Shankaracharyas for Sale

What does one have to be -- and do -- to become a shankaracharya? One must be a Hindu of course -- but what else? Well nothing. One does not need to attend a seminary, or start out early in the pursuit of godhood. One can train to become a doctor, an engineer -- anything… And then, provided there is the money to buy the passage to sainthood – anyone can take the route that Gauri Shankar Shukla of Allahabad took in 1990. That was the year when Shukla quit his job as an army wireless operator -- the transforming year for this family man who had sired five children. But the saffron gods had bigger plans for him, and within five years he was made head of the Ani Akhada and given the title of Mahamandleshwar Madhavanand. Another five years, and he was a “shankaracharya”!

“I have been declared shankaracharya of Prayag Peeth by the great Kashi Shankaracharya himself, and duly approved by the Prayag Vidvat Parishad (committee of Prayag intellectuals),” he told TSI.

Shukla is not alone in this. This was the very route that Sudhakar Dwivedi, a non-commissioned officer of the Indian Air Force, took to become “shankaracharya” of the Sharada Sarvadnya Peeth in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. In his case the “approval” came from the Varanaseya Vidvat Parishad (committee of Varanasi intellectuals). Dwivedi was nabbed on the basis of his mobile phone records. He had borrowed the phone from Pandey, his neighbour in Kanpur. That was also how the surname came to be attached to his own.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

The idea seems to be to cut out cost accountants totally

The provision of statutory cost audit by Cost & Management Accountants (CMAs) in the present Companies Act, now covering 44 industries, provides an independent review of costs and cost management efficacies of corporates.

This issue was discussed during a meeting of the general members of Eastern India Regional Council (EIRC) on November 1 at Kolkata where a strongly worded resolution was adopted in support of retaining the exclusive right of CMAs to do cost audit. Interestingly, soon after this resolution was highlighted by the media, Kunal Banerjee, ICWAI president who is also an ICAI member (a former practicing CA), slapped show case notices on EIRC vice president and treasurer asking why disciplinary action should not be taken against them for airing their views – which he found to be in “bad taste” and which had “damaged the cause of the Institute to a great extent” – to the media. This show cause notice has come as a surprise to many members who wonder if the ‘cause of the institution’ could be helped by abolishing CMAs’ right to do cost audit, and if the ICWAI president was more inclined to serve the interests of chartered accountants, even if it is at the cost of CMAs. In the ICWAI Council, four out of five government nominees are chartered accountants.....Continue

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Independence and development are integral to prosperity

To overcome all these, Kosovo needs to focus equally on both internal favorable policy initiatives as well as good relations with other European and non-European countries. Yet, Kosovo seems to have lost its way down the road. One wonders for how long Kosovo can depend on external aid for its survival. One is then forced to wonder if Kosovo was better under Serbian rule. Likewise there are provinces in China, India, France and Spain, which have been waging armed struggle for 'independence'. Today, Chinese provinces like Zingjiang, Mongolia and Tibet are witnessing robust economic development and prosperity. Would they have witnessed the same as independent states? In India too, while states like J&K and some in northeast have been clamoring for politicla freedom, will they survive at all as independents? Likewise South Asia would have been a far more prosperous entity had India, Pakistan and Bangladesh been part of a unified nation. Today, inspite of shortage of skilled labour in Indian IT indiustry, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis are denied visa to work here. It would have been a different situation in case of a South Asian Union like EU. Though development cannot be an alternative to freedom but a little tactical and cooperative move for common development can be fruitful instead of resentment and anger.....Continue

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Bittu Sahgal recounts some of his most memorable moments in the Indian wilderness.

I marvelled at the method in nature's apparent madness where predator ate predator in the process of playing out a deadly game of hide and seek. Dimbhum is not a sanctuary or national park, yet it throbbed with life. At night, the watchman confirmed, a sloth bear had visited the forest department campus. And sambar deer tracks confirmed they had walked through the flower beds. I saw no elephants, but knew they were around from their droppings in the nearby bamboo forest. There is more wildlife and more nature to be experienced in the raw in India than almost any other country in the world.

I have been lucky to see the tiger in many parts of India but one of my most memorable sightings have been in Tadoba and the Sundarbans. It was night time in Tadoba. I love Tadoba. It has a raw beauty all its own and there is something electric about a dark forest. It’s not just the sounds or the smells that seem purer somehow, but rather the anticipation. “What lurks beyond? Which incredible animals have come out to do the night shift?....Continue

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It seems fairly certain that jihadi elements, rather than internal ultras are behind blasts

The name of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) too has risen in various quarters in connection with the recent blasts in Assam. While ULFA has mastered the science of serial bombings, along with that of handling RDX, ammonium nitrate and programmable timed devices, all of which were used in the Assam blasts, one must take into account the fact that the ULFA has never detonated bombs beyond 10 kgs; according to forensic experts, the bombs used in the latest blasts used anything between 30 kg and 40 kg of explosives. Also to be mentioned is the fact that even if the ULFA were to be responsible for the recent blasts, there would be reason to ask if their actions had the sanction of the outfit’s high command, especially when its commander in chief, Paresh Barua, has denied involvement in the blasts. In the years before the Bhutan operations in 2003 the ULFA, in its secessionist form, is known to have largely targeted government installations, political workers and security personnel. That, however, changed after the Bhutan operations, following which the ULFA did take to bombings. Even then, though, the outfit chose as its targets Hindi-speaking people and commercial areas. There isn’t as yet enough evidence to blame the blasts conclusively on the ULFA, till further and more concrete evidence is unearthed in this direction.

The lack of evidence at this juncture against the ULFA would give credence to the belief that jihadi elements are involved in these blasts. Given the assistance in terms of cars, SIM cards and site selection, it is clear that the blasts this time were carried out with local support. Again, while one does not hear SIMI being mentioned, and while the outfit is not very strong in Assam yet, HUJI and SIMI are now blood brothers. Besides this, the seven armed youths killed on the Indo-Bangladesh border recently by the army which said they were HUJI members who could not be identified on Indian soil, showing that they were not locals. Finally, HUJI or not, there is enough scope to believe that they were part of a terror outfit based in Bangladesh.

The bombing plan that was put in action this time is ominous; it would be wrong to believe that one has seen the end of such blasts. Not apprehending the real culprit based on real evidence would only leave open the door to more such attacks that could perhaps be even deadlier. One must remember that a man called Kari Salim had been apprehended in the year 1999, before his terror group in Assam could be activated.

His interrogation led to the recovery of huge amounts of RDX on the Indo-Bangladesh border in North Bengal by a joint team of the Assam and West Bengal Police. This only indicates that there exists in the northalleast of India a conspiracy by the ISI. ...Continue

Harekrishna Deka
ex-DGP, Assam & Sr Journalist

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Strike Force India

IIPM Publication
It is the kind of cricket wisdom that perhaps predates W G Grace. For long ‘Bowlers win test matches and batsmen save Tests’ has been an adage whose truth has been held to be self evident. Every team that has had a great run in the Test arena always threw up images of a fearsome bowling attack than a set of destructive batsmen. Sure, the West Indies had a Viv Richards but it was the pace quartet that was feared more. Australia’s true turnaround in the modern era started with the emergence of Glenn McGrath in the West Indies tour of 1994 and Shane Warne in England. Pakistan’s flashes of brilliance have always radiated from the winding run up of a Waqar Younis or a Wasim Akram. And the way the tide is currently turning (Ishant Sharma just bagged a man of the series award in a home series – a feat achieved last by an Indian fast bowler when Kapil Dev won it against the West Indies way back in 1983), it would not be far fetched to crown India’s bowling line up as best in the world.

Before you restrain me for going over the edge with an over hyped statement, let me present my defence. It would be hard to explain their recent run against the World’s no.1 test team, Australia, otherwise. Over 2008, India has a record of 3-1 against the Aussies over 7 tests, and if you exclude the controversial Sydney test, it is 3-0 over 6. That remarkable streak has been crafted particularly courtesy of some phenomenal bowling, be it Ishant Sharma’s burst against Ponting, Zaheer Khan’s potent mix of aggression, accuracy and reverse swing, Amit Mishra’s good old fashion leg spin or Harbhajan Singh’s uncanny ability to strike when it matters. Javagal Srinath, arguably one of India’s all time great cricketers and one of its best fast bowlers wholeheartedly agrees. “I think the way they (the Indian bowlers) have turned out playing the series against Australia, that itself is evidence enough to say that it is the best bowling attack in the world at the moment,” he told TSI.

So, does this attack have what it takes to be the best in the world? Just look around and you find that post McGrath and Warne, Australia have only one spearhead, Brett Lee, and Johnson and Clark have been stock bowlers at best. Even Krejza’s debut success is a matter of statistics rather than truly great bowling. South Africa doesn’t quite have the replacement for an Allan Donald or even a Shaun Pollock as yet and Sri Lanka seem too reliant on Muralitharan and Mendis....Continue

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