Barack Obama has emerged looking like a cold-blooded killer – and it turns America on

We got him! From the White House Situation Room to the storm-struck towns of northern Alabama, the triumphant cry went up on Sunday night: America had found its number one enemy. And Barack Obama had fulfilled a promise.

Before Osama bin Laden was killed, the president’s critics liked to portray Obama as a wimp. From radio shock jocks to Fox news, they branded him a bookish academic who hid behind his desk. He was comfortable on a university campus, or working as a “community organiser” – but not when dealing with folks in Baghdad, Kabul, or Islamabad. Obama preferred thoughtful seminars to action, ran the myth, and he would never make Americans proud.

How they must be eating their words now. As of last Sunday, the world knows that this man can kick ass when he wants to. A political Clark Kent, Barack Obama has emerged from the commando raid in Pakistan looking like an action hero. There are hints of ruthless cold-bloodedness in those White House photos. The raid played out like a cowboy film starring John Wayne, where the hero is a man of few words but deadly action.

Obama’s new tough-guy image has led to a surge in his popularity. Now that he’s shown his people what he’s capable of, his rivals – as Mike Allen notes today – will find it hard to make a competence case against him during the 2012 presidential race.

In the future, no matter how much his critics mock “the professor”, Americans know that their President got rid of Osama bin Laden. He’s no retiring academic, but a man of action. Hail to the Commander-in-Chief.

Testimony: How much did the US hated Osama..!

India Inc's moment of truth

It was not surprising to see India Inc openly coming out in support of Anna Hazare. In recent memory we have not witnessed any such move when Industry top guns lent their voices to a mass movement against rampant corruption. The reasons were obvious. India has seen sharp decline in foreign investments, instrumental in driving the growth. Few including the RBI attributed it to Jairam Ramesh’s “environment sensitive policies”. The RBI recorded “almost 36 per cent” dip in inward FDI during the first half of the current fiscal (April-September 2010). In fact, ‘green’ policies dictated from Paryavaran Bhavan were important factors in discouraging the FDI and negating growth. But, there is definitely more to it. Governance deficit has been the hallmark of UPA’s second avatar. Confidence in government is at its lowest ebb. The hollowness of rhetoric coming out from Red Fort & Burari has so far failed to ignite confidence in the hearts & minds of ‘aam-admi’. Not to talk about corporate who have invested billions in the economy, to earn their fortune by joining the India’s growth story bandwagon.

The first indication of the depth of this rot came from Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata, who during a lecture in December last year said that his company did not enter the airline business as he was not comfortable with the idea of bribing a minister. Though Tatas were quick to withdraw the remark, but by then Pandora’s Box was already opened. Since than many industry bigwigs have openly admitted to the decay in the system. Latest to speak on this corrosion is Infosys’s Mohandas Pai, who alleged that his company was asked to pay a bribe by the government officials to clear projects but it refused and said files “go missing” when “palms are not greased.” If companies like Tata & Infosys have had been the victim of this corrupt system, it is really surprising to see that how common man has survived all this while. This also demands the question- Are these corporate really a holy cow, devoid of any ills which is necessarily a must virtue for minting quick money? Experience says, the ability to manage the government of the day has been an important foundation to business accomplishment in India. Post liberalization decline in this trend was palpable, as licenses were almost abolished with the parallel emergence of ‘new sectors’. With the passing time foreign money also swelled the economy which among other things sterilized the economy of previous ills. The success of this ‘new economy’ hardly needed any support from the authorities. Noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor made an interesting observation on this accomplishment, he said “the new IT backed economy succeeded in India because Babus were IT illiterate.” Unfortunately, this bonhomie didn’t last long and the year 2002 saw Tata-VSNL deal mired into allegation of corruption. BJP’s Arun Shourie was at the time the disinvestment minister, and later telecom minister. He was accused of causing loss to the exchequer by giving surplus land to the Tatas almost free of cost. Since then this connivance of corruption between Netas and industries has grown by leaps and bounds.

Corruption, in India has traditionally been linked with the Politicians & bureaucrats. Rarely accusations of malpractices have been labeled against corporations. White-collar crimes have always escaped public perception. But the Radia Tapes have unfolded before us how corruption is all pervasive across India irrespective of sectors or professions. In one of the tape India’s top business tycoon is quoted as claiming that the Congress party was his dukaan. Same applies for other parties including BJP and the Left; nothing is there to indicate otherwise. Many of the corporate houses are openly seen lobbying with the politicians. Remember Ratan Tata while deposing before the PAC described how ‘chemistry problem’ with Dayanidhi Maran led him to endorsing A Raja & subsequently writing paeans praising him. Tata indirectly accepted the corporate-politicians unholy nexus which has definitely existed since long. Will ‘chemistry problem’ of any individual determine the composition of the Union cabinet? Ratan Tata’s acceptance is just an indication of how deep is the rot! It also goes on to show how symbiotic is this unholy nexus.

Recently, going through an Indian Express article on corruption, I found an interesting comment. It says, “We are in a society where if you steal thousands you are labeled a thief, if you steal lakhs you are labeled entrepreneur and if you steal crores you are a lawmaker.” This truly reflects the impression society has about ‘entrepreneurs’ and our ‘sacrosanct lawmakers’. The mood was also reflected in CAG Vinod Rai’s address to industry body CII where he candidly expressed that prevailing "Business practices of some corporate houses have become the subject of increasing public scrutiny for their perceived ethical deficit. Corporate India needs to go through a phase of reflection and soul searching." He categorically pointed out that recent scandals had tarnished India Inc’s image. This apt statement by the head of corruption watchdog at the gathering of industry captains comes at a time when corporate India is struggling with its image make-up exercise.

Also, this calls in to revisit the process of donation to the political parties. Almost all big corporate houses make such donation which is 100% tax free. This has also been a shortcut route of cozying up between Netas and the business houses. In spite of many efforts from Election Commission, there are still some grey areas. One of the root cause of corruption in India is lack of transparency in the decision making process. Corporate bodies have been making hue and cry on missing opaqueness in the due process. Still few others from the community take it as a blessing to make a killing. There is also a prevailing demand that industrialists should have direct access to the Prime Minister and other Ministers and they must get rid of the ‘Radias’ which has already done irreparable damage to their credentials.

It has been said that the legacy of India's corporate corruption rests in the archaic tax regimes of Nehruvian era. But that has long gone. One of the premise on which Indian economy was opened was that it will reduce monopoly and at the same time will promote competition among players. That has happened and India has tasted fruit of economic liberalization. But at the same time we have seen corrupt corporate practices as never before. Before rallying behind Anna’s crusade on corruption India Inc must do critical examination of its own motives, actions & beliefs. Else they risk loosing the gains of economic liberalization.

Why govt’s defence of CVC does not hold much water

The Government has come out with a bizarre defence of beleaguered CVC (Chief Vigilance Commissioner) PJ Thomas. In a shocking disclosure, the Govt told the Supreme Court that it was not aware of charges against Thomas in the Palmolien Oil import scam.

As far as I know, before the appointment of any candidate to the exalted office, the EMPANELMENT COMMITTEE (EC) forwards the name of potential candidates to the Top committee, which includes the PM, Finance Minister and the Leader of Opposition.
The EC, in-turn, before recommending the names, consider three points, which are:

1. Who is the senior most candidate?

2. His record from Ministry of Personnel (MoP). (Experience; taint, if any).

3. A check of his antecedents by the Intelligence Bureau. (Crime record; cases, if any)

Only after being satisfied that all the above three parameters are met, the EC recommends the candidate for further perusal to the Top Committee.

Now the questions to be raised are:

1. Did PJ Thomas’s record with MoP fail to mention the fact that he was involved in the Palmolein oil import scam?

2. How did the IB fail to report that PJ has a taint on his career?

3. Sushma Swaraj is on record saying that she “brought this fact to thenotice of Prime Minister and Home Minister in the meeting.”

Why then, did the Govt. override Opposition Leader’s objection?These are many of the few questions the Govt need to answer to the nation. Its affidavit in the apex court that Thomas is an "outstanding officer of impeccable integrity” does not hold much water in the eyes of the public; let alone the SC, which definitely has more wisdom and prudence. The UPA Govt. must understand the fact that India cannot afford to have a ‘sacrosanct’ head of top surveillance watchdog (CVC) vouching for his integrity in the apex court.

NOTE: TOP COMMITTEE

(a) the Prime Minister - Chairperson;

(b) the Minister of Home Affairs - Member;

(c) the Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People - Member.

O Son! One day you will be the CM..!

Pls. don't read much into it..!

Someone, Someday at Rajiv Chowk Metro station.

Les Misérables

First, let me confess, I am writing these lines from the comfort of my room. I don’t have an Air Condition, but the room-heater has made the atmosphere salubrious. Room thermometer reads 15.C, comfortable enough for home sapiens to dwell, eat and merry. Each day, I spend 10 hours in my office. The management has designed the ambience in a way that to extract best out of me. On last day of every month my account is credited with the salary, the amount of which is petty for some but jackpot for majority in this country.

Every day while returning from the office I find 10-year-old Sattu selling something near the IIT fly-over. Baloons, flowers, books…. Each day I wish to help him, but haven’t done anything from him yet. Like my fellow countrymen, also my favourite pass time is to indulge in blaming the government for every problem, India has. Isn’t India a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Dint’ we have a Child Development ministry with an army of bureaucrats ‘preying’ on our taxes? If this is what we see in the capital, one can better imagine the situation in Rahul Gandhi’s ‘other India’! I am happy, Sattu is not begging, he is an ‘entrepreneur’, not Naxalite. And that’s the only relief for statisticians on the Raisina Hill.

Coming back to me. Will I make any difference in their lives…! Will try..for sure.

Explaining Arnab to my kid brother

“We will be back tomorrow with more direct questions,” the man signed off in his characteristic combative tone.
“Bhai, how come we always see this man on this channel?” my 11-year-old cousin Soofiyan asked, “Are they short of people on their staff?”
I responded by reminding him to recite the new rhyme that he had just learnt. But I could not suppress a smile. He persisted, “No, first you answer my question.”
So I told him.
I told him that the gentleman “the nation is watching” was Arnab Goswami, head and the lead anchor of Times Now, and that he was quite wrong in concluding that the news channel was short-staffed.
“Hmm…and why is he angry with everybody?” my 11-year-old cousin continued with his questions. “He is not angry,” I explained in a condescending tone, “You see, there is so much corruption, violence and crime in our society. Like all of us, he is also frustrated with all this, and this frustration just comes through when he interviews people.”
“Interviews people?” my cousin asked, clearly unimpressed by my air of superiority, “You mean, he is not the one being interviewed? You actually mean all the other faces listening to him are there to be interviewed? But I see only him talking and the others listening.”
I retreated with a feeble protest. “No, no, it is not always like that. He often gives them a chance to speak.”
“Them meaning those faces in the boxes?” he enquired.
“Yes,” I said, relieved at an easy question for a change.
You see, Soofiyan is too young to understand the charisma of the man he was referring to.
How do I make him appreciate the fact that the gentleman setting the agenda for the nation every single day does listen to all the people he invites to discussions? It is just that he seeks the one voice that agrees with him. Until he finds that voice on his prime time show, he is forced to reject all the others. It is a fair deal.
But before I can heave a sigh of relief, comes another question, “But why does that girl sit with him through the programme? Is that a backup plan, like having two pilots in an aeroplane?”
“Yes, sort of, she's his co-anchor,” I said with a straight face, hoping to evade the next question.
“You mean she isn’t one of the guests? If she is a co-anchor, why doesn’t she get to ask any questions? She just looks at the screen strangely and nods her head vigorously every time he says something.”
Before I could gather my wits, I was saved by the next question. “And, why does he keep saying ‘Tonight I will be direct, tonight I will be direct’? Tomorrow night will he be indirect?”
“No, he just wants to show how bold and blunt he is,” I said simply because I had to say something.
"OK, one last thing. How does he know that everybody watches him every night?” Soofiyan asked.
“Who told you so?" I countered a tad irritated by now.
“He did. He does so all the time. He always says the nation demands to know....the whole nation is watching tonight...How does he know?"
Tonight it was my time to be direct. "I have no freaking idea how he knows that," I hollored, "Now go back to your freaking poem."
The whole neighbourhood heard it. I still don't know about the whole nation, though!

DANISH for Governance Now (http://www.governancenow.com/views/columns/explaining-arnab-my-kid-brother)

Our System killed Aarushi

It’s ‘Closing Bureau of Information’, someone twitted. WSJ India put the headline ‘Who Killed #Aarushi?No one, it seems.’ As the news of CBI closing the Aarushi case spread, the angst was quite palpable on the Internet. Many conspiracy theories were floated since the time this heinous crime was committed in May 2008. Many believed, it was an honour killing, while a smaller section of people opined that it was an outsider’s act. At that point only God knew, who the perpetrators were and how Aarushi was killed. Then on June 1, the same year CBI took over the probe in the case. People hoped something would come out. But, after 31 month of so-called Investigation, CBI failed to do what it was meant to do. The tunnel ended without finding any light.

Aarushi’s murder mystery is not the only case where the country’s premier agency, CBI, failed. There are other instances too. Ruchika Girhotra case, clean chit to Moninder Singh Pandher in Nithari case are some of the recent examples where CBI failed to stand up to the expectations. In both these cases the accused were rich, powerful but they never commanded the clout necessary for closure of their respective cases. At least for an observer like me who stands outside the system had the impression that justice will not be denied to the poor & helpless victims of these ‘mighty’. Nevertheless, CBI filed the closure report in Ruchika case saying the allegations levelled against Rathore were unfounded and baseless. The Nithari case also met the same fate. The investigation agency stated it did not find any evidence suggesting the children had gone missing from Nithari as the DNAs did not match.

And that’s not the end to the shoddy work CBI has been doing. The agency in October this year filed an application before the chief metropolitan court in Delhi seeking closure of the Bofors pay off case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi. In 1984 anti- Sikh riot case, in April this year, a city court let off senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler after accepting CBI’s closure report giving clean chit to him. The case of Quattrocchi & Tytler is understandable. Both issues were blot on the ruling party led by the Congress. The clean-chit must have come from the political bosses in the North Block who in turn must have received orders from No. 10.

Policing in multi-cultural country like ours has never been an easy task. Investigation still more difficult & daunting. With poor police-public ratio & obsolete investigation technologies it’s always a Herculean task to unfold the mystery of a crime. If this is not enough Government interference has always been there to use CBI as party’s policy tool to score Brownie points against the opposition. Remember the use of CBI during the UPA 1’s trust vote in 2008. The malaise is epidemic irrespective of the party in power. The harsh reality is that arresting those responsible for committing the crimes being investigated by the CBI, including corruption, is the last priority of any Government, notwithstanding the proclamations of the high and mighty regarding zero tolerance towards corruption. The plain truth is that no Government, irrespective of the party in power, wants an independent investigating agency or, for that matter, any independent institution which may not be willing to toe its line.

As on April 24 this year CBI has 9,000 cases pending in courts. 5,900 staff chasing 9,000 cases. Close to 2 cases each on the head of every CBI staff from Director to the orderly. At any given time there is 30 per cent vacancies in the Bureau. In Delhi alone, there are a total of 1,389 CBI cases pending in courts of which pendency in the six courts of special judges is at 927. Of these, 171 cases have been pending in courts for more than eight years, 51 cases for more than 15 years and 39 cases are awaiting closure for more than 20 years. Additionally, chargesheets have not been framed in 119 cases dealt with by the CBI, as per a Delhi Cabinet note.

Talking about forensic expertise to deal with type of cases CBI does, the recent Medical Council of India (MCI) dictate have also dealt a severe blow to the discipline of forensic science and toxicology. The council slashed by one-third the requirement of qualified forensic teaching faculty in medical colleges across India. The move will cut over 300 teaching posts of forensic faculty in around 300 medical colleges. India is short of over 5,000 medico-legal experts for criminal investigations. Unlike other countries, in India, 90 per cent medico-legal work is being done by simple MBBS doctors with no forensic expertise.

If the current mess, in which our premier investigation agency is, persists, Aarushi’s killer will never be nabbed. We will have many more Nirupama Pathak. Innocent & poor will always be prey of ‘Pandhers’ roaming freely in our society. It’s high time now government must free CBI from its clutches. Vacancies should be filled immediately. Also need of the hour is better forensic technologies, that must be made available sooner the better. CBI needs teeth not just to show but also to bite when needed. Remember, as William Shakespeare wrote in King Lear, "Fear of death is worse than death itself". Time has come when our investigative agencies should inculcate confidence in the hearts and minds of the aam aadmi. At the same time, perpetrators must fear death. India can’t afford to have a ‘clueless’ CBI.