NANDHIVARMAN OPINES

Pakistan’s RANGASAMY and PONDICHERRY’s MUSHARAFF

The media which was speculating about the honorable or otherwise exit of Pakistan President Musharraf’s departure from office today reported that he will resign after celebrating the Independence Day of Pakistan. Similarly Puducherry Chief Minister N.Rangasamiar wants to celebrate Independence Day and quit office. Last week he borrowed time to quit on the pretext of his 59^th birthday, and this week Independence day is reason cited for a man who enjoys the support of only one legislature in his legislature party and none in his cabinet. Let us read Pakistan news first followed by Puducherry news:

With pressure piling up on Pakistan’s embattled President Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler has decided in principle to quit and will announce his decision in this regard on the country’s Independence Day on August 14, a media report has said. If he resigns ahead of the impeachment motion being moved in parliament, the PPP-led ruling coalition will give him safe passage, a senior leader of the opposition PML-Q was quoted as saying by the Daily Times. A suggestion given to Musharraf is to “apologize to the people of Pakistan and the judiciary for sacking” Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other members of the superior judiciary and restore them before quitting, the report said.

Another advice given to him is to restore the judges and say that he will accept whatever judgment they give on the validity of his presidential election last year and the legitimacy of the Provisional Constitution Order through which he had imposed emergency in November. The report said it was “not known what decision he has taken in this regard”.

If he resigns, the besieged President will remain in the presidency for a while as allowed by law until he is able to shift to his newly built home in Chak Shahzad on the outskirts of Islamabad, and “possibly leave the country a few weeks hence”, it said.

Leaders of the ruling coalition said on Tuesday that the impeachment motion and charge sheet against Musharraf is expected to be submitted in parliament next week. The motion will be submitted after the four provincial assemblies pass resolutions asking him to seek a vote of confidence in parliament. The assemblies of Punjab and North West Frontier Province have already passed such resolutions. The assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan are expected to pass resolutions within this week. Musharraf sacked the judges and imposed emergency when the Supreme Court was about to rule on a challenge against his re-election in uniform by the outgoing National and provincial assemblies. It was widely expected that the apex court would have invalidated his re-election

TIN POT DICTATOR OF PUDUCHERRY :

Most of the decisions taken by the Congress Chief Minister N.Rangasamy are without Cabinet approval. All the 5 Ministers in his cabinet are in open revolt against N.Rangasamy but they are confining their fight against the autocratic Chief Minister within Congress party. Bypassing cabinet is not an internal matter of the Congress party. Our party met the Lt.Governor of Puducherry on 13^th  February and handed over a Memorandum urging him to recommend dismissal of Rangasamy Government under Article 356.The same demand was made to the Honorable Prime Minister of India marking copies to the Leaders of Opposition in both houses. Unless a cabinet minister gives in writing, which he won’t because he is bound by oath of secrecy, we cannot prove in Courts that Cabinet system and constitution had been thrown to winds. But the inability to convene cabinet meetings which stands postponed many times in past, last being on August 6^th 2008, and none of his 5 cabinet colleagues wished him on his birthday indicates the Chief Minister of Puducherry enjoys the support of only one legislator  within Congress legislature party. If the legislature party had met on 12^th August 2008, it would have elected the new leader, forcing the Lt.Governor to sack Mr.N.Rangasamiar. So to avoid humiliation, the man who shamelessly sticks to office after having lost majority support, told to high command that he will hand over resignation personally to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and appointment was given today i.e. 13^th August 2008. But the Cheap Minister did not go to Delhi. It is being rumored that he wants to hoist national flag on August 15^th and go. Otherwise law and order problems will come; IB seems to have reported Union Government. All these show how weak Indian National Congress had become, which cannot sack one defiant Cheap Minister.

The Chief Secretary of our state Rakesh Bihari while he was in office had passed orders, which was reported in the media, that for any fresh project beyond 10 crores, approval of Union Home Ministry is needed. The spend thrift Chief Minister had launched project after project centering his constituency wherein huge moneys were sunk. Chief Minister instead openly criticized the Chief Secretary in media, which we had complained to the Congress nominated Lt.Governor that Chief Minister had violated oath of secrecy by showing official files to striking Engineering College students and openly accusing Chief Secretary who tried hard to bring fiscal discipline.

Every Chief Minister would like to nurse his constituency but no Chief Minister will totally ignore all other constituencies and develop his constituency alone. The average voter in a Puducherry constituency is 25,000 as per delimitation yardstick. In an official letter to the Chief Secretary under Right to Information Act, the Rajya Sabha member and AICC General Secretary V.Narayanasamy had extracted a reply on how many persons in Chief Minister’s constituency had got jobs.18, 000 jobs in 7 years of his rule bypassing Employment Exchanges, depriving other constituency youth of fair chances in written or oral exams using officials to ensure his constituency youth alone gets job. This gross violation must have made M.L.A’s in other parties’ revolt anywhere in India.Here only Congress M.L.A’s are on warpath against Chief Minister fearing total rout in next election if this ONE CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT agenda is pursued further…

Recent verdict in Supreme Court Appeal [Civil] 1732 of 2008 delivered by bench comprising Justices S.B.Sinha and V.S.Sirpurkar on 4 th March 2008 states “Constitution of India does not envisage functioning of the Government through Chief Minister alone. It speaks of Council of Ministers.” The full text will apply line by line to Puducherry where Chief Minister had bypassed Cabinet in most of the decisions taken, making mockery of the Cabinet system. Hence Dravida Peravai had given a Memorandum to Lt.Governor on 13^th h February 2008 urging him to recommend dismissal of Congress government led by N.Rangasamy under Article 356. Governors being party nominees wait for ruling party to decide, instead of exercising their powers. This is Congress culture, and a Chief Minister who is alone in his cabinet will carry out the ritual of flag hoisting.

N.Nandhivarman General Secretary Dravida Peravai

WATCH AUROBINDO ASHRAM:  IN SUPREME COURT 

[On August 18^th 2008]

The famous House Grabbing case involving Aurobindo Ashram is now listed before Supreme Court and likely to be taken up on 18^th of August, 2008. India’s first Finance Minister and Constituent Assembly Member R.K.Shanmugam Chettiar’s heir Mr.R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar owns three properties, known as Ragavan House, Columbani House and Kothandapani Godown. These properties were rented out to Aurobindo Ashram for the past so many years. Suddenly a conspiracy was hatched to forge a gift deed of these properties in favour of Mr.R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar’s son Murugavel, and from him the Aurobindo Ashram Trust headed by Mr.Manoj Das Gupta bought these properties, but in order to fool the owner, continued to pay the rent even after the alleged purchase of the properties. Mr.R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar came to know of this cheating and lodged a complaint two times with the Pondicherry Police, which refused to register the case, as usual. Mr.R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar approached the High Court of Madras which issued orders to register the case, thereafter an FIR was filed on The Managing Trustee of Aurobindo Ashram Trust Mr.Manoj Das Gupta, among others. Mr.Manoj Das Gupta obtained anticipatory bail in this case. In an interview to SUNTV by 2003 end, I had openly told about this anticipatory bail. Had he been a Minister hue and cry seeking his resignation would have erupted.

The Police who filed the charge sheet later had conveniently omitted the Managing Trustee. The first accused, namely R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar’s son Murugavel had approached for relieving him in this case, which was turned down by local court, High Court and also the by the Apex Court. In a connected civil suit R.K.Shelvarajan challenged the validity of the sale deeds executed behind his back and in that the Ashram Trustees in order to side-track the Court raised a technical objection through the said Murugavel who filed an application questioning the stamp duty paid on the suit. This Application was dismissed by the Principal District Munsif at Pondicherry and thereafter a revision filed before the High Court also was dismissed. Presently an SLP in respect of the same is coming up for hearing on 18.08.2008 before the Supreme Court.  On 28.07.2008 the Ashram Trustees concerned put up their appearance through their Counsel and prayed for time and the Court granted time till 18.08.2008.  This House Grabbing case over years had been reported here in New Indian Express, Dinamalar, and SUN TV. But at national level televisions or English and Hindi dailies, have yet to throw light on this case. We live in days when media acts as watch dogs of society. Let present day journalists turn their eye on ashram. We from politics are scoundrels, because there is a saying that politics is the last resort of the scoundrel. But there are more dangerous people within spiritual empires; they too deserve the same media expose before the ultimate masters in a democracy, the people of India.

 Order Passed By the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India on 28.07.2008

 ITEM NO.5 COURT NO.12 SECTION XII

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

 Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) No(s).2223/2007

 (From the judgment and order dated 27/10/2006 in CRP No. 1628/2005 of

The HIGH COURT OF MADRAS)

 S. MURUGAVEL Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

 R.K. SELVARAJAN & ANR. Respondent(s)

(With appln(s) for directions)

Date: 28/07/2008 This Petition was called on for hearing today.

 CORAM:

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DALVEER BHANDARI

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE HARJIT SINGH BEDI

 For Petitioner(s) Mr. K.K. Mani,Adv.

Mr. C.K.R. Lenin Sekar, Adv.

Mr.R.K. Pandey, Adv.

 For Respondent(s) Mr. Bijan Kumar Ghosh,Adv.

Mr. P. Gandhi, Adv.

Mr. Dipankar Burman, Adv.

 Ms. Anitha Shenoy, Adv.

 UPON hearing counsel the Court made the following

ORDER

In view of the letter circulated by learned counsel for the respondent No. 2, two weeks’ time is granted to file counter-affidavit.

List after two weeks.

 Pardeep Kumar) (Neeru Bala Vij)

Court Master Court Master

MOUNT MOHSIN OR MOUNT EVEREST?

The highest peak, Mount Everest was first measured in 1856. It was scaled as 8839 m i.e. 29,000 feet high. But it was fixed at 29,002 feet [8840m] high. The arbitrary addition of 2 feet was added to avoid the impression of a rounded calculation. Another Indian survey in the year 1950 concluded the height to be 29.028 feet. In the year 1998, the American Everest Expedition installed a GPS unit on the highest bedrock and a value of 29.035 feet [8850 m] was fixed based on this device. Nepal did not agree to this and holds the view that the height is 8848 m only. The Peoples Republic of China sent an expedition team in May 22^nd 2005. After months of hard work, China’s State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping announced the height of Everest as 8844.43 m. This newest height is based on the actual rock and not on the snow and ice caps. China claims this to be the most accurate measurement.

There is not only lack of consensus in measurement and height, each country has its own name for Mount Everest. Nepal calls it Sagarmatha, thereby revealing the pre-historic fact that Himalayas was once ocean .Sagar means sea, matha means mother. Tibet calls it Chomolangma, the meaning of the word must be found in Tibetan language.

Mount Everest was first discovered in 1852 and till 1865 it was only referred as Peak XV. The British Surveyor General of India Sir Andrew Waugh gave its current name Mount Everest. China continues to oppose this name. China’s People’s Daily in 2002 wanted a colonial name to be removed and the peak known by its Tibetan name. Meanwhile who first measured it stirs another controversy. A claim is made that Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal was first to identify the peak in 1852 using trigonometric calculations based on measurements made with telescopic measurements from 24o kilometers away in India.

To ascertain this let us look for other evidences.  The book Great Arc by John Key describes the stupendous scientific expedition undertaken across the Indian sub continent in 19^th century under the British Raj. The Frontline magazine from The Hindu group interviewed John Key, when he came to Chennai to participate in the 200^th anniversary celebrations of the beginning of Great Arc, and to deliver William Lampton Commemoration lecture on Great Trigonometrical Survey. In that interview published in Frontline September 26, 2003 he states:

“The Great Arc has always been presented as a British achievement. Lambton and Everest associated with it were British. One has to remember, as someone said this evening, most of the mathematical work, which is really the most important aspect was done by…… [Interruption by Frontline correspondent: “By Bengalis?]

“Not just Bengalis. Precision engineering, necessary for the instrument used in the Great Arc, is very critical. A lot of these instruments were made in India. The Great Arc’s senior most instrument designer and engineer was in fact from Arcot in Tamilnadu.He was called Syed Hussain Mohsin. He was most brilliant instrument manufacturer. People like Lambton and Everest were heavily indebted to him, and indeed said so.”

During this interview John Key answers a pertinent question: Is it true that George Everest had never seen the peak that is named after him. ?

John Key “He never saw the peak. It was after him because it was his completion of the measurement of the Great Arc that made it possible to measure the altitudes of Himalayan peaks. It was in the course of the measurement of all the peaks visible at that time that the mountain was discovered. So it was named in his honour.”

Saint Thomas Mount was the starting point of the Great Trigonometrical survey. The Great Arc was just a north-south measurement. The GTS measurement went on until about 1880 within India itself. After 1880 it extended east and west to Burma, Afghanistan and so on. It extended into Burma, Thailand and Laos in the last 20 years on 19^th century.

So it becomes evident that Syed Hussain Mohsin, the senior most instrument designer and engineer, with all the experience he gathered from the beginning of survey till it reached Himalayas, has a unique place, since his services are acknowledged by both William Lambton and George Everest. In western countries, any discovery is named after the discoverer. All scientific names in various fields are derived from their inventor’s name. Hence it would be most appropriate to change the name of Mount Everest, a peak on which George Everest never set his foot, to Mount Mohsin, duly acknowledging the brain behind the expedition and discovery. The claims of others have no such impartial endorsement as that of Syed Hussain Mohsin. This demand, I had made in one of my articles in the book written by me in 2006.

Thamizhar Naadum Thani Pannpadum : Available at : Mitra Arts and Creations Private Limited 32/8-10 Arcot Road, Kodampakkam Chennai 600024 Pages 144 Price Rs 50.

N.Nandhivarman, General Secretary, Dravida Peravai

AUROBINDO ASHRAM  MURDER CASE

IN SUPREME COURT

 Sonali Mukerjee, an inmate of Aurobindo Ashram of Pondicherry was a beauty queen hailing from West Bengal . In 1984 she married Biswajit, who is also from West Bengal. After marriage Sonali Mukherjee got acquainted with Ashatit Poddar, who was holding a high position in Aurobindo Ashram Publications Department.

This contact later turned into an illicit love-affair and both Sonali Mukherjee and Ashatit Poddar started illicitly to live together as husband and wife. At this point Biswajit  warned his wife Sonali Mukherjee. Sonali started ignoring her husband Biswajit and insulted him. Biswajit went to Calcutta and on his return, Sonali Mukherjee and her illicit lover Ashatit Poddar went to Chennai railway station to receive him. While the three were returning to Pondicherry by car, in the backseat, Sonali Mukherjee and Ashatit Poddar were sitting left and right whereas Biswajit was seated in the middle. At that moment Biswajit had questioned angrily about the behaviour of his wife. Sonali Mukherjee a habitual smoker and along with her illicit lover  inflicted cigarette burns on the body of Biswajit.

 Biswajit and his wife Sonali Mukherjee stayed that night in their house and she joining hands with her illicit lover poisoned her husband to death. Subash, a servant in their house, attempted to prevent but was told that this is a problem between them and warned to interfere. They locked Subash in a room and threatened him that he will be killed if he tells the truth out.

The body of Biswajit, who was killed by poisoning, was taken to JIPMER Hospital and post-mortem was done there. In that post-mortem the marks of the cigarette burns and a wound caused by a weapon and scratches caused by the nails and also the death caused by poison had been found out. In this mysterious death, Pondicherry police booked Sonali Mukherjee and her lover Ashatit Poddar as prime accused and registered a case and investigated. The police who investigated the matter registered this as a mere assault and not as a case of murder. The Chief Judicial Magistrate Judge fined both Rs.500/- as fine.

 The servant, who escaped from Pondicherry, went to Calcutta and told the father of Biswajit, Dr. S. Bhattacharya, who is a well-known orthopaedist, about what has happened at Pondicherry. Dr. Bhattacharya came to Pondicherry, met the Inspector General of Police and told that he has suspicion about his son Biswajit’s death and gave a petition urging for a proper enquiry. The police did not take any action and delayed. Subsequently Dr. S. Bhattacharya filed a private complaint in the court. On the basis of this complaint police registered a case and the court confirmed it as a murder and gave life-sentence and one month rigorous imprisonment to both the illicit lovers. 

Both the accused appealed against this verdict in the High Court of Madras. In the appeal  was filed only against Police as the respondent. The learned Justices, who enquired this case, reduced the life sentence of Sonali Mukherjee to 9 years and released Ashatit Poddar.

 Pondicherry police first filed an appeal in the Supreme  Court of India. Subsequently the father of the deceased also appealed in the Supreme Court and so Pondicherry police withdrew its appeal. Sonali Mukherjee, who had been sentenced to 9 years by the High Court, also filed an appeal for cancelling her sentence and releasing her in this case.

 The Division Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising of Justice M.B. Shah and Justice T.M. Dharmadhikari, had ordered for all the three cases of criminal appeala in Cr.A. Nos. 673/2001, 835/2002, 836/2002 to be heard together. For many years this case was continuing in the Supreme Court and it is going to be taken up after the current Supreme Court vacation. The Division Bench of Justice B.N. Agarwal, Justice Singhvi, Justice Aftab Alam, had issued orders to this effect.

 [English Translation of Story on Sri Aurobindo Ashram inmate “Ashatit Poddar” appeared in Tamil Weekly “Makkal Manasakshi” on 21.05.2008 ]

KATCHA THEEVU : SUE SRILANKA

The Chinese through successful treaties with Bangladesh, Burma, Srilanka, Maldives and Pakistan are building harbours in all these countries on Build-Operate-Transfer basis. India failed to awaken to the gravity of India’s encirclement by China, with hidden agenda to control the sea lanes of Indian Ocean, till nuclear submarine issue ultimately had forced India to have a rethink on its regional neighbours. The bartering of Katcha Theevu during emergency so far remained a fishing rights issue only. Hereafter it becomes a spot where Chinese submarine can reach.

There is an urgent need to sue Srilankan Government in the International Court of Justice for compensation to 980 Indian fishermen killed in the International waters, as well as retrieval of the Katcha Theevu. It is will be appropriate to recall the words of our Present Prime Minister in the Parliament on 23 rd July 1974 (cols 186-201), when the then External Affairs Minister Swaran Singh made a statement on the Re Agreement between India and Srilanka on the boundary in the historical waters between the two countries and related matters.

Hon’ble Atal Bihari Vajpayee who strongly condemned the bartering away of Katcha Theevu, had said that the old mythological name for Katcha Theevu is VALI DEEP, the island where legendary Rama fought a mythological Vali. Dravida Peravai now reminds the Government headed by the same Atal Bihari Vajpayee to fulfill what he had once demanded while he was in opposition; namely retrieval of the Katcha Theevu islands from the Srilankan government. The lives of 980 of our fishermen is lost due to this agreement imposed during the darkest days of emergency and it is time that we scrap this agreement or take it to the International Court of Justice to get due compensation for our fishermen.

There has been precedents in international inter country matters where issues have been taken to the International Court of Justice.1). In the English Channel there is a rocked island known as Minquires-Enrou. They are far way from the British coast and were closer to the French coast. Since it was near its international waters France staked the claim over that island. Britain showed the documents in its possession and the basis of the documents in 1953 the International Court of Justice decided that this island belongs to Britain. As in this case the documentary proof will be in our favour and we will retrieve Katcha Theevu, is we approach the Court.2) An island Clipporton which was closer to Mexican coast actually belonged to France, and since it was far away from French soil no one visited there and hence Mexico claimed right over these islands. But the International Court of Justice decided in the favour of France.

3). Near Philipines an island Palmus Mianjus was in the possession of Spain. Spain one fine morning handed over that island to America. But Netherlands had rights over that island much before Spain had, and in view of this when this matter came before the Court, the Court decided in favour of Netherlands.

These are past precedents. We have recent judgments too wherein decisions by International Court of Justice had been impartial and in the interests of natural justice. Let me quote about a recent judgment in 2002.

 The International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has today given (17.11.2002) Judgment in the case concerning sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan (Indonesia/Malaysia). In its Judgment, which is final, without appeal and binding for the Parties, the Court finds, by 16 votes to 1 that “sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan belongs to Malaysia“.  Ligitan and Sipadan are two very small islands located in the Celebes Sea, off the northeast coast of the island of Borneo.

Reasoning of Court: The Court begins by recalling the complex historical background of the dispute between the Parties.  It then examines the titles invoked by them.  Indonesia’s claim to sovereignty over the islands is based primarily on a conventional title, the 1891 Convention between Great Britain and the Netherlands. Indonesia, thus, maintains that that Convention established the 4° 10′ north parallel of latitude as the dividing line between the British and Dutch possessions in the area where Ligitan and Sipadan are situated.  As the disputed islands lie to the south of that parallel, “[I] t therefore follows that under the Convention title to those islands vested in the Netherlands, and now vests in Indonesia“.  Malaysia, for its part, asserts that the 1891 Convention, when seen as a whole, clearly shows that Great Britain and the Netherlands sought by the Convention solely to clarify the boundary between their respective land possessions on the islands of Borneo and Sebatik, since the line of delimitation stops at the easternmost point of the latter island.  After examining the 1891 Convention, the Court finds that the Convention, when read in context and in the light of its object and purpose, cannot be interpreted as establishing an allocation line determining sovereignty over the islands out to sea, to the east of the island of Sebatik, and as a result the Convention does not constitute a title on which Indonesia can found its claim to Ligitan and Sipadan.  The Court states that this conclusion is confirmed both by the travaux préparatoires and by the subsequent conduct of the parties to the Convention.  The Court further considers that the cartographic material submitted by the Parties in the case does not contradict that conclusion.

Having rejected this argument by Indonesia, the Court turns to consideration of the other titles on which Indonesia and Malaysia claim to found their sovereignty over the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan.  The Court determines whether Indonesia or Malaysia obtained a title to the islands by succession.  The Court begins in this connection by observing that, while the Parties both maintain that the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan were not terrae nullius during the period in question in the present case, they do so on the basis of diametrically opposed reasoning, each of them claiming to hold title to those islands.  The Court does not accept Indonesia’s contention that it retained title to the islands as successor to the Netherlands, which allegedly acquired it through contracts concluded with the Sultan of Bulungan, the original title-holder.  Nor does the Court accept Malaysia’s contention that it acquired sovereignty over the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan further to a series of alleged transfers of the title originally held by the former sovereign, the Sultan of Sulu, that title having allegedly passed in turn to Spain, the United States, Great Britain on behalf of the State of North Borneo, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and finally to Malaysia.

Having found that neither of the Parties has a treaty-based title to Ligitan and Sipadan, the Court next considers the question whether Indonesia or Malaysia could hold title to the disputed islands by virtue of the effectivités cited by them.  In this regard, the Court determines whether the Parties’ claims to sovereignty are based on activities evidencing an actual, continued exercise of authority over the islands, i.e., the intention and will to act as sovereign. Indonesia cites in this regard a continuous presence of the Dutch and Indonesian navies in the vicinity of Ligitan and Sipadan.  It adds that Indonesian fishermen have traditionally used the waters around the islands.  In respect of the first of these arguments, it is the opinion of the Court that “it cannot be deduced [from the facts relied upon in the present proceedings] that the naval authorities concerned considered Ligitan and Sipadan and the surrounding waters to be under the sovereignty of the Netherlands or Indonesia“.  As for the second argument, the Court considers that “activities by private persons cannot be seen as effectivités if they do not take place on the basis of official regulations or under governmental authority”. Having rejected Indonesia’s arguments based on its effectivités, the Court turns to consideration of the effectivités relied on by Malaysia.  As evidence of its effective administration of the islands, Malaysia cites inter alia the measures taken by the North Borneo authorities to regulate and control the collecting of turtle eggs on Ligitan and Sipadan, an activity of some economic significance in the area at the time.  It relies on the Turtle Preservation Ordinance of 1917 and maintains that the Ordinance “was applied until the 1950s at least” in the area of the two disputed islands.  It further invokes the fact that the authorities of the colony of North Borneo constructed a lighthouse on Sipadan in 1962 and another on Ligitan in 1963, that those lighthouses exist to this day and that they have been maintained by Malaysian authorities since its independence.  The Court notes that “the activities relied upon by Malaysia … are modest in number but … they are diverse in character and include legislative, administrative and quasi-judicial acts.  They cover a considerable period of time and show a pattern revealing an intention to exercise State functions in respect of the two islands in the context of the administration of a wider range of islands”.  The Court further states that “at the time when these activities were carried out, neither Indonesia nor its predecessor, the Netherlands, ever expressed its disagreement or protest”.

The Court concludes, on the basis of the effectivités referred to above, that “sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan belongs to Malaysia“.

There are many cases, which can be quoted. But the need here is to stress that India must revoke the Katcha Theevu agreement with Srilanka since it was imposed during emergency and take it to the International Court of Justice to establish India’s right over this island. Also As per clause 76 of the International Law of Seas 1982 “ The coastal state shall establish the outer edge of the continental margin wherever the same extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the base lines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured on sub marine ridges. The continental shelf shall not exceed 350 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.” Inview of this clause there is a necessity to redraw the territorial waters between India and Srilanka. So we have compulsions as per UN obligations to carve out our Exclusive Economic Zone and while such opportunity is at our doorstep we must reopen the Katcha theevu issue with Srilanka and get it back.

The lives of 1000 fishermen is lost because of this agreement to barter Katcha theevu and it is time that we claim compensation from Srilanka for the lives lost apart from staking our rights to regain Katcha Theevu.

N.Nandhivarman General Secretary Dravida Peravai

SELFLESS SCIENTIST RAY KURZWELL AND SELFISH ASHRAM

The workers of Aurobindo Ashram Hand Made Paper unit wanted to take out a procession to press for their demands including the minimum wages, but the police which had permitted numerous processions since independence, where slogans will be raised, insisted no slogan should be raised. To show to the world that freedom of expression is curtailed, I led the procession with covering my mouth with black flag. Thereafter in every given opportunity I had questioned the rationale of giving income tax exemptions to Aurobindo Ashram Trust, which runs numerous sub trusts, which are commercial in nature but where minimum wages prescribed in law is not paid. They enjoy concessions by never give due concessions to working class. In 1996 when the current phase of internal strife started, I supported the Aurobindo Ashram Inmates Association, which broke into two resulting in creation of Aurobindo Ashram Beneficiaries Association. Then some well wishers of Aurobindo Ashram approached me with requests not to hit at Ashram and wanted to know what my grievances are. To them I told that “the ashram is availing income tax exemption on the pretext of doing medical research but till date ashram had not constructed a medical hospital with update technology to cater to the people of Pondicherry. Let them start constructing a hospital, I will shelve other issues and observe silence. Ashram was not willing to build a hospital at that time. Later when SUN TV interviewed for a 30 minutes programme against Ashram, there too I stressed that all people of Pondicherry are going to Chennai Apollo or Vijaya hospital, and Ashram should build ultra modern hospital for people of Pondicherry. In the same interview I revealed that the devotees of Aurobindo Ghosh, from Madurai were looking for a suitable place within the city to construct the Eye Hospital, and they approached Ashram, which had taken government land for 99 years lease in many places of the city, to provide them land at concession price. They were told to cough up market rate, so the current Aurobindo Eye Hospital is situated 12 kms away in a village called Thavalakuppam. There I said Ashram never does philanthropy on its own or help Aurobindo devotees in their philanthropic acts. In my interviews in media I had compared the yeoman service rendered by Mother Theresa and all mutts in India, and had attacked Ashram to be the only one that never does philanthropy. This selfishness of Ashram in not being of anyway helpful to people only invites public ire whenever any issue crops up in public against Ashram. Thereafter I started questioning that yoga is mere mental exercise like physical exercise and it is not a matter of medical research, and all exemptions given on that pretext are withdrawn. Physical Education Department headed by Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya exists, but there is no Spiritual Education Department, if at all their goal is towards that. It is widely reported struggle of flower vendors, Tamil women, who were first prevented from selling flowers to make a living because Ashram Trust wanted to sell flowers from their gardens, and their ultimate partial victory, is another example of the immature minds that rule the ashram currently.

To re-open the debate on exemptions, I would like to bring to public notice that the Director General of The Indian Council of Medical Research in its letter dated 27^th December 1976, Ref: No: 18/1/74-AA [II] had raised valid objection for the continuance of exemption given to Aurobindo Ashram under section 35[1] [ii] of the Income Tax Act 1961. To that letter P.Counama, then Managing Trustee replied on 2^nd March 1977. Let me quote in verbatim selected passages, where Mr.P.Counama argues for continuance of exemptions.

P.Counama states “Aurobindo Ashram was organized to realize the distinctive aim of Aurobindo’s yoga which is radically different from the aims pursued by the traditional yogic system. Stated very briefly, the difference consists in fact that Aurobindo does not consider the spirit as something separate and antithetic to life in world, but as its source and sustaining principle, as an omni-present reality which, though now hidden behind a veil of ignorance, is yet pressing for its progressive evolutionary manifestation in life itself. The aim of Aurobindo’s yoga is to completely remove this veil and seek the fullest manifestation of the spirit in life and in matter so that earthly life, instead of remaining dark and dolorous as it has been till now, turns into a perfect image of spirit by its own spiritual transfiguration. The traditional yogas, on the contrary consider life, to be an illusion or a vanity, see no connection between the life and spirit admit no possibility of life shedding its age old burden on suffering and evil, offer no hope of a divinely perfect life on earth “

Dravida Peravai Questions:

1. They had sought exemption to do medical research, which aims at proving Aurobindo’s yoga, is radically different from traditional yoga. The letter of Counama is dated 1977 and we are in 2008, so far 31 years had passed. What research the Ashram had done to prove all other Yogic systems in this country, while its yoga alone is scientifically proven to be the best? Have the debated with other ashrams or have they published scientific literature to prove other yogis are wrong or have they done any research at all?

2. The belief in this country, not by us but by theists, is that on death spirit departs from body, and reincarnation or rebirth will follow, for spirit ceases to evaporate with death of body .Have the ashram trust in this 31 years done any medical research availing income tax exemptions to life this veil of ignorance and to illuminate the minds of people that spirit and matter are inseparable, and with body laid to rest spirit also is laid to rest?

3. By what kind of medical research under which scientist’s guidance did Aurobindo Ashram Trust in 31 years made life shed its age old burden on suffering and evil? Have they brought divinely perfect earth into a reality by their researches, if any?

4. The life on earth is dark and dolorous, so Aurobindo Ashram was exempted from tax to carry out medical or other researches. Have they illuminated Pondicherry during power cuts? Have they found out a spiritual power that can replace nuclear power to produce electricity for our country? There would be no necessity to India to go after nuclear deals, if only Aurobindo Ashram Trust had obtained a spiritual deal to drive darkness on India, if not on Earth.

RAY KURZWELL: FANTASTIC VOYAGE: LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO LIVE FOREVER

Ray Kurzwell, the recipient of the $ 500,000 Lemelson-MIT prize, which is billed as a sort of Academy Awards for Inventors, is a 65 year old scientist, who wrote the book “ Fantastic Voyage :Live Long Enough to Live Forever ” He sees “ human intelligence not only conquering its biological limits, including death but completely mastering the natural world. In my view, we are not another animal subject to nature’s whim, he said. This inventor and computer scientist in his book is serious about seeing humanity attain immortality, a seismic development; he predicts is no more than 20 years away. His predictions, Kurzwell said, are based on carefully constructed scientific models that have proven accurate. In 1990 he wrote a book “The Age of Intelligent Machines “, wherein he predicted the development of world wide computer network and of a computer that could beat a chess champion.

Kurzwell writes of millions of blood cell-sized robots which he calls nanabots that will keep us forever young by swarming through the body, repairing bones, muscles, arteries and brain cells. Improvement of our genetic coding could be downloaded from internet. We won’t even need a heart, so goes his theory.

Dravida Peravai comments: Aurobindo Ghosh dreamt but did not scientifically prove in controlling human cells by integral yoga. He and his companion wanted to defy nature, control the mind in cells and arrest aging to live forever. Both failed. Their followers who got tax exemptions must have done scientific researches to prove their dreams turning them into realities acceptable and beneficial to society. The Aurobindo Ashram Trust or its brainchild Auroville, so far had created numerous trusts only to avail tax exemptions. Most of the objectives of these trusts have no relevance to the dreams and goals of their Masters. Just like any other non-governmental organization they thrive here, with no connectivity with either the philosophy or the goals of their Masters. Hence we can only advice them to accept Ray Kurzwell as their Guru, since he had at least attempted to prove scientifically a goal beneficial to humanity. The remarkable difference in Ray Kurzwell’s approach is his noble mind to make his research downloadable by internet and to benefit whole humanity. This nobility stands in contrast with the selfishness of the super humans with super mind who live in Ashram or Auroville only to keep all fruits for themselves without openly sharing with humanity, if not at least with Tamils who live in their nearest vicinity.

N.Nandhivarman General Secretary Dravida Peravai

GOOD BYE TO RANGASAMY SWEPT BY POLITICAL TSUNAMI  

[We submit the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the handling of the Tsunami funds by N.Rangasamy Government , over which, Dravida Peravai had been spearheading a campaign for CBI enquiry.]

CHAPTER III PERFORMANCE REVIEWS 25 PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

This chapter presents two performance reviews on Tsunami Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Functioning of Government General Hospitals and one long paragraph on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

REVENUE AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENTS

3.1 Tsunami Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Highlights: The Tsunami of December 2004 damaged 33 villages in the Union Territory of Puducherry. The Government provided assistance in cash and kind to the affected families. There was no comprehensive action plan to utilize funds received from Government of India. There were deficiencies in identification of beneficiaries for immediate relief and rehabilitation of Tsunami affected people. Assistance for repair/replacement of fishing crafts was delayed by 4 to 17 months after the calamity. There was delay in providing assistance for rehabilitation. Considerable delay was also noticed in reconstruction activities. Consequently, Tsunami affected families were not resettled as of September 2006. Monitoring of the implementation was poor. - Disaster Management Authority was not functional when Tsunami struck. Government of India scheme for creation of coastal shelterbelt to reduce the impact of cyclone was not implemented during 2000-04.

(Paragraphs 3.1.6.1 and 3.1.6.2)

- Government of India sanctioned Rs 255.62 crore till March 2006 as against Rs 312.37 crore recommended by central team. The reported expenditure of Rs 175.44 crore included Rs 55.42 crore comprising amount kept unspent, inadmissible expenditure, diversion of funds and a case of excess expenditure. (Paragraph 3.1.7)

Audit Report for the year ended 31 March 2006 - Though 2,006 houses were identified as damaged in Tsunami, Revenue Department did not restrict the payment of compensation only to house owners, but compensation was given to 5,247 families who claimed to live there. Scale of assistance prescribed by GOI was not followed. (Paragraphs 3.1.8.1 and 3.1.8.2)

- Government did not take action to claim and pay insurance amount due to active fishermen who died in Tsunami under the National Scheme for Welfare of Fishermen. (Paragraph 3.1.8.3)

- Assistance to fishermen was given 4 to 17 months after the calamity. (Paragraph 3.1.8.6)

- No comprehensive programme was evolved for infrastructure development for utilizing plan assistance. Out of 7,567 numbers of houses planned to be constructed, only 595 houses were completed as of November 2006 and of this, 495 houses were not allotted to Tsunami victims. (Paragraph 3.1.9.1)

3.1.1 Introduction: Tsunami is a series of waves generated when a large body of water such as a lake or ocean is rapidly displaced on a massive scale due to earthquake or volcanic eruptions. The impact of earthquake that had its epicenter off the Coast of Sumatra Island in Indonesia triggered the occurrence of Tsunami in the south eastern coast of India on the morning of 26 December 2004. The Tsunami caused extensive loss of lives and damages to both public and private properties along the Coastal States of South India including Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar islands. In the UT of Puducherry, which consists of four coastal enclaves1, Tsunami caused damages in Puducherry and Karaikal regions and Government notified (January 2005) 33 villages in Puducherry (16) and Karaikal (17) regions for the purpose of relief and rehabilitation. The details of damages reported to Government of India (GOI) are given in Appendix XV. The majority of affected families derived their livelihood from fishing, agriculture and rearing livestock. Immediately after Tsunami, Government accommodated 30,000 affected people in 48 relief camps2 and distributed ex-gratia payment to families of 1 Three (Puducherry, Karaikal and Yanam) in the eastern coast and one (Mahe) in the western coast 2 Schools, marriage halls, temples, community halls, etc.

Chapter III – Performance Reviews 2 7 the deceased, cash for funeral and medical expenses. Relief packages consisting of rice, kerosene, saree and dhoties etc., bed sheets and supply of textbooks, uniforms to affected children were also made during December

2004 to February 2005. Cash dole were given for purchase of utensils, repair of damaged houses, sustenance and loss of crop and livestock. Government also restored the essential services like water supply and electricity. As mid-term relief, the Government provided assistance for repair and replacement of fishing crafts and reclamation of agricultural land. Besides repairing public property like roads, bridges etc., the Government has undertaken construction of houses, public utilities and preventive measures such as construction of coastal protection belt as one of the permanent relief measures.

3.1.2 Organizational set-up: Immediately after the disaster, Government appointed (31 December 2004) Development Commissioner and Secretary (Education and Power) as the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (RRC) to manage and co-ordinate the arrangements for distributing relief supplies received from GOI, UT Government and other sources. The Revenue Department was placed under his control for this purpose. The immediate relief measures undertaken by five departments3 were monitored by State Level Relief and Rehabilitation Committee constituted in January 2005 with Chief Minister as Chairman. Government also established (April 2005) a Project Implementation Agency (PIA), a registered society, headed by a Project Director and assisted by Joint Project Director and other staff. The society has to implement the mid-term and long term rehabilitation and reconstruction measures through Revenue Department (now renamed as Revenue and Disaster Management Department) and other 134 departments. Besides, 185 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were involved in construction of houses to resettle the Tsunami affected families along with PIA.

3.1.3 Audit objectives: The objectives of Audit were to assess: whether proper institutional mechanism had been set up by Government for disaster management, adequacy of funding for relief activities and whether utilisation ofthe funds was proper,

3 Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Education, Fisheries and Revenue4 Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Education, Electricity, Fisheries, Forest and Wildlife, Health, Local Administration, Public Works, Rural Development, Social Welfare, Tourism and Women and Child Development5 Over and above, Government of Maharashtra has also undertaken activities pertaining to construction of houses

Audit Report for the year ended 31 March 2006:28: the efficiency in providing immediate assistance and rehabilitation to affected families, the efficiency, economy and effectiveness of long term relief activities such as creation of assets and permanent infrastructure and resettlement of Tsunami victims, ?? The quality of monitoring and co-ordination mechanism to oversee rehabilitation activities.

3.1.4 Audit criteria

The criteria adopted in conducting the audit were: Rules in force on disaster management and policy adopted by the Government; conditions stipulated by GOI and UT Government while releasingfunds; the details of assistance received from various sources; norms prescribed by GOI for expenditure from National CalamityContingency Fund (NCCF);?? Target and schedule prescribed by Government for rehabilitation work and?? Monitoring mechanism adopted for extending relief and rehabilitation.

3.1.5 Audit coverage and methodology: Audit was conducted from November 2005 to March 2006 in Revenue and 13 other departments6, PIA and District Rural Development Agency (DRDA). Records relating to the period December 2004 to March 2006 on relief and rehabilitation activities maintained in the 14 departments covering all the 33 affected villages and status reports on the activities of NGOs in PIA were test checked in audit. An entry conference was held with the RRC in January 2006 and field visits were undertaken.

6 Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Education, Electricity, Fisheries, Forest and Wildlife, Health, Local Administration, Public Works, Rural Development, Social Welfare, Tourism and Women and Child Development

Chapter III – Performance Reviews; 2 9: Audit findings

3.1.6 Disaster management

3.1.6.1 Institutional arrangement

Based on the GOI recommendations, the Government constituted a State Disaster Management Authority in September 2003 under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary to ensure co-coordinated steps towards mitigation and preparedness when disaster strikes. A District Disaster Management Committee was also formed (September 2003) for extending immediate relief to disaster affected people. However, no Disaster Management Policy has been framed. After occurrence of Tsunami, Government constituted (03 January 2005) a Committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister to monitor and review the relief operations. Government also appointed a Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner to manage and co-ordinate relief operations. Thus, the institutions set up to manage disaster were not functional at the time of occurrence of Tsunami. After notification of the Central Act in December 2005, the UT Government was to initiate action to frame Rules. But the Rules had not been framed as of October 2006. No framing of Disaster Management Policy in time resulted in the absence of set framework of actions to be undertaken upon occurrence of Tsunami. Government stated (November 2006) that GOI had been requested (October 2006) to bring the Central Act into force in the UT with effect from 2 October 2006 and the Rules as well as the state policy would be framed and finalized on receipt of GOI notification.

3.1.6.2 Construction of coastal shelterbelt: All the four regions of the UT are located in coastlines and prone for cyclone. In order to create a belt of trees in coastlines to reduce the impact of cyclone, GOI sanctioned (January 2001) Rs 90.32 lakh to cover 448 hectare of land under ‘Integrated Afforestation and Eco-Development Project Scheme’. The scheme was to be implemented during 2000-02. GOI released Rs 20.12 lakh during 2000-01 as first installment. The Forest Department spent Rs 3.40 lakh for creating coastal shelterbelt during 2000-01, but stopped the work due to objection raised by fishermen. As the first installment was not spent in full, the balance amount was not released by GOI. Only after Tsunami, the Department spent Rs 5.48 lakh during 2004-05. The balance amount of Rs 11.24 lakh remained unspent as of July 2006. Had the Department implemented the scheme in 2001-02 by obtaining the entire funds sanctioned by GOI, the impact of Tsunami on the lives and properties could have been contained and reduced.

Government stated (November 2006) that the Central scheme was not successful due to non-cooperation of the local fishermen community. This contention is not tenable as the Government failed to convince the Rules under ‘Disaster Management Act’ and Government policy on Disaster Management were not framed fishermen community regarding the benefits of the scheme for more than two years.

The Union Territory Government sought (January 2005) Rs 465.99 crore for providing short term and long term relief to the Tsunami affected people. The activity wise details are given in Appendix XVI. The central team visited (January 2005) the affected areas and recommended Rs 312.37 crore. GOI sanctioned (March 2005 to March 2006) Rs 255.62 crore for Tsunami relief and released Rs 203.21 crore during the period March 2005 to March 2006. Government spent Rs 175.44 crore as of March 2006. The activity-wise details are given in Appendix XVII. Though the amount already released was not spent in full, GOI provided (2006-07) an additional plan assistance of Rs 220 crore for creation of infrastructure in Tsunami affected areas. Government stated (November 2006) that the report prepared in first week of January 2005 was tentative and did not include long term rehabilitation GOI sanctioned more funds than sought for, but the amount released was not spent

Chapter III – Performance Reviews: 3 1 requirement. This contention is not tenable as Rs 465.99 crore sought for by the UT Government included Rs 358.01 crore for reconstruction activities.

3.1.7.2 Overstatement of expenditure

The expenditure of Rs 175.44 crore includes Rs 107.15 crore drawn as advance by eight departments during December 2004 to March 2006, of which Rs 29.517 crore remained unspent as of March 2006. Test check revealed that Revenue and Fisheries Departments kept Rs 7.84 crore, released from funds received under RGRP, in bank (Rs 7.01 crore) and with PIA (Rs 0.83 crore).The remaining six departments kept Rs 21.67 crore received under plan assistance in bank (Rs 16.34 crore), with PIA (Rs 4.25 crore) and with DRDA

(Rs 1.08 crore). Thus, actual expenditure was only Rs 145.93 crore. Government stated (November 2006) that many works could not be taken up due to enforcement of model code of conduct on account of election. The reply is not tenable as the amount was shown as expended without completion of works.

3.1.7.3 Diversion of funds and charging of excess expenditure

Against Rs 32.01 crore released by GOI for giving subsidy to fishermen for purchase of boats, the UT Government paid a subsidy of Rs 46.60 crore.The excess amount was met by diverting Rs 9.07 crore available as savings out of Rs 39.78 crore received under NCCF and Rs 5.52 crore out of Rs 30 crore received for reconstruction activities. Government attributed the diversion to payment of higher scale of compensation. Though cartage and storage charges are to be levied on deposit works only, the Electricity Department also charged Rs 13.33 lakh as cartage and storage charges on Tsunami works, which are Government works. This resulted in inflation of expenditure under ‘Tsunami Relief’.

3.1.7.4 Inadmissible expenditure

Out of the plan assistance of Rs 100 crore released by GOI during 2005-06 to create infrastructural facilities in Tsunami affected areas, Rs 52.59 crore was allocated to Public Works Department. Of this, the UT Government sanctioned Rs 11.19 crore for providing infrastructure in areas not affected by Tsunami as detailed below: 7 Agriculture (Rs 2.75 crore), Education (Rs 0.36 crore), Fisheries (Rs 2.01 crore), Forest and Wild Life (Rs 0.86 crore), Health and Family Welfare (Rs 2.21 crore), Local Administration (Rs 14.41 crore), Revenue (Rs 5.83 crore) and Rural Development (Rs 1.08 crore) Unspent amount was shown as expenditure Infrastructure was provided in areas not affected by Tsunami

3.25 Though Yanam was not declared as Tsunami affected,the works have been executed in Yanam.Construction of Women and Children Hospital, Puducherry7.94 The expenditure incurred during 2005-06 under the ongoing scheme ‘Construction of Women and Children Hospital’ in Puducherry, taken up before the occurrence of Tsunami was transferred to the scheme ‘creation of infrastructural facilities in Tsunami affected area’.

Total 11.19 the expenditure was beyond the scope of the programme. Government stated (November 2006) that flood control works in Yanam were taken up as nearby East Godavari District in Andra Pradesh was declared as Tsunami hit area and the Women and Children Hospital was situated within half a kilometer radium from the coast. These contentions are not tenable as Yanam was not declared as Tsunami affected area. Besides, the hospital work was sanctioned before the occurrence of Tsunami.

3.1.7.5 Unutilized assistance from other sources

In addition to GOI funds, the Government received assistance in kind (cloth, groceries, utensils, etc.) from public for providing immediate relief to the affected families. The materials not distributed were kept in stock for future use. Besides, Rs 2.59 crore was received from Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme remained unspent as of March 2006. GOI also allocated World Bank assistance of Rs 158.28 crore (May 2005) under ‘Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project’ for undertaking long term relief measures. Out of Rs 75 crore received and deposited with PIA, Rs 2.68 crore was spent as of March 2006. Though, the allocation was made by GOI in May 2005, no concrete proposals were sent even by March 2006 resulting in non-utilization of funds received. Government stated (November 2006) that proposals for Rs 135 crore for Fisheries, Agriculture and Forest sectors were sent to World Bank (May 2006) and of this, seven projects for Fisheries sector were approved for Rs 117 crore. However, no project was taken up even by November 2006.

3.1.8 Immediate relief and rehabilitation measures Immediately after Tsunami, the Government paid immediate relief assistance of Rs 15.66 crore to families affected by Tsunami as ex-gratia payment to family of deceased (Rs 5 crore), cremation expenses (Rs 0.25 crore), medical expenses to injured (Rs 0.44 crore), housing subsidy to damaged houses (Rs 9.28 crore), compensation for crop damage/ha (Rs 0.28 crore) and compensation for loss of cattle/poultry Chapter III – Performance Reviews 3 3 (Rs 0.41 crore). In addition, rice, kerosene, cloth, cash dole for utensils (Rs 2000) and sustenance (Rs 3000) were given to the affected families by Revenue and Fisheries Departments. The deficiencies noticed in the disbursement of immediate relief to the families affected in Tsunami are discussed below:

3.1.8.1 Identification of beneficiaries for payment of compensation -Housing Though only 2,006 houses were damaged in Tsunami in Puducherry, the Revenue Department had not restricted the payment of compensation to owners of the houses but paid compensation to 5,247 families who claimed to live in these 2,006 houses. Government stated (November 2006) that the families residing in the damaged houses suffered the loss. This contention is not tenable as the assistance was meant for repairing of the damaged houses which could be carried out only by the owners.

3.1.8.2 Non-adherence to scale for immediate relief assistance

Government of India released funds for ‘Relief and responses’ from NCCF.Though the UT Government sanctioned expenditure for relief on account of injury, loss of crops, livestock, etc., as per the norms prescribed in NCCF, Rs 6.21 crore were spent by Revenue Department during January 2005 to May 2005 in excess of prescribed monetary limit for providing gratuitous relief for death and assistance for repair and restoration of damaged houses as detailed below:

3.1.8.3 Non-obtaining of insurance benefits Under National Scheme for Welfare of Fishermen, GOI insured 24,500 active fishermen of the UT against accidents resulting in death or injury. Under the scheme, the Fisheries Department had to prefer the claims in case of accidents. Though 318 fishermen died in Tsunami in UT, the Department had not taken action to claim and pay Rs 50,000 per active fishermen who died. After audit had pointed this out, Government stated (November 2006) that action has now been initiated.

3.1.8.4 Deficiencies in identification of beneficiaries – Fishing Government have not enacted the Marine Fishing Regulation Act to issue license for fishing crafts under various categories owned by fishermen in UT. Consequently, the Fisheries Department could not identify the number of fishing crafts damaged or lost in Tsunami. This resulted in payment of assistance based on the affidavits given by fishermen. The Department paid assistance for repair/replacement of 7,878 fishing crafts in Puducherry and Karaikal regions till May 2006. While 17,208 men were required to operate 7,878 fishing crafts, only 13,867 active fishermen were available in Puducherry and Karaikal regions as per census (2000) conducted by the Department. Government contended (November 2006) that all crafts would not be operated at a given time for fishing and one fisherman would be engaged in more than one craft. The fact, however, remained that failure to enact the Marine Fishing Regulation Act resulted in non-identification of crafts damaged/lost and Government had to release assistance based on the affidavits. In Karaikal region, 2,067 fishermen were to be paid assistance for repair/replacement of fishing crafts as per survey conducted by a special team. Of this, 582 fishermen were given fishing crafts by NGOs. Against the remaining 1,485 fishermen requiring assistance, the Fisheries Department paid assistance to 1,898 fishermen (Rs 15.49 crore) as of May 2006.Resultantly, assistance amounting to Rs 3.37 crore was also extended to 413 fishermen over and above the number of fishermen identified during survey by special team. Government contended (November 2006) that the NGOs would have extended assistance to fishermen who were already benefited from Government. This was indicative of poor monitoring.

UT Government for this purpose with other funds and kept them in savings bank account. This resulted in non-crediting of interest earned on the amount in Tsunami Fund for utilization in Tsunami Relief. Government attributed (November 2006) the delay to non-cooperation of village panchayatars and contended that the interest earned by the society

Would be spent only for the welfare of fishermen. These contentions are not tenable as the non-cooperation was due to improper assessment of beneficiaries and the interest earned on Tsunami Fund would be utilized for other schemes implemented by the society.

GOI approved (October 2005) the ‘Prime Minister’s Child Assistance Scheme’ which provided for deposit of Rs 51,000 in the name of the child who have lost one parent in Tsunami and were less than 18 years of age on the day of Tsunami. The monthly interest on the deposit should be paid to the surviving parent till the child attains the age of 18 years and the amount would be released thereafter to the child. The scheme was to be implemented from Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).Though, the Director, Women and Child Development Department identified (December 2005), 172 children under the scheme and funds were received (September 2006), the deposits were not made as of October 2006.Government stated (November 2006) that the Department has been requested to release money. Assistance for repair/replacement of fishing crafts were given 4 to 17 months after the calamity Benefits under the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund was not extended to people affected in Tsunami

Similarly, under Universal Health Insurance Scheme, approved by GOI(October 2005) for assistance from PMNRF, the persons in the Tsunami affected family were to be insured for death (Rs 2 lakh) and disability(Rs 1 lakh) due to accident. As a comprehensive insurance policy was not evolved, the scheme was not implemented (October 2006).Government stated (November 2006) that the list of fishermen to been rolled was sent to Insurance company and further action would be taken by the Insurance company. This indicates the poor co-ordination by Government with Insurance Company.

3.1.9 Infrastructure development and reconstruction

3.1.9.1 Delay in construction of houses

The UT Government decided (March 2005) to construct houses outside the Coastal Regulation Zone by purchasing land and allot them to families living in Tsunami affected areas. Out of 7,567 houses proposed to be constructed, 4,984 were to be constructed by NGOs and the Government of Maharashtra and 125 by PIA. The remaining 2,458 houses would be constructed by the beneficiaries with Government assistance. Besides, PIA had to provide infrastructure such as internal roads, drains, water supply etc., in all areas where houses were proposed to be constructed. As of November 2006, 595 houses were completed by NGOs, of which 100 houses were handed over to the beneficiaries and construction of 4,389 houses was under progress. While construction of 57 houses was taken up by beneficiaries using Government assistance in the land where the damaged houses were located, the remaining 2,527 houses were not taken up as of November 2006. As such only 100 out of 7,567 beneficiaries were resettled even by November 2006. Besides, construction of houses in the locations affected by Tsunami would defeat the objective of relocation.

3.1.9.2 Improper utilization of funds under plan assistance: Rupees 100 core received as plan assistance during 2005-06 from GOI were allocated to 12 line departments for development of infrastructure in Tsunami affected areas. Of this, Rs 84.09 crore were allocated to Agriculture (Rs 5.50 crore), Fisheries (Rs 6 crore), Local Administration(Rs 20 crore) and Public Works (Rs 52.59 crore) departments. Out of Rs 100 crore, Rs 97.91 crore shown as spent by the line departments. There was no comprehensive programme approved by PIA for utilising the plan assistance of Rs 100 crore. Consequently, the line departments treated the expenditure incurred under various ongoing works also under plan assistance for Tsunami. Test check revealed that the Public Works Department booked (March 2006) Rs 11.36 crore incurred on 13 ongoing Tsunami affected people were not resettled due to noncreation ofinfrastructure.There was no comprehensive programme to utilize the plan assistance given by GOI

Chapter III – Performance Reviews : 8 works which were sanctioned and work commenced even before the occurrence of Tsunami. Further, Rs 5.25 crore was spent on construction of court building which could not be termed as Tsunami related work. Government contended (November 2006) that the works were executed only in coastal areas, which are prone to natural calamity and many ongoing works were damaged in Tsunami. These contentions were not tenable as the GOI assistance was meant for creating assets in Tsunami affected areas.

Departments had to identify the works required, which resulted in diversion of funds and undertaking works not related to Tsunami. The failure to enact the Marine Fishing Regulation Act resulted in non-identification of beneficiaries for rehabilitation, payment of assistance on the basis of affidavits and extent to which the benefit was availed by victims of Tsunami being not ascertainable. Failure to claim insurance resulted in deprival of benefits to fishermen. There were delays in release of assistance to fishermen. Reconstruction works were delayed considerably and the funds received remained unutilized. Schemes to benefit orphans and families affected in Tsunami were not implemented. Monitoring of the various activities by RRC and PIA was also inadequate.

Recommendations

Government should frame necessary rules to carry out the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 enacted by GOI. Government should evolve concrete programmes for utilizing the unspent amount including Rs 220 crore sanctioned as plan assistance for 2006-07.  Construction of houses to resettle the Tsunami affected families should be completed early and allotment of houses already constructed should be expedited by speedy completion of required infrastructure. Government stated (November 2006) that the recommendations made were taken note of and would be followed in future.[ courtesy: CAG Report]

Good Bye to Rangasamy

N.Nandhivarman General Secretary Dravida Peravai

August 4th, 2008 at 10:43 am

Getting beyond the Conventions of Biography – and Hagiography Too: A Post by Peter Heehs

The following post is by Peter Heehs, author of The Lives of Sri Aurobindo

How do you write about a man who is known to some as a politician, to others as a poet and critic, to still others as a philosopher, and to a not inconsiderable number as an incarnation of God? This is one of the problems a biographer of Sri Aurobindo (Aurobindo Ghose, 1872-1950) has to face. Known in the West mostly to specialized audiences (people interested in South Asian history, literature, philosophy, and spirituality), Aurobindo is renowned in his native India as one of the most outstanding, and most many-sided men of the twentieth century. This has not prevented his legacy from being bitterly disputed.

Some historians and politicians see him as one of the forerunners of Mahatma Gandhi, others as a precursor of today’s aggressive Hindu nationalists. Admirers of his writings see his epic in iambic pentameter as the harbinger of a new kind of poetry, but most contemporary poets and critics dismiss it as a throwback to the Victorian era. The opinions of amateur and professional philosophers are polarized along the same lines. There is general agreement among students of religion that Aurobindo was a remarkable mystic, but few are willing to swallow the claim of some of his followers that he was an avatar, like Krishna, Chaitanya or Christ.

In The Lives of Sri Aurobindo I made Aurobindo’s many-sidedness the foundation of the structure of the book. Each of the five parts deals with one of his “lives”: the family man, the scholar, the revolutionary, the yogi and philosopher, and the spiritual guide. The first three go together pretty well, since the conventions of literary and political biography are similar. The writer is expected to present the significant events of a notable life in a chronological narrative, supporting the story with a scholarly apparatus based on primary sources. It was easy for me to do this when I wrote about Aurobindo’s life in politics. Discussing his role at the Surat Congress of 1907, for example, I was able to draw on government files, police reports, newspaper stories, Aurobindo’s reminiscences, and the reminiscences of others in English, Bengali, and Gujarati. But what was I to do with the information that a few days after the Congress, Aurobindo sat with a guru who taught him a meditation technique, and that, as Aurobindo later put it, “In three days – really in one, my mind became full of an eternal silence” – by which he meant the mental stillness and freedom from ego known as Nirvana.

It certainly is legitimate to cite Aurobindo’s own statements about this and other inner experiences. But personal reminiscences don’t count for much in scholarly biographies unless they are backed up by objective data and analysis. But what sort of objective data was I to look for? (Nobody knew what was going on in Aurobindo’s head.) If I wanted to discuss this inner event, did I have to switch (in mid stream) from the conventions of scholarly biography to the conventions of spiritual biography, that is, hagiography? Or could I get beyond the conventions of both genres?

Hagiography in its original sense, writing about the lives of saints, has been practiced since the first century CE (the Gospels, the Buddhacarita). What distinguishes the hagiographic from the critical approach is not that hagiographers are sympathetic to their subjects, but that they base their accounts on unverifiable assumptions that are likely to be accepted only by members of the discursive community that they belong to. Few modern non-Catholic readers are likely to take seriously the claims of Angelo Pastrovicchi that Joseph of Cupertino could fly. On the other hand, Pastrovicchi’s eighteenth-century work remains a vital source for any anyone wishing to write about the Italian saint. A scholar may reject levitation as inconsistent with what we know about gravity but still accept that Joseph had visions, as Pastrovicchi claims.

Aurobindo spent the last forty years of his life immersed in the practice of yoga. He wrote about his yogic experiences in a diary, the Record of Yoga, and in letters to his followers. Are these the sort of sources that a scholarly biographer can cite? It certainly would be uncritical to accept at face value all that Aurobindo wrote about his inner life; but it would be a different sort of negligence to refuse to consider accounts of inner experience a priori grounds, or to explain them away according to the assumptions of one or another social-scientific orthodoxy.

I think that William James had the right approach to this sort of material. “One cannot criticize the vision of a mystic,” he wrote in “A Pluralistic Mystic,” “one can but pass it by, or else accept it as having some amount of evidential weight.” I couldn’t simply close my eyes to Aurobindo’s accounts of his mystical experiences, so I accepted them as evidence of a vivid, if sometimes enigmatic inner life. I wonder however whether James got it right when he said we “cannot criticize the vision of a mystic.” Many spiritual traditions – the Catholic Christian and Tibetan Buddhist, for example – recognize a distinction between true and misleading visions. I don’t have the necessary discernment to criticize Aurobindo’s visions as visions; but I recognize – as Aurobindo himself did – that inner visions and experiences are open to different interpretations.

What about the assertion that Aurobindo was an avatar? I can’t say that the question interests me very much. Aurobindo never claimed the distinction for himself, and I don’t think anyone alive is in a position to say one way or the other. The Aurobindo that interests me is the one who turned from a life of hectic action to a life of contemplation, but was able, during his forty-year retirement, to write a shelf full of books on philosophy, political theory, and textual criticism, along with thousands of letters and, yes, that epic in iambic pentameter. People will continue to differ about the significance of his work, but its very mass is there for all to see. His life as a yogi and spiritual leader is more difficult to quantify, but it certainly will not be forgotten soon. I tried to do justice to all sides of this versatile man, but to do so I had to be unconventional in more ways than one.

Posted by Columbia University Press in Asian Studies, Postings by Authors, Religion

  [ The impact of Thirumoolar who wrote 3000 poems in his Thirumanthiram and the French philosopher Paul Richard's [the ex-husband of Mirra Alfasa] writings had on Aurobindo Ghosh should be areas of research Universities must undertake… N.Nandhivarman]

AUROBINDO ASHRAM: HOUSE GRAB: IN SUPREME COURT 

[On August 18^th 2008]

 The famous House Grabbing case involving Aurobindo Ashram is now listed before Supreme Court and likely to be taken up on 18^th of August, 2008. India’s first Finance Minister and Constituent Assembly Member R.K.Shanmugam Chettiar’s heir Mr.R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar owns three properties, known as Ragavan House, Columbani House and Kothandapani Godown. These properties were rented out to Aurobindo Ashram for the past so many years. Suddenly a conspiracy was hatched to forge a gift deed of these properties in favour of Mr.R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar’s son Murugavel, and from him the Aurobindo Ashram Trust headed by Mr.Manoj Das Gupta bought these properties, but in order to fool the owner, continued to pay the rent even after the alleged purchase of the properties. Mr.R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar came to know of this cheating and lodged a complaint two times with the Pondicherry Police, which refused to register the case, as usual. Mr.R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar approached the High Court of Madras which issued orders to register the case, thereafter an FIR was filed on The Managing Trustee of Aurobindo Ashram Trust Mr.Manoj Das Gupta, among others. Mr.Manoj Das Gupta obtained anticipatory bail in this case. In an interview to SUNTV by 2003 end, I had openly told about this anticipatory bail. Had he been a Minister hue and cry seeking his resignation would have erupted,

The Police who filed the charge sheet later had conveniently omitted the Managing Trustee. The first accused, namely R.K.Selvarajan Chettiar’s son Murugavel had approached for relieving him in this case, which was turned down by local court, High Court and also the by the Apex Court. In a connected civil suit R.K.Shelvarajan challenged the validity of the sale deeds executed behind his back and in that the Ashram Trustees in order to side-track the Court raised a technical objection through the said Murugavel who filed an application questioning the stamp duty paid on the suit. This Application was dismissed by the Principal District Munsif at Pondicherry and thereafter a revision filed before the High Court also was dismissed. Presently an SLP in respect of the same is coming up for hearing on 18.08.2008 before the Supreme Court.  On 28.07.2008 the Ashram Trustees concerned put up their appearance through their Counsel and prayed for time and the Court granted time till 18.08.2008.  This House Grabbing case over years had been reported here in New Indian Express, Dinamalar, and SUN TV. But at national level televisions or English and Hindi dailies, have yet to throw light on this case. We live in days when media acts as watch dogs of society. Let present day journalists turn their eye on ashram. We from politics are scoundrels, because there is a saying that politics is the last resort of the scoundrel. But there are more dangerous people within spiritual empires; they too deserve the same media expose before the ultimate masters in a democracy, the people of India.

 Order Passed By the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India on 28.07.2008

 ITEM NO.5 COURT NO.12 SECTION XII

 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

 Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) No(s).2223/2007

 (From the judgment and order dated 27/10/2006 in CRP No. 1628/2005 of

The HIGH COURT OF MADRAS)

 S. MURUGAVEL Petitioner(s)

 VERSUS

 R.K. SELVARAJAN & ANR. Respondent(s)

 (With appln(s) for directions)

 Date: 28/07/2008 This Petition was called on for hearing today.

 CORAM:

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DALVEER BHANDARI

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE HARJIT SINGH BEDI

 For Petitioner(s) Mr. K.K. Mani,Adv.

Mr. C.K.R. Lenin Sekar, Adv.

Mr.R.K. Pandey, Adv.

 For Respondent(s) Mr. Bijan Kumar Ghosh,Adv.

Mr. P. Gandhi, Adv.

Mr. Dipankar Burman, Adv.

 Ms. Anitha Shenoy, Adv.

UPON hearing counsel the Court made the following

ORDER

In view of the letter circulated by learned counsel for the respondent No. 2, two weeks’ time is granted to file counter-affidavit.

List after two weeks.

Pardeep Kumar) (Neeru Bala Vij)

Court Master Court Master

 [ Another Land Scam reported in Indian Express is also put for public view]

KASHMIR IS BLEEDING KARAN SINGH IS HIDING

Professor Rattan Lal Hangloo, Reader in Department of History of Hyderabad University wrote in The Hindu dated September 12 of 1995 on the chronological sequence of Kashmir problem. There he makes a valid point. “The think tank of Government of India, among others, comprised mostly those Kashmiris who had left Kashmir a century ago or even earlier or had shifted to various parts of India directly from Lahore during partition and therefore were never equipped with the understanding of changing trends in Kashmir’s policy, society, economy and culture.” It will be crystal clear that within these parameters, the Chairman of Auroville Foundation Dr.Karan Singh will find his place in history. He is in Congress and he is the topmost beneficiary of Kashmir’s accession with India, enjoying all through his life, the fruits of office. It would be natural to expect him to be one among the think tanks. Today when JKLF leader is fasting and people of Kashmir reeling under economic blockade are in streets protesting, while Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti battles with Army in Jammu, where has Dr.Karan Singh gone? If he is in think tank, what solution he offers to present politics of hate and complete divide between Kashmir and Jammu? Why not television channels that invite eminent persons to debate call Dr.Karan Singh before camera and ask him what panacea he offers to the present turmoil? After all he is not only a Kashmiri but also is a head of a Foundation that is preaching Human Unity. Will Dr.Karan Singh lead a Peace March with all his foreign friends in Auroville from Jammu to Kashmir and usher in human unity in his home territory. Time has come for acid test. All the Foreign Saints that had descended in Auroville are having Super minds and are Super Men. The Government of India must utilize their expertise to preach and practice human unity in Kashmir valley. The Kashmir Palace owned by Dr.Karan Singh is only getting 64,000 rupees monthly rent, as lamented by Dr.Karan Singh in a TV Channel. The Government of India through Auroville Foundation acquire that Palace and airlift some or all Foreign Saints who want to build moneyless economy in Auroville to go to Kashmir and carry out their experiments. Their presence is needed only in Kashmir where human unity had become a dream of past.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must tell Ms.Sonia Gandhi, who tried in vain to secure the services of BJP leader Mr.Rajnath Singh, to turn her attention to depute the Former Maharaja Hari Singh’s son Dr.Karan Singh to the valley to quench the riots and bridge the divide between people. Hope in the All Party meeting convened by the Prime Minister, a consensus evolves around choosing Dr.Karan Singh as mediator between Kashmir militants and Jammu Hinduvta forces.

The historian recalls the root cause of the unrest. “Even though the Bill for Land to the Tiller was signed by Sheikh Abdullah in 1948, landlordism with its centuries old exploitation and associated feudal obligations had not been wiped out. The full rationalization of land to tiller programme and its implementation had been hampered at various levels by political uncertainties which also gave allowance to militancy in recent years.” This is one of the reasons culminating in current turmoil. When Sheikh Abdullah was imprisoned at kept in Kodaikanal, I had the chance of meeting him in his daily walk around the lake followed by security guards, in 1968, when I went to speak at a Conference there, wherein Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Aringnar Anna was the Chief Guest.

Land to Tiller is not only a Kashmiri problem. In Tamilnadu too we want land to the tiller, and Dr.Karan Singh must have the maturity to accept the fact that land to Tamils is the natural law, instead of becoming an advocate to get land to imported foreigners.