Chinese daily flays India over rapes

India‘s “inefficient and unequal democracy” cannot provide answers to social evils and that is why angry citizens are taking to the streets, an influential Chinese newspaper has said.

“The Indian democratic system seemingly can’t solve these problems but provides legitimacy for them,” the Global Times said in a commentary after the death of a 23-year-old who had been gang-raped and tortured in Delhi.

“India’s democracy is now manipulated by a small number of elite and interest groups. This easily ignites massive grass-roots protests like the current ones and the anti-corruption rallies in August.”

The street protests in New Delhi offered a lesson to China, said the Global Times write-up by Lin Xu.

“Six decades ago, China and India maintained a similar development level, but there has been a widening gap after China explored reform and opening-up,” it said.

“Analysts hold that India is about a decade behind China in economic development and three decades behind in social development.”

But the Times noted that as the world’s biggest democratic country, India was seen in the West as having great potential due to its superior system.

“But an inefficient and unequal democracy is unlikely to be able to mobilise this potential.

“The Indian government is criticized for having reacted slowly and India’s law enforcement system is considered sloppy.

“Rape cases in India have a conviction rate of as low as 26% even when they reach court. Moreover, the traditional social culture that devalues women should be condemned.

“Democracy should ensure effective public participation in national politics and supervision of the government. Efficient democracy means more than electoral politics,” it said.

Global Times, which represents hardline thinking in China, went on to say that the abuse of women in India was shocking.

It quoted statistics to say that 572 rapes were recorded in New Delhi in 2011, and rape cases went up seven times in the past 40 years.

“Over the past few weeks, violence against women in India received prominent attention worldwide, most of which dwelt on the root causes of the problem.”

Delhi gang-rape survivor’s condition worsens

Mount Elizabeth Hospital

 

The condition of the 23-year-old victim of a gruesome gang-rape in Delhi, admitted in a super-speciality hospital here yesterday, has taken a “turn for the worse” tonight with signs of severe organ failure.

“As of 9 pm (6:30 PM IST), the patient’s condition has taken a turn for the worse. Her vital signs are deteriorating with signs of severe organ failure,” Dr Kelvin Loh, Chief Executive Officer, Mount Elizabeth Hospital said in a statement.

“This is despite doctors fighting for her life including putting her on maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as stimulants which maximise her body’s capability to fight infections,” the CEO said.

“Her family members have been informed that her condition has deteriorated and they are currently by her side to encourage and comfort her,” he added.

The statement said the hospital’s medical team continues to “provide all possible treatment and care”, to the victim, who was air-dashed from the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi for specialised treatment.

He said the the High Commission of India is with her and her family at this critical time.

The girl was gang-raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus on December 16, triggering massive protests across India and prompting the government to airlift her to the leading multi-organ transplant speciality hospital.

She had undergone three surgeries at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, where she remained on ventilator support during most part of the treatment. Doctors removed major part of her intestines which had become gangrenous.

Earlier in the day, the security was tightened at the hospital, favoured by well-heeled patients, with each visitor screened before being allowed into the ICU.

The victim’s father, who flew in with her, said he was reassured that the best is being done for his daughter.

The High Commission of India has assigned a liaison officer with the family.

The girl was shifted to the hospital here following what the Indian government said a “purely a medical decision” taken by doctors.

Amnesty asks India to commute Guru’s death sentence

The human rights watchdog, Amnesty International has expressed concern over the fate of mercy petitions including that of a Kashmir youth, Afzal Guru whose sentence, according to the Amnesty, by a special court under the Prevention of Terrorism Act does not conform with India’s obligations under international human rights law.

Amnesty International Chief Executive, G Anantha Padmanabhan in a letter to the Indian President, Pranab Mukherjee, on Thursday asked New Delhi to abolish death penalty and stop further executions after Ajmal Kasab and commute death sentences to imprisonments.

Referring to the execution of Ajmal Kasab, the Amnesty chief executive said that “by executing him, the Indian government has violated the internationally recognized right to life and signalled a step away from the regional and global trends towards abolition of the death penalty.”

Anantha Padmanabhan said Amnesty is concerned about the manner in which Indian authorities carried out Kasab’s execution on 21 November, 2012. “A notification by Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, published on the same day, stated that you had rejected his petition for mercy on 5 November”.

“According to reports, Ajmal Kasab himself was only informed of this rejection on 12 November. It is unclear whether he was aware of possibility of seeking a review of the decision. Information about the rejection of the petition for mercy and the date of execution was not made available to the public until after the execution had been carried out. Authorities in India have made public claims that this lack of public announcement and secrecy surrounding the execution were to avoid intervention by human rights activists,” he said.

“Transparency on use of death penalty is among fundamental safeguards of due process that prevent the arbitrary deprivation of life. Making information public with regard to legislation providing for the death penalty as well as its implementation allows for an assessment of whether fair trial and other international standards are being respected. In resolution 2005/59, adopted on 20 April 2005, the UN Commission on Human Rights called upon all states that still maintain the death penalty “to make available to the public information with regard to the imposition of the death penalty and to any scheduled execution,” the Amnesty official added.

“Amnesty is disappointing that the Indian State has chosen to carry out Ajmal Kasab’s execution in this manner,” he said.

“Amnesty is concerned about a further nine petitions for mercy involving 14 individuals that have been sent to the (Indian) Ministry of Home Affairs for consideration for a second time, which we understand is usual practice when there is a new minister in office. On December 10, 2012, Indian Home Minister told reporters he will review the petitions before him after the end of the winter session of Parliament. One of these petitions concerns Mohammad Afzal Guru who was sentenced to death for his alleged involvement in the 2001 Parliament attack. Mohammad Afzal Guru was tried by a special court under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Amnesty has found that these trials did not conform with India’s obligations under international human rights law,” Anantha Padmanabhan said.

He said Amnesty opposes death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. “It opposes it as a violation of the right to life as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.”

He said the use of death penalty in India is riddled with systemic flaws. Of particular concern are: the broad definition of “terrorist acts” for which the death penalty can be imposed; insufficient safeguards on arrest; obstacles to confidential communication with counsel; insufficient independence of special courts from executive power; insufficient safeguards for the presumption of innocence; provisions for discretionary closed trials; sweeping provisions to keep secret the identity of witnesses; and limits on the right to review by a higher tribunal.

“On behalf of Amnesty International, I urge Indian president to commute all death sentences to terms of imprisonment Immediately halt plans to carry out further executions, and establish an official moratorium on executions as the first step to abolishing the death penalty,” Anantha Padmanabhan said.

He said wherever mercy petitions have been rejected, the government should respect the practice of promptly informing the individual, his/ her lawyers, his/ her family, of the decision, reasons for the decision, and proposed date of execution, as well as the public, of any scheduled execution.

Pak Cricket Board chief sends Thackeray ‘get well soon’ message

Pakistan‘s cricket board chairman Zaka Ashraf on Thursday sent a “get well soon” message to Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, who is in critical condition in Mumbai.

The health condition of the Shiv Sena chief turned critical Wednesday night.

“I have sent a message of get well soon to Mr Bal Thackeray,” Ashraf said.

“Our religion and our Prophet Mohammad taught us that we should wish everyone good health and life and following that I have wished him well and sent him a bouquet,” Ashraf was quoted as having said by Pakistani media.

Thackeray has demanded that the Indian government cancel next month’s tour by the Pakistani cricket team.

The 86-year-old said that sporting ties should not revived until Pakistan brings the perpetrators of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to justice.

However, the Indian government earlier this month gave the go-ahead for a tour of two Twenty20 and three one-day internationals to commence in December-January — the first between the arch-rivals in five years.

IANS

UPA Govt is ‘Cheating’ Youths by False Job Promises: Modi

 

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress-led UPA government of making false promises of providing jobs to unemployed youths. “See the Congress manifesto, it says we will give jobs to people from each family. In 2009, they said one crore jobs will be given. Has it happened?,” Modi told a gathering at the Swami Vivekanand Youth Convention in Patan.

“Why are they cheating youths like this? If someone cheats, we cannot forgive. It is not our nature to cheat,” he said.

Modi was reacting to state Congress unit’s announcement that it would provide jobs to 10 lakh youths in the state, if voted to power.

Elections in Gujarat are scheduled later this year.

“The government in Delhi is cheating the youths of Gujarat, while we are bringing industrial development in the state,” Modi said.

“As per GoI survey estimates, 72 percent of jobs created in India are coming from Gujarat,” he said to assert his viewpoint.

“Please don’t have expectations from Delhi.”

“Over 3.5 lakh people have got jobs in last one decade rule of Gujarat government. One lakh more will get jobs,” he said.

If any youth wishes to start his own venture, the Gujarat government will back him for providing bank loans, Modi announced.

“These are not small decisions. It’s not my courage but the faith I have in you. Our youngsters will not do wrong…I have the faith,” Modi said stressing that his government had faith in the state’s youth force.

Modi also criticised the Centre for putting a cap of six cylinders per family, saying it “lacked vision on the issue”.

If the Gujarat government was permitted to lay gas pipelines it would had resulted in saving five crore LPG cylinders, that would have considerably brought down subsidy burden on exchequer, Modi said.

He also accused the Centre of delaying expansion of state gas grid network by imposing a ban on laying of gas pipelines.

“Thinking Modi‘s clout will grow, the Centre imposed a ban two years ago on gas pipeline laying in Gujarat, saying only they (Centre) can do this,” he alleged.The decision has been challenged in the Supreme Court, he said.

According to Modi, the move would have let people avail cheaper LPG and could have reduced subsidy burden on the country’s exchequer.Comparing the Centre and state’s policy on LPG, Modi said, “They decided to give six gas cylinders per family as the subsidy burden falls heavy, but we laid 2,200 km pipeline network at a cost of 10,000 crore and provided cheap gas to seven lakh households, a first of its kind initiative in India.”

The Gujarat government targets to provide 20 lakh households with piped gas connections, Modi added.

Source: PTI

 

 

 

 

We should abolish Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes completely

The white paper on black money produced by the ministry of Finance and presented to parliament during the last session has evoked a mixed response.

One of the major criticisms it has faced is that it has mixed up domestic black money and illicit money kept in tax havens abroad by Indians. These two need to be dealt with in different ways. Some part of the domestic black money is used in productive activities like real estate, trade, construction, mining, transport, restaurants and other businesses. The illicit money kept in tax havens abroad is, by and large, not used for domestic purposes unless it is round-tripped through share markets or foreign direct investment (FDI) to domestic operations.

Domestic black money is a no-confidence motion on the government of India while illicit money kept abroad is a no-confidence vote on India itself – its stability and its people.

Domestic black money is primarily dependent on the cash economy and tries to avoid formal transactions through banks due to fear of being captured by electronic systems and the tax authorities. So the holding of black money is usually in the form of cash and transactions undertaken in cash. This implies that substantial portions have to be kept in high denominational currency, since storing or carrying huge quantities of cash in small denominations is relatively difficult.

In India, if we take only currency notes (and coins), we have the lowest denomination at Re 1 (of course, the Rs 1 currency note has been replaced with coins) and the highest at Rs 1,000 – which implies that the differential is 1,000 times between lowest and highest pieces if currency. In the US, the most popular highest denomination is $100 – and the differential is 100 only.

Not only that, we find from Table 1 below that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seems to favour printing higher denominations currency even though the mass of poor people may transact only in lower denominations. We find that in 2005-06, around 57 percent of the total amount of Rs 43 lakh crore of coins and notes introduced in circulation comprised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. But by 2010-11, the share of the higher notes had become 79 percent of the total value of Rs 95 lakh crore.

This implies that more and more of the denominations in circulation are skewed to higher value notes when the mass of people may need lower value denominations. The very high denominations also facilitate transactions in black money.

If the government wants to reduce domestic black money, it should withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from circulation, and replace them with lower denominations such as Rs 100 and Rs 50. This can be undertaken in an orderly fashion over a period of say three to four months and all those who possess the higher denominations can exchange it with banking channels for lower denominations. It will automatically bring a huge amount of the funds kept in these denominations into the banking channels.

When this happens, the government can decide the nature of penalties to be levied if the amount has not been declared earlier for tax purposes. For instance, for the year 2010-11, nearly Rs 75 lakh crore would be converted from Rs 500-1,000 notes to new Rs 100s, etc. Of course, an adequate number of new Rs 50-100 notes should be made available from the operational point of view for this conversion.

Another issue about holding cash in our context is this. The black money report says: “As of now there are no legal restrictions to keeping very large amounts of cash with oneself or transporting it from one place to another. One is neither required to report it nor provide any explanation for it. There have been suggestions that the government may consider amending existing laws, including the Coinage Act, 2011, the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, FEMA, and the Indian Penal Code, or enacting an entirely new statute aimed at regulating the possession and transportation of cash above a particular threshold limit. This may include creating a limitation on cash holdings for private use, as well as provisions for confiscation of cash held beyond such prescribed limits. However, such laws need a broader political consensus to emerge for their acceptance in Parliament.”

We find that political parties do disburse cash to voters prior to elections and for which a huge amount of cash is held and transported from one location to another. For instance, one report suggests that in the recent Andhra Pradesh byelections cash valued at as high as Rs 32 crore was seized prior to the polls. These were presumably meant for distribution to voters.

An earlier report pertaining to last year’s elections in Tamil Nadu suggested that Rs 24 crore in cash was seized by election officials.

There are many other reports which give us a clue that cash is held and transported in huge quantities not only for bribery at elections, but for other black money transactions. It is important that we bring in the necessary changes in the Coinage Act, 2011, and other relevant acts to make holding of cash above a threshold level, say Rs 10 lakh, punishable. This threshold can be arrived at by the Reserve Bank after taking into account the requirements for genuine cash transactions in the economy like marriage and religious ceremonies, wage disbursals in construction activities, etc. This limit should not be applicable to obviously banking institutions and corporates having construction/project activities where substantial amounts of cash disbursals take place.

In developed economies like the US, there are no restrictions per se in terms of holding or transporting cash domestically, unless it is suspected to be drug money. Even there, transactions beyond $10,000 in cash are expected to be notified to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by shops and establishments. Of course, there are restrictions on the amount of dollars one can transport during immigration/emigration. But since the US is a well developed economy, most of the transactions are conducted through plastic cards or banking channels.

In our country, cash transactions are more to avoid taxes and generate black money. The higher the denomination, the easier it is to transact and transport. Taking into account our situation, we should evolve laws to prohibit the holding of cash beyond a threshold level and this will go a long way in preventing disbursals for black transactions.

These two steps – demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes and creating a threshold limit for cash holdings – will facilitate a reduction in domestic black money transactions. These decisions will not eliminate domestic black money, but will help reduce it to some extent. Probity in public life comes in an incremental fashion since we have reached the nadir. Are our parliamentarians and other opinion makers ready for at least incremental steps to reduce domestic black money?

By R Vaidyanathan

R Vaidyanathan is professor of finance at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. These views are personal                   

 

 

 

Worst Indian Government Websites

India is boasting about its growth towards an e-economy. More than anybody else it’s the Government who promote this so-called e-Governance. There is no doubt it will make our life easier. No more long queues to pay the bills, no more delays in getting the services done and so on. It sounds really nice but the bitter fact is, once you visit these government websites which are intended to provide you services, you will feel the traditional system was much better. These websites are cluttered with navigational issues, design, usability flaws and are hardly updated.

It is really shame to a country, which has uncountable number of technology talents and where even a 15 year old kid can develop websites which are far better in usability and design than these cluttered Government websites.

Here we list some of the most unfriendly websites owned by the Indian Government.  

IRCTC

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation website might be the one, which is better compared to the rest of the list. It is supposedly the first government website that launched a mobile application for easy access through the phones. But as many say, the website is not free from problems. The first thing is the content load. It will eat a considerable amount of your time for logging in, especially in the morning time. The site is not optimized for all types of internet connections, so irrespective of your connection speed, it will be difficult to effectively ‘search,’ book or cancel tickets. By the time you clear the log-in hurdles and reach the final step to book a ticket, you will have probably missed out the available seats.

BSNL

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s website seems to be faster than the earlier one and is comparatively clutter free. But the content in the website is poorly sorted. So if you have to get particular information, be prepared to traverse through the entire site and the countless number of tabs which keeps on increasing as you go in. And nevertheless to say, the design of the website is so poor with a wide array of color schemes and distracting BSNL flashes, which runs on top.

Indian Passport

Well, we know getting a passport is not an easy thing. But if you tried to apply for one through the Indian Passport website handled by the ministry of external affairs, you will feel it as the worst decision ever made. It is a herculean task to follow the countless instructions and fill the details so precisely. Consider the worst case scenario, if anything happens with your system during the process, you will have to repeat the lengthy process all over, whether it is for taking a new passport or renewing your old one.

MTNL

Well, do not even try to access website of the State-run MTNL network. The site usually takes more than five minutes to load and even if it’s loaded, it will surprise you with the looks of a website coming from the early 90’s.

Even though the website contains almost all the needed information, it has got serious navigational problems. The advertisements running on the site hides information and links on the drop down menu.

Environment Ministry

The environment ministry’s website seems to be fine, except the un-aligned boxes of information in the home page.  But once you go further inside the home page, you will get information which is more than five months old. It has got serious update issues, mainly the press and events section where the people usually look for information, were last updated more than a year ago.

Department of Health and Family Welfare

 

This website probably is the most shameful one. The website is run under the ministry of health and family welfare and has more than 60 active links. But the problem is most of these links lead to pages which greets you with the information “coming soon,” or will redirect you to some files or links outside the network.

National Disaster Management Authority

The Governments National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) website is itself a disaster. The website is an extreme example of poor design with the tabs and names overlapping with one other and the ill designed cursors. The top portion of the website is covered with blurry flash which has unrecognizable next and previous buttons. It looks like the government must have a disaster management authority, especially for all its websites.

Agricultural Marketing Information Network- Ministry

Of Agriculture

The website Agmarknet, of the agriculture ministry says “A step towards Globalization of Indian Agriculture.” The website allows you to check the daily prices for the anything from vegetables to cereals and also offer guidelines for agricultural projects and other information from the ministry. The interesting thing is that the website will give you same feel of entering a real market, with things spread all over the place.

Indian Two-wheelers that We Miss

More than 50 yrs of its existence in the Indian automobile industry, two wheelers has become more popular commuter in Indian roads. Today, India is the second largest two-wheeler producer in the world. Even though, after the invention of motorcycle in 1885 by Gottlieb Daimler in German, it had taken seven decades to reach India. Now, after China, India stands next in two wheeler production and in sales next to Japan. Two-wheeler industry has witnessed a spectacular growth in India.  

As Indian government needed powerful and reliable motorcycles for its Army and police to patrol in the craggy and rocky highways, the first batch of 350cc Royal Enfield Bullets entered in India. Even before, in 1949 Automobile Products of India had launched in India. We are here today with more efficient and advance technology bicycles for the ease of our travelling. When we look back to the older times, those two-wheelers were symbolized the luxurious life and the Bullet was only a dream for most youngsters. Check back to the old Indian two-wheeler trends which we lost today.

Lambretta

The Italian born motorscooter, Lambretta was bought by Indian government immediately after independence. Incorporated with Automobile Products of India, they began assembling Innocenti-built Lambretta scooters. And after getting the licence of the model 2 Li150 series in the early sixties, India started manufacturing its own. After Scooter India Ltd acquired the brand name Li150 had renamed as Lamby 150.  Lampy Polo was the last remodeled version by API. After Scooter India Ltd bought the entire manufacturing rights of the last Innocenti-built Lambretta, GP 150, they had renamed it as ‘Vijay Super’. After British Leyland bought, they closed manufacturing units. Today, the brand name Lambratta/ Lambro owned by SIL.

 

Rajdoot 350

The Yamaha had come up with Rajdoot 350 in the year 1983 to compete with Royal Enfield Bullet 350 which was the biggest capacity bike in India at the time. The bike was manufacture by Escort Groups. Due to its high fuel consumption Rajdoot could not survive in Indian market for long time. By 1990, company had ended up the production. Rajdoot 350 was also known as RD 350. As Today the bike history tells the story “Yamaha once upon a time were found in India with a 350cc two stroke engine that roamed on the streets” as it was mentioned in the website indiandrives.com.

Yezdi Classic

Ideal Jawa Ltd, the French company had produced Yezdi classic and it initially known as Jawa. Yezdi was the name of craze in India for two decades beginning from 1960s. Even Bollywood featured Yezdi in most of the films of those years. Competing with Bullet bikes, Yezdi could win young hearts. Both the bikes stand as synonymous for majestic. Manufactured without a plastic or fiberglass, Yezdi called as the all-metal bike.  From the year 1978, Yezdi was leadying in motorbike market. Even today, this two stroke 250 cc air cooled Yezdi bike has so many fans around.

Hero Honda CD 100

The joint venture of Hero India and Honda of Japan came up with Hero Honda CD 100 in 1985. It became popular cost-centric market for being the best mileage bike. It was a big hit in India where CD 100 suited for Indian men’s pocket with less fuel consumption. It charted in the executive class. With its affordable prize and durability, Hero Honda CD 100 was known as the decent bike where Yamaha stands for younger generation. This 100 cc air cooled and single cylinder bike was powered with 4 stroke engine. Today this joint venture Hero Honda has become the largest two-wheeler manufacturer.

Bajaj Chetak

Bajaj Chetak was termed as ‘humara bajaj’ in India. It was one of the popular Indian-made motor scooter by Bajaj Auto. It was even affordable for millions of Indian families in the 1980s. Based on the Italian Vespa Sprint, Chetak was manufactured in India. The name Chetak was after the legendary horse of Indian warrior Rana Pratap Singh. The competition with advanced model bikes and cars, Chetak lost its ground in 2000s. And it ended up the production in 2009. Its chief competitor was LML NV in the earlier days.

Related articles

• The world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer considers Ducati purchase (gizmag.com)