Selective treatment

law may say all are equal, but when it comes to wealthy, influential criminals, the rules conveniently change. While small time criminals charged with theft or bribery, are held by the scruff of the neck and pushed into waiting vehicles in full media glare, the Raju brothers of Satyam, who confessed to their multi-crore scam on January 7, got a full three days before the cops decided to arrest them. And that too, on their own terms. Powerless police When arrests are made or raids are conducted, the cops usually call every scribe they know to boast of their achievement. Some officers even encourage the media to shoot questions at the suspects. But when it came to the Satyam case, the Rajus were given top class protection. While the CID blamed the delay in arrest on the fact that they were “studying” the case, the truth is that the cops had their fingers crossed till the Rajus arrived with a convoy of swanky cars, accompanied by advocates and doctors. Every effort was made to keep media personnel away. This is in sharp contrast to the treatment meted out to ‘lesser mortals’. on january 3, Jithender Raja, a mandal revenue inspector in Nizamabad district was caught and arrested, for taking a bribe of Rs 3,000. he was immediately remanded and sent to jail without any delay. In another case, Vemula Ram Mohan Rao a superintendent in Sri Laxminarsimha Swamy Devasthanam, Yadagirigutta, was arrested and sent to jail for accepting bribe of Rs 1,500. Mariamma, the wife of a petty criminal Victor (names changed), recalls how the police beat her up when she objected to her husband’s arrest. He was taken to an undisclosed place and kept for two days and produced in the court on the third day. He was kept in the police station with handcuffs all the while. T. Ranga Rao, metropolitan criminal court bar association president, admits that police treatment usually depends on the influence the suspect yields, not merits of the case. “Now with parliament passing amendments to section 41 of CrPC that gives the police power to decide whether to arrest a person or not, the discrimination will be more.” Politically correct? It’s not just the cops who treat criminals depending on their social status. our political parties too will go soft on their action if the conman is wealthy. What’s more, if the swindler is someone influential, with good contacts with top politicos, he earns the patronage of top political parties. The Satyam fiasco is a classic example of the partisan attitude of our political parties. The same politicians who vie with each other to be the first ones to comment or attack the ruling party for political mileage, were mum when the Satyam Computers fraud came to light. Though, Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, ordered a probe into the scam, the Opposition leaders kept themselves away from media glare in a bid to evade from commenting on the scam. With the Left being the only exception, all other political parties, including the TD, chose not to speak. Ramalinga Raju’s proximity with the politicos seems to be the only reason for this, many say. All these parties started voicing their “concern” only 24 hours after Raju confessed. When asked about reason for the TD’s late reaction, the party spokesperson, Dr M.V. Mysoora Reddy, said, “It does not matter whether we reacted immediately or on the next day, because we are not in power. It was the government which should have acted immediately.” As an afterthought, he said, “In fact, from the next day onwards we were very critical about this issue.” Interestingly, while Congress and TD are levelling charges against each other over the Satyam fiasco, Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam is pointing fingers at both the parties. But no one has demanded punitive action on Raju. When asked about this, the Khairatabad MLA, P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy, said, “Since Raju was the blue-eyed boy for the present government and the erstwhile TD regime, he was able to carry out this scam fearlessly.” “It wouldn’t have been possible if Raju didn’t have contacts with top politicians,” he alleged. Talking about his father, P. Janardhan Reddy, he said, “My father often expressed doubts over the financial capacity of Satyam and the undue importance given to Maytas while the government was happily allotting major projects to this firm. Had he been alive today, the situation would have been different. He would have taken up an agitation against the Rajus to protect the interests of share holders and 53,000 IT professionals in Satyam.

Road dividers pose a threat

Disturbing statistics point out that around 1,000 fatal accidents are caused every month in the city due to unmarked, broken dividers. Since most dividers have no reflective paint, stickers or studs on them, they are inconspicuous death traps that are impossible to spot at night. Areas like Ameerpet, Mathura Nagar, Sanathnagar, Karkhana, Towlichowki, East Marredpally, Kukatpally, Yosufguda and Dilsukhnagar have been identified as danger zones where the highest number of accidents are caused due to unmarked divider ends. Yet, the authorities have done nothing about them. Angry residents of these areas reveal that the condition is going from bad to worse. “There’s no divider on the entire stretch of the East Marredpally road, but after the Geeta Nursing home, a divider begins out of nowhere. I’ve seen a lot of people drive right into it,” says Arun Rao, a resident of Marredpally. While upmarket areas like Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills have well-marked dividers that are repainted and repaired every now and then, the indifference with which roads in other areas are treated, leaves tax payers fuming. The GHMC however, insists that they have “provided reflectors on most flyovers”. Subba Rao, Additional Commissioner, Traffic and Transportation, GHMC says, “We are in the process of fixing such irregularities. We will assign the contract to manufacture reflective studs to an international company soon. They can be seen on the Taj Banjara road. In the next four to five months, we will install the same in the rest of the city.” So were they waiting for this “international company” all these years? “This is a delicate question. I cannot comment on it,” Subba Rao said.

Maytas partners feel the heat

Joint venture partners of Maytas Infra are wary after the Satyam fiasco, and are keeping their fingers crossed over the mammoth projects they have taken up together. Maytas, the infrastructure firm owned by the family of the former Satyam Computer Services chief, B. Ramalinga Raju, who has been arrested for accounting fraud, has taken up mega projects worth Rs 50,000 crore, majority of them from the state, along with other companies. Maytas has joined hands with Nagarjuna Construction Company for several projects while it has partnered with Navabharat group, Soma, L&T, SREI Infrastructure, ICICI and SEW besides foreign firms like ABB and Itali Thai for others. Financial experts foresee the NCC facing problems in case Maytas is unable to raise funds from the market for the ongoing projects. Its share price has already plummeted following the controversy. “We have partnered with Maytas in four road projects, Machilipatnam port, two airports in Karnataka, a star hotel in Jubilee Hills and about half-a-dozen irrigation projects in Jalayagnam besides a power plant in Himachal Pradesh,” said Mr Y.D. Murthy, executive vice-president of NCC. These works are in different stages. While some are in the agreement stage others are still in the conceptual stage. Though the partners of Maytasa brav have put up e face, they are all keenly watching the government’s next move on the issue. “We have no equity exposure in the Machilipatnam port as the detailed project report is yet to be received,” said Hemant V. Kanoria, chairman and managing director of SREI Infra, which is partnering Maytas in the Rs 1,555-crore port project. “In the wake of the Satyam saga, we will wait for the government’s stand on the project before taking a decision.” G.R.K. Prasad, director (finance) of Navbharat group, a partner in the metro rail project said, “We are hopeful that the project will continue,” he said.

Overseas admissions made easy

If you’re wanting to go overseas to get a degree, you need to apply early and be organised. The earlier you complete your application, the better your chances of admission. Here is a quick guide… * Research is a must: Log on to the Internet and visit the websites of the universities you wish to apply to. Select a maximum of seven to eight institutes based on your goals and preferences. * Take your tests: Write your MAT, IELTS or the TOEFL (the standard application test for most major universities which also assesses your command of English). Have scores sent to the schools. * Start work on your essays: Brainstorm achievements, strengths and weaknesses. Define your goals and objectives. * Get your letters of recommendation: Select and approach the right individuals. Remind them of your achievements and provide them with a draft of your dossier as a guide for continuity. Establish clear and reasonable deadlines for completion (six to eight weeks). Give them a call after three or four weeks to find out how the letters are progressing. * Request your undergraduate transcripts: Allow for at least two months. * Complete work on your essays: Have friends and colleagues, whose opinions you value, re-read for an honest evaluation. * Mail all the completed applications: Allow time to arrive by the varsity deadline. Always request a return receipt and do keep photocopies of everything for your records.