The author has written:
There is at least one Supreme Court judgement  clearly stipulating that the only valid DOB record of a person is his / her school certificate at the stage of passing out from school (the old “matriculation certificate”).

But the author, claiming to be a Supreme Court Advocate, has not given any details of the decision – citations as they are legally termed. There have many cases involving the date of birth of Government officials at various levels.
To start with the rules relating to age dispute and a few decisions are clear.

But it would be wrong to say that the Supreme Court has ruled that  the only valid DOB record of a person is his / her school certificate at the stage of passing out from school (the old “matriculation certificate”).  Presuming that there is such a decision, I would have to go through the Supreme Court decision and the context in which the Court made the observations.

I do not know the full facts of V K Singh’s case. Therefore, at this stage, I would not like to make any comments.

The matter is coming up before the Supreme Court this week itself and all the relevant facts would be placed before the Court by the General and by the Government of India. Then I will write again.
But at the present, I can only say that the Supreme Court does not normally directly entertain such disputes. The High Court and other courts are there to start with.

I am giving the Generals profile collected from the internet.

General V K Singh’s profile

V K Singh | Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/V-K-Singh/112951392052154 – Cached

V K Singh | Facebook. … From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. General Vijay Kumar Singh PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC (born 10 May 1950) is the 26th General of …

http://www.facebook.com/pages/V-K-Singh/112951392052154

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

General Vijay Kumar Singh PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC is the 26th General of the Indian Army and currently the Chief of Army Staff.

Early life and education

Vijay Kumar Singh comes from Bapora village in Bhiwani district of Haryana state. Singh is a third-generation officer. His father was a Colonel in the Indian Army and grandfather a senior Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). Singh was educted at Birla Public School, Pilani, Rajasthan.

Military career

Singh was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of The Rajput Regiment (Kali Chindi) on 14 June 1970. He went on to command the same unit when it was positioned along the Line of Control with Pakistan.

He graduated from the Defence Services Staff College as a honours graduate of the United States Army Infantry School, a graduate of the Rangers Course at Fort Benning and the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In the US for the Rangers course, he came first in combat operations.

Note : The date of birth given here is 10 May 1950

The following is the full text of the e-mail

WITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROM ABHIJIT BHATTACHARYYA ADVOCATE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA. THISHAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM A FRIEND OF MINE. MAY LIKE TO SEE AND KNOW THE TRUTH. SATYAMEVE JAYATE

By Jay Bhattacharjee
18 January 2012

THE PRESENT GOI PURSUES ITS CRIMINAL AGENDA OF

DESTROYING THE INDIAN ARMED FORCES

LET US WISH GEN. V.K. SINGH ALL THE BEST IN HIS STRUGGLE

TO COMBAT THIS VENAL ORGANISATION (THE PRESENT GOVT. OF INDIA)

______________________________________________________________________

I suppose the entire affair had to come to this stage. The soldiers’ soldier, V.K. Singh, has been compelled to knock at the doors of the apex court, to defend his honour and integrity and to combat the slurs cast on him  by a vicious gang of babus and netas.

At this stage, it is vital to analyse the issues that are involved in this sordid conspiracy.

Let us look at the undisputed facts :

(1) The COAS, Gen. V.K. Singh (VKS) has at least 11 documents to demonstrate unequivocally that his date of birth  (DOB) is 10th May 1951, not 10th May 1950

(2) The AG’s Branch in the Indian Army is the accepted and unquestioned authority for all documents, records etc. pertaining  to Army personnel. The records of the AG cannot be queried. It is not disputed that the AG’s files show the DOB of VKS as 10th May 1951.

(3) The only document that shows 1950 as the DOB of VKS is that in the Military Secretary’s Office. Now, the MS only determines promotions etc. – in the case of VKS, the DOB data in the MS office is based on the NDA application form that was filled up by the schoolmaster of VKS when he was applying for his NDA admission test.

How many of us at the age of 14 to 15 in the early 1960s to mid 1960s relied on our seniors (whether in the family or in our schools) to help us in completing the admission forms for NDA / university / IIT etc. ? Almost all of us, I can guarantee.

(4) The COAS duly submitted his birth certificate and school certificate to the NDA authorities, showing his 1951 DOB. His entire career in the Army was based on his 1951 DOB until 2006 (see later), when his elevation to Lt. Gen. was under consideration (see later).

He valiantly fought for the country and loyally served the country without ever knowing that there was this anomaly in his DOB records.

(5) Only in 2006, did the anomaly in the records surface. VKS promptly asked for the two conflicting DOBs to be reconciled on the basis of the correct facts (recorded in the AG’s files).

Let it be said categorically that VKS is not asking for / has not asked for his DOB to be changed, as is being made out by some of the muck – raking media. He is only asking for the correct DOB (as per law) to be recorded. There is at least one Supreme Court judgement  clearly stipulating that the only valid DOB record of a person is his / her school certificate at the stage of passing out from school (the old “matriculation certificate”).

This is when the fun and games started. The babus got into the act and the charade commenced, only to reach the stage of the Chief’s Supreme Court petition yesterday.

The denouement is, of course, yet to come, but, in the process, the country and its armed forces have been thrown into this cauldron by the calculated acts of commission and omission by a coterie of dishonest, anti-national and unpatriotic people in Raisina Hill.

Who are the principal actors in this potential Greek tragedy ?

(A) The two former Chiefs of Army Staff JJ Singh and Deepak Kapoor occupy centre stage in this Machiavellian plot. Both of them have highly questionable career records and have served their own interests rather than those of the country and the Army.

Singh was rewarded with a Governorship because of his pliancy when he was Chief. In the case of Kapoor, the disclosure of his venal involvement in the Adarsh affair surely put paid to his post-retirement ambitions but he had already damaged the Army considerably before his Adarsh peccadilloes. JJ Singh, notoriously, was photographed crying in public after his appointment to the COAS was announced. Hardly a Chief who inspired confidence in his officers and men.

These are the two “stalwarts” who bullied, blackmailed and cajoled VKS not to contest his DOB when VKS was being considered for elevation to the post of Army Commander.

Then there is the Attorney General Vahanvati, a squalid little lawyer, who had a murky track record of representing crooks and criminals in the 2G affair and in other matters. This fellow had the audacity to override the written opinions of 4 former CJI’s on the basic validity of the DOB of VKS. And, there is,of course, the wretched Khurshid fellow – the chap can only act as his nature dictates.

The 4 former Chief Justices of India have all said that the DOB of VKS, in the eyes of the law and based on the facts of the case, is 10th May 1951.

However, Vahanvati mian, throws out all law and jurisprudence and gives a notoriously outlandish opinion that the DOB of VKS must stay as 10th May 1950, because, otherwise, the “line of succession” already decided for the next COAS would be affected.

This perverted view is, of course, promptly accepted by Anthony lungiwallah, Salman Khurshid (the low-life Minority-quota wallah), Chiddu Spectrumambaram, and the other assorted deviants in the current GOI’s centre of power. The ever-complicit PM is equally involved, though, later on, the slippery eel will claim he didn’t know what was going on.

Now, what is this gibberish “line of succession” that Mian Vahanvati is talking about ? The Indian Army is not a tinpot monarchy that has these orders of precedence laid out for the top position. Any Army Commander or equivalent, is eligible for appointment as COAS. Certainly, the senior-most, among them,  has been the usual choice, but this seniority is on the basis of a valid DOB scenario for everybody.

Vahanvati cannot say (and must not be allowed to say) that a wrong record of DOB of a current chief must determine the “line of succession”. And that, too, a “Line of Succession”  that was allegedly prescribed in 2006 and in 2008 by two unworthy Army Chiefs ?

This bizarre nonsense must be strongly challenged and refuted.

Now, I am constrained to mention the unmentionable. The logical conclusion of Vahanvati Mian’s and Khurshid’s contortions is that VKS will be succeeded as COAS by Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh, presently heading the  Eastern Command in Kolkata.  Now, why is this development ominous ?

Bikram Singh, indisputably, has a Pakistani daughter-in-law. Why is that a red flag ? Either the PMO, MOD, and the babus – netas in Raisina Hill are dreaming in colour or they are subscribers to the flat-earth theory. Surely, the India – Pakistan interface is not like the U.S. -  Canada scenario. This is not to cast aspersions on the poor lady in question, but to realise that we all live in a real world environment where we cannot take risks with the nation’s security at the highest level. This is not a stage or a platform where we can adopt a posture best described as utopian. Some would say “ostrich like”.

In the past, this country’s leaders like Nehru have taken great risks with our security by adopting this blinkered, naive approach. In the late 1950s and the early 60s, we had a very senior Foreign Service mandarin whose own brother was in the Pakistani foreign service in an equally senior position. For some time, the two brothers were Chiefs of Protocol in India and Pakistan. No one is saying that the IFS mandarin was unpatriotic, but there were grave risks involved – the situation was a recipe for disaster because of the possibility of totally involuntary mistakes. 

A similar risk scenario in the late 1950s was when Humayun Kabir (for some time, a Minister in the Union Cabinet) had a first cousin  who the chief of police in East Pakistan.

In the present context, we have to be even more cautious. Therefore, alarm bells must ring when people like Vahanvati and Khursheed, aided and abetted by Antony lungiwallah, Chiddu Chidambaram and MMS, are batting for a person who has an Achilles Heel, admittedly not of his own making.

This is a slightly long piece but I strongly feel that is my duty to pen my thoughts.

Let us hope the Supreme Court gives justice to the brave General.

In the meantime, I can only wish him courage and fortitude,  and offer him my unflinching support. My fellow citizens will do the same, I know.

Jai Hind.

Jay Bhattacharjee

PERICLES : FUNERAL ORATION (431 BC)

“The greatness of Athens has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who, in the hour of conflict, had the fear of dishonour always present in them, who, if ever they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives to her as the fairest offering which they could present at her feet”.

P.S. These noble thoughts, I know, will be totally alien to the despicable bunch of reprobates in Raisina Hill.

                                                                                                                   Binoy Gupta

  India  

Butterflies are so beautiful that I find it difficult to refer to them as insects, but they are insects.

They are attractive and graceful. Vivid and multi coloured – representing nature’s canvas at its finest. The restless butterflies make a fascinating sight flittering around in gardens and parks, hovering over plants, landing on the flowers for a few sips of nectar, before taking off.
Metamorphosis - one of most remarkable phenomenon of nature 

Metamorphosis – the transformation from egg to larva, larva to cocoon, from which emerges a beautiful butterfly – is one of most remarkable phenomenon of nature. 

Metamorphosis involves four stages:

• Egg: The female butterfly lays eggs on the underside of specific plants so that when caterpillars later emerge from the eggs, they can immediately get food from the plant leaves.
• Larva: Also called caterpillar, emerge from the eggs after a few days. The caterpillar is a eating machine and spends most of its time eating.
• Pupa: When the caterpillar has finished growing, it stops eating and forms a protective shield called Pupa. Most of the magical transformation into a butterfly takes place inside the Pupa.
• Butterfly: The pupa undergoes transformation and the caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly which emerges from the pupa.

The adult butterfly later mates and lays eggs on plants and the cycle starts all over again.
You can see the video of a butterfly metamorphosis at any of the following sites:

http://vimeo.com/7203408

http://lifecycle.onenessbecomesus.com/

 
Butterfly Facts

• There are 1,500,000 insect species in the world. 
• Of these, 200,000 species are of Lepidoptera (the group to which moths and butterflies belong).
• 17, 050 of these species are butterflies and the rest are moths!
• Of the17, 050 species world wide, India has 1501 species of butterflies
• The life cycle of a butterfly is extremely short – mere 30 to 40 days.
   

Butterfly Parks

All over the world, butterflies have suffered extensive damage due to habitat destruction – urbanisation, felling of trees, construction, etc.
In many areas, they have been almost exterminated.

Butterfly parks have been set up in several countries ….to conserve them, to breed them, to allow visitors to see them and to conduct research.
There are quite a few well maintained butterfly parks in different countries of south-east Asia which display quite a large selection of different species.
But unknown to most of us, there are a few good butterfly parks in India, too.

India’s First Butterfly Park – Butterfly Park, Bangalore

India’s first Butterfly Park was opened on November 25, 2006 in Bangalore to promote butterfly ecotourism.

The Butterfly Park, near the Bannerghatta Zoo, cost Rs 50 millions and covers an area of over 7.5 acres.
 
The centre of attraction is the 10,000 sq. feet circular Conservatory with polycarbonate roof which has on display more than 20 species of butterflies.

The next dome houses a museum. Here you learn about the 4 stages of lifecycle of the butterfly – the egg, larva or caterpillar, pupa or chrysalis, and the adult.
You learn about different species of butterflies – from the smallest Eastern Pygmy Blue, Brephidium isophthalma with a wingspan of about 5/8 of an inch to large Bird-Wing butterflies from New Guinea, with wingspans of up to 12 inches. 

The third and last dome is a theatre where you can watch a 20 minute movie about butterflies. Besides giving information about butterflies, the movie focuses on conservation. The movie explains how the fate of man and butterflies are interlinked and conservation of the environment is in our mutual interest.

The Butterfly Park also has an artificial waterfall. It is quite well maintained and has become a popular week end attraction amongst localites.

India’s second Butterfly Park was established at Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. It cost Rs. 60 millions and spreads over an area of 10 acres.

 Himachal Pradesh has more than 300 species of butterflies. The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) found 14 species of butterflies in the cold deserts of Lahaul and Spiti district.

The Butterfly Park which includes a conservatory, a museum and a nature park has a larger collection of butterflies.

The Butterfly Park in Pune was inaugurated by actress Dimple Kapadia on Women’s Day – March 8, 2011.

The Pune Municipal Corporation funded the park with Rs. 50 million. The Park covers an area of two acres. The project has transformed a dirty drain into a beautiful park.

The Butterfly Park has about 80 species of butterflies. It also has a rock garden, waterfalls and a jogging track.

Butterfly Park in Chandigarh

The Environment Society of India inaugurated a Butterfly Park at the Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre in Sector 26 of Chandigarh on Biodiversity Day – 23 May 2011.

The Park costing Rs. 70 lakh covers an area of 7.5 acres.

India’s first Open-air Butterfly Park in Sikkim

India’s first Open-air Butterfly Park was established at Rangrang, Sikkim. It cost Rs. 60 millions and extends over an area of 14 acres

Some nature lovers have started their own private Butterfly Parks.

Butterfly Conservatory of Goa, Rajnagar, Pisgal – Priol, Ponda, Goa.

 The Butterfly Conservatory of Goa. situated in Ponda , the Spice and temple town is quite good

This private Butterfly Park is spread over 4000 square metres.  A few common people, without too much money and resources, got together and have converted the place, which was once barren and without any natural source of water, into a beautiful park with streams, endemic plants and a lot of butterflies. If you go to Goa, you must visit this Butterfly Park.

http://www.bcogoa.org/

 Ovalekar Butterfly Farm at Wadi, Thane

 Closer to Mumbai, Rajendra Ovalekar, started a Butterfly Park on his own 2 acres of land at Ovalekar Wadi, off Ghodbunder Road, in Thane (near Mumbai).

This small place has about 100 different species of butterflies. And Ovalekar personally escorts you around the place and explains to you all about butterflies.
Very few people in Mumbai even know about this Butterfly Park.

http://www.wikimapia.org/14420146/Butterfly-Farm

 Protecting our Butterflies

 A total of 450 species of butterflies have been given protection under The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972;
128 species under  Schedule-I,

303 species under Schedule- II and  

19 species under Schedules- IV.
Butterflies have also been given protection under the Biodiversity Act of 2002.
 

Commercial Butterfly farming

Commercial Butterfly Farming has been adopted as a viable occupation in several countries. In India, too, Butterfly Farming can help the rural people play an active role in the conservation of butterflies as well as help them earn some good money.

The Bombay Natural History Society, founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research.

It is also doing a lot of work in relation to butterflies. Its museum has a huge collection of 25,000 butterflies collected over the years. It conducts regular programmes like Breakfast with Butterflies and Butterfly watch camps allowing any one to see and learn about butterflies.
It also conducts distance learning courses in Basic Entomology.

Butterfly Migration

Many animals, birds and other animals migrate….sometimes over long distances. Butterflies also migrate.

A few, like the Monarch Butterfly, migrate long distances. There are no other insects in the world that migrate twice each year for close to 3,000 miles.

But the there is one difference between the migration of butterflies and the other animals. The butterflies who migrate, because of their short life spans, do not live to return to the originating place.
They perish. Only their off springs return. What guides the off springs to the same locations?
Well, this is one of Nature’s unsolved riddles.

Vanishing Vultures 

Perhaps you have noticed that at present there are considerably less vultures in our skies than there were a few years back.

In the early eighties, there were about 40 million vultures in India. The Oriental white-backed vulture was so abundant in India, that it was probably the most common large bird of prey in the world.
The vulture population has declined…….. by more than 97%……. in the last few years and their numbers are decreasing at an alarming rate.

Vultures endangered

Of the nine species of vultures found in India, three species – the white-backed, long-billed and slender-billed vultures have been categorised by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as critically endangered.
These three species are also listed in Schedule I species in the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, along with the tiger and one-horned rhino.

A survey by the Bombay Natural History Society in 2007 estimated that there were about:

• 1000 slender-billed vultures,
• 11,000 white-backed vultures, and
• 44,000 long-billed vultures in the country.

Reasons for the decline

 The main reasons for the decline in vulture population in the entire South and Southeast Asia are:

• Rapid urbanization which has caused habitat destruction – felling of the high-rise trees, where the vultures nest;
• Aeroplanes and other moving objects in the sky;
• Electric power lines;
• Rampant use of pesticides like DDT, and to a great extent diclofenac.

Diclofenac

Many experts believe that the drug diclofenac is the main culprit for the decline of vultures in India.
India introduced the diclofenac in 1993. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has been campaigning against diclofenac since 2003 because diclofenac, which is used to treat cattle, is toxic to any vulture that feeds on the carcass of recently treated cattle.

In 2006, the Government of India banned the manufacture and import of diclofenac – but only for veterinary purposes. Nepal and Pakistan followed the ban.

In 2008, the Government of India placed more stringent restrictions on diclofenac for animal use, making contravention punishable with imprisonment.

But diclofenac, which continues to be legally used and sold for humans, is available across the counter in most medicine shops, and is illegally used for animals.

Dr. Vibhu Prakash, the principal scientist for the vulture conservation breeding programme at BNHS, Mumbai found that, over 75% of vultures which were discovered dead or died of visceral gout had diclofenac in their tissues.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/campaigns/vultures/ 

The Indian Veterinary Research Institute also conducted tests and detected heavy content of diclofenac, in samples of dead vultures.  

Diet of the vultures

Vultures usually feed on carcasses of livestock and wildlife.
They do not hunt living animals, though sometimes, they attack and  kill wounded or sick animals.

A mature vulture eats almost half a kg meat everyday. Vultures detect dead animals faster than any other animal, and follow migrating predators and other large animals feeding on the dead and help in keeping the environment clean.

Captive Breeding

The BNHS advocated the captive breeding of vultures as the only viable option to save the creatures

“By bringing some vultures in captivity, the life of these vultures is saved and once they start breeding, they would augment their population. The vultures will be released back in the wild once we are sure that there is no diclofenac available in system,”

The Govt. of India permitted BNHS to run three vulture conservation breeding centres at Pinjore of Haryana, Rajabhatkhawa of West Bengal and Rani of Assam. BNHS is supported by a number of international organizations like the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (UK), Zoological Society of London , Peregrine Fund (US), and the newly-formed consortium Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE).
(There are conservation breeding centres linked to the SAVE programme also in Nepal and Pakistan.)

The three conservation breeding centres in India have 271 vultures. And they have successfully bred of all the three endangered species. 

2011 has been the most successful year for the Indian captive breeding centres.
The number of fledged chicks is almost double than last year’s. 
Eighteen vulture chicks were successfully reared, 15 at the Pinjore centre in Haryana, and the remaining three at Rajabhat Khawa in West Bengal.

Four fledged birds were a direct result of ‘double clutches’: some pairs produced a second egg after the first was removed, hatched in incubators and reared by BNHS staff.

Some experts are against captive breeding of vultures. But the three breeding centres are making very good progress.

An exclusive sanctuary for the Vultures

The Tamil Nadu Government is now examining a proposal  to set up a home for vultures in the Sigur Plateau in the Nilgiris. This would be the first of its kind in the country. 

Why should we be concerned about vultures

About a year back, I saw a large group of vultures flying over the Fort in Jodhpur. Someone explained that this place was one of the biggest nesting and breeding places of these vultures.

Why should we be concerned about vultures?
For one, they are nature’s scavengers.
There are other scavengers, but they are not as efficient as the vultures.  The vultures are usually the first to detect dead carcasses and others follow them. Besides  they carry a host of diseases like rabies, which can easily be transmitted to humans.

Love them or hate them, vultures are uniquely adapted scavengers and their loss would have numerous negative repercussions for other species inhabiting our planet, including us.
http://blogs.peregrinefund.org/pages/article.php?eid=683

November 8, 2011 – I came across the above headlines in the Mumbai Mirror today. After having served the Government of India for four decades, and observing how it, or rather those who subvert the entire system function, I was not surprised.

A high ranking officer, allegedly caught taking a bribe of Rs. 2 crores is back in his post after a 18 month deemed suspension. What is surprising is why and how ?

The same tabloid contains a news item that a bus conductor sacked for Rs. 119 gets his job back after 11 years. The charge against him was there was shortage of Rs. 119 in his cash. 

 The Facts

Back to our hero, Mahendra Singh Bali (59), a 1978-batch Indian Postal Service officer, then Chief Postmaster General of Maharashtra, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 25, 2010. for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 2 crores from a builder.

The CBI  took the action on the basis of complaint by Rita Shah, a former Mira-Bhayander corporator. According to the complaint, Bali had asked for the bribe to issue a No Objection Certificate for developing a 2,000-sq-mt plot in Mira Road, part of which was reserved for a post office.

According to reports, after Bali’s arrest last year, the CBI carried out searches of his office and residence in south Mumbai,  and found 34 lakh in Indian rupees, and foreign currency – $10,722, £3,050, 3,470 Euro – from four briefcases.
The CBI also seized laptops, and 45 bottles of imported liquor.

Further enquiries revealed that Bali owned several properties in Faridabad, Panchkula, Dwarka, Bhopal and Gurgaon. The CBI found that he had 22 bank accounts with a total balance of Rs 26 lakhs. The collective value of the properties is still to be evaluated.

Central Administrative Tribunal

Bali challenged his suspension before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Mumbai which ordered his reinstatement last week. On November 4, 2011, Bali  was reinstated as the Chief Postmaster General of West Bengal.

The reinstatement was ordered on a technical ground  -  violation of the central civil service rules. “This was a case of deemed suspension. In such cases, the suspension has to be reviewed in 90 days, and as this was not done, the initial order was rendered invalid before the law,”

The issue is not about Bali. Even though Bali is reinstated, proceedings and prosecution will continue.

What should be done

It is for the government, for the CBI and the CVC to find out who are the officers who did not follow the central civil service rules, who did not review the suspension in accordance with the law, and allowed the central administrative tribunal to pass the order it did.

Some one should find this out and take action against the concerned officers.
Otherwise, this sort of aberrations will continue….the guilty will continue to be back in their posts……….

Any one has any better suggestions ?

November 9, 2011

Someone in Delhi has read the news and the result….
Bali has again been suspended yesterday.

I belong to the 1968 batch of Indian Revenue Service, senior to her in age and experience by several years.
A petty clerk, or for that matter, any other employee, both in the private and government sector, is dismissed from service for a single instance of similar over (or false) billing. Here we have a series of systematic false billings.

For all I know, the allegations may not be correct. I would be extremely happy if they are proved to be false.
Or they may be partly distorted.
But Kiran Bedi owes it to everyone to disclose the facts and come out clean. It is not sufficient for her and her friends to say, “ let the authorities make any enquiry against her and hang her  if she is guilty “.

Coming to the allegations.
What are the allegations? What are the facts? And why Kiran Bedi should disclose details of the concerned expenses?

It is a fundamental expectation that those who fight for transparency should themselves be transparent. Otherwise, they lose the moral authority to be leaders. The public will discard them like rotten maggots.

For the moment, the allegations may not prove corruption, but they certainly demand and merit transparency. Kiran Bedi should make public the relevant facts.

My own conclusions (which of course, may not be fully or even partly incorrect) are as follows:

1.      Kiran Bedi did ask for, and received, reimbursement of her inflated air travel fares, consistently and systematically, over several years. These were probably made on the basis of estimates (or proforma invoices) conveniently supplied by Anil Bal, her travel agent and co-trustee.

2.    Later, Kiran Bedi made payments for her travel expenses to Anil Bal, her travel agent and co-trustee on the basis of actuals, which of course are far less.

3.    Kiran Bedi claims that all the amounts she received, including some from other activities, like books, etc. went to the trust.

4.     The question arises whether or not Kiran Bedi attended the meetings and conferences in her personal capacity. If she did, then the entire excess of receipts less actual expenses would constitute her personal income. Of course, she can make donations to NGOs and claim exemption as per law. But all the receipts and expenses must be shown in her personal income tax returns.

5.     On the other hand, if she attended the meetings, etc. on behalf of her NGO, were the activities justified by the objects of the NGO.

6.    In any event, claiming air fare on the basis of false bills, I repeat false bills, is a serious crime.  The motives are not relevant. Robbing the rich to help the poor would constitute the same serious offence. The law is as simple as this.

7.    Kiran Bedi says enquire and hang me if I am guilty. Great words !  Who will file a complaint against you and invite problems?  Every prudent person will just keep mum.  And even if you are guilty, you cannot be hanged. There is no such penalty for such financial crimes. And everyone knows that an enquiry takes a long time……

8.    Kiran Bedi, if you have any sense of self respect, you should publish full details of all the concerned lectures and talks; names and addresses of the invitors, details of the expenses claimed, received and incurred, and on what basis you claimed the inflated expenses. You should also publish full details of your own personal contributions to the trust. After all what is there to hide?

9.     By the way, I went through the web site of her trust – India Vision Foundation.

http://www.indiavisionfoundation.org/donation-gallery.asp

There are no details of the various donations received…only a long list of names.
If this is what transparency is all about for our leaders, God help this nation.

Sanjiv Bhatt, Police and Politics.

I have just seen the following article on a popular website.
It is most distressing and dangerous.

IPS officer Sanjiv R. Bhatt suspended

Posted by: “Anjlee Pandya”
anjleepandya@gmail.com
Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:54 pm (PDT)

I have never met Sanjiv Bhatt.
In terms of service, he is junior to me by 20 years. I was offered the Indian Police Service, but I joined the Indian Revenue Service for the simple reason my mother did not like the idea of my joining the police force.
But Sanjiv Bhatt’s conduct is hardly something which can be justified by any one – either morally or legally.

Members of the All India Services – the IAS and the IPS are a privileged lot. They are appointed by the Central Government and allotted to a particular state. They draw their salaries and allowances from that state. Even though they enjoy certain safeguards against dismissal, etc., they are under the day to day administrative control of the concerned state.

Of late, IPS officers like Sanjiv Bhatt have been mixing up politics with their official duties, hogging the media and making all kinds of allegations.

Serving officers should not address the media unless the conduct rules permit them to do so. Of course, they can and should approach the High Courts and Supreme Court, wherever necessary.

The several allegations in the above paragraphs against Sanjiv Bhatt are prima facie sufficient to justify disciplinary against him. He must remember that if he himself is thoroughly indisciplined, how can he expect, demand and get unsquinted obedience from his subordinates.
They will behave in the same irresponsible manner and the system would collapse.
And if the allegations are correct, no court can support his stand.

First, before fighting against the State, Sanjiv Bhatt or any other officer himself should be clean in all respects.
Otherwise, he will end up a hapless loser the same way as Baba Ramdev.

Sanjiv Bhatt, you are treading on dangerous turf.
You will end up a sad loser.
And in the end, it will be your wife and children who will suffer.

July 21, 2011

Every now and then, I read of a case of graft – that some official has been arrested red handed while taking a bribe.
Usually, such cases are followed up by searches at the residence(s) and other connected places of the official, leading to recovery of unaccounted wealth.
Invariably, in such cases, apart from the allegation of accepting bribe, the concerned Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) also files a case quantifying unaccounted assets worth crores of rupees ( 1 crore = 10 million).

Even in the extreme case, where no unaccounted assets are found, I would believe that cases where an official is caught red handed should be the easiest to prove in our courts.

But unfortunately, most cases end up in acquittals !

Agriculture Director of Maharashtra arrested

Prakash Wamanrao Mahindre, then Agriculture Director of Maharashtra, was arrested in 2005 for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 from Rajkumar Bhanudas Dhargude, a businessman.

According to the complaint filed by Dhargude, Mahindre had demanded bribe of Rs 2 lakh each for issuing three new licences and renewing another four.

The ACB, Pune conducted a search at Mahindre’s residence at Central Park Apartment on Ambedkar Road and recovered cash and ornaments totalling
Rs 4,97,44,957.
They arrested Mahindre for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Finally, the ACB, Pune registered a case of amassing wealth against Mahindre and his wife Priya under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code. They quantified his assets at Rs 3.02 crores.

Mahindre was suspended from the service in 2005. During the suspension period, he retired from service.

Acquittal

Defence lawyer Sudhir Shah argued that the jute bag containing Rs 50,000, which was recovered from Mahindre’s cabin at Central Building, was planted there.
The Special court of S N Sardesai in Pune acquitted Prakash Wamanrao Mahindre.

What is not understandable is the way the case was investigated and presented and what happened to the other charge of amassing wealth.

Obviously, the search team had not done its home work. May be, with today’s, modern equipments, proving a case would be easier.

And acquittal will not be that easy.

The Silver Lining

The silver lining in such cases is that the culprit is suspended, the case drags on for years, and apart from the fact that the culprit does not receive his full salary, perks, and promotion, he has to spend a lot of money on his lawyers which itself is a sort of punishment.

The recent issues, incidents and happenings brought to the public glare by Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare, and hyped to the peak by the media, have left me totally bewildered and in a dizzy.

I have decided to go back to the very basics of corruption, political parties, and the role a government functionary like Santosh Hegde, can and should play in such matters.

Corruption

Corruption is a very serious issue plaguing all the not fully developed countries in the world.

Don’t be fooled into believing that there is no corruption in the developed countries. Corruption is very much there. The reasons for far lesser corruption are the very stiff penalties and swift punishment.
It simply does not make economic sense to take the enormous risks if caught.
The result is that you don’t have to pay bribes for day to day routine mundane matters.
.
Surprisingly, when we talk of corruption in India, we generally have the government employees and other public officials in mind.
After all, the Lok Pal movement is all about this kind of corruption only.

And the Karnataka Lokayukta, of which Santosh Hegde is the Chairman, broadly covers the same territory (for the State of Karnataka).

The fact is that corruption has permeated the entire society, including the private sector, down to the commonest man.
Just try to sell something to a big corporate body. The purchase manager or assistant will first talk about his commission.
Park your car in an authorized parking lot, say near the Gateway of India (Mumbai), or near the cinema theatres near V.T. (Mumbai), on a Sunday or some other holiday.
The parking attendant will ask for Rs. 100 or so in lieu of the prescribed Rs. 8 or so.

Take a metered taxi from Mumbai Airport to any part of South Mumbai.
The fare meter will show three to four times the correct fare.

When a boy is about to get married, his parents proudly flaunt his “oopari kamai”.
And this only ups his value in the matrimonial market, which translates into dowry.

If every person, who gets an opportunity to make some extra money, extracts money, things are not only serious, but call for a self cleaning movement.
Why don’t we try to preach this simple truth and meticulously follow it.

Bab Ram Dev

Perhaps Baba Ram Dev is a good yoga teacher.
Most of his claims about treating cancer, etc. remain unsubstantiated, or to be more precise, dubious.
But remember, it is not easy to extract money, call it donations or whatever you like, from powerful politicians and the rich and mighty.
Baba Ram Dev is certainly a great salesman – a salesman par excellence.

Being a sannyasi,  he should not have started the movement for such things as black money, demonetization of large currency notes, and even direct election to the post of prime minister.
But having started the wrong movement, he blotched up the movement,  more so,  by threatening to raise an armed army.
He should have retracted at the right moment and his public image would have remained untarnished.
Now there are more questions than he can answer.
And he has rightly chosen to keep mum.

I was shocked to see him jumping down the stage, running away like a pursued criminal, and then escaping in a sari.
I am yet to see a greater act of cowardice from a sannyasi.
Who could have hurt him in that public place ?
The media was his guarantee of safety, if any was needed.

You can see my comments on Baba Ram Dev on my blog.

Anna Hazare

Anna Hazare is an honest and clean person.
His intentions and motivations are beyond any shade of selfishness.

But in my view, equating  him to Gandhi is going too far.
Gandhiji was fighting against a foreign rule.
Whom are Anna’s team fighting with? Our own elected leaders
who are doing what they can legally do.

Anna Hazare’s intentions are good. His motives are honest.
But ultimately, it is the MPs and the law of the land which will have the final say.
I would wait and see how things turn out in the future.

At this stage, I would like to put a simple poser……can we say Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare are indulging in Politics ?

I am not very sure.

1. A political party is a group people who share the same ideas about the way the country should be governed.
2. They work together to introduce new laws, the alter old laws.
3. Political parties try to control what happens in Parliament by securing a majority of seats (Members of Parliament).
4. Political Parties have policies. A good example of a policy is “education must be free for all youngsters between the age of 5 to 18 years of age”.
5. Usually, when a political party wants to change Laws and Regulations they have to put their idea to all the Members of Parliament. A vote then takes place and if the majority of MPs vote ‘YES’ then the change to the Law/Regulation takes place.

http://www.technologystudent.com/pse1/polprt1.htm

The above definition deals with political parties which seek to contest elections.

Political parties that wish to contest local, state or national elections are required to be registered by the Election Commission of India (EC).

But there can be, and there are political parties, who do not wish to take part in elections.
In my opinion, what would ultimately decide whether a group is political or not would be the first two criterias:
1. A political party is a group people who share the same ideas about the way the country should be governed.
2. They work together to introduce new laws, the alter old laws.

Judged by this standard, both Baba Ram Dev and Anna Hazare’s movements are only political and their groups become political parties.

Santosh Hegde, Lokayukta, Karnataka

Well what does all this have to do with Santosh Hegde.
Karnataka has a Lokayukta Act and also a functional Lokayukta institution.
Let us see what a Lokayukta should not do:

Section 4 of the Lokayukta Act  - Lokayukta or Upalokayukta not to hold any other office

“Lokayukta or Upalokayukta not to hold any other office- The Lokayukta or Upalokayukta shall not be a member of the Parliament or be a member of the Legislature of any State and shall not hold any office or trust of profit (other than his office as Lokayukta or Upalokayukta) or be connected with any political party or carry on any business or practice any profession and accordingly, before he enters upon his office, a person appointed as the Lokayukta or an Upalokayukta shall-

(c) if he is connected with any political party, sever his connection with it; or ..

http://www.kar.nic.in/lokayukta/karnataka_lokayukta_act.htm

There is no doubt that the Lokayukta of Karnataka is a Government Servant, drawing salary, allowances and other perquisites from the Govt. of Karnataka.
I am sure he is expected to devote his entire time and energy to affairs of his office which are basically confined to Karnataka.

Yet, we find him in Delhi, along Anna group, and lobbying for his views.
How can anyone justify this kind of conduct, which in legal parlance is loosely termed….“Conduct unbecoming of a government servant.”

But again, who will bell the cat. If the Lokayukta decides to do what he should not do,
people like me can only grumble and have disturbing fitful dreams.
The reason is that the procedure for removing the Lokayukta is as follows:

Section 6 of the Lokayukta Act – Removal of Lokayukta or Upalokayukta

 (1) The Lokayukta or an Upalokayukta shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the Governor passed after an address by each House of the State Legislature supported by a majority of the total membership of the House and by a majority of not less than two thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the Governor in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. 

(2) The procedure of the presentation of an address and for the investigation and proof of the misbehaviour or incapacity of the Lokayukta or an Upalokayukta under sub-section (1) shall be as provided in the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 in relation to the removal of a Judge and accordingly the provisions of that Act shall, mutatis mutandis, apply in relation to the removal of the Lokayukta and Upalokayukta as they apply in relation to the removal of a Judge.

Well, in my view what Santosh Hegde, the Lokayukta is doing is all wrong.
I would be grateful if someone could convince me that I am wrong and should modify or change my views.

Manicured Tea Gardens

I had heard a lot about Munnar, the beautiful hill station in South India.
And although I had visited places very close to Munnar, such as Theni (Tamil Nadu) – only about an hour’s drive from Munnar – due to shortage of time, I could not visit the place.

So, in early 2011, I decided to visit Munnar,

Munnar is a wonderful getaway in Kerala, nestling at an altitude of 1,829 metres, amidst luscious tea and coffee plantations, hills, valleys, lakes, waterfalls, forests, exhilarating walks, birds and animals. It is nicknamed the Kashmir of South India.
I booked a small suite in one of the finest resorts there. My RCI membership comes in handy on such occasions. I had to pay only nominal charges. I also booked return flights from Mumbai to Kochi three months in advance. So those too were cheap.

A two hour drive (120 kms) from Kochi airport took me into the heart of tea country. I was passing through beautiful tea gardens on all sides.

Tea

I recently read an article that tea drinking originated in India. Much as I would love to believe this,  this is not true.
Tea drinking originated in China almost 4750 years ago. It was known there as Ch’a. The word has been copied by India, Japan, Russia, Iran and the Middle East.

In A.D. 780, the Chinese tea expert Lu Yu published the first exclusive book on tea ‘Ch’a Ching’ meaning ‘Tea classic’. In this book, he has described various kinds of tea, their cultivation and manufacturing in China.
Though we had indigenous tea plants in India, commercial cultivation of tea entered India much later. In 1834, Lord William Bentinck, then Governor General of British India, appointed a Tea Committee to advise him on the feasibility of commercial tea cultivation in India. The first experimental samples of tea from indigenous tea plants were sent to Calcutta in 1836.
The rest is history.

Today, India is the world’s second largest producer (India was number one, but China overtook India to become the number one). And we have all kinds of tea….from the good old time tested orthodox “Britisher’s….cuppa tea” to all kinds of delicately flavoured exotic concoctions.

History of Munnar and its tea plantations

Munnar was discovered by John Daniel Manro, a British lawyer and planter, in the 1870s, when he visited the area on a hunting expedition. He immediately recognised the agricultural potential of the region.

In July 1877, Manro leased 581.12 sq kms (125,000 acres) of land from the Raja of Poonjar and formed a co-operative society called ‘North Travancore Land Planting and Agricultural Society’. The members of the society started farming coffee, sisal and cardamom.  
Another European, A.H. Sharp, experimented with different crops such as coffee, cinchona, sisal and cardamom and concluded that the area was best suited for tea. He started tea plantations. Over the years, more and more tea plantations grew up.

In 1964, the Tata Group entered Munnar.  By 1980s, Tata Tea Ltd. had acquired most of the tea plantations to become the second largest integrated tea manufacturing facility in the world.

On 1st April 2005, Tata Tea Ltd. exited most of its plantations in Munnar and were succeeded by Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Company Private Limited which now owns 7 extensive gardens covering 24,000 hectares, with an annual production of 21 million kgs of tea.
An interesting feature of this company is that its 12,000 plus employees are its shareholders.

What to see

There are a number of places in and around Munnar which you can visit. During the rains, the place becomes a fairyland enveloped in fog and mist andfull of cascading waterfalls.

But where ever you go, when ever you go, you will see beautifully manicured tea gardens. Left to nature, the tea plants grow quite tall. But for tea cultivation, they have to be continuously cut to 1 metre or so to encourage the growth of new shoots. The fresh tea shoots are pinched or clipped every three or four days from which tea is made.

The tangled leftovers of dead tea plants make wonderful show pieces. They are dried, sand papered and given a coat of varnish. You can put a sheet of glass on them and use them as beautiful ornamental tables.

Tea Museum  (2 kms from Munnar)

The Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Company Private Limited maintains India’s first tea museum which is a must visit site for all visitors.
Here, you can learn about the growth of the tea industry – from the simple tea roller to the present fully automated tea factory of Madupatty.
You can learn about various aspects of tea processing and the operations that go into the making of black tea. You can also do some tea tasting.

 You can see old-time bungalow furniture, iron safe, magneto phone, wooden bathtub, iron oven that used firewood, etc., and antique office equipments such as antiquated typewriters and PBX.
The museum has an iron-age burial urn from the 2nd century B.C. exhumed in the 1970s.

 Near the entrance of the museum is a granite sundial, made in 1913 by the Art Industrial School at Nazareth in Tamil Nadu.

Mattupetty (13 kms from Munnar)

The Mattupetty lake and dam are situated at a height of 1700 mts. You can do some boating here.
You can visit the Indo-swiss dairy farm, which is close by. It has over 100 varieties of high yielding cattle.
Eravikulam National Park (15 km from Munnar)
PEERMEDE

There are other national parks around Munnar,  but the 97 sq. kms. Eravikulam National Park is the home of the endangered Nilgiri Tahr, a rare mountain goat. Originally established to protect the Nilgiri Tahr, the Park was declared a sanctuary in 1975. Its status was elevated to National Park in 1978.
The total number of Niligiri Tahrs here is estimated to be over 1300 – about half the world’s population.

The park is breathtakingly beautiful. The Anamudi peak (2695 mts), the highest peak in South India, is located in the Southern region of the park.
If you have the time and inclination, you can walk up to the top.

Marayoor (40 kms from Munnar)

Marayoor is the only place in Kerala that has a natural growth of sandalwood trees.
I visited the sandalwood factory of the forest department, the caves (muniyaras) with murals and relics from the New stone age civilization and the children’s park spread across a hectare of land under the canopy of a single banyan tree.
You can also visit the Thoovanam waterfalls and Rajiv Gandhi National Park nearby.

Dolmens

You can see muniyaras (caves) dating back to the New Stone Age near Kovilkadavu village. These caves contain rock paintings of great archaeological importance.
But what was more interesting for me were the dolmens, or old burial chambers, consisting of four erect stones covered by a horizontal capstone.

Neelakurunji flowers

You can also see the beautiful Neelakurunji flowers here, but there is only one hitch. The spectacular blue blooms cover the entire mountainside.
But they flower once in 12 years and the next flowering will take place in 2018.
So you will have to wait for another 7 years.

 Reaching There

 The nearest airport is Kochi.
Kochi also has a railway station and is well connected by road also.
You can see a map of the place and get other information from the
following site:
http://www.munnar.org/munnar-maps.php

Summer Resort

The word Munnar is derived from the Tamil words moon – aar meaning three rivers because Munnar is located at the confluence of three rivers – Mudrapuzha, Nallathani and Kundala.
The most appropriate description of Munnar would be tea country. But it is much more than that.

The Britishers of South India had made Munnar their summer resort.

And it really rains during the monsoons. The rains here are 2^nd only to Cherrapunji in Assam.

You will surely fall in love with the place during the rains.

When I was Chief Commissioner of Income Tax I, Chennai in 2005, I was invited to Baba Ramdev’s discourses in Chennai and to receive his blessings.
Some how, I could not attend it.

The people who had invited me, and the people who were organising the discourses, were the big business men, including tax evaders, and even people who were facing prosecution for tax evasion.
 Baba Ramdeo Pix (Click here to see picture)

If anyone sincerely believes that all Baba Ramdev’s followers are the honest exceptionalists – the pure Ganga Jumna of the society, he is obviously mistaken.
The fact is that most honest people are poor and can hardly afford the luxury of doling out huge donations with which the big religious and pseudo religious institutions are built.

Even in the good old days, robbers and dacoits used to offer a portion of their loot to Goddess Kali and other deities, when they returned back from their exploits.
The business people traditionally kept a small percentage of their income for God (Dabba – the donation box as it used to be called).
Whether this was done to appease the Gods. or lessen their anger…. I do not know.
 
Background

An online internet search about the Baba gave me the following facts:

Baba Ramdev  was born on Dec 25, 1965, as Ramkishan Alipur Yadav in the house of an ordinary family of Gulab Devi and Ram Nivas Yadav in Ali Saiyad Pur village of Mahendragarh district in Haryana state of India.

He attended school through the 8th grade in Shahjadpur.
Thereafter, he joined a gurukul in Khanpur village (Hoshiarpur, Punjab) to study Sanskrit and Yoga.
In 1995. Ramkishan Alipur Yadav, renounced worldly life and became a Sanyasi – adopting the name Swami Ramdev. 

Then he went to Jind district and joined the Kalva gurukul and later imparted free Yoga training to villagers across Haryana.
He travelled the Himalayas for several years (for which no details are available) before settling down in Haridwar.
He discovered several medicinal plants in the Himalayas (for which no details are available) which he uses for treating his patients.

He starting teaching Pranayama –  techniques of breath control and popularised the practice of Pranayama.

His discourses and talks are broadcast on Indian TV channels. Baba Ramdev claims that he was a paralytic prior to taking up yoga, but this claim has never been verified.

So far so good. No one can have any problem with Baba Ramdev and his teachings relating to Pranayama and other yogic exercises.

HIV & AIDS – claim of curing

On Dec. 22 and 23, 2006, on India TV and a couple of other TV Channels, Baba Ramdev said that Yoga Pranayama and the Ayurvedic and Herbal Medicines suggested by him can control and cure AIDS.

He added that the CD4 Cell count of the people affected by AIDS, which had fallen to 50; 100; 150 have gone up to 400; 500; and even 600, which is quite normal. He added that even the people with CD4 Cell count of 5 to 10 have benefited. CD4 cells (T4 count, T-helper cells) are a class of immune cells that gradually get depleted in HIV infection.

On Dec. 22 and 23, 2006, India TV also showed a lady, declaring openly, in one of his Yoga Science camps to have been cured of AIDS. This lady had come to know that she had AIDS, after she lost her husband due to AIDS.

As a result of these press reports, the Indian Union Health Ministry sent a cease and desist order to Baba Ramdev; and medical NGOs threatened to take legal action against him.
Baba Ramdev responded by saying that he had been misquoted.
(The usual ploy of politicians).
His clarification was that Yoga and Ayurveda together can alleviate the suffering from AIDS, not cure it.
He also added that Yogic education was preferable over sex education in response to the AIDS crisis.

http://www.articlesbase.com/book-reviews-articles/swami-ramdev-biography-and-information-4517995.html - claim of curing

Cancer

In some of his addresses, Baba Ramdev said that Yoga and Pranayama have been successful in curing 200 cancer patients and he is ready to give evidence. (But no evidence has ever been given.)

Quoting from page 55 of the monthly magazine “Yog Sandesh” (English) September 2006. issue.
This magazine is also available along with all the Back Issues of Yog Sandesh Monthly, online at
http://www.yogapranayama.com/yog%20Sandesh.htm

Sanyasi

Baba’s actions have left me in daze. I am blundered and traumatised.
I have always believed that a Sanyasi is one who has renounced the world.
A Sanyasi is one who is free from all attachments – family, friends and enemies.
I am reproducing the definition of Sannyasa from Wikipedia. (Definitions in other treatises are similar)

“ Sannyasa (Devanagari, sannyāsa) is the order of life of the renouncer within the Hindu scheme of āśramas, or life stages. It is considered the topmost and final stage of the ashram systems and is traditionally taken by men or women at or beyond the age of fifty years old or by young monks who wish to renounce worldly and materialistic pursuits and instead dedicate their entire life towards spiritual pursuits. In this phase of life, the person develops vairāgya, or a state of dispassion and detachment from material life. He renounces all worldly thoughts and desires, and spends the rest of his life in spiritual contemplation. One within the sannyasa order is known as a sannyasi (male) or sannyasin (female)……

During the sannyasa phase of life, a person abandons fire (Agnihotra, allowed to the householder stage of life, the Grihastha ashram). It means that during sannyasa ashram, one should not cook, perform fire rituals or take heat from fire. Sannyasa focuses only on the self and spirituality and not even the gods (as abandoning fire suggests). Symbolically, a sannyasi casts his physical body to fire by wearing saffron robes at the moment of taking up sannyasa itself, thus freeing his soul, while yet alive. Hence, sannyasis are not cremated after death (as most Hindus are) but may instead be buried.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sannyasa 

Death Penalty for corruption

Baba Ramdev has recently taken up the issue of corruption.
He has demanded that corrupt people should be dealt with nothing less than death penalty.

I am shocked….a sanyasi asking for the death penalty…..and that too, for a crime like corruption, when nation after nation are abolishing the death penalty.
There is something wrong, somewhere. I would have expected a sanyasi to save life, not take life.

Ramdev and Politics

Baba Ramdev has launched Bharat Swabhiman – a new political party.
Baba has clarified that his party has no intention of contesting Assembly elections, but only Lok Sabha elections.
(His aims are high and lofty ….Delhi and the Parliament itself).

“I do not have any ambition to be the Prime Minister or the President of India. I will never actively participate in politics”, he claimed.
(But none the less he will form a new political party)

 http://www.goanews.com/news_disp.php?newsid=1077 

Baba Ramdev would himself play the role of Chanakya and not be directly involved in politics. I shall not be a contender to power personally, said the Yoga Guru.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-02-22/patna/28131728_1_baba-ramdev-check-corruption-yoga-guru 

Well this is what Sonia is doing…..

Back to Sanyas

Baba Ramdev….
With all the humility I can muster, mingled with all the knowledge and experience I have gained over 65 years of life, I implore you to keep away from politics, corruption, black money and such mundane things of life.

We already have far too many politicians.
Please stick to what is your rightful duty…..as a sannyani…..meditation and yoga.
Otherwise, you will be like the misled donkey….na ghar ka na ghat ka.

The Finale

Sunday morning, the police moved in and cleared Ramleela Grounds.
The Baba had crossed all limits.
Flying on private jets, owning thousands of crores worth of land and other assets, making a mockery of all that a Sanyasi is supposed to do, he was literally blackmailing the Govt.

But for all this, the Govt. of India itself is to blame. Sending three ministers and the Cabinet Secretary to meet him was a very very wrong decision.
It was sending out all the wrong signals.
Any way, better late than never.

Baba Ramdev – will someone convey this message to him

Rajbala lies paralyzed because she supported you.
The least you can do….call it ethics, sanyas, or good will,
give her a reasonable sum for her loyalty.
You should compensate her…..