Jobs decision to resign from the post of Apple CEO has stunned the tech world and raised serious question over his health.

Steve Jobs is a cancer survivor. He had founded Apple Computer Inc Company at the age of 21.

According to the company press release, Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook has replaced Jobs as CEO. However, Jobs has been elected as the chairman of the company’s board of directors.

I his resignation message, Jobs said that he has always maintained that there ever a day come when he would not carry out his duties as Apple CEO and unfortunately that day has come.

Meanwhile, there is a adverse effect of his resignation on Compnay’s share. Only hours after the announcement, Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares dropped 5 percent.

Steve Jobs’ Biography:

Steven Paul popularly known as “Steve” Jobs is an American business magnate and inventor. Born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco, California, he was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs.

Steve Jobs founded world’s most influential Tech Company Apple Inc at the age of 21. Jobs also served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios. He was also appointed as the member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006 following Pixar’s acquisition.

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you. Steve”

Source: Apple Inc.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee says the civil society cannot dictate terms to Parliament by setting a deadline for the enactment of the Lok Pal Bill. Are you stepping in the shoes of the legislature?
The parliamentarians cannot become dictators just because they have been elected. They are not paying any attention to what the Opposition is saying. The question is to what extent does the government believe in parliamentary democracy. The government doesn’t have the licence to loot just because they have won the elections.

Will you accept a Lok Pal Bill which does not have the powers to take actions against the prime minister?
We will not accept a weak Bill that would not have the powers to take action against the prime minister. We will continue fighting for a strong Bill.
Pranab Mukherjee has alleged Anna Hazare is backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). What is your reaction?
It is unfortunate that Pranab Mukherjee is talking like that. It seems he wants to do cheap politics. If he thinks Anna Hazare is backed by the RSS or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), why doesn’t he give proof of this?

If you find the government’s attitude disappointing, why are you not resigning from the drafting committee?
They want us to get out, but we will continue our fight. We hope the government will listen to us. If the government decides not to listen, we would take to the streets again.

Do you think the government has double standards for activists of the National Advisory Council (NAC) and the Lok Pal Bill?
I don’t want to compare the Lok Pal Bill with the NAC.

Leaders of all political parties have been invited to attend the meet scheduled for 3.30pm on Wednesday.

Sources said government is of the view that some of the demands put forth by Hazare and his associates require a wider political consensus before a decision could be taken.

In a related development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday held a detailed meeting with chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, looking into the Lokpal Bill.

Sources said the meeting discussed various options to end the impasse over the issue as Hazare’s fast entered the eighth day on Tuesday.

Singhvi had on Monday said that difference between the government and Hazare on Lokpal Bill were more to do with methodology rather than content and said the Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel was open to all kinds of opinions and inputs to send a strong and acceptable to all Lokpal Bill back to Parliament.

Congress member Praveen Singh Aron has already submitted a copy of Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill for consideration of the committee

Resignation
The ‘anti’-effect of Bukhari’s message was such that a Muslim MLA from Okhla resigned from his party and joined the crowd at Ramlila Maidan. Former RJD MLA Asif Mohammad Khan said, “There are two ways to go. One is to support the movement and another is to toe the party line. I chose the first one, sensing the people’s mood.”

The leader said he was miffed over party leader Lalu Prasad’s stand on the issue and he himself did not want to go against people’s wishes. “I am people’s elected representative and will always be with them,” he said.

On Bukhari asking Muslims not to join Anna’s protest, Khan requested clerics not to give such statements. “I would request him not to divide people on religious lines. Anna’s voice is also the voice of common Muslim. I request him to respect it.”

Disgruntled Bukhari
Contending that communalism was a bigger a threat to India than corruption, Bukhari asked Anna why he and his campaign managers did not do more to involve Muslims in their anti-graft movement.

“The Gandhian needed to learn more from the Mahatma on how to spin all sections of the society together in a mass movement. I very much believe that corruption needs to be weeded out of the country. It is equally important to tackle communalism by addressing the problems of Muslims,” said Bukhari.

Complaining there was no effort on part of the campaign leaders to involve the community into their fold, the cleric said, “Why not raise more inclusive slogans like Hindustan Zindabad or Jai Hind.”

Feeding frenzy
Meanwhile, a large number of fasting Muslim volunteers were seen feeding hungry protesters at the venue. Iqbal (23), a volunteer in one of the kitchens, was seen distributing food to supporters on Sunday. “This is our struggle for freedom. I have kept my roza, but that does not deter me from feeding all these people.”

Maqsood Ull Hasan Qasmi, president of the Imam Council of India, who was present at Ramlila Maidan, asked fellow Muslims to come out in support of Anna. “We all are equal sufferers in this. This is our second freedom struggle,” he said while addressing the gathering.

God Believers Association (GBA) also held its meeting and advised the Law Minister Salman Khurshid to withdraw the bill without delay. To put any condition that Anna should end his fast first may prove a blunder for the govt.

Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist and Lead Man of GBA said, “ The govt. has already committed several political mistakes in this episode, it is better for them not to add a blunder now. If Anna’s health further deteriorates and causes some unfortunate event, the people shall not forgive the Ministers at the helm of the Govt. and Office Bearers of the Ruling Party.

Mr. J.P.Jain, the Govering Member of the God Believers Association (GBA), whose birthday fell today refused to get it celebrated due to deteriorating condition of Mr. Anna Hazare. He pressed the GBA to persuade Law Minister Salman Khurshid to hasten to withdraw the bill lest it is too late.

Three members of Team Anna namely Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan, has already held a talk with Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who was accompanied by Sandeep Dikshit. East Delhi MP, Pawan Khera, the aide of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid said that the urgency to get Anna Hazare to break his nine-day fast was more important than a “good Lokpal bill. Anna Hazare should break his fast since the bill can’t be passed before 15 days and it shall be a too late, the fast for Mr. Anna can’t withstand too long. His health is already deteriorating.

“A good bill can’t come at least before 15 days, hence Mr. Anna must break his fast to pave way for the bill

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the government’s chief negotiator, is representing the Congress in the meeting being held to discuss the deadlock over the Lokpal Bill.

The meeting has been called by the government in a bid to build consensus before a decision is taken on the Bill.

In his opening remarks, the prime minister urged political parties to show the government the way forward. This is because the issues raised by Team Anna relate to the functioning of parliamentary democracy, he said.

The prime minister also said the government was prepared to request the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to formally refer the Jan Lokpal Bill also to the Standing Committee “for their holistic consideration along with everything else”.

“The government can formally request the Standing Committee to fast-track their deliberations to the extent reasonably feasible, subject to its discretion and the necessity to reflect deeply and spend adequate time on such an important Bill,” he said.

Mukherjee was likely to meet Team Anna again on Wednesday after the all-party meeting. But there is a possibility of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs meeting before the government negotiates with Team Anna again.

PM expresses concern over Anna’s health
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed concern over anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare’s failing health.

“Yesterday, I felt that I should take a personal initiative to appeal to Shri Anna Hazareji to end his fast so that we may work together in a spirit of cooperative engagement to bring into existence a strong Lokpal,” he said.

“Our common objective is to build a strong and independent institution that will deal effectively with corruption, which is a major challenge that confronts our democracy and our nation,” he said.

A need voiced out by the people to constitute a mechanism to dealing with complaints of corruption against public functionaries in high positions led the central government to constitute a Joint Draft Committee (JDC) on 8th april 2011, to draft the an anti-graft Act.

This Act is called the Lokpal Act,2011 and extends to the whole of India. It also applies to servants outside the country. The Act provides for the establishment of the institution of ‘Lokpal’ to inquire into the allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for all other relevant matters..

Lokpal

The Lokpal is to consist of a Chairperson, who is or has been a Chief Justice of India or a judge of the Supreme Court, and eight members out of whom 50% should be judicial members.

The chairperson and the members will be appointed by the President after obtaining the recommendations of a selection committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of the People, the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People,the Leader of Opposition in the Council of States, a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister,one sitting Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the Chief Justice of India,one eminent Jurist nominated by the central government and one person of eminence in public life who has wide knowledge and experience in anti-corruption policy.

The salary of the chairperson will be the same as that of the chief justice of India and that of the members will be the same as that of judges of the Supreme Court.

The chairperson or any of the members can be removed from his or her office by the order of the President on the grounds of misbehaviour after the Supreme Court, on a reference being made to it by the President, on a petition being made by at least 100 members of the parliament or by the president on the receipt of a petition made by a citizen of India where the president is satisfied that the petition should be referred.

Powers & Functions

As per the bill, the Lokpal shall constitute an Investigation Wing for the purpose of conducting investigation of any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988. The institution may, by notification, constitute a prosecution wing and appoint a Director of Prosecution and such other officers to assist the Director of Prosecution in the prosecution of public servants in relation to any complaint by the Lokpal under this act.

The expenses of the Lokpal, including all salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of the Chairperson, Members or secretary or other officers or staff of the lokpal, has to be charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and any fees taken by the Lokpal is to form a part of that fund.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Lokpal will inquire into any matter involved in, or arising from, or connected with, any allegation of corruption made in a complaint in respect of the Prime Minister after he has resigned from office, any other person who is or has been a member of the Union, any person who is or as been a member of either house of Parliament and any group ‘A’ officer in the public services.

A complaint under this Act should only relate to a period during which the public servant is holding or serving in that capacity.

The bill clearly states the procedure of inquiry and investigation. The Lokpal on receipt of a complaint, will either make a preliminary inquiry or direct its Investigation Wing to ascertain whether the matter can be proceeded with or not. Every preliminary investigation is supposed to ordinarily be completed within a period of 30 days and if needed in particular cases, within a further extended deadline of 3 months from the date of receipt of the complaint.

After this the investigating authority shall submit its report to the Lokpal and the Lokpal has to give the public servant a chance of being heard.

The hearing of the case will be made public.

For the purpose of any inquiry, the Lokpal will enjoy all powers of the Civil Court, under the Code of Civil Procedure of 1908 while trying a suit in respect of any of the matters related to summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath, requiring the discovery and the production of any document, receiving evidence of affidavit, requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office and issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents.

Special Lokpal courts

The central government shall constitute a number of special courts as recommended by the Lokpal, to hear and decide the cases arising out of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or under this Act. These special courts are supposed to ensure completion of each trial within an year of the filing of the case.

The Lokpal is not meant to inquire into any complaint made against the Chairperson or any member and any complaint against the Chairperson or a member shall be made by an application by the party aggrieved, to the president. If on trial a public servant is seen to have been involved in some corrupt practice, then he or she will be liable of making up for the loss to the exchequer if any.

Whoever makes a false or frivolous complaint under this Act shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for at least two. The term of imprisonment can extend to 5 years and with a fine not less than 25 thousand which can be raised to 2 lakhs.

Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and former Lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission.

Retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi and other known people like Swami Agnivesh, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Anna Hazare and Mallika Sarabhai are also part of the movement, called India Against Corruption. Its website describes the movement as “an expression of collective anger of people of India against corruption. We have all come together to force/request/persuade/pressurize the Government to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill. We feel that if this Bill were enacted it would create an effective deterrence against corruption.”

Anna Hazare, anti-corruption crusader, went on a fast-unto-death in April, demanding that this Bill, drafted by the civil society, be adopted. Four days into his fast, the government agreed to set up a joint committee with an equal number of members from the government and civil society side to draft the Lokpal Bill together. The two sides met several times but could not agree on fundamental elements like including the PM under the purview of the Lokpal. Eventually, both sides drafted their own version of the Bill.

The government has introduced its version in Parliament in this session. Team Anna is up in arms and calls the government version the “Joke Pal Bill.” Anna Hazare declared that he would begin another fast in Delhi on August 16. Hours before he was to begin his hunger strike, the Delhi Police detained and later arrested him. There are widespread protests all over the country against his arrest.

The website of the India Against Corruption movement calls the Lokpal Bill of the government an “eyewash” and has on it a critique of that government Bill.

A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:

1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up

2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.

3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.

4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.

5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.

6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month’s time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.

7. But won’t the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won’t be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.

8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.

9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.