Hall of Shame

See the details for yourself - actual report here. I don't know how KA is #1 as DH put it, performance is pathetic never the less.

Notice also that the focus of the study is below poverty line (BPL) families, in select districts. KA study included Bangalore, Raichur, Chitradurga and Bidar.

Thanks,

Ravi

If the study is rooted in Bangalore then perhaps land is the root cause. When small piece of land has the potential to give you so much profit on quick time, corruption is natural - its convenient for both the parties. There is plenty of potential for abusing public authority for private gains - who wouldn't part with a few thousands when the quick killing was in lakhs.

If the study is comprehensive and even about whole KA state and not just Bangalore (I don't know, haven't seen their sample sets in detail), then its worth a question - whats the reason behind KA's ugly rise?

From the theories that I 'hear', this one makes most sense. most biggies in KA govt's machinery have been focused on land (Bengaluru) and mining over last 5-6 years. Naturally, all else has slipped for lack of attention.

idontspam: Makes a lot of sense. We are trying to set up a meeting with BMLTA to discuss their role. Interested in joining us?

Thanks,

Ravi

Simply blaming government for corruption won't do. Each bribe is given as well as taken.

1. How much did you pay for car registration fees when buying your car at the showroom?
2. How much do you pay as delivery charges when getting that LPG cylinder?
3. Did you report the complete transaction when you bought or sold you last property?
4. How much did you pay the insurance surveyer when he came to assess the damage to your vehicle? (this would be a private company)
5. How much did you pay to the passport or drivers license "agent"? Did you ever wonder why and how he manages to do things for you quick and fast?

If you have ever run your own business, add 10 more such questions here. Yeah, I know sometimes its much faster to "pay" than to wait or "fight". But thats what it is my dear, the two way street called corruption. Its a demand supply game.

It exists everywhere, in all countries. But here, since we all want it fast and quick, and are never willing to join hands for anything at all, it plays out at much more visible lower day to day levels.

We are a part of it. That admission is required first. Government and all are alos a problem, but that comes next.

My two cents. And yes, my answer to question # 1,2 and 5 are yes. #3, and #4 no.

Human tempation is such that when money is on offer it will be taken. This happens in any country in the world. There has to be a deterrent which will help people over come this temptation. This is usually prosecution. Loss of job, respect and fear of spending time in Jail are good deterents to overcome temptation.

Today you pay because there are people to accept. Tomorrow even if you pay if people dont accept you will stop trying. Today you jump ahead of traffic moving smoothly because you know you can push other cars around and get away with it. Tomorrow if you find that it is more expensive to jump the queue than stay behind others then you will not do it. Simple psychology really. 

ssheragu

good suggestion by spry

we should meet Lok Ayukta and try to find the solution so that the

KARNATAKA IS HALL OF FAME &  NOT SHAME

Srinath Heragu

This is an excellent write up, summarizing India & the pathetic mess that the country is. However, some still believe that we are doing great & that none others can rival our progress since we were a 'democracy'. Some more noteworthy excerpts :

In the European mind, caricature of a typical Indian encompasses qualities of falsification, telling lies, being fraudulent, dishonest, corrupt, arrogant, boastful, speaking loudly and bothering others in public places or, while travelling, swindling when the slightest of opportunity arises and spreading rumours about others. The list is truly incessant.

Europeans believe that Indian leaders in politics and business are so blissfully blinded by the new, sometimes ill-gotten, wealth and deceit that they are living in defiance, insolence and denial to comprehend that the day will come, sooner than later, when the have-nots would hit the streets.

One German business daily which wrote an editorial on India said: “India is becoming a Banana Republic instead of being an economic superpower. To get the cut motion designated out, assurances are made to political allays. Special treatment is promised at the expense of the people. So, Ms Mayawati who is Chief Minister of the most densely inhabited state, is calmed when an intelligence agency probe is scrapped. The multi-million dollars fodder scam by another former chief minister wielding enormous power is put in cold storage. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chairs over this kind of unparalleled loot.”

An article in a French newspaper titled “Playing the Game, Indian Style” wrote: “Investigations into the shadowy financial deals of the Indian cricket league have revealed a web of transactions across tax havens like Switzerland, the Virgin Islands, Mauritius and Cyprus.” In the same article, the name of one Hassan Ali of Pune is mentioned as operating with his wife a one-billion-dollar illegal Swiss account with “sanction of the Indian regime”.

“In the nastiest business scam in Indian records (Satyam) the government adroitly covered up the political aspects of the swindle — predominantly involving real estate,” wrote an Austrian newspaper. “If the Indian Prime Minister knows nothing about these scandals, he is ignorant of ground realities and does not deserve to be Prime Minister. If he does, is he a collaborator in crime?”

Interesting that IPL has found an honourable mention: 

An article in a French newspaper titled “Playing the Game, Indian Style” wrote: “Investigations into the shadowy financial deals of the Indian cricket league have revealed a web of transactions across tax havens like Switzerland, the Virgin Islands, Mauritius and Cyprus.” In the same article, the name of one Hassan Ali of Pune is mentioned as operating with his wife a one-billion-dollar illegal Swiss account with “sanction of the Indian regime”.

Also, the Europeans seem to be including business leaders along with other leaders:

Europeans believe that Indian leaders in politics and business are so blissfully blinded by the new, sometimes ill-gotten, wealth and deceit that they are living in defiance, insolence and denial to comprehend that the day will come, sooner than later, when the have-nots would hit the streets.

Who do we turn to?
 

See the common thread of politicians amassing private wealth from public money. I am afraid if they demand to be bought and sold the businesses will oblige. Integrity of the men in power is essential for the country to progress. Like Aesop said "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to high office"

Interesting that IPL has found an honourable mention

But, for all that, the quality of every product, service, show (including even the cheer-leading) had set new standards, comparable to the best in the world.

Indeed, as a HU member had alleged, it was a classic case of crony capitalism all the way. But, isn't what is going on in the BMTCs, BWSSBs, BESCOMs, crony capitalism too? Every tender awarded can be linked to some politician or the other, just by scratching the surface, the major difference however being in the ever-worsening quality.

And, as far as the public is concerned, the only complaint against IPL is from the I/T angle - matter perhaps of a few hundered crores - chicken feed compared to the kind of ghotala's going on. In fact, when some local politicians tried to harass the KSCA, using the ever ready services of the Excise, sales/ commercial tax mercenaries, since the politicians were not given the number of free passes that they thought they were entitled to, there was nothing they could pin them on. It was then realised that the state coffers had swollen by a few hundred crores of ready cash, all because of IPL.

 

@Muralidhar Rao,

I don't think the quality of every product, service, show has set new standards.  Just infusing money, and the tired faces of Bollywood ('glamour') doesn't result in world-class quality.  Hardly.  Bangalore's IPL match would not have been shifted post-haste to Mumbai if every service had set new standards.  As for the cheerleading - what can one say!  It is the crassest, cheapest trick that could have been played on the spectators.  Why are the ladies there at all?  To make the spectators forget about the fixed cricket?

As for the public having concerns, I don't think the public has any concerns about IPL at all.  They are consuming it as they are consuming whatever Bollywood/TV churns out.  In fact,  during the recent brouhaha one youngster even mentioned on some TV show that he doesn't care about allegations of match fixing etc  "We watch TV serials even though we know what is going to happen.  So we will continue to wath IPL too".

Match-fixing should be the real concern, along with allegations of money-laundering.  Our media will not dig deeper.  Why should they bite the hand that feeds them?  The politicians will not let the truth out - whatever it is.  They are in the game too.  So we will never know the truth.  Meantime the odd cricketer will keep hinting at fixing:

Adam Gilchrist: "It's been discussed among players in the IPL - more wondering whether it goes on. There's a strong thought that we'd be naive to think it's not happening, because it's a pretty easy target. There's a lot of accessibility to players and it's early in its governance," Gilchrist, who is here to play for county side Middlesex, said.
 

Michael Atherton:    ... one leading former international player told me categorically, albeit off the record because of his fear of reprisals, that fixing was a regular occurrence.
 

How did the state coffers get filled with hundreds of crores of cash on account of IPL?  Please enlighten me (with links please).  Service tax (nationally) for IPL-I was Rs 64 crore, for IPL-II was 29 crore.  Not sure what the amount was for IPL-III, but it could be around Rs 100 crores.  Meantime, state governments have foregone revenues worth around Rs 1000 crores by not collecting entertainment tax (link for tax figures here). So where did just the Karnataka govt get hundreds of crores from?

Talking about tickets, here is how corporates have been helping IPL evade tax (link: here):

Last month, Income Tax officials were alerted across the country to find out whether IPL officials were fudging tickets and avoiding tax. Their findings were in the affirmative. In a demeaning instance of ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’, it appears corporates were buying loads of lower denomination tickets yet accessing box seats that come with complimentary liquor and food. This was helping IPL organisers to avoid paying entertainment tax.

I would love a link to any report of politicians hounding KSCA because they didn't get tickets.  In any case, I don't think KSCA gets to distribute tickets.  It must be the franchisees.

Update: The cheerleading is by no means world class.  In the US (from where it has been imported), cheerleading is treated as something more than doing bodily contortions on a platform wearing skimpy clothes.  They do a lot of acrobatics/gymnastics and other difficult routines with pom poms and stuff.    They even have cheer leading competitions. I think the IPL cheerleaders are not quite top of the line, sorry to say. 

@pdk

I would love a link to any report of politicians hounding KSCA because they didn't get tickets

I hadn't conjured that up. I had read it somewhere, not sure where - am not quite as good at digging as sure you are.

Perhaps you would recommend nationalisation of IPL. In fact, there's a mail doing the rounds detailing what it will be if that happens - some excerpts - "Player auctions will be replaced by teams calling for tenders for players - lowest priced players will be picked; Cheerleaders would perform only the cultural dance of the state they represent. Bharatnatyam/ Kathak... Bhangra: Retired Air-India flight attendants will be employed as cheer girls", and so on.


 

Sequence of events:

1. Govt conducts the GIM

2. Approves IT parks and other industries around the Devanahalli airport belt

3. Announces land needed for the projects

and..and under the blessings from Minister Katta S Naidu..

4. Holds an auction by KHB, which raised land prices to 16,500/- per sqft in Yelahanka

more here.. http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/1/2010061920100619080232572768b7299/Yelahanka-New-Town-is-the-new-premium-address.html

5. Who owns major land around the airport is known to all and whos gonna benifit from the new projects is known too..

Duddu Pishachigalu!

And Vajpayee from the same BJP once said 'aakhir ek admi ko kitna chahiye?!'

@pdk

For all the shenanigans it's involved in, BCCI is sufficiently democratic a set-up, to be able to manage its affairs and effect whatever correctives required, and, as long as the government doesn't take over and mess up things, things will straighten out sooner than later.

I have never watched a single IPL match

But, for all that, the TRP ratings broke all records during the season. In fact, a friend of mine, who generally watches only BBC news, has now surprisingly turned an avid T-20 fan, particularly of IPL. And, not just cricket, every other game has evolved over the years to make them more exciting and higher TRP recorders, much to the dislike of the purists. 

Bangalore's IPL match would not have been shifted post-haste to Mumbai if every service had set new standards

The shifting of the match was largely because of some mis-understanding/ communication between BCCI and Bangalore Police/ government. The very act of shifting it such short notice to Mumbai and holding it there successfully tells a lot about their organisational capabilities. Of course, even more telling was the shifting of the IPL-2 to South Africa, and making such a success of it there that every country has since been after BCCI to hold the tournaments in their country.

Match-fixing should be the real concern, along with allegations of money-laundering

Like I had said earlier, the honor of winning, and the cash and other awards on offer presently, are, I would like to believe, enough of a motivator today for not succumbing to match-fixing. There can always be the odd exceptions, but, exceptions they will remain, since the BCCI, the hard core businessmen that it is constituted of, knows full well the value of credibility, without which popularity and thereby TV viewer-ship will get affected, which it cannot afford. And, the very fact that it's the hard-working, disciplined players like Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and even the skipper Dhoni that have been coming to the fore rather than the mere flamboyant types is indication that things are quite in order. Money laundering and IT evasions, like I had also said earlier, need be the only concerns as far as the country is concerned.

I think the IPL cheerleaders are not quite top of the line, sorry to say.

I admit I have very little idea of the cheerleading scenario, but, whether promoted in US schools or wherever, I still wouldn't classify it as an art. Why, latest I believe, even pole-dancing has come on to the US school curriculum! But, I certainly can't say that it does not entertain me, as much as say a well done 'item number' in any of our Bollywood masala's. And, I had heard names like 'Washington Redskins' associated with the IPL, which name supposedly was top of the line.

And, lastly, whatever else you may say, Modi and his team have put IPL almost on level with European Football, and US baseball and basketball, even after discounting the damage caused by the shenanigans.  

I wish to rest my case.

 

cricket crazy, bollywood crazy, BBC crazy, pole-dancing crazy, item number crazy - what's happening to this world !!! Must the kali-kaala effect! Thank God we still have Doordarshan (still there?).

And, may be BCCI should after all be nationalised (monopolies should only be with the government), and a K P S Gill, Suresh Kalmadi, or Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi (from his hospital bed) requested to take over.

And, US baseball and basketball organisations are paragons of virtue!!! I had thought nothing in that cursed country could be upto any good!
 

Source

From The Statesman:

On 15 July 2009, S Ramann, Officer on Special Duty, Integrated Surveillance Department of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, wrote to the Chairman, Press Council of India, Justice GN Ray, about media companies entering into “private treaties” with listed companies or those planning initial public offers. Media interests were picking up stakes in them for which they paid in kind: coverage through advertisements, news reports and editorials. Sebi said that such promotional and brand-building strategies in exchange for shares “may give rise to (a) conflict of interest and may, therefore, result in dilution of the independence of (the) press vis-à-vis the nature and content of the news/ editorials relating to such companies”.

Shorn of the language of tact, what Sebi said was that there was a shocking phenomenon of “paid news” that was no longer confined to some corrupt journalists but that it had infiltrated the formal revenue structures of certain (very large) media companies. That, in effect, meant that the reader was receiving advertisements masquerading as news. ...

In Andhra Pradesh alone, the unions of journalists have said the size of the market for “paid news” is between Rs 300-1,000 crore.

Especially note how a 'segment of the media' is trying to remove all mention of itself from the Press Club report on the issue.  What is the fourth estate's role by the way?  I thought it was to publish truth.   More, on the "commercialization" of the fourth estate (link):

It has been known for some time that a few of India’s leading media conglomerates — including Bennett, Coleman & Co., the publisher of The Times of India and The Economic Times — offer what that company calls “innovative” and “integrated” marketing strategies that blur the traditional line between advertising and article content. Bennett, Coleman’s Medianet division, for example, lets advertisers place articles on certain pages in the paper without clearly marking them as advertising.

One of the company’s more aggressive offerings is a product known as a Private Treaty, which offers companies a certain amount of advertising space in exchange for equity stakes in those companies. According to the Private Treaties Web site, Bennett, Coleman now holds such equity stakes in more than 100 companies.

 

Officially, the companies are only given advertising space. But at least one businessman confirmed to me that it was made clear that he could also expect favorable news coverage.

At the very least, it seems evident that Private Treaties set up a very serious conflict of interest, a point highlighted last year when the Indian stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, wrote a letter to the chairman of the Press Council expressing concern about the business practice.
 

More, from Sucheta Dalal, on Sans Serif. She lists some very interesting headlines for press releases on behalf of the Times group's PT clients.
 

I've not excerpted the other angle of the private press's corruption. Namely, the selling of space to politicians' and the effect on elections. The Statesman & New York Times articles explore those aspects too. Of course, anyone who has not read P Sainath on the latter aspect is missing out on a learning experience.

"Like the brand name of cricket has become IPL" - check this. But, that's by Jug Suraiya, and when has he become the benchmark for balanced opinions, as much as BBC for 'taste' of T V programmes, right?

Psuedos posing as intellectuals seeking utopia, and thereby helping perpetuate the status quo, is the biggest farce that has gone on for long enough.
 

 What's the big deal!

I was being sarcastic

@idontspam

Sorry for the delayed response. As I mentioned in the reply to Sri Muralidhar Rao, I tend to procrastinate.

This must rank on par with Madhu Koda and his loot. Very criminal indeed.

Let me note at the outset that neither does the list you posted add up to Madhu Koda's loot. Nor to the Reddy brothers' loot. But to your actual argument, two points:

1. How come we've suddenly shifted to 'criminality' in a post which discusses corruption? Times of India and Economic Times are making money by selling advertorial and news space for money. But a typical readers of theirs doesn't know about it. Newspapers are supposed to print the truth. Thus what ToI/ET are doing is corruption which is resulting in fraud being perpetrated on its readers. As to the extent of money being made - I don't think it is negligible. Why would they do it if it is? The effect on its readers is not benign. As Sacheta Dalal (a former Times of India employee), puts it:
 

If you are an investor who depends on India’s largest-selling economic newspaper for unbiased news, then you must know and understand the concept of “private treaties” (PT). Since The Times of India (TOI) far outsells every other English newspaper and The Economic Times is by far the market leader in the economic news category, the concept is of universal interest.

I believe a lot of unsophisticated investors are putting money directly into the stock market, not knowing about 'Private Treaties'. Will their behaviour be affected by these planted stories? I'm sure there are other publications doing it too. I myself remember a huge sycophantic cover story about Mr Adani, in a weekly (The Week I think), just before the Adani Power IPO. Now he is nowhere to be seen or heard. How much did he pay for the cover story? How many people invested based on that cover story? As to our TV business channels, it is noticeable that they have stopped asking their guests for disclosure (of their interest in the stocks they discuss on the show). Are the guests being completely neutral?  I know people shouldn't be investing unless they know what they are getting into, but that hasn't stopped them so far.

2. Hope the mention of the size (500-1000 crores) of the 'paid news' market in 'AP alone' did not escape your attention.

I'm not defending the corruption of anybody. I'm just pointing out that it is widespread. 

@idontspam,

'you friends'

Again - ad hominem attacks!   Why do you think I want elected officials to be let off.  Strange.

The same way you discuss IMF in a post which talks about Bandh as an outdated means of protest.

Maybe you could point me to the post in which I do that.  I seem to have posted something without myself being aware of it :-)

At least I believe corrpution by government officials by amassing public money is criminal, which apparently you dont agree that they coorelate.

I on the other hand believe corruption is corruption - whether government officials do it or businesses masquerading as newspapers.  And I believe corruption is a symptom of the deeper problem - greed.

@Muralidhar Rao
 

Three apologies.

1. For implying that you were eagerly waiting for my responses. No, I was merely explaining my responses suddenly appearing after a few days of dormancy.
2. For claiming that your invitations to Praja were directed to me specifically. I realised that they were to all - especially some vocal and argumentative - members of the HU list.
3. For implying that you considered me an intellectual - so presumptuous of me. You were only accusing me of 'posing' as one!

  As for the rest of your reply, let's see. Expecting the honour of winning to stop players from fixing IPL matches. Not utopian. Expecting newspapers to print the truth. Utopian. Makes sense.

Its interesting, posting on Praja. Sudden personal references. Then a commenter (idontspam) suddenly mistakes me for Public Agenda. If anyone looked even cursorily at a post by PA and then a post by me, it should be so obvious that the styles don't match! I know no one would be interested in or have the time for doing that, but if they did they would know. Probably it is a mental optimisation thing - makes things simpler mentally.  Mystifying nevertheless.

Still, I'll probably continue posting on Praja. I'm sure I can learn something from this community.

@idontspam,

Sure, corruption when done by a public official may be tried under criminal law.  All power to them if they are able to put all corrupt public officials, politicians, ministers, judges, etc in the cooler.  But the point I'm trying to make is that corruption is symptomatic of a deeper problem in our society and that it (corruption) is quite widespread.  Just because it is not covered under Indian criminal law doesn't excuse it.  And I gave some examples to illustrate how corruption is not restricted to the small fry who happen to be paid by the government.