Racket of cattle smuggling in Bengal – CBI arrests leader of Trinamool Congress

CBI arrests a Trinamool Congress leader of Birbhum district in Bengal. He is Anubrata Mondal and is suspected of having links to a cattle smuggling racket. It seems the nexus includes senior BSF officers, other politicians and officials of the local administration. The state Criminal Investigation Department CID has already nabbed a person on charges of coal smuggling. That was on July 22 and investigation revealed his links to the cattle smuggling racket. This smuggling operation was in and around Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district. He had an accomplice who operated in other districts of Malda and Murshidabad. The money involved in cattle smuggling was in the range of Rs 1,500-2,000 crore and persons at various levels received pay offs. The list included politicians, police, administration and BSF officers. Cattle smuggling racket that TMC's Anubrata Mondal was involved in had a deep nexus.

The Border Security Force BSF had informed the Union Home Ministry about the extent of smuggling on the India-Bangladesh border. The BSF also shared a list of officers suspected to be involved in the racket. The CBI and ED arrested two of them in January 2018 and April 2022. Court martial proceedings are also initiated against two other BSF officers since April 2019. During interrogation, the name of a minister’s son, who is an MLA in UP surfaced. He is believed to be a beneficiary of the proceeds of cattle smuggling. As an official of the BSF admitted - “The illegal enterprise was most rampant between 2014 and 2019 when the politician-BSF-police nexus made windfall gains.”

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Astrologers and tantriks keep august company

Godmen have always have had tremendous influence on politicians and we regularly hear of auspicious moments that the learned ones define for politicians for filing nominations, for casting the vote or for assuming office or for expansion of cabinet. In India, our actions are termed as God's wish and, we love to pray to the Almighty to shower His blessings on us mortals.
It is, therefore, quite in keeping with trends that our Prime Minister had shown his palm to a renowned astrologist.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 2 November 2015.

The astrologer had, apparently, been impressed by the palm in front of him and felt that the owner of the palm was endowed with great strength and had a more influential personality as compared to previous prime ministers. However, his personal strength was offset by the weakness of his party.
In this connection, another recent revelation is relevant. That was about the links between a tantrik and a senior leader of Bihar.
Obviously, the leaders are not fully confident of their ability to win over the voters by normal methods and, hence, rely on the supernatural powers to smoothen the path. It is a sure sign of lack of confidence.

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Retirement has never been as attractive as it is today

Once upon a time, people dreaded the retirement because it meant a life of dullness, a life minus charm, a life where one would always have to maintain a low profile for fear of antagonizing others in the family. A retired life was seen as the end of the road and one would have to wait for the inevitable and final good bye.
But – things are not the same anymore.
Those who are in Government employment are governed by an entity known as the upper age limit. How that limit has been arrived at is never disclosed but, at regular intervals, it is reviewed and increased – in the 1960s, it was 55; then it went on to become 57, then 58 and finally it reached 60. There is a clamor to increase it to 62.
However, for those not in government service, the very concept of an upper age limit is considered as something ridiculous and downright silly. The opportunities for them would have to remain unlimited like politicians.
Celebrities of the silver screen and theater should retire when the going is good because once old age sets in, the individual loses his charms. Exceptions are always there – some of them, with sunken cheeks and white beards, try to re-enact popular characters of their youth. Some of them even try to gyrate to hip swinging music of the day. The effects are not pleasant and leave a lot to be desired but, who bothers. They want to cling on to their thrones as long as they are able to.
Moreover, in the age of TVs, some of these stars gyrate to the small screen and host game shows.
Politicians are a separate breed, they abhor the very idea of stepping down with grace. The attractions of monetary rewards are temptations not easy to ignore. As experience increases, they devise newer and newer methods of augmenting their bank balances. For them, retirement is literally the end of the road.
Those who have the energy and the drive set up consulting services, or conduct coaching classes after retirement. The objectives are to utilize the expertise gained in service to help out others in the same or similar profession or to disseminate knowledge to the younger generation. In this way, they ensure that precious time is not wasted on idle thoughts. Also, such activities egg them on to keep their knowledge bank up-to-date.
With the opening up of our economy, external players in the form of banks and insurance agencies have entered the market. They have their own versions of retirement solutions. All one has to do while in service is to invest some amount that can allow him to go on world tours with his family after retirement.