Naresh Kumar Vaid, Director , Vaids ICS

AFTER thorough investigation, Home Ministry has prepared a list of 103 NGOs involved in anti national activities or funding of terrorists or are engaged in illegal conversion. The Ministry has handed over the list to Ministry of Foreign Affairs for further investigation. ACCORDING to Government of India, there are about 30 lakh NGOs in the country out of which about 40,000 seek foreign funds under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act ( FCRA ) about half of which do not fulfil their obligations under the Act, i.e. either not revealing their sources of funds or not submitting proper audited accounts or diverting their funds for unspecified purposes. Of these only 103 have been listed for further investigations. Why not others? NGO sector has witnessed a boom in the years of globalisation. It has almost become an industry. These days, it has become a status symbol to form an NGO or to be associated with an NGO of some repute. It was not the case previously. A REPORT from the US clear...

THE world is plagued with severe crises economic and political. The country too is struggling to fight corruption, Maoism and a host of other issues and I have decided to write on this trivial issue. Surprising? Shocking? THREE Cheers for Montek Singh Ahluvalia and his team at the Planning Commission (of course, headed by our beloved, honest Prime Minister). In one stroke, they have improved the economy of Common Man by redefining the poverty in terms of Rs. 32/day and Rs. 25/day respectively for the urban and the rural folk. NOW they have a bigger task ahead. By the same norm, they should redefine creamy layer by including everyone earning more than Rs. 50/day or more. They should also start taxing income above the bpl limit. This way the government will earn more than it can handle, and so, will have to open account(s) with Swiss Bank. THEY can also advise the government to decide the salaries and perks of our elected representatives as also the bureaucracy accordingly and reformula...

IT is probably the first Independence day for Gen Y when it is so happening. Tomorrow, the PM will, from Red Fort, deliver, same sickening speech highlighting his government's achievements including in controlling inflation/price rise, corruption as also the efforts to check black money. He, in all probability, will also request Anna to withdraw his agitation and come to the negotiation table. ANNA had declared his intentions when he agitated at Jantar Mantar. But the government deceived him into negotiation and stabbed him in his back. Otherwise too, the misinformation campaign launched by the Congress today has left no scope for deliberations. The PM's reply to Anna's letter (that granting permission for a demonstration does not come under his department) clearly shows that the PM is ignorant about the constitutional collective responsibility of the Cabinet. THE the question now arises is : what next? Delhi police has made it clear : no demonstration without perm...

LAST week, Central government took CBI out of RTI Act, quitely. Why? INVESTIGATION into several scams including seven major scams is going on. Is the government worried about the fall out? The government has seen the impact of investigation into 2G and CWG scams. The movements that followed have literally shaken the government and it does not want more negative publicity. That may be one reason but there can be others. ANOTHER reason can be, and most probably is, that the government wants civil society to take the issue seriously and thus its attention is diverted from corruption, black money and Lok Pal issues. This government does not understand or does not want to understand that the youth of the country, even those working in BPO sector have understood the game plan of government. India got independence because of youth. JP's Sampoorna Kranti could turn the table on the rulers of the time. The same shall be repeated now. Luckily, they have got a selfless leader of the calibr...

ON June 5, three and a half decades ago. JP had launched Sampoorna Kranti against the hotheadedness of the rule of Mrs Gandhi. On this day, early morning the police unleashed terror on unsuspecting sleeping satyagrahis in Ramlila Maidan . The Prime Minister, after the meeting by top brass of Congress held to counter the criticism from various walks of life, said, It was unfortunate but inevitable. The court has taken a sou motto stand on the issue but simple logic is : Is Manmohan Singh using his brain properly or it is mere a turban stand? THE arrogance of Congress is further seen in the statements of other Congress leaders including Sibal and Diggi who are born arrogant. Sibal went further to chide the members of civil society. Now it is becoming clear that there will not be any consensus on Lok Pal bill. The government representatives will not allow PM, higher judiciary and lower bureaucracy to come under the Lok Pal. However, they may show some magnanimity later on ...

कपिल सिब्बल ने कल और आज भी कह कि उछ शिक्षा में हिंदी अवम क्षेत्रीय भाषाओँ में उछ शिक्षा को बढ़ावा दिया जायेगा जबकि वास्तविकता यह है कि हिंदी अवम khyetriya भाषायों के लोगों को सिविल सेवाओं से बहार करने कि पूरी तयारी सरकार ने कर ली है। केंद्र के संघ लोक सेवा आयोग द्वारा आयोजित सिविल सेवा परीक्षा के प्रांभिक चरम में ही इंग्लिश कोम्प्रेहेन्सिओन का विषय जोड़ दिया गया है जो हिन्दिभशिओन के लिए नकारामातक प्रिक्रिया है. परिणामस्वरुप हिन्दीभाषी ST, SC अवं obc बाहर हो जायंगे । साथ ही मेंटल अबिलिटी, reasoning इत्यादि के कारण सामाजिक विज्ञानों के विद्यार्थी भी पीछे छूट जायेंगे । जो लोग पास होंगे, उनमे बैंकर, इंजिनियर एवं मैनेजमेंट के छात्र होंगे जबकि समाज विज्ञानों के छात्र-छात्रों का नाम मिट जायेगा। इसलिए आपसे अनुरोध है कि हिंदी विश्व के लिए कुछ करें नहीं तो माकौले कि नौकरशाही फिर से छाजएगी। भवदीय नरेश कुमार वैद फ.०९३११३३७७३७ ९९९९९४६७४८

FRESH BPL survey is on the way and Planning Commission has already admitted fault in its previous methodology that could be 50% off the mark. A new study ( ToI , April 12) has revealed that about half the poor in the country, i. e. about 24% of Indian population belong to SCs & STs . The study, a pilot survey of 166 villages across 22 states concludes that mere 25% in this unprivileged category are non-poor . (The figure seems to be slightly on the higher side and could have been inflated because of the inclusion of STs from Uttarakhand , Himachal and some North-eastern states). THE question arises : What has the government been doing for the last six decades? More than a hundred schemes for the welfare of SCs & STs have literally gone to dogs. The governments all along have refused to understand that health, nutrition, employment etc have to be tackled not individually but in an integrated manner. A year ago I had written about Brazil under Lula, that has made signific...