Will it bring in an inclusive growth?

Pranab Mukherjee has spoken through his budget proposals which, let us hope, would bring in inclusive growth, without which the country cannot claim actual progress.

A country with five million people living below the poverty line, meaning a lot of them are going hungry every day, should be able to say this country’s progress belongs to them also.

Micro financing companies would get Rs 100 crore and poor people would remain linked to that. Would they be left out of the bigger banking system?

Bringing back Rs 140 lakh crore black money stashed abroad by politicians, businessmen, and other worthies is not an easy task. The Finance Minister says some five-step process is being pursued. That will not bring back the money.

Maybe, no government can outrightly say let the black money be brought back to the country, we will pardon you, or there could be some sort of voluntary disclosure. Perhaps, it would be better than leaving the gargantuan amount of money being kept abroad.

The US could get back their money from abroad because of their strength, other countries would answer to its call. Otherwise, it would pester them. India has not reached that stage in arm-twisting.

So dealing with black money is as good as left out.

Middle class people are taken care of, income tax ceiling limit hike, considering 60 year-olds as senior citizens, special provision for very senior citizens etc are definitely good.

The government says there would be direct payment of subsidies regarding cooking gas, kerosene and fertilizers for below-the-poverty line people.
There is a provision of Rs 1.61 lakh crore for food security, which should indirectly help the farm sector as well as the poor people. Rural employment payment would be inflation figures-based.

Would it finally end up with winding up our public distribution system and the ration shops?

For Kerala, there is a grant of Rs 100 crore for a veterinary unit at Pookode and Rs 50 crore for Malappuram campus of Aligarh Muslim University.

Kochi Metro has not found mention whereas other Metros have got provision.

LDF Government means business, it is trying to nab more UDF leaders in palmolein case

Now it has become clear, the LDF Government would not spare anyone from being netted in the palmolein case, if there is slight possibility.

On Saturday, it filed a petition before the Special Judge and Enquiry Commissioner looking into Vigilance cases, to have a re-investigation in the palmolein case now that new revelations have come up.

It has also been mentioned that there would be other accused in the case.
The case has been posted to be heard on March 7, when it could be known what are the new grounds being bandied about.

After the demise of former Chief Minister K.Karunakaran, T.H.Musthafa who was the Food Minister during the palmolein import has become the first accused.

He has filed a discharge petition before the court mentioning that just as the-then Finance Minister Oommen Chandy was not included in the array of the accused, he should also be excluded from the case.

Now this mention has given a stick for the LDF Government to beat the UDF leaders with. Even as Musthafa has later been saying that he had not said anything against Oommen Chandy, his comparison has raised eye-brows.

Now the LDF Government is picking up from this point and trying to rope in others, possibly Oommen Chandy.

Sound and fury would aggravate in the coming days, prior to Assembly elections

Kerala is now witnessing a cacophony of allegations by the LDF against UDF and by the UDF against the LDF, particularly Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan and his son, Arunkumar.

It seems the UDF had a soft corner earlier towards the Chief Minister as he was involved, the UDF thought, in a diatribe against his detractors in the CPM. The UDF had given the party a long rope to entangle itself in the war cry among the leaders.

Now that elections are around the corner, that situation has changed, for the Chief Minister is going hammer and tongs against the UDF leaders and the CPM as a whole is jubilant about it. Now the UDF, particularly the Congress Party, has energised itself attacking the Chief Minister with allegations on a daily basis about his son’s alleged involvement in murky matters.

The LDF Government is issuing last-minute orders on a daily basis apparently to appease the electorate. There is no harm in it, for any government would be doing such things to refurbish its image as a welfare entity.

But then, the Opposition has every right to rip open the farcical exercise, if any, of the ruling dispensation. And the people at large would take a decision at the hustings.

But then the people should not be overburdened with an overdose of emotional largesse and the allegations and counter-allegations should not erupt out into a law and order problem.

Some people are like the ilk of M.A.John, Fate would not allow them in abodes of power

M.A.John was a well-read man, a scarce variety in politics, and when such few persons in politics with vast expanse of knowledge and thinking have got cosy positions, he was left without power and pelf.

People could say he was a maverick, the term the media confer on people who do not conform to ordinary and freely-available ways, even if the ways are evil to secure positions and pots of gold.

M.A.John was leading a movement in the seventies and there were slogans written on all conceivable places in Kerala saying M.A.John Namme Nayickum (M.A.John will lead us).

He used to address packed audiences and I have seen him speaking to a packed Senate Hall in Thiruvananthapuram, with the audience remaining in rapt attention. And he was an icon for students and youths. Could be he was a fundamentalist in idealism, which might have divested him of all opportunities. Corruption was anathema to him.

He didn’t care about the consequences of his speeches and views and thinking people would be wondering whether there would be such human beings in Kerala again.
No doubt such people enrich societal life with their unblemished record.

Will the new media herald in a new political era in Kerala? After doing wonders in the Arab world

We had media over-play in the politicalscape in Kerala over the years, but can we say that the media played a substantial role in any churning process in the State?

At best we can say that the media could play a role in establishing one-term left rule succeeded by another-term right rule. Surely, there has not been a devastating change in the politicalscape in the state.

We may have scams, assertions of good deeds done, X is better than Y, but did we have a revolution of a change? Not at all.

But we do not know what the most- new media like social networks would usher in for the people of the most literate state of Kerala. Literacy does not mean it could be harbouring a high-potential knowledge society.

It was the knowledge-society that ripped open a cleavage in the politicalscape in the Arab world, right through Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Bahrain, Libya and the like. The tyrants may strike powerfully against the popular uprising, but there cannot be wiping out of the knowledgeable minds.

But in Kerala, the resentment is there for five years against one set of parties to be quickly followed by the same sort of resentment for another five years against the same set of parties which were earlier given the reins of power.
All the same, we don’t have tyrants and tormentors, and that is some mercy

There may have been outbursts many, but let there be a clean slate for Muraleedharan in Congress

At last the Kerala unit of the Congress Party has cleared the request of K.Muraleedharan for re-entry into the party. And there is no reason why the high command should say no. On the contrary, Sonia Gandhi may re-induct him soon.

In the realm of politics, there may have been a lot of bad blood between parties, groups and individuals on one count or the other. Particularly so in the Congress Party. There cannot be an eternal block for any individual in the Congress Party as in the CPM or so.

For some time, K.Karunakaran and K.Muraleedharan had entertained hopes of capturing the party for themselves. But time proved that it could not be per se. Now Muraleedharan appears to be a chastened man. Karunakaran had particularly wanted his son’s return to the party.

After a lot of bickering, it was not possible for the party to take him back on the dot as he had requested. Therefore, much talk of the delay in his being drafted back to the party would not be desirable.

In course of time, Muraleedharan would naturally get his due in the party to which he was the PCC president once. But now he should not be carried away by exhortations of his old acolytes who may not be that dependable always.

All the best for Muraleedharan

Want transparent judiciary with ills uncovered or ‘potent’ judiciary with ills covered up?

We have to live up to the times, no limb of the Constitution should be left untouched in the matter of corruption. At least that is what the people want.

If there is a grain of truth in what is being blared out by some people against some of the members of the judiciary, even if the revelations be for their own selfish interests, it would be high time to go in for correction.

At least the judges who are clean and who live a life within the constraints of the judiciary should take up the matter and call for a complete overhaul. If all people go on compromising, thinking why should I court trouble by interfering, corruption even in the judiciary would prolong until an explosion time.

The charges are that the kin of former Chief Justice of India K.G.Balakrishnan have amassed immense disproportionate wealth, meaning getting support of the former CJI himself, that two judges of Kerala High Court had received bribe in the ice cream parlour case, that MP K.Sudhakaran was witness to a Supreme Court judge receiving hefty bribe in the bar licence case etc, unless probed and finalized, would besmirch the judiciary.

There can be no justificiation now-a-days to enforce a rule to see that nothing should be said against a judge, even if he or she is patently corrupt.
Advancement of democratic governance in the world emphasises the need for an open judiciary and not a covered up judiciary.

No doubt, the higher judgement of God Almighty, to whom every good and evil is transparent, would not leave a judge who dispenses justice on the basis of an illegal purse being presented to him or her. God would not spare travesty of justice.

If one analyses the futility of acquiring a lot of money, and that too quite illegally and to the torment of innocent people, no one would be attracted to graft of any sort. But then, men have lost their reason and it has gone to beasts, Jawaharlal Nehru once said.

Political leaders caught in the quagmire of corruption litigation

Each day brings in fresh developments one way or other involving political leaders in corruption cases.

When R.Balakrishna Pillai has been given one-year rigorous imprisonment in the Idamalayar case, another development is with regard to Kuriarkutty-Karappara project involving T.M.Jacob. The Supreme Court has asked for the review report regarding the project from the state government.

It is noteworthy that the state government itself had challenged the exclusion of T.M.Jacob from the irregularities in the Kuriarkutty-Karappara project. That means when V.S.Achuthanandan remains in power, Jacob may also have to suffer going through various procedures.

When things stood like this, the palmolein case is throwing fresh dimensions with former Food Minister and Congressman T.H.Musthafa trying to wriggle himself out of the case roping in Oommen Chandy in the matter.

Musthafa has filed a discharge petition before the special vigilance court, Thiruvananthapuram, saying Oommen Chandy who was the Finance Minister, had given the green signal for import of palmolein.

So why Oommen Chandy was excluded and he was included in the case, asks Musthafa. All these developments are taking place because of the demise of K.Karunakaran. Otherwise he could have been receiving the butt of criticism, but he had managed to secure a stay from the Supreme Court against trying him in the palmolein case.

Lavalin case involving CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan is also getting live. An open warrant has been issued by the special court against Claus Trendl, former vice-president of SNC Lavalin company. He has been eluding notices issued by the court earlier.

Now it is free-for-all, the situation opening up new vistas of campaign for the ensuing Assembly elections.

It would be interesting to note what Dr Thomas Isaac has to say through the budget

It could be a swan song for Finance Minister Dr Thomas Isaac n budget presentation for the time being, but he seems to be undeterred in his determination to present some innovative things this time as well, even as Assembly elections are around the corner.

Other puny figures may say what is the point in highlighting schemes which his government may not be there to execute. But it is the duty of any political governance not to concede defeat before the battle is over with.

And Dr Thomas Isaac says the people would decide let there be another stint for the LDF Government considering his budget proposals.

All the same, whether the LDF gets renewed mandate for governance or not, Dr Thomas Isaac has the right to speak through the budget, which he says would clear the path for Future Kerala.

Last time he had hoped to make some money for the state through sand-mining in dams, but at the end of the day he had the warmth to concede that the scheme did not yield much.

He had the good fortune to keep the treasury open on all days, for there was no want of money on crucial occasions. People may say there was stock money only because implementation of schemes was tardy.He cannot alone be blamed for non-execution of projects, for other departments also have to come up with vigour for carrying out deeds.

Of course, Dr Thomas Isaac’s coffer was immensely benefited by the hike in price of petroleum on several occasions during the last one year. There were five instances of hikes during the last half a year. The tax and duty on petrol would have resulted in considerable levy for the state. It is one thing you can go on berating the Centre for hike in price of petroleum, and it is another thing in economics when you get a lot of money out of it.

Politics apart, no one can say Dr Thomas Isaac is lacking in qualification and experience, theoretical as well as practical, for he has been doing a fine job. One hopes his image would not have been stymied by other mundane things like the lottery imbroglio.

Pepper spray, taser gun and the like essential for women travelling alone

We are living in an idioticm bizarre world, where everyone has fulminations, but no one acts timely.

The trauma suffered by Soumya, the girl who was attacked on train and raped on the tracks to death, presents inexplicable angles. The train guard could have spotted them jumping down the train. The youth who had told others about the episode should have been supported by fellow travellers and the railway officials. Nothing positive happened and the world is essentially poor once again of goodness.

People fall terribly injured on the roads bleeding when others look askance at the scene. They may help cats and dogs which are injured, but not human beings who fall down terribly injured. People are scared that the police would harass them and they have to go to courts all their lifetime if they help someone like this.

Speaking about morality and justice, one should not forget the fact that there are joints in various places where women are enticed and given away for flesh trade.

Young girls are trapped one way or other and they are presented to worthies in the society. No one would complain. In fact, operators of such rackets who are hand in glove with goons who protect them are roaming freely.
Drunkards and drug addicts are having a field day, for they have saviours belonging to the high echelons of the society.

For now, it is high time the authorities thought about providing pepper (red chillies) sprays and taser guns giving electric shock to women travelling alone. Employers should be asked to provide such protective gear to the women employees, for which legal and administrative provision should be created.

These should be available at ladies stores in plenty so that women can buy them at cheap rates.

There is no point in ignoring dangers prevalent in a tumultuous world.

This degeneration cuts across parties and fronts; and so all the culprits escape

Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan has spoken about degeneration in politics and democracy in Kerala. No doubt about it, but almost all of the culprits escape b y hooks or crooks.

Criminals engage in their activities, drawing in worthies from all political persuasions and connections. When all are involved, no one can be arraigned, at least in the final reckoning. Pressures would mount from all quarters to save real culprits.

When political leaders or other worthy individuals are involved in sex orgies, criminals involved would take advantage of them, no doubt.

When big leaders are involved, they would easily win over all the powers-that-be and get ways to wriggle out of the situation one way or other.

Just think about the dirty linen being washed in public in the ice cream parlour case. Now Justices Narayana Kurup and Thankappan have been drawn into the issue as having supported matters in favour of Kunjalikutty!!! There is no direct evidence, only a third party conversation drawing both the justices in the issue. And the conversationalist is an accused in Vithura sex scam!!!

Ajitha, K.R.Gowri Amma, Meenakshi Thampan, all outright activists for women’s rights, if not human rights, have been approached by various people for coercing them to take interested stance, according to reports.

At least there have been media reports about the alleged involvement of T.P.Dasan and P.Sasi, Marxist leaders. These may be false reports, but these have crept into the minds of the people.

Criminals have succeeded in enjoining a lot of worthies so that no cogent action would be possible in the final round. There would be some namesake investigations that would finally fizzle out. The criminals have succeeded.

Still, I would say Kerala mediascape should not be fully immersed in this washing of dirty linen, to the exclusion of other key issues that are very important to the common people. Now the media are concentrating on ice cream parlour and related aspects only.

People do not live by reportage of sex scams alone!!!

The revelations by Rauf, the co-brother of Muslim League leader P.K.Kunjalikutty, as rightly pointed out by Congress leader Oommen Chandy, do not offer any new angle to the sex scandal and related issues.

During the heydays of the ice cream parlour case that ran roughshod for decades media were flush with reports about the coterie that was doing everything to enable Kunjalikutty to come out of the case unscathed. Rauf’s name was also in media circles then and always.

For receiving such help, there would be a heavy price to be paid by such people. Kunjalikutty has learnt this lesson, it seems.

Kunjalikutty’s press conference was actually aimed at people who would be deftly influenced by Rauf and his team for their wrong-doings and manipulation, that he had no role and no responsibility for these deeds. In fact, that is a good gesture so that gullible people can be warned.

Sex scandals have a peculiarity, these do not fade out, however hard the actors try to suppress issues.

Those who were involved or allegedly involved in sex scandals in Kerala have had a hell of a time coming out of the vice-grip of the trauma associated with it. A wag had observed such people would go on devising schemes which ultimately would ruin their brains, causing a burst of the priceless intellectual property.

In a politically overcharged state like Kerala, the affairs of Kunjalikutty now the cynosure of further controversy, would permeate the very air and go on exploding. Only thing is that it should not overshadow the real and pressing issues of the people.

People’s lives need proper attention and governance, sex scams should not be the staple feed for them. Men and women would do anything for quick gains and pleasure. Not all people are like that and they should be provided safety, security and provisions.

If a political leader like Kunjalikutty fears for his life, what about common people?

Indian Union Muslim League’s general secretary, second in line in the IUML hierarchy, says his life is in danger from quotation gangs retained by his own co-brother, we should heave a deep breath and ask how did all these things happen and what are the circumstances.

No one should be harmed by blackmailing and attacks from goons, let alone a senior leader like Kunjalikutty. Some political rivals are attaching imputations to Kunjalikutty’s revelations as a measure to preclude further damage on account of some impending findings.

Whatever it is, people are concerned that a shadow is hanging over them with regard to safety and security. People should not be left to draw conclusions on their own, instead there should be proper investigation about the threat perspective and about darker elements lurking behind the camouflage of certain interests.
Kunjalikutty says he had worked in the past to benefit his co-brother who has turned inimical for some time now.

When private forces take control of affairs which should have been the domain of state forces, it is only natural that there would be boomerangs.
The general public needs the support of state forces which should be just and fair and considerate.

India has grown, developed and poised to soar up and up, but neethi and nyaya should also be provided to all

India is celebrating its 52nd Republic Day with various achievements and accomplishments denoting phenomenal growth in multiple spheres. We must be proud of the existence of the nation as one guarded entity amidst a multiplicity of diversities.

Around the time India achieved Independence, many other nations also got the same, but a lot of them have gone berserk with military rule or totalitarian regimes or namesake democracies.
But we have gone on drafting a glorious Constitution and adopted it to become a Republic in 1950.There were a lot of leaders who contributed to shaping up the Republic.

Some politicians may have gone on becoming selfish and corrupt, but that does not mean that the whole country is supporting them. The people at large want a corruption-free governance, but the regime is under the control of the mighty, always. And there should be efforts to cleanse the system from within. We cannot break the system and create chaos, for which the fight should be from within.

There are a lot of people the world over who would do anything for ensuring transparency. We do not know the intricacies of Julian Assange of WikiLeaks or the German bankman who are disclosing various secrets. Still the facts they present to the world attract a lot of attention, meaning the people everywhere want clean governance.

The other day a youth, Utsav Sharma, attacked Rajesh Talwar, father of Aarushi, on court premises. It was the same youth who had attacked SPS Rathore who was indicted in the Ruchika molestation case. From this it could be surmised that the youth believes that the system has failed in punishing certain culprits. His act is criminal, but suspicion would be created in the minds of the people about why punishment is eluding powerful people.

When the Republic grows older and stabilises further, rule of law should prevail in a better way. But the doubt is whether only the rich and powerful would get their sort of justice and the poor and the indigent are left to fend for themselves.
Definitely, there would be a higher form of justice which is divine would fall on those who bend worldly justice to their benefits.

I always have the inclination that those who dispense justice in this world in an indifferent way would be judged harshly by the Almighty. And teachers who deliberately trouble students, like giving marks lesser than what they deserve, would definitely get the curse of their wards and put to perdition.

The helpless who are taken advantage of by powerful people would suffer fire and brimstone in the bottomless pit, whatever be the Republic’s injustice to the lesser privileged. Those who enjoy and shout ha, ha over persecuting others and tormenting the just would meet with eternal damnation.

Irony of life: Indians stash ill-gotten money abroad, outsiders fleece Kerala through bogus lotteries

It is an irony of life in India; a lot of money is stashed abroad in various banks by individuals who could amass such filthy wealth using their position. America has got back part of its money thus lodged abroad, and it got penalty amount also. If India gets back all the money parked abroad by people who had got it by devious means, the country would at once become a world power, perhaps it can overtake China in money power. That is one aspect of it.

In Kerala High Court, it was argued on behalf of Santiago Martin of Megha Distributors by Manu Abhishek Singhvi of Congress Party, and later by others, that Kerala Government’s lottery ordinance disabling outside lotteries of devious distinction from operating from the State was interfering with the Constittuional powers of the Centre. Kerala Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan had sent a letter to the Prime Minister earlier that Rs 80,000 crore was amassed from the state by such lottery operators during the last four or five years.

And the court has accepted the arguments of the learned lawyers, for it can only discharge justice on the basis of the arguments adduced in its portals.

And now the ilk of Santiago Martin are singing the Constitutional usurpation of the country for fleecing the poor people of the State by running lotteries whose draw, details of payment of bumper and first prize winners, the venue of draw etc are kept in the dark!!!

There is no difference of opinion about this point with regard to Kerala’s Finance Minister Dr Thomas Isaac of the CPM and Congress Party’s spokesman Manu Abhishek Singhvi. They sail on the same boat with similar arguments.
The previous Oommen Chandy Government had banned lotteries of all sorts, in view of the monstrosity of the fraud going on here. But poor lottery vendors had taken up cudgels against the move and that was withdrawn.

Now it is up to the Centre and the State together to find a way out so that the poor people of the State would not be depleted of their hard-earned money.

Nothing done haphazardly, every Ministry move has political meaning

No doubt, considerable thought has gone into the tinkering done with the Dr Manmohan Singh Ministry, appeasing elements in Kerala to utmost extent.

Whatever may be the Opposition BJP harping against it, the Congress Party has a lot to do with regaining the reins in Kerala in the ensuing Assembly elections. Nothing should be left to chance elements snatching away a sure-shot State as far as the party is concerned. Reality check would confirm to it that a lot of under-currents are capable of fouling up the opportunity.

Nair Service Society does not outwardly appear to be particularly happy about K.C.Venugopal having been given a ministerial berth, all the same it is some relief for them. More measures like reservation for the economically backward among the forward communities, fetters in the education sector being removed etc would go a long way in humoring them.

Vayalar Ravi has been dreaming of becoming the Chief Minister of Kerala during his entire political stints everywhere. When the forces here have made a sort of arrangement with Ramesh Chennithala as KPCC President and Oommen Chandy as the natural choice for UDF’s Chief Ministership, Vayalar Ravi steamrolling as a candidate over others would vitiate the atmosphere. The high command has amply acknowledged his stature by providing him with the coveted portfolio of Civil Aviation, retaining his equally important folio of Overseas Indian Affairs. He has become a strongman in the Cabinet.

K.V.Thomas has also been given more powers of making decisions by giving him an independent portfolio of feeding the people, food and civil supplies and consumer affairs. Food security is a strong plank of the UPA II Government. And if Thomas can ensure food security, with all its inherent pitfalls, it would do him further good.

E.Ahamed was doing well as MoS External Affairs dealing with Gulf Arab and connected people and issues. He seemed to have liked the slot and so he got back the same. He could be happy, as well as his party, the Indian Union Muslim League of Kerala.
The Prime Minister has observed that there would be another expansion after the budget session of Parliament. Perhaps, before the next Assembly elections for Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry, some more appeasement acts would be extended covering Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, DMK in Tamil Nadu etc.
Tamil Nadu will have early elections as the term of its Assembly on May 16. The Kerala Assembly term ends on May 23. The Assam and Puducherry Assemblies have their terms till May 28.

The elections will be held for 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, 140 in Kerala, 294 in West Bengal, 126 in Assam and 30 in Puducherry.

Now West Bengal and Kerala are ruled by the Left parties, and Assam and Puducherry by the Congress. In Tamil Nadu, the DMK is in power with Congress support.

So, nothing has been haphazardly done in the present streamlining, every gesture has a political meaning.

Where does the problem lie with regard to Sabarimala? Crowd accommodation absent, only control measures set in motion

As is their wont, the police department, the forest department and Travancore Devaswom Board have filed their reports to Kerala High Court regarding the Pullumedu tragedy in which 102 pilgrims were killed in stampede. No one could prevent the tragedy.

The police deparment justified its position, the forest department too did the same, however the devaswom board blamed both the departments and at the same time it washed its hands off any wrong-doing.

Did anyone commit any wrong-doing. No one willfully did anything, but the problem is the unwieldy crowds at places connected with Lord Ayyappa which are too congested and incapable of developing into facilities that can accommodate such gigantic crowds.
In future, this problem would further aggravate, unless entrance and exit facilities are enlarged on a substantial scale. Now what is being done is to control the crowds. Tigers and Elephants get better attention than the pilgrims in the place which is controlled by the forest department.

Without sanctioning a substantial extent of land now with the forest department, removing tigers and elephants from the area being sanctiond, and developing facilities to accommodate the surging crowds of pilgrims, there can be no way of preventing such tragedies. All other efforts would be just a tinkering process.

Now the court has asked the Travancore Devaswom Board whether the Makara Vilakku is man-made or celestially occurring. What is the difference between the Makara Vilakku and Makara Jyoti?

Now the court can ask the board to do a little bit of reality campaigning about the Makara Vilakku being a human-lit light. Most of the pilgrims from outside the State come here with the impression that the Makara Vilakku is celestial light. The board can take some simple measures by way of propagation that Makara Vilakku is man-made and not celestial. Only the board can do so, otherwise the exercise would be misinterpreted.

Some white light is coming out about need for exposure of money stashed abroad

Governance in all democratic countries would be trickier in view of information about exposure of corruption and black money stashed abroad coming out in different ways.

Military rulers, autocrats and the like need not be bothered about revelation for the time being since they have the country under their iron grip.

In countries like India, it may not be good going for the rulers for long as information about financial malfeasance is coming out in different ways.

If there is no WikiLeaks type leaks, there would be other types of revelations. Now a renegade banker has come out with some names of account holders abroad.

Lately, the Supreme Court has verbally criticized the government for not divulging the names of account holders abroad which have been accessed. The court has said it is plunder of the nation’s money. Stashing black money abroad cannot be the domain of any particular political party or individual. All people who get black money, corruption money, sleaze benefits deposit the same abroad.

Global Financial Integrity, an international group, has pointed out that Rs 20.85 lakh crore of Indian money is stashed abroad.

All the while, people have been enjoying the benefits of the secrecy laws surrounding the banking sector abroad. Now UN has passed a Convention on corruption and laws are being framed for repatriation of money from countries concerned.

It may not be soon that all these corrupt deals would be brought to light and money brought back. But a faint light is visible from whistle-blowers of sorts. Governance may not be that smooth without taking some form of action.

He could donate money; but he chose to part with his kidney for the needy

Industrialist Kochouseph Chittilappally has shown the way forward in distributing the milk of human kindness by offering to donate one of his kidneys to a person whom he did not know earlier.

The is a sort of kidney exchange which offers to result in a kidney chain and it would not be a racket, if it becomes successful.

The recipient has to find a person within the family who will donate one kidney to another person and the link goes on like this.

The industrialist took inspiration from Fr Davis Chirammal of Thrissur who had donated a kidney to an outsider.

What our industrialists do by way of philanthropy could be nothing but donating some money to the needy. Our man’s deed is something akin to renunciation. His family members have concurred in with his intention, though reluctantly.

The industrialist also entertains some original thoughts regarding human conduct and life in this world. He had filed a petition before Kerala High Court seeking court’s sanction for individuals, on attaining certain age, to denounce medicines and surgery. The court has not given its opinion as yet.

There is a practice in the Jain community which is called Santhara or Sallenkhan, a procedure in which a Jain stops eating with the intention of preparing for death. This is different from suicide as it is not taken in passionate mood of anger, deceit or other emotions, but is undertaken only when the body is no longer capable of serving its owner as a instrument of spirituality and when inevitability of death is a matter of undisputed certainty.

The intention is to purify the body, and remove all thought of the physical things from the mind.

As well as giving up food and water, the ascetic abandons all desires and dislikes so that they can concentrate exclusively on the spiritual as they approach death.
Those who undergo Santhara are considered saints in the Jain community, although there is vehement criticism leveled against it by activists such as human rights protagonists. They say there is only right to life as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution and not right to death.

Remember Acharya Vinoba Bhave had died by fasting in 1982, not heeding to pleas by Indira Gandhi to change his decision.

Whatever the religious implications of higher order thinking, Kochouseph Chittilappally’s decision to donate the kidney and intention to join the kidney foundation activities is, indeed, laudable.

Would be interesting to mull over V.S.Achuthanandan’s fate in his party

V.S.Achuthanandan is an interesting and probably intriguing leader of CPM who would not simply fade away from the party, definitely according to his body language.

He may not go the Nripen Chakravarty way in Tripura, who was expelled by the party. The gentleman comrade remained at that and lived for a 100 years. In between, the party had decided to re-admit him also, for sure he would not be a threat to anyone at that age.

The party set-up in Kerala could be vastly different from the entity in many other states. Caste, creed, forward or backward and other considerations weigh high on a leader remaining relevant upstairs.

That way also Achuthanandan cannot be ignored, for he has his own areas of influence. And he knows that very well.

His completion of the normal tenure of chief ministership itself, in spite of strong opposition to him in many ways within the party, is itself proof that he cannot be vanquished easily.

The latest is that Politburo member S.Ramachandran Pillai has announced that the politburo had not discussed the issue of reprimanding V.S.Achuthanandan for his not consulting the party before requesting the Central Government to order a CBI probe into the lotteries muddle.

Media reports are wrong, according to him. Naturally, the party would have got feedback that anymore action against Achuthanandan could be counter-productive. Achuthanandan may have his own trump cards.

What would be the fate of Achuthanandan in his own party in the near future? Would he remain a mute witness to the goings-on against him? These are all moot questions that would generate interest in the minds of party observers.