Source: http://emailcharter.org
Starting today, I'm adopting The Email Charter. Makes eminent sense to me in a cluttered world.
Subrata Roy
Will Saharasri Subrata Roy sue me for this?
A sense of foreboding confronts me. I suspect I may be sued for an obscene amount and subjected to inordinate pressure for criticizing a note. But there are times you got to be strong, stand ground, and forsake reason.
Like most journalists, I received a note from the corporate communications team at the Sahara Group attempting to clarify their position on the fracas with SEBI. It was signed by the company's legal counsel.
For the life of me, I couldn't make head or tail of what the communications team was trying "communicate" or the legal counsel trying to "defend". Not for anything else, but because I haven't read such atrocious English in an awfully long time.
Just thinking: Is it possible the courts admit a suit from me arguing this is the kind of note that offends my sensibilities?
From: "Sahara Corporate Communications" < corpcommlko6@gmail.com>
Date: 21 Mar 2014 13:12
Subject: Statement from Shri xxxxxxx, Counsel for Sahara
To: < xxx@xxxxxxx.com>, "Kumar BN" < xxxxx@xxxx.com>
Cc:
Sahara will not let anybody siphon off its investor's hard earned money
Very misleading news has been circulated by SEBI stating that Sahara’s investor’s are untraceable and on Sebi's quest to locate genuine Sahara investors has become a very costly affair for the regulator and its expenses may rise further next year from about Rs 60 crore estimated for the current fiscal. It further says that SEBI has sought a permission to use a portion of Rs 5,120 crore, deposited by Saharas for refund to its investors, for settling expenses incurred or to be incurred in the matters for carrying out directions of the apex court.
Sahara has reacted strongly to this news and has shown its suspicion that a highly malicious and tactical campaign has been initiated by SEBI with a very clear intention to siphon off money from the funds that Saharas have deposited with SEBI, purely for the repayment to its investors. It is really unfortunate of a regulator, the way SEBI is blowing hot and cold, both, at a time. Only on 13.03.2014, counsel for SEBI argued before the Hon’ble Supreme Court that Saharas issue was a public issue, being subscribed by 3.03 crores of investors and as such a largest issue, while now SEBI takes a plea that Saharas’ investors are untraceable. We ask SEBI to disclose the basis of their such contention, else withdraw their statement. The fact is that, when SEBI sent about 20 thousand letters to the investors and asked that many of them were not responded, we immediately got affidavits from a large number of such investors and submitted it to the SEBI. The submitted documents includes affidavits, authentic KYC documents and photographs of almost all those investors to whom SEBI had sent the letters, of whom those who were already paid, also confirmed that they had received redemption of their investments, to their full satisfaction.
The claim of SEBI that Saharas’ investors are untraceable is an irresponsible statement, being false and baseless. In any event, as per SC order, SEBI has to associate Sahara, where it is unable to find any investor. It is not known, why SEBI is not following this direction, and why it is only interested in extracting money from Sahara, when it has not been able to refund even One Crore rupees to the investors, in more than last 15 months, out of Rs 5120 crores paid by Sahara to SEBI for this purpose. SEBI’s intentions are unfair and heavily loaded with acute malafide.
In order to achieve this sinister goal, SEBI is maligning Sahara’s name by stating that there are no investors while on 4th March, 2014 the council of SEBI admitted before Hon’ble Supreme Court that they have just completed the scanning and digitization of the 3.03 crore investor’s documents provided by Sahara. Therefore the verification process has still not started.
Sahara has provided full details of all its depositors, including those whom Saharas have repaid. The monies Rs 5120 crore that has been given to SEBI by Sahara is purely for repayment to its investors and not for any kind of miscellaneous expenses to be incurred by any party. The Minister of Finance, Shri Namo Narayan Meena answering to a question on the floor of the parliament has clearly stated that the money given by Saharas is only for refund to Saharas’ investors and the money would not be utilized for any other purpose.
The money received by SEBI will only be used for the repayment of the investors and till now SEBI has only refunded only Rs. 1 crore. This is a sinister attempt by SEBI to eat away investors’ money. Till now, in Saharas’ case SEBI has not shown any intention to protect the interest of investors, for which it has been constituted. How can SEBI even think of usurping investors’ money?
We will not let SEBI make this another Golden Forest Case where investors have still not got their hard earned money and will stand and fight till the end in the interest of our Hon’ble investors.
We request you to carry our objection with the same prominence and in its entirety.
XXXXX XXXXXX
Advocate
Maria Popova: Picture by Elizabeth Lippman for the New York Times
On Writing, from the masters
I can't help but share this link because it contains thoughts and tips on writing from 70 masters of the art and craft. It was compiled by Maria Popova of Brainpickings.
If you enjoy this compilation and the other superbly curated material she puts up, please consider making her a small payment to support what she does. And while there, do take a look at her essay 7 things I learned in 7 years of reading, writing and living. My favorite there is Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind: Cultivate that capacity for “negative capability.” We live in a culture where one of the greatest social disgraces is not having an opinion, so we often form our “opinions” based on superficial impressions or the borrowed ideas of others, without investing the time and thought that cultivating true conviction necessitates. We then go around asserting these donned opinions and clinging to them as anchors to our own reality. It’s enormously disorienting to simply say, “I don’t know.” But it’s infinitely more rewarding to understand than to be right — even if that means changing your mind about a topic, an ideology, or, above all, yourself.
Kathy's Song
I don't think I will ever, ever tire of listening to this song. It refuses to seep out of me. Even when I had no memory, the song played in my head. How can something as beautiful as this fade away? Thank you Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. For once, just once, can the both of you come together on stage and sing this song? I'll move heaven and earth with my love to listen to you.
I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my roof and walls.
And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies.
My mind's distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you're asleep
And kiss you when you start your day.
And a song I was writing is left undone
I don't know why I spend my time
Writing songs I can't believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme.
And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you.
And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain
There but for the grace of you go I.
No City for Running
After a 90 minute run walk yesterday, Rajat said I ought to go easy today with 10x3 and a minute of walking between the reps. Because I was up for a good part of last night, I thought a late evening run good. What you see here is what I was up against. Ghastly!
Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road in Mumbai
Nobody really gives a rat's backside for pedestrians in Mumbai. And if you're trying to run, the good lord help you. The oncoming traffic hurtles through every which nook and corner. Drivers honk and stare at you in much the same way they would at an alien. Instead of letting you pass by, you get abused for coming in the way of what are technically marked as pedestrian pathways.
You could ask why not hit a park; or someplace quiet? Short answer: Moral policing in this apparently cosmopolitan city. There are three parks around where I stay. Bonus factoid: All of them were built by the local corporator on land marked as no-development zones. His ugly mug plasters entry and exit points to all of these places. It's his private fiefdom. Opens in the mornings at an hour he thought up appropriate. Stays shut through the day. Opens in the evening for three hours. And people are shooed out of the place post 19:00. Apparently, his morals don't allow young couples holding hands "too late". Ours is a fragile society, you see.
Then there are treadmills at the gym. I'm not entirely sure if I'm the only one who feels this way. But why do they play loud rubbish that passes off for music to pump the adrenaline? When I run, I just want to run, and be with myself. I don't want to see no beefcakes and other finely crafted specimens doing their shindig.
To cut a long story short, two reps down the line, my body wasn't screaming for mercy. My lungs were telling me don't stop. We can punish ourselves through this smog for another rep. But this city I love so much told me this ain't no place for running.
Am I being anal? Or am I getting to be a cranky man?
We, The Journalists
I've been waiting a while to see how The News Minute turns out. The beta version is now live. And I just stumbled on an outstanding essay by editor-in-chief Chitra Subramanian, We, The Journalists.
Having spent 21 years in various newsrooms, I know every word of what she's written in the essay matters. The questions she points out to, ought to be posted on the desks of every journalist who deals with the powerful.
- What power have you got?
- Where did you get it from?
- In whose interests do you exercise it?
- To whom are they accountable?
- How can we get rid of you?
It will serve well to remind that in dealing with great power, comes great responsibility.
The full essay is here. And The News Minute looks promising. May I suggest you bookmark the site?