Another Blow To Sharad Pawar

Till Tuesday afternoon, Nationalist Congress Party supremo and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar enjoyed a week-long adventures of aggressive statements. He first ruffled some feathers in opposition parties' camps in Maharashtra. His associates and garters managed to wrest some brownie points in Pune by forcing mayor to announce that the Dadoji Konddeo statue will be removed from Lal Mahal.

However, the Supreme Court came down heavily on union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for saying that the court's suggestion on free distribution of foodgrains to the poor was not binding on the government. Referring to media reports attributed to Pawar wherein he said that the court only made a suggestion Aug 12 and the government will consider it, an apex court bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma told Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran: "Tell your minister not to make any such comment."

According to court: "What we have said is an order and not a suggestion. Let him not misunderstand our order."

This comes one day after Eknath Khadse, leader of opposition in Legislative Assembly let his tongue loose, in the same fashion as Pawar had done a day before. He went on to say that Pawar is a builder's friend and opposition will try its best to expose deals in the state done at the behest of builders. Khadse's pounding of words appears creditable since Narayan Rane, Minister of Revenue in state cabinet has openly expressed doubts over Lavasa deal. A meeting in this regard is scheduled tomorrow in Mumbai.

To add woes to Pawar's kitty is ongoing scandal involving Pakistani cricket players. Barely two months after taking over as the chief of International Cricket Council, Pawar has hand full with assignments. Seasoned politician as he is, it will be very interesting how he navigates his way through this mud.

Share

Read More

The Same Old Story And Meaningless Too

It is funny and at the same time distressing to point how the stories are repeated. About a year ago, I was among the reporters who reported on controversy raised by the Maratha organizations. The issue was not much different from the one which has plagued Maharashtra for over a century-the Brahmin-Maratha tussle.

Last week, the city of Pune witnessed much heartburn over the issue of a minuscule statue. “Dadoji Konddeo has no place near Shivaji,” argued the Maratha organisations. Some see in it anti-Brahminism. Some – like me – try to find strains of political overtones in the drama. I would hardly repeat the same words and sentences, eating out tons of megabytes and draining down much valuable time.

The thing forgotten here is: in a land with a known record of at least 700 years of militarism (Maharashtra), Chhatrapati Shivaji is the only unifying force. Dividing him will not make any detriment to him, but the resulting loss in our present time will do irreparable damage to ourselves.

A News Story

Read More

Pune Needs The Ownership Answer

The citizens of the Pune are asking a question now : Who is the owner of the Pune Municipal Corporation? The corporators elected by the voters whose credentials are always under the shadow of suspicion? The public who is supposed to be king in a democratic system? This is the questions few enlightened souls in the city are asking to the functionaries who taken upon them to unquestioningly assume all authority and skip the responsibilities involved therein.

The issue came to fore when a handful of activists filed Right to Information application and unearthed data from PMC. The data clearly showed that even though the elected public representatives do not spare any attempt to scream from their rooftops on various issues in city, the same representatives more often than not skip their duty when the moment of reckoning comes.

An application filed by Sandeep Khardekar, President of Creative Foundation and city deputy chief of Bharatiya Janata Party; Vivek Velankar, founder of Sajag Nagrik Manch; Vijay Kumbhar of Surajya Sangharsh Samiti;Jugal Rathi of PMP Pravasi Manch; Suryakant Pathak of Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat and senior cartoonist Mangesh Tendulkar brought the grim picture forward. The information showed that corporators across party lines, from ruling as well as opposition benches, gave a bye to the voting on important issues as well as General Body Meeting.

The just demand by the activists and their fact-supported attack did not go down well with the political parties. Ruling Nationalist Congress Party and Congress hit back at the same activists and asked them not to meddle into their affairs. Ankush Kakde, spokesman for the NCP went on to say that, NGOs have developed the habit of targeting corporators on some issue or the other. “Citizens elect civic representatives, who are thus answerable only to the common man, and not the NGOs," was his refrain.

Aba Bagul, leader of opposition in PMC and leader of Congress as well, even went further. “NGO members should contest the civic elections and take active part in the functioning of the PMC. Only then will they know under what pressure the corporators work,” he challenged the activists. The bold statements by the political parties were hard to digest by the intelligentsia. Tendulkar, a veteran in his eighties and having experience of more than 50 years for fighting for public cause, raised the question which we have highlighted above: whose house is this anyway? According to him, ‘the time has come to ask who is the real boss here.’

The public have chosen their representatives so that they can discuss and raise the problems faced by the citizens. The representatives have not been sent their to gossip and engage in mud slinging. They were not sent to the PMC house to bargain for their ‘fare share’ of commissions in tenders issued by the civic body. The PMC has a glorious history of more than 50 years but the recent incidents have overshadowed much of that glory. One corporator (Dattatray Khade) is in jail after being convicted of murder; another one (Deepak Mankar) is facing charges of land grabbing and threatening with life. One or two another are having criminal cases pending against their names. In such a scenario, it was a welcome move on the part of some of the activists to take a bold step and unearth information. Whatever points raised till now against the corporators, they were only accusations. This time it is the data which has provided ammunition to the attack.

It will be fallacy to think that all corporators skip their duty. Far from that. Fortunately, we still have people there who care for public probity and responsibility. In this scenario, it was reassuring that corporators like Mukta Tilak and Ujjwal Keskar stood on activists’ side and rapped the parties. However, it has every possibility that this verbal duel might take turn of mud slinging. Before that happens, Pune needs this answer: whose house is this?

Read More

Wrestling Olympian Honoured In A Way

The Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. M.S. Gill unveiling the plaque to Re-christen the Wrestling Stadium as K.D. Jadhav Stadium in the memory of Late Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, Independent India’s first Individual Olympic medalist who won wrestling bronze Medal at 1952 Olympic Games held at Helsinki, in New Delhi on July 06, 2010. The Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil is also seen.

The newly constructed wrestling stadium within Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium complex has been named as K.D. Jadhav Wrestling Stadium in the memory of late Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav. The formal ceremony of renaming by Dr. M.S. Gill, Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports took place in New Delhi yesterday. Jadhav was independent India's first individual Olympic medalist , when he won the wrestling bronze medal at the 1952 Olympic Games held at Helsinki. He was awarded Arjuna Award posthumously in 2000. Pratik Prakashbapu Patil, Minister of State of Youth Affairs & Sports , several sports persons and senior officials of the sports ministry were present on the occasion.

Ranjeet Khashaba Jadhav son of Late K.D. Jadhav was present on the occasion. He was felicitated by Dr. Gill with a shawl, silver plaque in appreciation and recognition of achievements of his illustrious father. He was also given Rs. 3.00 lakh from National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons.

Khashaba Jadhav remained the only individual medal winner for India at the Olympics for nearly half a century till Leander Paes won a bronze in 1996. Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (January 15, 1925 – August 14, 1984) was widely known as 'Pocket Dynamo'. He

was born in Goleshwar in Satara district in a poor family. His nick name was Anna. His father’s name was Dadasaheb Jadhav and his mother’s name was Putli Bai. They were four brothers and three sisters.

Hailing from a wrestling background, Jadhav was an ardent fan of sports, mainly wrestling, kabaddi, running, swimming and others. His father, a wrestler himself taught Jadhav about the sport and despite being the youngest in the family managed to grasp the game and outclassed everyone. Gradually he began emerging as undisputed wrestler in the area and soon was competing in national events. Jadhav was flat footed, which made him different from other wrestlers of his time. English coach Rees Gardner saw this trait in him and trained him prior to 1948 Olympic games.

He started his wrestling competitions from State Championship by winning Gold medal followed by All India Inter-University Gold medal and then gold medal in National Championship in 52 kg weight category. In the 1948 London Olympics, he participated in the flyweight category finishing sixth. He defeated wrestlers from Australia, United States of America, Canada and Mexico in the first four rounds and in the fifth round he lost to two Wrestler from Iran, getting sixth position.

Four years later, before the selection for Helsinki Olympics, Jadhav alleged that nepotism among officials prevented him from getting selected for the Olympics. According to him, they intentionally gave him one point less than the eventual winner at the Madras Nationals thereby ruling him out of the Olympics. He did not bow down to corrupt officialdom and appealed to Maharaja of Patiala seeking justice. Fortunately the Maharaja of Patiala loved sports, saw his point, and arranged his entry in Olympic trials where he floored his opponent and won an entry in the Olympics.

Now Jadhav faced his next set of problems. He had to arrange for money for his travel to Helsinki. Even the principal of Kolhapur's Rajaram college, Khardekar, mortgaged his house for a sum of Rs. 7,000 to pay for his travelling cost. Local shopkeepers from his village Goleshwar, in Karad taluka Satara district presented him with groceries and other items of use.

At Helsinki, Jadhav had to fight seven bouts in all in the 52 kg freestyle event. In the first five, he met opponents from Europe and the Gulf countries and took barely five minutes to dispose them off. In the sixth round, his opponent was the famed Shonachi Ishi of Japan. Ishi's novelty of the ankle hold surprised Jadhav, but when he counterattacked, Ishi attempted rolling fouls which were penalized giving Jadhav a win.

Unfortunately his next bout was soon after this sapping bout. This was officially not permissible, but since there was no Indian official to lodge an official protest, he had to face this bout within less than half an hour of this bout with Ishi.

The tired Jadhav took on his next opponent, Manod Bekov of Russia. It is believed that had Jadhav not been tired from his previous bout, he would have defeated Bekov in no time, but tired as he was, he was beaten by Bekov and had to settle for a bronze.

Despite his loss, his was a unique achievement in India. Yet like most talented individuals in developing countries, he was largely forgotten. A principal reason for his oblivion was that in India cricket dominates and all other sports invariably take a backseat.

There was no fanfare from his return to Helsinki. No newspaper interviews, no television. Television in fact was not born in India then! There was however a small felicitation for him at Mumbai's Shivaji Mandir auditorium in Dadar. Interestingly there was also a cavalcade of 101 bullock carts from Karad to his village.

He started his job in Maharashtra Police as Inspector in 1955 and retired as Assistant Superintendent of Police in 1983.

After this glorious moment he slid into oblivion and despite serving in the state police was living in poverty until he died - almost certainly a broken man - in 1984 in a road accident. In 1990, he got Meghnath Nageshwar Award and in 1993 Chatrapati Shivaji Award from Government of Maharashtra. He was also awarded posthumously Arjuna Award in the year 2000.

A tribute to his sterling feat is that it remained unmatched for 56 long years. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sushil Kumar ultimately won bronze in wrestling equaling - not beating - Jadhav's feat!

Read More

No Use Condemning, Let's Celebrate The Hike

The Indian people in general are fond of condemning any new move. They do not generally see how the change is going to improve their lives. The whining is accompanied with every new moderation introduced by the government or society. In this context, one is not surprised to find TV channels going overboard with common people's reaction over the petrol price hike.

Why these people are supposed to be common is that there mindset generally do not crosses their limitations. These people only care for their bread and butter and never understand how it is important for the government to maintain the health of oil companies. These commoners seldom look beyond their bikes. They hardly think how it is absolutely necessary for the rulers and administrators to run their cavalcades, just so that law and order remain intact in the society. Don't you know that only because of the able governance, our country has experience least kind of 'unwanted incidents', violence and disruption? Doesn't then the rulers owe a plethora of facilities in return of their yeomen services to nation? Doesn't it become then a duty of the populace to bear the expense of providing such facilities, conveniences and comfort for the sake of fearless, cosy and proud lives that they enjoy for the last sixty years in independent democratic India?

If answer to these questions is yes, then why should one grin and face the hike in an unhappy tone. Come, let's celebrate, the petrol hike is another sign that we are getting more and more better governance in India. The deregulation means that government will come in our way barely a minimum and only when the personal lives of those associated with polity are involved. Common public is free to live as it wishes henceforth.

Read More

Chavan In US, Signs Pact For Monorail Safety

Ashok Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra today started his US tour with signing a pact with US-based Minata Transportation Institute (MTI) to introduce security of global standards in public transport in Mumbai, specially in view of the upcoming metro and mono rail projects.

A delegation led by Chavan, signed the memorandum of co-operation with Minata Transportation Institute (MTI) in Los Angeles, an official release said. According to claims by Chavan, an agreement will be made between MTI and Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA). This will be aimed at providing training in the field of passenger safety, training for passenger safety and use of modern technology.

The memorandum was signed by the Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, S V R Srinivas, Secretary to the Chief Minister, Nitin Kareer and the Executive Director, MTI, Rod Diridon in the presence of the Chief Minister.

Chavan is currently in the USA as part of three-nation tour. The pact is a major step towards strengthening the Mumbai metro and public transport security, the release said.

The ceremony was also attended by senior officials of Federal Transport Administration and Los Angeles, Metro Security Chief John Sullivan.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the pact seeks to bring security and safety of global standards within the reach of Mumbaikars.

Read More

Games Politicians Play

Anyone who had even a tiny doubt about the talk of corruption, hawala and black money involved in Indian Premier League 3 might have been forced to rethink his analyzing ability of the current situation. One of the most powerful politicians of the country finding himself cornered on the murkier wickets of scandal speaks volumes about the manner in which the biggest entertainment of the country was run for last three years.

Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule are still struggling to get rid of the ‘IPL-gate’ taint. There explanation ranged from “we have nothing to do with the Pune bid” to “City Corporation’s chief Aniruddha Deshpande bid personally for the IPL Pune team.” Latest is that, Pawar has asked he has some small stake in the Royal Challengers Bangalore team.

A national daily that Mr Pawar and his immediate family controlled over 16% equity in a Pune-based construction company City Corp, one of the bidders for an IPL cricket team. The company bid Rs 1176 crore for a franchise. It was another matter that Sahara group, which pledged a bigger amount, emerged as the winner. The Pawar family, admitted that the company owned partly by them did try to buy a cricket team. But they tried to put the onus on Deshpande saying he was personally involved in the bid and not the company. This was a brazenly ridiculous pretext which was least expected from a seasoned politician like Pawar. Did he really wanted the countrymen to believe that Deshpande was staking Rs 1176 Crores for and on behalf of himself? Is it possible for a builder, let alone the one who has Pawar family as stakeholders in his company?

Pawar appeared to have in deep water as the opposition parties, mainly Bharaiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena are already gunning for his resignation? BJP was consistently targeting the Sugar-Strongman for his failure on the agriculture front, which he is supposed to manage as the minister. "When the IPL controversy came to the fore, Sharad Pawar and his family members repeatedly said they had nothing to do with it. After this report it is very clear that Pawar has not only mismanaged the food economy of the country but also misled the country," BJP Chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.

The main opposition party also demanded Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the IPL affairs, saying the statements made by Pawar and his family members on the IPL issue were "lame excuses" and the matter should be inquired into "extensively". The party’s demand, however politicized it might sound, has some justification. With a union minister sitting at home over the under-cover deals and a minister bidding his time to do so, the IPL 3 has threw enough worms to infect the polity. The sports has long taken a backseat and it is the cloudy dealing of money that is the talk of the town.

Nation deserves to know who and how took the people for a ride in the name of a sport with biggest fan following. If on the contrary, government, officials and officials continue to impress upon the public that everything is alright with the game, then they either living in the fool’s paradise or thinking that public is. Fortunately or unfortunately, neither of them do so.

Read More