K. Srinivasan presenting the Sansad Ratna Award to
Mr Anandrao Adsul MP at Mumbai
Four MPs were presented with 'Sansad Ratna Award 2012' on behalf of Prime Point Foundation, at IIT, Madras on 14th April 2012. Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Former Governor of West Bengal presented the Awards.
Mr Anandrao Adsul, Hon'ble Member of Parliament from Amravati, Maharashtra constituency is one of the Sansad Ratna Award Winners, for his outstanding performance in overall tally and also for being No 1 in asking 'Questions' in the current 15th Lok Sabha. He was also No 1 in asking 'Questions' in the earlier 14th Lok Sabha. Till 30th March 2012, he has asked 754 Questions.
Since Mr Adsul could not attend the Award function at Chennai on 14th April 2012 due to his ill health, K. Srinivasan, Chairman of the Prime Point Foundation personally handed over the Award to Mr Adsul at Mumbai on 19th April 2012.
After handing over the Award, he also recorded his Lok Sabha experience and as to how, he could get the benefit for his constituency through raising questions. Mr Adsul quoted some examples of his success story. At the same time, he also expressed his concern over the growing scams. He was quoting, "India is a rich country with poor people", meaning that our scams are in lakhs of crores. However, he appealed to the new generation to enter into political system and improve the system for betterment.
PodUniversal Edition 151
Please listen to his interesting interview. (11 minutes).
This video can also be seen from the following link.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Former Governor of West Bengal
Prime Point Foundation, presented the Sansad Ratna Awards 2012 at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras on Saturday the 14th April 2012 to top performing 4 MPs. Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Former Governor of West Bengal and the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Rajaji presented the Awards.
After presenting the Awards. he gave an inspiring and poetic speech for nearly 18 minutes. During his speech, he stressed that the people should not slander Parliament and it amounted to slandering ourselves. He also quoted the example of the Acts of Parliament abolishing dowry and untouchability, which still remained unabolished from the society. He said, the Parliament was a great Institution and it could find solution for many things. He also appealed the Parliamentarians to find solutions for eradicating black money and corruption.
PodUniversal Edition 150
Please listen to the inspiring speech of Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi. The text of his speech may be downloaded from
Who or what but pure coincidence could have conjured four names of parliamentarians with the perfect blend of legislative credit and with all four belonging to different parties, different regions, different languages ?
One defect in design has however been left by that architect of concurrent incidence. I refer to the fact that all winners are men. A reservation – by utter chance – for women in the play of the hand that devises these awards would be felicitous.
I salute chance.
But I do so without detracting from the inherent merit of the MPs who have been conferred the Sansad Ratna-s. They have not achieved what they have achieved by chance, or by a fluke. They have earned their distinction.
I applaud the winners, I celebrate their achievement, I commend their example to their peers.
And yet I cannot but express a contrary opinion today. And that is : Not just these MPs, and their award winning predecessors but every MP should been found to have done as well or as well as these three. Some have to excel. They have to stand out. Even in the Defence Forces, where every man or woman in uniform has the same valour, the same discipline, the same courage, some do get Vir Chakra-s, some Param Vir Chakra-s. But Vir they all are.
Is the case the same with our legislators ? Some may shine, some may sparkle, and some may stun by their calibre, but are they all Ratna-s ?
Membership of the Houses of Parliament requires a level field of performance in what may be termed the basics of parliamentarianism. Has that been happening ? Some are regular in their attendance, others are frequent visitors. Some put a good number of questions, others keep their queries themselves. Some make a tidy number of speeches. Others opt for silence.
Excellence is optional. Should pass-mark performance be optional too ?
It has been said speech should improve upon silence.
But silence cannot improve on silence, except in a Rishi.
And shouting cannot take the place of speech, except in a public meeting and that too only when the amplification-system has failed.
Attendance, interpellations and speeches in legislatures are of course optional. And Hon’ble Members are entitled to opt for those forms of conservative conduct. But walk-outs too are optional, as is raising one’s voice beyond the requirements of audition, stepping into the well of the House, tearing documents, hurling objects. That option is frequently exercised.
But, on a larger plane, is parliamentary accountability optional ?
Is legislative duty a matter of choice ?
Is giving one’s worth as one elected to one’s electors subject to the whimsies of volition ?
Today is a magnetic anniversary, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. Let us ask his memory that question. I feel like saying to him ‘Sir, you will be glad to know Parliament has a Committee on Ethics’. I can hr him rejoin with ‘ I did not know ethics can be achieved by a committee…Do they decide on what is ethical by consensus, by majority vote or by the casting vote of its chair ?’
And I do not have the answer to that.
If that were possible, how much good, how much welfare, how much progress we could achieve by ‘committee’ !
Alas, reality is ever a teaser.
There are grades of performance in Parliament as there are elsewhere. And one may not expect uniformity in standards of dedication. In fact one may definitely expect the opposite. One may expect variations, wide and oceanic variations in individual records.
Parliament represents the essences of India.
Parliament is in fact, ‘Essential India’.
Therefore it is important, I think, that not just individuals but Parliament as a whole passes tests, rigorous, exemplary tests. What is important is that the integrated will of the people as reflected in that body of the essences of India, be of the first rank, of the first water.
And there, let us note the fact that in all its successive avatars, the Parliament of India has shown itself to be an extraordinary institution.
Even as forum for debating, let us acknowledge the fact that we have some extraordinary spealers there. The recent debate on the Lokpal Bill saw some exceptional speeches, of which must mention those of Sri Pranab Mukherjee, Smt Sushma Swaraj, Sri Arun Jaitley, Sri Sitaram Yechury, Sri Sandeep Dikshit, Sri Abhishek Singhvi, Smt Shobhana Bhartia, Sri D Raja. There are others who spoke effectively and persuasively as well, but these names com readily to my mind.
As a citizen, as a voter, I felt proud hearing them. Dr Ambedkar would have felt proud hearing them. I felt the people of India were speaking through them.
I do not and never shall subscribe to the cynical diminishing of our Parliament that some attempt. I do not and shall not join in any chorus of abuse hurled at that institution. For to call Parliament by any synonym of slander is to slander ourselves. Not that we as a people do not deserve to hear bitter truths about ourselves ; we do. But then we are of elements so mixed, of virtues and vices so fluxed, of highs and lows so contradictorily constituted, that we should know better than to judge too harshly or in haste an institution that is made in nothing save our own image.
Just as we as individuals, as house-holders, as institution-makers have moments when we rise above our own average, when we overcome our limitations and seek to raise ourselves to a degree of elevation above that which is natural to our state, just as we have, shall I say, moments of high reflection or deep introspection, and just as we, with all our mortal weaknesses, can sometimes rise above ourselves to an act of courage, or of candour, of credit and of commitment, so also the Parliament of India can rise and has risen, time and again, to give to its people, to those that have brought it into being, in other words, to us, the gift of its innate greatness, the fruit of its inherent wisdom, and indeed, the dower of its ripened instincts.
So high are our expectations of Parliament, so pressing our needs for its attention, and so steep our sense of its obligations to us, that our dismay and our disappointment, our sadness and often our shock at its failure to meet our aspirations blinds us to what it has done.
If that ugly stain on our society – dowry – has been outlawed in our country, it is by an act of Parliament. If dowry is still asked for without shame and given without demur, that is by our acts.
If domestic violence has been made a crime in our country, it is by an act of Parliament. If women and infants are still beaten by despicable brutes in male form, it is by acts of society.
If untouchability has been abolished in our country, let us acknowledge the fact that it has so been abolished by the wisdom of the founding parents of our Constitution and our Parliament. If that ugly stain on our society – dowry – has been outlawed in our country, it is by an act of Parliament. Likewise, land reforms were brought in by Parliament, police reforms, prison reforms, labour law reforms, and an enactment, perhaps the first of its kind in the world, for the prevention of cruelty to animals. All these are the gifts to the country of Parliament. And the same Parliament has bent to heed popular opinion , most notably, in the amendment to the States Reorganisation Bill which had in a rather wooden manner proposed a composite state of Bombay, to divide it far more realistically , into Maharashtra and Gujarat.
One might say all that ‘happened’ in the golden days of Jawaharlal Nehru.
And so it did. But then the record has continued.The landmark reservation of seats for women in our local bodies happened long after and , in our ‘own’ times, if domestic violence has been made a crime in our country, it is by an act of Parliament, if the NREGA is a fact of life today, giving employment and wages and nourishment to millions, it is because of Parliament, if the RTI is a household name today, utilised across the length and breadth of India, and the RTE Act promises education to India’s children, it is because of Parliament. If States have Lok Ayuktas and the Centre may – inshallah – soon have a Lok Pal it is again because our legislatures have responded according to its own lights to public opinion, to public campaigns.
We need to salute Anna Hazare for his campaign. But just imagine for a moment a country where there was no parliament, no democracy, who would Anna Hazare have addressed ? Who would have taken his demand for steps against corruption and black money forward ?
I could go on and give more examples, but do not need to. Not in Chennai, which has sent some of the finest Parliamentarians of the world to the apex legislature of India.
Let us not judge Parliament by its low tides. Let us not measure its bench marks by the lines left on its side by receding foam-lines of sediment and dross. They do not represent the golden mean. At the other end of the spectrum, let us not see it by the leaps of its great shooting stars either, for they too are exceptional.
Let us rather judge that institution, which is nothing else than our own integrated political intelligence at work, by its averages. There we shall see a balanced picture.
Having said this, let me say the following and close:
Parliament is by definition a vessel of dignity. Let those who row it row with knowledge. It will empower them.
Parliament is like a planetarium where the convex sky must glitter with the glow and sparkle of the entire spangled firmament, not by the episodic spark of meteors, comets and shooting stars. Those can add to the wonderment of Parliament , but not compensate for the sullen starlessness of its average sky.
Parliament cannot be held by its makers in anything but confidence, faith. Parliament hs to be the home of visvasam.
Preoccupation with the monetary, travel or status perquisites of legislative membership when proportionate to preoccupation with serious work will never be begrudged by the people of India. We are a generous people. But when that preoccupation is out of balance, it can jar. We are an intelligent people.
Finally, it is time Parliament gave India solutions to three important problems that beset us:
A solution to the ogre of black money.
A solution to the related demon of corrupt practices, including the use of intimidation, physical and psychological, in elections.
A solution to what Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan called “widespread inefficiency and gross mismanagement of resources”.
There is a fourth contribution that requires to be made as well. We are facing certain risks, national risks. There is the distinct prospect flowing from climate change of a water shock and a food shock. We have of course the ever-present prospect of an energy shock, fuel shock. And we have the seemingly increase frequency of natural disasters like earthquakes. We were all shaken up on 11 April by the 8.6 that lay epicentred in Indonesia. Now, earthquakes today are no different from earthquakes millennia ago. They may be more frequent, but in their intrinsic nature they are the same as always. Yet they kill more viciously now, not because the earthquake per se has become more vicious but because the congestion of buildings and of populations has become so dense that the impact is that much worse.
What does all this have to do with Parliament?
It has everything to do with Parliament because Parliament is our essence and we must be told by it of the risks that we face, the dangers we must prepare ourselves for. Parliament must be both th harbinger of good news and initiator of great steps but it must also be the messenger of the bitter herbs of much-needed medicament in terms of honest truths told. It must give us confidence and also take us into confidence.
Let us be proud of our Parliament and all our Legislative Assemblies, but let us strive to make them what they are meant to be.
"The news coming out of India to countries outside tend to have more of negative aspects. Hence, India should accentuate the positive image and eliminate the negative impage through proper PR strategies", Mr Anthony B M Good, popularly known as Tony Good, a global PR legend said in an exclusive interview with PodUniversal.
He also suggested that Indian youth should look for positive aspect in every setback and grasp the opportunity, available everywhere.
Mr Tony Good, when he was young, joined a leading Airline company as a Public Relations and marketing Executive. He lost his job from the Company, for no fault of him. That triggered a 'fire' in him to start an independent Public Relations Company to prove his capability.
This independent PR Agency, which he started 50 years back was 'Good Relations'. This is the first PR Agency anywhere in the world to get listed in the stock exchange at London.
From 1970 onwards, he got associated with India through his association with many companies as a member of the Board. He is presently the International Chairman of Cox and Kings, one of the top travel agencies of 250 year old.
In 1986, he started the Indian arm of Good Relations as an Indian company. Again, this is the first independent PR and Communication agency in India.
Mr Tony Good in his late 70s, is a great visionary and is considered as a 'legend' in the communication field.
Public Relations Council of India honoured him on 13th Feb 2012 at Mumbai with the coveted 'Life Time Achivement Award' in the presence of a galaxy of eminent communication, media and corporate professionals.
Tony Good (third from left) receiving the award
from M B Jayaram, Chairman Emeritus, PRCI
(second from left)
On the next day, Mr Tony Good was at Chennai for few hours. Since he was hard pressed for time, I travelled along with him to Airport in his car and recorded an exclusive interview with him on various issues.
In the interesting conversation, he touched about the strength and weakness of Indian Corporates, his ivews about Indian media, India's image outside, his suggestions to Indian youth and Non Resident Indians.
While watching / listening to this interview, you can also go through the transcipt of his conversation. (Transcript courtesy by Ms Esther Emil, GRI, Chennai).
Transcript of the interview with Mr Tony Good
Mr.Tony Good, Welcome to PodUniversal show Very kind, Thank you
Let me congratulate you for receiving the coveted Life time achievement award from Public Relations Council of India
I feel extremely honored by it. It will be something that I will aspire to, possibly live upto if I can
Sir, you are associated with India and the Indian corporates almost from 1970 that is nearly 40 years?
Absolutely
You know about the Indian corporates and European corporates. What according to you are the strong points of Indian corporates?
I think there is still very much a family tradition in most of the major corporates and I think that is a strength. I think that they’ve moved with the times in the second and third generation increasingly tending to be educated on an international stage rather than a national one so I think you get the best of both worlds. You get the cohesion that comes from a close knit family business but also though the younger members have gained experience and knowledge abroad which they are bringing to bear in their businesses here.
What according to you are the weak points among the Indian corporates that prevent them to meet the global standards?
Well, I think increasingly they are achieving global standards. I mean if for example you had told me in 1970 when I first came to India that, for example Tata would own not only Tetley Tea and what was British deal Land Rover Jaguar, I think very few people would ever have believed that. And I’ve seen the incursion of Indian corporates to the international stage in the most impressive way.
Do you think the Indian Corporates are building their image properly?
I think, one of the problems that India has is that as a country it is not doing its PR as well as it could and should. Now, you might expect me to say that, but all too often the headlines about India are about their corruption and inefficiency. Now every country has its corruption and sadly my own has been proved recently to be no exception. I think that India has to recognize the need for PR as a country and Indian corporates also need to recognize that they have to promote themselves on the international stage as well as on their local, domestic stage.
Do you mean to say that India is being projected negatively outside?
I think too much of the news that comes out of India tends to have a rather negative aspect to it, yes.
What is the solution?
The solution is to promote the positive, what was the famous song “accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative” and I think that in terms of eliminating the negative there is a big job for the Indian government to do in being seen to the grasp the nettle of the corruption that undoubtedly exists but it also exists in many many other parts of the world.
Now that takes me to another broader question about media. You are seeing the European and the Indian media, What do you think about the Indian Media? Are they more sensitive or more sensational?
I don’t think they are more sensational, no. I think that most of the well established Indian newspapers do a very good job of news coverage. I think if you have followed the phone hacking stories, that I know have been covered here as well as in the UK there is no doubt that some of the practices that have caught on in Britain and I suspect in other European and International countries I think, Indian Media have a lot to be extremely proud of. Of course they are not perfect, no media are perfect but I’ve seen them come a long way in a comparatively short time.
What is the suggestion that you are giving to the Indian youth because you are a serial entrepreneur, and you have built institutions.
Well, you are very kind.
I think Indians have a strong streak of entrepreneurialism in them. It would be presumptuous of me to suggest that I can teach the most entrepreneurial nation in the world about how to be good at it. I think what I would say is identifying the opportunity and seizing it, looking at the positive.
I mean the most unfair thing that ever happened to me which caused me to lose a job; a marketing and Public Relations job in an airline turned out to be an opportunity to create a business which if you told me it would end up being listed on the London Stock Exchange, and at that time we floated we were the only Public Relations company with a stock exchange listing anywhere in the world, I would have been amazed. So I think my message to young Indian Entrepreneurs would be
(1)Identify the opportunity (2)Opportunities are everywhere (3)Have the courage to grasp it and (4)Look for the positives in setbacks
What are your suggestions for Indians who are working abroad?
Indian who are working abroad, well I think I would say two things, one is that, and I think they are increasingly learning this, to be infact assimilated into the country as a whole. There was a tendency I think in the past for Indians working abroad to basically gather in small groups, stick together. Now we’ve seen Indians, my good friend Gulam Noon, who has progressed from an MBE, to a knighthood to a position in the House of Lords. Is, I think a very good example of an Indian entrepreneur who has become absorbed into the environment and has become infact a part of it. And I know of many other successful Indian entrepreneurs who have done exactly that.
Thank you very much for joining Pod Universal Show
Presently, almost all the banks have introduced core banking facilities and are providing various online transactions. In the past two or three years, the usage of technology in banks have gone many fold.
As at the end of 2011, approximately 1.8 crores of credit cards are in circulation and they contribute around 8000 crores of transactions every month. In the same way, around 26 crores of debit cards are in circulation, creating around 3000 crores of transaction. Besides, the banks have activated around 6.5 crores of online accounts. The banks in India, put together transact around 2 lakh crores of rupees every month towards NEFT, ECS, credit and debit card transactions electronically.
Anticipating such enormous growth, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up a Working Group in 2010 under the Chairmanship of Mr G Gopalakrishna, Executive Director of RBI to look into the Information security in banks and suggest measures. Accordingly, the Working Group submitted its draft report to RBI in Jan 2011. RBI sought suggestions from the civil society on the report. After the suggestions were received, the final report was accepted by RBI and they circulated to all the Banks on 29th April 2011, directing the banks to implement the recommendations in a time bound manner.
The Working Group has given 265 recommendations. Before the end of October 2011, the Banks should have completed the formation of various committees for implementation and for drafting IS Policy. They should have also completed the gap analysis.
With this background, Cyber Society of India (CySI) jointly with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) organised a one-day National Seminar on "Banking on e-Security: RBI's Gopalakrishna Working Group" on Friday the 27th Jan 2012 at Chennai.
This is the first time, such a seminar is being organised anywhere in India, after the publication of report. A mention has to be made about Mr M Narendra, CMD of IOB, who took the pro-active efforts and arranged to get Mr Gopalakrishna himself to address the participants from different banks and IT industry.
When Cyber Society of India wrote to all the banks about the seminar and requested their participation, excepting few banks like Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Corporation Bank, Maharashtra Bank, UCO Bank, TNSC Bank, SBI, others did not bother even to acknowledge or enquire about this. Those banks also did not even respond to phone calls.
Even when CySI wrote personally to few Chairmen, requesting them to participate in the inaugural session, they did not even respond, even after several reminders and phone calls.
While, organising this event, CySI was able to realise that bankers were not well equipped to address the seminar confidently. Their knowledge level on this report was also very less. When CySI, requested one of the Bankers to depute their Senior Executive, who is considered an authority on IS Audit, their GMs immediately deputed him to Chennai from Kolkatta. After the concerned Official boarded the flight, the CMD of the Bank ordered him not to go and speak. This is the type of 'attitude' of the top management in many banks. Probably, for every knowledge seeking exercise, they need some 'directions' from the Government or from Regulators. Only very few Chairmen are pro-active.
Cyber Society of India has suggested two measures to RBI for consideration.
1. Presently, banks offer mobile alerts to their customers for their credit card, debit card and online transactions only on request. Due to lack of awareness, many customers have not availed this facility. This leads to lot of cyber crimes, causing pressure to police authorities also. Hence, CySI suggested that mobile alerts should be by 'default' and only if the customers do not want such alert, they should request the bank.
2. Secondly, IS Audit in the banks are not done effectively. Either they do it themselves or get it done through their own known people. Since the banks are not insisting on 'digital signatures' for the transactions, they are exposing the customers to greater risk and privacy issues. Hence, CySI has requested RBI to empanel, qualified IS Auditors and allot the auditors at random directly to the banks. Such independent reports are to be monitored by RBI.
Mr Gopalakrishna said that he would take up with the appropriate authorities at RBI level for consideration.
While addressing the participants, Mr Gopalakrishna also accepted that the implementation in the first six months was not satisfactory. Subsequently, when the media persons asked him, he responded that RBI would take it seriously, if the recommendations are not implemented before October 2012.
The full text of the speech by Mr G Gopalakrishna may be downloaded from the following link:
India Against Corruption under the leadership of Anna Hazare has been fighting for a strong Lokpal bill to eliminate corruption in India. Lokpal Bill is pending in Indian Parliament for more than 40 years and is not getting passed for one reason or other.
The recent Commonwealth game scam, 2 G scam have triggered the anger of the general public and the anti-corruption movement in India has occupied the centre stage. Even the recent Tamilnadu Assembly elections has proved the mood of the people.
Since corruption is affecting even the common man, this movement has brought together all the people across the Nation, irrespective of their age, caste, economic conditions, education, etc.
When Anna Hazare went on indefinite fast, demanding a strong Lokpal Bill during August 2011, the entire Lok Sabha assured the Nation to get a Lokpal bill passed in the winter session of 2011. As promised, the Government of India has introduced a draft Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha on 23nd December 2011. The draft bill is coming up for debate from 27th December 2011 in the Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, Anna Hazare has also given a call for 'satyagraha and fast' from 27th December onwards and also to court arrest by way of 'Jail Bharo'. Till this moment, around 70,000 youth in India have registered to go to jail, demanding a strong bill.
Even though, there are criticisms that IAC should not interfere with the functions of the Parliament, IAC is going ahead with their protest.
IAC is not happy with the present format of Lokpal Bill. They want the investigation powers and the Anticorruption wing of CBI to be brought under Lokpal.
With this background, on behalf of PodUniversal, I interviewed Mr Murlidaran, an active volunteer of IAC, Chennai to share the views on behalf of IAC, as to the areas that are causing concern to them.
Please watch and listen to the podcast interview with Mr Murlidaran. (6 m 40 s).
This podcast may also be watched from the following link:
India Against Corruption, Chennai (IAC) had invited Anna Hazare to Chennai to address the Tamilnadu people. After his acceptance of the invitation, Anna ji promised to visit Chennai via Bangaloru on 18th Dec, 2011.
Many people, irrespective of their state, education, religion and age started admiring Annaji for the past one year, after he took on the Central Government to bring Jan Lokpal. Everybody, including me, started admiring his passion and will power to take on the Government. When he was on fast during August, 2011, many of the members from India Vision Group also showed solidarity with him, by skipping one meal, sitting at their place.
Socially conscious people at Chennai were eager to have of glimpse of Anna Hazare, when he agreed to visit Chennai. I have personally seen the enthusiasm level of youngsters. Around 200 volunteers started working day and night ten days in advance to make the visit of Annaji a memorable one. All of them spent their money out of their pocket in this process. Though there were lot of confusions about the visit of Annaji, these young volunteers involved themselves actively in the arrangement of venue, logistics for the meeting, media relations, arranging accommodation for Team Anna, travel arrangements, police security aspects, website and social media management, live webcasting of the event, sponsorship arrangement, publicity through posters and phamlets, etc. All their activities were transparent and had frequent meetings within short time to ensure the proper arrangements. I admire the involvement of around 200 young volunteers, who selflessly worked for the visit of Annaji.
Probably for the first time in Chennai, such socially relevant meeting attracted ten thousand people at Pachayappa's College, the venue for the meeting. Due to the efforts of media team, the entire national and regional media were present to cover the event. While at Bangalore none of the Regional TV Channels covered live, here at Chennai, three popular Tamil channels covered the event live from the venue to reach the entire Tamilnadu population.
Then what went wrong and where?
While, Annaji has triggered the emotions of millions of youngsters across the nation, a closer look of Annaji's visit to Chennai revealed lot of hollowness and arrogance in their top leadership. Many people like me, who have been supporting IAC right from the beginning felt that Anna Hazare ji is more boxed by few coterie and selfish people. Annaji, due to his age (74) not able to do anything. I share with you some of my first hand information.
Insulting rural leader
1. The young volunteers team had planned to introduce Anna ji through Mr Elango, Former President of Koothappakkam Panchayat (a national award winner for creating model village). Particularly when the regional channels were telecasting live throughout Tamilnadu and because Annaji was focussing on rural development in his speech, this gesture could have sent a right signal to all the rural Tamilnadu. It appears, in the last minute, the top leaders of IAC at Chennai did not favour a rural man to introduce Annaji and preferrred to show their face through channels. Mr Elango had come to the venue with his rural people. But he was not even given the opportunity by the top leaders even to meet Annaji.
Selfish interest of a bollywood person suppressed public interest.
2. While Annaji had arrived at 11 AM to Chennai, he was straight taken from Airport to a preview theatre to watch a movie on Gandhi. Though, there were requests from Chennai Team and also from Team Anna to postpone the viewing of film after meeting the press and the public, this was not allowed by the Secretary of Anna Hazareji. It appears, the personal interest of some film producer connected with bollywood had taken precedence over Annaji's meeting with the public and press. Chennai volunteers blame Mr Suresh, the Private Secretary of Annaji for this decision. They say that Mr Suresh is all powerful and controls what Annaji has to do.
Losing an opportunity to address Tamilnadu people
3. Though, the volunteers team wanted to hold the press conference with Annaji at Chennai Press Club immediately after his arrival, due to this film show, the press conference was planned at 2.30 PM at the venue of the public meeting. Though, all the national and regional channels were holding their camera for live telecast at 2.30 PM, announcement came from Team Anna that Annaji was taking rest due the earlier film show, where he was sitting through and asked the local team to postpone the press meet to 5.30 PM, after completion of public meeting. Since the arrangement was perfectly made in a secluded place at 2.30 PM for the press conference, this sudden change caused lot of disappointment to the media. Team Anna lost a great opportunity to convey their message to entire Tamilnadu live through various channels. To please a bollywood person, they sacrificed a nice opportunity to address Tamilnadu people.
Arrogant behaviour of Kiran Bedi in public
4. Kiran Bedi who was present along with Annaji visibly behaved in an arrogant manner with every body, including media. She was even shouting at the cameras of the media. While Annaji was on stage, she even had the audacity to say that India Against Corruption movement was started by her along with Arvind Kejriwal and that Annaji joined later as third person. Kiran Bedi's behaviour was not liked by many people in the crowd. Even during the Press Conference held after the public meeting and also during the closed door meeting with NGOs, Kiran Bedi was dominating the entire show. The entire Tamilnadu was watching her arrogance through live telecast. Even the questions put to Annaji was responded by her, without allowing Annaji to speak. It gave an impression that Annaji was being used as a show piece to project the individual image of few persons.
Lack of connectivity to the audience
5. For the first time, they are visiting southern states after the launch of IAC. Already, people in the south, particularly in Tamilnadu have been considering this movement only as a North Indian movement. The movement is yet to reach villages and smaller towns. During Annaji's visit, there was a great opportunity to IAC to take the message to villages, since three major Tamil Channels were telecasting live. Though the young volunteers team had made arrangements for translation line by line from Hindi to Tamil, the top leaders of IAC on the stage did not allow the translation.
When Annaji rose to speak, an announcement was made that there would not be a translation in Tamil. Immediately, Annaji started talking in Hindi. All the channels, who were telecasting, got perplexed. One of them even stopped telecasting for want of translation, as the rural tamilnadu cannot understand Hindi. The audience could not understand his Hindi and they became restless. Some of them started leaving the venue. After 20 minutes, in a hurry, an arrangement was made to get the Hindi speech translated into Tamil. Many of the media people and the public felt that it was a sign of 'arrogance' by IAC leaders who were sitting on the stage. Today's newspapers have also reported about this 'mess up'.
Even when Annaji was speaking, he did not do a home work. He was speaking as if he was speaking in Maharashtra. Probably, he did not have enough experience of addressing such massive people in the South or other states. Team Anna, instead of thrusting their views on the public, could have done some homework on the various aspects of the states, where they are addressing.
While talking about the second freedom movement, Annaji quoted the first freedom struggle. In that context, he started quoting only the names of North Indian freedom fighters. Instead, he could have mentioned the names of great freedom fighters of Tamilnadu and got the claps.
While many of the people who attended the meeting admired Annaji's passion, they disliked the behaviour of the top leaders of IAC showing arrogance in public even before the media.
Meeting with friends of IAC
6. After the public meeting, IAC, Chennai had organised meeting with 'Friends of IAC'. They had invited few retired top bureaucrats and some of the social workers who are doing great job silently, to interact with Annaji. Even during that meeting, Kiran Bedi was dominating in the scene. Even when some of the senior people were giving their views in the closed-door meeting, they were not listening properly and thrusted their views.
One Mr Balasubramanian (aged 60), a tea stall owner. who has been spearheading a movement called 'Kodambakam 2020' along with hundreds of youngsters was also one of the invitees. A few months back, on hearing about him, Dr Abdul Kalam invited Balasubramanian to meet him. Dr Kalam made a reference about his passion when he was visiting Sanfransisco. Balasubramanian looks very simple. Balasubramanian asked Annaji a question. "Annaji, today around ten thousand people have visited the public meeting of their own accord. They are passionate people. How do you plan to make use of them". Though, it was addressed to Annaji, Kiran Bedi took the mike and asked him, "Sir, do you know who is your MLA? do you know who is your MP? If you do not know, why are you asking this question". Mr Balasubramanian could not understand the connection between his question and Kiran Bedi's counter question.
Being a simple man, he did not argue and sat. But he felt insulted by the behaviour of Kiran Bedi. The same simple looking person, who was invited by Dr Abdul Kalam few months back for discussion, was insulted by Kiran Bedi without even bothering to know about the background. I am just sharing this in public, how Kiran Bedi has behaved arrogantly even with a simple looking social worker.
How volunteers react?
7. As one of the admirers of Annaji, i felt sad by the behaviour of people around him. I contacted few of the volunteers who were working for this event for the past many days, taking leave of absence from their office. Even they shared lot of things. There seems to be no representation from Chennai in the core team of IAC at national level. Annaji made an announcement openly in the public meeting, that they were adding members from south. There is an active volunteers team at Chennai. They want the core team members with 'impeccable integrity' and without any 'selfish motive' to be selected in consultation with volunteers, instead of nominating one more coterie.
Conclusion
I had a very great view on the IAC and its functions. Annaji's visit to Chennai has shown visibly, how arrogant their top leaders, how they give scant respect for the local sentiments, how they do not want to listen to others and want others only listen to them. I also observed 'selfish interest' dominated over the 'public interest'.
I strongly feel, that Annaji is 'boxed' by few dominating leaders like Kiran Bedi, who never allowed Annaji to give answers to media. Millions of people in this country have shown faith on the integrity of Annaji. On behalf of millions of admirers of Annaji, i request IAC to debate within themselves and come out clean.
While they preach 'transparency' to the Government, they should be more 'transparent' and show to the world.
Aadhaar is a 12 digit identification number, issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to all the residents of India. In the recent days, it is being talked about in the media. UIDAI has named this Unique Identification Number as 'Aadhaar', which means 'foundation' or 'base' in many Indian languages. This Aadhaar is going to be the base for many things in future, to all the residents.
Though it is being talked about in media, many people do not know about the Unique Identification Number, how it is being issued, How to get this number, etc. In order to provide such basic information, on behalf of PodUniversal, we inerviewed Mr K K Sharma, Asst. Director General of UIDAI. You may listen to his interview by clicking 'play' button in the flash player. (8 minutes).
For more information about Aadhar, please also visit their site http://uidai.gov.in/
This interview may also listened from the following link
On 23rd November, 2010, while handling a petition against the appointment of Mr P J Thomas, the present Central Vigilance Commissioner of India, Hon'ble Judges of the Supreme Court observed that persons holding higher offices should possess impeccable integrity. The Supreme Court observed that Mr P J Thomas was facing criminal charge sheet in a court in Kerala. Immediately the Attorney General, representing Government of India responded by saying, “If impeccable integrity is a criterion, then every judicial appointment will be subjected to scrutiny and every constitutional appointment will come under challenge,” attorney-general G.E. Vahanvati told the court. This statement was flashed immediately in all the TV Channels and it triggerred a great debate.
N. Vittal
Under this background, I recorded an exclusive interview with Mr N Vittal, Former Central Vigilance Commissioner of India. Under the directions from Supreme Court, Mr N Vittal was the first CVC to be appointed jointly by the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the Leader of the Opposition through consensus in ealry 2000. Mr Vittal is known for his impeccable integrity. During his tenure as CVC, he introduced lo of measures to eradicate corruption and to bring in more transparency.
Please listen to his interview by clicking 'play' button. (14 minutes). Audio streaming will be smooth in broadband connections. If you find any difficulty, you may download the audio in mp3 format, by right clicking this link.and saving to your desktop.
Mr Arvind Thiagarajan (30), a serial inventor and a scientist has invented and introduced a new handy device HDFonoDoc, which can detect murmur in the heart within 10 seconds. Arvind Thiagarajan holds more than 40 patents in his name.
Auscultation is an ancient method, through which experts were able to detect the defects in our body system through 'sound'. Stethoscope, used by the doctors is based on this method.
How cardiac problems can happen?
Cardiac problems can occur due to (a) electrical and (b) mechanical defects in the heart. Electrical problems are now detected through the device known as ECG. ECG cannnot provide mechanical defects.
To find out mechanical problems, the patients have to go to Echo Cardiographs, which is costly and available in select centres. The analysis of the data needs to be done by a specialist doctor. Even if a patient wants to rule out the possibility of heart problems, he has to go to Echo Cardiography. That adds pressure on the experts also.
Murmur in the heart
Murmur in the heart can happen due to (a) blockage in the heart valve, (b) leakage in the heart valve and (c) hole in the heart. If the murmur is not detected and corrected in time, it may cost the life.
Using the method of 'Auscultation', Arvind Thiagarajan has invented a new device 'HDfonoDoc', which can detect the murmur in the heart within 10 seconds. This device has received FDA approval from US and CE approval from Europe. Indian Government has also certified this device.
In an exclusive interview for PodUniversal, he has demonstrated the use of this device. Please watch this 7 minute interesting video.
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