On July 3, 2019, Rahul Gandhi published his letter of resignation as president of the Congress party. “Accountability is critical for the future growth of our party,” he wrote. “It would be unjust to hold others accountable but ignore my own responsibility as President of the party.”
In the same letter he wrote: “It is a habit in India that the powerful cling to power, no one sacrifices power.”
On November 30, 2008, four days after the attacks on Mumbai began, Shivraj Patil resigned as Union Home Minister. He resigned “hours before an all party meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” Oneindia reported. Wikipedia describes him as “taking moral responsibility for the security lapse that led to the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.”
On August 2, 1999, two trains collided at Gaisal in West Bengal. The railway minister, Nitish Kumar, resigned. “He resigned in 1999 after 290 people lost their lives in the Gaisal (West Bengal) accident,” Deccan Herald recalled after the train crash in Odisha in 2023. Wikipedia gives at least 285 deaths.
The article added that he “was back as Railway Minister two years later.”
The Tata group names five core values: integrity, responsibility, excellence, pioneering and unity. Under responsibility it says: “We will integrate environmental and social principles in our businesses.” It speaks of “ensuring that what comes from the people goes back to the people many times over.” Under integrity: “everything we do must stand the test of public scrutiny.”
Infosys lists its values on its careers page. One is leadership by example: “To act on our conviction that ordinary people can be inspired and mentored to do extraordinary things.” Another is integrity and transparency: “To be ethical, sincere and open in all our transactions.”
On April 5, 2011, Anna Hazare “started an indefinite hunger strike” to demand a Lokpal law against corruption. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act “was passed in the Rajya Sabha on 17 December 2013.” It “received assent from President Pranab Mukherjee on 1 January 2014.”
The Department of Legal Affairs lists the duties of its Multi-Tasking Staff. They include “Carrying of files & other papers within the building,” “Photocopying, sending of FAX etc.,” “Watch & ward duties,” “Driving of vehicles, if in possession of valid driving licence,” and “Upkeep of parks, lawns, potted plants etc.”
The last item reads: “Any other work assigned by the superior authority.” The list, it says, “is only illustrative and not exhaustive.”
In September 2018 India won the Asia Cup under its stand-in captain, Rohit Sharma. Khaleel Ahmed, the youngest member of the team and playing his debut series, later said: “Dhoni bhai asked Rohit Sharma to let me hold the trophy on the dais.”
Dhoni had explained the habit in October 2017: “At the end of the day, we have won the trophy. It doesn’t matter who holds it.”
On August 23, 2023, Chandrayaan-3 landed on the Moon. The chairman of ISRO, S. Somanath, spoke after the landing: “All the team that contributed to building Chandrayaan-1 and 2 should be remembered and thanked.”
In classic Hindi film music, Goan musicians worked as arrangers for the composers. The composer appeared “under the designation ‘music director’ in large type in the credits.” The arrangers were listed in small print. One of them, Frank Fernand, said: “We arrangers did all the real work.”
Sebastian D’Souza, for example, was a permanent assistant to the composers Shankar and Jaikishan from 1951 to 1975.