KTWV 09 Issue 08: Incompetence and stupidity

In my last posting about the "affaire Principal" I drew attention to the Supreme Council having reached its "level of incompetence" as defined by the Peter Principle.

Being 7000 km away from the problem, there are many caveats that apply to any comment by me on this subject. I can only go by the media reports that I read and the inputs of persons on the frontline.

The last few days show that the Supreme Council is certainly not a body being led by "Christian" principles as it seeks to wield power, pointing fingers of lawlessness by others but failing to recognise that it is their actions which were lawless which has led to this ridiculous power struggle.

In the most recent media report Stephen’s dares DU on head, the audacity of the Supreme Council to say that being a minority institution it stands unique and outside of the laws of the body that it belongs to, is just plain playing games with a college which has provided many of the law makers of India since its independence. If such a stance is what it takes to preserve our alma mater as a Christian institution, it is not worth it as the Supreme Council is distancing it from all things Christian.

All the sympathy that I have had for the management of the institution is vanishing into thin air.

The fact that the Supreme Council appointed Rev. Valson Thambu as the Officer on Special Duty officiating as the Principal, showed the lack of respect of the law by the Supreme Council. Now that it has been publicly humiliated across the globe, it seeks to flex some muscles it does not have. This makes the Supreme Council appear even more stupid!

I do not know any of the individuals involved with this incident - but it is obvious that the players are not acting in the interests of our alma mater but their own selfish agenda.

I do wish that some of our respected "Christian" alumni in Delhi will prevail and bring some sense into the running of our beloved institution. And there is no shortage of such people.

KTWV 09 Issue 07: Hopefully back on line

(Posted on all my major blogs)

Yesterday, after some 33 days of being without my internet connection, I was put back on line. Several errors were found at the connections outside our premises and also in the Gateway.

The first thing I did after getting back my connection was test my speed. I pay for a 8 M line, but I was shocked to find my upload and download speeds were less than 500 kbps.

Additionally, I have a fixed IP and I found that the IP that I was using was not mine.

Thirdly, all my computers are connected to the internet through a Router. i found that if I went on to connect my router, I lost the internet connection.

Lastly, during the last 7 years I have used DHCP to connect to the internet. I have not used PPPoE. I found that I was unable to connect using DHCP and my own Fixed IP but only through the PPPoE which was assigning me the random IP.

All these problems has made life continue to be difficult as I am using just a single computer to connect to the internet.

I have a backload of about 6 weeks of work. With this situation I will only be able to catch up by the end of April.

I have lodged my complaint with my ISP .- and hopefully I will get some action by the end of this week.

Please bear with me till I get back into full swing.

KTWV 09 Issue 06: Urgent Warning to ALL Stephanians

When going through my spam folder which consisted of many thousands of emails, I came across this one.

prasad vijay hide details 20 Feb
to jmatthan@gmail.com
date 20 Feb 2008 10:41
subject MESSAGE OF INVESTMENT IN FINLAND TO MR JACOB MATTHAN. URGENT
signed-by yahoo.com
mailed-by yahoo.com
Dear jacob matthan,

Greetings to you this day.

I am writing you urgently for your cooperation in an issue I need you to handle with me. My name is Mr. Rajiv Vijay, I am a disabled Indian Guyanese presently based in London and a cathedralite. I was actually helping a friend Mr. Neenus Y. Khoshaba, an Australia businessman. He wants to transfer some of his Money from Iraq. Islamic people unjustly destroyed his properties without any form of pity or compensation. Mr.Neenus Y. Khoshaba, was an unfortunate victim of this attack, he was Kidnapped and Murdered .

Before his death,I assisted him to deposit the sum of $12.2 million dollars in a finance vaulting firm. These were proceeds he made secretly from various oil deals in iraq. I had the opportunity of knowing this because I was his banker. He also appealed to me to ensure that the funds were safely kept and if anything should happen to him I should make his fiance his next of kin.

I have made frantic effort to contact any relatives of Mr. Neenus Y. Khoshaba for the past two months without any success, his fiance died of shock after hearing of his death. At this point I am contacting you to act as the next of kin/original beneficiary to Mr. Neenus Y. Khoshabas fund in the bank because the bank is planning to hold the funds as "uncleared funds" and thus make it banks money since no one has come forward to claim it.

I need you to stand as the next of kin so that the funds can be processed in your name and also transferred to your account. I cannot do this alone neither can I make claims to it myself that is why I need your assistance.

If you agree to take up this responsibility, then I will facilitate the process in making you the official beneficiary to the funds and you will be required to contact the bank to instruct a transfer of the funds to your account. I want to really appeal to you that as soon as these funds are transferred to you, you will be trustworthy enough to keep it safely and also to keep it confidential.

As soon as this funds is transfered to your account I shall come over to your country for sharing of the funds accordingly. i was told that you are in finland which is where i intend to relocate to invest part of this fund and become a member of your organisation.

If you agree to assist me in this matter, you will definitely be entitled to 20% of the total for your participation and we shall use some of the money to charity and help the poor and disabled .send mail to me if you are interested in this deal. I await your reply.

Best Regards,

MR Rajiv Vijay

See how this rascal has used my alma mater connection plus the sympathy card, my current location, to get my attention.

I was one of the first to expose the Nigerian Scam which you can read on my Findians site Greed - Missile of Black Gold.

I wrote that article in 1995 and it has saved many lives and much money for many people around the world.

So please be warned, as GREED is something that lives in everyone's heart! And this scam is not just in Africa as you can get such post from Indians, Chinese, English, etc!!

KTWV 09 Issue 05: Now its gone; No it has not!

Today's media all around India, and as far as Bangkok in Thailand, is filled with the news of the departure of Rev. Valson Thambu as the Officer on Special Duty / Acting Principal of our alma mater.

The HINDU - Chennai
Valson Thampu quits St. Stephen’s

Sify News - Online / Mumbai
Thampu resigns as St Stephen?s principal

CNN-IBN - New Delhi
Thampu resigns as St Stephen's principal


The Telegraph - Calcutta
Row outlasts Stephen’s head

Thaindian News Bangkok, Thailand
St. Stephen’s acting principal resigns

One would have thought that this would have satisfied those who were after the blood of Rev. Thambu.

But the lack of managerial skills by the Supreme Council of the College has only fueled more controversy.

Firstly, they appointed Dr. M. S. Frank as the Acting Administrator, with no administrative powerrs as all decisons have to be referred to the Head of the Supreme Council, the person who has caused all the controversy to being with, The Bishop of the Church of North India (CNI).

It is the Bishop that started the entire slide with the appointment of his son to the Supreme Council of the College!

Although the appointment of Dr. Frank may be technically correct, as he was appointed by Rev. Valson to the post of Vice Principal, it only adds fuel to the fire.

Dr. Frank is also not the seniormost member of the Faculty as Dr. S. V. Easwaran, the Head of the Department of Chemistry is. However, as Dr. Easwaran is not a member of the CNI, his seniority was ignored by the Supreme Council.

Additionally, the controversy continues in the appointment of Advocate Sunil Mathew as the new Media Adviser to the College, although he is not a faculty member.

It is obvious that it is the Supreme Council which is the problem as they do not have the skills necessary to administer the College we all love.

The slippery slope continues to draw our alma mater into the news cycle and there is no one who has the ability to do the right thing - act as Christ would have wanted us to act!

Is this a classic case of the Peter Principle? :-)