Whispers Forum

DEBATE (1) Congress
The true planning can revive congress by quoting all previous work done by congress for nation since independence.
There need to be proper guide to Sonia ji and Rahul ji.The spokesman should be wise and convincing.
The policy of opposing the work done by the opposition is negative factor.
No body wants hatred speech.
What congress had done for citizens in past needs to be the only part of speech to attract people .
No new face needs to be brought forward.
Only tuning of existing congress members need to be done.
At this stage inter unity is desired.
If you think that I can be proper person in this regard to guide then I request to get fixed my appointment with Sonia ji and Rahul ji.
Harsh Mehta
DEBATE (2) Congress
The Congress has failed to overcome from relentless enemies in the party itself. The Congress is not suffering from leadership problem, but the party is split by internal squabbles. An internal party dissent is major threat to the party. The Congress can revive itself if all the leaders are united to the party cause.
Archana
DEBATE (3) Congress
The Congress party should give a chance to Rahul Gandhi by installing him as Congress President. He should be given free hands to prove his mettle when party is suffering from internal splits.
Iram
“ Performance Extraordinaire”
An unprecedented address by Sushma Swaraj at UNGA on Sept 23,2017.
Finest ever by an indian Foreign Minister since independence..
A big retort to Pakistan that refuses to learn from history.
People-to-People contact between India and Pakistan has failed to dissolve the hostility between the two sub-continental cousins.
India empathises with the people of Pakistan for having been denied the fruits of democracy by Pakistani army by remote-controlling the civil administration.
It is the most appropriate time for India to launch an Army-to-Army contact and replace the present sham democracy in Pakistan by India-like democracy.
The country gives its compliments to PM Modi for choosing such an able, sober and logical lady as foreign minister.
A K Saxena ( A retd civil servant)
Rahul feels more at home abroad
Rahul Gandhi, the President in waiting of his party hopefully and Prime Minister -in -waiting (For life it looks like) has gone to USA to reinvent himself. Looking at his photograph with the students of Princeton University, it seems he is nostalgic about his young days when he was a student in his 20s(Where? we do not know) it does seem that he feels more at home abroad than in India as he can find faults of his own party. Has he not said that UPA too failed to create jobs as has Modi failed. He needs to remember that UPA was there for 10 years and Modi has been there for three years. He still has seven years to deliver (He is expected to be back in 2019) and people hope he will deliver.
Aarti Khosla

Debate (1) Congress
I am of the view that two contributory factors worked to keep the Congress at bay. First is polarisation of Hindu votes and second anti-incumbency waves against Congress at centre after ruling two decades consequently. Congress can return to power with concerted efforts.
Rajesh Kumar
DEBATE (2) Congress
The Congress party riven by internal disputes should overcome internal party dissent and roll up its sleeves in view of Vidhan Sabha election in MP in 2018 and Lok Sabha in 2019. The Congress party should confer with party senior leaders to set further course of action to snatch the power from BJP.
Sunil Kumar
Cheapskates!
In early 1960s,i was in fifth class, when a senior officer of my father started living in our street in a rented accommodation. His son was five years younger to me and since he was pampered at our house, he would freely visit us three or four times in a day. He was very innocent looking, brilliant child. Almost regularly,out of innocence, he would alternatively say,''We got many mangoes today free(Ajj barhe amb aaye,oh vi mufti),we got sweets today free(ajj mithiaian aayian oh vi mufti).''His father was a superintendent in a very important office ,so the subordinates often kept the supply line flourishing and the little boy thought that they were getting everything free.His name was Vinay, but everybody started calling him Mufti Ram.
In those days in the college,often we came across friends, who would never spend a penny,but whenever tea was ordered in the canteen, such spongers would appear like the characters in a magic show,take tea and vanish into thin air as soon as payment was to be made.Here was one such jovial fellow,who belonged to a rich family,but never ever spent even a single penny on his friends.He was called johnny as he had styled himself on Dev Anand, though his name was very simple and rustic. Dev Anand's 'Johnny mera naam',had proved a big blockbuster in those days.Often he was referred to as a makhi(fly), being a hanger on and a burden on other people's purse. Nobody could ever see his purse or any money in his hands.He had the knack of making his friends laugh even at his own cost. He knew that he was derisively called a mufatkhor,so he very jocularly named himself as Johnny Makhtaurhi (mufatkhor) in the party of friends in college canteen. This man has a flourishing business in Madras now, where he had gone 45 years back as a stranger with 12000 rupees cheque and no other reference. Once he met me at Delhi Airport with two gentlemen around him .He introduced one as the Chief commissioner Income tax and the other as Home Secretary of Tamil Nadu. I took him aside and asked him whether he lived by the same principles of mufatkhori. He laughed loudly and asked me to look at his friends and judge whether he has still to spend any money.He appeared proud of his specialisation in spending from others' pockets
My tayaji(uncle) was a very senior army officer and every year he would spend some days with us. He hated the civil officers like plague and even i was not spared by him. He thought us to be the most corrupt and incapable people unworthy of any respect.He had the habit of taking nap of about half an hour at 3 pm.In our officer's colony, a very old gentleman would at that time bring his pushcart and hawked loudly,''Ajnale di Basmati lai lao 15 rupye kilo( Take Basmati of Ajnala at Rs 15 per kg).''On the first day tayaji just murmured in his mouth as to why he was disturbing the people at that hour.Next day was saturday and incidentally i was present when the vendor came and started saying loudly,''Ajnale di Basmati.''My Tayaji asked me harshly,''Yaar ,don't you pity this old man,who comes here daily,tires himself and his throat and i have never seen him selling even one kg of basmati.''He paused for a moment and told me to tell him not to come again in this colony and waste his time.I was unnerved at the suggestion as i could not tell the old vendor not to come.Tayaji looked at me for a few seconds and then barged out speedily.''Bhai sahib zara gall sunna'', he raised his hand to signal the old man to come closer.I also got near the window to hear what tayaji had to say.The old man came very near to tayaji,who asked him ,whether he knew, who lived in that colony.He did not wait for any response from that old vendor and added.''Eh mufatkhoran di basti a,itthe apna time na kharab karo,ik paiya basmati vi nahin kisse ne karidni itthe,kite hor ja ke vecho eni vadhiya cheez.(It is the area of cheapskates,don't waste your time here,nobody will purchase even 250 gms of basmati,go and sell this precious commodity elsewhere).''I looked around .Thank God! nobody else had heard what Tayaji had said.
Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Amritsar.

DEBATE (1) Congress
Capable or not, there is none other than Rahul Gandhi at this point of time to keep the congress flock together. Manish Tiwaris, Digvijay singhs and several groups as found in Tamilnadu congress will crop up resulting in total elimination of the congress. Look at what is happening to AIADMK IN TAMILNADU after Jayalalita. For Congress revival, Rahul should resort to the following. 1. Stop forthwith commenting on Narendra Modi. More comments he or his closest aids make about PM, more sympathy about Modi comes in people's mind. People still believe and respect that an ordinary person ,one like them, without any personal or family attachment fighting corruption is leading the country. Any attack on him is construed as an attack on ordinary person becoming the PM of the nation. 2. By branding every unwanted incident or utterences of some fringe elements in BJP as that of Modi or RSS and giving that as Anti secular attitude of PM, gives the majority community a feeling of appeasement for a particular community and weans them away from congress. 3. Congress lost last time because of association with proven corrupt parties like RJD and DMK 4. Rahul should apologise to people for the massive corruption that took place because of coalition politics and assure people that corruption free government will be provided 5. Last but not the least, he should at least from now on wards for the rest of the term of Loksabha show the people and BJP how an opposition party should conduct themselves in Parliament for orderly functioning by debates and discussion concerning people and issues. 6.It is not yet late for congress to revive or at least perform better than last election as people are slowly getting disappointed with the present government. 7.Rahul should shun away from Lutyans group and should not give credence to what they say. He should understand they all work for their vested interest and not in the interest of congress coming back to power. His focus should be for the people, to the people and by the people.
Ramjays
DEBATE (2) Congress
What keeps the congress party together is the Gandhi tag, even if fake. Without it everyone in congress is a leader in his/her own right, even if they have no followers. So only a Gandhi family member can revive it.There appears no prospect in near future! Maybe congis will wait for the next generation in the family to lead them, while many of them, who are acceptable, will switch to BJP.However the BJP has to be cautious in choosing, else they may have to face the ire and wrath of the people, if the thugs and unsrupulous among congis are taken in by BJP.
S Chatterjee
DEBATE (3) Congress
Rahul Gandhi makes a difference in past and present congress if he will be the congress leader.
Rohit Jain
DEBATE (4) Congress
No chance, BJP is dominating in all sectors.
Hemant Sahi
Promotion to take place genuine
The promotion which has to take place is based on the existing CSS Rules, past practices and is also genuine. There is only one impediment. It is the whims and fancy of the current Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training. The Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions is a weak character. This was the reason as to why he did not get promotion in the last Cabinet reshuffle. People do not realize that they are trying to create intentional hurdle. The nature and god is sitting up there high in the sky to dilute things (adverse or in-adverse) at a later date).
B B Srivastava

DEBATE (1) Congress
If Congress comes with powerful leaders like P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Ahmed Patel and Gulab Nabi Azad and make efficient strategies on communism. So they stand on unity in diversity principle which is very much needed in the country.
Mohan Deshpande
DEBATE (2) Congress
Congress can be revived in Madhya Pradesh, if Digvijay Singh comes as CM.
Sharik Khan
Deliverance from Curse of deb
Peasantry of West Punjab comprising mainly Sikhs and Hindus, was almost rendered pauper in 1947.With the super human efforts of Tarlok Singh and MS Randhawa, both ICS officers the peasantry got lands in lieu of the lands left in Pakistan on war footing, though with substantial cuts. However the farmers did not have the money for seeds, bullocks, fertilizers and implements etc to cultivate those lands. Small amount of loans called taccavis were disbursed to them for the purpose. Similarly some loans were advanced for building/repair of houses. Income from the agriculture generally remained elusive, causing piling up of loan amounts, along with interests and penal interest. The farmers ,who were able to repay the loans, faced different kinds of problems.
Our family had got such loans to the tune of rupees seven thousands. My father, who had also got a government job, used to regularly pay the installments. But invariably we would get demand notices of the money, which we had already repaid with interest and penal interest. On the day we received recovery notices, a shadow of gloom and sadness pervaded over our home. My father would get hold of the treasury receipts, get leave from the office and proceed to Ferozepore , where the land had been allotted to us, to get the accounts reconciled and settled. My father, on his return home, would profusely abuse the clerks, responsible for issuing the notices, in spite of the fact that the loans had been repaid. He would also narrate the travails of travel from Amritsar to Ferozepore. Harike barrage had not been constructed then. Punjab roadways bus would go up to Harike, the passengers would get down there to get on the boats to cross the confluence of Sutlej and Beas rivers. After crossing the river, a bus would take the passengers to Ferozepore. Harike barrage came into existence only in 1953.Next year the same notices with the addition of interest and penal interest would reappear to make our life hellish. The tehsil officials acted like agents of tyranny, not thinking of the difficulties of the peasantry.
I was in BA part 2,when my father told me to go to Ferozepore, to get the matter settled as he was not well. Since we had made our residence at Amritsar, I was terrified to think of visiting a tehsil or deputy commissioner's office at Ferozepore. I had natural aversion to the haunted looking buildings of tehsils and police stations, unaware of the fact that i will have to spend many years in such buildings. I went to Ferozepore and as advised by my father ,i went to meet the deputy commissioner. While entering his room, I was trembling. However that ferocious looking noble man listened to my problem and called both the branch officer of revenue branches and Assistant superintendent revenue. On that very day the tehsildar and wasil baqi nawis were also summoned. It was revealed that the challans were allowed to pile up and not incorporated in the relevant register of accounts. Resultantly, thousands of ill-fated farmers, who had to leave heart, hearth and land in Pakistan, suffered this tyranny of repeated notices. The deputy commissioner suspended the tehsil employee and put on duty extra staff to incorporate the pending challans in the account books to update the record. Our purpose was served.
It was coincidental that after a decade , I joined civil service and was posted in the same district. I made discreet enquiries as to what had happened to thousands of people, who used to repay the loans with great difficulty ,but still the account books showed them as defaulters. I was told that the deputy commissioner would himself sit throughout the night to complete the records. He also got the proclamations made in the villages to the effect that if anyone was facing such problem, he could directly meet him. Patwaris and qanugos also spent day and night to get receipts from the people and got those incorporated incorporated in the record. The deputy commissioner had accomplished this small looking great work and never boasted about it. But the old timers remembered such a noble administrator for very long. He was S. Kuldip Singh Virk, who later retired as Chairman PPSC.
Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Amritsar.

DEBATE (1) Congress
Only Nehru-Gandhi family .Now Priyanka Gandhi
Vivek Dhawan
DEBATE (2) Congress
Only wise man can revive the congress, who can stand infront of Modi like warrior.
Nitika Singh
DEBATE (3) Congress
Collective report against and sincere watch on BJP tenure, makes congress lead by taking advatages of their cons like demonitisation is a big falure.
Ramish
Most bureaucrats are bothered about postings only
Many of the bureaucrats are bothered about nothing else in life but there own posting (sometimes of their colleagues and competitors too). Every time a new transfer order is issued, there is an opacity in the issue of it. Some of the officers with connection, power and clout know how to manage their orders as per their choice. The only way to bring a sense of decorum to the system is to observe transparency in the transfer and posting. Unfortunately, everyone just pays lip service to it but there is no concrete systemic action in spite many commissions who have discussed this issue threadbare. For the country, it would be indeed a good omen if RTI Act is able to bring about this tranparency.
Sameer Bhatia
A Tribute
The Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh died on Saturday. Till three years ago he used to come regularly for an hour in the afternoon at 4 p.m or so to India International Centre to read his favourite foreign newspaper.Getting out of his bluish greenish Ambassdor car he would walk to the library earlier with a stick and later with the help of an aide.He exuded so much charm and goodness that floored everyone.You wish him and he would acknowledge the same with a hand on your hea as if to bless or a peck on your back.His smile was so innocent and infectious and many of us in the library- the visitors and the staff were overwhelmed by his presence.He was a perfect gentleman besides being a great warrior.As one of the Air Force Officer wrote the other day God does not make such individuals any more.Rest in Peace the Great man.You will not be seen by us but your image will always inspire your countrymen.
Aarti Khosla

DEBATE (1) Congress
The Congress is unlikely to revive so long as the BJP government is headed by PM Modi. The reason is that there is no one in the Congress with an image equal to the PM.
Vijay Kumar
DEBATE (2) “ Who can revive the Congress ? “
None, in my view.
The Congress is terminally ill. The power-hungry Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and its loose cannons , are the root cause of party’s slow death.
Being out of touch with the ground realities, the party has lost its relevance and usefulness. Lack of inner-party democracy, most vicious during Indira Gandhi’s times, promoted cult worship, stifling the voice of reason and sanity.The trend continues, till date. Only, characters have changed endowed with zero intellectual maturity
The crooked veterans in the Congress are spineless slaves, devoid of self esteem. Revolving around the fulcrum and maintaining their seesaw balances. They vie with each other in keeping the self- proclaimed Supremo happy. The leadership , has neither the concern nor understanding of country’s problems. It draws strength from ill-gotten wealth stashed in tax havens abroad.
Sudden emergence of anti- dynasty movement in the Congress could save the party from itself. Even the chances of such an eventuality, are nil. So strong is the mafia-like stranglehold. A majority of Congi veterans involved in UPA scams, may be paying the price of their sins. Performance or non -performance by ruling dispensations in States, should not be ignored. This could have negative or positive impact on one party or the other.
Anti-incumbency factor arising out of corruption and non-performance , could kill any political party.and strengthen the hands of its enemies. Public is watchful. Parties like the SP, BSP, RJD, AAP etc could meet the same fate as the Congress due to their corrupt practices.
Such cases need close monitoring. Investigations, prosecution and convictions have to be followed up in the interest of speedy criminal justice administration.
In sum, the situation is hopeless. The Congress is at the cross roads. No one can help in its revival, let alone, Rahul Gandhi’s boring address at the Berkeley.
A K Saxena (A retd civil servant) .

DEBATE (1) Congress
The arrogance of BJP is favoring the revival of Congress .In BLP it is one man show all others are non entities . Congress will have to speak on the public interest issues and not remain mute spectators.
V K Gupta
DEBATE (2) Congress
Any body except Gandhi Family can revive congress but are congee cadre and leadres are prepared to ignore this family and interested to revive congress.Infact Gandhi Family is only big burden to congress.Congees think that Gandhis can protect them and they can only bring congress once again to power which is only an illusion.If congees give a thought to project new leadership ignoring Gandhis and vold bandicoots and rebuild grom scracth..congee can be revived..
Dhulipala Venkateswara Rao
Perennial corrupt ways
These days social media is abuzz with the role of a legislator as a zealous crusader against the corruption indulged in by the functionaries of various state and central govt departments. The daring but shameless officials appear to be biting the flesh of the poor people. In spite of loud slogans by the governments to eradicate corruption and redressal of peoples' grievances at their door steps,the malady has existed for a very long time.The role of the govt at the top in sustenance of corrupt ways and corruption has been that of a culpable criminal participation.
During a training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration Mussoorie, in which officers from 22 states were participating, a lady IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh told that ministers and senior officers generally ,when they visited the districts or sub-divisions, never spent a penny from their pockets and rather enjoyed the lavish hospitality of the local administration, which is invariably based on the resources collected by the officials by resorting to corrupt ways. All the officers agreed that the same conditions prevailed in other states. The revenue department was considered as the major victim of this greed and plunder of the high-ups of the state. In the Punjab state in the mid 1970s,the forced collection of Red Cross membership fee and the funds for the small savings, by the official machinery from the poor people, who approached any office, particularly Revenue, had attained barbaric and tyrannous proportions. To ice the ugly cake, two functions ;one INC session at Mataurh in 1975-76 near Chandigarh and the other to mark 100% electrification of Punjab at Malerkotla in 1976, universalized the corruption in the state. Even very low ranked officials were made to pool ill-gotten money for the success of these functions. In order to give relief to the people and the govt functionaries, when the new regime took over in 1977 after the Emergency, it was announced that no govt official would spend on the hospitality of the visiting ministers or other dignitaries. The ministers were asked to partake food in gurdwaras or with village community. But this diktat was followed only for two or three months.
Major time of the Naib-Tehsildars, Tehsildars, SDMs and other PCS and new IAS officers is spent on duty with the ministers and other dignitaries and making hospitality arrangements for them. Spending on the hospitality continues to be funded by ill-gotten money. Over the years with the rise in prices, the spending has also steeply ascended. I have had the privilege to train some Tehsildars almost two decades back. Once, I came across my old trainee, who was a Tehsildar in a Doaba Tehsil .He told me that the main political leader of the area of the then ruling regime, who was a defeated candidate in the Legislative Assembly elections, had very arrogantly threatened him. He had said, ''Tehsildar Sahib, the monthly expenditure of my office is one lac twenty five thousands. You will be paying it, if you want to stay here. ''He had not paid that amount. So, he was suspended on a very flimsy ground, just to hang a crow, so that others did not dare to disobey the Nadarshahi unlawful vagaries of participant mercenaries.
Here is a pitiable but humorous anecdote. In a district, the Revenue officers met the deputy commissioner and suggested, ''Sir, the unlawful expenditure has become unbearable, it is a humble request that either the govt should provide the funds or the concerned district level officers may be deputed with the ministers or dignitaries of their departments and bear the expenses of forced and undignified hospitality and if revenue officers make arrangements, the expenses must be reimbursed to them by the concerned deptt. ''The deputy commissioner agreed that the revenue officers being experts should make arrangements and the concerned departments would bear the expenses .He directed his general assistant to co-ordinate with the officers for smooth running of the proposal. The minister for Labour and Employment visited the district. The total amount spent on making all arrangements on the visit at that time was rupees 877.I am exact because i had spent that amount. In spite of repeatedly ringing up district employment officer the money was not being given, though assurances were always given. After about a month, the officer himself came with a big paper bag. He told me that he had brought the money.We got the room bolted to count the money. There were ten, five ,two and one rupee notes and it took considerable time to count. I asked the officer, ''Singh sahib, why such small notes? ''He said in utter sadness, ''The money has been collected from each and every employee of the .department, even class 4.No one has willingly given a single penny. I have felt like a crippled beggar while collecting this amount. I do not know how a dignified man can enjoy such a hospitality, which is imbued in corruption, invectives, hate, abuses and disrespect. The govt should do something in this regard.''
Surinderjit singh sandhu, Amritsar

The appellant, Shri Mata Prasad, sought information regarding appointment of Garden Attendant in Archaeological Survey of India. The PIO informed the CIC that the appellant is a terminated employee from the Horticulture Branch, Archaeological Survey of India and he is prejudice with the ASI officers. The information had already been provided by the PIO earlier but the appellant chose to file an appeal dated 04.05.2017 before the CIC. The CIC ruled that all information were provided to the applicant by all PIOs and a final order was passed on 30.06.2017. The PIO added that the information collected through RTI by Shri Mata Prasad are being used to blackmail and harass the officers for his ill wishes. The CIC had warned to Shri Mata Prasad to refrain from misusing RTI Act and harassing the authorities for no rhyme or reason and also advised to stop filing such infructuous application in its final order CIC/ALSOI/A/2017143727 dated 10.08.2017. After perusing the details of the case, the CIC held that sufficient information had been provided to the appellant but for the reasons best known to him, he is still not satisfied. The CIC cautioned the appellant to desist from such kind of abuse to the RTI Act and stop harassing the public authority and the CIC.
Comments
There is no provision in the RTI Act for taking any action against the abusive and repetitive RTI applications which in turn would secure the interests of genuine RTI seekers. Even the CIC has been at the receiving end in some cases. Hopefully, better sense would prevail and the RTI abusers would end the misuse of the Act which brings a bad name to the sunshine Act.
Citation: Mata Prasad v. Archaeological Survey of India in CIC/ALSOI/A/2017/145334, Decided On: 15.09.2017
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is the co-author of the books: RIGHT TO INFORMATION – LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Her other articles can be read at - Right to Information Act 2005- RTI Foundation of India

DEBATE (1) Congress
Congress needs to reinvent itself
Given the fact that the BJP President Amit Shah is a master strategist, it is time for the Congress, which is still banking on age old strategies, needs to reinvent itself
R K Upadhyay
Don’t relax standards in recruitment
In this regard it is stated that the Prime Minister in his recent interaction with the Secretaries and Additional Secretaries had expressed a view that why are we getting so much of government done through outside Consultants. By adopting such an style we are not trying to build up in-house expertise. The question of development cannot arise in feudalistic domain of Civil Services in the country wherein the Seniors refuse to give a patient hearing to their juniors and the out of box thinking of the juniors. In this endeavor the recent decision of the Government to provide 4 private staff to Secretary and 3 private personal staff to the Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary is an impediment as it facilitates the culture of feudalism and is against the principle of electronic office. The additional personal staff will not being and work of significance rather attending to the personal chores of their bosses. Secondly, we cannot have both the things i.e. no fresh recruitment on one hand and development of in-house of expertise. Then we have reservation is service wherein the expertise if compromised. What is right and what is wrong one does not know.
B B Srivastava

DEBATE (1) Congress
It is not the face but the planning that can revive Congress. The person who can guide the party in proper management and planning can revive the party. Even I can be one who can help the head of party .
Harsh Mehta.
DEBATE (2) Congress
Now only Collective Leadership
R L Tandon
DEBATE (3) CONGRESS
I do feel Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, can revive the Congress as he is well educated, comes from a good political background, has worked for masses, is a good speaker and parliamentarian.
People are looking for a strong opposition leader and Rahul Gandhi does not fit in the shoes. He is not aware of his immediate surroundings, is not all a good speaker and his talks make no sense. As long as he is at the top, Congress can forget about its revival and be rest assured of losing more seats.
Arunav Kol
Only team work
Arrogance and misconception of the ruling party that it can do no wrong. Complacency will creep in at a later stage. Last but not least, one man show is hardly sustainable in the long run, only team work matters.
Raj Kumar Thakur
“Trump’s predicament”
The US is justifiably miffed by North Korea’s policy of nuclear brinkmanship and for issuing daily threats of nuclear attack. The US is in a bind.The impasse should not be allowed to last long.
North Korea’s sixth nuclear test is a slap on US’s face besides sending wrong signals to China and Russia. Pakistan’s clandestine transfer of nuclear technology to N Korea went unpunished. The US is now paying the price of its own folly.
Condemning N Korea’s testing of nuclear fusion device and ICBM by China and Russia , is a charade. Both double crossing the US . The ground reality is just the opposite. No neighbouring country, especially China would be comfortable with a nuclearised Korean peninsula.
Against the background of all-round mistrust, China’s advice to the US for direct talk with a rogue nation , is simply laughable.
Should the superpower agree to one-on- one talk with a belligerent country like N Korea. Does N Korea deserve the courtesy of appeasement by the US ?
Economic sanctions against N Korea, have been half-hearted. Military sanctions with conventional weapons, could cause disastrous backlash to South Korea located just 50 Km away from its belligerent neighbour.
South Korea will be annihilated. It depends on who carries out the pre-emptive strike.
Direct talks between two un-equals, the US and N Korea, if ever conducted, will continue upto infinity with zero outcome. This will instead embolden N Korea to keep provoking its adversary, the most powerful nation in the world.
What is President Trump’s “fire and fury” counter- warning to North Korea ? Does he mean first strike with conventional weapons or a nuclear attack ?
North Korea’s military dictator Kim Jong, by his incessant threats , is almost begging for a War with the US. He can’t hold the World as hostage.
Enough is enough. It is now time for the US to take direct action .Let it pull out all full stops.
This will help the suppressed people of North Korea and restore democracy .
Kim Jong deserves the same fate as Saddam Hussain, Gaddafi and Osama bin Laden, former Al Qaeda chief.
The US with its much advanced technology, capability and intelligence inputs, should know better.
A K Saxena (A retd civil servant)
Press reforms
News analysis has taken an industrial proportion today. So much so that writing with vested and perverse interest including paid news analysis and news creation through exaggeration has become a remunerative profession. Now all least educated people can be found in this news business because money comes easily. Political funding for news creation is the reality of our times. All these happen in the name of Democracy. It is high time that Government (I and B Ministry?) promotes a rating agency to rank (based on clear parametres) articles, opinions, views, etc. to help readers choose from a sea of information given that a reader's time is valuable and s/he has a right to get the initial and independent feedback on the overall quality of a published item to help decide to read or ignore. The system can also extend from print to visual media. Yes, I propose something like rating agencies in the world of finance. This may help in cleansing the media from the unscrupulous lot.
Dr R Mishra

DEBATE (1) Congress
Collective leadership
Indira Iyengar
DEBATE (2) Congress
1 Priyanka Gandhi
2 Rahul Gandhi
3 Jyotiraditya Scindia
4 Shashi Tharoor
Manohar Bothra
DEBATE (3) Congress
Congress must take guidance from Pranab da, of course, behind the curtain. They must collect people like Kamal Nath, Scindia junior, Sachin Pilot, Shashi Tharoor and totally shun people like Kalmadi, Digvijay singh.Shiela Dixit and others who have slightest of Trust deficit and are perceived as TAINTED by the public.
Time has come for the Congress to rise from the ashes.Indian masses are totally disillusioned by the BJP rule. BJP has done nothing whatsoever for the poor masses. Congress must rise to the occasion. Iron is hot. Congress must take the advantage of the issues raised and promised by BJP but delivered precious little, such as Black money, Demonetization, Unemployment, poor condition of farmers.
Ravi Pipal
Modi's messages is clear
PM Modi's messages are very clear: 1. No corruption. 2. No nepotism. 3. No nonsense. 4. Work. Corrupt Ministers and IAS officers are running helter-skelter.
Vijay Kumar
Activists, journalists and dissenters
For good reason or no reason, the journalists try to make hue and cry. They employ their skills in making a mountain of a molehill or a molehill of a mountain. Are they above the law or the citizens? Do they enjoy “constitutional” status? Do they enjoy “privileges” akin to politicians in the legislatures? Do they alone have the right to freedom of speech, expression and thought? Are their freedom rights different from those of other citizens? From where do they derive their right to attack people, faiths, practices or pronounce judgements in murder cases acting as the investigation, prosecutor and the judge in gay abundance without any restraint and demand respect for that? Any statute, scripture, agenda? Do they not become butts of public ridicule when they take sides openly on issues for reasons of caste, creed, region, language, gender, ideology, loyalty or money? What is Senior Journalist or Senior Editor in truly “intellectual” space? Is it to frighten the citizens with high designations like Chief Secretary or 3 Star General? Does a senior journalist necessarily speak the truth and must be trusted? An article by Chidanand Rajghatta in TOI of 11th Sept 2017 (Atithi Devo Bhava) ends with the three words I have used for the title today. The reason is they give away the truth: they are activists first and journalists later; they are dissenters and use the coat of a journalist only to blackmail the rich or powerful under the garb of dissent. Their activism is nothing more than spewing hatred against their chosen targets. Instead of taking up the issues with the officials concerned locally, they start silly agitations against the Prime Minister. That earns them instant fame and other benefits. A local journalist gets suddenly raised to the level of a Senior Journalist and in her name high decibels are raised. The dalliance of the youth with the leftist rhetoric might get them elected to students’ unions but once out of the university, they are left with no alternative but deviance. Starting with deviant behavior, which was a guarantee of success on the campus, it is sexual deviance, social deviance, financial deviance, employment deviance, intellectual deviance, journalistic deviance, commercial deviance and ethical deviance. Energies of the youth have unhesitatingly been abused by political parties and their “on campus” recruiters. Many of them turn out to be notorious for their anti-social conduct and even crime. Activism, like politics, is a luxury for the well fed but not for those pursuing graduation in the hope of landing up a good job or starting some business. Dissent always may become a congenital disease. A journalist is a respected member of the knowledge society, whose few words carry more weight than tonnes of newsprint or hours of shouting in TV studios. Journalism is akin to spirituality whose foundations are independence, independence, independence & independence. Activists, as also dissenters, are compromised on intellectual integrity and independence and hence no journalist. They are entitled to pursue their activism or dissent agenda like others, but not pollute journalism. Can any activist or dissenter journalist stand up to her Editor or owner of the newspaper or TV channel and indulge in her passion freely? She will get no space for her well written pieces in the newspaper or place on TV debates, discussions or anchoring and will be jobless in no time. She will bury deep into the ground all notions of dialectic, dialectical materialism and eclecticism. Jaroori to nahi ki Masjid mein baith kar piya jaye, Peene walon ka Mayakhanon ko betabi se intzar rahata hai. No dissent allowed. No activism tolerated.
M L Gupta
Move to capture Sardar Patel Bhawan ?
National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) at present is located at Sardar Patel Bhawan very near to the market Connought Place, New Delhi. Without any reasoning & rhyme, vested interest of some officials/staff of NSCS (central location & just above metro station) there is a move to capture the entire Sardar Patel Bhawan. NSCS is a very sensitive office and needs to be far away from buzz & huzz. If some enemy country makes a desings to destroy NSCS it will be very easy in a market place. The higher ups in the Government should not keep mum as moot spectators. We should do our risk management properly and not always indulge in post mortem.
B B Srivastava

DEBATE (1) Congress
Minus Rahul Gandhi.
G Shankar
DEBATE (2) Congress
Only Nehru-Gandhi family
Vijay Tiwari
Simple methods to check rail derailment
1. Ask the Railway Board Members, Chairman and Ministers to travel periodically by train. 2. Ensure that inspections are carried out. 3. Fix responsibility and remove officers and staff found guilty of dereliction of duty. 4. Do not relax standards in recruitment of manpower.
Vijay Kumar
What is wrong with it ?
When a person is inducted into IPS or IAS and allotted a batch, there should not be any problem. Is the IAS also like the Army where a "saheb" that is a Subedar when promoted as an officer is not welcomed with open arms. The only issue can be that no senior officer should serve under a junior officer.
Somesh
What nonsense ?
What if RRs work under a promotee Officer. Is it an 8th wonder. This shows the mindset of persons. Is there a rule that RRs should work under RR only. That`s why IASs are despised by others.
RKU