Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine

Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine

BURN AFTER READING

If there was a “conspiracy” in Godhra, it was not by the Muslims. ASHISH KHETAN picks apart Judge Patel’s verdict and shows how a devious lie was constructed

Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine

Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine

‘I was there. Narendra Modi said let the people vent their anger’

DIG Sanjeev Bhatt

હપ્તો ખાઘો હશે,નહીતર કેમ બને? અ'વાદમાં કુતરું સસલાથી ડરે છે - adhir amdavadi ghazal - www.divyabhaskar.co.in

હપ્તો ખાઘો હશે,નહીતર કેમ બને? અ'વાદમાં કુતરું સસલાથી ડરે છે - adhir amdavadi ghazal - www.divyabhaskar.co.in
110428

એ વાત પર ખુદ કુવો અચરજ કરે છે
ખારા પાણીથી પણ કોક ડબલું ભરે છે

મોંઘી કારને કોઇ સ્કુટી અથાડી જાય
પછી સરતીના મ્હોમાંથી સુરતી સરે છે

દુશ્મન કરે તો કમ અસર થાય એની,
દોસ્ત જો દગો કરે તો ખુબ ચચરે છે

પ્લાસ્ટિકનાં ઝાડને પણ પાનખર હોય?
ચાઇનાનું હશે એટલે જ પાન ખરે છે

'શું વાત કહી' પછી પ્રશ્નાર્થ મૂકી દીધો
આ તું દાદ આપે છે કે કચરો કરે છે?

નેતાની ભાગીદારીમાં ધંધો કરી જાણ્યું
ટકાવારી ટેક્સને કેટલો ઓછો કરે છે!

હપ્તો ખાઘો હશે, નહીતર કેમ બને છે?
અમદાવાદમાં કુતરું સસલાથી ડરે છે.

'અધીર'ની ગઝલ તમારી વોલ પર,
તમે ગમો છો એને, તો ટેગ કરે છે!

Tata's open letter to Rajeev Chandrasekhar - India News - IBNLive

Tata's open letter to Rajeev Chandrasekhar - India News - IBNLive

......................

Finally, you have chosen to lecture me on the responsibilities of upholding the ethics and values which the Tata Group has honored and adhered to through the years. l can say categorically that we have not wavered in upholding our values and ethical standards despite the erosion in the ethical fabric in the country and despite the efforts of others to draw us into controversy and endeavor to besmirch our record. When the present sensational smokescreen dies down, as it will, and the true facts emerge, it will be for the people of India to determine who are the culprits that enjoy political patronage and protection and who actually subvert policy and who have dual standards. I can hold my head high and say that neither the Tata Group or l have at any time been involved in any of these misdeeds.

The selective reporting and your own selective focus appear to be diversionary actions to deflect attention away from the real issue which plagues the telecom industry, in the interest of a few powerful politically connected operators. Perhaps it is time that you and members of the media de some introspection and soul searching as to whether you have been serving your masters or serving the general public at large.

With warm regards,

Yours sincerely,

Ratan Tata

Open Letter to Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons Ltd | Rajeev Chandrasekhar's official blog

Open Letter to Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons Ltd | Rajeev Chandrasekhar's official blog

................

There are several other questions that deserve answers, including why a group like Tata with its sterling character and reputation requires outside lobbyists to lobby on their behalf! That, in itself, is enough to shatter one’s confidence!

I reiterate that this letter is not meant to tarnish or disrespect or distract from the many achievements of the Tata Group including the acquisition of International Brands like Land Rover, Jaguar and its increasingly global footprint. But I believe, on behalf of many erstwhile supporters of the Tata group, that it is my duty to seek and spotlight the truth. The Tata Group has a responsibility, and indeed, owes it to its many admirers in India to actually live up to its image of ethical conduct, otherwise your statements and actions will seem to be hypocrisy – something that’s already available in plenty in our public and corporate life.

Respectfully,

RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR
Member of Parliament

New Delhi
06 December, 2010

The problem with being Ratan Tata – Santosh Desai

The problem with being Ratan Tata – Santosh Desai

..............

The absolute nature of faith in the Tata brand and in Ratan Tata himself makes any engagement with dodgy issues, even if it is by way of spirited refutation, damaging for the brand. For the Tata business, Ratan Tata’s detailed defence in his reply to Rajeev Chadrashekhar may have been the appropriate move, but for the brand it mires him further in a controversy that can only muddy his reputation regardless of what is defence is.

The more Ratan Tata engages with this question, the less it matters what he says. For the biggest issue for brand Ratan Tata is not that whether he has an answer to the questions that are being asked, it is the fact that there is at all a question. That is a problem unique to him for we hold very few other business leaders in such high esteem. But it is a problem nevertheless.

The Economic Times, Monday 13th December 2010

LTC froud - I am agreed to many rip of report

             I work with iim. I also hear new bad report about ltc froud . go to internet linkage http://www.ripoffreport.com/colleges-and-universities/indian-institute-of/indian-institute-of-management-7f97f.htm

     All report taly with realiti. But I use different  language. correct to say Ketanbhai ane Jitubhai is harased.  common management style to  avoide all who tel truth.  to day Faculty and staff did not respect each other. Many faculty  very good and help me personaly but some faculty insult all staff just like that. become chairman to drink malai. Lot off corruption  .They give money and take cag oditors to hotels. Ketanbhai fighting for many years alone . he has so many RTI but did not get information because of dirty management. W-5 forced  joshi to give wrong informetion. ketan also write many fight  emails to IIM  allnb noticeboards . faculty no care biasd. Student very bizy and wory about grades   staff afraid to support ketan because  of fear. Life is very very good 30 years ago when good relation with faculty and staff.

               Bardhan from comunist party   father of barua-saheb wife   he do lot traveling and dean  run the institute   media know everything. accounts staf also know everything but do not talk . many offiser malai khau and chatu . give mony to court also  so if ketabhai go to court no judgement will come befor his deth
                  ketanbhai is fighting for everybody  Many people will agreed with thet rip of reports. Best luck to ketan   jitubhai is also a fighter . He send many rti so Jajoo saheb not happy and remove him from computer

         I send data about big froud to  give freee ltc mony to officers .  but they stop food loan to punes and swipers . Pillai give me only 40 rs for schol fee.  many acount files give list of many frouds of w5 and profesors  . ketanbhai and Jitubhai write many many letter after which pillai change rule to  stop ltc froud  But befor that people make froud of crors rupees .  mony come from student fee.

      if  cbi come they will find many many froud. faculty malai khau   offisers chatu bhagat  and student wory only   plasement selery .  IIM JAYE BHAD MA    .Jay ambe

[Som] Prof. Barua, Director IIMA, “Beating Around the Bush”

Leaked document also include response of Director IIM Ahmedabad to Mr. Amitabh.
100915 Director 2 Amitabh
For some reasons, instead of correcting erroneous practices in his office, Director began to boost his elite credentials and other issues totally irrelevant to subject matter raised by Mr. Bhatt and Mr. Amitabh. This when there exist serious vigilance (http://bit.ly/fjJW5M) and governance (http://bit.ly/hEq2Rt) issues. Director of IIM Ahmedabad (alumnus of IITK and IIMA) is "Beating Around the Bush"!

--
Posted By Blogger to Som at 4/22/2011 04:58:00 AM

[Som] BoG inaction and email from Mr. Amitabh Thakur

It appears that for some reason even Board of Governors IIMA did not care to attend to substantive issues raised by Mr. Bhatt through his email of 04-Aug-2010.


With there also being issues affecting general public at large, Mr. Amitabh preferred to approach BoG for remedial measures on issues of immediate concern. Here is the leaked document wherein Mr. Amitabh requested for proper documentation of files received in to Directors office,

100914 Amitabh 2 BoG
--
Posted By Blogger to Som at 4/17/2011 04:28:00 AM

Q&A: R C Bhargava, Maruti Suzuki India

Q&A: R C Bhargava, Maruti Suzuki India:
'A problem with IIMs is they have no real stakeholders'
Kalpana Pathak / Mumbai April 15, 2011, 0:01 IST

Faculty at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have objected to quite a few of the Bhargava committee recommendations on restructuring these B-schools. Such as the one that the managing society at each IIM should function as an ‘enlightened owner’, wherein corporate entities can become members on payment of Rs 20 crore, individuals on payment of Rs 5 crore and alumni by paying Rs 3 crore. This, the faculty say, will lead to privatisation of the IIMs. R C Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki India and author of this report on new governance structures, tells Kalpana Pathak the teachers haven’t understood. Edited excerpts:

What was the committee’s rationale behind this idea of allowing membership by accepting donation?
It is not a new idea at all. I believe two or three existing IIMs have been allowing this since inception and nobody objected to it so far. The amounts were considerably smaller. All we have done this time is to have increased the amount. If you convert the money that IIMs accepted in, say, the 1960s, it will work out to be a very large figure anyway. So, no new principle is involved.

Why did the committee increase the amount?
Two fundamental reasons. One, to build a corpus for the IIMs. All these years, they have not been able to build any significant one for themselves. Whatever money is available is largely in the form of government grants. The IIMs have not been successful in getting any significant donation from outside parties and using that corpus to do things leading to academic excellence.

Today, the bulk of the money that IIMs generate is through the Management Development Programmes (MDPs) or executive education programmes they conduct. If they did not have these, they would all still be running at a loss or just marginally breaking even.

Every IIM has a scheme that the money earned via MDPs is shared between the faculty member who carries it out and the institution. Of a 100-odd faculty in the IIMs, only 50-60 per cent are able to do MDPs. Some of them are able to earn as much as Rs 60 lakh each year.

Thus, there is a strong interest in carrying out MDPs. However, a result of doing so is limited teaching and research. When the Ajit Balakrishnan committee recommended that about 160 hours of teaching be put in (a year) against around 90 hours at present, which is the case in most IIMs, this was made in the interest of bringing in a healthy development, as you want more MBA teaching and more research to happen. The issue is how to make up for the loss of revenue from the MDPs.

A corpus is a way out and building one is a priority. If we implement the other recommendation of more teaching and more research, it means less MDPs and in turn less income for not only the professors but also for the IIMs.

To make up for that income, either you increase the fee or find some other source of money. Else, the budget of IIMs may go for a toss.

The corpus income can be used both for making IIMs financially viable and giving extra income to professors who do good work in teaching, research or in conducting MDPs.

Are you implying the IIMs should stop MDPs?
No. But the IIMs have not been set up by the government to carry out MDPs as the main objective and earn money. They are supposed to create managers and leaders. We looked at the kind of MDPs being done. By and large, these are for fairly lower levels of people from the public sector.

Higher level management people do not come to the IIMs for MDPs. They are being done for these lower level people as they generate money. A corpus would lead to people getting more time for research and MBAs.

We also thought a corpus would be required as the new IIMs need professors. There is dearth of faculty and if you suddenly add seven new IIMs, where do you get the teaching staff from? One way is to get Indian faculty teaching abroad. They need to be paid. However, they cannot be paid over and above the government’s salary structure fixed through the Pay Commission.

So, you can compensate them with board approval through money generated from the corpus. The ministry has recognised this need and approved this method.

Have the professors approached you to clarify the recommendations?
No, none of these professors have spoken to me. I would like to ask them what they mean by privatisation of IIMs. In public sector units, privatisation means reducing government equity to below 50 per cent.

This is not happening here. The IIMs will remain Board-managed. The government will remain the promoter and its overall power of control and superintendence will not be diluted.

So, how will some corporate donating money and joining the Society hurt? How will it lead to privatisation? Today, people can give a few lakhs and become members of the Society.

Have those IIMs become privatised? If much fewer number pay a few crores, the IIM gets privatised? The logic is hard to follow.

IIMs will always have to seek grants from the government because in the next 20 years, I do not see any of the IIMs having enough resources to fund their capital expenditure.

If the faculty members mean the board will suddenly get controlled by the Society, it’s not valid. The Society does not elect the board. You may be a member of the Society but the latter has only one or two members out of 14 on the board.

The issue of privatisation is misconceived and misunderstood. Faculty members are not the governance of an IIM. They certainly do, and should continue to, determine the academic side of the IIM but they are not responsible for governance of the IIMs.

Under the law, the board is supposed to manage and administer an IIM, nobody else. That is the legal position. Subject to whatever powers the government keeps to itself by virtue of its actually being the person who has promoted the IIM and funds the IIMs.

How does alumni being on the board help?
That alumni should be part of the management of the IIMs is something that has been supported by even faculty members.

This is how it works with international B-schools. Alumni members take interest in an institution; we talk of people with some sense of ownership and commitment, and who are worried about the reputation of the alma mater.

Getting people who are on the board for three to five years and then leave will serve no purpose. You need people who can care about the institution and have some stake in the institution.

A reason why IIMs have not progressed the way they should have is because there are no real stakeholders. Alumni are clear and important stakeholders.


- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Govt servants joining activists in War Against Corruption: a live example - thebravepedestrian's blog

Govt servants joining activists in War Against Corruption: a live example - thebravepedestrian's blog

Dear fellow activists,

Hindustan Construction Company evaded making Employees Provident Fund contributions of Rs 4.44 crore between April 2005 and March 2008. See paragraph marked in red on page 29 of this file:http://tinyurl.com/HCCs-evasion

These figures pertain to construction of Bandra Worli Sea Link (details on Page 8-12, and 28), it appears that the evasion is wider. “A huge evasion of membership has been unearthed at all the work areas/sites of the said establishment” i.e. in about 15 places around the country, including three places in Maharashtra, besides Mumbai. See blue-highlighted paragraph on page 12.

According to Section 6 of Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, “The contribution which shall be paid by the employer to the Fund shall eight and one-third per cent of the basic wages dearness allowances and retaining allowance (if any) for the time being payable to each of the employees (whether employed by him directly or by or through a contractor) and the employees’ contribution shall be equal to the contribution payable by the employer in respect of him…” This document suggests that Hindustan Construction Company, headed by Ajit Gulabchand, deliberately did not keep its end of the bargain.

Now someone please ask, HOW DID I GET MY HANDS ON THIS INTERNAL GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT, which pertains to a Vigilance enquiry against a Regional Provident Fund Commissioner? Did I file an RTI application for this?

The answer is, No, not RTI. A CENTRAL GOVERNMENT INSIDER CALLED ME AND GAVE IT TO ME after he read my blog, titled “Maharashtra Govt lets Lavasa & Amby Valley piss into Pune’s water-supply” http://tinyurl.com/Pune-drinks-Lavasa-piss He felt that the documents concerning Hindustan Construction Co’s evasion in paying its Provident Fund dues needed to be in the public domain. He wanted to blow the whistle, and he wanted my help in doing so. AND SO, AS PROMISED, HERE I AM, PUTTING THESE DOCUMENTS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

From all this, I am getting the feeling that large numbers of government servants are eager to ally with RTI activists and civil society members in exposing corruption and wrongdoings. We just need to reach out to these government insiders and whistleblowers, and encourage them to join hands with us. If we build a relationship of trust, I think hundreds of skeletons will start tumbling out of government cupboards. And when the government sees that its own employees have joined the war against corruption, things will change a lot more rapidly.

Mr Prime Minister Sir, are you listening? Are you reading the writing on the wall?

Warm Regards,
Krish
98215 88114

Posted in Activism, Governance & Administration, Politics, RTI Act 2005, Right to Information,Whistleblowers.

Tagged with Ajit Gulabchand, Anti Corruption, Asaval, Bandra Worli Sea Link, Central Vigilance Commissioner, CVC, Employees Provident Fund Act Contribution Evasion, EPF, Fasting, HCC,Hindustan Construction Company, India against Corruption, Lavasa, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Scam,Vigilance, War against Corruption, Whistle Blower, whistle blowing.

By Krishnaraj Rao – March 28, 2011

Common Law: The Constitution of India doesn’t recognize autocrats

Common Law: The Constitution of India doesn’t recognize autocrats

The Constitution of India doesn’t recognize autocrats

I will begin with -

(1) A note was struck by Apex Court in Superintending Engineer, Public health, U.T. Chandigarh V Kuldeep Singh when it observed: “Every Public servant is a trustee of the society; and in all facets of public administration – every public servant has to exhibit honesty, integrity, sincerity and faithfulness in the implementation of the political, social, economic and constitutional policies to integrate the nation, to achieve excellence & efficiency in public administration. ...”

Contrary to above, the experience is that the holders of public offices treat the authority in their hands, as one bestowing upon them, the status of a ruler rather than one in public service.

Statutory / Public authorities / Public officers, especially highly placed, soaked in arrogance of their powers, generally do not bother themselves to the complaint of Citizens, and their replies sometimes are deliberately illogical and evasive. This essay seeks to engineer an effective answer to deal with this menace.


(2) We, the people of India have so many rights, under the Constitution and under various Statutes, and I thought let us contemplate one more right, that is “Right of Reply”. It is my case that Citizens’ have a right to receive proper reply, of the complaints made to public / statutory authorities.


(3) In fact, in the case of Salem Advocates Bar Association, Tamilnadu Vs. Union of India (UOI), (2005) 6 SCC 344, the Hon'ble Supreme Court, among other things, said - Judicial notice can be taken of the fact that in a large number of cases either the notice is not replied to or in the few cases where a reply is sent, it is generally vague and evasive. It not only gives rise to avoidable litigation but also results in heavy expenses and costs to the exchequer as well.

A proper reply can result in reduction of litigation between the State and the citizens. In case a proper reply is sent, either the claim in the notice may be admitted or the area of controversy curtailed, or the citizen may be satisfied on knowing the stand of the State

In the above case strict duty is cast upon the Public authorities to make proper replies if they happen to receive any statutory notice, either under section 80 of CPC 1908, or under any other statute. I say, when a law recognizes a duty, correspondingly, law also recognizes a right.


(4) It is my case that Citizens’ Right of “Reply” can be traced to preamble and to Article 14 of the Constitution of India and in numerous rulings made by our Constitutional courts. In wealth of the Judgments delivered by our Courts, it is repeatedly affirmed that public authorities must exercise their discretionary powers in a reasoned and justified manner, failing to which leads to inescapable violence to Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

It is my case that Citizen’s “Right of Reply” is inherent in “Duty to reasoned exercise of discretion by Public authorities”, a duty which is consistently cast upon public / statutory authorities by our Constitutional Courts, in their series of judgments.


(5) It is my case that when the Courts, in their wealth of judgments, lay so much emphasize on recording of reasons by public authorities, in the discharge of their duties even when administrative in nature, the recording of reason in their decision itself presupposes the obligation of giving reply, and not only a mere reply but a reasoned reply. It cannot be said that – whereas authorities are under obligation to make reasoned reply but they are at liberty to not to make any reply.


(6) It is my case that in wealth of judgments, the Courts have insisted upon recording reasons by administrative authorities on the premise that such a decision is subject to judicial review and the courts cannot exercise their duty of review unless courts are duly informed of the consideration underlying the action under review. A statement of reasons serves purposes other than judicial review inasmuch as the reasons promote “thought” by the authority and compel it to cover the relevant points and eschew irrelevancies and assures careful administrative consideration.


(7) When, in the case of M Krishna Swamy versus UOI reported in (1992) 4 SCC 605, the Hon’ble Supreme Court held that any action, decision or order of any statutory or public authority bereft of reasoning would be arbitrary, unfair and unjust violating article 14 of the Constitution of India, then, it is my case that non-reply of any complaint received by any public /statutory authority, is a positive act of omission, an arbitrary, unfair and unjustified decision of that public / statutory authority to not to make a reply, thereby frustrating citizen’s fundamental right enshrined under Article 14.


(8) When, in the case of Srilekha Vidyarthi versus State of UP reported in AIR 1991 SC 537, it was held by the Hon'ble SC that in order to satisfy the test of Article 14, every State action must be informed by reasons and that an act uninformed by reasons, is arbitrary, and arbitrariness is the very negation of the Rule of Law, it is my case that non-reply of any complaint received by State, is an act of omission of the State not informed by reason and thus arbitrary, and thus does not pass the test of Article 14.


(9) Similarly, when, in the case of Union of India Vs Mohan Lal Capoor reported in (1973) 2 SCC 836, the Hon’ble Supreme Court said – Reasons disclose how the mind is applied to the subject matter for a decision whether it is purely administrative or quasi judicial; and reveal a rational nexus between the facts considered and conclusions reached, it is my case that non-reply of any complaint received by any public /statutory authority implies that although mind was applied to the complaint and arbitrary decision was taken by the administrative authority that no reply should be made.


(10) Discretion in reality means a power given to a person with the authority to choose between two or more alternatives or possibilities each of which is lawful and permissible. The concept of discretion imports a duty to be fair, candid and unprejudiced; not arbitrary, capricious or biased; much less, warped by resentment or personal dislike.


(11) I say that our system of governance is founded on the lofty principle of rule of law, wherein the Nation’s power is divided amongst three chief organs, each under a duty to conduct itself in a manner that subserves the common good of all and achieve the objectives of a welfare State. The checks and balances were put as inherent safeguards designed to ensure compliance with the maxim “Be you ever so high, the law is above you”. The dicta of the Constitution is crystal clear; namely, the goal of good governance.


(12) I say that even our Constitution of India give so much importance to the people of India. In our vast, beautiful, geographical landscape of Independent INDIA, i.e. Bhaarat, the Constitution of INDIA, which came into existence on 26th January 1950, is the supreme & fundamental governing volume.

This epic governing volume makes a categorical announcement in the introductory passage that people of INDIA are the architect of this volume. The announcement assumes significance because by this announcement, the fathers of our Constitution intend to acknowledge and give tribute to selfless sacrifice of every men & women who devoted their only life for the independence of INDIA. This announcement is intelligent, designed and purposeful.

There are three chief organs outlined in the Governing volume called Constitution of India - they are Legislature, the Govt and the Judiciary, and all these three organs derive their origin and all powers from this peoples' governing volume.


(13) Also, it is my case that, when the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India Shri S H Kapadia on 15.05.2010 warned the PIL Petitioners that they must first issue notice to the Govt / Public authority before moving courts, and therefore, we the People expect, in principle and in equity, that if that public authority / govt turn a blind eye to the notice and if one has to move court for justice, then this Hon'ble court will also find the occasion to direct that the Govt / Public authority to effectively deal with the issue raised in the complaint / notice.


(14) Recording of reasons will show application of mind and probably this recording of reasons is the only remaining visible safeguard against possible misuse of powers conferred upon administrators of a nation.


(15) I seeks to recall an historic incident of Indian freedom struggle, occasioned with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (His Journey towards Mahatma). In the year 1893, when in South Africa, while holding a First Class Compartment ticket and travelling in, Gandhi was thrown out of the train, for in those times “Blacks” were not allowed to travel in the First Class Compartment, notwithstanding they hold a valid ticket. It was 9.00 in the chill night. That designated “Black” sent a Telegram to the General Manager of the Railways and registered his complaint. The Complaint of that designated “Black” was attended, forthwith, the General Manager instructed the Station master to secure that complainant reaches his destination safely. Complainant was accommodated in the very next morning train to his destination. And here, in the era of INDEPENDENCE and 21st Century of modern democracy, we have Citizens of Sovereign India, of whose complaint are ordinarily, attended with great disrespect and sometimes with hostility.


(16) It is my case that grievance of the people must be promptly and properly attended instead of waiting and allowing for it to be translated into court litigation.


(17) It is my case that the giving of satisfactory reply is a healthy discipline for all who exercise powers over others.


(18) It is my case that a complaint to State is the most legitimate incident of a democracy.

(19) It is finally my case that satisfactory replies to complaints are not of some importance but of fundamental importance in State Citizen relationship.

And therefore, it is necessary to trace the evolution and development of law, the emergence of concept of subject & the ruler, and trace the origin of today's concept of Citizens & the State.

At the advent of Human Civilization, ‘Men’ were Sovereign in their own, in the sense that, they were free and were not subject to or bound by any law. Then, men were Ruled by their own conscience and not by codified laws and were even free to the extent of inflicting violence at their will & strength, i.e. Might is right was the scene. Men were guided by own conscience and greed. An action not emanating from reason and the freedom to do as one pleases.

Great Philosopher Thomas Hobbes ( 1588- 1671) says that prior to concept of Statehood, the man lived in chaotic conditions of constant fear. The life in the state of nature was solitary, poor nasty, brutish and short. For getting self protection and avoiding misery and pain, man voluntarily entered into a contract and surrendered their part of freedom to some might authority, who could protect their lives and property, which emerged later on as the ruler and which ultimately culminated into the shape of the State.

With the great passage of time and centuries together, Codified laws evolved and were introduced in human life. Men came together, they voluntarily surrendered their individual sovereignty to State sovereignty, and opted to subject themselves to laws of the land, however, they were promised, in return, the Rule of codified laws. The rule of codified laws purported to promise the safety of their life & their property and also sought to guarantee the general dignity inherent in human person alonwith guarantee that he will not be discriminated. This is how the ancient Social contract between Men & State came into being.

Among various definitions of State given by Scholars of law and by Philosophers, this appears to be more satisfactory and convincing. It is by professor Goodhart. He defines State in terms of its purpose. He states that the purpose of society which we call a State is to maintain peace and order within a demarcated territory. THE MINIMUM AND ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF THE STATE IS TO MAKE LIFE POSSIBLE

Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) is regarded as the father of philosophical jurisprudence. He said- it is the first duty of the Sovereign State to safeguard the citizen because State was given power only for that purpose.

And therefore, in the backdrop of this ancient social contract, every Society & every Individual Citizen has certain basic assumptions to take it for granted that complaints made to State will be replied.



And where public / statutory authorities don’t reply to complaints, or reply in interplay of words and in genius pretence, than, in my view, the appropriate approach may be, if at all the aggrieved person wishes to move the court of law, to only request said High Court to direct that public / statutory authority to make a Reasoned reply to the Petitioners herein of their complaint dated 00.00.0000. The recording of reasons must not only be intelligible but which will also deal with the substantial points which has been raised therein in the complaint and cover other relevant points and eschew irrelevancies and reply which demonstrate that the authority has given due consideration to the points in controversy and that decisions of the public / statutory authority on the issue raised in the said complaint have been reached according to law.


The most important advantages is that if Writ is filed for this limited purpose, than it may be disposed off in the first hearing, because for passing this order, the Court may not even hear the concerned Public / Statutory authority and may straight away pass order. Secondly, if any such order is passed, than that public / statutory authority is bound to make a reasoned and proper reply, in a time bound manner.


Pls find file attached of -
Format of Complaint which may be used;
Format of Writ Petition which may be used;
Relevant wealthy Judgments are discussed in format of Writ Petition.


Sandeep Jalan
Advocate
Mumbai.

The Threat Of Internet Censorship In India By Prabhat Sharan

The Threat Of Internet Censorship In India By Prabhat Sharan

The Threat Of Internet Censorship In India

By Prabhat Sharan

12 April, 2011
The Verdict Weekly

LIBERATION? AMAZING, the extent to which criminal instincts persist in human nature. I use the word ‘criminal,’ deliberately. Freedom and crime are linked as indivisibly as….well as the motion of the aero and its speed. When its speed equals zero, it does not move; when a man’s freedom equals zero, he commits no crimes. That is clear. The only means of ridding man of crime is ridding him of freedom.” (‘We’-Yevgeny Zamyatin)

“You don’t need to watch everyone if everyone believes they’re being watched, Nash explained, “Punishment isn’t necessary, but the inevitability of punishment has to be programmed into the brain…Privacy has become a convenient fiction…A few libertarians objected to this intrusion, so the government transferred control of the program to the Terrorism Information Awareness system. Once the word “: Total,” was replaced by the word “Terrorism,” all the criticism stopped…I will be watched too. Everyone will be watched. It’s a very democratic system. That’s the cleverness of the Panopticon. It’s designed so as that you can never see the face of your guard or hear him moving about…the prisoner must assume that he is being watched all the time. After a while, that realization becomes part of the prisoner’s consciousness... besides they rarely recognize the prison. There’s always some distraction. A war in the Middle East. A scandal involving celebrities. The World Cup or the Super Bowl. Drugs…Advertisements. A novelty song. A change of fashion… Fear will get people into our Virtual Panopticon and then we’ll keep them happy. People will be free to take antidepressant drugs, go into debt and stare at their television sets. Society might seem disorganized, but it will be very stable. Every few years we’ll pick up a different mannequin to give speeches from the White House Rose Garden. (John Twelve Hawks - The Traveller)

From Zamyatin’s famous dystopian novel ‘We’ to George Orwell’s ‘1984,’ to Philip K Dick’s short novels, to William Golding’s , ‘ Lord of the Flies,’ to John Twelve Hawks ‘The Traveller,’ the disturbing theme of thought control and quashing of freedom of thinking has come out from the realm of fiction.

The fiction is now a socio-political reality, out staring every human being. Like Toynbee’s “Dominant Minority,” the power elite wants to snuff out and quell every thought it feels threatened with.

The corporate-run Indian State, a face for the power elite running the country as a real estate and hypermarket, is all set to implement the banning of thought, expression and critical consciousness by proposing to carry out amendments in the Information Technology Act (2000.)

Of course, on the surface level it does seems that it is more of a knee-jerk reaction to the sudden emergence of internet activism and more specifically to Wikileaks which to some extent ripped off the masks from the ruling class propaganda and also rustled up people’s consciousness at a subliminal level.

The proposed amendments have already come under criticism in scores of incisive articles on internet, but ironically, the corporate establishment media- except for a handful of them- has not come out openly against the proposed ‘internet censorship, ‘ hidden in legalese veils.

The proposed censorship which intends to strait-jacket the editors of websites and bloggers or “intermediaries,” as it terms them is nothing but an attempt to weave an atmosphere of fear where everyone has to keep a watch over everybody.

The State is all out to create a society where everybody should distrust everybody. A society, where paranoia will be all-pervasive; and a Hobbesian political space where ideas can and will be monitored, and tuned, as per the diktats of the corporate-run State.

Already, the government is steaming ahead in full force implementing the much reviled and discarded world over, UID Aadhar- an intangible instrument to monitor the movements of people and manipulate them as per the wishes of corporate interests.

Now, a new set of nails are being hammered into the coffins prepared by the State--the proposal to circumscribe thoughts and ideas floating in cyberspace. Since both print as well as television media already in control of the new dictators of the world-the corporate bodies; internet as a medium for expression of ideas had come as a boon to people refusing to get deafened by the cacophony of corporate ideology.

In its earlier days, print media had been a tool for raising uncomfortable questions and in provoking people to think and sometimes even exhorting them to act. The ruling class soon realized the power of the medium and clamped down on it by controlling the processes of the ideas through which they flowed.

The visual medium also fared the same fate. Now it is the turn of the internet. However, unlike the print or the television medium requiring a substantial amount of physical machinery for its processing and thus a necessity of a certain amount of initial capital, the internet on the other hand was more intangible, requiring minimal amount of capital.
Though yet to realize its optimum latent potentiality, the impact of the ideas floating through this medium has certainly not been less forceful than the other conventional forms of medium, despite its manipulation and control and monitoring being relatively more easy, simple and total.

It is precisely because of this probable anarchic nature of medium that world over specially countries influenced by Thatcherism and wallowing in control of corporate ideology, a clampdown on internet activism has become a top priority. The tightening of noose on the internet is being carried out exactly in the manner working class unions were once strangulated. India is certainly not the country which would like to be left behind in this race.

Thus, such a proposal. The maxim of which in simple words is: You should read and see what we want you to read and see; and think, what we want you to think. And there is no better way to achieve this sinister aim, than by controlling the very medium where every electrical pulsation of thoughts coursing through neurons, gets filtered though synapses monitored and manipulated by the gatekeepers put up by the State.

India has a long history of draconian laws like MISA, TADA, POTA, etc. The proposed IT Act amendment is no different. Like the so-called TADA, POTA and other similar acts which were usually used to quell the rebels and shackle those who dared to raise their voices against authorities, the proposed IT Act amendment is to ensure that the sporadic questioning voices be muffled effectively.

The “intermediaries,” can be hauled up if the State finds the ideas or the analysis projected on their web site or blog ‘objectionable. The web site editors will not only have to report and keep a diary specifying ‘the details about their contributors, but even the onus of publishing a so-called ‘objectionable,’ material will be on them. The same will be the case with the bloggers who will have to keep a track on their respondents.

In other words, only calcified approved ideas henceforth will be allowed in cyberspace. The print and visual medium like the State machineries, had long, long time ago fallen into the manipulating hands of the corporate world.

In other words what the State wants is that the internet medium should also go the way corporate establishment media functions and carry out ‘propaganda,’ by twisting ideas, images and words. In a perceptive study of contemporary mass media, Prof. Richard Hoggart observes, “In the mass society one of the main channels through which the medium of communication work is, perhaps surprisingly, words… The paradox is that words today are both neglected in principle and hugely paid court to in fact. They are daily despoiled but secretly admired; they cannot be left alone by the whole congregation of advertising and P.R people and their related cohorts.” (Hoggart: Mass Media in a Mass Society (Myth and Reality); pp 141; 2005: Continuum, London.)

Citing examples of the manipulation of language by the corporate media, for twisting social realities and creating a make-believe social world, Richard Hoggart points out, “Shortly after the battles of in Kosovo began someone…a Cabinet Minister, introduced the word, ‘humanitarian.’ That was a proper epithet for the action he was justifying. The word proved …enormously attractive and was repeatedly adopted. From then it occurred in virtually every report from that theatre, over-used and as often, as not ill-used…it was a catch-all word for almost any aspect though often a dreadful one, of a war situation. One even spoke of mass murders in a village as a ‘humanitarian assault’. It was certainly human not humane…frequently misused in Afghanistan. Most often it was applied to assaults by those attacking the Taliban. They were ‘humanitarian assaults’….they were assaults in the pursuit of victor in battle and neither humanitarian nor humane. They were inevitably bloody and awful. (Ibid: pp146.)

Further, Hoggart points out that in the logical progression of the corporate media, “various simulacra will be offered and each hailed as the one and only true form of democracy. But it will be both diluted with the honest, gritty character of genuine democracy. It will not offer its citizens real freedom of choice-even to go to hell or much more day to day, to consistently blow the gaff on the powers that be-both of which must inhere in a democracy. Instead, its Gods will be: money, celebrity, power and all of us equal before the ‘hegemony’ of the balance-sheets. It will offer day after day what the persuaders have decided is good for their audiences in the pursuit of profit or of a docile citizenship (the two are naturally intimately related). It will offer at any given moment just what will be absorbed but not cause revulsion: soft porn today, but no doubt hard-core porn tomorrow, violent sex-and-violence dramas on television today but perhaps public executions tomorrow.” (Ibid: pp 170.)

The corporate establishment media in India is certainly doing this job dutifully. And if the Indian state is gleefully rubbing its hands in joy, it is because the corporate establishment media faithfully recycles myths churned out from propaganda services departments run by the State and corporate P.R. firms. The myths are glibly presented in the drawing rooms via newspapers and telly screens—be it the drilling of the American gospel of greed-never to stop needing more, or be it the glorification of freedom to cheat, to con, or be it the need to chuck villagers into a dust-bin for the so-called development, or be it the omnipresent spies from neighbouring countries training insurgents in Assam, or LTTE (now defunct but once a favourite bogey of intelligence agencies,) training Maoists.

Of course, some talks by harlequins in the media theatre, which seemingly are annoying but not harmful to the rulers are always allowed, the way C-grade film hero’s raving and ranting’ against corruption is allowed on the silver screens. After all the Indian corporate media rarely talks of the traumatic dirty diaspora of tribals, poor peasants or retrenched workers seeking refuge in the suppurating, festering and never closing wounds of dark dead streets snaking in the corners of ‘world-class,’ cities.
Nor do they ever state that Salwa Judum the so-called civilian para-military force, indulging in ‘counter-terror,’ is nothing but a sophisticated way to describe murder of adivasis or landless peasants. None of the corporate-run newspapers or news channels, ever reports the anger and helplessness of adivasis or tribals or peasants on being thrown out from their homelands. None of the them ever reports that security forces raping adivasi girls in mineral-rich forests of Odisha or Jharkhand, or women in north-east, or castrating children in an area coveted by corporates, is a part of the cold-blooded military strategy to subjugate people in the region to the wishes and diktats of the State.
Instead what they parrot is what they are told to parrot by corporates and its interest implementing department-the State. The corporate through its meta-reality concept called, ‘market,’ run countries as well as the State machinery. It is the new oppressor with a mask of democracy, pillaging and plundering country after country in the manner reminiscent of colonialism.

‘Market,’ is the miasmic lifeline, which corporate uses, to entwine every region wherever it smells profits and like a killing creeper it sees that the tree helping it reach sunlight remains on a firm ground with inhabitants providing it nourishment till they run dry. And till it leaches out the last drop of profit, it continues its stranglehold over the tree and branches, controlling its every sway and quivering of leaves.

Noted developmental sociologist Wolfgang Sachs states, “The world market, once brandished as a weapon against political tyranny, has itself become a closet dictator under dominion both rich and poor countries tremble...There is scarcely any country today which seems able to control its destiny; in this respect the differences between countries are only relative.” (Sachs: The Archaeology of the Development Idea; pp 37; 2008-Earthcare Books; Kolkatta.)

And in this scenario, “…the future appears grim and the South (read: Third World) is seen as the breeding ground of all crises…All kinds of dangers are to be found there...violence keeps exploding, the mafia is in command, epidemics are spreading, deserts are advancing, ideologies are rampant and everywhere the demographic bomb is looming…the more the threatening dangers strike fear into people’s minds, the more the image of ‘The Other’ takes on a different colouring. During the centuries it has been identified with the pagan, then with the savage, then with the indigenous and finally with the poor, which today embodies the ‘risk factor’.

“In these circumstances, the ‘development’ concept loses its reassuring connotations for the future; slowly it is being substituted by the concept of ‘security’—from the North’s viewpoint naturally,” and thus, “ Global security is beginning to justify anything—just as it united the international community against the dictator of Baghdad. Rich countries are now increasing their diplomatic charity and military instruments for risk prevention. But where there is no justice, there cannot be peace. Security has replaced development as the global guiding light-another tragic consequence of the continuing arrogance of power.” (Ibid pp 41-44.)

And it is this arrogance of power deeply laced with a desperation, to continue with the mirage of ‘market,’ and ‘development,’ the corporate paradigm that reduces every living being to a statistical abstraction on the scales of profit and loss, carries on with its exploitation and oppression under the guise of democratic security, by trying to annul every thought which it feels threatened with.

The corporate totalitarian system very survival lies in the control of people and communication of ideas and literature. Literature which is “harmful and anti-entropic,” in words of Zamyatin, does not need “dogs who “sit up” in expectation of a handout or because they fear the whip. Nor does it need trainers of such dogs. It needs writers who fear nothing…And it does not matter if this echo is individual…if a writer ignores such-and-such paragraph adopted at such-and-such conference. What matters is that his work be sincere, that I lead the reader forward…disturb the reader rather than reassure and lull his mind. “(Zamyatin: The Goal; quoted in Introduction to We translated by Mirra Ginsburg.)

Disconcerting wisdom is different from the inert information saturating the corporate controlled media. George Orwell in ‘Road to Wigan Pier,’ mentions that workers living in tattered trailers on being asked as to when they first came to know about their housing problems, answered, something like: When we were first told about it.

It is this realization of a possible awakening of an organic knowledge of exploitation and oppression, and consciousness of one’s fundamental rights, is what the ruling class fears. And so the censorship and banning of thoughts.

And thus the axe on Internet warriors who want to, like the heroine of ‘We,’ “… break down the Wall-all walls-to let the green wind blow free from end to end-across the earth.”(157pp.)

Julian Assange, Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, interviewed at Ellingham Hall by N. Ram for The Hindu, April 12, 2011, Part One « INTERESTING READS

Julian Assange, Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, interviewed at Ellingham Hall by N. Ram for The Hindu, April 12, 2011, Part One « INTERESTING READS:

-------------> http://www.interestingreads.org/?p=739

On April 8, 2011, Julian Assange, the brilliant and articulate Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, gave a one-hour interview at Ellingham Hall in the county of Norfolk in the U.K. to N. Ram, The Hindu’s Editor-in-Chief, who was accompanied by Hasan Suroor, the newspaper’s U.K. Correspondent.

The interview covered a broad range of issues relating to India, the world, political economy, journalism, the goals and methods of WikiLeaks, and the theoretical framework worked out by its chief.

These pdfs are of Part One of the interview published by The Hindu (TH) on April 12, 2011. They are a follow-up of stories of ‘The India Cables’, accessed by the newspaper through WikiLeaks and published over 21 consecutive days in March-April 2011.

The up to date stories and texts of the India Cables can be read at http://www.thehindu.com/news/the-india-cables/

and the interview at http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1688975.ece?homepage=true

Julian Assange interviewed, The Hindu, April 12, 2011, Page 1 lead story
Julian Assange interviewed by N. Ram, The Hindu, April 12, 2011, Page 1
Julian Assange interviewed by N. Ram, The Hindu, April 12, 2011, Op-Ed Page, Part One

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FT.com / Business education - India must create its own research culture

FT.com / Business education - India must create its own research culture

India must create its own research culture

By Nirmalya Kumar and Phanish Puranam

Published: April 11 2011 00:11 | Last updated: April 11 2011 00:11

In 1961, the Indian government, believing that management education was vital to the development of the country, set up Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) at Ahmedabad and Calcutta. In 1973, IIM Bangalore was established.

The three IIMs, along with a few lesser-ranked private institutions, dominated the business school landscape in India until the 1980s and competition to obtain admission into the IIMs was intense. Observing the success of IIMs and the huge demand for MBAs, private entrepreneurs have stepped in, especially in the past two decades to set up business schools. There are claims of 2,500 business schools in India, with more emerging daily.

Yet, while Indian business schools may be teaching great students, we do not see much evidence that the schools are creating innovative ideas through research.

To assess the state of management research in India, we counted the number of research articles written by India-based academics in the list of journals used by the Financial Times in its ranking of MBA programmes. From 1990-2009 the total number of Indian author counts was 132 (108 unique articles or about five articles per year for the entire country).

This is not impressive, even by the standards of one leading business school. For example, schools such as Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with 100-plus faculty members, produces about 30-plus articles annually, while a larger business school such as Wharton with more than 200 faculty, produces about twice as many.

However, there are encouraging signs things may be changing. In the 1990s for example, the most productive institutions for business research were not business schools but the Indian Statistical Institutes in Calcutta and New Delhi. However, in the following decade, business schools had clearly taken the lead with Indian School of Business (ISB) at Hyderabad and the IIMs at Bangalore and Calcutta producing more research.

ISB, established in 2001, has managed to wrest a leadership position in research, despite publishing its first article in our sample in 2003. The aspiration to build a world-class research culture at ISB creates this intellectual advantage.

But more needs to be done. If India is to go from being an imitator to innovator, the leading Indian business schools must produce world-class research and not be satisfied merely with producing good students through a competitive selection process and competent classroom instruction. This is an imperative given the large numbers of youth who aspire to go into management, the exponential growth of business and the growing globalisation of Indian companies.

To be world class at research, Indian business schools must find ways to create their own research cultures, including compensating appropriately trained faculty, providing research support and adopting a manageable teaching load.

Academic research can lay the foundations for concepts that eventually influence practice. Today’s strategists, financiers and marketers cannot do without concepts such as the capital asset pricing model and brand equity, which originated in academic research. Academic research also helps in debunking so-called “best practice”.

However, most of the existing academic research has been conducted using empirical databases from the developed world. As India and China become increasingly economically significant, we need to know whether established conclusions from the west hold true in these countries and what new insights can be generated uniquely from these contexts.

India-based academic researchers are closest to these phenomena and are best placed to develop concepts and conclusions of interest and relevance to the entire world. After all, why should all the Indian management gurus be based outside India?

The authors are professors at London Business School and co-directors of the Aditya Birla India Centre at LBS. India Inside: The Emerging Innovation Challenge to the West” Harvard Business Press, November 2011

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