Vol. LXII, No. 28, New Delhi, JANUARY 16, 2011

Bofors’ ghost haunts Cong The Q-factor exposes Sonia nexus By Shyam Khosla BOFORS kickbacks scandal refuses to die down, successive Congress Government’s flagrant cover up and obstruction of justice notwithstanding. The Income Tax Appellant Tribunal has resurrected the scandal by ruling that Ottivio Quattrocchi, the Italian businessman close to the Gandhi family, did receive kickbacks amounting to Rs nine crore for facilitating the gun deal with the Swedish manufacturer.    more > Thinking Aloud Bihar: Lalu gave them no hope, so they made him a joke By Dr Jay Dubashi I feel sorry for our good friend, Lalu Prasad Yadav. I don’t think we are going to see him again for a long time, as he tends to his wife’s cows in Patna.    more > Editorial Who has the best life under the UPA? THE latest SMS doing the rounds among the teenagers goes like this: Job opportunity – great adventure, best accommodation, complete facilities, made to order food, good security and publicity.    more > Anarchy in Pakistan. Kill and get killed Killing Governor Salman Taseer symptomatic of an impossible task By Aditya Pradhan THE merciless killing of Governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province Salman Taseer did not come as a surprise just as he had himself said so on Twitter, almost on premonition in December 2010. The dastardly assassination of the high official reflects on several grave issues in Pakistan today.    more > Sangh Samachar National Council meeting of Adhivakta Parishad Electoral reforms must to bring about qualitative change among elected representatives—Justice (retd) MN Venkatachalaiah - By Rajesh Padmar, VSK, Bengaluru Youth leadership summit by Sikh Sangat - FOC Ignorant leaders like Rahul Gandhi are bigger threat—Ram Madhav - FOC National archery competition by Kalyan Ashram - FOC Kavi Sammelan by Sahitya Bharati - FOC VHP Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal meeting on February 7 - FOC Iscon wins a battle on Krishna A nun in Warsaw, Poland, filed a case against ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness). The case came up in court.    more > Bags 17 Karnataka zilla panchayats BJP sweeps Karnataka local body poll SILENCING his critics, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa led his ruling BJP to victory in the local body elections.    more > Congress, CPM vote-bank politics under fire NSS, SNDP attack political parties for ignoring Hindu sentiments By S Chandrasekhar AS a New Year hope and gift for the Hindus of Kerala, both the Nair Service Society (NSS) and Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) representing almost 75 per cent of the 150 lakh Hindu population of Kerala have attacked the vote-bank and minority appeasement politics of the CPM and Congress.    more > During the last five years Rs 2,891.77 crore spent on Haj pilgrimage THE practice of providing Haj subsidy started in the year 1991, courtesy power hungry politicians.    more > BNHS curator Varad Giri gets Nisarga Mitra Award From Atul Sathe MUMBAI: The curator of BNHS’ natural history collection, Varad Giri, received the State-level Nisarga Mitra Award for 2010-2011.    more > ARCHAEOLOGY: Custodian of heritage ASI to celebrate 150th anniversary From Dr S Kalyanaraman THE Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which will turn 150 in 2011, is a vibrant, multifaceted organisation tasked with research in archaeology and the protection of India's cultural heritage.    more > Path Breaking Lecture on the roots of Indian culture Ancient Civilizations This Series of 12 lectures on the ancient civilizations of the world will be held at the National Archives over a 12-month period in collaboration with National Archives and UNESCO.    more > Congress fans Gujjar trouble in vote-politics By Lokpal Sethi in Jaipur HAVING failed to deliver the promises. which he and his Congress Party had made during the assembly elections, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, off late has acquired the habit to blame BJP when ever things went wrong in the state.    more > India in major financial crisis Sonia Gandhi, patron of corruption—Dr Subramanian Swamy THE Indian economy is headed for a major crisis by March 2011 due to the vast liquidity in the economy caused by corruption and compounded by ill-advised financial derivatives such as Participatory Notes (PNs).    more > A call for policies for affordable food, education and protection to labour India should be out of western concepts By Shivaji Sarkar YET another New Year has dawned. Would it be a happy one? Nobody can predict. Each year past many years are coming with hopes only to be dashed by the year-end.    more > He organised Hindus. Fought for Hindu rights By VN Gopalakrishnan MANNATHU Padma-nabhan, popularly known as Mannam is the peerless leader of the Nair community.    more > Hindu spiritual leader abducted, protests across Balochistan http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report AN octogenarian Hindu spiritual leader was abducted along with his companions in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, sparking angry protests from the community members across the state.    more > J&K stone-pelter gets Rs 400 a week: Cops HinduThought@yahoogroups.com THE J&K police claimed to have busted a gang of alleged stone-pelters, who fomented trouble in north Kashmir “with a perfect liaison between some government employees, separatists and militants in Sopore” this summer.    more > True Values By Manju Gupta DEEP in the forest lived a sage named Vedana Deshikan, who was a very pious and honest man, leading a simple life and without bothering about either his health or comfort.    more > Value of righteousness LORD Shiva, while residing on Mount Kailash, decided to do penance as he felt somehow uncomfortable at seeing the misery and corruption on earth.    more > A consumer’s perspective Small versus Mall By Dr Devender Kawday SMALL or Mall both have one common function—retail, as both are involved in retailing business.    more > Sugar: The bitter story of Indian reforms By MR Venkatesh SUGAR prices in the last quarter (October–December) of 2010 have gone up by approximately twenty per cent.    more > Rahul Gandhi's spiritual malignancy and flight from reality By Dr Babu Suseelan RECENT released “Wilkileaks” is full of fascinating reports on inept Sonia Maino’s arrogance, ignorance of India, and her maroon son Rahul Gandhi’s statement which proves his cognitive disorder.    more > What others say Over 100 Hindu families in Pak want to migrate to India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com ISLAMABAD: Over a 100 Hindu families in Pakistan's Balochistan province are making efforts to migrate to India after becoming the target of a campaign of kidnappings and extortion, according to a media report.    more > Hounded by Taliban, Hindus in Pakistan are a persecuted lot By Anuradha Dutt KASHMIRI Pandits are not alone in being driven out of their homes by Muslim zealots, militants and mercenaries.    more > In Pakistan, to be a minority is a curse Courtesy:Edit The Pioneer dt. Dec 29, 2010 PAKISTAN, which does not let go of any opportunity to heckle India on perceived human rights violations, stands exposed as at least 27 Hindu families from Balochistan have approached the Indian High Commission in Islamabad seeking political asylum in this country.    more > Foreign hand: Christian bodies top donors, receivers By J Gopikrishnan NGOs in India received almost Rs 10,000 crore as contributions from foreign donors in 2007-08.    more > SJM national seminar on condition of rivers A call to save Indian rivers FOC THIS is a fact that rivers are integral point of our ecology, economy, spirituality, religion and truly the entire life pattern of the nation.    more >

COVER PAGE The Moving Finger Writes Something is rotten with the Congress By MV Kamath PAINED at the criticism showered in recent times on Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi called it “despicable”. Strong language unworthy of a Congress leader who holds both the reins of office and the whip, but let that go.    more > Bookmark Blackstone: The Wall Street money mantra King of Capital: The remarkable rise, fall and rise again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone, David Carey and John E Morris, Crown Business, Pp 391(HB), Price $27.50. THE economic recession saw the fortunes of giants nose-dive, kings becoming paupers in a blink and the common man wrenched the shirt off his back. But there were some smart ones, who survived, even grew bigger.    more > Brazil: A gripping economic recovery that proved the prophets of doom squirm By Dr R Balashankar Brazil on the Rise: The Story of a Country Transformed, Larry Rohter, Palgrave Macmillan, Pp 289 (HB), Price $27.00. BRAZIL is a happening country. It is hosting the soccer World Cup in 2014 and Olympics in 2016. Coming out of the vicious grip of poverty-under development-dictatorship syndrome, the nation, rich in natural and human sources is marking a blazing path of growth.    more > Money labs, a growing financial trick By Dr Vaidehi Nathan Secrets of the Money Lab: How Understanding People will Increase your Profits, Kay-Yut Chen and Marina Krakovsky, Penguin Books, Pp 246 (PB), Price £14.99 MARKET surveys and input analysis are old story. The latest is the money lab. Laboratories where experiments are conducted by experts to gauge and measure the reaction of the target consumer are being increasingly used in companies world over.    more > Cold facts about West meddling in Kashmir By MV Kamath Jammu & Kashmir: The Cold War and the West:DN Panigrahi, Routledge, Delhi, Pp 265(HB), Rs 595.00 DN Panigrahi is an acknowledged authority on the politics of Jammu & Kashmir. A former Visiting Professor at Jamia Millia Islamia University, a man with a wide experience of teaching and,...    more > The message of the Mantra Mantramala : Mantras to Live By, Rohini Gupta, Dronequill Publishers, Pp 370, Rs 395.00 IT is not always that one reads a book and keeps it by one’s bedside for ever and ever, to read and re-read, to satisfy one’s deep urge for peace, joy, relaxation and spiritual elevation. Such books are rare.    more > Vacation gone waste Our Kind of Traitor, John le Carre, published by Penguin Books Ltd, Pp 306 (PB), £18.99 By Dr Vaidehi Nathan A couple takes a vacation at the enchanting island of Antigua in the Caribbean. The fun time takes a dangerous turn when a Russian millionaire called Dima approaches them, seeking their help for defecting.    more > A touch of humour and humanism By Tej N Dhar Sketches and Conversations Recalled, Margaret Chatterjee; Promilla and Co, Pp 189(PB); Rs 225.00 THE book under review is a new addition to Chatterjee’s earlier volumes on sketches. She writes in this volume that the sketches are meant “to introduce the reader to a wide range of people and places.”    more >

Media Watch Diggy, Sonia G. and Rahul G. THE Sentinel is a leading paper from Guwahati, Assam, but like most regional papers it is seldom heard of. But what it has to say about the “mysterious delay” observed by Sonia Gandhi in attacking corruption is highly relevant.    more >

Insight ‘Tamil Elam’ a Christian agenda?—II Fr. Gaspar Raj transferred all the collected funds in his account in Paris By B R Haran IN the meantime, he arranged the rebroadcast of the Veritas Tamil programmes in the then popular TRT Tamil Alai Radio, and used it to build a formidable link between himself and the Tamil Diaspora.    more >

Readers’ Forum “Hindu radical groups are more dangerous than LeT”: —SHANTA DYUTHIKAR, 39, 15th Cross, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru-3 This is the statement to the US Ambassador from Rahul Gandhi, who is being projected as the future leader, the heir apparent, in whose hands the future of our country Bharat lies. God help us!    more >

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