs 1,993 crore is much below the actual quantum of the scam. It runs into at least Rs 30,000 crore,� says Simpreet Singh, a member Ghar Bachao- Ghar Banao Andolan, an NGO that has been fighting for the cause of slum dwellers and has now filed a PIL against Hiranandani Developers.

The then CM Ashok Chavan wrote back to the MMRDA asking the agency to reassess the quantum of fine. Miraculously, the MMRDA now revised his previous assessment and reduced the amount of fine to Rs 200 crore. Two years have gone by and the builder has just paid Rs 3 crore as fine. The matter is now pending before the Bombay High Court (see box).

It beggars one�s belief that how scams have remained under wraps or worse continued unabated irrespective of the political party or leader at the helm of affairs.

In April, a four-year old alleged land scam amounting to hundreds of crores came to light. It involved Ajit Pawar, the present deputy CM but more importantly Sharad Pawar�s nephew, and 2G scam accused Vinod Goenka.

In 2007 and 2008 while Ajit Pawar was irrigation minister, the state irrigation department gave away about 2 lakh sq ft along the old Mumbai-Pune highway to a company named AG Mercantile. The land measuring 93,646 sq ft and overlooking Bhilavle dam in Raigad district was given on a lease for 99 years in 2007. The only condition attached with the allotment was that the company would spend money on the repair and maintenance of the dam. The next year, the company was allotted an additional 97,000 sq ft in lieu of constructing a road and a bridge.

It has now emerged that Ajit Pawar had owned 8,800 equity shares of AGMercantile while Goenka was one of the directors of this company. In all his asset declarations so far, Ajit Pawar had never mentioned these shares.

On some part of the land thus allotted, AGMercantile built lavish bungalows and swimming pools that it claimed were intended to attract tourists.

NCP spokesman Awhad told TEHELKA that Pawar did purchase 8,800 shares of AGMercantile in 2005, but they were sold the same year. He also claimed that the land was allotted through an open and transparent bidding process.

Before the AGMercantile controversy, Pawar was involved in another scandal involving his connections with a Punebased builder. In January, former journalist Ketan Tirodkar filed documents before the Bombay High Court, which showed that Pawar had connection with Punebased builder Avinash Bhosale.

The documents also showed that Ajit Pawar�s aide Shivaji Kale had acquired as many as 75 properties in Pune district between 2004 and 2009. In three properties, Kale and Pawar were joint owners. Kale and Pawar�s wife Sunaitra Pawar were co-directors in three private limited companies. Tirdokar questioned Kale�s source of income and how he had amassed such staggering wealth in a span of five years. �Kale is just a frontman for Pawar,� Tirodkar told TEHELKA.

Interestingly, Shivaji Kale has also got a flat at Adarsh. But in his affidavit filed while applying for the flat in 2004, Kale had mentioned that his income was less than Rs 12,000 per month.

It also emerged that the family members of Bhosale, whose net worth would be not less than 1,000 crore, had also got two flats at Adarsh. One flat was allotted in the name of his father and another in his sisterin- law�s name.

In their applications for Adarsh flats, Bhosale�s relatives mentioned their residential address as Jijai Bungalow, Yashwant Ghatge Nagar Co-op Society on University Road near E-Square, which is now Ajit Pawar�s residence in Pune.

The question then arose: who owns the bungalow? Ajit Pawar or Avinash Bhosale? Both have been giving contradictory statements about the title of the bungalow. Awhad told TEHELKA that Pawar had rented the bungalow from Bhosale for his minor son.

Despite being marred by a series of scandals, Pawar continues to be the deputy chief minister of the state.

THE OPPOSITION parties, mainly the Shiv Sena and the BJP, have long relinquished their job of keeping a vigil on the wrongdoings of the ruling coalition. Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray and Sharad Pawar share a very cordial relationship.

More often than not the scams have come to light because of the investigations carried out by RTI or social activists. Once a scam is exposed, the Opposition does a usual song and dance of comeuppance before the pubic memory fades away.

A year ago while addressing a public rally, Pawar openly accused a senior BJP leader of first raking up scams and then entering into secret financial negotiations with the ruling alliance.

7 cr	Rate at which Tech Park One, a company owned by the family of Sharad Pawar, bought 26,000 sq m in Pune from Mukund Trust. Market value of built-up area of 46,000 sq m was Rs 70 crore

In a few instances, scams have surfaced because of the infighting within the Congress.

Like after 26/11 when the Congress ignored Narayan Rane�s claim to the post of chief minister and instead chose Ashok Chavan to replace Deshmukh, Rane released a CAG report that had indicted Deshmukh for illegally allotting a 2 lakh sq m plot to the Vilasrao Deshmukh Foundation, a trust run by the former CM. The land was allotted against the laid norms and at a throwaway price, causing a loss to the exchequer, the CAG had observed.

Rane claimed that Deshmukh while he was the chief minister had kept the report under wraps so that the scam should never come out. Congress brushed aside the CAG report with the argument that the discrepancies in the land allotment were only technical in nature.

Deshmukh told TEHELKA that he would not like to comment on this issue since it�s sub-judice.

The same CAG report indicted veteran Congress leader Patangrao Kadam, who is presently the minister for forest, rehabilitation and relief work. The report said Pune-headquartered Bharati Vidyapeeth, an educational trust controlled by Kadam and his family, was allotted a 20,000 sq m plot to set up a dental college at Belapur in Navi Mumbai at �just half the price fixed for such allotments�. But new CM Ashok Chavan didn�t take any corrective measures. Nor did the Opposition haul the government over the coals for what was a clear case of corruption and nepotism.

500 cr

Total worth of residential building projects being developed in Mulund, Mumbai,by
Matoshree Infrastructure, a company owned by Raj Thackeray of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena

One of the most shocking scandals around allotment of land to educational trusts run by politicians happened in 1990 when Patangrao Kadam �bribed� a farmer who was fighting a legal case against the �illegal� allotment of 20 acres to Kadam�s trust in Pune and got the legal proceedings dropped.

In the 1980s, Kadam�s trust Bharti Vidyapeeth College requested the Pune Collector for 20 acres to set up an educational institution. The collector acceded to the demand. But the allotment was attached with a rider. It was a disputed piece of land. The farmers whose land the government had acquired had filed a civil suit against the state. The Collector made an entry in the land card that if the high court rules in favour of the farmers, then Kadam�s trust will have to return the land.

On 31 October 1990, Kadam entered into a notarised agreement, a copy of which is with TEHELKA, with Dhadphale, the farmer who was fighting the case on behalf of all the evicted farmers, whereby Kadam agreed to give free admission into MBBS, BDS, BE and BHMS courses to five grandchildren of Dhadphale and in lieu of which the farmer relinquished his rights. But since he was the only farmer who was a little educated and was contesting the case, hence when he sold out, the rights of the rest of the farmers got a quiet burial.

SINCE TAKING over as chief minister, Prithviraj has revoked several controversial real estate projects. And in some cases, he has ordered a probe on how private developers were favoured by manipulating laws and procedures.

For instance, he has cancelled the allotment of 53 hectares of prime land in Pune to a consortium led by DB Realty.

In 2009, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation in Pune gave 53 hectares in Bhosari area to a consortium named DB Conwood Man Ajwani in which DB Realty had a 51 percent stake. The corporation also gave the builders 2.5 floor space index (FSI) for the entire plot.

40p/acre

Rate at which 230 acres of land in the villages of Powai, Kopri and Tirandaz was sold to Niranjan Hiranandani in 1986 on an 80-year lease to construct public amenities. While 15 percent went to low-income housing, the rest was converted into luxury apartments measuring 2,000-5,000 sq ft and sold at the rate of Rs 8,000- Rs 15,000 per sq ft

The land was allotted to construct 5,000 houses, each of 350 sq feet, for the economically weaker sections under a Central government scheme called the Jawaharlal Nehru Nagrik Poonarnirman Yojna. This would have required just 7 hectares, since under the law, provisions have to be made for green zone, community centre, roads and open space.

When the Opposition raised the issue in the Assembly last month, Prithviraj revoked the project and ordered a highlevel inquiry into the alleged scam.

Another project involving construction of luxury villas and resorts along the NH-4 in Pune has been suspended. The project was spread over 300 acres of hill slope land and the necessary permission and clearances for construction were granted by Ashok Chavan�s government. The developers are believed to be close to Sharad Pawar�s family.

One may argue that the staggering figure of Rs 1.7 lakh crore, at which the CAG had pegged the 2G scam, is only a notional loss. The auction of 2G spectrum may have filled up government coffers but the common man would not have benefited by enjoying cheaper telecom rates, so goes the argument.

However, there can be no contest about the loss arising out of land scams in Maharashtra. Public lands bundled out to developers for a pittance has only benefited the builders and the politician-bureaucrat nexus. The money that could have gone into building the much required urban infrastructure for the masses has instead gone into secret Swiss bank accounts and building gigantic business empires for a few. Such is the scale of loot that even a person with a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month in Mumbai commutes four hours everyday to work and back as he simply can�t afford modest housing in the central parts of the city or even accessible suburbs.

Prithviraj may have momentarily stalled the rampaging builder lobby but the rot runs far too deep to be rooted out by just a few revokes.

Sharad Pawar and former Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel used to frequently fly with Balwa and Goenka in their private aircrafts.

After years of denial over involvement with the Lavasa hill resort project, Pawar has only recently conceded that the project was actually his brainchild and he had invited private developer Ajit Gulabchand of Hindustan Construction Company to develop the private hill township.

Supriya Sule and her husband held a 21 percent share in the project that they had offloaded in 2005. The National Alliance of People�s Movements has alleged that these shares were allotted to the Sules at highly undervalued rates.

Pawar has admitted that his daughter and son-in-law had a �minor stake� but has remained mum on the financial details of the deal � the rate at which the Sules had picked up the stake and the rate at which it was divested.

Between 2004 and 2009, dozens of properties belonging to the Wakf Board in Mumbai have been sold illegally to private builders. Mukesh Ambani�s billion-dollar mansion Antilia at Altamount Road in south Mumbai has been built on 4,532 sq m that belonged to the Wakf Board. A PIL challenging the land allotment is pending before the Bombay High Court.

�Over the past two decades, every government in Maharashtra has been the government of the builders, by the builders and for the builders. They have sold out the whole city to the rich and have relegated the middle class and to the outskirts of the city and the poor have been consigned to the slums,� says Ravikiran Deshmukh, former political editor of Mumbai Mirror.

Given the high stakes in maintaining the status quo, Prithviraj has his work cut out for him.

Ashish Khetan is Editor,Investigations with Tehelka
ashish.khetan@...

#72426

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 4:51 pm
Subject: Maharashtra Sold - by Ashok Chavan in Mumbai, when Chief Minister

info@...

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne280511Coverstory.asp

1. Ashok Chavan
Former Chief Minister, Maharashtra

Case 1

Largesse for builders by invoking concern for slum rehabilitation

VILASRAO DESHMUKH (CM in 1999-2003 and 2004-08) and Ashok Chavan (2008-10),
together sanctioned six township projects by invoking state slum
rehabilitation laws which no CM had ever used. These projects worth a total
of Rs 55,000 crore were awarded on first-comefirst- served basis without
inviting a competitive bid. In sizes of 40-125 acres in prime locations of
Mumbai, each project involved gross revenues in the range of 1,000- 14,000
crore for private developers.

In March 2011, former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya filed a writ petition in the
Bombay High Court accusing the two former Congress CMs of abusing their
power. Somaiya alleged that the special provision was used as a tool for
grant of concessions and relaxations to favour certain persons.
In one of these projects, a part of the land was owned by the armed forces
(The Air Force is Losing Out. On the Ground, TEHELKA, 5 March), while
another part belonged to the customs department. In some projects, portions
came under Coastal Regulation Zone or salt pan lands or mangroves. It is
alleged there were no clearances from the ministries concerned.
Prithviraj has already scrapped two projects, awarded to Sterling Buildcon
(in Chembur) and Lashkariya Constructions (in Malvani), hurried through in
the last few days of Chavan's tenure, while another four have been put under
review.

#72427

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 4:53 pm
Subject: Maharashtra Sold - by Ashok Chavan in Pune, when Revenue Minister

info@...

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne280511Coverstory.asp

Case 2

Mayureshwar Developers got Ashok Chavan to nullify a 1950 order to favour
them

Upwardly mobile Tribals signed over this land which now has the luxurious
Rohan Tapovan flats

IN 1858, the British government leased out 102 acres of land in Pune to the
Ramoshi tribe to give it a source of sustenance. But in 1950, the government
found that families were violating tenancy rules by pawning them off to
moneylenders in the market. Exasperated, the government evicted the tribe.

In 1961, flood-affected families were resettled on part of the land, and
government residential quarters on another part. In remaining parts, slums
sprouted. Among the slum dwellers were members of the Ramoshi tribe.

The subsequent chain of events clearly hints at a deeper and sinister
conspiracy.

In January 2002, Ashok Chavan, who then held the revenue portfolio, annulled
the 1950 government order by which the Ramoshi tribe was evicted. The
justification was that the tribe was extremely poor and needed the land for
sustenance.

Soon after, Mayureshwar Developers swung into action. They started getting
the tribals to transfer the property in their name and got the necessary
clearances like non-agricultural use certificate and order under Urban Land
Ceiling Act.

The Shah family got a revenue official to transfer a 90,000 sq ft chunk with
the animal husbandry department to the company. Up came a luxury apartment
building named Rohan Tapovan which, according to market estimates, earned a
gross revenue of 450 crore by way of sale of flats. The Shahs also moved a
proposal to develop another piece of land measuring 70,000 sq feet.

Another plot measuring 38,000 sq feet was transferred in the name of Jairaj
Developers Unit 9, a new name for the same company.

The scam came to light in December 2009, when a small-time builder Ravindra
Barhate petitioned the Pune Collector, Pune Municipal Commissioner and also
the then CM Ashok Chavan calling the entire deal a massive scam. However,
the issue was given a quiet burial and Chavan continued in the post of CM.

Finally, on 5 March this year - four months after Ashok Chavan's exit - PMC
Commissioner Mahesh Zagade passed an order calling the land transfer and
other related clearances illegal. He also recommended strict legal action
against the guilty.

Despite repeated SMSes and phone calls made by TEHELKA, Jayant Shah of
Mayureshwar Developers refused to comment.

#72428

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 5:10 pm
Subject: Why are American Defence companies handling sensitive UID data?

info@...

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne210511TROUBLE.asp

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 8, Issue 20, Dated 21 May 2011

CURRENT AFFAIRS
UID PROJECT

The trouble with big brother's eye
The company that will provide biometric solutions for the UID project
employs former US intelligence officials. What does this mean for our
security, asks Baba Umar

LAST YEAR, Tembhali, a hamlet of around 1,500 villagers in Maharashtra's
Nandurbar district, suddenly received a facelift - paved roads, painted
walls and uninterrupted power supply. Not much was known about the village
until 29 September when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress supremo
Sonia Gandhi landed here to launch the world's largest unique identity
programme.

The idea was to create unique biometric identification cards for more than
1.2 billion Indians that will contain basic information such as name, a
photograph, gender and date of birth plus a microchip to link the card to a
biometric database that will have the cardholder's fingerprints, iris scan,
digital face image and address.

The project, which has already cost around Rs 3,170 crore, is slated to help
the poor get access to welfare schemes and rid the PDS of grain diversion
and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) of
pilferage.

"The UID can be leveraged at various points in welfare schemes to improve
the delivery systems by making them transparent and cost-effective," says
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Director-General Ram Sewak
Sharma.

However, for those working on issues of food security, migration, MGNREGA,
civil liberties and human rights, the UID is an invasion of privacy, through
which personal information will be stored in a database that could be used
for profiling, tracking and surveillance.

And the involvement of companies such as American defence contractor L-1
Identity Solutions - which has names associated with the CIA and other US
defence organisations in its top management - together with US-based Ernst &
Young and Accenture raises queries about how much access they will have over
Indian data.

"Can the government or the UIDAI assure the people that their details will
not be shared with business enterprises, companies and political outfits?"
asks Gopal Krishna of the Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties. Krishna, who
has been aggressively campaigning against the UID, says the Nazi Party had
hired IBM to profile people "leading to the Holocaust". He says IBM was and
remains in census business and is currently part of World Bank's e-Transform
Initiative of the developing world of which the UID scheme is a component.

The three foreign companies will be implementing biometric solutions for
UIDAI that includes designing, supplying, installing, commissioning,
maintaining and supporting the multi-modal automatic biometric
identification subsystem.

AMONG THE names associated with L-1 Identity Solutions are former CIA
director George Tenet and former Homeland Security deputy secretary Adm
James Loy, also on the board of Lockheed Martin. The company's links with
the US military establishment is underscored by the fact that its board of
directors include former Army Technology Science Board member BG Beck,
former chairperson for the Secretary of the Army's National Science Centre
Advisory Board Milton Cooper.

It's feared that the database can be used as a bulwark against India because
all USbased firms are subject to the Patriot Act that obligates American
companies to share their data with Washington.

L-1 also mentions on its website its experience with Pakistan's unique
identity agency NADRA (National Database & Registration Authority), which,
Krishna says 'appears to be created on the same business model that is
packed by people with intelligence and military links'.

"The UIDAI feared to have linked CIDR with the National Intelligence Grid -
created to connect 21 existing databases with Central and state government
agencies - and National Population Register and L-1 and Accenture who work
in close affinity with US intelligence agencies," he adds.

             Most Christian and Muslim Dalits are probably worse off than
so-called Hindu Dalits


Defence experts opposed to the UID, claim that the PMO, defence sites, and
more than a thousand government sites were attacked 4,000 times by China in
2010 alone "and things seem no different in this case".

"The UIDAI has been foolish in its approach towards setting up the UID
database," says Mathew Thomas, former army officer and a vehement critic.
"In this programme, fingerprint technology is provided by a US-based company
whose directors are former CIA and FBI officers. The database is set up by
Accenture. The database is to be linked to other databases like banks, phone
companies, etc. Once a person hacks into the UID database, s/he can gain
access to any other database. We are handing over data to anyone who would
like to take it."

"Did you hear about the incident in which 77 million Sony Playstation
accounts were hacked? That's why a London School of Economics report warned
that such a central database would be a potential target for terrorists. If
the purpose is to reduce corruption in welfare schemes, then why create a
database of all people? This is where the government and the UIDAI are
telling lies. It's because if they talk about the real purposes of the UID,
people would start resisting. It is meant to track and target people," adds
Thomas.

However, contrary to Thomas, others like Brig (retd) Rumel Dahiya of the
Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis don't find anything wrong with
the involvement of foreign firms. "I am not discounting that certain amount
of pilferage will take place," he says. "However, the UIDAI has to make sure
that the data being processed isn't linked to servers abroad and it remains
within an Indian system. Information of sensitive nature is protected,
vetting of all machines from microchips is done, and physical check is
ensured when people are working on a database."

HOWEVER, UIDAI'S Sharma fends off all this criticism by saying that the
"data collected for Aadhaar enrolment will be held by the UIDAI and will not
be accessible by outside agencies. Any violation will invoke penalties and
legal action. Profiling and tracking info and transaction data will not be
collected. The UIDAI will not reveal personal information from the
  database."

One of the strongest resistances to the UID comes from legal experts who
have been questioning UIDAI's constitutional validity. According to them,
many issues including profiling, privacy safeguards, civil liberties
protection, and e-surveillance have been totally neglected from the Bill.

"The UIDAI should have been preceded by a constitutionally-sound legal
framework and parliamentary oversight. Both of these are missing, making it
an unconstitutional project," says Supreme Court lawyer Praveen Dalal.
"Constitutionally, preparation of a legislation/Bill is the duty of the
Indian government and it must be passed by Parliament. But in this case, an
authority like UIDAI is suggesting the Bill which is itself devoid of any
constitutional validity," says Dalal, adding the enrolment procedures and
the exercise of taking biometric details too is "unconstitutional".

Noted Supreme Court lawyer Rajeev Dhawan believes that internally displaced
and refugees "are likely to be harassed". "If the UID carries with it any
other info that is kept in the government databases, it would be an
invitation to big brother governance," he explains. In an earlier interview
to TEHELKA (Why Nandan Wants To Tag You 6 November 2010), UID Chairman
Nandan Nilekani had himself argued that India needs a well-debated and
pervasive privacy law, not restricted to UID.

             Still in control UIDAI Director-General Ram Sewak Sharma has
rubbished fears of data loss

             Photo: Shailendra Pandey



Many critics argue that the UID is mainly a security project. And as far as
socio-economic benefits of the UID are concerned, the UIDAI itself has
stated that it is only in the identity business and the responsibility of
tracking beneficiaries and the governance of service delivery will remain
with the respective agencies.

"The UID cannot address the bulk of the delivery problems in two of the
biggest social sector programmes like MGNREGA and PDS," says writer and
activist Ruchika Gupta. Coupled with technological challenges, the fact that
only about half the villages in the country have the mobile connectivity
required for UID to work, that biometric readers are error prone,
susceptible to damage - linking UID with social sector legislation is
completely baseless.

"Without assessing the relationship between an individual and the State, the
programme was advertised with the name that corruption is the fundamental
problem, but they are handing over all the details to those very people who
we are accusing of corruption," says independent law researcher Usha
Ramanathan.

Then there is a strong criticism of the credibility of the UIDAI's claims in
the field of social policy too. "Scrutinising the UIDAI's documents reveals
their poor understanding of how PDS and MGNREGA leakages occur and little
evidence of creative thinking on plugging them," says Reetika Khera, a
development economist and assistant professor at IIT, Delhi. She has been
critical of the UIDAI's assertions that the scheme is voluntary. "The UIDAI
is eager to enrol people. Till enrolment remains voluntary, people are
likely to come in a trickle. To encourage them, government departments will
make it a pre-requisite, by linking issue of new job cards to UID
  enrolment."

             'Data collected for Aadhaar enrolment won't be accessible to
outside agencies,' says UIDAI's Sharma


Khera has a point. Because recently the district administrations in Mysore
and Bengaluru initiated steps making UID numbers compulsory at various
levels in state government offices. The move leaves no chance to stay away
from the scheme.

Similarly, India's national payment gateway, National Payments Corporation
of India (NPCI) aims to link Rupay, its soonto- be-launched domestic payment
gateway on the pattern of Visa and MasterCard, with the UID programme. The
move will allow customers to use their UID numbers as their banking
passwords. All this makes UID a compulsory card that will link with it a
person's other information too which is contrary to UIDAI's policy.

Even as Rajana Sonawane of Tembhali, the first Indian to receive the UID
card wonders what benefits the card will offer him, the arguments continue
elsewhere about the efficacy of this unique project.

Baba Umar is a Correspondent with Tehelka.
babaumar@...

#72429

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 5:18 pm
Subject: Does India really need 10 yrs to phase out killer Endosulfan?

info@...

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne1405411PROSCONS.asp

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 8, Issue 19, Dated 14 May 2011

CURRENT AFFAIRS
PROS&CONS

Kill the slow poison now
Chemical-free cultivation is possible. So why does India need another decade
to phase out the killer Endosulfan?

Ravi Agarwal
Director, Toxics Link

ENDOSULFAN, ONE of the most toxic chemicals in use today, has now been
banned. In a decision taken in Geneva last week, under the legally binding
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the pesticide will
not be used, manufactured, or traded any longer. India, along with Uganda
and China, has exemptions to continue its use for possibly another 11 years.
India produces more than 80 percent of the 12,000 tonnes manufactured
globally, consuming over half of it on cotton, cashew, tea, fruits,
horticulture, etc. The ban has also created in some quarters unfounded fears
of crop loss and a higher cost for food, when the issue should be safer
alternatives and health.
Three companies in India control endosulfan worldwide. Over the past years,
the industry has resorted to all sorts of tricks to prevent the ban. Filing
criminal cases against activists and academics, preventing any report that
even hinted at a link between endosulfan and health, disrupting review
committees, and even raising the bogey of a European conspiracy. Ultimately
they lost. The evidence against endosulfan was overwhelming enough to
convince over 170 countries to stop its production or use. Kerala's chief
minister sat on a fast demanding the ban, while Agriculture Minister Sharad
Pawar and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh opposed it. Finally, public
health concerns won the day.

Though all pesticides are poison by definition, some like endosulfan are
particularly toxic. They persist in the environment for a long time,
accumulate over the food chain and travel long distances globally,
contaminating food in distant lands like the Arctic. In all such cases,
chronic human health impacts are difficult to prove, since they occur over
long periods of time, and in very low doses of exposure. The growing science
of this linkage is relatively new, less than three decades old, but very
persuasive. Impacts of endosulfan can be disastrous, causing congenital
diseases, physical deformities, and epilepsy besides cancer. Such impacts
have been documented in several countries, including in Kasargod, Kerala.
India has an almost non-existent record of epidemiological studies,
especially where such toxicity is concerned, and it is this lack, which the
industry has been exploiting over the years.

With the ban now in place, it is time for mainstream alternatives, and to
support farmers who fear lower productivity. Alternatives do not necessarily
imply a one-on-one replacement of one chemical by another. They lie in
carrying out pest management through adopting different farming practices
and even by chemicalfree farming. Such initiatives, even though promoted by
no less than the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agricultural
Organisation through efforts like the Integrated Pest Management programmes,
have not become mainstream in India despite their positive results. Industry
pressure to market pesticides like endosulfan as the one-stop solution has
been a key factor in preventing this. The ban, and the time India has to
implement it, opens up space to take all such successes seriously and
propagate them.

             Alternatives lie in carrying out pest management by adopting
different farming practices


This is also a chance to think proactively. Over the years, several
independent studies in India have shown the presence of pesticide residues
in food and water. Endosulfan and other toxic chemicals like DDT are present
in rivers as well as groundwater. At no stage do our water filtration or
food screening systems remove or detect these. The food safety law does not
have adequate safeguards. Pesticides, once registered, cannot be
de-registered, despite new data relating to their toxicity. Such data is not
released in the public domain, and is treated as proprietary. This equation
needs to be reversed and the burden of proof of a chemical being safe needs
to reside on the industry rather than the consumer. The future is in
prevention, and the ban is a chance to move in that direction.

ravig64@...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#72430

From: "karmayog - tanya" <info@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 5:32 pm
Subject: Tehelka investigation on 2G scam that Maran threatens legal action over

info@...

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne040611Coverstory.asp

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 8, Issue 22, Dated 04 June 2011

CURRENT AFFAIRS
COVER STORY

Investigation - The Telecom Swindle
Hello? Who will bell this cat

Much bigger than the A Raja-Kalaignar TV kickback is the Rs 700 crore that
the Maran brothers got from Maxis. Ashish Khetan traces the money trail with
Raman Kirpal

IN CASES of corruption involving a nexus between public servants and private
persons, investigating agencies always look for evidence of quid pro quo -
the private player bribing the public servant, in cash or kind.
In January, the CBI traced out a money trail between real estate tycoon
Shahid Usman Balwa and Kalaignar TV. After Balwa's company Swan Telecom was
granted precious 2G spectrum, he had transferred Rs 200 crore to the TV
channel owned by Karunanidhi's family. The agency thought it qualified as
adequate evidence to nail Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi's daughter and owner of 20
percent equity in the channel.

"It was not a genuine business transaction but in the nature of illegal
gratification paid in lieu of the UASL (Unified Access Service Licences),
valuable spectrum and other undue benefit given by accused public servants
to Swan Telecom," the CBI concluded in its supplementary chargesheet filed
on 26 April.

According to sources, the CBI has now trained its guns on a strikingly
similar deal - though the quantum is almost four times that of the
Balwa-Kalaignar transaction - between Sun TV Group, owned by the family of
Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran, and Malaysian business conglomerate
Maxis Group and owner of 74 percent direct equity in Aircel Group, the
country's seventh biggest telecom operator.

In November 2006, then Telecom Minister Maran granted 14 (UASL) for Aircel.
The licence, along with the startup 2G spectrum, was awarded at the same
price at which later Raja gave away 2G licenses to Swan, Unitech and a host
of other players in 2008 - Aircel paid Rs 1,399 crore for 14 telecom
circles, the price was arrived at through an auction process in 2001 when
the telecom industry was in its nascent stage.

The telecom licences to Aircel were awarded after about two years of
'unwarranted' delay on the part of the DoT headed by Maran at the time.
Aircel's applications for new circles were pending since Maran's takeover as
minister for communications and IT in May 2004. According to the report
prepared by the one-man committee of Justice (retired) Shivraj Patil
constituted to examine the appropriateness of procedures followed by DoT in
issuing licences during the period 2001-2009, the DoT kept raising
'irrelevant', 'vague' and 'unwarranted' queries about different aspects
related to Aircel and kept the applications pending (Patil submitted his
report to present Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on 31 January).

It was only after March 2006, when Malaysian business tycoon T Ananda
Krishnan, whose parents were Sri Lankan Tamils, bought 74 percent stake in
Aircel, that its file gained momentum. Until then the company was owned by C
Sivasankaran, the chairman of Siva Group (earlier known as Sterling Infotech
Group). Krishnan paid Rs 3,390.82 crore for 74 percent equity in Aircel.
Today, Aircel is the seven biggest telecom operator in the country with its
net worth valued in the range of $7.5-$8 billion.

Six months after Ananda Krishnan's takeover of Aircel, the ministry granted
Aircel the much-vaunted licences in 14 cash-rich circles. This took Aircel
from a small regional player to a pan-India operator. If the CAG
(Comptroller and Auditor General) valuation of 2G licences is taken as a
yardstick, the value of Aircel licences cleared by Maran would amount to
approximately Rs 22,000 crore. But Aircel paid just Rs 1,399 crore.

And in a curious coincidence, in February 2007, four months after the
licences were granted to Aircel, Ananda Krishnan through one of his group
companies, South Asia Entertainment Holding Ltd (SAEHL) invested $150
million (roughly Rs 600 crore) in a phased manner in Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd
by acquiring 20 percent equity in the company owned and run by Dayanidhi's
brother Kalanidhi and his wife Kaveri Maran. The equity investment was
cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

Almost simultaneously, the Maran family was allotted about 12.6 crore
additional equity shares in Sun Direct TV to maintain their total equity at
80 percent. But unlike the staggering rate at which the Maxis Group picked
up the Sun Direct shares, the allotment to the Marans was made at par value
of Rs 10 per share without charging any premium.

             Was Sivasankaran of Siva Group, a $3 billion conglomerate with
diverse interests, harassed by Maran? Was he pressurised into selling Aircel
to Ananda Krishnan?


One could argue that either the Maxis investment was overvalued, in which
case the Marans were the ultimate beneficiary as they were the majority
stakeholders and the Maxis deal brought the much-needed cash for the
expansion of Sun Direct TV's business operations. Or the fresh equity
allotment to the Marans was undervalued, which again makes them the real
beneficiaries. Also, the DTH company was running in losses at the time of
this deal. The annual report of Sun Direct TV for the year 2007- 08 showed
their aggregate revenue as Rs 61.16 crore while its losses amounted to Rs
73.27 crore.

Between February 2008 and July 2009, the Maxis Group invested Rs 100 crore
more in another Maran family-owned company named South Asia FM Ltd which
owns Sun FM radio network. Maxis Group subsidiary South Asia Multimedia
Technologies Limited (SAMT) invested Rs 50 crore in equity of South Asia FM
Ltd and Rs 43.9 crore in preference shares of SAFL.

The million-dollar question is, do Maxis- Sun TV and Maxis-Sun FM deals
qualify as quid pro quo on similar lines as the Rs 200 crore Balwa-Kalaignar
deal? Both the deals materialised soon after the respective telecom
companies were granted the UAS licences and with it the precious 2G
spectrum. And in both the cases it's the companies owned by the extended
Karunanidhi family that benefited.

In fact, while A Raja and his family had zero stake in Kalaignar TV,
Dayanidhi Maran's brother Kalanidhi and his wife Kaveri owned 80 percent
stake in Sun Direct TV. At first sight, as far as the suggestion of
give-and-take is concerned, the dots connect clearer in the case of the
Marans than they do in Raja's.

Unmistakably, the chain of events preceding the grant of licences to Aircel
raises a stink about Maran's policies.

On 5 March 2004, when NDAwas in power and Arun Shourie was telecom minister,
Dishnet Wireless Ltd (a sister concern of Aircel owned by the same parent
group, Siva Ventures Ltd) applied for grant of UASL for eight areas
including Madhya Pradesh. Until then Aircel had cellular operations in just
two circles-Chennai and Tamil Nadu.

Just one month after the application, the DoT issued the letter of intent
(LoI) for all the eight areas. But licences were signed for seven service
areas, leaving out Madhya Pradesh. Aircel Ltd was the company holding the
licence to operate in Tamil Nadu circle and was also the holding company of
both Aircel Cellular Ltd, which held the licence for Chennai circle and
Dishnet Wireless Ltd, which held the licence for the other circles. All
three companies operated their telecom services under brand Aircel. Aircel
Ltd was wholly owned by C Sivasankaran's Sterling Infotech Group (now known
as Siva Group).

On 21 April 2004, Dishnet made applications for UASLs for UP (East) and UP
(West).

Though for Madhya Pradesh, LOI had already been issued, on 5 May 2004, for
the first time, the DoT raised queries about the aspects of funding and
Dishnet's net worth. As a result, Dishnet's licence for Madhya Pradesh and
its applications for other service areas were withheld.

On 26 May 2004, Maran took over as telecom minister.

In June 2004, Dishnet sent a detailed submission clarifying all the issues
raised by the DoT.

On 8 July 2004, Secretary, DoT endorsed a proposal for issuing LoI for UP
(East) and UP (West) service areas and also for extending time for signing
licence for Madhya Pradesh. The proposal was then put up before Maran for
his approval.

On 24 August 2004, the personal secretary to Maran put up a note that he had
been directed to seek clarification as to financial and equity holdings
between Dishnet and its sister concerns holding licence elsewhere,
particularly in Tamil Nadu and Chennai; status of newspapers reports
regarding sale of Dishnet or its sister concerns; verification whether
Dishnet or its sister concerns had sold licences to another company and
legal implications of allegation of company having violated certain licence
conditions. Based on the same a notice was issued to Dishnet, who submitted
a detailed clarification.

For the next four months, different sections within DoT raised various legal
issues. Subsequently, the file was submitted to the Legal Adviser but was
withdrawn on 17 December 2004.

On 1 March 2005, Dishnet applied for licences in four more circles -
Haryana, Kerala, Kolkata and Punjab.

On 30 March 2005, a note was put up by Secretary, DoT that "As discussed
with the minister (read Dayanidhi Maran) the files of the applicant were
being returned with a direction that Director should ascertain all the
show-cause notices or advisory letters issued to the applicant or its group
companies."

Extracts from documents available with Tehelka

Attitudinal change

The Sterling Group are intrigued by the attitude of the DoT and we, who have
been dealing with the DoT for a whole decade and more, have never had this
kind of frozen feeling. Unable to fathom why there is a complete lack of
response from the DoT we brought the issues to your notice. We also followed
up our first letter with a reminder to you on May 3, 2005. Yet there has
been no progress in our matter, nor is any difference seen in the attitude
of the DoT.

In this situation we cannot help to conclude that some powerful element in
the Ministry/Government seems bent on stifling matters relating to the
Sterling Infotech Group. This is our apprehension. We request you call for
our records and examine them and satisfy yourself or have them examined by
an impartial official so that the government gets proper advice on the
issues relating to the group.

Quite a stranglehold

With equity interest of 74% in Aircel (comprised of 65% direct interest and
9% indirect interest) and 100% subscription of cumulative redeemable
non-convertible preference shares in Deccan Digital Networks Private Limited
("Deccan"), the joint venture company incorporated in the Republic of India,
this effectively gives the group 99.3% economic returns from the investment
in Aircel.

Dictating terms

You may kindly recall my meeting with you on 1 February 2006 when we had,
inter alia, discussed the issue of the Group of Ministers relating to the
vacation of spectrum by the Defence. You had kindly assured me that the
Terms of Reference of the GoM would be drawn up exactly the way we wanted,
which was to focus only on the issue of vacation of spectrum. I am, however,
surprised to note that the GoM as constituted has much wider Terms of
Reference, some of which I feel impinge upon the work normally to be carried
out by the Ministry itself.

I shall be grateful if you could kindly instruct the concerned to modify the
Terms of Reference as suggested by us, which are enclosed.

Dishnet's file moved around between different sections in DoT without any
decision being taken. In the meantime, the FDI cap in the telecom sector was
increased from 49 percent to 74 percent.

In October 2005, Malaysia-based Maxis Group approached Sivasankaran to
acquire Aircel.

On 14 December 2005, DoT announced new UASL guidelines for grant of UAS
licence stipulating that there would be no restriction on the number of
entrants in any service area and no single company, either directly or
through its associates shall have a substantial equity holding (10 percent
or more) in more than one telecom company in the same service area.

On 30 December 2005, the acquisition agreement between Aircel and Maxis was
signed. Dishnet's pending applications now acquired urgency in the ministry.

In a letter dated 2 January 2006, Dishnet was asked to furnish information
as per the new guidelines, which it did in 17 days.

On 12 January 2006, Aircel applied for UAS licenses in four new circles -
Karnataka, Rajasthan, Mumbai and Maharashtra.

On February 2006, the start-up spectrum for Bihar, which was pending since
May 2004, was allotted to Dishnet (subsidiary of Aircel).

On 3 March 2006, Aircel applied for three more telecom circles - Delhi,
Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

On 13 March 2006, the spectrum for Himachal Pradesh was allotted. This too
was pending since Maran's takeover as telecom minister.

In March 2006, T Ananda Krishnan informed shareholders that the company has
completed the deal to buy 74 percent equity in Aircel from Sivasankaran's
Sterling Infotech Group.

On 19 April 2006, a senior DoT official put ups a note enquiring about the
status of the showcause notices, as he says the same has to be submitted to
the minister.

On 22 May 2006, Dishnet submitted a revised equity structure, FIPB approval,
etc.

             It was only after March 2006, when Malaysian business tycoon T
Ananda Krishnan bought a 74 percent stake in Aircel, that its file gained
momentum


On 1 November 2006, the grant of issuance of Letter of Intents for 14
circles including Madhya Pradesh was approved. Within a fortnight, all the
14 licences are issued. Aircel paid Rs 1,399.47 crore for these 14 licences
and from a small regional player it became a pan-India operator.

Justice Shivraj Patil in his report has come down hard on Maran's delaying
tactics. He has observed: "The clarifications sought (in the case of Dishnet
on different occasions) besides being vague, were also irrelevant for
consideration of application for grant of UASLs." Justice Patil has also
remarked that on several occasions Maran deviated from the laid down
procedures. He said, "Ascertaining of showcause notices/advisory letters was
again not warranted in terms of the laid down procedure."

Was Sivasankaran Arm-twisted into selling Aircel to malaysia-based Maxis
group?
So was C Sivasankaran, the chairman of Siva Group (erstwhile known as
Sterling Infotech Group), a $3 billion conglomerate with interests in
realty, telecom, shipping, energy and software, harassed by Maran? Was he
pressurised into selling his telecom company, Aircel Ltd, to Malaysian
billionaire Ananda Krishnan? Sivasankaran got $800 million for selling his
company to Maxis. At the time of the sale, Aircel was operating in only nine
circles while its applications for seven circles were lying in limbo. Also,
it is reliably known that Aircel wanted to apply for more circles but didn't
do so simply because their old applications were still lying in abeyance. If
Aircel was sold after these licences were granted, the company's net worth
would have increased and thus Sivasankaran could have got more money from
the sale. Today, Aircel is a pan- India operator, thanks to the 14 licences
given by Maran, and is valued in the range of $7.5-$8 billion.

On 1 June 2005, while Maran was in the saddle, Sivasankaran wrote him a
letter alleging that his applications for new licences were being sabotaged
by "some powerful element in the ministry". Though he refrained from putting
the blame on Maran, he wrote: "The Sterling Group are intrigued by the
attitude of the DoT and we, who have been dealing with the DoT for a whole
decade and more, have never had this kind of frozen feeling. Unable to
fathom why there is a complete lack of response from the DoTwe brought the
issues to your notice.. Yet there has been no progress in our matter, nor is
there any difference seen in the attitude of the DoT."

The letter further read: "In this situation we cannot help to conclude that
some powerful element in the Ministry/Government seems bent on stifling
matters relating to the Sterling Infotech Group."

While Maran was minister, DoT not only delayed the issuance of new licences
to Aircel, it also delayed the allotment of spectrum for the licences that
had already been issued before Maran became the minister. Justice Patil's
report has called this delay as unjustified.

Dishnet was awarded licenses for Bihar and Himachal Pradesh circles (besides
five more circles) in March 2004 (during the NDA regime). But it was not
allocated the start-up spectrum, which comes with the licence, in Bihar till
February 2006 and in Himachal Pradesh till March 2006. Justice Patil in his
report has laid out Maran's delaying tactics in detail.

In his report, Justice Patil says: "On 09.06.2005 a proposal for earmarking
4.4. + 4.4 MHz for Dishnet in Bihar circle was put up for approval within
DoT. However, on 14.06.2005 Member (Technical), DoT desired to know if the
case was approved by the minister."

This note goes on to state that despite the spectrum being available for
allocation to Dishnet in Bihar, the DoT bureaucrats did not clear the
allocation because there was no go-ahead from Maran.

The report says: "Wireless Adviser (who works within DoT) put up a note on
16.06.2005 directing that the approval had to be decided at the level of
Special Secretary. the case again having been put up for approval Secretary,
DoT on 26.07.2005 desired to know the stage of network planning and
identification of sites for main switching centres. Subsequently, several
notes were put up for verification of the said aspects and it was only on
4.02.2006 that allotment of initial spectrum was approved." There was no
justification for delay in approval of allotment of initial spectrum despite
availability, Justice Patil concluded.

SOMETHING AS small as the request for name change made by Sivasankaran was
also not cleared by Maran. On 4 April 2005 Sivasankaran wrote to Maran:
"Consequent to change in the name of the company from Dishnet DSL Ltd to
Dishnet Wireless Ltd, we have made a request for effecting the change of the
name of the company in UAS licence. This is pending for the last eight
months. Such a request is normally cleared at the lowest levels in the
administration and instantly."

In the same letter, Sivasankaran further wrote: "I am bringing these unusual
occurrences to the Hon'ble Minister's notice only to show how there appears
to be some unspoken convergence in the delays and denials."

However, Sivasankaran's repeated pleas made no difference to his prospects
as far as DoT's approvals were concerned. In October 2005, he received an
'unsolicited offer' from Malaysia-based Maxis Communications to acquire
Aircel. Since the cap on FDI in telecom sector was 74 percent, the remaining
26 percent was picked up by Reddys of Apollo Hospital. On 30 December 2005,
Maxis and Aircel signed the agreement.

So was Sivasankaran arm-twisted into selling his company to Maxis Group? So
far, Sivasankaran has not levelled any allegation against Maran. In fact,
after selling off Aircel, Siva Group formed another telecom company named
S-Tel, which was granted licences for six circles by A Raja in 2008. S-Tel
is now being investigated by the CBI for suspected illegal gains.

When contacted by TEHELKA, Sivasankaran refused to comment on these issues.

Maxis buys out Aircel; the Company's fortunes do a Turn-around
In March 2006, Maxis invested an aggregate amount of Rs 7,880.82 crore in
Aircel. While Maxis picked up the 65 percent direct equity through its 100
percent subsidiary Global Communication Services Holdings Ltd, it picked up
9 percent equity through another company named Deccan Digital Private Ltd in
which Maxis owned 26 percent equity. As per the FDI norms in telecom sector,
a foreign company can hold a maximum of 74 percent equity in a telecom
company. The amount invested by Maxis through direct equity was Rs 3,390.82
crore ( Rs 3,379 crore + Rs 11.82 crore). However, Maxis invested another Rs
4,490 crore in Aircel by the way of preference shares. The total investment
thus amounted to Rs 7,880.82 crore. The remaining 26 percent equity in
Aircel was picked up by the Reddy family of Apollo Hospital fame (See the
chart on Maxis Investment in Aircel).

The question that arises is that whether such a massive investment done by
Maxis in Aircel ( Rs 4,490 crore in preference shares and Rs 3,390.82 crore
in equity) gave it virtually full control over the telecom company and was
thus a violation of the FDI rules? Compared to Maxis' Rs 7,880.82 crore of
investment, the Reddys merely invested 34.17 crore for their 26 percent
indirect equity in Aircel. Reddys invested Rs 34.17 crores for their 74
percent equity in Deccan Digital Pvt Ltd, which in turn held 35 percent
equity in Aircel. Deccan Digital picked up the 35 percent equity in Aircel
for Rs 1,685 crore, out of which Rs 1,644 crore was financed by Maxis
through preference share route (See the chart on Maxis Group Holding
Structure in Aircel).

In a filing to the Malaysian stock exchange, Bursa Malaysia in March 2006,
which was soon after the Maxis-Aircel deal was completed, Maxis made a
selfdeclaration of having control of 99.3 percent over the economic returns
from their investment in Aircel. Maxis stated: "With equity interest of 74
percent in Aircel (comprising 65 percent direct interest and 9 percent
indirect interest) and 100 percent subscription of cumulative redeemable
non-convertible preference shares in Deccan Digital, this effectively gives
the group 99.3 percent economic returns from the investment in Aircel."

So have Maxis and their Indian partner, the Reddys of Apollo Hospital,
violated FDI guidelines? What was the criterion on which Maxis picked up
Reddys as their Indian partner? Certainly financial strength and potential
investment that Reddys would bring to Aircel was not a criterion, given the
fact that the latter merely invested Rs 34.17 crore in a holding company of
Aircel. Were Reddys just a frontman for somebody powerful who could not have
directly come into the fray? (Dayanidhi Maran's father Murasoli Maran
underwent prolonged treatment at Apollo Hospital in Chennai in 2003. It is
widely believed that Reddys took good care of Murasoli during his
hospitalisation and ever since the Maran family and Reddys have become good
friends.)

These are the questions for which the CBI is trying to find answers.
Pursuant to Supreme Court's order dated 8 December 2010 instructing the CBI
to widen its ongoing 2G probe beyond Raja and include all the licences and
spectrum allotments done since 2001, the CBI had registered a Preliminary
Inquiry against unknown persons to look into possible criminal aspects in
the telecom policy since 2001. According to sources, the inquiry is now
close to completion and the CBI will soon decide whether they have enough
evidence to register another FIR in the ongoing 2G probe against new
players.

In a written statement emailed to TEHELKA, Suneeta Reddy, Director of Apollo
Hospitals has stated: "We inform that the Apollo Hospitals and Dr Prathap C
Reddy do not have any investments in the telecom sector. We further state
that the Sindya Securities and Investments Pvt Ltd promoted by Mr P
Dwarakanath Reddy and Mrs Suneeta Reddy have investments in Aircel Entity
and this is a strategic investment in telecom sector, which was a growing
business opportunity. We therefore state that the investments of Sindya
Securities and Investments Pvt Ltd in Aircel Ltd have been in compliance
with applicable laws of India and all regulatory consents/approvals,
wherever required, have been sought and duly granted by the relevant
authorities." Both Dayanadhi and Kalanidhi Maran did not respond to the
detailed questionnaires sent by TEHELKA.

Maxis picks up a substantial equity in Maran family-owned Sun Direct TV and
Sun radio
As detailed above, after Maxis' takeover of Aircel, not only applications
for seven circles that were pending for more than two years were cleared,
Aircel's applications for seven new telecom circles that were made after the
acquisition were also swiftly given the go-ahead. Aircel paid a total of Rs
1,399 crore for these 14 licenses. As per the CAG's valuation of 2G
licences, these 14 licences could have fetched the government over Rs 22,000
crore, if they had been auctioned in a competitive bid.

In March 2007, which was three months after the award of licences, a Maxis
Group company, Astro All Asia Networks through its wholly owned subsidiary
South Asia Entertainment Holdings Ltd, announced a joint venture with Sun
Direct TV to provide DTH services in India.

On 2 March and 19 March 2007, Foreign Investment Promotion Board and
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting gave Astro the required approvals
to acquire 20 percent interest in Sun Direct.

On 10 December 2007, Astro completed the subscriptions of 39,677,420 new
shares in Sun Direct for a total cash consideration of Rs 315.71 crore.
Following the completion of the subscription, Astro had a shareholding
interest of 20 percent in Sun Direct.

During the period February 2008-January 2009, Astro subscribed for a further
29,319,882 new shares in Sun Direct for a total cash consideration of Rs
233.3 crore. The new shares were subscribed proportionately with the Maran
family's shareholding in Sun Direct, so Astro's shareholding remained at 20
percnet equity interest in Sun Direct as before.

On 5 December 2009, Astro subscribed for 6,283,775 additional shares of Rs
10 each in Sun Direct at a total cash consideration of Rs 50 crore at a
subscription price of Rs 79.57 per subscription share. Subsequent to the
above subscription, the holding of Astro in Sun Direct stood at 20 percent.

On 28 February 2008, a Maxis Group company Astro through its wholly owned
subsidiary South Asia Multimedia Technologies Ltd acquired 6.98 percent
equity interest in South Asia FM Ltd (SAFL), a FM company owned by the Maran
Group, which had licences to own and operate 23 FM radio stations in India,
for a total cash consideration of Rs 14.92 crore.

In July 2009, changes to the foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations in
the radio industry allowed Astro to increase its direct stake in SAFL to 20
percent in July 2009 in the following manner:

Subscription of 1,922,854 new SAFL equity shares at par at a total
subscription price of Rs 19.23 crore on 22 June 2009;

Subscription of 19,389,198 new SAFL equity shares at par at a total
subscription price of Rs 19.39 crore on 23 July 2009;

Acquisition of 13,836,296 existing SAFL equity shares from AH Multisoft
Private Ltd at par at a total purchase price of Rs 13.84 crore on 23 July
2009; and

Subscription of 43,900, 136 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares
(CCPS) of Rs 10 each in SAFL at a subscription price of Rs 43.90 crore on 3
August 2009. Denying the allegations of suspected payoffs, Maxis
Communication Berhad in a press release issued on 24 May, stated that there
was no pressure exerted on Siva Group to sell its stake in Aircel. The
company also asserted that there was no linkage between Maxis' investment in
Aircel and that of Astro's in vestment in Sun Direct TV.

What the CBI is probing in The Maxis-Sun Direct deal?
The CBI has charged Raja for fraudulent implementation of the
first-come-firstserve policy of granting licences. The CBI has not faulted
Raja for not opting for the auction route, but he has been charged for not
revising the 2001 entry fee for different telecom circles keeping in mind
the exponential growth in the telecom sector.

According to the CBI, Raja made arbitrary and fraudulent decisions to favour
companies like Swan and Unitech and gave them the licences at the 2001 rate
and despite several ineligibilities in their applications. And for doing so
he and Kannimozhi were allegedly paid a graft of Rs 200 crore disguised as
equity investment into DMK-run Kalaignar TV (while many suspected overseas
payoffs are also under investigation, so far the CBI has brought only Rs 200
crore Kalaignar deal on record).

The question that arises is whether Maran was also guilty of a fraudulent
implementation of first-come-first-serve policy in his alleged bid to favour
Aircel, post Maxis buy-out? Or were his dealings with Aircel completely
overboard and the apparent give-and-take between Marans and Maxis Group a
mere co-incidence?

The CBI in its supplementary chargesheet against Kanimozhi and others have
listed as many as 14 reasons to buttress their claim that the Rs 200 crore
equity investment/ loan in Kalaignar TV was not a genuine business
transaction. The main reasons listed being, I) there was no original shares
subscription and shareholder agreement between Cineyug Films Pvt Ltd (Balwa
had transferred the money to his subsidiary company Kusegaon Fruits and
Vegetable which in turn passed it onto Cineyug and from there it came to
Kalaignar TV, II) while Kalaignar and Cineyug claimed that the money was
transferred for picking up a 20 percent equity in Kalaignar TV, Kalaignar TV's
balance sheet for year ending 2009 showed a part of this money, Rs 25 crore
under head 'Sundry Creditors and others', III) in the balance sheet for year
ending 2010, Kalaignar TV, the amount of Rs 25 crore was regrouped as
unsecured loan, IV) finally the entire amount was not converted into equity
but instead shown as loan and was returned, V) the money was returned only
after A Raja was asked to join the investigation at CBI headquarters in
December 2010.

Will the Maxis-Sun Direct TV and Maxis- Sun Radio equity deals pass the CBI's
litmus tests or will the agency be able to find enough illegalities to prove
that these deals were also quid pro quo, along the lines of
Balwa-Cineyug-Kalaignar deal?

While the CBI is holding its cards close to its chest, Justice Patil in his
report submitted to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on 31 January this year,
has found Maran lacking on many counts.

Besides the unjustified and unwarranted delay in dealing with Dishnet-Aircel's
applications, the report enumerates a few more instances of Maran's ad
hocism and arbitrariness.

The report says that Idea Cellular was given an extension of one year to
rectify the discrepancies in its UASL application (Idea had applied for UASL
for Mumbai service area on 3 August 2005). The extension was given without
the approval of Member (Finance).

The existing guidelines stipulated that the time for rectifying
discrepancies in application could be extended by maximum 30 days and that
too with the approval of Member (Finance). But Idea Cellular was given an
extension in a clear 'deviation from laid down procedure', according to
Justice Patil, and was finally issued an LoI on 20 November 2006.

On 14 December 2004, Essar Spacetel Pvt Ltd made applications for grant of
UASLs for Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Northeast, Odisha
and Madhya Pradesh. On 12 January 2005, DoT wrote to Essar Spacetel pointing
out deficiencies in its equity structure. The correspondence continued till
18 May 2006. "The information was sought and discrepancies were pointed out
in a piecemeal manner," noted Justice Patil in his report, hinting at Maran's
dubious policies. Letter of Intent was finally issued to Essar on 20
November 2006 for all service areas except Madhya Pradesh. For Madhya
Pradesh, LOI was issued on 5 March 2007.

How Maran kept spectrum pricing out of the Finance Ministry's purview?
Apart from listing the unjustified delay in dealing with Dishnet-Aircel
applications and ad hocim shown by Maran in various other licensing related
decisions, Justice Patil has also recorded in detail as how Maran kept the
critical issue of spectrum pricing out of the Finance Ministry's purview.

On 23 February 2006, with the approval of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a
Group of Ministers (GoM) comprising the Minister for Defence, Minister for
Home Affairs, Minister for Finance, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and
Telecom Minister was constituted to look into various issues concerning
effective and optimum usage of spectrum. The terms of reference also
included suggesting a spectrum pricing policy.

             If the CAG valuation of 2G licences is any yardstick, the value
of Aircel's licences cleared by Maran would amount to Rs 22,000 crore. But
it paid just Rs 1,400 crore


But on 28 February 2006, Maran wrote a letter to Manmohan Singh and asked
spectrum pricing to be kept out of GoM's purview. He wrote: "You may recall
my meeting with you on 1st February 2006 when we had inter-alia discussed
the issue of the Group of Ministers relating to the vacation of spectrum by
Defence. You had kindly assured me that the Terms of Reference of the GoM
would be drawn up exactly the way we wanted, which was to focus only on the
issue of vacation of spectrum. I am however surprised to note that the GoM
as constituted has much wider Terms of Reference some of which I feel
impinge upon the work normally to be carried out by the ministry itself. I
shall be grateful if you could kindly instruct the concerned to modify the
Terms of References suggested by us which are enclosed."

The PM obliged and the term related to spectrum pricing was deleted in the
revised Terms of Reference issued on 7 December 2006. But six months later,
on 6 June 2007 (Maran was replaced by Raja on 13 May 2007), the Ministry of
Finance sought inclusion of spectrum pricing in the Terms of Reference of
GoM. But Secretary, DoT, declined any modification. Thus the precedent set
by Maran was continued by Raja. All decisions related to UASL and spectrum
pricing were taken by DoT without the concurrence of Finance Ministry that
was required under Government of India (Transaction of Business) rules.

Also both the ministers kept the issue of spectrum pricing out of Cabinet
and Group of Ministers' purview. Shockingly, nobody in the government
including the PMO raised a flag.

Maran's three-year-old stay at Sanchar Bhawan was marred by a spate of
controversies. He shared an extremely strained relationship with Ratan Tata,
chairman of Tata Sons. It was widely speculated that Maran brothers wanted
to buy a substantial take in Tata Sky but when Tata spurned them, the DOT
started putting roadblocks in Tata Teleservices' expansion plans. The Niira
Radia-Ratan Tata tapes which got their way in the media in mid 2010,
confirmed Tata's deep-seated dislike towards Maran and his preference for
Raja over Maran as telecom minister.

             In his report, Justice (retd) Shivraj Patil came down hard on
Maran's delaying tactics. He has also remarked that on several occasions,
Maran deviated from procedures


"The only concern I have is that Maran is going hammer and tongs for Raja.
And I hope Raja doesn't trip or slip," Ratan was famously heard telling
Radia in a phone conversation which happened on 7 July 2009 and which later
got leaked in the media.

In February this year, former Telecom Minister Arun Shourie made further
dent in Maran's reputation by blaming him for the genesis of 2G scam.

"It was in Maran's time that one sentence was put into the guidelines that
there shall be no cap on the number of operators in a circle. Such a change
could only come in the form of a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) recommendation," said Shourie.

"This (change) comes in the guidelines of 2005 whereas the TRAI did not
recommend it till 2007. So by what horoscope did Mr Maran anticipate these
recommendations - two years ahead? That is how some operations were planned
that could not go through and then Mr Raja acted on them."

So, did Maran really lay the foundation of the 2G scam? Was the
Aircel-Maxis-Sun Direct TV deal the prototype of payoffs that Raja later
followed on a much larger scale? The answer lies in hard evidence and this
is where the CBI will be tested.

Ashish Khetan is Editor, Investigations with Tehelka.
ashish.khetan@...


Raman Kirpal is Editor, Special Reports with Tehelka.
raman@...

#72431

From: Priyanka Borpujari <aa.priyanka@...>
Date: Thu Jun 2, 2011 5:36 am
Subject: CGSwara - How Adivasis became journalists & started reporting the truth

aa.priyanka@...

http://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/4472-broadcasting-dantewada.html

By�Priyanka Borpujari

Earlier, what went on in the jungle remained in the jungle. But no longer.

People talking with people: Adivasi women receive training in using CGNET Swara

On 27 March, Anil Bamne gave a missed call to a Bangalore number from his mobile phone. Within ten seconds, he received a call back and, moments later, he had recorded a news report detailing how children less than five years old had been going hungry for the past five months in Bahaud, a village in Chhattisgarh. Bamne�s report described how the children were sitting throughout the day in their aanganwadi � a government-sponsored childcare centre � playing with mud, while the food packets meant for them had never arrived, beyond a few bags of puffed rice. Two weeks after Bamne�s report, food materials reached the�aanganwadi. A government programme officer later told a journalist that, although he had been in his position for three years, he visited Bahaud for the first time, thanks to the news story.

This and similar reports have been made possible due to a mobile-phone-based �citizen journalism� system called CGNet Swara. Here, CG stands for Central Gondwana, referring to the area that takes in parts of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh; swara means voice. Despite this geographical designation, since February 2010, CGNet Swara � a free service � has offered a journalistic platform to any caller anywhere in India.

This is how the system works. If a caller has a story to report, or simply wants to hear the news, he or she gives a missed call to a Bangalore-based server number � 08041137280 � and waits to receive a call back. The caller can then choose to listen to reports recorded by others, or record their own piece of news, or even a song or bit of poetry. After a few hours, the recorded news is aired for the world to listen, either over the phone or via the organisation�s website,�www.cgnetswara.org. The gap of a few hours allows CGNet Swara�s editor to check the credibility of the reports, a critical element when callers are leaving significant information about, for instance, violence or corruption. In the year-plus that it has been operating, CGNet Swara has become a potent source of news for journalists and a major tool for activists. It woke up the Chhattisgarh government to realise that there is indeed a malaria crisis in the state, for instance, when 47 malaria deaths were reported from just one of the state�s 18 districts.

The project is the brainchild of Shubhranshu Choudhary, a former BBC journalist who developed the service while he was on a Knight Journalism Fellowship that began in 2010. A native of Chhattisgarh, Choudhary says that he had watched the shift in Adivasi support from a negligent government to the Maoists. �Our system wants the tribals to give up their oral culture and be textbook educated,� he said. �The tribal population in central India numbers nine crore, and we do not have a single AIR [All India Radio] bulletin in a tribal language. There is a major communication gap here.� Choudhary continues: �In the end, the tribals have no one to talk to. Who will then listen to them? The Maoists, of course.� Choudhary says that he sees journalism as one of the least democratic sectors in India.

News for some
The burgeoning Adivasi allegiance to the Maoists surged when the government signed several new agreements with mining companies that would permanently disenfranchise communities of their land � some 300,000 people in nearly 650 villages, according to estimates. As Maoist activity rose, riding on the back of this growing public frustration, Choudhary says that he observed a simultaneous rise in important news stories going either unheard or, at best, wrongly reported and misinterpreted.

�The Central Gondwana region is categorised as among the most backward regions of the country,� he says. �The media reports emerging would mostly reflect only the official version. And we have missed the community radio bus. Today, news all over the Internet is legal, but news on the radio is illegal. I know of many men who can make a radio for just 100 rupees, but that has been made illegal. The government wants us to buy transmitters from only licensed vendors � who, of course, sell it at a high price. How then can news be for everyone?� While Choudhary says that newspapers were a �revolutionary medium� many years ago, �Today we need to go beyond the newspaper and make use of the mobile phone, short wave radio, the Internet and oral traditions. In that respect, Swara is a mere experiment in democratising the process of broadcasting news.�

In early 2010, he began training 33 people on how to use CGNet Swara. At that time, the participants were mostly working in Chhattisgarh on various community issues. �During the second day of the workshop,� Choudhary recalls, �I realised that asking them to write the news and then speaking it aloud lacked in spontaneity. The tribal communities have an oral culture, which is their essence.� So, he let the participants �speak on their own, asking them to narrate like they would have done it before their family and friends. The idea was to lower the entry barrier into journalism.� The first batch would talk about Swara wherever they went, and that is how the news trickled in.

Today, the Swara website is overflowing with reports of various stripe, in the primary area of Central Gondwana and beyond. The stories cover, for instance, non-payment of NREGA wages, illegal stone quarrying in Rajasthan, women digging their own bore well in Andhra Pradesh, the push against unfurling of the Indian flag in Assam for Republic Day, Santhali men and women dancing in sub-zero temperature, public anger against new coalmines, anti-liquor campaigns, children�s hopes for their schools, and more.

Given his journalistic background, Choudhary says, he understands the importance of credibility. As such, he has focused on building a wide network of sources who can vet and verify the news posted on Swara. In mid-March, for instance, he began receiving reports of arson, murder and rape taking place by Salwa Judum in Tadmetla, Timmapur and Morpalli; some 300 homes were gutted by fire, while three women had been raped and at least two men murdered. Choudhary says he sat on each of these stories for a week so they could be verified. But almost immediately after these reports were posted, journalists from prominent newspapers began to highlight the ongoing stories. Eventually, the incident led to the superintendent of Police of Dantewada, S R P Kalluri, and the collector, R Prasanna, to be transferred for neglecting to check the abuses; the state government has also ordered an enquiry into the matter.

New voices
Prior to Swara, Choudhary had tried to connect Chhattisgarh through the Internet, by moderating a Yahoo! Group where people would send news about Chhattisgarh and discuss the issues. However, that still did not cater to Adivasi communities. After all, India does not have a single Adivasi journalist from central India. When Swara was born, the network of these people who had been connecting over the previous eight years began to help Choudhary to verify facts and vet the stories. �If there was a news item about a certain incident in a village in Bijapur,� Choudhary says, �I would call up the most reliable person there to check for such an incident.�

Clearly, Swara�s verification process leans on the robust wall of goodwill and the keen outlook of all concerned citizens, however, not necessarily Adivasis � a fact with which Choudhary is clearly uncomfortable. Eventually, the idea is for Swara to become system with many more �citizen journalists�, and with Adivasi youths themselves acting as moderators. For now, for instance, Choudhary has to rely on just one person, Himanshu Kumar, for translations into Gondi. (Kumar is an activist who had lived and worked in Dantewada for 17 years before he was thrown out of the state for raising questions about the Salwa Judum.) Choudhary says he now intends to conduct workshops with Adivasis from different parts of the country, who would be given basic training on reporting with an eye to becoming moderators for multiple language channels on Swara.

Still, for now Swara�s numbers are impressive, if nascent. Since its inception, more than 31,000 calls are reported to have been received (both to report and to listen), about 17,000 of which have come in since the beginning of this year. About 800 news reports have been published during that time. Choudhary says that he has received some opposition to Swara�s work, as well, though he brushes this off by saying that the project is fuelled by the possibility of shaking up callous government institutions. �Waking up the authorities and getting them to do their job right,� he says �that�s what gives the people the hope that their basic needs can be fulfilled.�

~Priyanka Borpujari is an independent journalist based in Mumbai.