FROM PUTTAPARTHI TO ETERNITY – ToI – 25.4.11

Sathya Saibaba Dies At 85 Burial Set For Wednesday 4 lakh Expected At Funeral

N D Shiva Kumar | TNN

Puttaparthi: One of India’s most famous ‘godman’ with a following of kings and commoners alike, Bhagwan Sri Sathya Saibaba, passed away on Sunday at 7:40am of cardiorespiratory failure at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences here. He was 85.
    Saibaba’s death was announced at 10.15am by hospital director Dr A N Safaya, who said, “Bhagwan Sri Sathya Saibaba is no more with us physically. He left his earthly body on April 24, 2011, at 7.40am due to cardio-respiratory failure.’’ The godman was admitted to the hospital 28 days ago with cardiac problems and his condition deteriorated with many of his organs failing.
    The Baba’s body will lie in state at Sai Kulwant Hall in Prasanthi Nilayam until Tuesday for his devotees and followers to have a last darshan. He will then be buried close to his Yajur Mandir residence on Wednesday in line with the practice adopted for Hindu spiritual leaders. Sanyasis are said to symbolically submit their bodies to fire at the time of renunciation by donning saffron or flame coloured robes. “The exact time of burial will be announced later,’’ said state industries minister Geeta Reddy. Four lakh people are expected at the funeral that will include national and international dignitaries.
Before announcing Saibaba’s demise, the police ordered a complete shutdown of Puttaparthi. All shops were closed and roads barricaded. Those arriving from Bangalore and Hyderabad (barring mediapersons and government officials) had to stop eight km out of the town.
Except for Baba’s close relatives and disciples, and office-bearers of Sri Sathya Sai Baba Central Trust and VIPs, no one was allowed into the hospital. Once the news of his death broke, Andhra Pradesh governor ESL Narasimhan, chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan rushed to the hospital.
“His body was wrapped in orange clothes and covered up to the eyes. Nobody uttered a word. Everybody wept,’’ said Sai Kumar, 33, a local businessman and a devotee. “I spoke to him on March 18 for two minutes and took his photograph,’’ he said, tears rolling down his cheeks.
At 3pm, the body was shifted to Sri Kulwant Hall in Prasanthi Nilayam, where the Baba gave discourses and met devotees daily for over four decades. Hundreds of people who gathered there tried to barge into the ashram. Police used lathis to disperse them.
    Already 6,000 police personnel have been deployed in Puttaparthi. Anticipating large number of VIPs, the police have made elaborate arrangements at Puttaparthi air-strip and railway station. Two helipads were constructed temporarily near Kothacheruvu to enable VIPs to land. Round the clock security check-up is going on in and around Puttaparthi as the area is also known to be vulnerable to Leftist extremist activity. The round-the-clock darshan, which began at 6pm on Sunday, will continue until 6pm on Tuesday. The Andhra Pradesh government announced state mourning until Wednesday and declared a holiday in Anantapur district on Wednesday.
LAST GLIMPSE
Queue outside Prasanthi Nilayam extends up to 2 km
Restless devotees caned after they attack cops. Home minister orders DGP to ensure devotees are not caned
Special trains from Vijayawada, Vizag and other major towns to Puttaparthi for next 3 days
Several VIPs advised to leave because of huge rush of devotees Baba will resurrect like Christ, say devotees
Puttaparthi: Overcome by shock, one of Saibaba’s devotees, Narayanamma, 40, died of heart failure in Puttaparthi after hearing the news. Many of his devotees wailed and said he will resurrect like Jesus Christ in three days.
    Police sources said that by late evening around 60,000 people had arrived by all modes of transport and from nearby towns and villages including metro centres like Bangalore and Hyderabad for a last darshan. The APSRTC and South Central Railway have increased bus and train services from Hyderabad to Puttaparthi.
    The spiritual leader was in indifferent health since 2005 after a hip bone fracture and remained confined to a wheelchair. His close aide Anil Kumar, who used to translate Baba’s Telugu speeches into English, said: “His objective was the establishment of ‘sanatana dharma’ which believes in one god. His spirituality can be summed up as journey from I to We. That’s his greatness.’’

‘Two die in crackdown on Tibetan monastery’ – ToI – 24.4.11

Beijing: Two Tibetans have died in a security crackdown on a Buddhist monastery in southwest China, an activist group said on Saturday, after the restive area was closed to foreigners.
    Authorities have sealed off Kirti Monastery in Sichuan province and ordered a re-education programme there following unrest triggered last month when a young monk set himself on fire and died in an apparent anti-government protest.
    The International Campaign for Tibet, a US-based rights group with exile sources who have contacts in the region, said paramilitary police raided the monastery Thursday night and took away more than 300 monks.
    Police then beat a group of laypeople who had been standing vigil outside Kirti, leading to the deaths of two Tibetans aged in their sixties, ICT said.
    "People had their arms and legs broken, one old woman had her leg broken in three places, and cloth was stuffed in their mouths to stifle their screams," an exiled Kirti monk was quoted as saying by the rights group.
    The Tibetan governmentin-exile in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala said in a statement it was "deeply concerned" by the "grim situation at the Kirti Monastery". It appealed to governments around the world to persuade China "not to use force to resolve the crisis that is facing the monks". AFP

The good and bad of Gujarat – ToI – 25.4.11

CHETAN BHAGAT

Narendra Modi is back in the news. Coincidentally, just last week i was in Gujarat and became acutely aware of how much emotion one chief minister can generate. The youth wing of GCCI, an industry body of Gujarat, had invited me to a felicitation function in Ahmedabad. I have always felt the dynamism of Gujarat’s the various industry bodies, which run some wonderful youth initiatives such as career fairs, business plan competitions, mentoring programmes and entrepreneurship guidance cells. It was a wonderful opportunity to visit Ahmedabad, a city that inspires me and to which i owe much.
    The function was simple enough. A few speakers spoke about Gujarat’s development. The economic numbers were fantastic. The development model seems to be working at the grassroots level too. While India’s agriculture GDP growth has averaged 2.5% in the last 10 years (with the government targeting 4%), Gujarat’s agriculture grew at a staggering 9.8%.
    The entire programme focused on one agenda — development. Industrialists, politicians and IAS officials didn’t talk about anything else. It was refreshing to see a part of India functioning well.
    But there was someone at the function, whose presence was enough to change the colour of the event, at least in the eyes of those outside Gujarat. Chief minister Narendra Modi, who gave a passionate speech about Gujarat’s growth, acknowledged that anyone who was seen with him would be vilified by certain sections of society. He warned that anyone who praises him would be criticized.
    When my turn came to speak, i tried to remain neutral. I spoke about the glimpse of youth power in Anna Hazare’s movement and how this power needed to be directed at positive goals, such as excellence, good values and entrepreneurship. If Gujarat was doing well, would its chief minister consider getting involved at the national level as we have 27 other states that could benefit from the Gujarat formula, i asked using the analogy that playing for an IPL team is different from playing for the national team. One could have asked as much of an any wellperforming CM.
    But within minutes, my Twitter page was filled with comments, in language too colourful to be published here. There was the hate-Modi brigade and the love-Modi brigade. However, both points of view are incorrect. Yes, i am acutely aware of the Godhra incidents. I wrote a book on it, and in the process, researched the issue for years. I also understand that the CM is implicated. The recent statements by senior IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Modi’s role are kicking up a storm.
    But there is no judgment as yet. And it is very hard to pass judgment in such a situation, especially when it involves several incidents and provocation from both sides. Just like it was extremely hard to prove Congress’ involvement in the 1984 Sikh riots. Even if the state were involved, the fact is a lot of the populace was complicit and that guilt will never go away by making a villain of one person. That doesn’t, however, mean we don’t investigate properly. We must push for justice, and have enough faith in the process to believe the right decision will be made. Even the CM has no choice but to accept that.
    However, there is a lot more to Gujarat, the Gujarati people and their CM than Godhra. It is one of the few Indian cultures that celebrates entrepreneurship. That is the need of the hour for the entire nation. It is a state whose now proven development model, if replicated, can dramatically change the country’s fortunes. To ignore that would be harmful for the nation. Many rights do not cover up a wrong. But should a wrong be constantly used to cover up many rights?
    Let’s face it, whether we are pro or anti-Modi, we all want the same thing. We want development and we don’t want any more religious riots. As long as both sides of the debate understand that, we won’t be as hostile to each other and, maybe arrive at something better than say, an extreme position. In fact, it isn’t about a particular personality or CM; maybe seeing the good and the bad together will help us arrive at the kind of CM we actually want. For this, we must never stop listening to each other and accept that good and bad often co-exist. Often, the challenge is not about choosing between good or bad but extracting the maximum good, while keeping the bad at bay. Let’s learn what is good from Gujarat, while continuing our quest for justice for the bad that happened.

‘Special’ exams aid DGCA official’s daughter become pilot – ToI – 24.4.11

Currently With IndiGo, After Repeatedly Failing In Regular Exam, Rashmi Sharan Clears Special Exam In First Attempt

Manju V | TNN

Mumbai: The joint director general of civil aviation appears to have flouted a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norm on pilot license exams to help his daughter procure a Commercial Pilot License (CPL). Joint director Alok Kumar Sharan, who is second only to director general Bharat Bhushan in the DGCA office, was the deputy director general (training and licensing), the department that handles issuance of pilot licenses, when his daughter, Rashmi Sharan, appeared for three special exams to clear three CPL papers.
    Rashmi took these special exams after failing in repeated attempts to clear these three CPL subjects in the regular exams. Rashmi is currently a first officer in Indi-Go airline.
    Yet, she cleared the same papers on her first attempt in the special exams. When it comes to special exams, the pass percentage in these subjects mysteriously shoot up to 90-100 percent, said an aviation source.
    It was not without reason that one of the first things that the current director general did after assuming office was to scrap the practice of holding special exams. Rashmi started giving CPL exams in April 2006 and got her license in October 2008.
    The Times of India scoured through the results of ten pilot license exam regular sessions held between April 2006 and October 2008 and found that Rashmi, who appeared for five regular sessions, consistently failed in Air Navigation, Aircraft Technical (general), and Aviation Meteorology.
    The highest marks she ever scored in her regular exam attempts in Air Navigation was 58/100 (to pass, 70% is needed), in January 2007. This, despite it being one of the easiest Air Navigation papers ever to be set, with an astounding 54% of candidates clearing it and the highest score being a record 94/100.
    To clear the five CPL ground subjects, Rashmi had 17 regular attempts over a period of two years and managed to clear only two papers -- Air Regulations and Aircraft (specific), the easiest of the lot. For most pilots, mugging the provisions of the Indian Aircraft Act to clear Air Regulations and learning by rote the inane details of an aircraft like maximum take-off weight, fuel tank capacity etc to clear Aircraft (specific) is child's play. But solving the treacherous Air Navigation numericals, understanding the confounding workings of gyroscopic instruments or grasping the theories of why an aircraft flies the way it does demands a greater aptitude.
    The minimum marks to clear CPL subjects is 70/100 and in the regular exams the average pass percentage is about 10% for Air Navigation, 15% for Aircraft Technical (general) and 30% for Aviation Meteorology. DGCA records show that Rashmi Sharan cleared these three subjects in special exams, in which, as already mentioned, the pass percentages improve dramatically.
    According to the DGCA's special exam policy, a candidate can appear for special exams in one and only one subject. During Rashmi's time, in 2007-08, two subjects were allowed. But there were numerous conditions.
    The candidate should have cleared all the other remaining CPL subjects, finished all flying requirements and, crucially, the validity of his flying hours or exam results should be on the verge of lapsing. In short, a special exam could be given only if the candidate could not afford to wait for the oncein-three-months regular exams. Documentary evidence to establish eligibilty is also mandatory while applying for a special exam.
    That means Rashmi could not have appeared for three special exams without giving a fraudulent undertaking. Why did the DGCA officials overlook it and clear her to sit for three special exams in June 2007, May 2008 and September 2008? When she appeared for her first special exam in June 2007, she had neither cleared the remaining four subjects nor had completed her flying hours. In fact, she did not appear for three regular attempts after that, choosing to sit only for special exams.
    "In each regular exam, about 2,000 candidates fail in every subject, but only 10-15 of these get to appear in a special exam and that too when, all except one subject is cleared,'' said the source. Following the recent fake pilot licence scam, the DGCA began the process of verifying documents of thousands of pilots.
    When asked for his comments, Director-General Bhushan said, "I have stopped the practise of holding special exams." He added that he would need to look into this case.
    The practise of holding special exams for a select few candidates is a scam that is much bigger than the fake pilot license racket. Unlike regular exams, special exams lack transparency.
    They are held in the DGCA headquarters where a handful of candidates appear for their respective papers and are informed about their results in a few days. "With a couple of conniving DGCA officers, a candidate can sit even with an open book and no one would know," said an airline pilot. Also, for some reason, the DGCA routinely rejects the applications of several candidates who are actually eligible to appear for special exams.
    The IndiGo spokesperson said, "Rashmi was found suitable as a junior co-pilot based on simulator evaluation/technical tests conducted by IndiGo after obtaining her A320 type rating and meeting all DGCA required licensing and medical requirements at the time of joining." The airline added that all candidates applying to IndiGo are treated equally on merit.
PERFORMANCE IN REGULAR EXAMS
2006 April: Appeared in five subjects. Cleared one
2006 July: Appeared in 4 subjects. Failed in all
2006 Oct : Appeared in 2 subjects. Failed in both
2007 Jan : Appeared in 3 subjects. Passed in one
2007 April : Appeared in 2 subjects. Failed in both
2008 April : Appeared in one subject. Failed
PERFORMANCE IN REGULAR ATPL EXAMS
2010 January: Appeared in one subject. Failed
April 2010: Appeared in one subject. Failed
PERFORMANCE IN SPECIAL EXAMS
June 2007:
Appeared in Air Navigation, passed
May 2008: Appeared in Aviation Meteorology, passed
September 2008:
Appeared in Aircraft (General), passed

‘Bhatt was not in Modi meeting’ – ToI – 24.4.11

But His Driver Backs Claim That The IPS Officer Had Met Modi Personally

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: The post-Godhra riots conspiracy story gets curiouser. Gujarat ex-DGP K Chakravarthi has said that IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt was not even in the meeting where he claimed Narendra Modi wanted Hindus to vent anger over the train burning. Bhatt's contention was made in an affidavit to the Supreme Court.
    Chakravarthi headed the state's police force, which is now facing blame for not controlling the riots of 2002. Chakravarthi told STOI over the phone from Mumbai that he had told the SC-appointed Special Investigation Team that Bhatt was not in the meeting which Modi presided over on February 27, 2002 after the Godhra carnage. He said he didn't give the information to SIT suo motu.
"The SIT asked me about Bhatt and so I
told them," Chakravarthi said. Asked who else was there in the meeting besides him, the former DGP -- who was questioned by the SIT -- said, "I have already told the SIT everything. The Supreme Court is already seized of the matter and it will know who is telling the truth."
    Bhatt's driver then, Tarachand Yadav, told a TV channel that Bhatt went to Modi's house that day. Yadav said, "We went first to the police bhavan and after that 'Sir' went in the DG's (director-general's) car to the CM's (chief minister's) house. I was asked to follow him. I was waiting inside the car. We were at the CM's house for about 25 minutes, and then we went back to the police bhavan," he told the channel. "We stayed there for quite a long time, and then came back home after midnight," said Yadav.
    Bhatt said, "I've already said whatever I had to, in black and white.”