LTTE Chief Prabhakaran shot dead

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was on Monday shot dead by Sri Lankan special forces as he tried to stage a dramatic breakout from the army encirclement, a military spokesman said.

"They (LTTE leaders) were all killed by the army during combat. They did not commit suicide. We are now in full control of the country," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.Army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, who is considered to be the strategist who plotted the current military campaign against the LTTE, said, "Our armed forces have militarily defeated the LTTE and freed the nation from three decades of terror".

His spokesman Nanayakkara said, "We believe Prabhakaran was amongst those 250 LTTE cadres who were killed. No DNA tests are to be carried out. We are identifying the bodies based on the intelligence information we have".

The Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, General Sarath Fonseka, has confirmed that LTTE chief Prabhakaran’s body has been found on Tuesday morning by the Lankan troops. The terror chief’s body was found by the 53 Division troops led by Major General Kamal Goonarathne, Sri Lankan military sources said. A Lankan military spokesman also said that Prabhakaran was in uniform and there were bullet wounds on his head.

Latest report emerging from the war zone reveals that Prabhakaran’s body has been recovered and it has been flown to an Army camp in Colombo for DNA testing and to confirm it medically.At the time of filing this report it is learnt that Sri Lankan Army has so far recovered more than 35 dead bodies of the Tigers and they continue to collect more bodies.

It is learnt that except for Dwaraka, the only daughter of Prabhakaran who is away somewhere in Dublin for her higher studies, said to be holding a Swedish Nationality Passport, all the other members of the family - Prabhakaran (father), Charles Anthony (son), Balachandran (son) and Mathivathani(wife) have deceased according to an unconfirmed report emerging from an army source, who wanted to remain anonymous.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa who arrived early this morning and received a heroic welcome at the international airport at Katunayake, will not be delivering an address to the nation as earlier planned. According to a source in the Presidential Secretariat, it is now learnt that he will be filing a report in the Sri Lanka Parliament on Tuesday 19 May, regarding victory over the Tamil Tigers and the end of the three decade old scourge of terrorism in the country.

Supreme Court awards techie Rs 1cr damages for medical negligence

In the first judgment of its kind, the Supreme Court on Thursday awarded Rs1 crore to a software engineer who became a paraplegic because of medical negligence.A bench of justice BN Agrawal, justice HS Bedi, and justice GS Singhvi ordered the Hyderabad-based Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) to pay the money to Infosys engineer Prashant Dhanaka, who was paralysed waist downwards while undergoing treatment at the institute.

Justifying the payment of compensation, the court said the sum was justified "keeping in mind that a brilliant career had been cut short and there is, as of now, no possibility of improvement of his physical condition". Reacting to the verdict, Dhanaka said, "I am happy justice has been done." But he said he was examining the possibility of filing a review petition for greater compensation.
"This is not for my family, which is there to offer me love and affection; it is to support the costs being incurred from the time I get up till late night when I have to wake up every three hours to prevent bed sores from worsening," he said. "I need two attendants and a driver. There are also the daily costs on physiotherapy and occupational therapy." Dhanaka's parents said they were "unhappy and shocked" over the "inadequate" compensation.
"We had claimed Rs7.5 crore after carefully calculating the expenses we had incurred over 18 years. But I am shocked as we never expected the court's verdict to direct just an amount of Rs1 crore as compensation. We have already spent more than that," said his mother Indira Seshadri. Dhanaka was a 20-year-old student in 1990 when he was admitted to the NIMS, a government-aided hospital, for treatment of a tumour in the chest cavity. He left the hospital seven months later in a wheelchair, permanently disabled.
In 1993, he moved the National Consumer Redressal Commission seeking compensation of Rs4.56 crore. The commission held the institute, its director, as well as the professors of cardio-thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, and general medicine guilty on various counts. The commission held that though it was not an emergency, the doctors failed to conduct the necessary pre-operative tests that would have indicated the need to involve a neurosurgeon.

While removing the tumour the surgeon noticed erosion of the vertebrae and called in a neurosurgeon. By then the spinal cord had been damaged, resulting in paraplegia. Further negligence resulted in the patient developing a urinary tract infection, septicaemia, pulmonary infection, and bed sores, necessitating a seven-month hospital stay. The commission awarded him compensation of Rs15.5 lakh, to be paid by the institute. Dhanaka then moved the apex court seeking Rs7.57 crore from the NIMS.
The Supreme Court bench recorded its "deep appreciation" of Dhanaka for arguing his own case. "He remained unruffled and behaved with dignity and equanimity and pleaded his case bereft of any rancour or invective against those who, in his perception, harmed him," the justices observed.

CRPF recruitment scam and Naxal violence

By-Dr Nutan thakur

With the arrest of the IG of CRPF Pushkar Singh along with the Commandant Yajbinder Singh we come across another recruitment scam in our country. A constable Mukesh Kumar has also been arrested along with these senior officers of the force, considered as among one of the Elite forces in India. Mukesh Kumar's wife Swati has also been arrested, from whose custody a huge amount of cash (nearly 70 lakh rupees), which is certainly much more than can be expected from a Constable having a salary, including all kinds of perks, of not more than twenty to twenty five thousand rupees per month. As per the information received so far, this amount had been taken in lieu of recruitment of Constables for the Anti-Naxal Force in Korba, Madhya Pradesh. A cash of Rs. 23 lakh were recovered from the IG Pushkar Singh's house. This is apart from the various other documents and assets recovered from his different households.
Interestingly it is not the IG and the Commandant but the Constable Mukesh Singh who is being considered as the kingpin of the entire scam. Does it not tell the shameful state of affairs of these so-called elite forces where their IGs are being led and fed by the Constables to do all such dirty tricks of making money by recruiting sub-standard persons after taking money from them. The result of such recruitment is bound to be disastrous. Considering the fact that these Constables were being inducted for the Anti-Naxal forces, one can very well understand why our Para-military forces are proving to be so ineffective not only in curbing the menace of Naxal violence but also in saving their own skins in all the Naxal onslaughts. Only yesterday 11 persons have been killed which includes two CRPF personnel in a landmine blast by Naxals in the Dantewada district in Chattisgarh. We have the greatest sympathy for the poor CRPF personnel, the other policemen as also the innocent citizen who get killed in these different Naxal attacks but have the least regard for the senior police officers who go on to recruit substandard police personnel to earn some extra money, never for once thinking about the security of the country, the effectiveness of these people and the adverse impact such inductions are going to make in the police force ion the days to come.
Even more shameful is the conduct of S S Gill, the DGP of CRPF who till now was apparently quite oblivious of these developments till the time, CBI, an outside agency came to know of these events and got these people arrested before the CRPF could even wink. Now that these officers have been arrested Gill comes up with the classic statement of goofiness when he says that the matter is being looked into and attempts are being made to bring about the required amendments in the recruitment process to check such repetitions in the future.

CBI-Closed Bureau of Investigation

BY-Dr NUTAN THAKUR

Two of the recent actions of the CBI have helped it reach the lowest level of its credibility. The first of these is the Sikh rioting case of 1984 and the second the most recent one is the equally infamous Bofors. So much so that they have added much credence to the words of voluble Amar Singh when he calls the CBI as the Congress Bureau of Investigation. Thankfully, even the Congress Party does not do much to dispel this notion when one of its senior leaders, Digvijay Singh, who has remained the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for two consecutive terms comes out in open to threaten another Chief Minister by showing the deadly fangs of this Institution, in almost the same tone and tenor that Shashi Kapoor's words had when he had delivered those famous lines in Deewar- "Mere paas Maa hai" (I have mother with me). Thus while the police inspector in that film had his mother to shield him, the Congress (or for that matter any ruling establishment) seems to have the CBI as their last refuse.
Let us first look at what the CBI did in the 1984 rioting case.

Everyone knows that Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler along with the now deceased H K L Bhagat went openly out not only to assist the rioters, but to initiate and propagate the entire event, which was no less a state-orchestrated pogrom than the Gujarat riots. The purpose of these people were two-fold. The first was to use the situation to produce a Hindu-Sikh divide and to use this voter's polarization to their advantage in the coming Lok sabha elections. successfully. But more important was to gain some brownie points in the eyes of Rajiv Gandhi whose infamous statement about the little tremors as a result of a falling Banyan tree had already made his preference clear. This triumvirate, along with several other lesser minions played havoc for days in the most dirty and dastardly fashion. Yet, it takes the CBI more than 25 years to come to any conclusion. And what results do they arrive at- that there is not enough evidence again Kumar and Tytler. This too again at a time when the General elections are in process and the Government is not sure of its retuning back. Could there be a more blatant example of the clear-cut misuse of the powers of the CBI? This entire act was managed so secretly that it could have simply passed unnoticed. It took a shoe to be thrown at the Home Minister for the Nation to know of this chicanery. The CBI is still speaking in double tones as regards the case, to much so that no one knows where exactly it stands on this issue. If this is what the CBI has brought its stature and reputation to, it has no one except itself to blame.

The second case is no less more glaring. Bofors is a chapter that the Gandhi-Nehru family would never like to remember. Yet, this weapon has the inbuilt capability of bouncing back. The latest in this series of headlines in the long list of deliberate mishandling is the act of the CBI of asking the Interpol to drop the name of Ottavio Quatroccchi from the list of the most wanted persons. How could the CBI do this to our Nation? in a case that has become the byword for corruption at the highest level, in which even the then Prime Minister himself was accused and even implicated in the earlier stage of investigation, and where it is common knowledge that Quatrocchi played the chief facilitator of this sleaze, does it suit the CBI to act as a benefactor to the same person who owes so much explanation to us? Again, here, as in many other cases in which CBI plays the hide and seek game in its two-forked manner, while clearing the name from Interpol list, the CBI goes to the Court and asks for two months time to decide on the further course of action. What is this? What right do the officers of this investigative agency have to reduce it to a farce?
The CBI's performance in all the cases of political nature has been very poor, at least in the last few years. Whether it is the Mulayam Singh Yadav disproportionate assets case or Mayawati's Taj corridor and DA case, the CBI has been seen to be shifting its stand as per the political weather. When the person is out of favour with the Central government, the agency suddenly acquires wings and starts playing the prosecutor with the highest sense of urgency and alacrity. But the moment the same person becomes inevitable for the government, with the power of influencing its policy decisions, the CBI starts playing a radically different tune. Is this what is expected from a body like the CBI? Is this anything less than being shameful?

These are the questions the CBI will have to think over and will have to answer, not only to itself but to the entire country. And it shall never expect the Government of the day to come to its assistance in this regards. this is because every government would always love to use the CBI to achieve its political goals and would never hesitate to dictate it as long the organization is willing to oblige. But had the CBI officers joined this premier organization to enjoy its privileges, perks and prestige only to pawn their conscience before these hankering and hovering politicians? (mediavigil)

IIT Kanpur receives mysterious mails

Faculties and students of IIT-Kanpur have received mysterious mails alleging corruption by its director, prompting the institute to set up an inquiry. The mail, raising questions on the character of IIT-Kanpur's director Sanjay Govind Dhande, has details about his alleged properties abroad. It was sent on Monday from the email-ID of a student who is currently on leave."The mails have been sent by hacking the the e-mail ID of Jyoti Sharan, a first-year student of IIT-Rajasthan which runs from the same campus," Dhande said on Tuesday. Jyoti is currently on leave and has gone to his home in Chennai, he said. The sender, who identified himself as Manish, has given details of alleged corruption by the director and has also targeted his family in these mails.
The institute has set-up a team of cyber experts to check the mail and ascertain the identity of the sender, Dande said adding, police is also investigating the case. He also said the team suspects that some insider may be involved in the incident. Meanwhile, he denied all the charges leveled against him in the mail, saying it is an attempt to assassinate his character and malign the image of the IIT. (pti)

Secret Bank Accounts

In most recent times I first heard Joseph Stiglitz, currently Chairman, UN Task Force on Global Financial Crisis (set up in November 2008 by President, UN General Assembly) raise the issue of secret back accounts in the presence of Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker, Lok Sabha at Mavlankar Hall, New Delhi while delivering Tenth D T Lakdawala Memorial Lecture titled "Crises Today and the Future of Capitalism" and free market fundamentalism on December 20, 2008. Stiglitz said: “Self-regulation is an oxymoron. Banks said they knew how to manage risk and needed no regulation. What they knew was how to create risk. There is so much of blame to go around that they can all lay claim to it.”

What was stated by Stiglitz was articulated in the backdrop of the the global financial crisis and certain European actions. In March, 2008, the 27 Finance Ministers of the European Union (EU) displayed renewed determination to crack down on tax havens that trade in secrecy and facilitate tax dodging at the expense of honest taxpayers around the world. The Ministers discussed measures to strengthen information exchange, limit secrecy, and increase pressure on countries like Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Singapore that too often help tax dodgers avoid paying their fair share.

Compelling members of US Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to say, "We applaud the EU's leadership, and call on the United States to strongly support the EU tax haven effort, and begin work with other international groups like the G-8 to combat offshore tax abuses. The U.S. Congress should also advance the worldwide clampdown on tax havens by enacting the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act. "Each year, in the United States alone, offshore tax evasion produces an estimated $100 billion in unpaid taxes that could help pay for health care, education, and more. It's time to put an end to offshore tax dodging that robs the U.S. Treasury of needed funds. "

Earlier, Stiglitz had called for an end to bank secrecy in November, 2006, at Columbia University, New York.

Stiglitz connected the issue to concerns about globalization he has addressed in several books. He said, “We are now facing in globalization a really interomesting challenge that we have global companies who are trying to shape legal structures that allow them safe havens in one way or another so that they can get the protections they want when they are operating in Ecuador and every other country but that they can when they misbehave retreat to the Caymans Islands, to other places and be relatively immune from prosecution.”

Elsewhere he has said, “It was so clear that the reason $500 billion is in the Cayman Islands is not because the Cayman Islands provides a better climate for banking than New York City. You might be able to grow better sugar cane in the Cayman Islands, but not -- why is it better for banks? There’s clearly only one reason why banking goes on in the Cayman Islands. It is because it is a place where people can avoid taxes, regulations of all kinds. The question is, ‘Why is it that we pass regulations to stop certain behavior but we clearly condone, allow for these tax havens to continue?’ When I say ‘allow it,’ it really is an active position.”

Caymans, 45,000 people, 600 banks, World’s fifth largest financial center

Now while the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has released an interim report outlining action to bring back Indian wealth hoarded in secret Swiss bank accounts and other tax havens if BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) forms the government after the elections, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)[CPI(M)] says, "The BJP led Government did nothing to review the tax avoidance treaty (Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement) with Mauritius during its tenure despite repeated demands by the CPI (M)." The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) has issued a statement BJP’s Swiss Accounts Task Force Report: A Self Goal

Even prior to the release of the Swiss Accounts Task Force Report, Sucheta Dalal, a senior business journalist wrote on April 7, 2009 "it is a fact that Indian money in Swiss banks is staggeringly high and could range from $500 billion to $1,400 billion (Rs70,00,000 crore)." She added, Ever since the Reserve Bank of India allowed Indians to invest $200,000 abroad, these bankers could solicit business openly. Contrary to what has been said, people and politicians do not have to make a detour to Switzerland to open, withdraw or transfer money from their accounts.

A study by Washington based Global Financial Integrity: “The GFI study shows that during the period from 2002 to 2006, annually $27.3 billions were stashed away from India”. If this is true, then nearly $55 billion worth of illicit transfers occurred in the two year period, 2002 to 2004.(mediavigil)

Software engineer held for rape

A 26-year-old IT professional has been arrested here for allegedly raping and filming a 23-year-old law graduate, the police said Thursday adding that they are probing his involvement in three similar cases.

Dushyant Verma, who stays with his parents in Maharani Bagh, was arrested April 20 for raping the woman at his house April 18.
The victim told the police that she had met Verma, a software engineer with EDAG - a German automobile design company in Gurgaon - over a social networking site in April and became friends.
Following this, they planned to meet up at some restaurant. However, at the last minute, Verma insisted that she should come over to his Maharani Bagh residence, saying that he had already ordered food.
Dushyant sent his servant out on the pretext of getting some food and raped her. He also filmed the whole sequence to blackmail her into maintaining silence over the incident, she said in her complaint.
“He threatened to put the clipping on the internet,” she said.
The victim told about the incident to her sister, who then took her to an NGO. A case was registered April 20 at the New Friends Colony police station and the accused was arrested.
The police said they have recovered at least three clippings of the accused having sex with different women from his laptop, but none featuring the victim.
“We have also recovered a CD in which the accused had merged the three clippings of his own with other pornographic clips. We are trying to identify the women in the videos and whether they would be willing to file complaints against the accused,” said a policeman investigating the case. (IANS)