HT Sangliana Terms Somasekhara Report as ‘Unfortunate’

By M Raghuram & Vidya Iyengar

Bangalore, Jan 29 : The justice Somasekhara committee report on the 2008 church attacks in the state has been dubbed as ‘directionless’ by Christian leaders.

A statement from the Bishop’s office of Mangalore Catholic Diocese said, “The commission had failed to suggest to the government any measures against the organisations and people, who were responsible for attacks on churches and on Milagres Adoration Monastery."

It also rapped the report for not condemning the attack on women and children, or suggesting any action against the perpetrators.

“The report has given contradicting views and some sections had been seriously opinionated which does not give scope for punishing the attackers. The report does not satisfy the Christian community in any way,” it said.

Meanwhile, the vice-chairperson of the national commission for minorities, HT Sangliana, said the report was on expected lines. “I did not expect it to be dynamic or specific, because, the commission was politically appointed,” he said.

Sangliana condemned the panel’s observation that in ‘some incidents, there were indications of self-infliction or collusion or make-believe method to create evidence’.

He also criticised the report for not specifying the action that should be taken against the police officers, who had failed to take preventive measures.

"Actually, the report is not according to the parameters laid by the commission. Somashekara had also suggested, creating a separate police station to look into religious matters, but that is an impractical suggestion,” he said.

Sangliana also said that there was no mention of any compensation that was made to the injured nor to the churches that were damaged.

Ivan D’Souza, a prominent Christian leader in Mangalore, termed the report as directionless and biased.

Don't Become A Porn Addict

Don't become a porn addict (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

While a little indulgence doesn't harm anyone, constantly giving into your craving for graphic visual stimuli may do more long-term damage than you can imagine

A man married for 10 years, and father of two, approached a doctor due to his sudden and peculiar inability to get an erection. While all tests proved normal, psychotherapy revealed an age-old fetish. As a teenager, the man had been accidentally exposed to his older cousin changing clothes. The visual stimulated him to such a degree that he masturbated to the memory of that image throughout his life, including when he was with his wife. After many years, when he met his cousin again, post two children she had put on weight and become 'unattractive' in his words.

The sight of the new unflattering figure of his cousin ruined his memory thereby incapacitating him to get an erection. His treatment required a lot of counselling and therapy and he had to be retaught the art of stimulation.

Behind closed doors; on dimly lit computer screens in seedy cyber cafes; in hostel dorm rooms under heavy bedding; and in computer folder's aptly named 'system files', usually lie pages and pages and countless gigabytes of pornography. It's not the highest grossing industry in the world for nothing. It has takers across generations, nationalities and kink quotients.

While most wives and girlfriends either accept it, relish it or chose to ignore it, porn in some form can be found lurking around most homes.

Studies reveal a condition called Sexual Attention D e f i c i t Disorder or S A D D, where over exposure or over indulgence to visual stimuli such as pornography, makes it difficult for a man to have a healthy sexual relationship with his partner. His stimulus is triggered by visual or graphic images instead of an actual woman, making it impossible to sustain intercourse. Dr Rajan Bhonsle, the HOD of sexual medicine at KEM hospital elaborates on the condition and describes the impact that pornography and the like, have on mature adult relationships.

Kink express
SADD can be traced back to three basic sources, the first being a burn-out.

Throughout a man's teenage years, over-exposure to porn and its explicit forms such as pedophilia, multiple orgies, voyeurism, etc. develop acute insensitivity towards the act of making love. The initial reaction to perverse material, which is what most pornography constitutes, is of shock. But over time, it turns to acceptance and enjoyment. This develops into a need for more deviant variety to keep the stimulus sustained.

Gratification through usually masturbation based on visual stimuli, make it difficult for a man to be aroused or stimulated by his partner in bed. This plays havoc in most marriages or relationships since even a very responsive woman is unable to replicate the mood or manoeuvres of what the man is usually attuned to.

While it is not difficult to recover from any addiction, a sexual burn-out is particularly tricky. It takes a lot of time and energy to stay away from sex and channel your sexual energy elsewhere. This is also the primary reason why boys should be dissuaded from over-exposing themselves to pornographic material at a young age.

Multiplicity
Another common cause for SADD between couples is due to the multiple partners the man has before he commits to a monogamous relationship. The multiple variety of partners give them a been there-done-that attitude towards sex which makes it very difficult for a woman with a normal sex drive to stimulate her partner. The man's premarital activity supersedes all sexual expectations he may have from his current partner thereby making it very difficult to sustain or enjoy a healthy physical relationship.

It's a fix
Peculiar fetishes and fixations, like the one mentioned earlier, are another reason why men are unable to perform in bed. Many a times, the visual image of what sort of woman or what specifications of a figure stimulate a man may not exactly match that of their partner.
This leads to disappointment and an inability to find them sexually attractive. While therapy is a common cure, counselling and exercises with your partner through communication greatly aid in rebuilding the idea of sexual attraction for.

How to cut back
- Give yourself a break. Save the sexual excitement for your partner and decrease the frequency of masturbation. When you do self-service, try using your nondominant hand. Since you wont apply the same level of physical intensity, you wont be as easily numbed to the sensations of intercourse.

- Back off the porn. When you masturbate, use your own memory of sex and your own erotic history to stimulate yourself instead of relying on other visual images.

- Connect with your partner. Share fantasies, experiment with role play and involve her in your thought process. Get yourself and her to a point of physical and mental arousal by sharing your thoughts with her. Step away from the computer.

Visa Fraud: 'Didn't Violate Law, Help Us Complete Study'

Washington: Duped by an American university, a harassed group of Indian students has met the Consul General in San Francisco seeking help to complete their studies and claimed that they have not violated any law.

A group of 35 students from Tri-Valley University (TVU) yesterday met Consul General Sushmita Gongulee Thomas. Thomas said she had also sought factual position from the US Government on the status of these students.

"We are seeking factual position (from the US Government) on the status of these students and how these students can be helped in transfer to other colleges, so that they can complete their studies," Sushmita Gongulee Thomas, Consul General of India in San Francisco, said.

On January 25, Thomas said, she wrote to the Office of Foreign Mission, in San Francisco and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeking detailed information on this case. She hasn't received any response from them so far, Thomas said.

Hundreds of Indian students,mostly from Andhra Pradesh, face the prospect of deportation from the US after authorities raided and shut down Tri-Valley University in the Silicon Valley on charges of a massive immigration fraud.

"According to the group that came to the Consulate, a large number of students had not violated any visa or immigration rules and were unaware of the fraudulent nature of the school. Their primary concern is to complete their education for which they feel that they should be allowed to seek admission in other schools," said Ashok Kumar Sinha, Consul (Community Affairs), Indian Consulate San Francisco.

"They are also concerned about reports in the media that indicate that all students of the TVU were part of the scam. Many of the TVU students, specially the more recent ones and some who transferred from other accredited universities, were unaware of the true nature of the university and have suddenly found themselves to be victims," Sinha said.

Sinha said the Consulate is taking up the matter with Investigations by Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE).

"The Consulate, on behalf of those students who have not violated any immigration rules, is taking up the matter with ICE to find out how these students can be helped so that they can seek admissions in other universities or can go back honourably to India without forfeiting their chance of ever being able to return to the US," he said.

Currently, their SEVIS information has been blocked by DHS without which they cannot seek transfers or admissions to other universities. "The Consulate is also trying to enlist the support of local immigration attorneys to answer immigration related questions of these students," Sinha said.

According to a federal complaint filed in a California court last week, the University helped foreign nationals illegally acquire immigration status. The university is said to have 1,555 students. As many as 95 per cent of these students are Indian nationals, the complaint said.

Investigations by ICE found that while students were admitted to various residential and on-line courses of the university and on paper lived in California, but in reality they "illegally" worked in various parts of the country as far as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

ICE has called it as a "Sham University". It also found that more than half of these students were reported to be residing in a single apartment located in Sunnyvale California.

During the course of the investigation ICE found that the university gave the residential address of its students in order to conceal that they did not live in California, said the court papers.

For a student to maintain an active immigration status, they must show proof that they are making reasonable process toward completing coursework and physically attend classes.

Unconfirmed reports said that nearly two dozen students have been arrested or detained so far in various parts of the country.

Meanwhile, affected students with assistance of Indian-American community and immigration attorneys have launched a petition campaign seeking help from the Department of Homeland Security.

"We respectfully plead with you not to penalise us or our families and bring shame to our entire family and the village/ towns we come from, by deporting (removing) us from the US and causing us loss of name, reputation, money, resulting in devastation to us and our families and crashing all of our dreams," says the petition, a copy of which has been posted on the website of the Telugu Association of North America (TANA).

TANA president Jayaram Komati said he has been in conversation and has also met local Congress Representatives from California and urged them to help ensure that the effected students be given the chance to enroll in other institutes of higher learning within the US.

The organisation has also approached Murthy law firm and requested them to approach Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) with the intention to save the effected people from potential deportation and/or detention and argue that they were victims and that they be give the ability to enrol elsewhere.

Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) Web-based technology, SEVIS to track and monitor schools and programmes, students, exchange visitors and their dependants while they are legally enrolled in the US education system.

In their petition, these students said that they have invested a substantial portion of their parents savings to come to the US for studies.

"We thought that we were so fortunate to obtain the F1 visa to enter the US and study here or that we were able to obtain admission and then we could file a change of status to study at this US University," the petition says.

"We relied on the government to do its job and protect us and allow us to complete our education so that we can support ourselves and our families by being able to live in the US for a few years or return to our home countries with a good education and then obtain good jobs in our home countries," the petition says.

"We respectfully request DHS and ICE to favourably consider and provide us with all viable options. For example, we humbly request that ICE provide us an opportunity to continue our education and pursue our lifelong dream to study in the US by allowing us to study at another University within the US by allowing another University to issue us a new Form I-20 and then for USCIS to approve the F1 status with a new University or College, or allow us to file a change of status to another status like an H1B or F2 within the US legally if any such options are available to us with an employer or based on a spouse living in the US," it says.

Source: Agencies

General Motors to Bring Camaro to India

General Motors’ iconic budget friendly sports car Camaro is set for an India entry.

President of General Motors international operations Tim Lee said that FE that the company is going to introduce a right-hand drive for the two-door car which could then make its way into the second fastest growing auto market in the world.

The Chevrolet Camaro was first displayed in India at the Auto Expo last year, but at that time the company had ruled out any immediate plans of introducing the swanky car in India.

Though Lee did not reveal the tentative time period or price of the car, it is expected to fetch a price in the range of Rs 30 lakh plus. This would make the car most expensive offering from GM in India, however this ranks as the cheapest sports car in the world.

"As we go through the development phase of the new generation Camaro we will try and do a right hand drive. But we will not assemble it here," he said. In the US the Camaro base price starts at around $20,000 and goes up to $40,000 (or Rs 18 lakh). Since the company would attract an import duty of 110% since it is a completely built unit (CBU), the price of the car would double. Lee said that with the introduction of the car, GM would use its entry as a brand builder.

"We will not sell a lot of Camaros in India but it will be a brand builder for the company bringing many people to our showrooms," said Lee. Looking back at the 14-year old history of the company in India, Lee said that its performance had been 'spotty' and "incosistent."

He said that going forward the company's focus in India would be to design the best cars and to have a business model which is sustainable and profitable.

"We want to profitable so that we can employ more people in India," he added. Chalking out GM's India plans, Lee said the company is going to look at every segment in the country to increase its sales including a car priced below the Spark.

In fact the company's president and managing director Karl Slym later told FE that the company is mulling introducing an 800 cc powered Spark. This would make it the cheapest offering from GM in its 14-year operations in India so far.

"The 800cc Spark is already available in Europe. And we could introduce the car in India," said Slym. The 800cc Spark was introduced in China, however was later discontinued.

"We need to see whether everything is right before we introduce the car," he said. Last week GM India held a board meeting which was chaired by Lee where a ten-year growth plan was unveiled.

Source: Financial Express

All FIRs on Delhi Police Website From Feb 1

New Delhi, Jan 28 : Implementing the directions of Delhi High Court, the Delhi Police would upload all the new First Information Reports (FIRs) registered on their official website - www.delhipolice.nic.in - from Feb 1.

Anybody can download the same from the website while an accused can also get a copy from the police station by paying Rs.25. The move comes following a direction by the court Dec 6, 2010 when it said that an accused is entitled to get a copy of the FIR within 24 hours of its registration and police cannot deny the request.

'We will be uploading the FIRs from Feb 1. The FIRs will be uploaded from the police stations and the software has been installed,' Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

An accused can apply for the copy of an FIR at a charge of Rs.25 for four pages and Rs. 10 for each extra page.

According to a senior police official, the court has exempted the force from making public the FIRs related to sensitive issues like terror, espionage, rape, molestation, kidnapping etc.

However, whenever it does not make FIRs public, such a decision has to be taken by an officer not below the rank of deputy commissioner of police and they have to inform the area magistrates.

ISB to Offer Management Programme With Rs 7 Lakh Annual Stipend

New Delhi: Looking to churn out high-quality faculties, the Indian School of Business (ISB) will soon offer a fully-funded Fellow Programme in Management, that will also provide students with an annual stipend of up to Rs seven lakhs.

The Hyderabad-based ISB is planning to start the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) in September 2011.

" FPM would be equivalent to any PhD programme (in management) worldwide... The programme would be fully-funded and students would receive a stipend of up to Rs 7 lakhs every year," ISB's Dean Ajit Rangnekar told PTI.

A full-time programme, FPM would be for a period of four to five years. With this programme, ISB would focus on creating research-focused people, who would qualify for faculty positions in top business schools.

According to ISB's Senior Associate Dean Sanjay Kallapur , FPM would be introduced from September this year and the first batch is expected to have about 10 to 15 students.

An excellent academic record as well as a good score in GMAT or GRE are among the pre-requisites FPM. Graduates, post graduates and those without any work experience can also apply, he noted.

The academic year for the programme would be divided into five terms, each having a duration of two months. FPM would be offered in seven areas -- Accounting , Financial Economics , Information Systems, Marketing, Operations Management, Organisational Behaviour, and Strategy.

The programme incorporates knowledge and best practices from global business school INSEAD. Regarding expenses related to FPM, Rangnekar said that ISB is expecting to see a cost of about Rs 2 to 3 crore, including stipend to students and salaries to teachers.

Source: PTI

CVC: Is Indian Govt Economical With The Truth?

By R Shankar

In the P J Thomas case, the silence of the PM is as good (rather bad) as telling a lie

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is known for his silence. When prices of onions, vegetables and food items hit the roof, he remained silent; when former Telecom Minister A Raja thumbed his nose at a PMO directive on 2G spectrum, Singh remained mum; when there was a furore over money stashed in Swiss banks (remember the 100-day promise of Singh?), the PM looked the other way. The only time when Singh mumbled a reaction was when industry honchos were red-faced over the Niira Radia tape leak.

In all these frequent bouts of silence, the PM can be accused of chronic inaction, not lying. But in the case of the stand by the Government (and hence the PM) in connection with the case of the appointment of Central Vigilance Commissioner PJ Thomas, an uneasy shadow of falsehood is directly on the Prime Minister.

Here are the three lies that Manmohan may find it difficult to come clean.

Lie 1

The government claims that when the name of Thomas figured in the list nominees for the post of next CVC, the panel comprising the PM, the Home Minster and Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha was not aware that the IAS officer was an accused and that a chargesheet was pending against him in the palmolein import scam .

This is what Attorney General G E Vahanvati told the Supreme Court on Thursday: "The fact that he (Thomas) was an accused in a pending case was not informed. The fact that the state government gave sanction under Section 120B was also not informed. The only information was the bio-data, which did not include these matters. The committee goes by what is placed before it,"

This is a lie on two counts: Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj had raised strong objections to the appointment of Thomas. In her words to The Indian Express: "What the government has stated in the Supreme Court today is totally wrong. I brought to the notice of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister that a case is pending against him. I specifically mentioned about the palmolein case."

The government now says that Sushma's objections were not part of the record of the panel's proceedings. But Sushma has an answer. "The Home Minister (P Chidambaram) said he (Thomas) has been exonerated in that case." The PM later said "a decision has to be taken today itself as the new CVC has to take oath on Tuesday."

And the government fig leaf to hide the embarrassment? That Sushma just wrote `I disagree' on the proceedings of the meeting and did not mention why she disagreed with the name of Thomas. Then for what joy did Sushma write her dissent note?

Assuming that the palmolien case was not discussed, was it not the job of the PM and the Home Minister to find out why the leader of the Opposition did not agree with the name of Thomas? Will the Prime Minister and Home Minster clarify if the palmolein case chargesheet was indeed discussed at the meeting? Or will the PM and HM hide behind niceties and say that these discussions cannot be made public?

But you can bet your last shirt on this: That the Prime Minster will continue to remain silent.

Lie no 2

The Supreme Court was told that the bio-data of Thomas did not mention the chargesheet against Thomas. How can this happen? The names are finalised after due diligence by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). This panel, it seems, gave details about the educational qualifications of Thomas but did not mention his criminal liability as an accused in the palmolein import scam pending prosecution for almost 20 years.

Nor did it mention that the Kerala government, in November 1999, had already granted sanction to prosecute Thomas in the case under Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

Will someone in the DoPT stand up and claim responsibility for this? It is hard to believe that the bio-data was cleared without any reference to the pending case. Even when the aam admi applies for a passport, there are a series of enquiries, including a police verification. In Thomas' case, his file must have gone to Kerala for clearance as he was the chief secretary there during the tenure of the late K Karunakaran.

If the fact regarding the chargesheet was deliberately hidden from the panel, it is the duty of the Home Minister to find out why this was done. But all this becomes bunkum when one considers the fact that the leader of the Opposition did point out to the chargesheet at the panel's meeting.

But the government's admission is dangerous. For any appointment to a key post in Delhi, a criminal too can slip through. All it needs is for the DoPT to delete/hide his criminal background and forward the same to the panel headed by the Prime Minister.

Little wonder that the court asked Vahanvati if the government could consider a person chargesheeted in a corruption case for the CVC's post.

"Yes is the answer. In the light of the fact that he has been cleared in 2007 leaves the chargesheet and sanction without any relevance," said Vahanvati.

"What was the zone of consideration? Was Thomas the seniormost officer?" the court asked, asking what made Thomas "suitable" over the other "eligible" officers.

When the AG replied that there was another eligible officer, Sujit Banerjee, the court asked why he was then kept out of the "zone of consideration".

"If there was a person from an earlier batch, why is he not in the zone of choice?" the court asked, to which Vahanavti said he would "check it out".

Again a case of the government getting caught on the wrong foot.
The bottom line is: How can the Prime Minister be kept in the dark on such an important issue concerning Thomas? Or was it deliberate? Probably only Chidambaram can answer.

Lie no 3

Assuming that the panel was kept in the dark about the palmolein case, was the government also unaware that Thomas was the telecom secretary when the 2G spectrum scam took place? Were the Prime Minister and Home Minister unaware that the 2G Spectrum case was pending before the Supreme Court and that the CVC will have to deal with it?

It is still a mystery why the PM and HM were bent on appointing Thomas. Was a lobby at work? Thomas does not have any experience in investigation or vigilance work -- experience that the CVC will need to posses.

Justice K S Radhakrishnan, who comprised the SC bench, pointed out that prior experience in vigilance, policy making and police administration was a "statutory requirement" for selection to the post in the CVC Act, 2003.

And the government's response? "Perhaps there should be closer scrutiny." How could the government been so careless? Or did it act in ultra haste in clearing the name of Thomas?

The government would have learnt a lesson or two if it would have cared to flip through the pages on earlier appointments to the post. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, the panel constituted to select the CVC had three names in the order of preference. N Vittal was the top-most name. Vajpayee and his Home Minister did not push for Vittal's name. Instead, Vajpayee pushed the file to the leader of the Opposition Sharad Pawar and told him to take his time, make his own discreet enquiries and select any one from among the list, not necessarily Vittal. Days later, Pawar agreed with Vittal's name.

That is what is called transparency in appointment.

But in the present case, the Prime Minster's series of silences tantamount to telling a lie.

As the BJP put it: "This is a scam that reaches straight to the Prime Minister's door. There is no alibi as in this case like (in the case of) A Raja or Suresh Kalmadi."

Source: India Syndicate

What Are The Future Shocks?

Davos: Shocks come from places where we least expect them. Or so proves economic history. A star-studded global CEO panel came up with an amazing set of worries, from low trust levels to the unknown kind of society arising from the underground world of blogs and tweets, after an hour-long discussion on “The next shock — are we better prepared?”

Is it 'the unknown unknown', asked Fareed Zakaria, CNN, who was moderating the session. Maurice Levy, Chairman and CEO, Publicis, said "What I cannot see, what I cannot expect is my big worry." He is not sure if he understands the kind of society evolving from the world of internet today, or if he will understand even tomorrow.

If there was a common string to what James Dimon of JP Morgan & Chase, Kleinfeld Klaus of Alcoa and Dominic Barton of McKinsey said, then it was about understanding the qualitative aspects of human behaviour - of greed, trust, expectations, right human choices and awareness about unemployment.

Of course, that is not to undermine the dangers that a volatile currency made more volatile by technology and asset price bubbles due to rapid urbanisation in emerging markets or the high indebtedness of Europe, present to the global economy. These can be tackled if right human choices are made by countries and corporations, trust is maintained with consumers and capitalism is practiced with a long-term view, the CEOs said.

For example, Eckhard Codes of Metro Group says, the indebtedness of Greece and Portugal can be or should be taken care of by Germany and, possible France. "Germany gained significantly from the Euro zone. An Euro that did not appreciate much helped Germany's economy that is driven by exports today. So, it is only moral, that it pays back," he said.

Dominic Barton of McKinsey continues to be a votary of capitalism post crisis, but stresses the need for long-term capitalism. "One, shift away from the practice of quarterly results. Unilever, Coke are doing it. This will force investors to think long-term. Two, companies need to think about the broader community. They need to understand underemployment," he says.

Millions lost their jobs, were thrown out of their houses because of the crisis, said Maurice Levy of Publicis. "People don't understand why large companies doing well, but they aren't. Without support of people, there is no way we would be able to grow," he said. According to him, if there had been a crisis, it is because the CEOs have not dealt ethically.

"They felt we have been led by greed and bottomline and sacrificed the workers to please the shareholders," he added. Klaus Kleinfeld of Alcoa said it was true that demand from emerging economies, given their rapid urbanisation, would lead to a rise in commodity prices and may result in a shock. "But, having said this, we are underestimating the human genius. There are lots of stuff we don't know about, and some of this will be good."

Source: Indian Express