Selection of P.J.Thomas as C.V.C

An interesting Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the selection of P.J.Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner is pending before the Supreme Court.for a judgment. The point at issue is that when there is a criminal case pending against Thomas in a criminal court in Kerala and the third member of the panel headed by the prime minister had opposed his candidature on that basis, how could the P.M and Home minister select him. The Attorney General vahanvati informed the Court on Thursday that the panel was not knowing this fact. The court has rightly called all the four relevant files from the Government for scrutiny. Who is telling a lie would be decided by the court.

This case would certainly expose all the wrong doings happening under the very nose of P.M in the country. This is only the tip of an iceberg. Umpteen number of cases have had been dealt with in the recent past keeping only the interests of people belonging to a particular region. God help this Bharat!!

Better Late Than Never

Government of India is contemplating to consolidate all the existing five tribunals and establish one single Integrated Water Disputes Tribunal for all the water disputes arising between different states from time to time. It is better to be late than never. It could have been done earlier but the circumstances were not conducive or the problems were not found to be so tricky.  

As per the statement of a senior official from the Ministry of Water Resources, it will take about a year's time to set up the said Tribunal after getting the neccesary clearances and amending the Inter-State Water Disputes Act 1956.

Such a move on the part of Government of India indicates its thinking not to bring the water disputes under the sole jurisdiction of the Supreme Court although  rightly demanded by certain quarters in view of warring claims among the states.

Japan’s Leadership Merry-Go-Round

Japan had 14 PMs in the last two decades and three in the last 12 months. Liberal Democratic Party governed for most of 50 years until the Democratic Party of Japan broke the hold in August 2009.

The first priority before the P.M is economy. Although constrained by a public debt approaching 100 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product and a fiscal deficit hovering around 10 per cent of G.D.P, Japan needs to do more to stimulate domestic demand – to deal with the immediate emergency and diminish its dependence on exports as an economic engine. This requires maintaining fiscal stimulus. It also requires a longer-term strategy that encourages spending by households.

Research Questions Police Interrogations

Kansas City, Mo, (U.S.A)

Eddie lowery spent 10 years in prison after confessing to a rape of 75-year-old victim in the head with the handle of a silver table knife he found in the house, he did not commit. DNA evidence would later show that another man had committed the crime. He got a $7.5 million settlement. It is one such revelation out of a record compiled for more than 40 cases of confessions by Brandon L.Garrett, a Professor at the University of Virginia school of Law.

(The N.Y Times, [A13] Tuesday, September14, 2010)

What a Wait for Justice even in USA?

In Feb 2007 Alberto R. Gonzales, the Attorney General under President George W. Bush declared that the window of opportunity to solve racially motivated crimes more than 40 years old was closing. But families of the victims are still waiting for the last three years for solid action after waiting for decades for resolution, while suspects and witnesses have died.


President Obama’s Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has promoted his department’s handling of these cases pointing out that 56 of 109 cases have been closed many of which had seen the closure because the suspect is dead. A partly natural disposal!


We are not short of such success stories in India too. Take for instance the riot cases in Delhi as the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

Mismatch between the study and the job?

What we notice in the work place these days is the fact that what one has studied in the college and university has no relevance to the job he does esp. in countries like USA and India. It is true more of highly skilled people seeking jobs after graduation. Vikas Bajaj in his article “A High-Tech Titan Plagued by Potholes” talks of the plight of civil engineers who are writing software code for auto companies in A.C rooms – getting three times the normal pay available as a civil engineer on construction by lamenting the situation as  “India’s Engineering Paradox” .

 

Indian government aims to spend $500 billion on infrastructure by 2012 and twice that amount in the following 5 years. What is the preparation and motivation needed for such a collosal program to be executed in time? One is not aware of any systematic and conscious planning in the creation and management of technical man-power at various levels as per the requirements in this regard. Hope for the best.

Probe by Ethics Committee

A half-dozen law makers in Capitol Hill at Washington are facing an investigation by House Ethics Committee into their unreturned surplus per diem allowances meant for overseas travel. It has been gathered now that when lawmakers travel, many of their meals and expenses are picked up by other people, such as foreign officials or U.S ambassadors.

The funniest part is that the rules regarding this allowance are vague from their point of view. If law-makers are ignorant or indifferent towards a common rule for their own conduct, how are they justified in enacting laws and regulations for others to follow in USA?

A similar trend is noticed in Indian Parliament too which passes bills from time to time enabling enhanced pay, allowances and other perks without bothering to go through any formal commission to look into those revisions as in the case of permanent executives and other employees of Central Government, namely, Government of India.

It is also a matter of fact and concern to the common man that if a similar test or investigation is ordered into the claims made in the past several years by many civil servants during their foreign sojourns would reveal startling facts and figures warranting action and punishment. Who is to bell the cat?