Fraud or Genuine: SpeakAsia.com operations remains a mystery in India

Is SpeakAsia.com a genuine company that really brings a member sudden riches and showers him with loads of cash?

The company entered Indian market recently as a marketing survey group that claims to conduct online surveys for other major mutli-national companies.

The style is the same as employed by earlier chain marketing companies including Amway. But Speak Asia's supporters claimed that it can turn you millionaire within months.

What's the reality? A Hindi newspaper Pradesh Today has recently published a story about the company's operations and it shows that all is not well.

Jobless and unemployed youths find any such chance as a gold opportunity. The company says initially you have to pay a sum to become member. Later you keep filling survey forms and as you bring more members, your earning will increase, rather skyrocket.

But is it the truth. The paper says that it is not so. The dividends aren't as much as SpeakAsia's die-hard fans make us believe. Frankly, filling forms that require no brain, just saying Yes or No to answers, which even a person with Zero IQ can do, at random, is not something that can bring you lakhs.

However, it is the financial ministry, RBI and government of India that should clear the air. If the company is genuinely giving profits and somehow people are earning money without any shady practice, then it should be given a clear go-ahead.

Else, there should be a proper inquiry and action taken against the company if claims are false. The company officials have held press conferences in the recent past. They should be asked for more proof about their claims.

There are thousands in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Madhya Pradesh (MP), Bihar and even Delhi, who feel that the membership will turn their fortunes. Will they even get their basic investment back? The controversy must end and ordinary investor must not be cheated.

Minal Residency targeted, Raj builders' mall demolished in Bhopal

In the biggest anti-encroachment action in Bhopal, the Raj builders' Minal mall was blown up using dynamite.

Hundreds of shops turned into debris within seconds in what seemed more like a targeted action driven by vengeance. The action in Minal Residency was unprecedented.

The question most asked was what was the fault of those who bought the land and shops. The administration hadn't objected when they got it registered and obtained other permissions.

If it was illegal construction, why this huge structure was allowed to come up. Raj Homes is owned by builder-turn-newspaper baron Arun Sahlot.

But if some bureaucrats or sections within the government (and ruling party) were cross with him, the ordinary  citizens who had bought the shops shouldn't have been made pawns in this game. Sahlot's paper was publishing stories and reports that attacked certain ministers and bureaucrats.

No doubt, the paper was irresponsible at times. The issue of an IAS officer, Anurag Jain, whose involvement in the proposed medical college of a Jain trust, had been taken up by the paper as a personal agenda. Some ministers' corrupt practices were also targeted.

But does that justify this action? There is no dearth of illegal encroachment in Bhopal. Raj group has said that it will compensate all the victims. But we will have to see if the promise materialises. The action must have got the nod from the top in the BJP.

One just wished that all other encroachments, be it by political bigwigs or other local strongmen are also removed and razed. Selective action sends a wrong message. Already hundreds of families have suffered hugely, as they had used their lifelong savings to buy a shop but in one go, it all went into air.

St Francis School Bhopal's condemnable step: Missionary school stops Urdu, Sanskrit

In a most unfortunate decision, the St Francis School in Bhopal decided to stop the study of Sanskrit and Urdu subjects.

The illogical decision took everybody by surprise. Saint Francis Higher Secondary School is located in Jehangirabad, a Muslim-dominated locality where there is a sizable Hindu population also.

The school that mostly imparts education in Hindi medium, has attracted students from different communities and it has completed fifty years. But the Christian missionary school suddenly decided that there will be no further classes in Urdu and Sanskrit. Students were told that if they want to study the languages, they can go to other schools.

The order said that as per CBSE guidelines there was no such proposal. Hindu and Muslim organizations have both protested the decision. While Urdu was the state language of Bhopal during the Nawabi rule and continues to be a prominent language, Sanskrit is the classical language and considered sacred by Hindus.

The Sanskriti Bachao Manch, a social outfit, staged a demonstration. Its activists even threatened to launch a mass protest against the highly objectionable and disgusting decision of the convent school. They condemned the conspiracy to deprive students of their culture. Other groups have also termed the diktat to close Urdu, Sanskrit classes as a reflection of communal mindset.

Update: After public condemnation, the school changed its tune. Principal  Brother Lucianus Lakra said that the educational institute would continue Urdu and Sanskrit courses for students, as per 'CBSE guidelines'. Apparently, the decision has been reversed now. One has to wait and see. But the arbitrary decisions that affect hundred of students and their career has shown the institution in poor light.

MP government ordered Christians' religious profiling: RSS' Agenda!

News published in Hindi evening paper Pradesh Today

A State police order that asked police in all districts to conduct a survey about Christians living in the area of jurisdiction of each police station, has led to outrage after the secret directive was leaked and newspaper got access to the document.

The secret letter directed that there should be a survey conducted to ascertain the record of each Christian-run institution, number of students studying in the schools, missionary activity and even Christian households at tehsil level in Madhya Pradesh.

The exercise surprised Christians as policemen approached. Secondly, with Census 2011 over, they got suspicious as they were once again being asked about the population and other data. This time it was forceful and in some cases, the clergymen were threatened by police.

Now that the document came in public, the State government is silent. Top officers say that the police has been directed not to collect any such data now.

But they don't utter a word as to why was such a religious profiling ordered in the first place and on whose directions, it was initiated.

Congress has termed the order as unconstitutional and said that it is part of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) agenda to hound the minorities in the BJP-ruled state. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has also said that an inquiry would be conducted to find out how this surve was ordered.