Jangpura

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Three-time Congress MLA Tarvinder Singh Marwah looks set to retain the Jangpura seat unless the opposition conjures some magic   Despite having stood a distant second in 2003, Shiromani Akali Dal’s Kuldeep Singh Bhogal is hoping to challenge Marwah again as BJP’s 2008 runner-up Manjinder Singh Sirsa seems to have returned to his West Delhi home for good   Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has made some inroads among constituents who are disillusioned with both the Congress and the BJP   Tarvinder Singh Marwah (54), who has represented Jangpura Constituency in Delhi Assembly for three consecutive terms, believes that Congress MLAs opposed to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit stand a better chance in the upcoming elections. The rest are doomed as Dikshit’s unpopularity seems to have hit a plateau in the last few months on account of inflation, power and water tariffs and increasing crimes against women in the national capital.Read More

Timarpur

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Two-time Congress legislator Surendra Pal Singh Bittoo is on a weak wicket. While his own record is under scrutiny, the Chief Minister’s unpopularity also seems to have upset many voters.

 

The BJP has many ticket seekers knocking at its door. Among these are former Delhi Mayor and Mukherjee Nagar Councillor Rajni Abbi, former MLA Rajendra Gupta and lawyer Surya Prakash Khatri.

 

Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party is snapping at the heels of both Congress and the BJP, with many Timarpur voters endorsing its daring approach against Delhi Police and power discoms

 

Timarpur is the common thread that binds former Pakistani dictator late Zia ul Haq, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The trio attended educational institutions located in this Punjabi-dominated assembly constituency in their youth.Read More

Shalimar Bagh

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Three-time BJP MLA Ravinder Nath Bansal looks invincible, with the electorate in this jujube berry orchard rich constituency set to repose faith in his honesty, accessibility and responsiveness

 

The Congress lacks a strong candidate to dislodge Bansal. Its 2008 candidate Ram Kailash Gupta appears to be no match for the low-profile engineer-turned-BJP politician.

 

With its strident campaign against the hike in power and water tariffs, the Aam Aadmi Party appears to have enthused voters

 

In Shalimar Bagh, it is difficult to locate the residence of three-time BJP MLA Ravinder Nath Bansal. He does not look down on you from the signages pitched across various arterial roads in his constituency. It is difficult to find any posters –hailing either Vijay Goel’s appointment or criticising the Sheila Dikshit Government’s programmes – anywhere in the area.Read More

Kejriwal gives Cong, BJP the jitters

AAM AADMI PARTY

 

Kejriwal gives Cong, BJP the jitters

Kejriwal is likely to queer the pitch for the BJP and the Congress in the forthcoming Delhi Assembly elections. But it will finally depend on what schemes and programmes he comes out with to address the needs and aspirations of the people of Delhi. Associate Editor Narendra Kaushik and gfiles Election Team covered 13 constituencies to highlight the way the wind is blowing.

 

When we hit the political trail in Delhi in March this year, to be honest, we had no idea as to what the final battlefield would look like. It is still not clear. But a few things have emerged, or are rather taking some shape. One of these is that Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), though still in its infancy, has made some inroads into Delhi’s political scene and is on course to possibly make Delhi elections a triangular affair in many areas.Read More

Business recipes

Book REVIEW

making it big business

 

Business recipes

 

by RAJENDRA BAJPAI

 

It is easy to write a story about people born in poverty climbing the pinnacle of success or of people with empty pockets finally hitting the rich-list as it is never a problem writing about those born-rich. Many writers would give their right arm to get a chance to write the biography of a millionaire who becomes a pauper because of his stupidity or profligacy, or both.

 

It is certainly a problem when the principal characters of your novel or real-life story are a bunch of boys who were not brilliant in their studies and were only a part of the middle of the heap. The problem gets compounded if they were not born rich and it gets aggravated it if they weren’t even poor.

 

Rohit Prasad has chosen just such a matrix to weave the real-life story of Abhishek Sinha and his brother Abhinav. They finish school and college without any recognisable distinction and find reasonably good jobs – Abhishek at Tata Steel and Abhinav at Oracle. Life for them was turning out to be smooth, repetitive, easy and unexciting and that was the problem.

It was around the year 2000 and the dotcom virus was infecting young people. Abhishek takes the first plunge and sets up bhhoolnajana.com. It offered a bit of everything to everyone and nothing in particular to anyone. It was a resounding failure.Read More

Darkness at Noon

MANDARIN MATTERS

nepal krishna v. rajan

 

Darkness at Noon

 

In the late 1990s, India’s twin strategy of supporting multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy in Nepal was working well – or so it seemed!

 

There was clearly some preoccupation in New Delhi to repair the relationship with the monarchy, after the tensions generated by the standoff of 1980-90. Birendra was supposed to be only a constitutional monarch, but was still a highly important element in the Nepalese polity. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao felt that the king could make a constructive contribution to a more mature relationship with India just as the king of Bhutan had, and wanted India’s links with the monarchy to be made firmer even as it sought to strengthen Nepal’s democracy: what came to be known as the ‘twin-pillar approach’.

 

But the role of the monarchy needed clarification. In my first audience with him, I found King Birendra to be affable, mild-mannered, soft-spoken and relaxed. An immediate outcome of this first meeting was Birendra’s decision to give a public signal of normal relations with India by agreeing to spend an evening at India House with his immediate family – after decades of a chill in such social-level contacts. The royal family, along with the entire political and civil society elite of Nepal, attended a concert on the lawns of India House by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan and Ayaan. It was quite an ambience: setting sun, tall pine trees, the birds singing as if on cue with the soul-stirring strumming of the sarod.Read More

Detective par excellence

FIRST STIRRINGS

uday shankar dutt

 

Detective par excellence

 

Though now retired, Uday Dutt is even today considered one of the best experts on economic offence, frauds and financial crimes

 

He is one of those who joined the police by chance but can be called Bihari by choice. Strange though it may seem for someone who was born and brought up in Shimla and had started to dislike the police, after a teammate in the university badminton team was hit by a police lathi. But actually went on to join the police but head it. Working with the Geological Survey of India after his post graduation in geology, he sat for the civil service exams on being motivated by a district collector. Selected, he found himself being given the Bihar cadre, a State he had never been to and had only seen on maps. Still that was where destiny wanted him to be.

 

The day he got Bihar cadre, many friends including some Biharis, came into his room for what looked to him almost like a condolence meeting. “I was quite terrified because I had not been to Bihar,” he says. But somehow right from the first day, he started liking Bihar and today has good memories of policing the state.Read More

The path to satisfaction

MY CORNER

goals amitabh thakur

 

The path to satisfaction

 

The attractiveness of opting for social concern and commitment possibly always outweighs all the material success I might otherwise get

 

I joined as an officer of the Indian Police Service and am even today a member of this service. Yet, over the years, I seem to have become more and more concerned about issues related to transparency and accountability in governance. I am also concerned with various human rights issues, a topic which many people consider as being in exact opposition to the role of the police in India.

 

How and why it happened is a long story, and I must agree that in addition to external circumstances, there would necessarily have been something intrinsically within me that slowly but surely helped me drift towards these areas.

 

Again, in classic consonance with the law of conservation of energy, the more I got involved in these issues, gaining expertise and respectability in these areas of operations, my career suffered. Thus, while my batch-mates all across the country are now Inspector-Generals, I continue to be a Superintendent. More involvement in these areas also possibly ensured my posting in such branches of police, which in usual public perception are regarded as non-functional or ‘side posting’.Read More

technology ict solutions

GOVERNANCE

technology ict solutions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by K Swetharanyan

 

Evolution has never been as rapid as witnessed in the last twenty years. Multiple revolutions are taking place simultaneously. Machines are bringing about efficiencies in every sphere from medical procedures to Office Automation.

 

How exactly does office automation help you? Modern office machines combine many functions into one. The same machine can copy/print/scan/fax and thereby reducing the clutter in your office and optimise scare space resources.

 

In the digital world, there is no need to store tonnes of files when these office machines can scan all documents in colour and digitally store them on your computer. There are amazing features in these machines like mobile printing/cloud printing/printing without a computer from a USB pen drive, etc.Read More

No entry!

SILLY POINT

humour mk kaw

 

No entry!

 

The news item about the Gymkhana Club disallowing entry to a high ranking Bhutanese monk on the ground that he was wearing a tunic and sandals, which is the formal dress of the Bhutanese court, has raised many an eyebrow. But this is not uncommon.

 

For example, the dress code followed by the Sugar Hut Village Night Club, an exclusive club in the heart of Essex, has a different dress code for every day of the week. On Fridays, people wearing baseball caps, hooded tops, polo shirts, ripped clothes, Timberland style boots and shorts are a definite no, no.

 

At the other end of the spectrum, we have the Ibiza Virgins who permit almost anything under the sun; their approval extending even to shorts and three-quarter length trousers, while they are known to have disallowed football shirts.Read More

Bonding with life

PERSPECTIVE

love sadhguru

 

Bonding with life

 

There is a lot of talk about ‘divine love’ everywhere. The assumption is that love is a quality that needs to be imported from Heaven. People either profess to love God or believe God loves them. I am often told, very emphatically, by people, “God loves us.” I tell them, “The way you’re made, only God can love you. He has to love the mistakes he has made!”

 

Everyone can love God because He’s not even around! Besides, if God is an embodiment of love, why would He need your love? Leave God alone. Let Him do His job; you do yours. But people are seeking to communicate with Krishna, Rama, Jesus, without even being on talking terms with their neighbours!

 

What most people call love is just a mutual benefit scheme. You have physical, emotional, psychological, social, economic needs, and so many others. To fulfil all these, you have formed various relationships. But tomorrow if you withdraw from your part of the deal, the other person will do the same. That’s the reason why relationships are always on the edge. This is simply because two people are trying to extract happiness, or life, from each other. As long as you are trying to fulfil your needs through somebody, this struggle will go on. There is no possibility of knowing love when there are needs to be fulfilled.Read More

Shaken to the roots

...by the way

 

Shaken to the roots

 

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and his Ministry were hit by an earthquake when CAG Vinod Rai in his report on MGNREGA criticised the implementation of the scheme. In what was considered to be an unprecedented move, the overactive Ramesh had himself called upon the CAG (on the grounds that he is a constitutional authority and should therefore not be calling on Ministers) and asked him to perform a ‘performance audit’ on the government’s rural employment guarantee scheme. It was the first of its kind since the CAG is primarily in the job of undertaking financial audits. The two appeared to have hit it off rather well, with Vinod Rai later returning the compliment and inviting Jairam Ramesh to deliver a lecture along with other ‘intellectuals’ at Mussourie. So when the CAG’s report became public, Jairam could not believe his eyes. The Minister was obviously hopeful that a pat on the back from the normally critical CAG would push up his stock in the eyes of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. But since Vinod Rai has not missed a single opportunity to put the Government on the mat, he used this opportunity to reinforce his point. To give him credit, Jairam is one of those ministers who has no ego or protocol in walking the extra mile or in approaching Opposition party leaders to agree to his bills. For example in the case of the land reforms bill, he first met Sitaram Yechury, then Prakash Karat and others to ask for their support. He has developed a close association with the fiery and unpredictable Mamata Banerjee even though the grapevine has it that Sonia Gandhi has been frowning on Jairam’s overtures. Sometimes it’s a case of ‘aa beil mujhe maar’ and Jairam appears to be a classic example of this. g

Blue-eyed boys

...by the way

 

Blue-eyed boys

 

CBI chief Ranjit Sinha was handpicked by the UPA for the top job to head the country’s premier investigative agency. But Congress bosses are unhappy at the manner in which he has been taking decisions which have politically hurt the Congress Party. Whether it be the raids on M Karunanidhi’s son Stalin, which led to the latter persuading his father to withdraw support to the Congress government, or in putting the Government in the dock over the Law Minister vetting the CBI statement on coalgate. What the Congress bosses obviously did not know when they handpicked him for the job was his close association with senior BJP kayasth leaders Yashwant Sinha, Ravi Shankar Prasad or Shatrughan Sinha, all of whom are members of the Chitragupta Samaj. As far as Law Minister Ashwini Kumar is concerned, the buzz is that there was an attempt to protect the Prime Minister himself since the then Joint Secretary in the PMO, who was in charge of coal, was Shatrughan Singh, who was also an important bureaucrat during the Atal Behari Vajpayee regime. So much so that Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had sent him to Ayodhya on a secret mission in the pre-Babri Masjid demolition days. And obviously he was retained in the PMO, with Vajpayee putting in a good word with Dr Manmohan Singh. The PMO is clear that there is no question of sacking their blue-eyed boy Ashwini Kumar though the majority of the Congress and the Government have a different view. It is now for the Congress Party to take a call. g

Searching for the limelight!

...by the way

 

Searching for the limelight!

 

Civil service officers, especially Secretaries, enjoy commendable respect till the time they are in office. But, barring a few exceptions, all aura and respect goes the moment they demit charge. Take the case of Rita Menon, an IAS officer of UP cadre, former Textiles Secretary and currently chairperson of the India Trade Promotion Organisation. She barely attracted any attention at two recent functions held in the Capital unlike earlier when few could chose to ignore her. On April 21, at the Civil Services Day, Rita Menon was seen sitting in the back rows as there was no fixed seat for her. Again on April 26 on the Public Sector Day, Menon was seen searching for a seat in the front rows and finding none, she shifted to the rear. As the function ended, she realised that nobody was taking note of her presence; so she chose to avoid the lunch, preferring to drive out of Vigyan Bhawan, where the function was being held. This lack of attention was despite the fact that Menon had planned her post-retirement job well. She was aided in that by her good relations with TKA Nair, Advisor to the Prime Minister, who is reportedly on good terms with Minister of Textiles Anand Sharma. But, even though Menon has the status of a Minister of State, the attention she attracted at these two functions only shows the power of the post one holds. g

Gracious hosts

...by the way

 

Gracious hosts

 

It was a festive atmosphere on Civil Services day. Most of the officers started reaching much before the Prime Minister arrived. Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth and Sanjay Kothari, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, an IAS officer of 1978 batch Haryana cadre, proved to be a good host. Mr. Seth was seen personally receiving the invited guests and his old colleagues, former Cabinet Secretaries Prabhat Kumar and Naresh Chandra. T K A Nair was seen talking to Ministers Jairam Ramesh and Salman Khurshid and many secretaries. Pulok Chatterji, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, also came early and was seen mingling with senior officers. Most of the officers were seen saying hello to him, though a courteous Pulok Chatterji did not speak much to the guests. Ajit Seth by nature loves to maintain a low profile and this was evident at the time of the lighting of the lamp, where he requested Pulok, Shiv Shanker Menon and T K A Nair to light the lamp after the Prime Minister. He was the last one to light the lamp. Seth is completing two years as Cabinet Secretary on June 13. Sources say that Manmohan Singh desires to extend his term for one more year. He has proved his worth by performing excellently and he has a tight grip on issues as a Cabinet Secretary. As this is the election year, it will be a good decision if his term is extended as this will ensure a smooth functional atmosphere in the PMO. It is felt if a new incumbent is appointed, he will take time to acclimatise himself in this high profile and sensitive post. g

Creative leanings

Bric-a-brac

near & dear

 

Creative leanings
in mamata’s footsteps?

 

A K Antony may be the most honest Minister in the current Government but the Defence Ministry and even Parliament are full of intense speculation about his wife. Her painting hobby has taken the political world by storm. MPs of the standing committee on defence are full of stories on how her paintings are being bought for huge amounts so much so that the Army Welfare Fund is being used for that purpose. Similarly, several public sector undertakings have suddenly discovered her booming talent and are busy acquiring her paintings as though there is no tomorrow. The Defence Minister, who prides himself on his Mr Clean image, should learn a thing or two from Mamata Banerjee. Her paintings were bought for crores of rupees after she became the West Bengal Chief Minister, with Saradha boss Sudipta Sen leading the pack in bidding high for Didi’s works of art. And now with the chit fund fiasco exploding in her face and Didi denying any wrongdoing by her party and MPs, Sen’s forays into the art world may have proved a little costly for the Chief Minister. g

Wait for the sweetener

Bric-a-brac

near & dear

 

Wait for the sweetener
pawar breakfasts with manmohan

 

What does one do when even a Cabinet Minister has to wait to meet the Prime Minister of India for three days for talks to take a decision on a crucial issue? This happened to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who in April had to sit on the sidelines waiting for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give him some time. Pawar had to take the concurrence of the Prime Minister on the issue of sugar decontrol. It was a crucial decision concerning the economic health of sugar mill owners and farmers. Pawar is the undisputed leader from western Maharashtra, where the sugar lobby controls the politics. And so, it was a crucial decision, personally and politically. If sources are to be believed, he kept on calling the PMO seeking an appointment but every time the answer was, the PM is busy and we will revert once he is available. But, no one responded. Finally, Sharad personally called the Prime Minister and Dr Manmohan Singh invited him for breakfast, a meal where he reportedly feels the most relaxed. During their meeting, Pawar briefed the Prime Minister about sugar decontrol. The rest is history because the very next day sugar
was decontrolled and one could see the smile on the face of Pawar and sugar mills owners. Whether the farmers will be able to get their payments following the decontrol, however, remains a question, the answer to which is not known. g

Saffron hues

Bric-a-brac

near & dear

 

Saffron hues
mulayam-bjp alliance?

 

Reports of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s proximity to BJP leaders are now the talk of the town. A senior SP leader disclosed that come election time, the SP and BJP will work in tandem as a Hindu-Muslim polarisation suits both of them in gaining the maximum political mileage. In fact, it is being said that it will be Mulayam Singh Yadav who will decide the BJP candidate in the family pocket borough constituencies of Badaun, Ferozabad, Mainpuri and Kannauj, and it will be BJP’s Rajnath Singh who will decide the SP candidate from Ghaziabad. Beni Prasad Verma has already disclosed how Mulayam Singh allegedly joined hands with the BJP over the demolition of the Babri Masjid and this time around with the battle intensifying for the Muslim vote bank, more and more disclosures are likely about his political moves. And if Narendra Modi contests from Lucknow, Mulayam Singh Yadav will be the happiest man, say his party leaders as it will further polarise the UP polity. g

Growing in stature

Bric-a-brac

near & dear

 

Growing in stature
pranabda’s special stand

 

I  have seen vast, perhaps unbelievable, changes during the journey that has brought me from the flicker of a lamp in a small Bengal village to the chandeliers of Delhi. I am comfortable at the height where destiny has put me.” This was an eloquent Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India, talking about his arrival in Delhi and his subsequent political success. No, doubt destiny plays a vital role and this has seen him reach the heights as a politician. But his physical height is proving to be of some bother wherever he goes to deliver a lecture. Generally, podiums do not have stretchable stands, they have fixed heights and Pranabda feels uncomfortable as he is short. So, whenever he stands up to deliver a lecture, one cannot see his face comfortably. Now the President of India’s staff has found a solution to this pressing problem. Wherever Pranabda goes to deliver a lecture, a special one-foot high wooden stand is put for him to stand on. The President’s staff carries this wooden stand along with them wherever he goes. One can see from far that Pranabda’s physical height now coincides with his political height.

My Take

My Take ...

 

In the last 15 years since Sheila Dikshit took over, Delhi has undergone a metamorphosis. The influx from Bangladesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh has changed the dynamics of India’s capital pushing the original inhabitants of urban and rural Delhi to the margins. Delhi no more belongs only to Punjabis, Jats and Gujjars.

 

The moment you step into Delhi it looks like a megapolis of flyovers, high rises and chaotic traffic. It is emerging as another Mumbai where small-time mafia play footsie with the political elite to grab a pie in illegal constructions, land grabbing, drug supplies and crime syndicates. The building mafia is ruling the roost in all the 70 assembly constituencies of Delhi.

 

Dikshit has groomed East Delhi obviously for her prince charming Sandeep Dikshit and has been forced to splurge on South Delhi due to the overwhelming presence of the ruling class there. She has turned a blind eye to North, Central and West Delhi, forcing a large electorate to live in inhuman conditions. There is simmering tension in these regions denied development.

 

Delhi is being kicked around like an orphan, with neither the central nor state government prepared to take responsibility for the mess they have created in the last 60 years. There has been no systematic development plan to decongest the city or provide for the teeming millions who have made it their home in the last few decades. The mushrooming of jhuggi clusters is a sad reflection on the state of affairs.

 

The Centre has created a mirage in the name of Delhi Assembly by not conceding to it administrative control over land and police. It has consistently ignored Delhi’ites’ clamour for full statehood causing further disillusionment with the ruling clique...Read More