Letter to Editor.

News items appearing now days have been cause for concern .Every item called for this concern to be shared . Finally statement of Home Minister acted as the last straw and so after along time wrote to the Editor.
Hope it finds favour.

Sir,

Death Anniversary of assassins of Indira Gandhi celebrated , Memorial to honour martyrs  of Ops Blue Star being constructed in Golden temple,Gen Brar attacked in London , Assassins of Gen Vaidya honoured and their death anniversary celebrated. Honourable Home Minister stating "Institutions have some constitutional rights .  Memorial to honour martyrs  of Ops Blue Star being constructed in Golden temple is there internal matter and Government of India will not interfere".

These are some of the news items to appear in last few days. The trend being indicated by such news items  clearly spell out danger signals, Of all these items what must cause greatest concern and worry is the statement made by no less authority than the Home Minister of India about " not interfering in the matter". It is conveniently forgotten that those killed in ops Blue Star were militants and terrorists they had desecrated the holiest of Sikh shrine . They had declared war against Indian Nation , threatening the sovereignty of India . They were no martyrs and only gullible innocent persons or persons with mischief in their heart will consider them as Martyrs.It is shocking to say that  Government of India & Its Home Minister have not learnt any lessons from history.How can any one forget Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. and the darkest period of a decade when militancy ruled and ruined the prosperous state of Punjab and thousands of innocents lost their lives.The trend indicated by these development call for immediate suitable and necessary actions by  moderate and sane thinking citizens of India in general and Punjab in particularly . Government of India, and  the Home Minister must not take cover under unacceptable excuses and  be a mute spectator of these dangerous developments. If no action is taken now the history may repeat itself.

PM Velankar, Nagpur.

Hats - Off - Mr Sharad Pawar. : Letter to Editor.

A topical write up for publication in Middlespace , letters or city mail as considered fit.

Sir .

It is very well known that Shri  Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar  is one of the  , or may be the shrewdest , politician of the modern political history.In a political career spanning more than four and half  decades (Starting 1967) plus he has been Chief Minister of Maharashtra , an incredible four times. His name even made rounds to be the PM after assassination of Shri Rajive Gandhi. In 1996 after winning Baramati seat he left state politics and joined Central politics.  He was Defence Minister of the Union of India.He is the Union Agriculture Minister since 2004 . Prevailing supply situation in the country not withstanding,as policy maker he has been instrumental is deciding  when to stop and when to permit  import or  export of agricultural products like onions, sugar , wheat , cotton etc etc. During this long career it was inevitable that charges of corruption , giving protection to criminals and lot of misdeeds would be raised against him , series of allegations for corruption were made by  Deputy Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, G R Khairnar against him . However it is testimony to his uprightness and honesty OR shrewdness , depending on your thinking you can have your own pick , that except for purchase of team for IPL his name has never been associated with any scandal   !!! His acumen has helped him to change political alliance and parties at the most appropriate time .After imposition of emergency, when popularity of Indira Gandhi was at its nadir he joined Janata Sangh and became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the first time .There after changes of parties or when that was not possible , creating a new party has been his modus operandii, all that has been possible due to his wisdom , detailed knowledge of psyche of common Indian and Indian political system.Mr Pawar's and Prafull Patels leaving the Government is the latest proof of this wisdom . All know that due to the events of the last couple years aam adami has become totally disillusioned with the UPA government and it is almost foregone conclusion that unless impossible happens UPA govt and the congress has no chance to win the forthcoming elections.This therefore must be the most appropriate time to leave the sinking ship.While doing so it is of great help to make the correct noises like , quote( from news paper report) " lack of coordination by congress with allies and governance in issues like excess food subsidy at the cost of funding water projects."  unquote . Again to quote( from news paper report) " The government should not go for excessively populist schemes at the cost of economy"unquote. What fantastic time for such announcements. This only goes to show the wisdom ,and acumen of  Mr Pawar , or his shrewdness . Take your pick.

PM Velankar, Nagpur.

Letter to Editor : Who is the better citizen !!

Sir.

Following may please be considered for publication in middle space or city or letter to editor , as you may consider fit and appropriate.

During my morning walks I have noticed a very interesting phenomenon .On my route there are couple of road crossings with traffic lights.At that time , around 0530 to 0600 hours , traffic density is very low and there are times when there are no vehicles at all to stop for "Red" or go through the "Green".With such low density of traffic , logically, one would not like to ' waste ' 45 to 90 seconds by waiting at the "red".However rules dictate that not withstanding traffic density, vehicles have to stop at " red". We Nagpurians,irrespective of what we own , a luna costing few thousand rupees or top of the line luxury car like Skoda, BMW , Audi or Mercedes costing few lakhs,  are very logical people. Being logical we zip and zoom across no matter even if the light is bright red and rules say to stop.Then along comes couple of heavy duty trucks. They are huge with 16 to 18 wheels , registration numbers may be from Kerala , Himachal or from West Bengal which would indicate that they have been "on the road" for may be couple of days.The light turns red , there is no traffic/ vehicles any where in sight, but lo and behold, the trucks stop !! Light turns green and the trucks proceed on their way .A owner driven Skoda comes from the cross road . Avoiding the trucks the Skoda zooms through the red light and is on its way. I have noted that the long distance truckers , almost all of them, sincerely follow the traffic rules . Generally the truckers are considered illiterate , uncouth and ill mannered .On the other hand the owners of super luxury car would be thought of as highly mannered, educated and leading light of the society.And this what I see during my morning walks  I consider as an interesting phenomenon.Then I wonder who is a better citizen the trucker or the social leading light driving a Skoda. 

PM Velankar, Nagpur.

It is after along time that I sat on the key board to write a post .So here is what I write.

Quo Vadis - Defence Services.Letter to Editor

Sir,

The Defence Services have always enjoyed the trust and esteem of 'aam adami' for its up-rightness, Honesty and Integrity . I am very proud to have belonged to one of the three arms of that Institution.It is therefore with heavy heart and extreme sadness that I read, with increasing frequency, the news of Serving Officers of Defence forces,(CSD & NDA)  being caught taking bribes.Even though it is a cause for sadness , the writing has been on the wall for quite some time . It is a true adage which says "a bad apple spoils the whole basket" . Unfortunately it is our great misfortune that  in case of our Country and the Defence forces ,it is a case of there being only "one good apple in the basket of whole heap of rotten apples" . It is only because of strong moral fiber and value based traditions of the Defence forces that has taken 60 odd years for this rot to set in .This should ring loud , very loud ,warning bells in the corridors of power, in the offices of political parties and the babus to clean up their act and uproot the corruption at the earliest.It is obvious to all the right thinking people unless the babus , the politicians do no clean up their act , Defence Forces can no longer remain unaffected by all pervasive disease of corruption .Godforbid that day when the one of the last bastions of clean image looses public faith . When that day comes even God may not be able to save this country. 

PM Velankar,Nagpur.

Joke of the day .( Letter to Editor.)

Sir, 

The joke for the day was cracked by honorable Finance Minister . 

"India has a very powerful , strong and acceptable PM."

Acceptable is agreed , but , It is a sad day for the country when people who consider themselves as responsible citizens have to report such statements as joke of the day.

PM Velankar.

Letter to Editor-Mureder on Road.sent 18/03.

Sir ,

Even as respected Shri Vijay Phanshikar was penning down the agonised feelings about traffic indiscipline in his Saturday column,loud thinking, a spoilt brat of irresponsible indulgent rich parents was murdering future bread winners of four families . Let us hope the two in critical condition do not succumb  to the injuries.

A subordinate informs The Police Commissioner that the car was driven by an employed driver and not the underage boy .Who was this subordinate.Clearly either he was bribed to save the boy or was incompetent to carry out proper investigation .If the Commissioner had accepted the initial version there is every likelihood that the guilty would have escaped punishment .

It is very strongly felt that the parents of this boy are much more if not equally guilty of this dastardly act. They should be charged with the same crime as the underage boy if that can not be done , then they should be charged as abettors of the crime .In any case strictest action should be taken against the boy AND his parents.

Letter to Editor-In support of Trivedi ,sent 18/03.

Sir ,

The totally unjustified and obdurate stand taken by Ms Mamta Bannerjee reminds me of the time when the Communist party of India was similarly blackmailing the Govt and caused inordinate delay in signing the Nuclear Treaty . In that case The PM was convinced that the treaty was in the best national interest. The Communist bluff was called and what happened is now history .At present it is patently clear that the increase in rail fare is in the larger National and Railway interest . We beg and beech the PM to call the bluff of Ms Mamata Banerjee . If our parliamentarians have even a small conscience left Ms Banerjee will be shown that whims and fancies of one stubborn lady can not stand against what is good for a billion people.

Inheritors of Democratic Dynastic Raj . Sent 16/03.

Sir , 

Since independence one firm tradition and unfortunate fact to emerge in independent India is that the power to rule and govern has now become dynastic in nature. The Kings and Princes of the Indian Princely states have now been replaced by sons/ daughters/close relatives or servile chamchas of politicians wanting to firmly establish them in the saddle before they themselves loose the required clout in regional politics.Rahul Gandhi , Akhilesh Yadav , Sachin Pilot ,and Jyotiraditya Scindia are just few of the most prominent examples. 

 Being members of new generation and product of modern India , also having been educated abroad aam adami had lot of expectations from them .

Rahul Ghandi was the first of the lot to inherit the control of the largest national political party and wield influence far beyond what is expected from a person of that age . Time has proved that he has failed miserably in fulfilling the hopes of not only the aam adami but his own mother and the party . The only reason why he has not got the boot is because of who and what he is .

The most recent to inherit the Democratic Dynastic Raj is Akhilesh Yaday . He has inherited the power to rule U P , the biggest state of Indian Union when he was chosen and elected by ruling party to be the chief Minister . The way he had conducted the election campaign , the promises he had made , lot was of expected from him . However the way he has formed the council of minister by inducting six tainted ministers bodes ill for the future . UP has now become the Yadav Raj with whole lot of yadavs as ministers and the remote with Mulayam Singh Yadav . Though too early to say , the way Akhilesh has started it seems UP , the aam admi and the country does not have any thing good to look forward.

Sachin Pilot ,and Jyotiraditya Scindia are orphans in the sense they have literally lost their influential natural fathers and also do not have god fathers with clout . It is unlikely that they will inherit power to rule a state in foreseeable future . How they would turn out as rulers is debatable.

The new generation , Inheritors of Democratic Dynastic Raj are turning out to be disappointing . Do we , the people of India do not deserve any better ?

PM Velankar, Nagpur.

Letter to Editor,sent 15/03.

Sir .

There was no increase in rail fares for the last 8 years . The damaging effects of this populist move has resulted in once considered satisfactory transportation system in the world , going bad . The safety , track condition , the rolling stock condition , signalling equipment , you name it and it has been adversely affected due to cash curnch .There were no replacements for ageing rail tracks , no addition to  track length . Financial condition had become so bad that cash inflow were just about meeting the cash out flows. Rail Minister Trivedi has shown great courage of conviction and in the interest of railways and larger national interest announced fare increase.One glance at the Rail Budget highlights , if really implemented , will improve the health of railways and bring in much needed improvement in the services for the general public.It is a national tragedy that a leader who has acted in the larger national interest has been  made to resign on the whims and self interest of one individual lady.This also reflects extremely poorly on the ruling party and the Government . It is agreed that the increase in fare may affect the common man . It is the responsibility of all the right thinking people, the print and the electronic media to explain to general public that if this increase and more revenue is not generated for railways , a time may come when we may not have a working transportation system . * Opposition parties also know fully well that railways were heading for serious problems due to cash crunch , even then they have denounced the budget . It also reflects their self interest, lack of keeping national interest in mind and opposing a reasonable thing just for the sake of opposing .The government must stand firm and should not rollback the fare hike . If done , we may not have any rail network  and the railways may also go the way of Air India , which at one time was most respected airline in the world.

Well done Mr Trivedi .

PM Velankar.

GOT PUBLISHED - 16/03.

* Highlighted portion of original text not published.Most probably an oversight.

Old photos.

During Republic Day Parade and march past , along with the contingents of the Army , Navy and the Air Force , contingents of boys and girl cadets of the three wings of the National Cadet Corps , also participate .

The NCC contingents are made up of cadets from all the 27 States and the 7 Union Territories of  India.Therefore selection to represent the State / Union territory is very competitive and tough . Also getting selected to represent the State / Union Territory is a matter of great pride . All this is very well known to almost every one .What is not so well known is that आजी had represented State of Madhya Pradesh in NCC Contingent during the Republic day march past in the year 1966. 


We all are very proud of her :-)

Girls Cadet NCC Contingent , Republic Day Parade 1966

Recognise आजी ?

Digitising old photos.

During the ' barasa '( बारस ) of Ajeet a we got a click III camera to record the various events .It used to take a film roll of 12 exposures. Being a box camera it had no flash , no focal length or any other type of settings which are generally associated with taking good & beautiful photos . That never discouraged or deterred us from having a ball and using it left right and center.That camera was used very extensively .We decided that we will expose one film roll every month . From the 12 contact prints , select the best exposures and order enlarged copies and put them in albums .This resulted in gradual increase in albums .  Even though over a period of time The Click III has been replaced by better cameras we continued with the practice .Today we have 34 of these albums . On an average each album has 108 photos, so we have at least 3400 of them :-) The latest no 34  has photos of our America Trip in 2009   Somehow after that ,  for one reason or the other , album 35 or more have not come up .
The Click III faithfully recorded the growing up of Ajeet , Anuj and all the happy and important events for the next 11 long years till 1984 when I got a canon colour camera from UK.
Dadoo  presented us with a digital camera in  November 2007 before our visit to Andaman Nicobar Islands.This was lost at San Francisco. Got another canon while staying with Bhupen . That was lost during our  Kashmir trip . Mummy then presented me with an Olympus camera which has not been lost till date. All these were digital cameras so I learned Picassa , web albums etc and  there after all photos are in web .
How ever photos taken by click III and other cameras using film rolls ,  up to 1984 and included and the albums were  not degitised and put on the web . I decided to do so . Albums no 24 till no 33 are all on net . Decided to start from Album no 1 . But Dadoo suggested why not the marriage album , which we had numberd as  00.
The album was in a mess . The butter paper had stuck to the photos and could not be removed .Tried to remove the stuck paper wherever  I could . The process of these efforts was caught by Mummy.

Here is the sample of  results of my efforts . Top photo without restoration , below that after I did whatever I could :-)


























This is preview . Hopefully album number 00 will be on the net by the evening or tomorrow. :-)

What a let down :-(

Finally the curtain drops on the age row of the C O A S  (Chief Of Army Staff).He is presently on tour of UK. The SC, The Government  through the their Council , the Defence Minister all have praised the COAS and expressed complete confidence and faith in him . Things seem to have been sorted out , the dust has settled and one of the most regrettable event in the history of Indian Defence Forces and G O I has come to pass.
However till the day of hearing , almost every one of the Defence Forces (all three wings included) serving and retired , were very keenly following the case . They were fully behind the Chief ,. In fact very large numbers must have prayed for the SC verdict to be in favour of the Chief . Countless people , including yours truly expressed their views on whatever medium they had access to .By evening  COAS had withdrawn his petition.Everyone of us who had backed the COAS felt a strong sense of being let down.
Next day reading the details in news papers large number of us came to know , for the very first time , that The COAS , over a period of time ,  more than once , informed the Govt his acceptance of the DOB of 1950.That being the fact , only a fool would have expected the SC to uphold his claim of DOB of 1951 . The COAS is definitely no fool . So the question is why did all these unfortunate and regrettable events take place .  Or are there many more facts of which we are totally ignorant and is the answer to be found in the dark corridors of power ?
SC , Government Council and the DM have all praised the distinguished service rendered by this gallant soldier . All of them said they have no doubt about the honesty & integrity of the COAS . Well , if one takes their word at face value , COAS  may have been successful in defending his honesty & integrity but he has lost "credibility" with a very large number of defence personnel and mature thinking civilians.
By this case the COAS has not only lost his credibility but he has done a very grave disservice to the defence forces where he had served with such distinction . With this case , The Babus who have always been looking to marginalise the Services will now run amock like a bull in a china shop . This one case has done immense and irreparable harm to the cause of the Services from which they may never recover to take their deserved place in decision making hierarchy.

Rhinos are feeling sad !

Rhinos all over the world are feeling very very sad . They were considered number one thick skinned living beings on the earth ,  but now are at number two.They have been replaced by  Indian Politicians due to their behavior . Even when caught red handed watching porn clipping while attending Assembly session they claim they have done no wrong. Even after the S C cancels 122 licences they still claim that it is not an indictment of the Government . Even after evidence keeps mounting they still keep claiming that A Raja has done no wrong. They keep increasing quota , quota within quota , quota within quota within quota , they would increase it to 100% if they thought they could get away with it , all the time claiming that it is being done with the sole purpose to  uplift  condition of the downtrodden , the muslim minorities , the SCs , the OBCs etc etc.Even when half the population is starving they claim that per capita income has increased to more than Rs 50,000/- Even when............
So , with heavy heart the Rhinos have given up their number one position .   

Performance review -The Babudom.

Thank God for small mercies! Finally finally inefficient babu can be chucked out after 15 years of service.
But why after 15 years why not earlier?. What is the point in carrying around garbage for 15 long years . Any senior worth his salt does not require 15 years to evaluate the performance of a person working under him .Now let us hope that this rule is followed and implemented vigorously and honestly . Aam Admi may have very valid reason to believe that this may not be done because firstly it will be another babu who has to implement this order.Considering the present culture of "you scratch my back and I will do the same for you" prevalent in the babudom , this looks unlikely . Secondly  even earlier it was very difficult to proceed against  babus due to the way hurdles were placed in the process . eg State could not proceed against a babu even if he belonged to the state cadre of the same state . Even before taking any action against a babu , sanctions had to be obtained from any number of agencies . That meant it could take years to proceed against a guilty babu.Hopefully all such loop holes and escape routes have been taken care of in the new rules. If that is not done it would be business as usual for one of the most inefficient administrative service in the Asia region.

Transparency still a distant reality - PM.

Prime Minister Manmohan Sing , while addressing conference of Chief Secretaries at New Delhi on 03 Feb12 stated that "efforts to ensure transparency,accountability and probity in public life would take a long time". At another time in the same address he said , " we still have long way to go in our efforts for ensuring transparency , accountability and probity in public life."

There can not be a worst form of misfortune for a country to hear and to read the total surrender and the helplessness being projected by the Prime Minister to the very persons who have been largely responsible for such a sorry state of affairs.Remember he was addressing the Chief Secretaries of states . 

These worthies must have not only heaved a sigh of relief but also smiled to themselves at being indirectly told by the Prime Minister himself to carry on with the old ways for indefinite period of time . 

The Chief Secretary of a states is an IAS (State Cadre) or AIS (All India Services) officer with minimum of 13 years of service ( selection grade ) or 14 years of service(Super Time Grade,reduced from 16 yrs in 2008.)

IAS Officers are trained to handle govern­ment affairs. This being their main responsibility, every civil servant is assigned to a particular office which deals with policy matters pertaining to that area. The policy matters are framed, modified, interpreted in this office under the direct supervision of the Administrative Officer in consultation with the Minister. 
Now it goes without saying that the Civil servant is custodian of all the records pertaining to the govt affairs, policy matters and every thing connected with the same .He also holds all the notings on file which hold recommendations , views, agreements , disagreements etc etc of the policy matter. These files / bundles of information, be it routine , important or of vital national interest are very very zealously guarded by these civil servants.Even the information to which an individual is entitled will not be given to concerned person under one pretext or the other.Remember the strongest opposition to RTI Act had come from the Babudom. For obvious reasons , their specific and strongest opposition was in making public the "noting"on file.Even now when RTI Act is a reality the Babus made sure that it was in a very diluted form.
.Our Prime Minister should have called a spade a spade and asked the Chief Secretaries to pull up their socks along with the socks of junior babus under them in bringing transparency and probity in the public life . The PM himself and his Government must hold The Babudom accountable as they are responsible to implement the the policies laid down by the Govt.
( Note :Author has taken some information from the IAS pages of wilki and other sources from the internet.)

Age controversy - Army Chief.

This one got published on 06/02/12, albit with some editing by the Editor . Portions in bold lettering omitted in published piece.

The number of e-mails & forwards on the internet , Number of letters  to Editor being published in The Hitavada and other news papers are clear indication to the degree even the aam adami has been aggrieved by the shabby way the Politicians and the Babus , which means the Government,has treated a gallant and senior most soldier of this country.There have been a fair number of officers of the defence forces who for one reason or the other have asked for change in their recorded date of birth . The Babus and the politicians have agreed for the requested changes in those cases. It would also be interesting to know the number of Babus, who , with the connivance of the fellow babus in the concerned ministries have quietly changed their own date of birth without even raising of an eyebrow.
If all that is true then the question arises as to why only in this particular case the Babus and the politicians are acting in such mulish way .After all what harm can be caused in another 10 months if 1951 is accepted as DOB by the Govt, which the General claims to be the correct date.And this very question was being hotly debated in our circle , as it must be a topic of discussion among majority of the citizens.One thought to emerge was the promise of the Chief of the Army Staff that he would deal very strictly and punish the guilty officers involved in the Adarsh , Sukhna and other lurking scandals involving the babus , the politicians and unfortunately very few officers of the defence services.Now the answer to emerge to that question was if the defence officers are severely dealt with in the additional 10 months , they may come out with all the details and lot of many more skeletons  may tumble out of babu & political cup boards.To me ,  knowing our politicians and the babus as as well how the case has developed , this seems most probable reason as to why the concerned people do not want to give the General additional 10 months he gets if the DOB of 1951 is accepted.

Munshi Premchand and his Journalist.

Letter to the Editor.

Sir,

A few points about the statement of  Mr Pallam Raju , Minister Of State for Defence .He had said,"It is un-healthy and does not auger well for the Ministry or the forces."

Firstly. When a person has exhausted every available statutory and official channels  available to him for the redressal of his grievance , if not satisfied , as a last resort approaches the SC. There is nothing "un-healthy" about it.Even if that person happens to be the Chief Of Army Staff , it still does not make it unhealthy , but is a natural progression in our system , to seek justice and to get the grievance redressed.

Secondly . The Minister should have included the Country but omitted the Ministry when he said it does not auger well for the "Ministry or the forces".Yes, when a Chief of Defence Services has to approach the SC to seek justice it surely does not auger well for the forces as it is likely to adversely affect the morale of the forces and that is  not well for the Country. So far as the Ministry is concerned, it means the "babus" . Nothing bad ever happens to the babus. One can be certain that even if the Chief wins the case in SC , nothing will happen to the babu on whose noteings  decision of such vital and far reaching consequences was arrived at.  So the Ministry would be unaffected. 

Thirdly . Why is every one so surprised at this development.The writing has been on the wall for some time . Such a thing had to happen.Only surprise is that it did not happen sooner.The "older generation" of officers was  taught and brought up in the services "to obey and to follow". Even "in service" applications for redressal of grievance were rather rare.The wars of 1962 , 1965 , 1971 and Kargil operation did help to maintain, to certain extent , the respect for and the authority of the defence forces.Unfortunately tnings have changed for the worst.Those who have National interest at heart and are following the relations vis-a-vis the babus and the defence forces would not have failed to notice how , over the last 65 years the babus have succeed in undermining and diminishing the authority , the prestige,the rights and the "precedence"of the Denence Forces . Up to 5 th pay commission . the older generation officers , though not happy, never went public.Things have changed since then , The babus and the Govt got a jolt when , after every thing failed,the Defence forces went public with their dissatisfaction with the recommendations of the 6 th pay commossion.It is high time the Govt and the Politicians woke up to the mechanisation of the babus and start giving  credit and the respect to the to the defence forces which they richly deserve .

PM Velankar 

After a long tome some thing got published the very next day , 20-01-12.No cuts at all :-).
Editor added three odd lines at the end .