Letter addressed to Director, CBI exposes the gross misuse of powers - Ashok Kumar Aggarwal - IRS Kindly go through the website 'Ashok Kumar Aggarwal - IRS wherein my letter addressed to Director, CBI exposes the gross misuse of powers by certain Police officers especially Neeraj Kumar former Police Commissioner having no respect for human dignity. It is pity that such police officers protect human rights and incharae of life and liberty of citizens. Also see high court order (part-1, 2 & 3) which shall again show the most filthiest language used by officers during course of investigation. Do we expect such officers to remain in service? In the name of investigation, they have licence to commit all wrongs things and yet go scot free. www.ashokaggarwal.org

Letter addressed to Director, CBI exposes the gross misuse of powers - Ashok Kumar Aggarwal - IRS

World India’s global image is sinking: But should we care Corruption and rape have put a serious dent in our shiny global image. That's the conclusion of a new BBC World survey conducted by GlobesScan Inc. and the Program on International Policy Attitudes in 25 countries. Over the 8-year span that the poll has been conducted, the pollsters observes, "For the first time this year, those negative views (35%) slightly outnumber those with positive views of India (34 percent)." The other country to share this fate is China, whose ratings have plummeted to the lowest level. This has not been a good year for either the elephant or the dragon. “While China and India’s prestige was enhanced by defying the gravity of the economic downturn, they seem to be falling back to earth with slowing growth rates and a perception of widespread corruption. The scandals surrounding the treatment of women in India may also have had an impact on this year’s findings," says PIPA director Steven Kull, Director of PIPA. In India's case, this downward slide is mainly a result of shift in attitudes in North America and Western Europe. There is some irony in this. The Delhi gang rape case was hardly an exceptional instance of sexual violence in India. What made it remarkable was the unprecedented popular outrage it evoked. It led to stricter rape laws and a sustained national debate over the status of Indian women, modernity, and violence. And these modest but positive reverberations of the case have kept it in the headlines, both in India and around the world. Every rape or sexual assault case since has been covered with greater attention and detail. Yet the impact of such media interest on international opinion has been negative. We have not become more violent as a society since 2012, but we are increasingly perceived as being so. Similarly, the headline-grabbing scandals also reflect a positive development. The corruption isn't new, but the uncovering and subsequent investigation of 2G, Coalgate et al reflects a new demand for openness and accountability. The UPA response has been grudging, obstructive and slow, but the government has been forced to respond nevertheless. There will be consequences, be it in the court of law or at the ballot box next year. The past two years have finally revealed the rot hidden by the glossy India rising image. And this is a good thing for our nation, but not apparently for our global image. The first 20 years of liberalisation were hailed as a revolution. Recent years have revealed that this much touted revolution has been in great part cosmetic. The medieval mindset, political corruption, crony capitalism remain entrenched despite a dramatically -- and deceptively -- altered urban landscape of malls, McDonald's, IT jobs and cell phones. And it is this harsh reality that we are finally beginning to face and challenge. However messy, chaotic and unproductive it may look on the outside, we are a nation looking for genuine progress, unwilling to settle for the usual sops and minor fixes -- though we may disagree what that progress should look like. And right at this watershed moment, the very global image that buoyed our self-esteem is falling apart. The question is: Should we care? There is no one answer to that question. Yes, we should if it affects our economy -- if we lose out on outsourced jobs, foreign investment, tourism. No, we shouldn't if it is just a matter of what someone in New York or Frankfurt or London thinks of us, good or bad. Public opinion abroad is shaped by news coverage, which in the case of India has long been defined by broad-stroke simplified narratives embraced by the foreign press (prominent and laudable exceptions aside). 'Rising India' replaced 'Backward India' when we opened our markets to foreign investors. With slowing growth rates, it's now all about 'Regressing India' -- a country mired hopelessly in the past, unable to move forward. Hence, the plummeting poll numbers. None of these narratives are entirely untrue, but they have never come close to capturing Indian reality. Add to this homogenised reportage two other factors: one, an entrenched journalistic bias toward bad news (shared by reporters around the world); two, the limited India coverage on television and domestic print editions of international publications. Moreover, press coverage has a far greater impact on India's poll numbers than, say, that of the United States whose global image is linked directly to its foreign policy actions. The India stories aim to explain us to the domestic audience, focusing primarily on local or at best regional issues. If international coverage skews in one direction -- positive or negative -- so does international opinion. It is every bit as fickle and insubstantive as the India narratives themselves. The real lesson of the IPI survey is that foreign coverage has a disproportionate effect on our global image -- and our own self-image. We attach far too much importance to foreign publications, getting overly excited when an Indian makes the cover of Newsweek and unduly unhappy over a sharply critical opinion delivered by the Economist. We are riveted by this reflection in a faraway mirror, mistaking it for an image of ourselves. And in this, we are no different from that guy in New York.

World India’s global image is sinking: But should we care Corruption and rape have put a serious dent in our shiny global image. That's the conclusion of a new BBC World survey conducted by GlobesScan Inc. and the Program on International Policy Attitudes in 25 countries. Over the 8-year span that the poll has been conducted, the pollsters observes, "For the first time this year, those negative views (35%) slightly outnumber those with positive views of India (34 percent)." The other country to share this fate is China, whose ratings have plummeted to the lowest level. This has not been a good year for either the elephant or the dragon. “While China and India’s prestige was enhanced by defying the gravity of the economic downturn, they seem to be falling back to earth with slowing growth rates and a perception of widespread corruption. The scandals surrounding the treatment of women in India may also have had an impact on this year’s findings," says PIPA director Steven Kull, Director of PIPA. In India's case, this downward slide is mainly a result of shift in attitudes in North America and Western Europe. There is some irony in this. The Delhi gang rape case was hardly an exceptional instance of sexual violence in India. What made it remarkable was the unprecedented popular outrage it evoked. It led to stricter rape laws and a sustained national debate over the status of Indian women, modernity, and violence. And these modest but positive reverberations of the case have kept it in the headlines, both in India and around the world. Every rape or sexual assault case since has been covered with greater attention and detail. Yet the impact of such media interest on international opinion has been negative. We have not become more violent as a society since 2012, but we are increasingly perceived as being so. Similarly, the headline-grabbing scandals also reflect a positive development. The corruption isn't new, but the uncovering and subsequent investigation of 2G, Coalgate et al reflects a new demand for openness and accountability. The UPA response has been grudging, obstructive and slow, but the government has been forced to respond nevertheless. There will be consequences, be it in the court of law or at the ballot box next year. The past two years have finally revealed the rot hidden by the glossy India rising image. And this is a good thing for our nation, but not apparently for our global image. The first 20 years of liberalisation were hailed as a revolution. Recent years have revealed that this much touted revolution has been in great part cosmetic. The medieval mindset, political corruption, crony capitalism remain entrenched despite a dramatically -- and deceptively -- altered urban landscape of malls, McDonald's, IT jobs and cell phones. And it is this harsh reality that we are finally beginning to face and challenge. However messy, chaotic and unproductive it may look on the outside, we are a nation looking for genuine progress, unwilling to settle for the usual sops and minor fixes -- though we may disagree what that progress should look like. And right at this watershed moment, the very global image that buoyed our self-esteem is falling apart. The question is: Should we care? There is no one answer to that question. Yes, we should if it affects our economy -- if we lose out on outsourced jobs, foreign investment, tourism. No, we shouldn't if it is just a matter of what someone in New York or Frankfurt or London thinks of us, good or bad. Public opinion abroad is shaped by news coverage, which in the case of India has long been defined by broad-stroke simplified narratives embraced by the foreign press (prominent and laudable exceptions aside). 'Rising India' replaced 'Backward India' when we opened our markets to foreign investors. With slowing growth rates, it's now all about 'Regressing India' -- a country mired hopelessly in the past, unable to move forward. Hence, the plummeting poll numbers. None of these narratives are entirely untrue, but they have never come close to capturing Indian reality. Add to this homogenised reportage two other factors: one, an entrenched journalistic bias toward bad news (shared by reporters around the world); two, the limited India coverage on television and domestic print editions of international publications. Moreover, press coverage has a far greater impact on India's poll numbers than, say, that of the United States whose global image is linked directly to its foreign policy actions. The India stories aim to explain us to the domestic audience, focusing primarily on local or at best regional issues. If international coverage skews in one direction -- positive or negative -- so does international opinion. It is every bit as fickle and insubstantive as the India narratives themselves. The real lesson of the IPI survey is that foreign coverage has a disproportionate effect on our global image -- and our own self-image. We attach far too much importance to foreign publications, getting overly excited when an Indian makes the cover of Newsweek and unduly unhappy over a sharply critical opinion delivered by the Economist. We are riveted by this reflection in a faraway mirror, mistaking it for an image of ourselves. And in this, we are no different from that guy in New York.

World India’s global image is sinking: But should we care Corruption and rape have put a serious dent in our shiny global image. That's the conclusion of a new BBC World survey conducted by GlobesScan Inc. and the Program on International Policy Attitudes in 25 countries. Over the 8-year span that the poll has been conducted, the pollsters observes, "For the first time this year, those negative views (35%) slightly outnumber those with positive views of India (34 percent)." The other country to share this fate is China, whose ratings have plummeted to the lowest level. This has not been a good year for either the elephant or the dragon. “While China and India’s prestige was enhanced by defying the gravity of the economic downturn, they seem to be falling back to earth with slowing growth rates and a perception of widespread corruption. The scandals surrounding the treatment of women in India may also have had an impact on this year’s findings," says PIPA director Steven Kull, Director of PIPA. In India's case, this downward slide is mainly a result of shift in attitudes in North America and Western Europe. There is some irony in this. The Delhi gang rape case was hardly an exceptional instance of sexual violence in India. What made it remarkable was the unprecedented popular outrage it evoked. It led to stricter rape laws and a sustained national debate over the status of Indian women, modernity, and violence. And these modest but positive reverberations of the case have kept it in the headlines, both in India and around the world. Every rape or sexual assault case since has been covered with greater attention and detail. Yet the impact of such media interest on international opinion has been negative. We have not become more violent as a society since 2012, but we are increasingly perceived as being so. Similarly, the headline-grabbing scandals also reflect a positive development. The corruption isn't new, but the uncovering and subsequent investigation of 2G, Coalgate et al reflects a new demand for openness and accountability. The UPA response has been grudging, obstructive and slow, but the government has been forced to respond nevertheless. There will be consequences, be it in the court of law or at the ballot box next year. The past two years have finally revealed the rot hidden by the glossy India rising image. And this is a good thing for our nation, but not apparently for our global image. The first 20 years of liberalisation were hailed as a revolution. Recent years have revealed that this much touted revolution has been in great part cosmetic. The medieval mindset, political corruption, crony capitalism remain entrenched despite a dramatically -- and deceptively -- altered urban landscape of malls, McDonald's, IT jobs and cell phones. And it is this harsh reality that we are finally beginning to face and challenge. However messy, chaotic and unproductive it may look on the outside, we are a nation looking for genuine progress, unwilling to settle for the usual sops and minor fixes -- though we may disagree what that progress should look like. And right at this watershed moment, the very global image that buoyed our self-esteem is falling apart. The question is: Should we care? There is no one answer to that question. Yes, we should if it affects our economy -- if we lose out on outsourced jobs, foreign investment, tourism. No, we shouldn't if it is just a matter of what someone in New York or Frankfurt or London thinks of us, good or bad. Public opinion abroad is shaped by news coverage, which in the case of India has long been defined by broad-stroke simplified narratives embraced by the foreign press (prominent and laudable exceptions aside). 'Rising India' replaced 'Backward India' when we opened our markets to foreign investors. With slowing growth rates, it's now all about 'Regressing India' -- a country mired hopelessly in the past, unable to move forward. Hence, the plummeting poll numbers. None of these narratives are entirely untrue, but they have never come close to capturing Indian reality. Add to this homogenised reportage two other factors: one, an entrenched journalistic bias toward bad news (shared by reporters around the world); two, the limited India coverage on television and domestic print editions of international publications. Moreover, press coverage has a far greater impact on India's poll numbers than, say, that of the United States whose global image is linked directly to its foreign policy actions. The India stories aim to explain us to the domestic audience, focusing primarily on local or at best regional issues. If international coverage skews in one direction -- positive or negative -- so does international opinion. It is every bit as fickle and insubstantive as the India narratives themselves. The real lesson of the IPI survey is that foreign coverage has a disproportionate effect on our global image -- and our own self-image. We attach far too much importance to foreign publications, getting overly excited when an Indian makes the cover of Newsweek and unduly unhappy over a sharply critical opinion delivered by the Economist. We are riveted by this reflection in a faraway mirror, mistaking it for an image of ourselves. And in this, we are no different from that guy in New York.

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Pending case hits Neeraj Kumar's CBI race

Pending case hits Neeraj Kumar's CBI race

Bharti Jain, TNN Nov 21, 2012, 03.28AM IST

NEW DELHI: The last lap of the race for who takes over from A P Singh as the CBI chief next month promises to be interesting, with the Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar moving the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against being benched on grounds of a pending court matter against him.

The CAT will hear the matter on November 23.

Kumar, a 1976 officer of UT cadre, who had a nine-year eventful stint with the CBI, ranked third in terms of seniority among the six names suggested by CBI director A P Singh for succeeding him. He had appeared a strong contender for the coveted job before the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC)-led selection panel excluded him from consideration because of a case pending against him in the Delhi High Court.

So, while the names of two senior-most officers — ITBP director-general Ranjit Sinha and National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief S C Sinha — the exclusion of Kumar's name paved the way for inclusion of the fourth senior-most candidate, DG (Home Guards), Uttar Pradesh, Atul in the panel.

The case against Kumar relates to a petition filed by Vijay Agarwal, being investigated by the CBI in a disproportionate assets case along with his brother, the controversial ex-ED official Ashok Agarwal, seeking a direction for filing a police complaint against Kumar and another CBI officer Vinod Kumar Pandey for criminal intimidation and illegal confinement of an accused.

Government sources have justified the "red card" because of the embarrassment UPA suffered when P J Thomas's appointment as Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) was cancelled because of a pending criminal case. "Even if the decision seemed slightly unfair on Kumar, the selection panel feared his suitability for the CBI director's post could eventually be challenged in the court," said a senior government official.

However, others argued that the two cases are as different as apples and oranges. "Unlike Thomas, the case against Kumar is not that of alleged personal corruption. The case is against the CBI", said a senior official source, stressing that Kumar has been cleared in all the in-house investigations conducted by the CBI. Interestingly, he got a clean chit based on investigation by S C Sinha, who now heads the NIA.

Vijay Agarwal alleged in that they were criminally intimidated by a CBI Inspector directly at Kumar's instance. They even claimed that after he had intimidated them, the Inspector concerned called up Kumar in their presence to inform him that his (Kumar's) instructions had been carried out. Based on the complaint, Justice R C Jain of the Delhi HC on his last day on the bench ordered a probe against Kumar. The order struck many because Justice Jain had asked for the investigation against the senior CBI officer to be conducted by Delhi Police's Special Cell and by an officer of a rank not below that of ACP.

It was stayed by a two-judge bench of the High Court.

Those who feel that Kumar should not have been passed over feel that the selection panel neither failed to take into account that vested interests often use "motivated and mala-fide" complaints as weapons, or that both the CrPC as well as the Delhi Police Special Establish Act which governs the CBI seek to protect officers against such risks.

They fault the "play-it-safe" reasoning of the selection committee also because it implies his mere inclusion in the panel would have automatically guaranteed Kumar the leadership." It is like saying that a decision in favour of Kumar was ordained had he stayed in contention", said an official, arguing that the selection panel should have left for the government to decide instead of prejudging the matter itself.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-21/india/35257531_1_cbi-officer-cbi-inspector-disproportionate-assets-case