The Correspondent
The Correspondent
New Delhi
ph: 9810929963
editor
The complete magazine
US beer company using Lord Ganesha to sell its products
A beer producer in the United States in using the pictures of Lord Ganesha on its beer bottles with utter disregard to the sentiments of the Hindu community.
According to enviormentalist Naresh Kadyan, criminal and legal action should be initiated against Lost Coast Brewery & Café for hurting Hindu's sentiments and believes.
Kadyan has urged the MPs and MLAs to lauch a protest with the US government and has urged the company to remove Lord Ganesha image from beer bottles at once with out any further delay.
Delhi cops rape woman
Delhi cops rape woman
There is no way that our policemen can be tamed. They openly indulge in corruption, intimidation, harassment and feel they are law unto themselves.
Every now and then you hear cases of torture of inmates, third degree methods used by the cops, torture deaths, encounter and even rape by policemen …. from all parts of the country. Should civil society allow the police to get away with murder of democracy and freedom of the people. What should be done?
Police rape in Delhi police station
SHO Inderpuri Pradeep Kumar and four policemen brutally raped a woman in the police station in the Delhi. "They put me inside a lock up and started hurling abuses and thrashed me. Then they took me upstairs where the SHO and four other uniformed men raped me. I can recognise them by face," the woman said.
The cops said they registered a case against the five men on duty. "We have registered a case of gangrape against the five policemen after recording the statement of the victim," Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.
Chief minister Sheila Dikshit said it was shameful if such an incident had happened. She directed the Delhi Women's Commission to probe the allegations.
Two cops took the woman to the police station on pretext on investigations regarding her husband who has a record. The SHO and four others then raped the woman.
Click here and express your views.
Pakistan is world T20 champion
After 17 years, Pakistan picked up a cricket title after beating Sri Lanka.
They comfortably chased 139 for two and won with eight deliveries to spare.
Shahid Afridi's unbeaten half-century (54 from 40 deliveries) ensured the title.
Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat. Both teams retained the line-ups of their semi-finals.
Flash - Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray shifted from the ICU to room 1123. According to hospital sources in Mumbai, he is doing fine.
Chintan over, party begins
The BJP is again in the news and for the wrong reasons.
Internal war is not yet over... as after the two day brain-storming, the BJP had nothing to tell - except that they stood for collective responsibility.
BJP president Rajnath Singh had in the morning made it clear that after the incidents of Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shorie, it will not accept any more non-sense.
"Our party president owned up the moral responsibility for the defeat. We all went to Rajnathji and expressed our views that the responsibility should be collective in victory of defeat and no individual should be made the target," M V Naidu said.
Where is Maulana Masood Azhar?
Maulana Masood Azhar, the most wanted terror head, who India generously released after terrorists hijacked an Air India plane in 2000, is likely be in hiding in a military garrison near Pakistan army headquarters.
Azhar, the founder of the pro-Kashmir jehadi group, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) is running his terror outfit and living in Pakistan under the protection of the Inter-Services Intelligence in Rawalpindi.
Interestingly, the Pakistani authorities are denying that Azhar was arrested from the Sialkot in Punjab. Officials have said his whereabouts were unknown and he may have fled to the trouble-ridden Waziristan region.
Following the June 17 arrest of five JeM activists from Punjab’s Sialkot district, there were rumours that Azhar was also one of the arrested terrorist, whom the Indian government wants extradited.
UK and China together with Pak
The sources pointed out that earlier this month, the Indian government’s efforts in the United Nations to place sanctions on Maulana Masood Azhar received a major setback, after London surprisingly joined hands with Beijing to block New Delhi’s request for proscribing the JeM chief under the United Nations’ Al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions resolution No 1267. The sources claimed that this would not have been possible had Britain and China not been persuaded by Pakistan government to do so. India had wanted Azhar to be included in the sanctions list just as the Jamaatul Daawa and its head Hafiz Mohammed Saeed along with other LeT operatives were proscribed after 26/11.
PM's PR exercise
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Pakistani president A A Zardari in Russia from where his now-famous remarks to impress Indians hit the headlines of newspapers and TV channels.
On his way back, he met journalists flying with him and interacted with them.
Often what you read in the newspapers, are simple, standard, bureaucratic remarks of the PM. Please compare what he actually said with the newspapers reports in the morning.
To read the full interaction of PM with the media on his flight back to New Delhi, click Here!
Gail profit up by 8 percent
GAIL India posted eight percent profit and expects its profit to rise at least seven percent in the current fiscal.
R K Goyal also said the company was planning to raise Rs 500 crore through a bond issue by December, as part of its annual requirement for at least Rs 3000 crore debt for the next three years.
For the 2008-09 fiscal, the company's profit after tax rose 8 per cent to Rs 2,803.7 crore, from Rs 2,601.46 crore in the previous year.
GAIL turnover should exceed Rs 30,000 crore in the year to March 2010, Goyal said. Last week, GAIL posted a 13 per cent drop in March quarter net profit to Rs 630 crore.
The low profit margin is due to increase subsidy, decrease in price of polymer and implementation of pay commission report, CMD U D Choubey said.
GAIL dominates India's pipeline sector with its 7,000-km network. It has set a target of transmitting about 95 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) natural gas in the year to March 2010. "For the running year, our results should be fairly good," Goyal said.
Higher sales volume and a rise in polymer prices on the back of firmer crude prices should drive revenue and profit growth, he said.
Choubey admitted that the earlier GAIL had to postpone its Friday press conference as the board meeting could not get over on time.
No Narco, says Patil
Member of Parliament Padamsinh Patil refused to undergo any narco test as he had certain health issues.
The MP, who was in the National Congress Party, was in CBI custody. The PC was extended till June 20 today afternoon (Sunday). Patil refused to undergo any test citing medical condition.
He is in police custody for allegedly murdering his cousin, Pawanraje.
Other two accused, Mohan Shukla and Satish Mandade were given police custody till June 26 by the Panvel court in the afternoon today.
Congress 'president' promising the moon!
But why not have zero tolerance towards corruption or right to live
The UPA government promised the moon, literally. President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, echoing the victory sentiment of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, laid out the work plan of the government for the next five years.
Realising that people expect nothing less than 100 development, the Congress ‘president’ virtually set the ball rolling for the Manmohan Singh government.
Though after the five year term, the situation of the people is not going to change drastically, Patil made some interesting noise.
Areas of priority of the UPA government
- Enact National Food Security Act - every family below the poverty line in rural as well as urban areas will be entitled to 25 kg of rice or wheat a month at Rs. 3 a kg (We have PDS and ration shops. Ration cards are not even valid documents today – no mention of ration.)
- Enactment Women’s Reservation Bill - providing for one-third reservation in Parliament and the State legislatures (Women help the country. When we should be looking at doing away with reservation, we have another one coming our way.)
- Zero tolerance towards terrorism (Lets hope it remains that way. Last term the UPA government let off approximately 30 ULFA terrorists after the army cordoned them in a village in Assam.)
- Highest priority to the welfare of minorities (Why? Does that mean that by being a Hindu you would be deprived of welfare – forget the priority part)
- Infrastructure development (Must do)
But UPA has nothing on:
Corruption – why not have zero tolerance for corruption
Changing law that empower the police and the administration to harass the people
Right to live with dignity - empowering the people to call district magistrates and other officials to their houses to answer questions on sanitation, public health, cleanliness, education etc. Let the officials be responsible to the people. The people should give audit reports on the officials. The Annual Confidential reports of the officers should be linked to the complaints against the department of the official and set up a general performance index to be judged by the people not the superior officer.
Agree or disagree! Please write to us and express your views. Click Here.
Who is the most corrupt?
You decide, Click here and send views.
What is the corruption index? Do you feel that 90 (specify your percentage by posting your comments) percent of the system is corrupt? As our rotten system is at the nadir, there is little hope of coming out from the messs, as of now.
Be it our politicians, civil servants, police(wo)men , judges, private sector or the media – the ordinary citizen knows that corruption is all-pervading.
However, Transparency International India (TII) feels that our babus are the “second most corrupt institution in the country”.
After conducting a survey in five metros, the TII found:
- Parliament and law making bodies are corrupt (10 percent)
- Business and private sector is corrupt (9 percent)
- Judiciary is corrupt (3 percent)
Poor families continue to be punished by bribery demands. TII feels that poor have been forced to cough up Rs 900 crore bribe.
While TII comes out with these figures often, it has virtually no action plan to combat corruption. TII executive director Anupama Jha said, “The aim is first to spread awareness.”
The TII found that out of the total number of people it interviewed (unspecified), 45 percent felt that the existing channels for making corruption-related complaints were ineffective. The TII found that RTI, social audits and citizen’s charters are wonderful tools to check corruption, but most the people were unaware of these instruments.
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Editor PARTY now, party hard Move over Billu Party and Mumbai bar girls. Next time you host a party and want to add spice, call up the party girls and dance away your blues. The concept of party girls is just knocking around. Four babes brimming (and spilling) with umph - professionalism, we mean – could be at your party. (Check out the pictures.) After the success of cricket matches, thanx to the Cheer Girls, LEO One Music’s Sandeep Shuklathough it would be well-accepted by the party lovers to get the girls dance around at their dos. He launched the 'party girls'. He is unlikely to be disappointed, neither are his customers. Judge for your self. Check out the other party girls. Click here. More needs to be done to sustain growth Now that the inflation is touching a negative level, economists feel that in the coming six months inflation would creep in and touch a figure of four percent, which could be a cause of concern. In order to achieve sustained level of growth, the government needs to take certain drastic measures that would the country finances do not slump in 2009. Economists Siddharth Shankar feels that in order to achieve this level of growth in the coming six months inflation would creep in and any figure of inflation beyond four percent will be a cause of worry and the RBI will need to start to tighten the credit policy. The Finance ministry says it would be to achieve a growth rate of about seven percent. The federal government has been planning it inject some ‘great’ dose in the coming budget that would enthuse the markets. What need to be done? The government would need to give a stimulus package that is somewhere close to Rs 5 lakh crore, directly and indirectly. Ensure banks give out credit easily, at least government can ask the state owned banks to take the lead. This is one of the safest ways to provide liquidity in the system and something that can be retraced easily. Resort to lowering the interest rates to boost credit, is good only to a point. Beyond a threshold, it is in fact bad for the economy in the long run. However, these are some of the point. More needs to be done to sustain the projected growth levels. Is the Finance Ministry ready. Going places: Praful Patel with French minister in Paris Flash – Arun Jaitley resigns from BJP post BJP MP Arun Jaitley resigns from party post of general secretary after realising that his elevation to the post of leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha was too much for the other leaders to sallow. Perhaps, the BJP would now be able to start standing up on its own. Though it is not clear what Jaitley charges from his clients, but sources point out he may be charging to the tune of Rs 10 lakh per hearing. Su-30 aircraft formally inducted in Tezpur Su-30 aircraft was formally inducted at Air Force Station Tezpur in a symbolic ceremony presided over by the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, Air Marshal SK Bhan PVSM AVSM VM. Air Commodore TK Nair, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station Tezpur and other senior Air Force officers, Army officers and civil dignitaries were also present on the rain soaked Tezpur airfield on the occasion. Tezpur airfield Tezpur airfield was constructed by the British Royal Indian Air Force in 1942, during Second World War. It subsequently developed into a full fledged Air Force base in the year 1959. It lies between Bhutan, Tibet, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Ever since its inception, it has been one of the most active bases in North-East from where a variety of fixed and rotary wing aircraft have been operating. FLASH: Parliament budget session to take place from July 2 -August 7, 2009. What a ride! MoS Kamat goes country hopping - by plane, car, boat, rickshaw ... Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Gurudas Kamat visited some of the worst affected areas in South 24 Pargana District on the June 11, 2009 to inspect the damages caused by the cyclone, Aila. Kamat selected the remotest places to boost the moral of people. He had to take plane to Kolkata from Delhi. From there he went Basanti by road. The next five kilometres to Bali, the MoS went by boat. After reaching Bali, he travelled another five km by a rickshaw. Finally, after a trek of five km walk, Kamat reached Bijoynagar. During the visit he was accompanied by the Chief Post Master General of West Bengal, Chief General Manager of BSNL West Bengal and other senior officers of Postal and Telecom department. He visited the Gosaba telephone exchange, which is the nerve center of BSNL telecommunication network in this area and appreciated the efforts of the BSNL officers and staff in restoring the mobile, landline and WLL services in the area within a short time. War intensifies within BJP No point to hold post poll BJP 'Chintan Baithak' in August The turf war within Bharatiya Janata Party is getting murkier with the appointment of Arun Jaitley as the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Sushma Swaraj as deputy leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The BJP leaders went into his fighting, cribbing, cursing mode even after the 2004 ‘India Shinning’ general elections debacle. Scene 2009 is no different. Sudheendra Kulkarni in an article even has given a clean chit to himself and Jaitley including Advani and shifted the blame on others. If it wants to improve its position in Maharashtra, where polls are to take place by the end of this year, if it wants to make its presence in the Parliament formidable, with other leaders getting a chance to speak, if it wants to broaden its agenda, the party must move on. PM is rubbing it in: I am the boss and I have Madam's permission to say so After Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee objected to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh advice regarding implementing the priorities outlined in President Prathiba Patil speech, the Rajya Sabha member of Parliament who heads the UPA government, gave a stern warning to the ministers to ‘tow the line’. Singh, apparently unhappy with Mukherjee’s objections of what was seen in the PMO as an ordinary functionality publicity stunt, wrote a three-page letter to his cabinet colleagues to first consult his office before speaking out on controversial issues. The PM wants all the ministers to speak in one-voice on policy matters and especially which would attract negative publicity and where policy differences remain in the Cabinet. Singh stressed that the President’s speech in the Parliament should serve as “guiding light and main policy document of the UPA government”. Singh in no small a measure is telling the Congressmen and women who is in-charge as he gets direct instructions from 10 Janpath, his supreme commander’s bungalow. Opposition takes on Lok Sabha Speaker for false affidavit The Bharatiya Janata Party challenged Lok Sabha Speaker Meera Kumar to come clean on the allegations of giving a false affidavit to a Palwal court. Meira Kumar’s niece, Medhaavi Kirti, and her sister-in-law, Kamal alleged that the speaker had submitted a false affidavit to usurp their share in a family property. The Correspondent had exposed the Speaker on June 3, 2009. Reacting strongly to the allegations, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said Meera, given that she was holding a high Constitutional position, should come clean on the matter. He said if the allegation that the Speaker had filed a false affidavit was correct then it would be a really serious issue. Prasad also said the BJP would take up the issue at an appropriate forum in an appropriate manner after going through the charges leveled against the Speaker. In its reaction, the ruling Congress said, “Let the law take its own course.” “These are legal and personal matters which have to be determined by the judiciary on the basis of documentary evidence; judiciary is the best judge,” said the Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed. Exposé Lok Sabha Speaker Meera Kumar is exposed! When there is muck on the top, you are bound to get it into the system. When the allegations of immorality, misrepresentation and deceit are leveled against those who hold top posts in the country, what can be said of the comman chaprasi, who takes Rs 5 bucks for chai-pani. Read comments of our readers. Click Here! Meera: No comments. Babu Jagjivan Ram’s wife Indrani Devi was the co-owner of the land in Palwal. Devi died on April 14, 2002 leaving behind Medhaavi Kirti (Ex-minister of Haryana - her grand daughter) and Kamal Kumar (her daughter in-law and wife of son Suresh Kumar). In effect, the entire estate of Indrani Devi was inherited by Meera Kumar and Medhaavi Kirti. However, by some luck, Meera Kumar got her name entered as the only heir (which is the present bone of contention and a court case is going in Palwal.) Meera Kumar registered her name under mutation no 509 where as the land was bought under two mutations – 932 and 509. False affidavit On March 14, 2003, Meera submitted a false affidavit in the court of SDM Palwal that she was the only legal heir and that her brother died childless. (A copy of the affidavit is available with The Correspondent.) This is a criminal offence under the IPC sections – 420/467/468/469 read with 120 B." Meera Kumar was a minister in the previous UPA regime. However, now the daughter of former Deputy Prime Minister is about to take over the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. “Can a person who has tried to cheat the law hold the office of Speaker. The office of the Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha is paramount in the Parliamentary democracy. Any blemish on this office shall put a big scar on the face of Parliament. A bearer of the office of grand august House must be above board in his or her word and spirit,” said a lawyer. No comment: Meera Kumar Lok Sabha Speaker Meera Kumar refused to comment on the issue. After becoming the Speaker, when The Correspondent asked the Congress leader in the Parliament what she had to say on her false affidavit in Pawal court, Meera said she would answer the question later. “I will hold another press conference and let you know,” she said. Speaker of the Nation! Meera Kumar Bio-data Father's Name Late Jagjivan Ram Mother's Name Indrani Devi Date of Birth 1945-03-31 Birth Place Patna (Bihar) Maritial Status Married Date of Marriage 1968-11-29 Spouse Name Manjul Kumar No. of Children 1 son, 2 daughters State Name Bihar Party Name Indian National Congress (INC) 
BJP second-rung leaders just couldn’t stand being meted out step-fatherly treatment. Party godfather L K Advani just promoted the lawyer, who represents many big companies in the courts. According to sources, Advani did so without keeping the aspirations of leaders, who contest elections or who stand for something worthwhile, in mind.
A piece of land measuring 99 kilas and 4 marlas was bought by Babu Jagjivan Ram from the compensation proceeds given by Chandwa Housing Board on acquiring several acres of his ancestral land situated in his village Chandwa in Bihar’s Arah district.
PARTY now, party hard
Move over Billu Party and Mumbai bar girls. Next time you host a party and want to add spice, call up the party girls and dance away your blues.
The concept of party girls is just knocking around. Four babes brimming (and spilling) with umph - professionalism, we mean – could be at your party. (Check out the pictures.)
After the success of cricket matches, thanx to the Cheer Girls, LEO One Music’s Sandeep Shuklathough it would be well-accepted by the party lovers to get the girls dance around at their dos. He launched the 'party girls'. He is unlikely to be disappointed, neither are his customers. Judge for your self.
Check out the other party girls. Click here.
More needs to be done to sustain growth
Now that the inflation is touching a negative level, economists feel that in the coming six months inflation would creep in and touch a figure of four percent, which could be a cause of concern.
In order to achieve sustained level of growth, the government needs to take certain drastic measures that would the country finances do not slump in 2009.
Economists Siddharth Shankar feels that in order to achieve this level of growth in the coming six months inflation would creep in and any figure of inflation beyond four percent will be a cause of worry and the RBI will need to start to tighten the credit policy.
The Finance ministry says it would be to achieve a growth rate of about seven percent. The federal government has been planning it inject some ‘great’ dose in the coming budget that would enthuse the markets.
What need to be done?
The government would need to give a stimulus package that is somewhere close to Rs 5 lakh crore, directly and indirectly.
Ensure banks give out credit easily, at least government can ask the state owned banks to take the lead. This is one of the safest ways to provide liquidity in the system and something that can be retraced easily.
Resort to lowering the interest rates to boost credit, is good only to a point. Beyond a threshold, it is in fact bad for the economy in the long run.
However, these are some of the point. More needs to be done to sustain the projected growth levels. Is the Finance Ministry ready.
Going places: Praful Patel with French minister in Paris
Flash – Arun Jaitley resigns from BJP post
BJP MP Arun Jaitley resigns from party post of general secretary after realising that his elevation to the post of leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha was too much for the other leaders to sallow.
BJP second-rung leaders just couldn’t stand being meted out step-fatherly treatment. Party godfather L K Advani just promoted the lawyer, who represents many big companies in the courts. According to sources, Advani did so without keeping the aspirations of leaders, who contest elections or who stand for something worthwhile, in mind.
Perhaps, the BJP would now be able to start standing up on its own.
Though it is not clear what Jaitley charges from his clients, but sources point out he may be charging to the tune of Rs 10 lakh per hearing.
Su-30 aircraft formally inducted in Tezpur
Su-30 aircraft was formally inducted at Air Force Station Tezpur in a symbolic ceremony presided over by the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, Air Marshal SK Bhan PVSM AVSM VM.
Air Commodore TK Nair, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station Tezpur and other senior Air Force officers, Army officers and civil dignitaries were also present on the rain soaked Tezpur airfield on the occasion.
Tezpur airfield
Tezpur airfield was constructed by the British Royal Indian Air Force in 1942, during Second World War. It subsequently developed into a full fledged Air Force base in the year 1959. It lies between Bhutan, Tibet, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Ever since its inception, it has been one of the most active bases in North-East from where a variety of fixed and rotary wing aircraft have been operating.
FLASH: Parliament budget session to take place from July 2 -August 7, 2009.
What a ride! MoS Kamat goes country hopping - by plane, car, boat, rickshaw ...
Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Gurudas Kamat visited some of the worst affected areas in South 24 Pargana District on the June 11, 2009 to inspect the damages caused by the cyclone, Aila.
Kamat selected the remotest places to boost the moral of people. He had to take plane to Kolkata from Delhi. From there he went Basanti by road. The next five kilometres to Bali, the MoS went by boat. After reaching Bali, he travelled another five km by a rickshaw. Finally, after a trek of five km walk, Kamat reached Bijoynagar.
During the visit he was accompanied by the Chief Post Master General of West Bengal, Chief General Manager of BSNL West Bengal and other senior officers of Postal and Telecom department.
He visited the Gosaba telephone exchange, which is the nerve center of BSNL telecommunication network in this area and appreciated the efforts of the BSNL officers and staff in restoring the mobile, landline and WLL services in the area within a short time.
War intensifies within BJP
No point to hold post poll BJP 'Chintan Baithak' in August
The turf war within Bharatiya Janata Party is getting murkier with the appointment of Arun Jaitley as the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Sushma Swaraj as deputy leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
- Yashwant Sinha resigns from all party posts
- Jaswant Singh questions L K Advani's decision to make Jaitley as the LoP
- Rajnath Singh defends his position
- A three-member panel set up in the party which is on a fact finding mission on why the party's results were not up to the expectations
The BJP leaders went into his fighting, cribbing, cursing mode even after the 2004 ‘India Shinning’ general elections debacle. Scene 2009 is no different.
Sudheendra Kulkarni in an article even has given a clean chit to himself and Jaitley including Advani and shifted the blame on others.
If it wants to improve its position in Maharashtra, where polls are to take place by the end of this year, if it wants to make its presence in the Parliament formidable, with other leaders getting a chance to speak, if it wants to broaden its agenda, the party must move on.
PM is rubbing it in: I am the boss and I have Madam's permission to say so
After Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee objected to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh advice regarding implementing the priorities outlined in President Prathiba Patil speech, the Rajya Sabha member of Parliament who heads the UPA government, gave a stern warning to the ministers to ‘tow the line’.
Singh, apparently unhappy with Mukherjee’s objections of what was seen in the PMO as an ordinary functionality publicity stunt, wrote a three-page letter to his cabinet colleagues to first consult his office before speaking out on controversial issues.
The PM wants all the ministers to speak in one-voice on policy matters and especially which would attract negative publicity and where policy differences remain in the Cabinet.
Singh stressed that the President’s speech in the Parliament should serve as “guiding light and main policy document of the UPA government”.
Singh in no small a measure is telling the Congressmen and women who is in-charge as he gets direct instructions from 10 Janpath, his supreme commander’s bungalow.
Opposition takes on Lok Sabha Speaker for false affidavit
The Bharatiya Janata Party challenged Lok Sabha Speaker Meera Kumar to come clean on the allegations of giving a false affidavit to a Palwal court.
Meira Kumar’s niece, Medhaavi Kirti, and her sister-in-law, Kamal alleged that the speaker had submitted a false affidavit to usurp their share in a family property. The Correspondent had exposed the Speaker on June 3, 2009.
Reacting strongly to the allegations, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said Meera, given that she was holding a high Constitutional position, should come clean on the matter.
He said if the allegation that the Speaker had filed a false affidavit was correct then it would be a really serious issue.
Prasad also said the BJP would take up the issue at an appropriate forum in an appropriate manner after going through the charges leveled against the Speaker.
In its reaction, the ruling Congress said, “Let the law take its own course.” “These are legal and personal matters which have to be determined by the judiciary on the basis of documentary evidence; judiciary is the best judge,” said the Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed.
Exposé
Lok Sabha Speaker Meera Kumar is exposed!
When there is muck on the top, you are bound to get it into the system. When the allegations of immorality, misrepresentation and deceit are leveled against those who hold top posts in the country, what can be said of the comman chaprasi, who takes Rs 5 bucks for chai-pani.
Read comments of our readers. Click Here!
Meera: No comments.
A piece of land measuring 99 kilas and 4 marlas was bought by Babu Jagjivan Ram from the compensation proceeds given by Chandwa Housing Board on acquiring several acres of his ancestral land situated in his village Chandwa in Bihar’s Arah district.
Babu Jagjivan Ram’s wife Indrani Devi was the co-owner of the land in Palwal. Devi died on April 14, 2002 leaving behind Medhaavi Kirti (Ex-minister of Haryana - her grand daughter) and Kamal Kumar (her daughter in-law and wife of son Suresh Kumar).
In effect, the entire estate of Indrani Devi was inherited by Meera Kumar and Medhaavi Kirti. However, by some luck, Meera Kumar got her name entered as the only heir (which is the present bone of contention and a court case is going in Palwal.)
Meera Kumar registered her name under mutation no 509 where as the land was bought under two mutations – 932 and 509.
False affidavit
On March 14, 2003, Meera submitted a false affidavit in the court of SDM Palwal that she was the only legal heir and that her brother died childless. (A copy of the affidavit is available with The Correspondent.) This is a criminal offence under the IPC sections – 420/467/468/469 read with 120 B."
Meera Kumar was a minister in the previous UPA regime. However, now the daughter of former Deputy Prime Minister is about to take over the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. “Can a person who has tried to cheat the law hold the office of Speaker. The office of the Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha is paramount in the Parliamentary democracy. Any blemish on this office shall put a big scar on the face of Parliament. A bearer of the office of grand august House must be above board in his or her word and spirit,” said a lawyer.
No comment: Meera Kumar
Lok Sabha Speaker Meera Kumar refused to comment on the issue. After becoming the Speaker, when The Correspondent asked the Congress leader in the Parliament what she had to say on her false affidavit in Pawal court, Meera said she would answer the question later. “I will hold another press conference and let you know,” she said.
Before Meera Kumar's name was finalised, the Congress was floating the name of Kishore Chand Deo.
Speaker of the Nation!
Meera Kumar
Bio-data
Father's Name | Late Jagjivan Ram |
Mother's Name | Indrani Devi |
Date of Birth | 1945-03-31 |
Birth Place | Patna (Bihar) |
Maritial Status | Married |
Date of Marriage | 1968-11-29 |
Spouse Name | Manjul Kumar |
No. of Children | 1 son, 2 daughters |
State Name | Bihar |
Party Name | Indian National Congress (INC) |
The Correspondent
New Delhi
ph: 9810929963
editor
