GRAPEVINES OF UPA2

ONE LINERS GRAPEVINES OF UPA2

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Union Govt Babudom is disgusted and disgruntled.How UPA2 will pull on further? Crisis in UPA2 bureaucracy.

and personnel policy. Needs mid course correction. Otherwise collapse warn a Union Minister who was once upon a time a Babu

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Pulok Chatterjee nor Ajit Seth could provide leadership in hour of crisis,as they ever handled crisis. Hence UPA2 in crisis

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Neither Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth nor Principal Secretary to PM Pulok Chatterjee served as Secretary to Govt of India. Sorry state of UPA2

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PMO"s Pakoda and gulabjamoon tasty, is the comment of a Union Minister when asked about key agenda of today's Cabinet. Sorry state of UPA2

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Rohit college going son of Rajarshi Bhattacharya won the All India band contest conducted by MTV from 250 bands to select

the band to do the opening act for Metallica for the FI formula One inaugural on October 28

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Internal inquiry ordered about the leakage of a letter from Cabinet Secertary on positioning of Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram

during PM foreign jaunts. PMO is too upset with the leakage. 

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emds

PM OPEN CBI MEET ON ANTI CORRUPTION

PRIME MINISTER WILL INAUGURATE THE 18th BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF CBI AND STATE ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAUX ON FRIDAY,  OCTOBER 21, 2011.

             The Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the 18th Biennial Conference of the Central Bureau of Investigation and State Anti-Corruption Bureaux (ACBx) on 21st October, 2011. The Prime Minister will also present the President’s Police Medals for Distinguished Service to CBI Officers.  Minister of State for Personnel Shri V. Narayanasamy will preside over the Valedictory Session of the conference on 22nd October,  and will present Police Medals for Meritorious Service to CBI Officers during the Valedictory Session.

 

            The two-day Conference, hosted by the CBI, aims at strengthening the anti-corruption mechanism in the country.  The Heads of Anti- Corruption Bureaux / Vigilance agencies from the States and Union Territories, and, CBI officers will deliberate upon the emerging challenges and response in tackling the menace of corruption.  Another area on which this conference will be focusing is Preventive Vigilance.  The Conference  will  have seven Sessions during which several presentations & discussions on the subjects of topical interest would be made.  Apart from an appraisal of Anti-Corruption Apparatus in the country, other issues to be deliberated upon include:  Combating Corruption for Economic Development,  Attachment & Forfeiture of Property, Challenges in investigation of Dispropotionate Assets cases, Need for strengthening state anti-corruption machinery and Lokayukta models in some states.

 

            It is expected that this conference will yield positive results in the area of training officers and  sharing of best practices with regard to anti-corruption investigation.

            The joint conference between CBI and the States / Union Territories Anti-Corruption Bureaux was first organized in 1961 with an intent to provide all the investigating agencies of the country engaged in the task of fighting corruption, a common platform to share information, discuss issues of common interest and evolve strategies to combat corruption.  This is the 18th Biennial Conference in this sequence.

 

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india china to share

INDIA, CHINA SHARE TOP POSITION FOR FRAUDS

From Our Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI: India bagged the dirty reputation of high prevalence of fraud, corruption and bribery in a global survey on economic malpractices conducted by Kroll, an international investment risk consultancy company.

It shares distinction of sharing the top position with China. As many as 84 respondents in the two countries were found victims of frauds, while investments to prevent frauds were almost negligible in these two countries.

Respondents from India cited corruption and bribery (approximately 31 per cent) and information theft, loss or attack (27 per cent) as the most common frauds experienced over the past one year.

For all the markets surveyed, India has the highest percentage of companies hit by the information theft.  Internal financial fraud or theft (23 per cent), theft of physical assets or stock (23 per cent), vendor, supplier or procurement fraud (22 per cent), financial mismanagement (22 per cent) and management conflict of interest (19 per cent) are the other frauds reported by companies in India.

Kroll commissioned the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to conduct the
worldwide survey on fraud and its effect on business during 2011. A total of 1265 senior executives took part in this survey. EIU is the world's leading resource for economic and business research, forecasting and analysis.

The Kroll report published on Tuesday says almost 78 per cent of the respondents indicated a high or moderate vulnerability to corruption and bribery exposure in India, a figure higher than the Asian average of 63 per cent.

The number of companies with growing exposure to frauds (85 per cent) is the highest for any country or region.  High staff turnover was one of the major reasons of fraud exposure according to 41 per cent of the respondents, while 27 per cent believe increased collaboration between firms was a strong factor.

According to the report, the Indian corporations have witnessed erosion in profits and challenges to their reputations due to fraud and corruption. 

Richard Dailly, Managing Director for Kroll in India says, the  report gives a ringside view of the fraud and corruption picture in India.  "Companies need to assess their vulnerability to fraud and should incorporate strong prevention and detection controls," he added.

The report also maintains that companies in India did not appear to be investing in the right anti-fraud measures. Results indicate that less than 50 per cent of respondents in India invest in employee background screening, partner or third party due diligence and risk management systems – a surprising finding given that 59 per cent of those that suffered from fraud and knew the culprit said it was an inside job.

Measures such as third party due diligence, effective and well understood whistle blower systems and well-tested internal risk management systems would help companies in India reduce losses to fraud and corruption.

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RAHUL GANDHI INVITES ANTI GLOBALISATION THINKER FOR RAJIV GANDHI LECTURE

RAHUL INVITES ANTI-GLOBALISATION THINKER FOR LECTURE



NEW DELHI: With anti-capitalism protests raging in the West, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has chosen to invite Prof. Thomas Pogge, an anti-globalisation political philosopher, for a lecture here on Wednesday.

He will be himself chairing the lecture of the Yale professor on globalisation, justice and rights organised on his behest by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (RGICS) of which he is a trustee.

Prof. Poggee’s lecture could be a food of thought for both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who claim to be the torch bearers of India’s economic liberalisation and globalisation programmes. The professor questions globalisation and believes that it has given rise to inequalities

Defending invitation to the German philosopher, RGICS director Prof. Mohan Gopal said the job of his institute was to present different view points. “Prof. Poggee has an important point of view in the contemporary world,” he added.

Discounting fears that anti-capitalism protests in the West may turn to India as well, Prof. Gopal said the protests were mostly against job losses. “Whatever they have lost, we have gained. They (West) had put a monopoly and a premium over skills, which are now available elsewhere against lesser prices,” he said.

Prof. Progge is also known for forwarding an idea of the Health Impact Fund (HIF) to stimulate R&D of life saving drugs. He maintains that if the pharmaceutical companies, who make drugs for rich, register their medicine with the HIF, the company will receive additional payments from the fund that are proportionate to health improvements that are
brought about by the registered medicines.

The more effective the medicine is in improving global health, the bigger the payout. Because malaria kills millions, the firm that finds and develops a cure can expect a significant return, he argues.

The professor also believes that  wealthy Western liberal democracies were currently harming the world’s poor. “Local elites can afford to be oppressive and corrupt, because, with foreign loans and military aid, they can stay in power even without popular support. And they are often so oppressive and corrupt, because it is, in light of the prevailing extreme international inequalities, far more lucrative for them to cater to the interests of foreign governments and firms than to those of their impoverished compatriots,” he writes in his controversial book 'World Poverty and Human Rights.'

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advani

8 Oct 2011

BJP'S THEME SONG FOR ADVANI'S YATRA

From Our Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI: The Bhartiya Janata Party has adopted the seventh Yatra of its patriarch Lal Krishna Advani from Bihar on Tuesday as its own, naming it as BJP Jan Chetna Yatra, aimed at the mass awakening against the UPA government by highlighting good governance and clean politics.

It has also coined a "Theme Song" for the Yatra that will be launched live in his presence at his Prithviraj Road residence here Sunday evening.

The party has already drafted its two general secretaries, Ananth Kumar and Ravi Shankar Prasad, and two secretaries, Sham Jaju and Murlidhar Rao, to be on duty with Advani throughout his 38-day long journey that ends in Delhi on November 20. Ananth Kumar is the Yatra convener while the three others are co-conveners.

Not taking any chance at any kind of problems during the Yatra, the party has also set up a special coordination control room in the party headquarters at Ashoka Road here and made another secretary Bhupendra Yadav as the incharge. A 12-page booklet has also been brought out giving minutest details of the Yatra and the mobile phone numbers of all those running the show.

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CONGRESS CORE COMMITTEE ON TELANGANA YES OR NO ON FRIDAY

6 October 2011

EXCLUSIVE
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CONGRESS CORE COMMITTEE 

ON FRIDAY TO TAKE A CALL 

"YES OR NO" ON TELANGANA

By R Rajagopalan

The UPA2 government's next move, however, rests on "yes" or "no" to Telangana by the Congress core committee, which meets here on 

Friday to take a political decision on the issue that has created a crisis situation in Andhra Pradesh for the past three weeks. 

Indications are that the core committee will back the Telangana creation and leave it up to the government to work out the modalities. 

The Congress leader, who wanted to remain anonymous as the issue is very sensitive, said Sonia Gandhi has already told the

 core committee meeting last week that the party can not go back on its word to give a separate state to the people of Telangana.

Sonia Gandhi reportedly cited the Congress commitment on Telangana in the party's poll manifesto in both 2004 and 2009 as also in 

then President APJ Kalam's address to Parliament and the government's own commitment on the floor of the Lok Sabha.

Sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also consulted two former Chief Justices of India and two Governors and they 

all were found supporting a smaller state from the better administration point of view. 

The Home Ministry has prepared a status paper on 20 days of the Telangana agitation for consideration in Friday's coordination

 committee meeting while Home Minister P Chidambaram will provide further inputs in the meeting.

Core Committee however might have taken a call but the stance of the UPA2 might be totally different and expected

to be contradictory.

 "Why alone Telangana? We shall push for six other smaller states, the demand for which is pending with the Centre," a top 

Congress leader said, giving a perspective on the government's inclination to carve out a separate state of Telangana from 

Andhra Pradesh.

The new state, however, may not be born in near future if the government tags its creation with the demand for other states

 like Vidarbha in Maharashtra and Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh.

The emerging government strategy is to hold further consultations with the political parties as also leaders from Andhra 

Pradesh, both supporting and opposition Telangana, and then convene an all-party meeting towards end of the month 

after Diwali for a consensus.

It may lob the idea of the smaller states' creation in this meeting and stress that this would take time as formalities like

 resolutions from the concerned state assemblies are to be completed before the process can be set into motion.

Sources said such a move will shield the government from the charge of acting under pressure of agitations as it can 

defer the piecemeal creation of Telangana until the process is completed for creating other smaller states.

Much more excitement in Congress is that once BJP takes a centre stage in Telangana the communal card

the party expected to play is causing immense concern, in the AICC and also partly in PMO. BJP bent

upon creating hype and momentum on Telangana just to pinch and irritate AICC and PMO.

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LK ADVANI WANTS TO KNOW WHO ARE THREE IDIOTS IF ALL IS WELL

3 Oct 2011

UPA IN GRIP OF LEMMINGS COMPLEX, SAYS ADVANI

From Our Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI: BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani on Monday said the UPA Government is in an unenviable mess "of the Congress' own making" and that is why he dubbed it as "being in a suicidal mode" in his valedictory address to the BJP national executive in Delhi last Saturday.

In his latest blog, he said the UPA is behaving like lemmings, a Scandinavian rodent-like animal. "Without rhyme or reason, large number of lemmings start marching towards the sea. Some swim and survive. Most die. These mass suicides of lemmings have long intrigued biologists."

Pointing out that he wrote back in 1980 that "my own (Janata) Party seems to be in the grips of a lemmings complex" just before breaking away to form the BJP, he said: "One can say the same thing about the UPA Government today."

3 IDIOTS: In the tail piece, he writes that he saw on TV (Law Minister) Salman Khurshid virtually jumping  with joy shouting "All IZ WELL,", the punchline of a recent popular movie, after the Congress President foisted a 2G truce on the two senior-most ministers. A mediaman told him that a voice from the media was heard asking: "Salman Saheb, can you name the THREE IDIOTS?"

Advani also reiterated his anguish over his partymen in Tihar Jails in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam in the scam. "It is indeed shocking to find that the ruling party these days is exerting its utmost to protect corrupt ministers but has no qualms putting whistle blowers behind bars."

He went to Tihar with Rajya Sabha Opposition leader to meet them and tell them that they had rendered "a signal service to Democracy" by blowing the whistle on the Congress bribing the MPs to cross-vote to enable the UPA government win a vote of confidence even after the Left Front had parted company with them on the India-US nuclear deal.

Referring to the Law Commission's December 2001 report on enactment of laws to protect the whistle blowers, he said the Manmohan Singh government piloted a Bill on the recommended lines in 2010 and it is now being considered by a Standing Committee of Parliament. "The Bill has not become law as yet. But the Cabinet having approved of it, Government should feel committed to its core principle," he said.

CORRUPTION: Advani also commented on the Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index for 2010 based on survey of corruption in various countries, pointing out that India scored 3.3 and ranked a lowly 87th out of 178 countries.

He noted that the index assigns scores to countries on a scale of zero to ten, with zero indicating very high levels of corruption, and ten showing very low levels. Three countries – Denmark, Singapore and New Zealand – have scored 9.3 and thus tied for first place in 2010’s List of 178 countries.

While Pakistan scoring 2.3, is 143rd in the List.  Afghanistan, Burma and Somalia are the last three in ranking – 176, 177 and 178.

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GRAPEVINE STORY ON RESIGNATION DRAMA AND HOW RESOLVED BY 3 TOP WOMEN

30 Sept 2011


Behind the scene flurry of activities in New York and in New Delhi
HOW THREE LADIES AVERTED RESIGNATION CRISIS

NEW DELHI: A drama of resignation played out by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee lies behind Congress President Sonia Gandhi scampering on Thursday to make Home Minister P Chidambaram enter into an uneasy truce with him to stave off a crisis in the UPA Government.

As late as on Wednesday, Mukherjee wanted to step down. He conveyed it to Sonia Gandhi by adding two lines to the 4-page explanatory note to the Prime Minister he forwarded to her, stressing that he wants to resign for above reasons as it is highly taxing for him to continue in the government and that he has already conveyed this to the PM.

He had, in fact, gone to New York to convey to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh his decision to resign on Sunday. The resignation news was, however, under wraps by the diplomatic staff led by the 63-year old India's ambassador Nirupama Rao, a former foreign secretary who pleaded and persuaded him to hold back any such announcement.

She immediately got in touch with the 62-year old Omita Paul, a former Indian Information Service (IIS) officer who took voluntary retirement in 2002 and who commands good influence on him as his adviser since 2004 in whichever ministry he moved -- defence, external affairs and now finance.

Rest of the credit should go to Paul, wife of a former Delhi Police Commissioner, for persuading Mukherjee not to rock the UPA boat by resigning in a huff. She took control over the situation in Delhi, dug out the file of the controversial 2G note and dashed off faxes to Mukherjee in Washington to assure her that the disputed sentence against Chidambaram was not put in it by the finance ministry.

On reaching Delhi on Monday, Mukherjee drove straight to his office in the North Block to go through the entire file of some 450 pages and went to call on Sonia Gandhi only after Omita Paul cooled him further by pointing out that he is not responsible for the objectionable line against Chidambaram added by someone in the PMO before passing on the information on a RTI (right to information) application.

She had also kept ready a 4-page chronological explanatory note that Mukherjee sent over to the Prime Minister and a copy of it to Sonia Gandhi. He deliberately delayed his meeting with the Prime Minister until on Thursday to ensure he has read the note and understood that he is not to be blamed but it is the PMO that messed up and created an unnecessary crisis.

Sources say Dr Manmohan Singh was quite upset when he summoned his principal secretary TKA Nair and national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon immediately after Mukherjee had left his New York hotel to convey to them the shocking development of his resignation. The PM also put out a call to Sonia Gandhi to share his concern that it is not only Chidambaram who wants to resign but even Mukherjee threatened to quit, only agreeing not to make it public until he (PM) is back from New York.

The Damocles's sword of the Supreme Court remains hanging on Chidambaram until October 10 when it resumes hearing, after the Dussehra vacation, on Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy's petition to order CBI to probe against him. Sources in Mukherjee's camp say he would also not close the matter until the culprit who added remark on Chidambaram creating a suspicion on him is not identified and punished.

But for Sonia Gandhi and her political secretary Ahmed Patel making quick moves to bury the infight, the Prime Minister would have been left with no choice but to accept resignation of his top two ministers. They heeded the party's directive to bury the hatchets, but both remain suspicious of each other as ever.

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PAWAR ADVISES PRANAB AND CHIDAMBARAM TO PUBLISCISE FACTS ON 2G NOTE

UPA ally NCP seeks details of resignation drma details

Pawar advises Pranab, Chidambaram to publicise facts on 2G note issue

By ANI | ANI – 59 minutes ago

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Thane, Oct 1 (ANI): Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has advised both Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P. Chidambaram to place all facts related to the 2G Spectrum allocation before the public in the interest of good governance.

"In the interest of good governance, Mukherjee and Chidambaram must project the truth about the 2G telecom spectrum allocation," Pawar told the media.

"Whatever the controversy was there, that was created by media, certain of our friends, they have raised this type of issue in some other forum. So, in such situation, what I will refer to my both senior colleagues is to bring proper facts before public at large," said Pawar.

He said the Central Government is trying to present facts related to the 2G spectrum issue in a transparent manner.

"See, the government and the Congress are trying to tell the truth, I didn't see the record, as I don't have anything and the file is in the hands of judge, and see what Congress said about Subramanian Swamy, it has some basis. And, on this basis, some statements have been made. When somebody has not done anything wrong, then a situation of misunderstanding comes, so the government has to find the truth," Pawar said.

It may be recalled that Chidambaram came under fire after a 14-page note, prepared by a senior bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry and seen by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, suggested that Chidambaram could have acted more stridently in 2008 on the spectrum pricing issue, when he was the country's Finance Minister.

The March 25 note to the PMO from the Finance Ministry says Chidambaram could have "stuck to the stand" of an auction of the highly valuable spectrum.

The note came into the public domain under the Right to Information (RTI) Act petition filed by Vivek Garg, a prominent activist.

The telecom scam, one of India"s biggest graft cases ever, may have cost 39.57 billion dollars in revenue to the public exchequer as per the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). (ANI)