After strenuously denying the existence of bogus employees in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the civic agency on Wednesday accepted that there was a “gap of 22,853 employees.” What’s more, it accepted that it has been paying Rs 17 crore per month as salaries to these non-existent employees, which totals up to a stunning Rs 204 crore in a year.

The Times of India had reported on June 30, 2009, that there were thousands of ghost employees in MCD and they were regularly drawing salary. In other words, crores of taxpayers’ money was being siphoned out of MCD in what would appear to be a well-established swindle. When asked, MCD had said it had no idea about these ghost employees or for how long salaries were being disbursed to them.

A large number of ghost employees came tumbling out of the MCD cupboard when the biometric system of attendance was introduced. The mismatch between the number of employees drawing salaries and the number marking attendance showed up glaringly.

Said Delhi mayor Kanwar Sain: “There is a gap of 22,853 employees in the MCD between the data given by drawing and disbursing officers (DDOs)/head of the department (HODs) and the number of employees enrolled for biometric attendance. We will carry out an in-depth vigilance inquiry and will study each case.”

He added that “strict disciplinary action will be taken against defaulting officials. A report on this matter has been forwarded to the L-G.” MCD had initiated the biometric system of attendance in August 2008 in certain departments and had decided to extend this system for all its employees.

Prior to this, no survey was carried out by the civic agency to determine the exact number of its employees, while MCD officials had said on June 30, that between 1.30 lakh and 1.75 lakh officials were employed with the civic agency. In July, MCD commissioner K S Mehra had denied the existence of ghost employees, saying that only 567 MCD employees had not come forward to register with the MCD. Mehra refused to comment on this when contacted on Friday.

Most of the missing employees are said to be safai karamcharis working in the sanitation department of MCD. The sanitary inspectors and darogas (assistant sanitary inspector) manage the ewjidar (adhoc employees) and mark the attendance of both the bogus and absentee employees. In case of ghost employees, many daily wagers who are made permanent later on are there only on paper. Many would have stopped working for MCD years back but their name was never removed from the list maintained by the civic agency.
MCD sources said the nexus is not confined to the sanitation department. This is very much prevalent in all other wings of the corporation, including horticulture, works, health, library, etc. According to officials, this practice of marking bogus attendance is more prevalent in MCD’s 12 zonal offices.

Added the mayor: “We hope to improve efficiency and bring about greater transparency in the working of MCD with the biometric system which has been set up at a cost of Rs 22 crore.”

Civic agency’s figures of sanctioned posts and the number of daily wagers have also changed since July.

They had earlier claimed that there were 1,29,615 sanctioned posts while on Friday the number given out was 1,19,706 posts.

One.. five…20…100…500…1000. One lost count as nearly 25,000 buffaloes were sacrificed at Gadhimai Mela in Bara district of southern Nepal bordering India on Tuesday.

Protests by activists like French actress Brigitte Bardot and India’s politician-cum-crusader Maneka Gandhi failed to have an impact as nearly 300 people armed with machetes and khukhris butchered the animals to appease Goddess Gadhimai.

Held every five years, the Gadhimai Mela is called by some as the world’s biggest animal sacrifice fair. It is attended by millions of devotees from acrossNepal and neighbouring India and thousands of animals and birds are killed as part of a traditional ritual.

And it is no different this time around. An estimated 1.5 million devotees converged at the temple on Tuesday. Nearly 500,000 buffaloes, goats, roosters, pigeons and rats are expected to be sacrificed in two days.

“Animal sacrifice is part of religious and traditional beliefs and we are not going to stop this practice at any cost,” said a priest at Gadhimai Temple refusing to divulge his name.

It was 9:15 am when several priests accompanied by some authorized slaughterers sacrificed five buffalo calves after tying them to a wooden stake. Amidst shouts of Jai Gadhimai Ki, hundreds of devotees rushed forward to touch the spilled blood and apply it to their foreheads.

The sacrifices were meant to appease the goddess.

“But soon it came to be known that offering sacrifice at the temple could lead to fulfillment of wishes and large number of devotees started reaching here,” said Sunil Kumar, a local farmer.

As regular readers know, I am interested in cults, especially political cults but religious ones as well. I’m not sure how I discovered the Oneness Movement or O.M. I must have been looking for something on Youtube. If you are not familiar with these nuts, here is what they are all about.

Their leader Sri Bhagavan (original name Vijaykumar Naidu), claims he is Kalki, the final avatar of Vishnu and can “enlighten” us mere mortals through his touch or gaze. The cult is also known as Kalki Deeksha movement. He and his wife, Sri Amma (Padmini), offer classes (level 1 and level 2) for thousands of dollars to facilitate the “enlightenment” process. It is an old scam that never ends to bring in new suckers.

Loved and worshipped by millions, Sri Amma Bhagavan are avatars for enlightenment and God realisation. They are one single avataric consciousness in two bodies. They represent the Divine feminine and the Divine masculine. Together Amma and Bhagavan power the process of enlightenment of the individual seeker as Yin and Yang, stillness and movement, Prakruti and Purusha.

The new twist for this cult is claiming spiritual awakening or deeksha is a “neurobiological process” and adding strange accoutrements like a golden orb to the standard Hindu cosmology:

The phenomenon of the Oneness Blessing/Oneness Deeksha is sourced in the descent of the “Golden Ball of Divine Grace”, a mystical golden orb of light, into which Sri Amma Bhagavan had impregnated their divine consciousness since early childhood through a very esoteric process. In July 1989, this Golden Ball of divine grace descended into many children of the Jeevashram School founded by Sri Amma & Bhagavan. With the descent of the Golden Ball these children were instantly transported into deep mystical states of consciousness and experienced profound transformation, thus heralding the birth of a phenomenon Sri Amma Bhagavan had been waiting for over nearly four decades.

The Golden Ball of Divine grace embodies the divine intent of Sri Amma Bhagavan, namely ‘to set man totally and unconditionally free’ and it is this intent that powers the Oneness Blessings/Oneness Deekshas worldwide. Oneness Blessing/Oneness Deeksha is essentially the process of facilitating the descent of this Golden Ball, which naturally activates a neurobiological process in the receiver’s brain, thus culminating in a spiritual awakening. In addition, it also activates the seven energy centers (chakras) in the subtle body and the dormant spiritual energy (kundalini), which constitutes the basis of every form of transformation in life, mundane as well as spiritual.

How people fall for this nonsense is actually rather sad. In one devotee’s words:

‘Diksha’, or baptism as we know it in the West, is a hands-on transference of Divine energy that brings about a state of oneness, or enlightenment. In the past, only a very few have been blessed with this state. Now, for the first time in human history, enlightenment is being made available to everyone through the grace if Sri Bhagavan (See picture). Sri Bhagavan, or Kalki as he is often called, is an Avatar who has the mission of bringing enlightenment to the world at this critical time.

Bhagavan says that you cannot attain a full state of enlightenment through your own efforts, although you can get close. Full enlightenment is a state that must be given to you!

What happens to us when we receive Diksha probably cannot be understood by the human mind, but it can best be described as a neuro-biological shift in the brain. We become detached or de-clutched from our mind. We are still able to feel feelings and have old thoughts, but there is no charge there anymore, and we start to experience permanent peace and joy. It is not about becoming mindless, but rather ‘mindful’ and being totally present with reality as it is.

If you were a native African, for example, you could probably become enlightened after receiving only one Diksha. However, we in the West are holding onto so many emotional blocks and concepts about life, that it is not as easy for us to attain this state.

Here is a different perspective:

I am having a hard time getting my money refunded from the people at the Oneness Movement. They have been extremely “nice” but they are basically charging me in order to refund the money. God, I wish I never gave them the fucking money in the first place. It’s another expensive lesson, but the same one over and over – listen to myself, not any one else who claims to have some kind of “answer”.

It seemed so appealing, the thought of all my Issues dissolving after three weeks of deeksha. But the warning signs were there. Signing the waiver saying I could withstand sleep and food deprivation, the high fee and the inability to leave the ashram, being told everyone has the same questions as me so I should just go with the flow and ignore what my inner voice was saying…I am grateful for my rational over-thinking mind coming in to save the day!

But now I have to deal with these mo-fo’s to get the money back. And I am learning about cults and mind-control as I try to navigate through their system of niceties and bullshit. They have me by the balls. I want to write an expose on them before they get much larger, but who the hell has heard of deeksha? Or, as they call it now, Oneness Deeksha or Oneness Prayer. That edict came down from on high last week – maybe the authorities are getting on to the deeksha name.

It turns out many of the early devotees were likely dosed with hallucinogenic leyham without their consent, leading to the extraordinary experiences they shared together. After leaving the Oneness University many of the devotees experience withdrawals and psychosis. Some have committed suicide.

As to where all the money is going. Part of it is going to build this temple:

The rest is being invested in personal properties and businesses owned by cult leadership.

Service providers using Internet search engines in big way; cops can do little as website hosts are usually based abroad. Just as some call it the ‘crime city,’ there is another label that Pune is beginning to be known by — ‘sin city’. With its large floating population of students and youngsters, who form the bulk of staff in call centres, BPOs and other backroom operation hubs, a high profile sex trade business (under the euphemism “escort services”) is booming in the city.

And it is not difficult to find — one merely needs to click “sex service in Pune” on internet search engines and all sorts of links, complete with cell phone numbers of several such service providers pop up. Some escort services also advertise through newspaper classifieds. The demand is not just for females but for male “escorts” as well.

Police sources say that safe lodging facilities and a good climate in the hinterlands has made Pune a prime spot for such activity. Even the youth from rich families in Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and other upcoming cities flock to Pune to avail of these services.

Adding another dimension to the racket is the sudden proliferation of girls from Uzbekistan in Pune. According to intelligence agencies, given that Pune is home to a number of defence establishments, there is a danger of espionage rackets building around these girls and posing a security threat to the nation.

Police Inspector Rajendra Bhamre of Pune police’s Social Security Cell said that escorts service providers are aware of the huge population of youngsters in the city, who are staying away from their families for jobs or education and are willing to pay high sums for pleasure. “The police can certainly crack down on these websites. But there are limitations because foreign countries host these website,” he pointed out.

Last November, the Pune police arrested three female models and their agents on charges of promoting the prostitution business through an Internet website called chamadi.com. But the accused were soon released on bail and the website is now back in business — offering escort services in Pune at even higher costs.

When they were contacted by posing as a customer, a woman who runs the website said, “We would provide attractive college girls for two hours. Charges vary between Rs 8,000 and Rs 15,000. Customers should first book a hotel and then inform us. The money should be paid in cash at the hotel.”

Explaining why sex rackets were being run so openly, a senior police officer said that the girls and agents who are arrested for promoting prostitution through websites easily get bail in court. “Sex between consenting adults is not an offence. The modus operandi of escort services is fashioned in such a manner that the arrangement between the customers and escort girl looks like that between two consenting adults. Thus, it becomes difficult to book the suspects under sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), which is non-bailable,” he pointed out.

Pune Police Cyber Committee Chief Coordinator Sudam Choure said that a major joint awareness campaign by social activists and the police is needed to control such escort services. The Pune police have also received complaints from some men, who were lured through newspaper advertisements like “make female friends” published in the classified sections.

In March 2008, the Bund Garden police arrested two men in Mumbai for cheating a Major from the Armed Force Medical College, who had solicited a “good looking female friend” after reading an advertisement carried in a city newspaper in November 2007.

And invariably, there are bogus ayurvedic massage centres. Just a couple of months ago, residents of Pimpri busted a sex racket operated in a bungalow in the guise of a massage parlour. However, with escort services taking over big time — where the services of young, educated men and women are on offer to visiting executives and those from the city who want a night (or maybe a day) out in Pune — clearly the days of old style massage parlours may be numbered.

India is still perceived to be one of the most corrupt countries by the transparency international in its annual corruption
perceptions.
India has been ranked 84th in the list of 180 countries in terms of public-sector corruption, which is perceived to be highly corrupt.
While releasing the list of naming and shaming the world’s most corrupt countries, the international watchdog has for the first time recommended that tax havens like Switzerland and Liechtenstein should do away with the secrecy in banking laws.

“Corrupt money must not find safe haven. It is time to put an end to secrecy in banking laws,” said the Berlin-based group’s head Huguette Labelle.

The bottom five nations were Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Iraq, while the cleanest countries with ranking close to perfect 10 were New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore.

This year developing countries like Serbia, Burkina Faso, Peru and Ghana fared better than India by claiming 83, 79, 75 and 69 spots respectively.

China scored 3.6 on the scale, thereby indicating slightly better position than India in terms of perception of corrupt countries.

In neighbouring countries, Nepal was at 143rd position much below India, Pakistan scored 2.4 claiming 139th position along with Bangladesh while Sri Lanka scored 3.1 and stood at 97th position.

Nearly half of the countries have scored three or less on the scale of zero (perceived to be most corrupt) to 10 (perceived to be least corrupt) showing that corruption is rampant across the world. The index prepared by the voluntary group used 13 different expert and business surveys.

“Transparency international has found that strong correlation between corruption and poverty continued to exist, jeopardising the global fight against poverty and threatening to derail the UN Millennium Development Goals,” Admiral (retd. R H Tahiliani, Chairman of Transparency International India said in a statement.

Politics is not a SERVICE anymore but a PROFESSION!!!

An Important Issue!

Salary & Govt. Concessions for a Member of Parliament (MP)

Monthly Salary : Rs. 12,000/-

Expense for Constitution per month : Rs. 10,000/-

Office expenditure per month : Rs. 14,000/-

Traveling concession (Rs. 8 per km) : Rs. 48,000/-

(eg. For a visit from South India to Delhi & return : 6000 km)

Daily DA TA during parliament meets : Rs. 500/day

Charge for 1 class (A/C) in train : Free (For any number of times)
(All over India )

Charge for Business Class in flights : Free for 40 trips / year (With wife or P.A.)

Rent for MP hostel at Delhi : Free.

Electricity costs at home : Free up to 50,000 units.

Local phone call charge : Free up to 1, 70,000 calls..

TOTAL expense for a MP [having no qualification] per year : Rs.32, 00,000/-

[i.e. 2.66 lakh/month]
TOTAL expense for 5 years : Rs. 1, 60, 00,000/- 

For 534 MPs, the expense for 5 years :
Rs. 8,54,40,00,000/-

(Nearly 855 crores)
AND THE PRIME MINISTER IS ASKING THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED, OUT PERFORMING CEOs TO CUT DOWN THEIR SALARIES…..

This is how all our tax money is been swallowed and price hike on our regular commodities………
And this is the present condition of our country :

855 crores could make their lives livable!!
Think of the great democracy we have…

“”"BANGALORE: The worst nightmare of working parents entrusting the care of their children to nannies became a reality for a city couple recently. As soon as they would kiss their little one goodbye, the nanny would feed him and get him ready – for a day of begging on the streets of Bangalore. Instead of milk, the baby was fed sedatives; instead of the clothes carefully put out by his parents, she would dress him up in rags. The modus operandi was simple – she would hand the seven-month-old baby to beggars for Rs 100 a day and lie back at her employers’ home, watch soaps and feed herself to her heart’s content. And this was not an `ayah’ picked up by hearsay reference, she came duly recruited by an employment agency, considered a safe option. The horrifying story was revealed when the child’s mother – who works for an MNC – returned home early one day. She found the nanny sitting in front of the TV but the baby was missing. Taken aback, she confronted the nanny who then confessed that she had been sending the baby for begging for the past three weeks. It’s only then that the parents realized why their son was drowsy and inactive in the evenings – he was being sedated everyday but for weekends when the parents would be home. Strangely, though, the couple have so far not lodged a police complaint. “The parents want to remain anonymous and don’t want to even talk about it,” a source said. They are said to be planning to move abroad. It isn’t clear whether this incident has forced them to take this step, but it would be hardly surprising if they wish to leave this nightmare behind. According to State Children Commission officials, a suo motu case will be filed against the nanny. “We are trying to track the family and get more details about the crime and the nanny. As beggary is a punishable offence, stringent action will be taken against the culprit. The commission will meet on Friday to decide on the course of action. “”"

New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) Nearly 96 percent women do not feel safe in the national capital, especially so in the popular markets of Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place and Karol Bagh and in the buses, according to a survey.

The survey was conducted by the Centre for Equity and Inclusion (Cequin) in association with the Centre for Media Studies (CMS).

‘Almost 96 percent of the women in Delhi believe that women are not very safe in the city and 44 percent of the abused respondents chose to remain silent after the incident,’ said Lora Prabhu, director and co-founder of Cequin.

‘While sexual harassment in public places in Delhi is a common phenomenon, it is not dependent on the economic status of the individual,’ she added.

The report is based on the responses of 630 women in the age group 12-55 living in New Delhi and Old Delhi across the major socio-economic strata.

Sixty percent women feel that girls under 10 are most vulnerable to sexual harassment, according to the survey, and nearly 82 percent women feel that public buses are the most unsafe mode of transport in the national capital.

The survey also reveals that 88 percent women feel that when a woman is harassed in a public place she rarely gets help from bystanders.

And most women do not feel they can trust the police. Only 19 percent feel that the victims should report to the police.

‘While there is always the provision of using the existing IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections like 375, 354 and 509 to deal with heinous crimes like rape, physical molestation and eve-teasing, it is the implementation of these laws which constitutes the major problem,’ said Sara Pilot, Cequin’s chairperson.

‘A large number of these incidents happen because of the flawed concept of masculinity giving rise to deviant male behaviour,’ Pilot added.

One of the key findings of the survey was that the level of awareness among the respondents on existing laws and support mechanisms is very low.

According to the findings, ‘harassment in public spaces has a hugely negative impact on women’s mobility and access’.

The survey is a part of Cequin’s bigger initiative to sensitise Delhiites towards the problem.

‘The Delhi Daredevils team is supporting the initiative,’ said cricketer Virender Sehwag.

‘We are aiming at a public campaign which would include public advertisements on radio, television, posters, hoardings. The campaign would target young men and boys and effect a mindset change through sensitisation and deconstruction of stereotype images,’ Pilot added.

‘This will encourage men and boys to respect women, and be proactive in shunning all violence against women,’ she said.

Source: 96 percent women feel unsafe in Delhi, says survey

Sach Ka Saamna season 1 ended with the final episode on TV celebrity and Bengali actress Rupa Ganguly revealing about casting couch in Bollywood and TV industry, among many other truths. She stated that she was propositioned for sexual favors by certain elements in the industry who would ask her for her rates. The worst insult she said was when she had received a call on her landline, which said that someone had paid Rs.50000 for a night with her. This was when Rupa had decided to leave Mumbai for good, and settle for Kolkata. This was in the 90s after Mahabharata serial made her famous . The bold and beautiful actress has admitted that casting couch in Bollywood is lesser in the present times, compared to old times.

Rupa Ganguly admitted her addiction to smoking and confessed on an extra marital affair too. She said that her husband Dhruba Mukherjee whom she had been in a marriage for 16 years was not able to cope up with her acting schedule and they would frequently have arguments.

Rupa Ganguly confessed that she was in love with her 31 year old boyfriend Diveyndu who stays with her. Though she said that she loved him as an answer to one of the final questions, the polygraph didn’t agree with her, which is why she lost the game. However Rupa Ganguly said that she will never be able to marry her boyfriend Diveyndu, because he was too young for her. Rupa said that the definition of ‘love’ for a woman in her 40s was different from the definition of ‘love’ for a woman who is 25. She guessed that this conflict in her mind, may have led to the disagreement with the polygraph