Opportunity to Thank in Advance

[Updated on July 21 and July 26, 2013. Thanked in advance. Thank all stakeholders once again.]

Disclaimer : This is an attempt to give readers another side of the story published in newspapers on IIT Kharagpur which appears to me as ill-conceived or unbalanced. Readers are advised to read this as well as the original articles (link of every article referred to is provided) and have his/her own opinion. The post does not intend to harm any individual or institution but one is free to point if one finds anything objectionable. If justified, I shall act on that part on which objection, if any, is raised.

The newspapers are now flooded with articles on IIT Kharagpur Director appointment. I place here two of my comments to two ToI articles. One is published and one is not published even after several attempts and several hours. The one that is published is available in the comment section of the article, 'Headless' IIT-KGP to go on hunger strike on July 17, dated 13-7-2013 (Link). It is for those to defend the mode they take to make themselves heard - hunger strike etc.. To me, it so appeared that all need to take each other into confidence and the following was my prayer to clear the deadlock over the issue which is dragging for more than a year now and to me it is not helping in anyways.

I read in EFYtimes [Link] the following, "Prof. Chakrabarti’s appointment is pending CVC clearance. IIT Kharagpur’s Board of Governors has cleared Prof. Chakrabarti once in March 2012 and again in March 2013 of any wrongdoing. CVC is still holding on to the clearance due to unknown reasons, even though the CVC rules specify cases must be resolved within two months of filing a defense statement (CVC Guideline No. 000/VGL/18, dated 23rd May 2000)." Probably an RTI could have been filed why so and legal option would have been weighed if requests and representations failed (apparently so). Request MHRD not to misunderstand phrases like 'strong message to MHRD' etc. Please consider it as a kind of frustration and impatience after waiting for a year now. And where will one go to but the MHRD? Confrontation, may kindly be not seen as challenging the authority, but an attempt to make the voice heard which apparently is drowned. Apparently, MHRD is also waiting for signature from CVC which may come anytime soon. Request all stakeholders, MHRD, CVC, IIT community resolve it quickly and for the sake of the country. The tangles if any can be unwound quickly if all concerned exercise goodwill. Thousands of new UG, PG students are to join IIT Kharagpur now [also one full batch of outgoing students are getting placed in jobs and universities]. It does not give them and their parents [industry, other universities] confidence if the matters like Director appointment gets dragged like this. Request all to take each other into confidence for the sake of our love and confidence in this great institute and our nation. Thank you and kindly please, for the sake of all. - Purab

I thank ToI for publishing above comment and give space to readers like us. Today, ToI publishes another article titled, "IIT Kharagpur alumni demands immediate appointment of PP Chakraborty as director" (Link). This article has certain colour where the author instead of reporting facts as they are, apparently tries to muddle the issue further and make the issue more complicated than ever. He makes suggestion to MHRD, finds fault with MHRD etc. He says, "But the larger question is why did the ministry, instead of asking IIT-Kharagpur to start the selection process afresh, waited to give a clean chit to Chakraborty." He apparently finds it difficult to accept what he himself wrote, "Eventually, HRD ministry said "defence of Chakraborty can be accepted"." In between NDTV (Link) and other media reported that Honourable Minister is trying his best to expedite the director appointment. The following comment I tried to post in ToI today as reader's view which thankfully acknowledges the effort of MHRD, CVC and and how IITKGP should look forward and not allow director appointment issue to be a drag. But unfortunately, ToI does not publish this comment, even after showing successful posting (image attached). What is in it that the moderator found unacceptable, compared to other comments seen there? And I tried many times in different hours with same consequence. However, I could slip in one short comment which appears as anonymous(India) where a link to this post is given. 

The comment with links added as updates is pasted below. Thanks to all who are in love with this great institution of this nation and who help it to stay focused. 

Sincere thanks to MHRD to hear, "Eventually, HRD ministry said "defence of Chakraborty can be accepted"." The due diligence MHRD conducted has reached the conclusion which is welcomed heartily. This is also evident from the volume of the material evidence available in public domain now [Link]. Report elsewhere published says that MHRD has requested CVC to expedite, and that before 27th July the decision will possibly be reached [Link]. We understand that there may be procedure related issues, issues within issues (major vs. minor penalty), relationship of IITKGP board and CVC in such matters etc. This may have delayed the clearing of appointment of Prof. Chakraborty. But it is great to see that MHRD, CVC are not to drag the issue like director appointment of the prized institution for long (already one year is over) in the interest of the nation and IIT community that includes important stakeholders like alumni, collaborators from India and abroad, students and their parents and one may say that every citizen of this country who take pride in IIT system. Let MHRD, CVC debate, resolve other matters giving those items due time and consideration. Let not the 'minor penalty' person suffer the way he is made to suffer for last 5 years or more. The way he has been humiliated, torn in public without bothering that he too is a family man by attaching terms like 'scam', 'tainted', for months and years, all the while we find what comes as conclusion - that he had next to nothing to do with it and his 'defence can be accepted'. Can there be more penalty than what the person has already gone through for a conclusion like this? Isn't it that what he has gone through so far is much more than a 'minor penalty'? Isn't there any principle of natural justice to act urgently and decisively? I thank MHRD, CVC from bottom of my heart for exercising their goodwill and resolving the issue by indicating the conclusion they are reaching which will bring confidence back to the system - that performance counts, sacrifice for the country matters, love and respect one earns from one and all get recognized in this country. ToI group has published various article recently on this - by Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey & Sujay Khanra [July 18 Link], Subhro Niyogi [July 13 Link], Pran Kurup [July 18 Link], PTI [July 17 Link] and few others under TNN authorship (no specific name of author) [July 21 Link, July 21 Link2, July 21 Link3] ... This article and other articles by this particular author in the past has a colour of its own [Check Link1, Link2]. And it would be interesting to find if there had been a systematic attempt denigrate this great and loved institute, IIT Kharagpur or settling of personal score. But let that wait or be ignored, now that we see the main person behind Vision 20-20 announced by President of India in last IITKGP convocation [Link1, Link2], Prof. Chakraborty assuming charge soon, let IITKGP Community (faculty-students-alumni-collaborators) now focus their effort to reach the goals which President of the country has set and not allow such an issue be a drag. In hope and prayer, Purab

Update from July 21, 2013

Posted following comment in today's ToI article (Link) without being anonymous. Wonder why it is not getting published so that reader's opinion counts.

Thanks ToI for this article which reports facts as they are unlike what Mr. A Mukul tried to write in yesterday's article. As per ToI article of yesterday MHRD has said that "defence of Chakraborty can be accepted". Elsewhere it is reported that MHRD will appoint Director by 27th July. Sincere thanks to MHRD and CVC for listening to the voice of all stakeholders and indicating what we can expect soon. There might have been some complication for which there is this delay. Or there could be other cases to look into for which this did not get attention. Now those being matter of past, let us bury them and work together to take this great institute forward for which the first Prime Minister of independent India had this to say,  "Here in the place of that Hijli Detention Camp stands the fine monument of India, representing India's urges, India's future in the making. This picture seems to me symbolical of the changes that are coming to India."  For the sake of the nation, let us harness all our positive energy and move forward. Thanks to all. Let us stand by the incoming director who as MHRD indication goes will be Prof. Chakraborty. Ironically, Prof. Chakraborty  has already suffered much more than 'minor penalty' through media trial, public humiliation that used terms like 'scam', 'tainted' when the material available in public domain and conclusion reached by MHRD shows what had been his role. Let us put this debate to rest and show the world that "WE CAN". In prayer, Purab of purabspeaks [dot] blogspot [dot] in

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Update from 26.7.2013. A big THANKS to MHRD, CVC and all stakeholders.

Excerpts from ToI report [Link] published today.

After many months of wrangling P P Chakraborty has been finally cleared for the post of director at IIT-Kharagpur. The Central Vigilance Commission's (CVC) clearance came late on Thursday. The HRD ministry was under tremendous pressure fromIIT-Kharagpur alumni association and other industrial bigwigs to get go ahead for Chakraborty. On Saturday when the convocation takes place IIT-Kharagpur would finally have a director. 

This has been my comment to that article which does not appear yet [update: it appears for a change!] in the comment section.

It is better not to write "under tremendous pressure" and question the wisdom and capability of MHRD and CVC. Rather it should be seen as collective goodwill that was generated to get rid of the issue that was dragging for a year. Every stakeholder - MHRD, CVC, Alumni, Faculty, Collaborators, Students, Parents, People and above all TRUTH come as a winner. Warm congratulations to Prof. Chakraborty! A lot of expectation is built around him and IIT Kharagpur in public space. Let all stakeholders extend a helping hand to him and IIT Kharagpur. [It is no prize. It is greatest of the responsibility to lead an institutuin which epitomizes the aspiration of modern India.] May God grant Prof. Chakraborty the strength for he is taken up the cross. I had thanked in advance to all in my blogpost. Thank you once again. Let us work together to rebuild India and make our nation proud. In prayer, Purab of purabspeaks [dot] blogspot [dot] in

Another report published by Indian Express today [Link] says,

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on Thursday finally gave the nod to the HRD Ministry to appoint Prof Partha Pratim Chakrabarti as director of IIT-Kharagpur. Top government sources said the CVC gave the professor a virtual clean chit in the Coalnet scam. Keeping in mind the minor penalty recommended against him, the CVC also asked the ministry to 'advise' the professor to be more careful in future.

Sources said the ministry will follow the CVC advice and formally appoint him as IIT-Kharagpur director. 

MHRD earlier accepted the defence of Prof. Chakraborty. CVC tells that Professor to be advised to be more careful in future. This is what has been pointed out in various posts of this blog in the the past contrary to some media people portraying Prof. Chakraborty as gory villain remaining blind to factual matters available in public domain. However, TRUTH wins.

Indian Express further reports that IIT Kharagpur has issued Memo now to other two persons named. This could be the missing link leading to procedure related delay at CVC end. One would have expected this matter not getting dragged to this extent, addressing issue sitting across the table taking each other into confidence. But let us not brood over the past. Let us take the learning points from this episode and move forward.

Thanks to All. 

The Pioneer Connection

Disclaimer : This is an attempt to give readers another side of the story published in newspapers on IIT Kharagpur which appears to me as ill-conceived or unbalanced. Readers are advised to read this as well as the original articles (link of every article referred to is provided) and have his/her own opinion. The post does not intend to harm any individual or institution but one is free to point if one finds anything objectionable. If justified, I shall act on that part on which objection, if any, is raised.

Today again IIT Kharagpur was in news for wrong reason. This was CVC recommendation on the 'Coalnet' project conducted by IIT Kharagpur for Coal India Limited (CIL). This assumes significance as Director-Elect's appointment apparently is withheld for clearance from CVC. Three Professors' name were doing round since 2007 where CBI recommended two for major penalty through regular departmental action (RDA) and one for minor penalty through RDA. The CBI report recommends action against GM(System) of CIL and TCG software company. The information available in public domain shows that GM(System) of CIL retired as CGM, a higher post with no penal action. There was no action against TCG. There was no action against two Prof.s recommended for major penalty where one becomes Director of another IIT. He did not need CVC clearance but the 'minor penalty' person needs. 

The person who appears to have the least of issue in CBI report with recommendation of only minor penalty through RDA seems to bear it all! The blog post (Link) tells what is considered as 'misrepresentation' in a letter dated 11-5-2004 by CBI for which minor penalty was suggested. And the penalty was suggested through a departmental enquiries where CBI document 'would not be cited to be relied upon documents'. Also such minor penalty cases are definitely not criminal offence as appears in CBI's own regulations (Link).

How much is the minor penalty through RDA? Press Trust of India (PTI) report published in Business India today (Link) says, "A delinquent government employee faces censure and withholding of increment among others in case of minor penalty. "  Note that the above mentioned letter in which fault was found, was written by the youngest of the Deans at IIT Kharagpur who was below 45 years of age. This was within about four and half months of assuming a big responsibility of Dean (SRIC). It was based on what he inherited and he wrote, what he wrote, in black and white. Why was he made Dean, Sponsored Research at such a young age? It was the track record and his inspirational role as a researcher. By that time he earned INSA Young Scientist Award, INAE Young Engineer Award, Swarnajayanti Fellowship, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize etc. to his credit and established AVLSI lab. which is a pride of not only IIT Kharagpur.

Even then, let us assume that there was an administrative lapse for the young incumbent. Let us further assume that the RDA gives him minor penalty which is hardly anything for a young Dean for any oversight of his predecessor's work in the beginning of his deanship. But let it be given and his name be cleared. Why IIT Kharagpur did not do that since 2007 can be best answered by the institute but it asked this person to live with, as if, there is a rope around his neck which can be pulled at any point of time.

While all major accused had their life in full, the only minor accused, the President Gold Medal (PGM) Winner, the topper in the batch, the role model before generations of IITians for his unblemished love for the country and the institute which made him reject many, many lucrative offers from India and abroad, and chose to do PhD in the country with a paltry stipend, is made an hounded soul. Even after being a Director-Elect for many, many months now the 'minor penalty' issue is raised again and again.

Why is he made a victim like this? Is there any clue anywhere? The posts of this blog (Link) leaves some hints and we may connect it with the report published by The Pioneer (Link). It says with emphasis "In a first of its kind, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has asked the HRD Ministry to dismiss three IIT professors — including IIT-Patna Director and the Dean of the prestigious IIT-Kharagpur — from service." The title of this report is "CVC asks HRD Ministry to fire 3 IIT Professors."

Dismiss from service for the Director-Elect., the Dean of IIT Kharagpur? The PTI report that is published in Business India (Link), Economic Times (Link), Zee News (Link) and the report from correspondent in Times of India (Link) talks about recommendation for only 'minor penalty' which has been there since 2007. Where from the 'dismiss from service' come for the 'Dean of the prestigious IIT-Khargpur'? Isn't it surprising? May not be so if one is a follower of this space. Please keep reading the Pioneer report till end and you will find this is the only report that brings the name of a so called  'whistle blower' who is an IIT Kharagpur professor, which no other newspaper bring in their report. The Pioneer says, "The institute is also likely to face the music for ignoring the HRD Ministry's repeated directions to revoke suspension of IIT-whistleblower Prof Rajeev Kumar of Computer Science and Engineering Department. While the CVC is seized with the matter, the complaint has also reached the Visitor (President of India)." Please find image of the Pioneer report and the editing done by the whistleblower in his website in his website. This is the only newspaper report where he does editing himself in the website. All lead newspapers clearly say that it is only minor issue for Director-Elect and minor penalty from Dept. through RDA. But this papers says 'dismissal', 'firing'. The causal relationship is too evident. It is visible which newspaper and which personalities are on the side of the truth and who is trying to victimize, harass, scuttle the appointment of Director-Elect by creating media pressure by spreading false information.

This is the land of Ramayana. Here, due to mistake of elders Lord Rama and his wife had to live in the forest, face mighty Ravana and many other difficulties. But even today Rama Rajya is what goes as the best of all. The Director-Elect too will get his opportunity when all these trials and tribulations are over and the nation will remember for ages how he administered his institution. The time will come. As a IIT Kharagpur lover, I would like that institution to be IIT Kharagpur only. The nation cannot be deprived of service of greats like him. Till then in prayer.

P.S.: I reserve my comment on other two Prof.s as there is not enough information in public domain to conduct an analysis.


My comment in comment section of Times of India report was as follows:

Purab (Kolkata)8 hrs ago

Interesting and intriguing! On one hand, we heard "In March this year (2012), Sibal’s ministry asked the institute to seek advice from the Central Vigilance Commission since it had rejected the CBI report. The institute has to explain to the CVC the reasons for rejecting the CBI recommendations, but have the liberty to accept or reject the vigilance commission’s advice." (The Telegraph, Thursday July 05, 2012) The Board rejects the same as CBI report themselves state that the report is ‘not to be relied upon’ (storiesandinsidestories [dot] blogspot [dot] in/2012/08/facts-behind-coal-net-allegations [dot] html ) and there may be other reason not available in public domain. Now the Director recruitment requires CVC clearance and they have one of this person (Prof. P. P. Chakraboti) in their own backyard even if goes against the letter and spirit of MHRD directive as per The Telegraph report and he has ‘minor’ issue. 
 
Is it a war of ego between CVC and Board which makes innocent getting victimized? Note the timeline. CBI's own 'not to be relied upon' report mentioned minor action against Prof. P. P. Chakraborti in 2007, and CVC is not giving clearance in 2013! Why did you not take minor action even if it is warranted before, which could have been mild rebuke or asking the young faculty who just assumed the heavy responsibility of Dean(SRIC) to be more careful. The second reference above shows that there was not any misrepresentation either as our understanding of English language goes. Therefore, going by the letter and spirit of MHRD directive stated in The Telegraph report, it is requested to MHRD to clear the name of Prof. P. P. Chakraborti by impressing upon CVC and not to delay the appointment of him as Director. The delay, the timing reminds the Aesop's Fable of the wolf and the lamb www [dot] taleswithmorals [dot] com/aesop-fable-the-wolf-and-the-lamb [dot] htm . Hope MHRD will do something so that next generation kids grow up not reading stories how a would be Director was eaten up of his portfolio, hounded of his soul - as a replacement of animated characters of fables. 

I have faith in India and its value system. This comment is not to hurt anyone. My apology if it sounds like that anywhere. It is just a reading of proceedings as available in public domain by a public who is keenly watching the development for long and sarcasm, if any, comes from that. Apology once again. I request all concerned - CVC, MHRD, IIT Board to sit together and resolve their differences if any and show the world that we fight but we can make up as the country and its prized institutions comes first to all of us. You are big people. We look up to you for guidance, fairness, strengthening faith in the system. Regarding other two professors there is not enough in public domain to conduct research and pass a comment. Shall comment as and when it is available. Thanks Purab Purabspeaks [dot] blogspot [dot] in

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Rejoinder:
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There was a follow up article in Times of India where apparently IIT Kharagpur Head said that they did not know what to do (Link).

The following was my comment to start with. 

Purab (Kolkata) 1 day ago

Please go through the latest post of purabspeaks [dot] blogspot [dot] in Even if minor fault is found then regular departmental enquiry suggested in 2007 could make "censure and withholding of increment among others in case of minor penalty." as per PTI and other reports. This was to be done by then Director and administration. The Board of Governor who is a superior body than departmental enquiry team, in fact the most superior at IIT Kharagpur, did not find anything wrong and did not recommend even that small penalty, quashed the allegation and communicated it to MHRD. Whether CBI's led down procedure was or was not followed or to be followed, where departmental enquiry recommendation is superior to BOG recommendation, were to be taken up by CBI, CVC, MHRD at that time. Anyways, it is clearly stated the minor penalty suggested is nothing (by BOG) or minimal (if departmental enquiry differed from BOG recommendation). Thus the talk of removal from Director-ship after Director selection which is a major penalty is against principle of natural justice and should not stand in court of law in any civilized world (I am not a law expert, talking from common sense). It clearly makes Director-Elect a victim and all concerned (that may include the organizations named before) a direct or indirect perpetrator in victimizing a person whose background and credential need no repetition. Summarizing, there was a BOG enquiry instead of departmental enquiry. BOG is considered most superior at IIT and institute may have thought that is better than regular departmental enquiry. BOG did not recommend even that minor penalty and quashed charges and one has to note that CBI itself said that there report "would not be cited to be relied upon documents. " Therefore, BOG's enquiry and recommendation are to be respected. The procedural lapse if any in enquiry does not attribute to Director-Elect. and he cannot be faulted for that but to BOG why they did what they were not supposed to do. Even if a lesser body (to BOG) like departmental enquiry suggested a minor action on minor lapse it would have been what PTI report says and nothing grave for new youngest of the Deans was new to his role at that time. And a minor penalty cannot be converted to a major penalty i.e. not giving the Director-ship for no fault of would-be Director where he could never be a part of the enquiry that took place not as per procedure as appears from report. Therefore, CVC, MHRD, BOG cannot link it to Director appointment after the selection is made by raking up an old minor issue and resolve the matter gracefully for the benefit of the institute and its national and international audience. Thanks - Purab  It was  great to see Prof. Gautam Barua, Director, IIT Guwahati joining the discussion later and clearing the air for all. To have an IIT Director coming forward and saying something where ordinary individuals like us are expressing opinion is path-breaking. Any reporter would perhaps have obliged him had he wanted to say anything. But he chose commoner's forum. The following is what he said. 

Gautam Barua (Guwahati) 1 day ago

The matter regarding PPC is minor and unfortunately it has got enmeshed in technicalities ( I cannot comment on the coalnet project itself as enough info is not available publicly). From what I have read, it seems that the Board of Governors of IIT KGP had taken cognizance of the CBI report and decided that no penalty was warranted against PPC after examining the matter. Now all that the Institute needs to do is to inform the CVC and MHRD that "proceedings" against PPC were taken in 2009 (or whenever the Board decided) and he was found not guilty of any wrong doing. As per the IITKGP Statutes, there is no need for "an enquiry" for minor penalties. If the Board examines the matter and takes the decision, it is as per the Act and Statutes of IIT Kgp. IIT KGP is not a Govt organisation, but an autonomous body created by an Act of Parliament. It is governed by the Act and its Statutes. Govt rules come into play only if the Act and Statutes do not provide rules for the issue at hand. This is not the case here. In fact, even as per Govt rules, an “ex parte examination” is the first step in “proceedings” and if this examination finds no case, then the matter is closed then and there. So, if the Board has examined the matter and dismissed it, this was an “ex parte examination”! Gautam Barua, Director, IIT Guwahati  The following was my 'Thank You' note to Prof. Barua in that forum. 

Purab (Kolkata) replies to Gautam Barua 1 day ago

Thank you Prof. Barua. Finally, it is the Director of IIT Guwahati who cleared the air. IITKGP, hope you are listening. Thank you Prof. Barua, thank you very much. I do not know the rules, acts or statutes. But from common sense, this is what I was thinking (the first comment of this thread). To get educated by an IIT Director like you is always a enriching experience. Hope things improve and sensibility prevails now on. Thank you once again and ou deepest respect. Purab  And this evening there was an official press release by IIT Kharagpur (Link) saying,"IIT Kharagpur remains committed to expeditiously resolving all issues with its stakeholders, regulatory bodies and the Government of India," and that the issue "require quick resolution while respecting all voices, regulatory bodies and keeping in mind the strategically important role that IIT Kharagpur has as the first and leading IIT".

Who is talking?

Disclaimer : Please read the disclaimer related to this post in the first section of the post appearing here (Link). The same is applicable for this post too.  This is a continuation / follow up of the referenced post where I congratulated ToI for not deleting comments from readers that contradicts their story with facts and arguments. It used to happen one year back when they selectively deleted such comments. I found that retaining opinion of public was a welcome change for the fourth pillar of democracy that allows voices of public being heard.

But a rude shock was waiting for all of us. A king does not like to hear that he is naked even if he is so. A newspaper, used to get royal treatment for wide circulation and the goodwill it has inherited from pioneers, feels perturbed if a finger is raised at it. Welcome to the era of mashala news and tabloid journalism! The comments to the article is treated blasphemeous if does not suit the story. The readers are welcomed to comment but not told when and why their comments are removed. Democratic principles are trampled, voice of people are suppressed by the one who are supposed to be custodian of people's voice. The fourth pillar of democracy is decimated by high and mighty in the business.

All the comments to ToI article (Link), the vast majority of which showed how hollow and ill-conceived the article is, by providing the readers alternative source of information, were unceremoniously removed yesterday without any notice, without any explanation on the article page why so, without communicating to commentators denying their existence. No respect / courtsey is shown to the toil of the commentators which gave a 360 degree view of the article providing missing links.  The article is not withdrawn but the the recommendation made to comments by people are which were expected to be read when the article is read. Is it not a case of suppression of voice and will of people?

There is something more to this episode. The high and mighty, the king like stature of ToI in media space, appears to get scared of voices of ordinary individuals, if continued to be heard showing what is fair and what is unfair. And they did what any entity who does not believe in democratic values and principles, who does not support right of individuals, would have done - that is to suppress these voices, however feeble they are. Out of 78 comments, 71 comments could be recovered and placed below. The rest 7 were deleted by that time.

If this was the act of ToI yesterday evening, let us hear what ToI writes in its front page story today morning under celebrated and authoritative 'Times view' on the article titled, "Centre twitter in face-off over PMO parody counts" (Link).  It is reproduced as it is with emphasis added.

Times View

Some websites and social media have been used by various groups to incite violence or fuel insecurity in an already tense situation. The government is right in seeking to put a stop to this kind of anti-national activity. However, it must not use this opportunity to also shut down whatever it finds uncomfortable or embarrassing for itself. Sites that lampoon or parody the government or political leaders cannot be treated on par with those that are deliberately creating a law and order problem. Some parodies may well be in bad taste but that is no reason for the government to act heavy-handed with them. This will only reduce the credibility of the rest of its effort and signal to the rest of the world that India is an illiberal society.

See, who is talking? The readers are requested to go through following savaged comments and take a call on ToI. Were the comments 'anti-national'? Were the comments 'uncomfortable or embarassing for (ToI) itself' and even then 'must not' have 'shut down'? Did ToI 'act heavy-handed with them' even when it was not in 'bad taste' (readers not marking it as offensive rather agrees to and recommends - how much value is given to those recommendation) ? Does it 'reduce the credibility' of ToI? Does it 'signal to the rest of the world India is an illeberal society' and its media is not principled?

Can we expect ToI to apologize for running ill-conceived defamatory article and also for violating democratic principles and rights of idividuals?

[The comment font came small sized. Pls. keep 'Ctrl' button of keyboard pressed and then press '+' button as many times as you want to get an approriate sized font. To revert, pls. press 'Ctrl' and then '-' button as many times.]

HRD panel picks ‘tainted’ prof as IIT Kharagpur director

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Purab (Kolkata)2 days ago

The following is from updated purabspeaks [dot] blogspot [dot] in - excerpts from speech of Mark Twain: "It is a free press — a press that is more than free — a press which is licensed to say any infamous thing it chooses about a private or a public man, or advocate any outrageous doctrine it pleases ... There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press. A libel suit simply brings the plaintiff before a vast newspaper court to be tried before the law tries him, and reviled and ridiculed without mercy ... It seems to me that just in the ratio that our newspapers increase, our morals decay. The more newspapers the worse morals ... It has become a sarcastic proverb that a thing must be true if you saw it in a newspaper. That is the opinion intelligent people have of that lying vehicle in a nutshell. But the trouble is that the stupid people — who constitute the grand overwhelming majority of this and all other nations — do believe and are moulded and convinced by what they get out of a newspaper, and there is where the harm lies...Among us, the newspaper is a tremendous power. It can make or mar any man's reputation. It has perfect freedom to call the best man in the land a fraud and a thief, and he is destroyed beyond help. ...I am personally acquainted with hundreds of journalists, and the opinion of the majority of them would not be worth tuppence in private, but when they speak in print it is the newspaper that is talking (the pygmy scribe is not visible) and then their utterances shake the community like the thunders of prophecy. I know from personal experience the proneness of journalists to lie."

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Somdeb (California)3 days ago

As a former student of Kgp and having seen PPC from very close quarters for 4 years and having known about his achievements for the institute for more than a decade after that, I can 200% vouch for the man's honesty and suitability for the post of director. We had many times discusses within ourselves that PPC should be the #1 choice for director. He is an outstanding innovator, outstanding administrator and single-handedly transformed the way the institute interacts with multinational firms. Of course there might be better administrators than him in the country - but none that are so doggedly dedicated to the betterment of IIT KGP. He did not need to stay in the backwaters with his credentials; he chose to do so because of his dedication. It is not really him who is being maligned by articles by this... it is the journalistic tradition of India that is being shown in a poor light for creating sensationalism where diligence is required. The entrance to the main building in KGP says "Dedicated to the service of the nation". Very few students from Kgp actually fulfill that goal (I didn't). PPC is one of the few ones who can stake a claim to that goal.

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Dr. D. (USA) replies to Somdeb2 days ago

Here is a bit of an anecdote about that red neon sign over the entrance to the Main Bldg at KGP that you have mentioned. It was put up in 1972 by the then Director Brig. Bose as a show - off before PM Indira Gandhi came to the Campus for Convocation. This was the year after the Bangladesh War when PAF had attacked Kalaikunda AFB and one of their shot down planes was hand carried back to Patel Hall and displayed as a trophy. But Indira was not uniformly popular, nor was Diro. Bose. Several UG students ( once again from Patel Hall ) tampered with the circuitry of the sign so when Indira Gandhi arrived at the Campus in the evening it displayed " DEDICATED TO THE ...VICE OF THE NATION ". It had to be turned off. I am afraid that if PPC gets to sit in the Diro's office above that sign ( still there in 2008 ) the 40 year old prediction will become even truer. As UG students you have no inkling of the rampant corruption in the SRIC office with PPC as its Dean. Several Chair Professors at KGP are willing to complain about it.

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TR (India) replies to Dr. D.2 days ago

Yes, we heard about the 'ser' of 'service' being off once. That was really funny. Thanks for reminding. However, we also heard about this Chair Profs who came from US. He was trying to throw his weight asking to be pampered beyond control around naming his closeness to President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Principal Scientific Advisor, Dr R Chidambaram, etc. He began calling his colleagues stupid and was behaving like a megalomaniac. His bluff was called by all including the Director, Deputy Director, Deans. Surely he will complain after people, including the famous ones, stopped pampering him. Less said about these guys the better. Its good that KGP people showed some self-respect. Also Sir, people who are responding are all not UG students. Take care.

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Dr. D. replies to TR2 days ago

You appear to be plugged into the Mafia rumor mill at KGP that has tried to badmouth a distinguished scientist from Bell Lab here so as to cover up their looting of grants to him from the Indian Defense Min. through SRIC at KGP. This individual used to be at Bell labs in NJ and way back in the 1970s had developed some key science for Lithium ion batteries. In 2004 he was invited by the Defense Min of India to set up R&D and Pilot production of Li-ion batteries in India and he picked KGP ( being originally from Kolkata himself ). When I visited KGP to explore potential for funding researach there on behalf of a large US MNC, I saw him charge PPC of theft right to his face in Bengali - the little XXXXXXX had no rebuttal, instead kept squirmimg and almost trying to hide under the table. But thats not all, I have heard similar stories of malfeasance at KGP SRIC from an independent source - a buddy who is the Director at one of the larger IITs, except that there is this "omerta" ( Mafia code of silence ) about the place. During that same visit I was shocked to see the Labs and workshops at KGP outdated & in shambles - in spite of 100s of crores of Rs allocated by the HRD Min. There is no longer any on-campus capability to repair or build advanced research apparatus or instruments. As a result there are interminable delays and very little quality research can be done at KGP except for a few showpiece non-hardware topics e,g. chip design ( using canned software - nothing too original ). To cover up the Failure at KGP in its assigned charter of hardcore Technology, there is a systematic attempt to divert attention to simulation ( actually quite primitive - compared to whats common here ) and Management / Law even Medicine ! In comparison, sponsored research at Powai ( IIT Bombay ) is far more honest & dependable. Today India has been overtaken by China in almost all defense / technical / economic areas. IITs must not be content with just churning out yet more BTechs hardly any of who then practice Engr. (!) but instead motivate them to take up the challenge of helping India catch up with China - by doing more R&D on Campus to facilitate the creation of their own 'silicon valleys' around ea. Campus. KGP must get a honest and capable Director capable of charting a course towards that goal. I am afraid that it would be politically expedient but otherwise disastrous to appoint an inbred fraudster like your favorite as the next Director.

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Arjun (India) replies to Dr. D.1 day ago

Sir, Unfortunately, all your suggestions take a different light when you call PPC a 'fraudster'. Did he earn all his medals and awards by fraud? O Come on, Sir Come one. Please give your suggestions for improvement of IIT KGP, but please don't get so carried away like this to bulldoze your arguments by making such absurd statements and destroy your own credibility. Then no one will listen to your suggestions also.

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Purab (Kolkata) replies to Dr. D.2 days ago

It appears from your comments that you and your Bell Lab. acquaintance are quite senior in age. My apology in advance if some of my words hurt you two. I wish I could remain silent considering your age, perhaps the Dean's silence was due to this when you shouted at him, and the Amercanized self of you considered that to be his weakness. Had he reciprocated in the same American style being much superior in IITKGP organization hierarchy, he would have asked you to 'get out' and 'get lost'. And you find fault for being gentle to you showing Indian value and tradition. Next, the institute has a grievance redressal mechanism. Did your friend raise it in the faculty forum meeting, writing to office bearers of teacher's association, all faculty mail, faculty bulletin electronic board etc.? With such a strong background (red carpet laid all his way ... including departure...pls. allow me ... I am joking, the discussion is becoming too serious ... going in loop and loop and loop ... all the points seem to be exhausted ... dwelling on irrational personal perception of one meeting of an individual wihich has no statistical significance), how could you concede defeat so meekly and left IIT Khargpur only to spread canard against the institute and its next director? Or did the panel find he / you not qualified enough for a position you were eyeing at? A person with high ego who does not respect constitutional process may be a sore loser, may be disgraceful in accepting defeat, but definitely not fit to lead an institute like IIT or comment on its would be director. However, I welcome your suggestion on how the institute can improve - moving from BTech to PhD (ministry decides that, not director) mindset, manufacturing over simulation, repair facility etc. All suggestions to improve IITKGP which is positive and forward looking are most welcome. I request next director to consider the feasibility of implementing all such suggestions without bothering if it comes from a person of inflated ego or not. A person in high place needs to be magnanimous and give more weigthage to view points of critics than psychophants. As reported, Dr. P. P. Chakraborti is humble, dedicated and a great leader. I am sure that he will take suggestions from all quarters in right spirit, work on them and take IITKGP to greater heights. My apology once again to senior people who I wish not to talk on face which might hurt them (avoided that earlier). As current flows from higher potential to lower potential, pls. consider me to be a peson of lower potential and request your blessings and affection to flow in my direction ... together we definitely can make a stronger IITKGP and stronger nation. Thanks and regards - Purab

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Dr. D. replies to Purab1 day ago

You are quite purposely misinterpreting my post and conflating facts in order to be insolent either because that is in your character or you are an absolute moron incapable of comprehending the simplest English. Are you an IIT BTech grad at all ? If so, did you get in via some special compassionate quota for perfect imbeciles ?

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Purab replies to Dr. D.1 day ago

Dr.D, we are debating in public forum. Let us leave the judgement to the readers. Let them decide who is talking sense, who is incapable - you or me. To start spitting venom and offer nothing else when challenged on issues discussed, expose who you are, what is your hidden agenda. You think that you can attack / humiliate IITkgp, its director, the constitutional process because you have some personal equation to be setlled and none can / should find fault with you. A little nudge from me and the readers get to know the character of the person who is giving sermon to the finest institutions of the country. You may feel sorry, if people in general, associate the character qualities mentioned in your reply with you rather than me. Request you to read the last sentence of my last reply. Would like to end by saying, "Bless you."

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Arjun (India) replies to Dr. D.1 day ago

Wow, what language!! How and where were you able to change your fabric of basic IIT standards? Its difficult!! We saw a couple of guys speak like that before, one of which was your Bell Labs so and so.

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TR replies to Dr. D.2 days ago

We remember the story of a Bengali newspaper which said 'Then the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister went into the room and closed the door on us. In the meeting the PM said ... '. We heard that the Prof you talk about tried to blame some earlier SRIC staff, as he always did to hide his problems. Lot of people in IIT know about the actual story of this matter and so all your attempts to constantly malign IIT and Prof. PPC won't hold ground. People even had financial inquiries done against Prof PPC discreetly but found no issues at all. Secondly, more you malign him by saying 'fraudster' etc, the more you are discrediting yourself. Too many people have seen Prof PPC from close circles for a long time. Finally, it was an open call for IIT KGP Director. No one was prevented from being nominated or from applying.

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Purab (Kolkata)4 days ago

Tried to give the unsuspecting readers a chronological details of this topic in the newest post of purabspeaks [dot] blogspot [dot] com which shows the other side of the media. Also request readers to go through the following facebook page and have an informed opinion. Together we are a strong force and that would not allow vested interests to succeed who wants to weaken the nation and its fabric by maligning the best institutions of India and its finest people. www [dot] facebook [dot] com/pages/Yellow-Journalism-Against-IIT-KGP/429415807108663 Thanks and regards Purab

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Purab (Kolkata)5 days ago

Good to see activist like tenacity of some people in this section who seem to make a living out of non-existent issues. Whether they are part of this nexus under a pseudo name, is anybody's guess. There was open advt. for the Director's post. Eligible and interested people submitted application. A duly constituted expert panel examined applicants' CVs, conducted interview and selected one, say A. Now, how on earth one brings an argument that X and Y at some part of the earth could have been better than A when they themselves are not interested in the position and do not feel like applying! IITkgp is left better without such people who do not want to serve it and undergo scrutinee of expert committee. The beauty of the human race is that there can always be a better person for the office I or you hold (includes self-styled activists). That should make us humble and work extra hard. Therefore, no point talking about what could have been if X had applied and under that pretext malign A who is a learned professor. If anyone finds wrong with the decision of expert panel then one can always fight with them or how they are constituted. Once A is selected one starts finding fault which clearly shows bias and no rational thinking. The person at the top post of the top institution of the country deserves respect. Any attempt to defame him under the umbrage of quotations like "tainted" (so that journalist can wash off his hand if confronted) and people responding to that as if the allegations of vested interestes are established truth, is an attempt to undermine the finest institution of India and demoralize its faculty, students and alumni. Request authority to take appropriate action against people who indulges in such without producing any factsheet. This is no freedom of speech but systematic hate campaign. One is free to place one's point based on fact. Here we find arguments only on allegation and quotes of unverified sources. I once again congratulate the expert panel as we have no doubt that they have picked up the best available for IITkgp. The background of the selected person shows that he now will be more determined to take IITkgp to newer heights and he has the ability to do that. This perhaps is the only positive that I can dig out from this discussion on this auspicious day of India's Independence when the country wants to think positive, support each other, work hand in hand to make the country prosper. Thanks and regards, Purab

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Dr. D. (USA) replies to Purab5 days ago

Go and ask senior KGP Faculty ( outside the Computer & Electronics dept.s who have run the Campus Admin as a Mafia operation ever since G S Sanyal ) what they think about the SRIC office and its financial doings. An impartial / thorough investigation of " disproportionate income " would spill the beans. The past role of HCL ( whose CEO has now become the Chair of the BOG and heads the Selection Committee ) as a sole source for hardware must also be aired. It might shatter your high opinion of certain individuals.

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TR (India) replies to Dr. D.5 days ago

After Prof Sanyal we had Prof Chopra, Prof Amitabha Ghosh, Prof Dube and Prof Acharya as Directors -- none from ECE/EE/CSE. Thats 25 years of your so called 'non-mafia' operations. Also who buys HCL computers nowadays? Those times are also 25 years old. You are lost in an ancient world. In any case, Late Prof Sanyal's contribution to KGP can never be measured from the USA. Also Shiv Nadar does not Chair the Selection Committee for IIT Director. See how informed your opinion is.

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Dr. D. (USA)5 days ago

Its nice to see KGP undergrads give complements here to PPC for his teaching skills. But for the position of Director other aspects are more important e,g. administrative abilities, fairness, financial management & clean hands, broad vision, track record for executing bold new projects. For this PPC's track record as the Dean of SRIC ( since 2004 ) must be examined. I do not believe BTech grads are in the best position to have enough data to make such a judgement. After a string of sorry Diros sent down from Delhi, KGP deserves an outstanding person ( preferably a KGP BTech grad at last, but more importantly with advanced degree from a world class University, proven track record of innovation, broad experience, understanding of the Indian political system and an inspiring personality who can elevate KGP standing in the world ) but a more in-depth review would show that PPC may not be the best person for this position.

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Debdeep (IIT Kharagpur)6 days ago

As a doctor is best judged by the patient, a teacher is by the students. I as one of his ex-students can vow that there will not be a single student who will not respect or adore him. More seriously, it is a bad luck of the country that proper people never came to the important posts. As an under graduate of this great Institute and as a present faculty, I can pen down the fact the Prof PPC is one of the hopes of this Institute, a proof that one can stay back in the country and do internationally competitive work. Let us ignore the maligners (as they were present in all generations and in all countries) and allow him the honor, and see the good changes. For once let us work! Let this be our pledge in this Independence day...

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Bhaskar (India)6 days ago

This is really shameful that media today work with crooks to put out such malicious articles. The whole story is totally fake. Coal India project case CBI mentioned Bhowmick and not PPC. PPC was not even the dean when this happened. The reporter himself writes what CBI said in the last para. Then why drag PPC into it. Only reason I see is to get into mudslinging against him. Akshaya Mukul has a past history of writing rubbish against anyone from IITKGP. And most of the time its all false news. Make a search and see for yourself. But Rajeev Kumar being his friend, he never puts anything against him. Proofs have been shown to Akshaya Mukul yet he never came out with truths against Rajeev, Isn't that telling what his real aim is! PPC don't need to be a director to prove he is the best for Kgp. We all, be it his students or colleagues know it well. Infact he is among the best in the whole nation currently when it comes to Computer Science. And the good will he carries among all scientists, I think people like Rajeev Kumar feel jealous of. If he is not made the director, its a big loss for the system not PPC sir. Hope some sense prevails over HRD minister and he takes a prudent decision and not get into corrupt practices to scuttle this selection.

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Arjun (India)6 days ago

Akshaya Mukul obviously does not mention that Prof PPC is 'tainted' in the following way: President Gold Medal, among the first Swarnajayanti and youngest Bhatnagar awardees, one of the earliest IIT CSE B Techs to stay back and do his PhD in India, set up world class research in India, catalyzed IIT KGP faculty to their best in sponsored R&D, mentored students to give their best, encouraged IIT B Techs to pursue their PhDs in India, etc. KGP would prefer to have such kinds of 'tainted' Profs as compared to the self-painted frauds like Prof Kumar (imagine Prof Kumar as IIT KGP Director!!!) and unethical-rented jounos like Akshaya Mukul (Image this guy in KGP as someone in the faculty / admin) who do not have the courage to write the truth.

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Dr. D. (USA)6 days ago

As the oldest IIT, KGP today requires new ideas and fresh blood - not an inbred Director like PP Chakraborti who has never proved himself outside the Campus, even if he were to be free of corruption. KGP may be the largest IIT but it has many weaknesses due to its location, W. Bengal and Calcutta have become industrial backwaters, locals do not work very hard, the politics is violent, it may be difficult to attract good talent. But the current choice is certainly not the best and Sibal ought to try harder. With an able and energetic Director above reproach, KGP could become a center for research and application in areas relevant to E. India e,g. water management, renewable power, high yield agriculture, low cost building materials, mountain construction, efficient small machineries as well as in more advanced topics like Cyber security, computer simulation, image analyses, low cost semiconductor production, advanced materials, robotics for defense and space applications ,... Based on past interaction, PPC is not the one who can pull it off. Far too much corruption and cronyism and lack of broad experience.

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TR (India) replies to Dr. D.6 days ago

What do you mean by never proved himself outside the campus? When the best-in-class companies and Profs worldwide come to KGP to support / collaborate with Prof PPC and state that the quality of research they get / see is among that of the best that they would get elsewhere, what other proof you need that this guy is capable? It is more difficult than going abraod and doing it there in a more conducive environ. Get us another such Prof who of similar calibre from elsewhere to come and work dedicatedly for KGP. Why were there no such applications or nominations? We know of many people who came to use KGP for their own personal benefits and left when they could not do so. KGP does not need those kinds of people as their leader.

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Mrinmoy Ghosh (Austin, USA) replies to Dr. D.6 days ago

I, as a former student of IIT KGP and many other students were blessed to be taught by such a brilliant professor as PPC. I have interacted with a number of people inside KGP and in the USA and did not find a more capable and visionary person as PPC. This article is a ploy of suspended professor Rajeev Kumar's crony Akshaya Mukul. If you look at Akshaya Mukul's other articles, you will find that he has nothing positive to say about the institute. He is just a dirty mud-slinger trying to malign a great institute and a great professor.

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Purab (Kolkata)6 days ago

Those who follow the news timeline are aware of the nexus. The misinformation campaign by these were shown in comments of earlier articles, blog posts like purabspeaks [dot] blogspot [dot] com etc. Coming to these canard which is dished out for quite sometime now, through needlepricks like 'indictment', 'recommendation for penalty', 'suggestion for departmental action' etc. I have only one thing to say. If a charge can be framed, it would have been framed by now and action would have been taken in a court of law. A suggestion was given by X, another suggestion was given by Y, Z, and it was left to the wisdom of dept. / board to accept one suggestion and not the other. And they precisely have done that. If recommendation / suggestion is binding and it is not adhered to then one can always go to court and get it done. If it is not done then definitely that was not a strong one or just a hearsay that such recommendation was made. Also, the issue could be that of preparing / reading fine prints while preaparing an agreement for a term project. And the concerned faculty signing / executing project needs to be told to be careful about it as Dept. action, which might already have been done by Dept. And Dr. P. P. Chakraborti, as various report says, was neither signatory or was the one executing the project. You drag his name, do not take action (even if we assume that there was such suggestion), what action totally unspecfied (so not serious at all) and doom him for ever. Take action if required. But one cannot keep a hypothetical sword hanging tone one's neck hroughout one's life and not give him what he deserves. What sort of justice is this? I am sure that truth and justice will prevail. HRD minister is a lawyer by himslef and is capable enough to see through all the mazes a section is trying to create. He or the panel is not so naive not to look into all these frivolous allegations before recommending his name. I would like to congratulate them for doing a great job and not playing in the hand of vested interests. I am sure that the learned Prof. will take IITKGP to newer heights. Our heartiest wishes. To the citizen of this country, I think that you know what new age media stands for - story and not news, sensationalism and not insights. We are sure that IITkgp will continue to get your support and love under new leadership. Let us all work together and strengthen this country and its institutions that stood the test of the time and wish you all a very happpy Independence Day! Warm regards Purab

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kkg (blore)6 days ago

Trying to malign PPC is deplorable. Articles like this completes TOI's making of a B grade tabloid. It is anyway subtly peddling porn all the time. Everyone knows the value system of this so-called "news" portal.

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Kumar (Bangalore)6 days ago

Prof. PPC is a Gem of a person one of the best guy to be the Director of IIT Kgp. A president Gold Medalist & a great prof!

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Amit kumar ghosh (kolkata) replies to Kumar6 days ago

yes i agree with you

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Suresh BV Bharadwaj (Bangalore)6 days ago

ITALIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS HATAO & BHARAT DESH BACHAO! JDU’s Nitish Kumar & Sharad Yadav, BSP’s Mayawati Ramprabhu, Santosh Hegde, SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav, BJP’s Nitin Gadkari, BJD’s Navin Patnaik, JP’s Subrmanian Swamy, SAD’s Prakash Singh Badal, IPS Officer Kiran Bedi & Ram Jethmalani have earned All Patriotic Indians’ deep appreciation & heartfelt thanks, by strongly supporting the aggressively nationalistic & uncompromisingly patriotic fight by INDIA’S MORAL CONSCIENCE KEEPERS Swami Baba Ramdev, India's Army General VK Singh & Swami Anna Hazare’s to bring back black money stashed in USA, UK, Europe, Australia & Switzerland’s secretive, remote body area network, remote mind control network & corrupt banks, bring in Lokpal to eradicate corruption, which India’s President Pranab Mukherjee describes as A PLAGUE THAT IS ERODING THE CAPABILITY & POTENTIAL OF INDIA & usher in complete all round development of the country. India now needs a 100% ASIAN SANATANI NATIVE INDIAN PATRIOTIC GOVERNMENT at New Delhi in 2014 with General Vijay Kumar Singh as India’s PM, Nitish Kumar -Deputy PM, Sharad Yadav -Defence, Baba Ramdev –Black Money Eradication, Health & Family, Anna Hazare -Swaraj Vikas & Lokpal, Kiran Bedi -Home, Yashwant Sinha -Finance, Jaswant Singh -External Affairs, Nitin Gadkari -Commerce, Narendra Modi -Water Resource, Mulayam Singh Yadav -Power, Prakash Singh Badal -Food Processing Industries, Mayawati Ramprabhu -Agriculture & Rural Development, Sathish Mishra -Drinking Water & Sanitation, Mamata Banerjee – Chemicals & Fertilizers, Mukul Roy -Railways, Subramanian Swamy -Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Kalam -Space, Atomic Energy, Science & Technology, Satyanaryan G Pitroda -Telecommunications, Naveen Patnaik -Housing & Urban Development, Prakash Karat -Public Enterprises, AB Bardhan -Steel, Brinda Karat -Textiles, Sitaram Yechury –Labor, Sudhakar Reddy -Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Jitin Jithendra Prasad -Employment, Sachin Rajesh Pilot -Corporate Affairs, Jyothiraditya Madhavrao Scindia –Shipping & Renewable Energy, NR Narayana Murthy -Human Resource Development, Nandan Nilekani –IT, Sudha Murthy -Culture, Mohandas Pai -Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Kuldeep Bishnoi –Road Transport, Chandrababu Naidu -Petroleum & Natural Gas, K Chandrashekar Rao –Coal & Heavy Industries, Vijay Shanti -Tourism, Medha Patkar -Panchayat Raj & Tribal Affairs, Yogendra Yadav -Social Justice & Empowerment, Santosh Hegde –Law, Prashant Bhushan -Justice, Shanti Bhushan –Civil Aviation, Arvind Kejriwal –Planning & Implementation, Manish Sisodia -Information & Broadcasting, Sanjay Singh -Highways, Chandramohan -Urban Poverty Alleviation, Gopal Rai -Environment & Forests, Akhil Gogoi -Sports, Kumar Vishvas -Youth Affairs, Meera Ajay Shankar -Overseas Indian Affairs. Jai Kaivalya Advait Adinath Rishabha! Jai Maya Advait Vishnu Avatar Gautam Buddha! Jai Advait Vishnu Shankha Avatar Adi Shankara! Jai Vishist Advait Ramanuja! Jai Shuddha Advait Vallabha! OM!

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RAj (Toronto)6 days ago

Under Pm MMS all corrupt and traitors are getting ahead. An honest true patriot VK Singh was retired as army chief t make way for corrupt Bikram who has Paki connection. Salman Khurshir who acted as lawyer for banned SIMI organization and worked for Pakistani Muslims (enemy property bill) is law minister. Raja, Kalamadi, Radia etc etcl list goes on. This man is committed to ringIndia to gound by ensurin every high post goes to corrupt man or woman. He is truly king of corrupts.

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Achintya Nath Sexena (Lucknow) replies to RAj6 days ago

To call people traitors without knowing anything about them is more traitorous behaviour than anything else. The man about whom you are speaking was the topper of all branches in IIT-Kharagpur in his B. Tech. and recipient of the President of India's Gold Medal. People like you should be jailed for defaming people's reputation under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

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Lall Narang (PUNE)

26 Followers

6 days ago

Gold: 7967

IT IS 1TUPID TO SAY THAT HRD DID NOT KNOW THE ABOUT HIS DISREPUTE AND CAUSES LEADING TO IT FACT IS THAT THEY ARE COMFORTABLE WITH CORRUPT. HONEST MAN CAN ROCK THEIR BOAT. MANY WILL STAND EXPOSED PARTICULARLY KAPIL SIBAL. SO THE HONOURS ONCE AGAIN GO TO CPRRUPT LIKE SHARAD PAWAR AND SURESH KALMADI AND SHEILA DIKSHIT.

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Achintya Nath Sexena (Lucknow) replies to Lall Narang6 days ago

Prof. PPC is being defamed and ignorant people like you are believing it without knowing anything.

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niranjan M (bhubaneswar)6 days ago

This is the qualification required for promotion/elevation. Nothing to surprise.Also when man like Kapil Sibal heads the committee(who can argue lot to justify- courtesy Advocate in Supreme Court ).People like Anna Hazare/Ramdev ,who care for them????What about Mr President you will say for this???

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poltu (murshida)6 days ago

Dr. Chakraborty's academic credential might be one of the brightest. Is it the prof who was running the private institute under the banner of IIT for personal business and get caught. If so do you want this personality to head an primear institute with immense power. This is the very nature of the whole cong administration stanting from sonia and forget pranab. We deserve better.

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Gaurav (Bangalore) replies to poltu6 days ago

He's one the most honest, sincere and eligible professor in IIT Kharagpur. Having studied 5 years there and worked along side him, I can assure you its the other way round. People with vested interest are trying to block him. We deserve him.

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Nikunj (Kolkata) replies to poltu6 days ago

Better to comment after knowing facts sir. He had nothing to do with the fake institute case. Read through the comments below and you'll get the picture. Panel picked him cause he is honest. And now HRD under Sibal are trying to scuttle the selection. CBI indicted Bhowmick and not PPC. He was not even dean when the coal india matter happened. CBI infact cleared him but not others. Here the reporter is hand in glove with a corrupt ex Prof Rajeev Kumar and the corrupt CVC bureaucrat. Sibal too seem to be involved as he is trying his best to see this selection is not done. Check this page to know more about Rajeev Kumar and get to know why he is doing all this. The fellow got caught cheating by PPC hence now into all this. storiesandinsidestories [dot] blogspot [dot] com

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Achintya Nath Sexena (Lucknow)6 days ago

Prof. P.P. Chakraborty is a B.Tech from IIT-Kharagpur and he could have very easily settled abroad in any Ivy League University as a Professor. Instead he chose to live and work in his own country and in his own institution, IIT-Kharagpur. And instead of appreciating this fact, his country has given him a CBI enquiry and a biased news-report and insulting comments from random citizens as a reward for his 24 years of service to the nation. And then people wonder why IITians donot want to stay back in India.

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vikasyadav (bangalore) replies to Achintya Nath Sexena6 days ago

saxena ji no one is above the law a person is having thousands of qualities does not qualify him as a saint.

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Ex Kgpian (India) replies to vikasyadav6 days ago

yeah yeah!! A most brilliant scientist, integral and honest person like PPC is below law and can be maligned and crucified by any paid reporter. Only Mulayams, Mayawati, Mamta, Lalu, Kalmandi are above law and are eligible at the top posts of this country. To the hell with this country, I am leaving it to live in a meritocratic society.

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sourabh das (Omnipresent) replies to vikasyadav

6 days ago

Silver: 1431

yes no one is above law ... but does a fabricated story is solid enough to nail him ... come to KGP nu ppl wud know abt him more dat y we students are behind and beside him and always be with him

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Jayaraman G. FaceBok (Pune)

85 Followers

6 days ago

Gold: 9654

One can't agree that In the HRD ministry, one hand does not know what the other is doing. They are well aware that CBI and CAG have indicted PP Chakraborti. The reason for nominating the alleged individual for the post of director, IIT Kharagpur, ignoring the crucial facts is that all hands in HRD including that of Minister Kapil Sibal have been greased adequately.

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Surya Mohan Dubey (Tampa, Florida)

20 Followers

6 days ago

Silver: 710

Height of things. One side we talk about elimination of corruption, through bill etc and on the other hand Govt's rep (Ministers, Politician/Govt supported bureaucrats)do blunder even though whose records are not cleaned. When CBI and CAG report is not in his favour, what made them to select ineligible and corrupt man when many more suitable are in list. Govt must wake-up.

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Achintya Nath Sexena (Lucknow) replies to Surya Mohan Dubey6 days ago

CBI & CAG are not in-fallible. Prof. PPC's CV, track record, and achievements speak for themselves. Do not abuse your freedom of speech by talking about things you know nothing about. If Prof. PPC's candidature is rejected because of this biased newsreport or the CBI report, it will be another proof that in India, good people can never rise to the top.

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Ram Manohar Rai (Ahmedabad, India)

2 Followers

6 days ago

Silver: 751

HRD panel picked him, but i am sure HRD ministry don't want an independent, able and honest director at iit kharagpur. Being a student of IIT Kharagpur, i had seen instances of irregularities and boot licking by earlier directors myself. PPC looked like only functional and honest person on campus. I don't know what intentions journalist have for him, but if this deters him from being director of IIT Kharagpur i hate to say it will be a real loss to student community as whole.

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Upendra (Bangalore)

50 Followers

6 days ago

Gold: 6368

that is the hallmark of UPA2 !!!!!!!!!!

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Achintya Nath Sexena (Lucknow) replies to Upendra6 days ago

No. This is the best decision taken by UPA2. You obviously never went to IIT-Kharagpur and you obviously know nothing about PPC.

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Col Sondhi (gaon)

117 Followers

6 days ago

Gold: 10.2K

Nothing unusual for India.

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Achintya Nath Sexena (Lucknow) replies to Col Sondhi6 days ago

Yes, nothing unusual in India that an honest and internationally acclaimed scientist is stopped from rising to the top by making false allegations against him.

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Shiva Mishra (Allahabad)

25 Followers

6 days ago

Gold: 6501

How the tainted persons are called for an interview. The police verification is essential for the post of class IV employee whereas no verification on very very higher post. What are the precautionary measures taken to avoid such happenings in future.

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Achintya Nath Sexena (Lucknow) replies to Shiva Mishra6 days ago

Mr. Mishra, anybody can file any false or ill-conceived complaint against you. Does that make you tainted? Apply the same logic on PPC.He is one of the few great Computer Scientists India has and to humiliate him in this way means that India is no place for IITians to work.

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John (Mumbai)6 days ago

What do we expected from Kapil Sibal, who himself is a trainted character

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Uttam (Kharagpur)6 days ago

Read the last para and its evident who CBI indicted. The whole issue happened during Bhowmick as dean and CBI also pointed the same. But Akshaya Mukul with Rajeev Kumar is hell bent on maligning the good Prof Chakrabarti's name. Mr Kumar, stop getting jealous, don't even try to reach the point that PPC sir has reached. What he has achieved, you'll need many lives to do so. You were always a rotten prof, now can see you are far more rotten man as a person. But I am surprised at how media can play such a biased role. And then they call themselves neutral. Akshaya Mukul is turning into a master of yellow journalism.

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Bipin Kumar (Delhi, India)

11 Followers

6 days ago

Silver: 1271

Good to see Akshaya Mukul return to India and get back to his old ways of maligning IIT KGP and its people and licking the feet of the false self-declared whistle-blower Prof Rajiv Kumar, who is actually a thief and coward trying to cover himself up. Systematically they (Basant Mohanty, etc in the loop) have tried to see that Prof PPC is termed 'tainted' at various stages of the process -- during and after shortlisting, during the first interview, during the second interview and now. The panel not knowing about the case is therefore absolutely bogus. Secondly, everyone knows that the CBI itself has asked that its report not be relied upon and it is full of errors and mistakes. Finally, it is now clear now from documents that prof PPC was not even dean when the said coalnet order was issued and when he was dean, he informed coal india of the correct and accurate picture. You guys do not even have the simple etiquette to ask him of the actual picture. Mukul -- already you have tried to protect a cheat like Kumar against whom all facts point out that he is a fraud, you have put yourself hand-in-glove with foreigners and fell at their feet to write false things about IIT stealing technology. We all are now confirmed that you guys are in league and among the most unethical journalists around. We also know that you are trying very very hard to prevent prof PPC to head IIT. You are probably also aware of the degree of goodwill he carries in IIT and outside. Go and meet him once and you will at least learn something lasting in life...

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JCMI (INDIA)

108 Followers

6 days ago

Gold: 17.9K

Kapil Sibal is a mascot of corruption in India. (2G scam). What else can one expect from him?

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bgsubhash (philadelphia)

22 Followers

6 days ago

Gold: 7502

What else do you expect from white haired Sibal. Suck his thumb in public.

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Atheist (Singapore)6 days ago

We all thougtht that one of the important qualifiications for govt service is your willingness to be corrupt ! The politicians do not want to be the only corrupt rascals in the govt.

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Godisamirage (India)

29 Followers

6 days ago

Gold: 7241

So what when we have corrupted looters ruling us us...

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Ram Sinha (New Delhi)6 days ago

IIT'ans are corrupt arrogant people.

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Atheist (Singapore) replies to Ram Sinha6 days ago

That, Ram, is a load of horse dung and you know that !! Yes, Rajat Gupta of IIT, Delhi is in the US jail and some who get into IIT through the "back door" may not value the IIT traditions. But not ALL IIT graduates are crooks !!!

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paul_ani (kolkata)

43 Followers

6 days ago

Gold: 9474

A corrupt govt can select only corrupt people...

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vivosho9 (Bangalore)

8 Followers

6 days ago

Silver: 1416

It is the ill fate of India that all tainted and corrupts have grabbed the power. Tainted have become the preachers of solitude!

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TR (India)7 days ago

Mr Akshay Mukul has transformed into an unethical journalists trying to malign IIT KGP and influence decisions by writing articles that contain wrong facts and information. Some samples: 1. Tried to portray that IITKGP did something wrong to Rajeev Kumar in JEE 2006. They mis-represented the Supreme Court order which dismissed ALL allegations that Kumar made. The Supreme Court order is publicly available but Mukul highlights only what suits Kumar. 2. Tried to hide the 'laptop for son' scam of Kumar to focus on an inapplicable rate contract. But when IITKGP put the facts up in place, Kumar ran away from enquiry and is writing to everyone to stop the enquiry. Mukul knows the facts and is not projecting the same. He will not. 3. Put up a totally false article on IIT stealing technology just one/two days before a critical court hearing to try and influence decision of an honourable judge of Kolkata High Court. Matter backfired. Now information available through RTI shows that Mukul was wrong. More information shows that Mukul actually worked hand in hand with lawyers of one side to prepare his mischievous article. Maybe IIT disclose the RTI obtained information and Mukul will have nowhere to go. 4. Constantly communicated with prof Rajeev Kumar to obtain information from his side and malign IIT KGP. Any attempt to highlight that is met with FIRs filed by Kumar to try and show that there is some great surveillance on him. If that were really done, Kumar and Mukul would be in real trouble. 5. Mukul saw the blog site stories and inside stories where mails show that Kumar has tried to influence Director appointments before and also details where Kumar deprived Prof PPC and some students of their IPR in publications by unilaterally removing their names from authorship. Mukul is surely oblivious of this, naturally. 6. It appears that Mukul never contacted prof PPC to get any facts before writing his article. Reason is obvious. There are more. But I am sick of this Akshaya Mukul's antics and his wiping the feet of frauds like Profs like Rajeev Kumar.

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Achintya Nath Sexena (Lucknow)7 days ago

Prof. PPC has not been indicted in anything. To say so means either the journalist who authored this piece does not know the law or is deliberately maligning the individual professor. There is no taint on Prof. PPC legally as well as administratively.

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JS (Kanpur)7 days ago

Knowing PPC well, one thing I can vouch about him being he is straight and honest. And cause of the fact I see another angle probable here. Sibal himself could be mixed up with Rajeev and CVC man to make sure PPC don't get the position. Honest man on top seat mighty chance won't go well with Sibal's own plans. As for Rajeev Kumar, the less said the better. One of his paper got rejected at one of the IIT Kanpur conferences' cause he had copy pasted material from other's work. And the blogspot links shows he is really a big time corrupt and cheat.

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SB (Kolkata)7 days ago

The news is a false one is evident from the mere fact that the second interview itself was done after this very point was raised by few. And the panel went through all reports and again selected the prof. They never found anything wrong. So to say that panel had no knowledge is FALSE. Secondly, the whole Coal India incident happened while Prof Bhowmick was the dan and not Prof Chakrabarti. CBI has raisd questions for Prof Bhowmick and not Prof Chakrabarti. Media these days seem to be more into putting out false reports than getting to the truth. People of India are loosing faith day by day on media. We all know how Rajeev Kumar, to save his own skin is trying his best to get this revoked and let me also inform people, the guy doing CVC is a great buddy of Rajeev Kumar and Akshaya Mukul so you all know what really is happening. The blogspot link posted below shows what level of cheat this prof is. Its high time IIT Kharagpur administration come out in the media openly to refute this prof and show the world his true face. Lokpal is definitely needed, not just to nail politicians but also for media people like Akshaya Mukul, Basant Mohanty, Rajeev Kumar and bureaucrats like the current CVC of HRD ministry.

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Arjun (India)7 days ago

Good to see Akshaya Mukul return to India and get back to his old ways of maligning IIT KGP and its people and licking the feet of the false self-declared whistle-blower Prof Rajiv Kumar, who is actually a thief and coward trying to cover himself up. Systematically they (Basant Mohanty, etc in the loop) have tried to see that Prof PPC is termed 'tainted' at various stages of the process -- during and after shortlisting, during the first interview, during the second interview and now. The panel not knowing about the case is therefore absolutely bogus. Secondly, everyone knows that the CBI itself has asked that its report not be relied upon and it is full of errors and mistakes. Finally, it is now clear now from documents that prof PPC was not even dean when the said coalnet order was issued and when he was dean, he informed coal india of the correct and accurate picture. You guys do not even have the simple etiquette to ask him of the actual picture. Mukul -- already you have tried to protect a cheat like Kumar against whom all facts point out that he is a fraud, you have put yourself hand-in-glove with foreigners and fell at their feet to write false things about IIT stealing technology. We all are now confirmed that you guys are in league and among the most unethical journalists around. We also know that you are trying very very hard to prevent prof PPC to head IIT. You are probably also aware of the degree of goodwill he carries in IIT and outside. Go and meet him once and you will at least learn something lasting in life.

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N1kunj (KgP)7 days ago

The whole issue happened during the tenure of Bhowmick. But RK and others want to scuttle this appointment cause this prof is really an honest man n RK knows he can be in real soup if Chakrabarti comes on the hot seat. RK is a wolf in the garb of whistle blower. Nothing much diff than Bhushans his lawyers. As corrupt as anything and also cheap to th core. Check the site here n you'll know him. storiesandinsidestories [dot] blogspot [dot] com. Dear Akshaya how come even when solid proofs are available on RKs doing, you don't put this out in the media but ready to put out half baked stories? Media is rotten is proved again. No wonder people heckle you at Anna's get together and Baba's.

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ST (mumbai) replies to N1kunj7 days ago

This prof Rajeev seem to be real crook. why the hell isnt iit kharagpur throwing him out? he should be.

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Mogambo (new delhi) replies to ST6 days ago

Who better know about this Rajeev Kumar than me? He is a fanatic with low IQ level and probably have inferiority complex.I hate this man like hell but PPC is a Jewell in crown of IIT KGP.

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Abhay (Kolkata)7 days ago

Akshaya Mukul in the past has joined hands with his dear friend Rajeev Kumar to malign people of IITKGP. He has started again. Yellow journalism at its best. Prof Chakrabarti was not even indicted by CBI but Rajeev Kumar fears his appointment can cause real harm to him. Reason being, his own wrong doing. Check this link to see RKs real face. go [dot] gl [dot] RqchN

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ATS.MAVERICK (EARTH)

88 Followers

7 days ago

Gold: 8183

Any surprise??? Already HRD is headed by Kapil Chappal. When a tainted person can be the president of a country, why so ruckus about IIT???

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bgsubhash (philadelphia)

22 Followers

7 days ago

Gold: 7502

What is big about it? The whole of UPA II is tainted.Does`nt HRD minister has a cunning and tainted look whenever he opens his mouth.

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