PM and UPA have failed India.

PM and UPA have failed India.

As Pratap Bhanu Mehta (IE,28/9/11) explains, " The Prime Minister has
distorted the entire structure of ministerial politics by not
frontally owning and defending the decision not to auction 2G." He
does not own it because he knows it is not the right policy. In the
UPA there is no collective responsibility. PM presides over a
coalition based only on power not on any principle or even policy.
That is why he explained away many misdemeanours of his colleagues as
"coalition dharma". He allowed Dayanidhi Maran and Raja to twist the
telecom policy as they wish. Both of them got approval from FM and PM.
Raja sells spectrum in 2008 at the price fixed in 2003 and tells us
that he follows the policy laid down by NDA – the only policy they
picked up from NDA. When the CAG says there is a loss of about
Rs.1,76, 000 to the exchequer, a minister tells us that it is
notional. TRAI refuses to quantify the loss and dutiful CBI has scaled
it down.They all want us to believe that there is nothing good or bad
but thinking makes it so. UPA is bound to fall by its acts of
commission and omission, sooner rather than later. The PM and the UPA
have failed India.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/yes-ministers/852882/

Sept.28, 2011.

******

Black money in Swiss banks.

Black Money in Swiss banks.

It is an open secret that our elite have kept their black money in
safe havens such as Switzerland. Now your report (DNA,13/9/11)
confirms it when the famous whistleblower Rudolph Elmer reveals to an
Indian TV channel. USA has succeeded in getting the names of its
nationals who have kept their untaxed money through legal and
extra-legal methods. India too would be able to get the names Indians
who have stacked their illegal money in Swiss banks, states Elmer. He
also states that our government is not keen to know the identity of
those who have cheated the Indian exchequer and that Indian society
has to put pressure on the government. He has disclosed that some of
our film stars and cricketers who are adored by the public too have
their accounts in the Swiss banks. However, he has forgotten to
mention Indian politicians and businessmen but we all know without
them no list will be complete.

Your another report (DNA, 14/9/11) tells us how the US government is
getting access to unaccounted money kept in foreign banks by its
citizens. It has now a tax law, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
which mandates full disclosure of bank accounts held by US citizens in
foreign countries. US government levies a penalty of 40% on
undisclosed foreign assets. A similar act will help our government to
get access to all account details of Indian citizens in foreign
countries. Will our government take it up before Anna Hazare starts
another agitation?

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/newsview.aspx?eddate=9/13/2011&pageno=1&edition=9&prntid=149438&bxid=30571222&pgno=1

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/newsview.aspx?eddate=9/14/2011&pageno=9&edition=9&prntid=149457&bxid=30635504&pgno=9

September 14,2011.

******

A delicate balance.

A delicate balance.

Pratap Bhanu Mehta has rightly pointed out the political dilemma
brilliantly in his analysis, A delicate balance ( IE, 8/9/11).  He has
summed up the same in one sentence - "The dilemma is this : due
process and formalism have become a fig leaf for avoiding justice."
The legislature and the executive have become dysfunctional due to
one-party dominance of our polity for a long time, and now, because of
the rise of regional parties with no national perspective. Most of the
parties are prisoners of the past with no vision for the future. In
this scenario, even the Supreme Court may not be of much help as it
cannot take over the functions of the legislature and the executive.

Neither inflation, nor investment and not even terrorism and
corruption get the attention they deserve from the political class.
Inflation is making poor, poorer; investment which can create
employment is drying up; terrorism has become routine; and corruption
is rampant. Every party has a vote-bank and the election has become a
snake-and-ladder game with the common man left high and dry.
Corruption is highlighted by non-political entities and politicians
have shown them their place. The scams have taken away the sheen from
the UPA and even the PM. We need a party which can restore the probity
and balance envisaged by the Constitution. Can BJP take up the
challenge ?

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-delicate-balance/843256/

Sept.8,2011.

*****