Vol. LX, No. 31, New Delhi, February 8, 2009

So ?C? in CPM means corruption? Politburo strains to shield scam-tainted party state secretary. CM threatens to resign rather than defending him. Split wide open. By Arun Laxman THE CPI-M is in a spot over the Rs 374.5 crore SNC Lavalin case with the party politburo member and Kerala state secretary of the party Pinarayi Vijayan being charge sheeted by the CBI as the ninth accused in the case. The issues related to the case originated when the LDF government led by EK Nayanar decided to sign an MoU with the Canadian company SNC Lavalin for the maintenance of Panniyar, Sengulam and Pallivasal hydro electric projects.    more > Slumdog Millionaire distorts Indian reality, conceals India's prosperity By Aditya Pradhan THERE are two starkly differing opinions on Slumdog Millionaire, the recently released pot-boiler on Mumbai slums, that is all set to become the first Academy Award winner with Bollywood actors.    more > Special Article People want progress with security and peace By Maj Gen (retd.) BC Khanduri INTERNAL security is one of the most important issues agitating our minds in the current times. After the terrorist attacks on Mumbai recently it needs greater attention of the state as well as the Union Government. Policies of the Central Government in this area need greater clarity of thought and action. Good internal security can only result from good coordination and cooperation between the Central and the state governments.    more > Editorial Corruption taints CPM beyond repair IT is not the first time the CPI(M) is facing corruption charges. Every CPI(M) government in Kerala and West Bengal has been charged with corruption and favouritism but they were all brushed under the carpet by an obliging media and often-friendly governments at the centre. And in most cases it was the party not individual leaders who were at the centre of corruption charges.    more > Time to reject the directionless UPA?Rajnath Singh From Guru Prasad in Bengaluru "INDIA today appears to be on the brink of what might be a protracted recession. Over the last few months the so-called economic boom bubble of the UPA government has literally burst. Be it the share market, high growth rate, booming economic activity in the manufacturing, services or agricultural sectors, all macro-economic indicators have dramatically slowed down, begun to show declining trends and painting a gloomy picture of our economy?, said Shri Rajnath Singh at a press conference in Bengaluru on January 27.    more > Muslim mob attacks Hindus in Asansol FOC ON January 9, four Muslims attacked a Hindu female devotee returning from a temple, of the Goddess Kali, and attempted to molest her in the Masterpara locality of Asansol city.    more > Sangh Samachar Hindu Sammelan at Dhenkanal in Orissa Seers warn church funded NGOs against proselytisation - By Debasis Tripathy Expose the culprits of Satyam Scandal: SJM - FOC Dr Shiva Subramanya passes away - (FOC) Sarsanghachalak visits Devputra office Create healthy literature for children?KS Sudarshan - FOC Sahakar Bharati observes foundation day - Visakeo Tribute to Jagdish Arya - FOC Many legends of Pashupatinath temple, Kathmandu By Arabinda Ghose THE Maoist onslaught on Indian priests at the famous Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu has been halted temporarily, thanks to the implementation of Supreme Court's stay order on termination of services of the priests. The nitya puja at the temple has been restored and things appear to have been smoothen out.    more > Maoists fast losing support in Nepal From Nava Thakuria AS Nepal welcomes 2009 as a secular democratic republic after shedding its earlier identity of a Hindu kingdom, bad news poured from the land of Maoists. The first two weeks of the new year brought the news of killing of a young woman journalist, suspectedly by the supporters of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which is in power at Kathmandu now.    more > CPM in turmoil after CBI charge sheet on party secretary By Jayapradeep Viswanathan KERALA?S biggest financial scam, the Rs. 374.50 crore SNC Lavalin case, took a major turn when the CBI submitted their case report before the High Court and the CBI Special Court at Cochin, fixing the CPM state secretary and politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan as the 9th accused. It is the first time that a politburo member of an Indian Communist Party become an accused in CBI charge sheeted corruption case.    more > Slough Hindu community donates ?4,000 for Bihar flood relief SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE UK: The Hindu Cultural Society (Hindu Temple) of Slough donated ?4,000 (Four thousand pounds) to Sewa International's Bihar (India) Flood Appeal. The presentation was made at the Hindu temple in Slough during the Gita Jayanti programme, an occasion to mark the anniversary of the recitation of the Bhagawad Gita by Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the battlefield during the Mahabharat war.    more > The partiality of media and news channels By Nirmal Laungani I was watching Zee News all the day, against the backdrop of the assembly elections to the four states, and one could literally feel the anti-BJP feelings in the interviewers/commentators. It was almost as if Congress spokespersons were asking questions.    more > Protect Pashupatinath temple ANB THE Maoists of Nepal under the direction of their Chinese masters descended upon Lord Pashupatinath temple, like the hordes of Mahmood Ghazni who descended upon the Somnath temple. Fortunately devotees of Lord Pashupatinath woke up in time and put up a successful resistance.    more > 54th national conference of ABVP in Jalgaon Stop infiltration, deport Bangladeshis: ABVP FOC AKHIL Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) urged the UPA government to formulate a concrete policy against infiltration and make serious efforts to drive the infiltrators out of the country. In a resolution adopted at the 54th national conference held at Jalgaon, Maharashtra, from January 23 to 26, the largest student organisation of the country, ABVP, also said that administration in border areas should be made strict and border security should be strengthened.    more >

COVER PAGE Health Watch Safe motherhood still a distant dream The latest UNICEF data tells a grim story By A Special Correspondent IT is imperative to raise awareness of pregnancy deaths besides scaling up health services if maternal mortality is to be brought down.    more > The Moving Finger Writes Retirees too have a future By M.V. Kamath CONSIDER these two sets of information: According to The Week, Amitabh Bachchan?s total estimated earnings per year is Rs 39 crore. That of Shah Rukh Khan is between Rs 100 to 125 crore; that of Rithik Roshan is Rs 40 crore, of Amir Khan Rs 30 crore; of MS Dhoni between Rs 45 to 50 crore and of Kareena Kapur Rs 10 crore.    more > Kids Org Gospels of Sri Ramakrishna By Ratnadeep Banerji GODSEND Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa was an embodiment of Divine Wisdom. His vision of God was neither a figment of theology nor the troping of a poet but bore a subtlety for all ages and all societies. His gospels propound the Truth that the Vedas declare: ?He who realises Truth becomes one with Truth. By the vision of the Divine, man himself becomes Divine?.    more > Bookmark Book Reviews by Ratnadeep Banerji Kingdom pervading borders Foundation Books, www.hurstpub.co.uk The making of Obama Barack Obama: Dreams Come True, Kaushal Goyal & Hideya Nakamura, GBD Books, pp 247, Rs. 195.00 Secular untruth 650 Truths You Must Know Before it is Too Late, P. Deivamuthu, Hindu Voice, pp 96, Rs 70.00 Book Reviews By M.V. Kamath A delightful reading from Konkani literature Kaleidoscope; Ravindra Kelekar; Popular Prakashan, Mumbai; pp 206, Rs 200.00 A technocrat's political odyssey Testing Times; Dr T.H. Chowdary; CTMS, Hyderabad; pp 304, Rs 100.00 Insight Reject this anti-Hindu education and history By JG Arora The UPA has succeeded in persuading more state governments to accept the NCERT texts. A report on Monday (January 5, 2009) said 12 more state governments have accepted to teach NCERT texts in their schools.    more > Special Report A tribute to Subhas Chandra Bose The greatest virtue is to fight inequity, greatest crime accepting injustice, said Netaji By Dipin Damodharan "THE greatest curse for a man is to remain a slave. The grossest crime is to compromise with injustice and wrong.... The highest virtue is to battle against inequity, no matter what the cost may be.??Netaji    more > Media Watch Media commercialisation kills obit. Columns UNLIKE The Economists, few, if any, among our newspapers and journals run a regular obituary column and, apart from the passing away of a celebrity being noticed in a few paragraphs, the Indian media seldom tell us of the contribution made by the person in his or her field of activity.    more >

Open Forum Are security forces trained to fight terrorists? By Dr AN Banerjee FIRST and foremost we pay homage to Assistant Sub Inspector Tukaram Omble, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Havildar Gajendra Singh Bisht and the other two hundred martyrs whose valuable lives were lost due to the mishandling of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage by our netas and baboos. We are not playing any blame game. Our only object is to analyse our weak and strong points.    more >

Feedback Secularism is minorityism in India By Bimal Prasad Mohapatra IT was 1982 flood time in Orissa. Entire Mahanadi delta was marooned with flood water. Many benevolent people and organisations along with government agencies were busy in arranging and distributing relief among the hapless. So also we students. We had been to some villages near Konark. We saw some people distributing Cross along with relief materials to the peasants.    more >

Readers? Forum Falsifying history for political gain (Organiser, 18-1-2009); ?ANANDA GANESH by e-mail Rama Sethu is an important symbol of that which unites the whole of India. All the literature of every religion of India has one or more reference to it. This way it becomes the symbol of the Indian integrity. This is well-known to everybody including those who want to destroy it.    more >

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