My Opinion

The fate of Harish Rawat government will be decided in Assembly on Tuesday…but whatever happened in Uttarakhand is not good for democracy…Whatever one may say, the fact is that both sides are responsible for this…In order to keep their respective flock of MLAs intact, both sides used inducements as well as power…It was a herculean task for big leaders of both BJP and Congress to ensure that each and every MLA sticks to his respective side…It will be better if those who publically talk about morality also apply a little bit of morality on themselves.

We talked to officials of Delhi University…They clearly said that the Prime Minister has received BA degree and that there is no bungling involved in this case. Narendra Modi passed BA through correspondence course…The vice-chancellor of Gularat university has once again said that Modi had passed MA with first class…But it does not suit Arvind Kejriwal and his party. They want to confront Modi by making allegations and raising questions of any type…This is a well-thought-out strategy of Arvind Kejriwal…Kejriwal, by hook or by crook, wants to prove that he is the biggest rival of PM Modi…As part of the same strategy, Kejriwal had alleged two days ago that Narendra Modi and Sonia Gandhi are hand in glove…What can be a bigger lie than this?

Without taking the name of Sonia Gandhi, Narendra Modi pointed towards Italy during his election meetings in Kerala and Tamil Nadu…Narendra Modi said that he had never been to Italy…and that he had no relatives in Italy…In its order, Italy’s court has pronounced that Congress leaders took bribe in helicopter deal… It seems that all these developments had its impact on Sonia Gandhi who gave a clear cut and emotional answer to Narendra Modi.

The rape of a girl while on her way to school is a grim reminder of how worried parents are ever since a girl child is born. When she starts attending school or college there are concerns about her security, there are concerns of any untoward accident, when she gets married, parents are worried about her dowry and post marriage about domestic violence that she could be subjected to. It is because of these social crimes that parents have to literally spend their entire life worrying about their daughters. Simply having strict laws is not the only solution, rather the need of the hour is a change in societal attitudes. Good values need to be inculcated in children and what is important is for parents to teach their sons that we live in the land where girls have been given the status of divinity.

While the Italian Court’s Verdict on the Agusta Westland deal may have come out now, it was way back in 2012 that the UPA government had accepted that bribes had been accepted and who the beneficiaries of this deal were. The deal was subsequently cancelled by the then government and a CBI enquiry was finally ordered. Now the Modi Government has also reiterated that corruption has taken place but then this is not something new. The issue of payoffs in this deal is being talked about for the past four years. What people want are the names of those involved. Today the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar even said that those who are being questioned are simply small fries who happened to wash their hands in a flowing river of corruption and that the government would find out where the river was heading to. While he did assure that this probe will not go the Bofors way, he did not outline any timeframe. It would have been better if Parrikar would have mentioned exactly by when the real culprits will be nailed.

For the past few months Lalu Prasad Yadav was miffed at Baba Ramdev who he alleged had lost track and was indulging in politics. But today he appeared to sing a different song when he proclaimed that Ramdev was very dear to him and one of his own. Ramdev returned the favour by praising Lalu. He said Lalu has several years ahead of him and he has suggested remedies to the RJD supremo to help him regain his energy. This definitely is a positive sign. Personal equations should never get clouded by ideological differences or political leanings. And the camaraderie between them will augur well since both Lalu and Swami Ramdev are known to be very jovial by nature.

After the defence Minister’s speech in Parliament today, the Congress has demanded that the CBI probe in the Augusta Westland deal should be monitored by the Supreme Court. They staged a walkout when they did not receive a satisfactory reply from the Government . This entire controversy has now taken a political turn. The biggest challenge for government however is to speed up investigations which would have to be time bound and reveal names of all those who have taken bribes otherwise the government’s argument in the House would eventually prove to be futile.

There has been an unprecedented heat wave in these areas…even a small spark is igniting a huge fire in no time. There are large pine forests in these mountains and because of the falling leaves, the entire ground is strewn with dried leaves that easily catch fire. It is therefore important to exercise caution. However if there is any involvement of the timber mafia in these fires, the government much catch them and take strong action against them.

Initially it appeared as if the UN Court’s ruling on the Italian Marine had gone against India and allows him to return home but when details began to emerge, it was clear that the ruling was actually in India’s favour. The UN tribunal has ruled that the marine would have to appear in front of a Supreme Court nominated authority and the apex court will decide on the frequency of such appearances and if established that the marine was caught in Indian waters, then he would have to return to India and face trial. Basically this means that Salvatore Girone’s return to Italy does not translate to his being cleared of charges.

Vijay Mallya is perhaps gradually beginning to realise that he does not have much options left. He is therefore time and again giving clarifications and is talking about a settlement. His passport has been cancelled and the government has also made a formal request with Britain for his deportation. The pressure is on Mallya and with the matter having taken such a political turn it would now be difficult for Mallya to save himself.

There is no doubt that chopper deal could not have been finalised without the clearance of the then Air Force Chief. The Air Force appears to have relaxed several technical norms and specifications in favour of this deal. The altitude at which such choppers are supposed to fly was reduced and the trial runs which were to take place in India were allowed to take place in the premises of the company. Besides even the bidding process was relaxed for Agusta Westland since as per norms only original equipment manufacturers are allowed to participate. SP Tyagi the former Air Force Chief will be questioned on why several such concessions were allowed in this deal and whether he received any kickbacks or not. Perhaps the biggest political question would be under whose instructions did Tyagi undertake such decisions.

After Kabir Khan was heckled at the Karachi airport he tweeted that such incidents needed to be ignored and there was no need to give such undue importance. Perhaps Kabir Khan has forgotten that sometime back when the issue was rife, it was he who had raised concerns over intolerance being on the rise in India!