Recent happenings in affairs of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) resulting in big controversies even involving Supreme Court judges are result of great mistake done by earlier UPA regime by unlawfully putting CBI under second schedule of RTI Act for exempting the premium Investigating Agency out of purview of RTI Act under section 24 of the Act through DoPT notification dated June 09, 2011. Section 24 was incorporated in RTI Act for exempting intelligence authorities and not the investigating agencies. File-notings reveal that CBI was exempted from RTI Act on uncomfortable queries of CBI taking sudden U-turns on probes involving former or the then existing Chief Ministers according to the requirement of the then political rulers.
Even CBI at that time demanded only partial exemption from RTI Act which was also not needed because 10 subsections of section 8(1) of RTI Act takes sufficient care for information not be disclosed even for organisations coming under the purview of RTI Act. Presently, CBI challenges CIC verdicts directing for information relating to corruption and human rights violation which is to be provided even by organisations exempted from RTI Act.
Present BJP-led central government should undo the mistake made by earlier UPA regime by removing CBI from the second schedule of RTI Act and bring it again under the purview of RTI Act to induce transparency in affairs of CBI thus, putting a complete full-stop on undesired controversies in affairs of the premium-most investigating agency of the country.
Madhu Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author is his/her own.)
How much do you hate it when you turn on the lights and see a lizard smirking at you from the wall? Honestly, they do walk around like they own the place. If you are looking for remedies to get rid of those slithery pests, look no further. Here’s a list of home remedies to keep lizards away. Sure, there are lizard repellents in stores, but they are full of harmful chemicals. They are a big no-no especially if you have small children and pets in the house. Wondering how to kill lizards and make your home creep-free? Without further delay, choose one of these superb home remedies from the following list and bid farewell to lizards from the house permanently.
Egg Shells: You may have heard of this from your grandmother, aunts or close relatives. This is one of the most foolproof ways of keeping lizards away from your premises. Lizards are repelled by the smell of eggs. After you use eggs, keep the shells and strew them around the house, especially near doors and windows.
Coffee Powder: This is a very effective method to kill lizards. Make your own lizard death-balls by combining coffee powder and tobacco powder and rolling them into small balls. Stick them on toothpicks or matchsticks and leave them around the house – especially behind shelves and cupboards where they hide. Lizards will die when they eat these balls.
Garlic: This flavoured vegetable is appealing to human beings, but lizards hate the smell of it. Just hang a few cloves of garlic near the doors and windows to keep away the pests. You can also make a spray using garlic juice and water and spray it around the house.
Pepper Spray: Pepper sprays aren’t just for creeps – you can shock the lizards with these homemade sprays. Just mix water, ground black pepper and chilli powder and shake well. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and spray the spicy water around the house. Lizards will be repelled by the spicy odour.
Onion: Want to know how to keep lizards away forever? Like garlic, lizards hate the pungent smell of onions as well. Hang them near doors and windows or place them in lizards’ hiding places. They will leave the house as they cannot stand the smell of it. Alternatively, make a mixture out of water and onion juice – spray this around the house to drive away lizards.
Naphthalene Balls: We know that naphthalene balls are good for keeping bedbugs and cockroaches away from our homes. They work on lizards as well too. The pungent smell repels these slithery beings. Place them in cupboards and shelves to keep lizards away from the house permanently.
Flypaper: This handy thing can help you trap lizards around the house easily. Stick these on the walls especially around the places where you frequently see lizards – like corners of the walls, near light sources, etc. They will get stuck to the flypaper and then you can get rid of them.
Cold Water: Lizards are very sensitive to temperature – they become immobile when they experience a sharp temperature change. When you see a lizard on the wall, immediately splash ice cold water on it – while it stays in shock, kill it or collect it in a dustpan and throw it out of the house.
Tabasco Sauce: This is a variation of the pepper spray. Mix Tabasco sauce or hot sauce with water and shake it well. Store it in a spray bottle and spray it behind cupboards, shelves and wardrobes. The spicy mixture will repel the wall-crawlers and they will flee from your house.
Bird Feathers: Birds are natural predators of lizards. Hang a few bird feathers around the house – lizards will be scared, thinking that there are birds in the area. You can even make attractive wall-hangings with the bird feathers for an added plus!
House Cat: If you already have a pet cat, then you are in for a win – not only do cats love to catch rats, but they also like to nab lizards! If you don’t have a cat, then you can consider getting one – they will catch you some lizards and are also very cuddly!
Electric Repellent: Though this is not a home remedy, it is not harmful to human beings. There are electric lizard repellents available in shops. These emit sounds in ultrasonic frequencies which are intolerable for lizards. The creepy crawlies won’t come near your house forever, if you have this installed in your house. There is even an Android app of this on Google Play, which you can download for free!
Mouse Trap: We all know that mouse traps are a very good way to get rid mice and rats. It turns out to be effective against lizards as well! If you know exactly from where the lizards are entering your house, you can place the mousetrap near the entryway – that’s it! You will have a dead lizard to get rid of!
Phenyl Tablets: We use phenyl in our bathrooms to keep them clean. You can also use them in tablet form; not only do they spread good smell in the house, but they also help in driving away lizards. Keep some of these tablets around the house to repel lizards.
Cardboard Box Method: If you are against killing or harming insects and reptiles, this is the most harmless method which will be to your liking. When you spot a lizard, try to corner it and trap it inside a cardboard box and cover it with the lid.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
In today’s times, we know that with every passing day, costs only keeps increasing while earnings continue shrinking. In the present scenario, consumer product manufacturers and service providers are in a lookout for opportunities to increase profit margins either fair or foul. On the other hand, consumers are in a constant looking to save money or at least make efforts to get the full value for the money spent. This difference in business perception between providers and users, expectantly and eventually leads, to a bitter understanding and spiteful collusions between them.
When a consumer is not satisfied with any product or service promised for the money spent to acquire it, then they have no option but to complaint. However, before lodging a complaint, it is imperative to understand rather well, as to whether we have firstly a valid complaint and secondly a reasonable acceptable solution to the matter. Only when we have a positive answer to the above two questions, we should take the following strategic steps to resolve the complaint and find a satisfactory resolution.
Complaints generally start with specific expectations of the outcome but eventually end up in getting an altogether different one. The first and foremost method to redress a complaint is to contact the providers’ customer service department and explain to them concisely and calmly the entire problem on hand. If in case, the customer care department does not do what we expect or want them to do, try to report the reasons all over to the next higher authority in the hierarchy. Talking to a superior authority usually works. If it does not, then it is time to escalate matters to a still higher superior and look at other tactics to use. The following are the logical steps that we can follow to achieve our objective.
CALLING CUSTOMER CARE CALL CENTRE
First begin with a telephonic call to the customer service call centre and explain to them concisely and calmly the entire problem at hand. Proactively suggest that the situation has an easily solvable solution, clearly stating the expectations from them. It is better to figure out all the possible options our self and list it out in advance on paper while calling them up for discussions. This helps in setting the agenda, tone, and expectations, establishing the various parameters right from the start, saving everyone’s time and effort. Nowadays call centers handle complaints for big organizations. Call centers work on commissions and incentives. The faster the call centers representative completes the call the larger is the pay packet and commissions they receive. Call centers are a high stress environment work place due to which we may sometimes need to keep reminding and complaining to get our work done the way we want.
CONTACTING CUSTOMER SERVICE PERSONNEL
In some cases, threatening the company to move out to their competition works in resolving the problem. Sometimes it is also helpful to cite examples, giving instances of their competitions offer for moving out, asking to justify as to why we should continue to do business with them. A business study claims that 5% extra clients increases the profit by an average of 44% whereas, in contrast the cost of replacing one customer is five times the cost of keeping one happy. Most companies know this, with some of them even appointing special divisions to retain existing clients even if they have to dangle extra credits and freebees to some of their clients from moving over.
FOLLOW UP WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE CHIEF
The job of the chief executive customer service professional in any organization is to resolve consumer related problems coming their way. Their basic purpose is to keep customers happy so that they will not bother busy top executives or complaint to consumer bodies/forums or regulatory agencies or publicize the issue in the local press.
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE CEO’S OFFICE
Most large organisations have a wall of customer service personnel’s surrounding their top high-ranking officials. Search for the corporate office address and the name of the CEO. Call the main telephone operator and ask for the CEO’s office. Most likely, the CEO’s assistance or personal secretary will attend to the call to listen to the problem and will most probably hand over the issue to an elite group of customer service personnel who have super problem resolving powers. At this stage, being patient without losing temper will easily resolve most problems, faster than going to a consumer court that will only be consuming time, effort, and money.
FLOODING EMAIL ID’s OF ALL TOP EXECUTIVES
Find out the top executives Email ID by searching on line, or from the press releases of the company annual reports, investor relations sections, company websites, professional bodies where they are corporate members, through financial websites like stock exchange, or any other professional or social avenue. On can also try guessing the Email ID address format if you are able to get a sample Email ID of an employee. The next step is to flood the Emails ID’s targeting all the top executives with the complaint along with the expectations. A top executive surely knows that their company will not be able to survive if customers are unhappy and do not stand with them. If we are able to convince the top person with our problem, without a doubt the problem will be resolved, at the earliest.
USING ADVERSE PUBLICITY TO ADVANTAGE
Telephone call and Emails generally work, but if it does not then it is better to publicize our problem all over the place, especially in the neighbourhood of the vendor or shop where we availed our product or service. Simple flyers, newspaper advertisements, and effective use of the web and online posts, the social media, consumer forum blogs, now very popular with the newer generation can work wonders. Ideally, it will be better to threaten the top executive with our intentions to do all these when we write the letter or Email and most likely, we will get a suitable response. The simple logic here is that no company can afford to get the negative publicity that will eventually make them lose business from thousands of customers for making one person unsatisfied and unhappy.
APPROACHING EXPERTS
Approach consumer bodies and government instituted consumer help lines to aid in registering the complaint as sometimes, complaints can extend long and consume too much time and effort to obtain suitable redressal. Several consumer organizations are more than willing to help consumers resolve their genuine grievances. Consumer bodies, however, expect consumers to approach them with their issues only after they have first complained to the relevant goods or service providers and have been unable to resolve their issues within a reasonable frame of time. Consumer organizations will intervene on our behalf with the relevant goods or service providers and help in agreeably resolving the issues on hand.
Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI), the foremost consumer organization in India also manages the Maharashtra Government instituted Toll Free Consumer Helpline: 1800-222262; and Email: mah.helpline@gmail.com to guide consumers resolve their complaints with goods and service providers amicably. CGSI, in fact, resolves over 80 per cent of complaints by communicating the issue with the providers alone and if necessary mediates with the stakeholders for a suitable settlement. CGSI advise consumers with genuine complaints to approach consumer courts for litigation as the very last resort.
CONSUMER COURTS
The primary objective of setting up consumer courts by the government was to provide speedy settlements of consumer issues, records, however, prove otherwise. Consumer courts are flooded with a large number of consumer complaints. Inordinate delays, adjournments are the norm and cases take several years for resolution. A consumer by law can always fight a case individually, however practically we generally see lawyers battle the case on behalf of the consumers, making the overall situation as good or bad as a general regular court.
CONCLUSION
Business houses have the right to make profits in order to survive. Similarly, consumers have the legitimate right to expect goods and services promised by business houses and advertisements; and if it is not to their expectations, have a right to a complaint and seek redressal. Complaining and getting justice helps, all of us to improve the manner, we treat each other. Taking appropriate action helps in improving the overall goods and services quality in the country.
One point, however, to note is that consumer bodies only cannot protect all the consumers from irresponsible profiteers, or even resolve all their related complaints. Consumers alone can take the fight forward and safeguard the legitimate consumer protection rights granted by the Indian constitution.
The author of the article is the Chairman of Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI)
-Dr. Sitaram Dixit
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
The Supreme Court on Thursday fixed February end deadline for the search committee on Lokpal to recommend the panel of names for appointment of the first anti-graft ombudsman of the country. The search committee is headed by the former apex court judge Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai,
A bench headed by the Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi directed the Centre to provide the search committee the requisite infrastructure and manpower to enable it to complete its work. The bench, also comprising Justices L N Rao and S K Kaul, said it would hear the matter again on March 7.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that there were certain problems like lack of infrastructure and manpower due to which the search committee was not able to hold deliberations on the issue.
The Supreme Court will hear a plea on Friday of two women seeking 24X7 securities after they recently entered the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. Senior advocate Indira Jaising listed the matter before a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices L N Rao and S K Kaul on Thursday.
In the plea, one of the women, who had been attacked by her mother-in-law following her entry into the hilltop shrine, has sought security for both the women. The plea sought directions to all authorities to allow women of all age groups to enter the temple without any hindrance and to ensure security and safe passage, including police security to women wishing to enter the temple in future. It also pointed to danger to her life and liberty.
Issue writ of mandamus directing authorities to provide full security, 24×7, to the two women who have entered the temple, and to deal with protesters indulging in acts of violence, physical and/or verbal on social media or otherwise against them in accordance with the law, the petition said.
It sought directions declaring all authorities not to conduct the rite of purification or to shut the temple on account of any woman of the age of 10-50 having entered the temple.
Issue directions to declare that the rite of purification diminishes the dignity as human beings and violates their fundamental right, it said.
It also sought directions declaring that any form of prevention of women aged between 10 to 50 years from visiting the hilltop shrine is contrary to the September 28, 2018 judgment of the apex court.
On September 28 last year, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in a 4:1 verdict paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple, saying that the ban amounted to gender discrimination. Two women of menstruating age group had stepped into the Sabarimala temple of Lord Ayyappa, breaking a centuries-old tradition and defying dire threats from the Hindu right.
Kanakadurga, 44, and Bindu, 42, stepped into the hallowed precincts guarded by the police three months after the apex court’s historic judgment lifting the ban on entry of girls and women between 10 and 50 years of age into the shrine of Lord Ayyappa, its “eternally celibate” deity. Following the entry of the women into the shrine, the chief priest had decided to close the sanctum sanctorum of the temple to perform the ‘purification’ ceremony.
The top court has said that it may not start hearing pleas seeking a review of the Sabarimala verdict from January 22 as one of the judges was on medical leave. Earlier, the apex court decided to hear in open court the review petitions against the verdict. Besides Justice Indu Malhotra and the CJI, justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud are part of the five-judge constitution bench.
Justice Malhotra had delivered the dissenting judgment in the case. There are around 48 petitions seeking review of the judgment and they were filed following violent protests in favour and against the verdict. Despite the Supreme Court’s historic ruling, permitting women in the 10-50 age groups, no children or young women in the ‘barred’ group were able to offer prayers at the shrine following frenzied protests by devotees and right-wing outfits.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday hit out at the Centre over the new law to give 10 per cent quota to economically weaker sections from general category and alleged the move was to “win some votes.”
An ill thought and poorly planned proposal which has been pushed by Modi govt only in a desperate hope of winning some votes. Why are no funds being made available to central institutions for expansion? Why does Modi govt want to destroy these institutions?” he tweeted.
The bill was introduced by the government and passed amid criticism by the opposition in the recently concluded winter session of Parliament. He alleged that the government was damaging farmers and no amount of rhetoric can make up for the loss.
No amount of jumlas and tamashas can cover up the kind of willful damage caused to farmers by Modi government, the worst and most callous in independent India’s history, he said.
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan on Thursday said that the suspended fast-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya is “crucial” for the team’s balance but rejected suggestions that the side was struggling for a fifth bowler in the ongoing ODI series against Australia.
India takes on Australia in the series-deciding third and final one-dayer here on Friday. There are bound to be changes to the team composition in the light of Khaleel Ahmed and Mohammed Siraj failing to impress in the first two matches. Dhawan came out in support of the two young pacers, but added that the presence of an all-rounder in the side is imperative for balance. India are missing Pandya owing to the provisional suspension imposed on him for sexist comments on a TV show, condemned as “inappropriate” by skipper Virat Kohli.
The balance that Hardik (Pandya) creates when he’s in the team is very crucial for our team, Dhawan acknowledged in the pre-match press conference here on Thursday. Even when Kedar (Jadhav) plays, the overs of off-spin he bowls are very beneficial for us. I would say that he is our golden arm, and he always takes wickets when he comes on. So often, he’s broken a big partnership. An all-rounder in Tests and limited-overs’ cricket is equally important, Dhawan said.
Talking about Ahmed and Siraj, Dhawan said that the youngsters will mature and get better with time. It’s not a worry (about the bowling). They just came in. They are young blokes. We will back them. That’s how they’re going to learn, when they play against a good side. If they go for runs, that’s where they have to lift themselves up and think more about their game and strategies. That’s how they’ll become more mature players. It’s good that they are getting chances over here.
Dhawan further added that the team is looking to make history by winning the first ever bilateral ODI series on Australian soil, following up on the 2-1 Test series’ win here. He felt the batting line-up, including veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni, finding form only bodes well for their preparations ahead of the 2019 ODI World Cup. Winning the series will mean a lot to us. Winning both Tests and if we win tomorrow, it is going to be a big achievement for us. We are going to value and cherish it.
It was good to see a good team performance in the last game, especially how Dhoni performed well in both the games. We are very happy that Dhoni is getting his touch back, because a player of his stature gives so much of confidence to the batsmen at the other end. He also lauded the role played by Dinesh Karthik during the successful chase in the second ODI in Adelaide. The good thing is that we have got all fit, very mature, and very experienced players which makes us a very strong batting unit. And of course we have been performing very well and consistently over the past few years,” he said.
The left-hander is one of the three batsmen, along with Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu, to have not played active cricket while the Australia-India Test series was on.
Dhawan further added that he felt in good rhythm on account of the T20I series and chose to take the break to work on fitness and his skills. I had 5-6 weeks off and I was training hard. It was good because, looking forward to the World Cup; it was a good break for me. Now I’m happy to be back in the side, playing matches and raring to go. I think my rhythm is there, the way I was hitting the ball. It is very important to take a break and feel fresh, which we Indian cricketers don’t get much of, so we’re not used to it.
India has a set and firing opening combination along with a perennially in-form Virat Kohli at number three. In comparison, Australian skipper Aaron Finch is struggling for runs and his partnership with Alex Carey at the top hasn’t really clicked.
He also said that batting with Rohit, it’s normal, comfortable and we both know what to do and what not to. Not much discussion is needed. We play on automatic mode and keep having fun with each other. There is a sense of calmness and peace. We are hitting the right areas against him. We are not giving him singles or boundary options too easily. Once you create that pressure on a batsman, especially in limited-overs, he’s going to do something extra and take more risk to rotate the strike or score runs.
Talking about Friday’s match, Dhawan said that the Australian team is missing the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner, while the experience of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami is giving the Indian team an advantage at the start of their innings. Australia have a good all-round side, they have a good balanced side. Of course the presence of Smith and Warner is missing in this side. They are legends of their country and big players in the cricket world. At the same time, Bhuvi (Kumar) is very experienced as well as Shami. That’s why in the first 10 overs, we have been dominating the game. We would like to do it the same way. So we will be on our guard.
President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife on Thursday visited Allahabad and performed ‘Ganga pujan’ in the Sangam area during the ongoing Kumbh Mela, officials said.
The President and first lady Savita Kovind reached the Bamrauli airport on a special plane of the Indian Air Force around 9:30 am. They were welcomed by Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several cabinet ministers, the officials said.
President Kovind and his wife participated in ‘Ganga pujan’ in the Sangam area along with the governor, chief minister, his deputy Keshva Prasad Maurya and Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh among others.
Sangam refers to the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers.
The government on Wednesday had notified the appointment of Justices Maheshwari and Khanna as judges of the apex court. Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Sanjiv Khanna of Delhi High Court will be sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court on Friday was announced on Thursday.
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi will administer the Oath of Office to the two judges on Friday, an official circular said.
Ruskin Bond, whose supernatural stories have been made into a web series, says that he always feels that ghosts are not out to scare or harm people and one gets frightened by them because they are not like us. The 84-year-old writer says that he is not someone who dabbles in the supernatural a great deal but has grown up reading books on ghosts. Works of the early writers of ghost stories such as MR James and Algernon Blackwood have always interested him.
Bond’s stories have been adapted for films but for the first time his works are being made into a web series. The first episode of “Parchayee: Ghost Stories by Ruskin Bond” premiered on ZEE5 on January 15 and the subsequent stories will unfold till June.
In our folklore, there are various types of ghosts. There’s the ‘pret’, the ‘bhoot’ and the ‘pishach’. And they very often live in Peepul and other kinds of trees. Some years back, an old lady from a village near Agra would tell me stories about ‘pret’ and village ghosts. These stories would have elements of reincarnation. Religious beliefs too would make it into these stories. The ghosts that we otherwise read about in literature, Western ghosts or British ghosts, who the British brought to India and left behind in our hill stations and dark bungalows, they are what you’d call revenants. Someone from the dead reappearing physically, but not quite physically, Bond said.
I have always felt that the ghosts are not out to scare us or harm us. They are revisiting old haunts or places that were connected with them. Maybe, for some particular reasons or maybe simply because they are wandering around, they can pass through walls. They don’t depend on transport like we do. They are supernatural beings, so we the living feel a bit uneasy about them. But people do get frightened by them because they are not like us, Bond told PTI.
Bond also says that it is not entirely a conscious choice on his part not to make ghosts very scary. Occasionally, I have a frightening ghost because the readers demand them too. People sometimes read ghost stories to get scared. Don’t they? It’s a safe fear, in a way. At the back of your head, you know it’s not really happening. You want to be scared but you don’t want it to lead to anything disastrous. That’s why, kids like ghost stories. They like the idea of being scared but at the back of their mind it’s just a story. They don’t believe in it completely, he added.
Asked whether his place of residence provides the perfect setting for supernatural stories, he says, you could say that. Hill stations were more or less British creations. After some of them – usually the more interesting members of the community – had died or had done something, dramatic legends and stories would be heard about them reappearing. This is very much the British type of ghost. But if you go out into the villages in the hills or remote areas, the local people also have very strong supernatural beliefs, beliefs in spirits. They believe certain places are haunted. Even rocks are considered haunted. There is a belief that a certain type of individual can turn into a leopard. That again is more Indian. Whereas the obvious sort of ghost that you get in the West is again the sort you would find a colonial connection with.
Though Bond never thinks particularly about writing for the screen as nobody ever asked him, but the idea is there at the back of the mind.
I always felt that some of the stories that I had written would adapt well to the screen. I had never thought of my ghost stories being done as a series. I thought maybe the odd one might get filmed but hadn’t realised that they could make a complete series. A Kolkata-based company called Allcap Communications approached me with the idea. They discussed with me and developed 12 stories for the screen and took them to the producers of the show, Banijay Asia and Opus Communications. That’s how this series happened, he says.
Bond was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, and grew up in Jamnagar, Dehradun, New Delhi and Shimla. As a young man, he spent four years in the Channel Islands and London.He returned to India in 1955. He now lives in Landour, Mussoorie, with his adopted family.
