Anna to be invited for campaign against Modi govt

Vadodara: A BJP rebel in Gujarat is planning to invite anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare to launch a state-wide campaign against the Narendra Modi government.
Former BJP Minister Nalin Bhatt, who has quit the party, said, "we are planning to invite Hazare to Gujarat to launch a crusade against the rampant corruption in the state."
Bhatt also criticised Modi's planned Sadbhavna fast in the city on December 15.

Ahead of polls, Congress to send report on corruption in Punjab to Team Anna

The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) would send a detailed report on “rampant corruption in the state government and its shameless acts to reduce the authority of Lok Pal” to activist Anna Hazare and his team.

The move comes in the wake of propose plans of the Team Anna and the social activist to campaign in Punjab ahead of the assembly elections early next year.

“We welcome Team Anna to campaign on the issue (in Punjab),” state party chief Capt Amarinder Singh said.

Amarinder was talking to the media persons in Jalandhar on Friday evening at the residence of party MLA Amarjit Singh Samra where 13 SAD leaders from Hoshiarpur joined Congress in the presence of AICC general secretary Gulchain Singh Charak.

The former CM said that the Team Anna has raised two main issues - corruption and Lokpal - and in Punjab the SAD-BJP government has a abysmal record on both the issue. “We will send detailed materials about the corrupt activities of the government and how they have reduced the institution of Lokpal in Punjab. Team Anna would have to take into account both the factors and then they should take their decision,” he added.

Queried whether his son Raninder Singh would be contest the coming assembly elections, Amarinder ruled out any such possibility.

“Raninder has neither applied for the ticket nor would he have enough time. He is now the chairman of National Rifle Association where he needs to devote a lot of time. I don’t think he would be able to do justice to both the jobs,” Amarinder said.

The state Congress has received more than 2,000 applications from ticket aspirants. He said the party getting a re-survey done on 42 seats as the earlier review had not zeroed in on a single probable candidate.

Reacting to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s allegation that the ambitious irrigation project about strengthening canals and distributaries in Punjab could not be accomplished due to step-motherly treatment by central government, Amarinder said that state government should have got the projects cleared through the planning commission.

About the party manifesto he said that it would be released after Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee clears it.

Celebrate India’s ‘poor’ corruption perception index

In reports that could cause Anna Hazare to make his case stronger and push the government into a corner, Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index has been quoted in large sections of Indian media saying that India has ‘slipped’. Some such as Hindustan Times (and they’re not alone), would make Anna Hazare celebtrate.

“Corruption in India has worsened over the past year,” according to a new study released by Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-corruption group.

Reporting on the corruption perception index, The Wall Street Journal reports, India scored 3.1 on a scale from zero to 10, where anything below five is bad news. Last year, India scored 3.3. The country’s rank is better than Pakistan (No. 134) and Nepal — which at rank No 154 is perceived to be the most corrupt country in South Asia.

“India ranked 95th in the list — lower than China, which scored 3.6 points and ranked 75th,” said the Hindustan Times.

“Corruption in India has worsened over the past year, according to a new study released by Transparency International,” said the Hindustan Times.

Hindustan Times has it wrong; corruption may or may not have worsened — and the study by TI does not say that corruption has worsened. What it says is that the perception of corruption has worsened. Before we get to the why, let’s do a check on what the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is.

“The CPI ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. It is a composite index, a combination of polls, drawing on corruption-related data collected by a variety of reputable institutions. The CPI reflects the views of observers from around the world, including experts living and working in the countries/territories evaluated,” says TI.

The misinterpretation committed here is much like the common misinterpretation of crime figures.

In a country like India, rape, for example, was not commonly reported a few decades ago. Now, thanks to the confidence of the woman and changes in society, more and more women are lodging complaints of rape – and the incidents of rape ‘seem’ to go up.

In the case of corruption, thanks in large part to Anna Hazare and his movement, the past year has seen a dramatic increase in the media coverage of corruption.

Corruption is in every conversation, it dominates prime time news television and the front pages of newspapers and the covers of news magazines. Ministers and other high profile government and private sector executives have been arrested. “The lack of public accountability has been recognized as a major problem,” Transparency International’s managing director Cobus de Swardt, told Reuters. Anna Hazare’s movement is founded on, and spurred by his, and the Indian citizen’s, demand for public accountability.

“The last 20 years have seen pockets of that (grassroots action), but it is arguably now in the Arab Spring and the Indian Summer where it is the most widespread and very much driven by good governance demands,” Cobus de Swardt continues in the Reuters report.

The demand for accountability and good governance in India has reached a crescendo which is reflected in the media’s focus on these areas.

Take today’s newspapers as an illustration. The Times of India has a corruption-related story (Lokpal) screaming from the front page, a front page pointer to a 2G related story under the masthead, the 2G story itself on page 13, a story on the Adarsh scam on page 8, and a story on the harassment of a businessman by a policemen on page 12.

The Hindustan Times has a story on how the BMC wasted Rs 21,000 crore over the past 5 years on road-building and a story on the Lokpal on page 1 (with detailed full page coverage on page 2), a story on the CM’s decision to cut back on his powers to allot flats on page 9, and a vox pop on page 13 where four out of five respondents speak of the negative impact of corruption on India’s growth.

Corruption dominates news — and conversations — and worsens the perception of the levels of corruption in the public sector.

Indians should celebrate the numbers that TI’s CPI throw up. It’ll be some time before the country’s current obsession with corruption and Anna Hazare’s movement and the passing of the Lokpal Bill, actually causes corruption levels to come down.

Till then, the perception should keep increasing.

End govt's discretionary powers to curb corruption: Godrej

MUMBAI: Industry doyen Adi Godrej today said bringing in an anti-corruption law like the Lokpal Bill will not help weed out corruption from the polity and stressed that the malaise can be removed only by dismantling government's discretionary powers.

"I don't think only a strong Lokpal, even the kind of the Lokpal Bill that Anna Hazare's team has suggested, will by itself solve the problem. I think we have to dismantle government's discretionary handling of things," the Godrej Group Chairman said at a special session on the fallout of the corruption movement in the country, at the WEF-CII organised India Economic Summit here.

Be it business permissions or day-to-day permissions, described by some as petty corruption, Godrej said that unshackling of the present system of "case-by-case government permissions" will alone help in tackling the issue.

He also spoke about the economic benefits of ending or bringing down the scourge of corruption.

"If we are able to fight corruption successfully, I think it will considerably increase foreign investment. I also think if we are able to reduce corruption considerably, it can add about a percentage point to the country's GDP growth," Godrej said.

On the black money issue, Godrej said he was amused as to why the money has to be kept in Swiss banks which fetch around 1 per cent interest when parking it in the domestic financial system can fetch it a minimum of 8 per cent.

The government should make it appealing for such persons to keep the money onshore through its policies, he said.

Anna Hazare's crusade has aroused awareness against graft: Arun Jaitley

DEHRADUN: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley has said that the movement launched by veteran social activist Anna Hazare against corruption and nepotism in public life has aroused mass awareness.

"Every organisation has its rights. They can either support someone or not. But not going into facts, we believe awareness that the movement has created against corruption and those who indulge in corruption, we support that and from that angle consider it as a mass movement of the nation," Jaitley told the media here.

Applauding the Lokpal Bill passed by the Uttarakhand Government, Jaitley said such a body would enable the system to effectively investigate and punish those indulging in corruption.

"This unbiased and strong Lokpal, which can investigate and prosecute corrupt individuals, that spirit has been adapted under this law formed by the Uttarakhand government and the state legislature. The same spirit should be observed in other states and in the federal government," added Jaitley.

The Uttarakhand Lokpal Bill would now be sent to governor Margaret Alva for her assent and, after that, it will be implemented in the state within 180 days.

Politicians more concerned than Anna: Lalu

New Delhi: Dismissing Anna Hazare's "threats" on Lokpal issue, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Friday said that politicians were more serious on the issue of tackling corruption than Team Anna.
"We are more serious on corruption than Team Anna. We have come out from the anti-corruption agitation of Jayaprakash Narayan. We are committed to eradicate corruption but no one should be partial.

"Corruption at levels in media corporate, NGOs or real estate sector should be looked into by the Lokpal. Disproportionate properties of individuals should be taken over by states and redistributed," Prasad told reporters after meeting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan also accompanied him.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Friday said that politicians were more serious
 on the issue of tackling corruption.

On the issue of black money, the RJD leader said it would not be unearthed by making new laws. "For this, a movement is required," he said.

Paswan demanded immediate implementation of recommendations of Rangnath Mishra Commission report for improving the lot of minorities and a commission for judicial services on the lines of those for civil and police services in the country.

Corruption: The change we need

Corruption has been on the mind of every Indian these last few months. Thanks to Anna Hazare, a scourge that has been engulfing and destroying our polity is finally centrestage. The information and opinions thrown up in the wake of the agitation have generated a debate that needs to be taken to a logical conclusion if we are to reduce this overpowering problem.

While it was generally believed that the end of the licence raj and protectionism would see a reduction of the parallel black economy and competition would break the unfair political-criminal-business nexus, the reality has been vastly different. Corruption has become worse. According to the 2010 figures of Transparency International, India has more black money than the rest of the world combined. The recent scams - 2G and Commonwealth Games - have involved unimaginably large sums of money, and have scarred the mightiest and the noblest.

The voracious appetite of our political leadership and bureaucracy for money to fund elections has fuelled these unscrupulous practices. The total spending for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is reportedly pegged at Rs 10,000 crore. A mere Rs 1,300 crore of this was spent by the Election Commission, another Rs 700 crore by the Centre and state governments. So a whopping Rs 8,000 crore came from political parties and individual candidates. No rocket science is necessary to deduce where this money was generated from.

The tragedy and moral dilemma for India Inc is the coercion to indulge in corrupt practices. Of course, the unscrupulous have registered a meteoric rise in a short span thanks to political patronage. Even Ratan Tata said the other day at a Harvard Business School event, "If you choose not to participate in this, you leave behind a fair amount of business." Many of us have also come to be resigned to the malaise, and feel there is no way out of it. I have often heard it debated in social circles that it is perhaps more desirable to have a corrupt political leader who does his work efficiently than to have a clean politician who is inefficient.

In India, politics no longer depends solely on funds from business. There are enough avenues - whether it is real estate or projects - for the unscrupulous to make money. The openness with which money is extracted, in fact the brazen attitude of some of the officers, certain of their impunity, is a direct reflection of how low our moral standards have fallen and how tolerant and defeatist our approach has become.

Regulations are what we urgently need. Now, for the first time, there seems to be some hope that these pressures on the government may lead to the formation of some effective deterrent mechanisms. Parliament may perhaps agree to the formation of an independent ombudsman, empowered sufficiently to initiate probes and take action against the guilty. Apparently, of all the cases on corruption that are referred, the government grants sanction for prosecution to less than 2% cases, and of these, the conviction rate is only around 3%!

No doubt we need agencies with teeth, so that the fear of punitive action will make it risky to indulge in unscrupulous practices. But given these dismal figures and the loopholes in the system, one has some reservations on the efficacy of deterrent regulation. Even the recent open letter to the government by 14 prominent Indians including Deepak Parekh, Azim Premji and members of the judiciary, appealing for more action against corruption, emphasised that the Lokpal was a small but critical step in this fight and many other reforms were necessary.

More importantly and simultaneously, i feel we need to reduce the opportunities for corruption. There must be transparency across the board. Firstly, political party expenditure limits should be realistic, with payments only through the banking system. Secondly, to break the stranglehold of babus, there must be a methodical deletion of their discretionary powers at all levels. There must be fair, open methods for awarding contracts, especially in areas like roads, infrastructure, mining and land acquisition for industry. Regulatory bodies are necessary to ensure standardisation and quality, and that`s all they should do - regulate, not control, as otherwise they become breeding grounds for extracting money.

Just as the Right to Information has made a major difference to the accountability of various arms of the executive, when documentation and processes will be available online, there will be far greater transparency. E-governance will reduce malpractices as it will minimise the points of contact between public and officials.

It is clear given the magnitude of the problem that a multi-pronged approach is necessary. Continuous and sustained pressure on the government to act against graft while simultaneously resisting corruption in everyday matters may perhaps reach the necessary critical mass. The only way in which any of these ideas can come to fruition or genuine change occur is if we have the commensurate will. All this recent churning and debate will have been in vain unless, and i can`t stress this enough, we change our attitude and style of functioning. Develop the determination to press for new policies and ensure their implementation; resist graft, and adopt ethical practices.

As businessmen, we must pledge to do all of these. Merely wearing the Anna cap and attending rallies is surely not an answer.

Anna reaches Delhi; may end vow of silence

New Delhi: Anna Hazare on Thursday night reached Delhi to attend a meeting of the Standing Committee on the issue of the Lokpal Bill on Friday, ahead of which he is expected to end his 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) observed for the past 19 days.

Hazare will go to Rajghat on Friday morning and after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, he is expected to break his 'maun vrat', Team Anna sources said.

Hazare will go to Rajghat on Friday morning and after paying tributes to
 Mahatma, he is expected to break his silence.

Hazare, who had threatened to launch another hungerstrike if a strong Lokpal Bill is not passed in Parliament's Winter Session, left his village Ralegan Siddhi this afternoon and reached Delhi at 8:40 pm. He will stay at Maharashtra Sadan.

The 74-year-old activist, who is on 'maun vrat' since October 16, will attend the meeting of the Standing Committee on Lokpal Bill along with other team members on Friday, the third such meeting.

The Team had met the Committee this evening as also after Hazare undertook a 13-day fast in August demanding that the Jan Lokpal Bill be passed in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Soon after the Lokpal Bill was referred to the Committee, Hazare and his associates had deposed before the panel saying it should ask the Government to withdraw the Lokpal Bill in its present form as it would "encourage corruption".

The change we need

Corruption has been on the mind of every Indian these last few months. Thanks to Anna Hazare, a scourge that has been engulfing and destroying our polity is finally centrestage. The information and opinions thrown up in the wake of the agitation have generated a debate that needs to be taken to a logical conclusion if we are to reduce this overpowering problem.

While it was generally believed that the end of the licence raj and protectionism would see a reduction of the parallel black economy and competition would break the unfair political-criminal-business nexus, the reality has been vastly different. Corruption has become worse. According to the 2010 figures of Transparency International, India has more black money than the rest of the world combined. The recent scams - 2G and Commonwealth Games - have involved unimaginably large sums of money, and have scarred the mightiest and the noblest.

The voracious appetite of our political leadership and bureaucracy for money to fund elections has fuelled these unscrupulous practices. The total spending for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is reportedly pegged at Rs 10,000 crore. A mere Rs 1,300 crore of this was spent by the Election Commission, another Rs 700 crore by the Centre and state governments. So a whopping Rs 8,000 crore came from political parties and individual candidates. No rocket science is necessary to deduce where this money was generated from.

The tragedy and moral dilemma for India Inc is the coercion to indulge in corrupt practices. Of course, the unscrupulous have registered a meteoric rise in a short span thanks to political patronage. Even Ratan Tata said the other day at a Harvard Business School event, "If you choose not to participate in this, you leave behind a fair amount of business." Many of us have also come to be resigned to the malaise, and feel there is no way out of it. I have often heard it debated in social circles that it is perhaps more desirable to have a corrupt political leader who does his work efficiently than to have a clean politician who is inefficient.

In India, politics no longer depends solely on funds from business. There are enough avenues - whether it is real estate or projects - for the unscrupulous to make money. The openness with which money is extracted, in fact the brazen attitude of some of the officers, certain of their impunity, is a direct reflection of how low our moral standards have fallen and how tolerant and defeatist our approach has become.

Regulations are what we urgently need. Now, for the first time, there seems to be some hope that these pressures on the government may lead to the formation of some effective deterrent mechanisms. Parliament may perhaps agree to the formation of an independent ombudsman, empowered sufficiently to initiate probes and take action against the guilty. Apparently, of all the cases on corruption that are referred, the government grants sanction for prosecution to less than 2% cases, and of these, the conviction rate is only around 3%!

No doubt we need agencies with teeth, so that the fear of punitive action will make it risky to indulge in unscrupulous practices. But given these dismal figures and the loopholes in the system, one has some reservations on the efficacy of deterrent regulation. Even the recent open letter to the government by 14 prominent Indians including Deepak Parekh, Azim Premji and members of the judiciary, appealing for more action against corruption, emphasised that the Lokpal was a small but critical step in this fight and many other reforms were necessary.

More importantly and simultaneously, i feel we need to reduce the opportunities for corruption. There must be transparency across the board. Firstly, political party expenditure limits should be realistic, with payments only through the banking system. Secondly, to break the stranglehold of babus, there must be a methodical deletion of their discretionary powers at all levels. There must be fair, open methods for awarding contracts, especially in areas like roads, infrastructure, mining and land acquisition for industry. Regulatory bodies are necessary to ensure standardisation and quality, and that`s all they should do - regulate, not control, as otherwise they become breeding grounds for extracting money.

Just as the Right to Information has made a major difference to the accountability of various arms of the executive, when documentation and processes will be available online, there will be far greater transparency. E-governance will reduce malpractices as it will minimise the points of contact between public and officials.

It is clear given the magnitude of the problem that a multi-pronged approach is necessary. Continuous and sustained pressure on the government to act against graft while simultaneously resisting corruption in everyday matters may perhaps reach the necessary critical mass. The only way in which any of these ideas can come to fruition or genuine change occur is if we have the commensurate will. All this recent churning and debate will have been in vain unless, and i can`t stress this enough, we change our attitude and style of functioning. Develop the determination to press for new policies and ensure their implementation; resist graft, and adopt ethical practices.

As businessmen, we must pledge to do all of these. Merely wearing the Anna cap and attending rallies is surely not an answer.

Lokpal will not end corruption: Julio Ribeiro

Panaji: The Lokpal legislation will not put an end to corruption, says former Mumbai police commissioner Julio F Ribeiro.

The former tough talking supercop, who was speaking at a debate late Thursday on corruption in Goa, said several measures were needed if the menace of corruption was to be addressed at the grassroots.

"Corruption will not end with the Lokpal," Ribeiro said.

"Corruption affects the poorest of the poor sections of society the most and that is where we have to focus our attention if we are to rid us of this menace," said the former cop turned civil society activist.

He credited veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare for creating an environment in India against corruption, but rued the fact that a "tactical blunder" of campaigning in the Hisar by-election could derail the movement.

"Anna Hazare has charged the whole country with his movement which had given hope to people. Unfortunately, a tactical blunder like campaigning in the Hisar by-election has created problems," Ribeiro said.

He was referring to Team Anna campaigning against the Congress in the Hisar parliamentary by-election.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to campaign against corruption in UP

LUCKNOW: Siritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will embark on an anti-corruption yatra in UP from November 7 in which he would be holding satsangs in various parts of the state, and would ask people to take oath for not indulging in corruption.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar would start from Jaunpur on November 7 and will be in Sonebhadra on November 8. He would go to Mirzapur on November 9 and Sultanpur on November 10. He would end his trip in Kanpur on November 11. He would also be visiting IIT Kanpur.

Significantly, the yatra is being conducted at a time when political parties in UP are gearing for 2012 assembly elections and Congress is in the back foot on the issue of corruption. While Baba Ramdev is already on a yatra targeting Congress, Anna Hazare has announced to tour UP asking people not to vote for Congress party in 2012 assembly elections in case Congress led UPA government fails to bring a strong lokpal in winter session of Parliament. In such a situation, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's yatra may create more trouble for the Congress.

The yatra also assumes importance in the light of Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh's statement that RSS has put up Sri Sri Ravin Shankar after its plan A (Baba Ramdev's campaign against corruption) and plan B (Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign) failed. Not only Digvijay Singh, even SP leader Azam Khan has alleged that RSS is behind Baba Ramdev, Anna Hazare and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar despite the fact that Anna Hazare has categorically denied any links with RSS.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has also made it clear that in his campaign is spiritual and not political or for lokpal. He had said that lokpal alone cannot curb corruption, hence he would be making a spiritual appeal to people to shun corruption. Last week, he had administered an oath to nearly one lakh people, asking them not to give or take bribe.

Sri Sri had supported the anti-corruption campaign of Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare. Responding to Digvijay Singh's allegations, he had also said that fighting corruption is no crime and he would go on educating people on the ill effect of corruption on society.

India Journal: Corruption – A Misunderstood Problem?

As public demonstrations and street protests subside, India’s anti-corruption movement is not losing momentum.

The movement’s unofficial leader, Anna Hazare, who now enjoys a cult-like following, recently secured a victory of sorts following a 13-day hunger strike after which the Indian government announced it would form a committee to consider legislation to tackle corruption in officialdom.

As public demonstrations and street protests subside, India’s
anti-corruption movement is not losing momentum, argue Hemal Shah
and Nathan Gamester.

However, there is a danger that, in focussing on this issue exclusively, India will fail to address some more fundamental economic problems such as lengthy permit application procedures and convoluted tax payments – which are arguably the cause of corruption. Corruption, therefore, should be considered as just one of a number of problems that are inhibiting economic growth in India.

Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, recently said  of India’s corruption problem: “the double-digit growth that has eluded India could have been ours if we had combated corruption.”
Certainly, this is the underlying message of the protestors on the streets and it is the message of Mr. Hazare. But what if it is not the problem? What if corruption is just one of a number of problems holding back India’s growth?

This is one of the questions that emerges from our new survey of Indian entrepreneurs    in which the data reveal that, while corruption is viewed as a very serious problem (that is getting worse), the majority of Indian entrepreneurs believe that the Indian economy will be successful anyway.

The data reveal that a staggering 91% of Indian entrepreneurs think corruption is a problem that hurts business in India and, perhaps most worryingly of all, 80% believe that corruption is getting worse. However, the same report finds that 85% of Indian entrepreneurs believe India’s economy will be stronger in five years time and, perhaps most strikingly, over 50% believe that their country will be the most important global economic power in 20 years time (just one-quarter said China, only 8% stated the U.S.) So what’s behind these seemingly contradictory findings?

The rise in corruption perception has no doubt been fuelled by a series of high-profile scams such as the Commonwealth Games building scandals and the 2G “sell-off” scam that deprived the public purse of up to $40 billion, according to a government auditing agency. This not only demonstrated that corrupt practices had reached the highest echelons of power but also sent out a damaging message to India’s competitive telecoms industry and its many industrious, middle-class workers.

However, there is reason to be encouraged about the direction in which India is headed. The fact that Indians at every level of society are becoming increasingly less tolerant of corruption is evidence to suggest that the tide is turning on this issue. Further, the government’s willingness to consider the draft Jan Lokpal Bill (or the citizens’ ombudsman bill), provides hope that the problem of corruption is finally being taken seriously after almost four decades of waiting.

But there are other problems beyond corruption affecting India’s economic progress. The economic reforms of 1991 were only half-baked and the abolition of the License Raj has never been complete. World Bank data reveal that the unusually high costs and lengthy procedures to process construction permits; convoluted tax payments; and trouble with enforcing contracts are major impediments to doing business in India. Corruption could therefore be argued as the effect, and not the cause of India’s economic problems – as a by-product of the flawed institutional environment.

Costs associated with over-regulation and frustrating bureaucratic procedures would naturally incentivise budding entrepreneurs to accelerate business processes by bribing (without negatively affecting levels of optimism about future success, hence the seemingly contradictory survey results). To pull out of the practices that preserve this bribing culture, a higher level of economic freedom through completion of second-generation reforms is needed. This would greatly encourage the entrepreneurial class – the lifeblood of any thriving economy – to take risks, invest in ideas, and develop the goods and services upon which India’s future success depends.

Indian historian, Ramachandra Guha recently argued  that India is too corrupt to become a superpower. Whether this statement is true remains to be seen but what emerges from this new survey data is that Mr. Guha’s belief is not shared by the men and women of India who are creating, running, and sustaining new businesses. Perhaps it is time to look beyond corruption and focus on the other economic issues facing Indian businesses.

Real Diwali only after Jan Lokpal is passed: Hazare

Mumbai: Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare on Tuesday led his village Ralegan Siddhi in lighting 10,000 diyas to herald the festival of lights but cautioned that the "real Diwali" would be when the Jan Lokpal bill is passed.
In a written message, the septuagenarian, who is on a 'maun vrat' (vow of silence), thanked the people for their part in the battle for the Jan Lokpal bill.

"Anna wrote that the real Diwali will be when the bill is passed," Hazare's associate Datta Awari said.

At a function in Ralegan this evening, the Gandhian distributed clothes to poor people as is the tradition in the village.

On Wednesday, he will distribute fire crackers among students, Awari said.

Exposing corruption: Man who started it all

Even as the whole country seems gripped by Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption, one man who started it all in the 1990s, senior journalist Vineet Narain, is all but forgotten and the case itself has been refrigerated for good.

Narain is still struggling with his unfinished agenda to seek justice in the hawala racket. The CBI chargesheet is still there, but the case has virtually been closed for want of political will, though public uproar caused quite a few politicians named in the Jain diaries to resign.

In his latest book, 'Bhrastachar, Atankvad aur Hawala Karobar', Narain sequences the developments before and after the biggest scam was exposed. The list of beneficiaries, from the same sources from which the terrorists were being funded, includes virtually politicians from across the spectrum.

"The idea to publish this book was to ensure that the real faces of the politicians and the murky deeds they engage in are thoroughly exposed to cleanse the body-politic," Narain said.

Narain used the provisions of the existing legal framework to take corrupt politicians to task during his single-handed war against corruption from 1993 to 2000. The legal battle targeted dozens of central ministers, chief ministers of states, governors, opposition leaders and top honchos of big enterprises, and ensured that they were chargesheeted and forced to resign.

His book, Narain says, would help modern-day crusaders against corruption understand the dimensions of the problem and the clout the mighty and the powerful enjoyed to scuttle any move to make society corruption-free.

In 1993, Narain exposed the alleged links of 115 top people with terrorist outfits and channels that regularly funded anti-national activities of various groups.

"The interesting fact was not the amount of Rs.65 crore involved, but the names of all top leaders," he says in the book.

In his first book, 'Hawala ke Deshdrohi', published in 1999, Narain first gave full details of the case and the intricate judicial process that stalled followup at every stage.

This book, Narain says, is dedicated to all crusaders fighting against corruption and to free the country of the cancer of corruption.

"The details given in a chronological order, describing all the complexities and hurdles, will be an eye opener and perhaps a guide to activists," he hopes.

In his long struggle, when it appeared to him that the legal battle was not leading to any fruitful conclusion and that the judiciary itself was seen to be aligning with the accused, Narain turned deeply spiritual in utter desperation and shifted his base to Vrindavan and the Braj Mandal.

Through his Braj Foundation, Narain has been able to restore and reconstruct some of the holy ponds and relics of the Sri Krishna lore.

Book: 'Bhrastachar, Atankvad aur Hawala Karobar'
Author: Vineet Narain
Publisher: Kalchakra Samachar Trust
Pages: 340
Price: Rs.200

Swamy announces new body against corruption

New Delhi: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has formed a new organisation to fight corruption which will support similar movements of Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev.

The Action Committee Against Corruption was formed in Chennai to take effective action against corrupt activities within the present legal framework, Swamy said in a statement today.


The committee will meet in Delhi on November three to discuss proposals prepared by its members on how civil society can recover the amounts in illegal accounts of politicians, businessmen and others in secret banking abroad.

The committee supports the movements of Hazare and Ramdev, the statement said.

Will respond if Lokpal violates Constitution

PUNE: Founder-leader of the Dalit Panther organisation Namdeo Dhasal said on Friday that his organisation would "respond strongly" if social crusader Anna Hazare's ongoing fight for a strong Lokpal Bill violated the Constitutional framework.

He added that he was ready to hold a debate with Hazare over the Lokpal issue.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Dalit Panther in the city, Dhasal said, "Getting the Lokpal Bill passed in the parliament will not resolve the issue of corruption.

"One should note that the caste system in our country is still not abolished, even though there is a law to abolish it. Then how can a law eradicate corruption from the country?"

Dhasal also said that the Ralegan Siddhi would witness strong agitations if Hazare's movement broke the constitutional framework.

CJ doing more than Anna Hazare to fight corruption

LAHORE–Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma Jahangir while speaking at the international conference received big applause from the huge gathering when she described Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikar Muhammad Chaudhry doing more than what Anna Hazare in India is doing against the corruption.

At a point during her speech at the inaugural session of three-day international conference organised by Supreme Court Bar Association here Friday, Asma said she was asked by her Indian friends if you have anyone like Anna Hazare fighting corruption. And she replied, “We have CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary doing more than what Hazare is doing. The CJP who was the chief guest of opening session passed a smile while the hall rose to loud clapping and slogans for the CJ.

In her speech, Ms Jahangir condemned the blast on the premises of the Delhi High Court and said, despite that terror act, the Indian jurists kept their sprit high and came to Pakistan to attend the conference, which was highly commendable. She said people on both side not only share common problems but also common history and their mutual cooperation and help can go a long way to overcome the difficulties.

She said mutual cooperation of the legal fraternity on the side of India and Pakistan can make their respective government to change their mind in favour of peace and peaceful coexistence.

She said her bar has always found support from the CJP and if the Bar differed with the judiciary on any matter, it was within the spirit of independence of judiciary and the theme the bar and the bench are two sides of the same coin and have to mutually work for the rule of law, independence of judiciary and to work to advance the cause of judicial system.

Indian SCBA President Pravin H Parekh speaking on the occasion lauded the SC restoration of CJP to the office first through a judiciary verdict on July 20, 2009 and then through a move on March 16, 2009. He also lauded the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of judges and how it inspired the Indian lawyers. He said India and Pakistan share a number of commonalities and by pooling their ideas and actions at the intellectual level they could meet many challenges including terrorism. He said terrorism has no faith and space and their combined efforts can defeat this evil in any form and anywhere in the world. Counting the commonalities he said, both Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mohtama Ghandi were lawyers while cricket and hockey are liked by people of both the sides. He said our common ground can be big help to meet challenges and problems of the time.

Naqvi flays Rahul's uttrances on Lokpal Bill

VARANASI: Terming Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi as the first 'political casualty' of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption crusade, Bharatiya Janata Party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi advised him to change his speech writer, who wrote that instead of Lokpal Bill, he (Rahul) wanted a constitutional body on the lines of Election Commission to tackle the issues of corruption.

Talking to reporters at BJP office in Gulab Bagh on Sunday, Naqvi said Rahul Gandhi spoke only what was told or written by his advisers or speech writer. He said making such a suggestion in Parliament was surprising. Regarding the notices being issued to Anna Hazare's team members, he said: "These moves show the frustration in a government that is deep into corrupt practices."

Commenting on fresh revelations by Wikileaks on David Coleman Headley, the key planner of terrorist attack on Mumbai, Naqvi alleged that the UPA government proved again that it was befooling countrymen and also portraying a wrong picture of the country on the issue of terrorism. He said the fresh revelation by Wikileaks had exposed how the UPA government is giving concessions to the terrorists. The compromises being made by this government on the issue of terrorism were alarming.

Reacting on the increasing demands of abolition of capital punishment for terrorists, including the killers of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, he said that no mercy should be shown to the terrorists. The people or the parties seeking mercy for terrorists should be asked to quit politics and go with terrorist groups.

Naqvi said that he was camping in UP for past five days to finalise the action plan for the forthcoming 'Jan Swabhimaan Yatra' that will expose the secret alliance of Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and Congress, which had been formed to patronise the corrupt practices of each other. He said that two yatras would commence in the state from Varanasi and Mathura simultaneously on October 13. Former BJP president Rajnath Singh and senior leader Kalraj Mishra would lead these yatras at Mathura and Varanasi, he said. Many senior leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and Surya Pratap Shahi would take part in these yatras.

The yatra would cover 244 kms in the first phase which would end on October 22. The second phase of the yatra would begin in the state on November 13 and end at Lucknow on November 21. These yatras would cover 382 assembly areas. A Vijay Sankalp Samagam would be held at Lucknow on November 21.

He said that the basic objective of the yatras is to prepare an atmosphere to uproot corruption in UP.

Naqvi said that the list of 70 per cent candidates for next UP polls had been finalised. He made it clear that the party would contest elections without projecting any leader as chief ministerial candidate. He said that corruption would be only agenda of BJP's electioneering in the state.

I will not keep quiet till corruption ends, says Hazare

RALEGAN SIDDHI: Throwing another salvo at Central Government, veteran social activist Anna Hazare has said he will not keep quiet until corruption ends in the country.

Addressing mediapersons here on Sunday, Hazare said: "This movement will continue until corruption ends in India. I have decided that I will not keep quiet until corruption ends from this country. This fast-unto-death is a beginning and to end corruption we have to prepare ourselves for a long journey."

Taking a dig at the government, Hazare questioned the union ministers by saying that what would happen to the country if it is run by liars.

"We wanted to bring the Jan Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill and for that we faced lot of difficulties in between. I am developing suspicion and there is a question in front of me that the people who are running this government and the country are sitting like liars and what will happen to the country if such liars run the government," said Hazare.

Meanwhile, refusing to be guarded by top grade police officials in Maharashtra, Hazare said that he was an ordinary man and would not want any security. He also said that had the freedom fighters of India's Independence of 1947 sought security, India would have never achieved Independence.

"I do not need any kind of security by police. People also die of heart attacks and in such a scenario security cannot really help. I would be happy to die for the people of the country. I am not scared of dying. I am also writing an official letter to the police department suggesting them to withdraw any security," said Hazare.

"Had the freedom fighters of India's Independence struggle like Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev asked for any special security, we could have never achieved Independence as a nation," he added.

The 74-year-old social activist broke his fast over 288 hour-long fast on August 28 after securing Parliament's nod on key elements of Jan Lokpal bill after both the Houses of Parliament agreed in principle with his three key demands.

Both Houses of Parliament adopted a resolution on the sense of house accepting key demands of Hazare on citizen charter, lower bureaucracy to be under the ambit of Lokpal and establishment of state Lokayuktas and power of Lokpal to penalise grievance redressal mechanism violators.

Have not broken any laws: Baba Ramdev

New Delhi: Refuting that his trust has violated any FERA norms, Baba Ramdev on Saturday hit back at the government saying that there was an attempt to malign him.

Firing salvos Baba Ramdev said that there was a “conspiracy” against him in order to stop him from carrying forward his movement against corruption. He added that the same was done to Anna Hazare and his team.


Addressing a press conference in the capital, the yoga guru clarified that he has yet to receive any notice from the Enforcement Directorate.

"The foreign funds we have received for our trusts is as per the norms prescribed under Foreign Currency Regulatory Act and no law has been violated. No government notice has come to me or the institutions run by me," Ramdev said.

He said that the trusts run by him have no direct relation with any company in India and abroad and no law has been violated while exporting the medicines manufactured by these trusts.

Casting doubts on the government's assurances to Anna Hazare on the Lokpal issue which led to the breaking of his 12-day fast at Ramlila Maidan, Ramdev said that the Gandhian had once again been cheated by those in power.

"Tell me one thing, which demand of Anna Hazare has been accepted by the government?... Earlier he was betrayed and now too he has been betrayed," Ramdev quipped.

"Hazare had demanded to bring Prime Minister, judiciary and Members of Parliament in the ambit of Lokpal... Hazare termed the achievement as half victory but I would say this is just the first step towards victory," he said.

Announcing his second round of yatra against black money, Ramdev said he will be starting the same from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh from September 20.

"We will begin second round of our movement to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks from September 20 in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. The Yatra will go to all neighbouring cities and states," he confirmed.

Ramdev’s campaign against corruption and black money at the Ramlila Ground had been brought to an abortive end in June this year.

Expressing sadness over media reports doing rounds pertaining to ED tightening its noose around him, the yoga guru said that he had done a tremendous “service to the nation by protecting the heritage of Ayurveda in all its purity and have been treating people of various ailments for the past twenty years.”

On a dramatic note he added, “I work 365 days a year. I have no personal life. I have no bank accounts in my name. I also do not have an inch of land in my name.” He put forth the question, “What is wrong with that?”

Baba Ramdev lamented, “Nationalists are being humiliated in this country. I have not done anything to bring down the name of my country.”

The Enforcement Directorate has registered a foreign exchange violation case against Baba Ramdev and his trusts.

The Directorate registered the case on the basis of a report from the RBI and inputs from abroad on "suspicious" financial transactions done by Ramdev's trusts, the official sources said.

The ED had earlier allegedly found foreign remittances and inflow of certain funds during its discreet probe in the case and the action has now been taken under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the sources said.

In connection with its probe into Ramdev's finances, the ED had approached authorities in the UK seeking financial details about an island in Scotland that was 'gifted' to the Yoga guru by a couple who are among his followers.

The Little Cumbrae Island, off the fishing town of Largs in Scotland, serves as Ramdev's base overseas and also as a wellness centre. The Directorate has asked the authorities in the UK to help it get inputs on funding-related aspects of the island, the sources said.

The ED's probe is aimed at checking the flow of money and transactions through various trusts floated by Ramdev including the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, Divya Yoga Mandir Trust and Bharat Swabhiman Trust, they said.

The agency had also approached officials in the island nation of Madagascar.