India's Superpower Euphoria CCLXVI
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India’s Superpower Euphoria CCLXVI
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No toilets costs India $54 billion annually – World Bank
A not-so-incredible India
A lack of toilets and poor hygiene practices in India cost Asia’s
third largest economy almost $54 billion every year, the World Bank
said on Monday.
Premature deaths, treatment for the sick, wasted time and
productivity, as well as lost tourism revenues, are the main reasons
for the high economic losses, the bank said in a report.
Image: A boy walks to a latrine outside his makeshift home at a slum
in Mumbai
Text: Reuters
Images: AP/Reuters
Bearing the brunt
‘For decades, we have been aware of the significant impacts of
inadequate sanitation in India,’ Christopher Juan Costain, the World
Bank’s head for South Asia’s water and sanitation programme, told a
news conference.
‘The report quantifies the economic losses to India, and shows that
children and poor households bear the brunt of poor sanitation.’
Image: Children play in an open sewer at a slum in Mumbai
Poor public health
The study ‘Economic impacts of inadequate sanitation in India’ is
based on figures taken from 2006, but experts say these remain similar
now.
It said the largest economic loss was as a result of poor public
health.
World Bank experts say there are 450,000 deaths out of 575 million
cases of diarrhoea in every year in India, where millions of people in
both rural and urban areas still have to defecate in the open, do not
wash their hands and cope with poor drainage systems.
Image: A malnourished child sits at the doorway of his makeshift home
at the Rafiq Nagar slum in Mumbai
Billions lost; privacy too
The premature deaths, treatment of the sick for illnesses like
diarrhoea, malaria, trachoma and intestinal worms, as well as the time
lost due to illness is costing $38.5 billion alone.
A further $10.7 million is lost in ‘access time’, the report said –
time spent looking to access a shared toilet or open defecation site
compared to having a toilet in one’s own home.
Inadequate toilets in schools and work places also incurred losses as
women and girls are often absent or refuse to attend due to the
indignity of lack of privacy.
Image: Prakesh, a migrant worker takes bath near an open sewer at a
slum in Mumbai
Impact on tourism
Tourism revenues suffered from the lack of proper sanitation and
costing the country about $260 million, Costain said.
‘We all hear about people worrying over Delhi Belly, but tourists are
reluctant to come here due to health concerns like this and this is
losing India money,’ he said.
Image: Homeless children use blankets to protect themselves from the
cold under a flyover in New Delhi.
Rs 817cr funds lie unused as Maharashtra is home to largest no. of
urban poor
Madhavi Rajadhyaksha, TNN, Feb 25, 2011, 02.51am IST
Tags:urban poor|JNNURM|funds unused
MUMBAI: Maharashtra is home to the largest number of urban poor in the
country, but Rs 817.63 crore meant to provide them basic amenities
remain unused. Latest Union minister of housing and urban poverty
alleviation figures reveal that the state has utilized only 42% of
funds released under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM)’s sub-mission for the urban poor.
Maharashtra has 1.46 crore urban poor and has received the largest
share of funds — Rs 1,409.69 crore — from the Centre. JNNURM projects
work in select cities and are based on a shared model of funding
between the centre, state and civic bodies.
The funds are meant to provide urban poor with improved housing, water
supply and sanitation. They are also used to ensure that they receive
other universal services such as education, health and social
security.
Among the poor performers, Maharashtra’s utilisation lags even behind
Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh where governments have used
46%, 46% and 4% central funds. Among the worst performers are Punjab
and Goa.
Officials said reasons for under-utilisation range from slow progress
of projects, non-furnishing of project proposals for sanction and lack
of litigation-free land. Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ Centre for
Urban Governance and Planning chairperson Amita Bhide said the state
government interprets basic services to the poor mostly in terms of
slum rehabilitation.
”Within that too there are no projects for improvement of slums, but
largely only for relocation of slumdwellers to far-flung areas,” she
said.
”While the goals are ambitious, they are not in keeping with the
people’s needs.” She said the projects often require coordination of a
lot of factors such as procuring land, building designs and
permissions as well as resistance from the people who are relocated.
National Alliance of Peoples Movement’s Simpreet Singh said ironically
Maharashtra government often uses the lack of funds as an excuse for
not providing affordable houses to the poor in cities.
A quiet man who’s lonely at the top
Bhaskar Roy, TNN, Feb 20, 2011, 12.19am IST
Comments (2)
Tags:UPA|Sonia Gandhi|Ram Vilas Paswan|Manmohan Singh
Out of his hospital bed after a second heart bypass in the summer of
2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled around the country and
addressed more than 50 public meetings. The Left’s exit had made his
government shaky.
Important allies like Laloo Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan had just left
the ruling coalition, sensing an uncertain future. Deep in recession,
smudged by the ghostly footprints of terror, India was a bleak place
in an almost Dickensian way. The main Opposition BJP had launched a
blistering attack on Singh, hoping he was frail and vulnerable enough
to cave in.
That calculation went awry. Two years down the line, everyone knows
why. Ordinary Indians did not like the shrill war cry to hound a
decent man who, despite having been in active politics for 20 years,
is very unlike the typical Indian politician. That is Singh’s
advantage. Regrettably, it is also his weakness. Caught in a swirl of
allegations and accusations about scams and irregularities committed
right under his nose, he tried something he previously did on the
noisy election campaign trail — putting his case to the people with
candour, using a televised session with sharpshooters of the 24X7 news
channels.
But Singh is no Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Jyoti Basu. He cannot roll out
one-liners with elan. So he faced the nation upfront, seeking to
stress the contrast between what he believed to be his honest image
and the allegations of his opponents. This time, it did not work. Few
were convinced by his argument that scams were a necessary evil in the
coalition era. Many were unimpressed by his attempt to explain A.
Raja’s escapades as the price paid to keep the coalition going.
The distance between Singh, the honest non-political politician and
his army of aam admi supporters has begun to grow. Manmohan Singh
watchers find this distressing. Singh is an unlikely politician, who
has reached the top without taking the familiar route. Early in his
student life he had no plans to study economics, the subject that
would one day build his reputation and pave the way for his political
success. He opted for medicine under parental pressure. Then a book
changed the course of his life.
“I read Minoo Masani’s ‘Our India’ and that book had a profound impact
on me,” Singh told this correspondent, looking relaxed after casting
his vote in Guwahati in the 2009 election. (Singh is registered as a
voter in Assam). He was in the mood to talk. “I wanted to know the
cause of our poverty. Someone said I should study economics for that.”
He did. The rest is history. Half-a-century on, he is now looking back
on his life and all its strange twists and turns for a book his
daughter Daman is writing on her parents. When he can squeeze time
from his pressing schedule, the PM has a session with Daman. She has
published two novels so far. The new one may take a while yet.
Despite all his current problems, Singh’s routine remains disciplined
and pretty much the same. Early in the morning, he reads the main
newspapers carefully. He relishes the ‘Financial Times’, London, which
arrives by the evening. He has a brisk walk and also goes on the
treadmill. Of late, he has read up extensively on China, the other
Asian giant competing to the next world economic superpower. Just
recently too, he has been reading veteran journalist B G Verghese’s
memoir “First Draft”. His musical taste has not varied from Gurbani
and ghazals.
Prime minister or not, Singh is clearly the typical middle-class
Indian man — intelligent but without a larger-than-life dream. He
neither has the famed charisma of the Nehru-Gandhis nor Vajpayee’s
folksy rapport with crowds.
Perhaps he never aspired to any of this. He is in politics —but is
not. A rare moment when he livened up enough to shed his usual
stoicism was the evening economist Jagdish Bhagwati delivered the
annual Hiren Mukherjee lecture in Parliament. Singh bent forward in
his seat, all the better to grasp every point his former colleague
made. Later, he spoke about their association with unusual warmth. Is
this academic a complete misfit in politics?
Perhaps not. Underneath the intellectual refinement of the scholar,
lies a ruggedness, last seen in his battle with the Left over the
nuclear deal. In a couple of face-offs with BJP strongman L K Advani,
he put on a rare display of aggression. But those were straight
encounters, eyeball to eyeball. In the last few months he has been
targeted for the follies of his ministers and party colleagues. He has
been lampooned for his failure to prevent the likes of an A Raja.
Buried under the avalanche of accusations, Singh appears vulnerable
and his oldest daughter, Upendra, says he is sensitive about his
image. “The quality of his character has not been appreciated enough,”
says Upendra, who teaches history at St Stephen’s College.
“He should have been thick-skinned…Not that he is immune —when he goes
through a difficult situation he reacts,” she says, describing the
family’s attempt to support Singh when he is distressed.
The typical politician might have shrugged off the allegations with a
mix of abrasiveness and nonchalance. Not Singh. So Congress president
Sonia Gandhi had to walk from her residence one afternoon to the
adjacent party headquarters to launch a broadside against the
Opposition in defence of Singh. “The whole world knows about the Prime
Minister’s honesty,” she said.
It is now Singh’s turn to speak for himself.
Will the real Manmohan Singh please stand up?
Readers’ opinions (2)
Dabang (Pune)
20 Feb, 2011 06:04 PM
Intellectual and a great strategist among wrong people.
Agree (5)
gopi (Jaipur)
20 Feb, 2011 04:30 PM
Must be the biggest joke of decade! After reading Masani, he bacame a
leading pro-statist economist n even joined our worst – THE deformer –
econ regime (Indira Raj) as top policy adviser in 70′s! He only proves
how fake he is – only our man of “impeccable integrity” can perform
such acrobatics! JAI HO~
Agree (2)Disagree (6)
NDA initiated Devas deal: PM
HT Correspondent
New Delhi, February 25, 2011
First Published: 01:23 IST(25/2/2011)
Last Updated: 01:36 IST(25/2/2011)
17 Comments
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh turned the tables on the leader of
opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, on Thursday, pointing out
that the discussions on the Antrix-Devas deal — which Jaitley had
called the “mother of all sweetheart deals” — began when the
opposition was in power.
Jaitley quizzed the government on the credentials of the US company
that promoted Devas, Forge Advisors. “The question is better posed to
his own party leadership and to the then prime minister,” Singh said.
He said discussions between Forge Advisors and Indian Space Research
Organisation (Isro) and its commercial arm, Antrix, were initiated in
March and May 2003, respectively, and continued throughout 2003-04.
The Forge-Antrix memorandum of understanding between was signed in
July 2003 when Jaitley’s party was in power and then prime minister AB
Vajpayee was the minister-in-charge of the department of space.
Reading from a prepared text, Singh said Jaitley had confused S-band
space segment capacity with terrestrial spectrum while quoting figures
in the range of lakhs of crores. “That has no basis in fact as no
allocation of terrestrial spectrum has been made by the government to
either Antrix or Devas.”
He, however, called the 2G spectrum and CWG-related scams “unfortunate
developments”, and said no wrongdoer would go unpunished. Referring to
the 2G scam, the PM said there was nothing wrong with the telecom
policy being pursued since 1999 and it had paid “rich dividends,”
though the fault lay with the implementation. “People talk of scams
and if there is a scam, it must be dealt with.”
On black money, he said the problem had not occurred only four to five
years ago. It was older than that. “The Centre was ready to sit with
all to discuss how to deal with it and suggestions would be
considered.”
18 comments
*
Ramesh Talwani 8 minutes ago
WHAT A PRIMEMINISTER? IF NEHRU LOST MORE THAN 10,000 SQ.KILOMETERS OF
LAND TO CHINA,POOR MMSINGH AND HIS PARTY IS ALSO ENTITLED TO BUY PEACE
AT SOME PRICE.IF NEHRU CREATED KASHMIR PROBLEM MMSINGH HAS EVERY RIGHT
TO FURTHER WORSEN THE CONDITIONS.NO WONDER INDIAN GETS TORN OR BURNED
IN SHRINAGAR.SLOGANS LIKE INDIAN DOGS GO BACK ARE SEEN.
A GREAT JOB RESPECTED PM?
*
Dinesh 11 minutes ago
12′ 0 Clock is stuck on SARDAR’s head. Wake-UP.
*
Jagan 13 minutes ago
Even if the scam has started when NDA was in power, it is wrong. But
what were the present PM and UPA doing at that time? Did they not have
the capacity to understand the details of the deal?
How long is he going to say these scams are ” Unfortunate
developments” and the wrong doer will be punished? When will people
see that happening?
These developments are unfortunate not only for UPA but for the
country as a whole! The nation has earned a dubious distinction of
being one of the most corrupt countries!
Do these scams demonstrate equitable distribution of wealth amongst a
few!
It is strange to see petty thieves are handcuffed and paraded in the
streets but the Mega thieves are escorted by officials and taken by
SUVs and plane and given home made food and five star medical
treatment for no ailments!
They get VIP treatments even after they are proved to be culprits!
Probably, when they were in position, they took CARE of THEMSELVES
with peoples’ money and after the investigation, the Government takes
CARE of them with the same PEOPLE’s money.
The money made by them earlier is with the family members!
It is frustrating to read such comments made by none other than PM!
*
Jami 18 minutes ago
If NDA was corrupt why did you not expose them – after all you have
been incharge since 2004. Either you have not been in charge or you
are frustrated with all the scams that are getting exposed and
responsibility lies at your door. Be a true leader and take
responsibility without looking for ‘bahanas’. Looks like Akshay Kumar
will have to re-make “Singh is King” with the title “Singh is Scam
King”
4 people liked this.
*
Poor-Indian 18 minutes ago
And tomorrow they will say it was Lal Bahadur shastri who has
initiated the ISRO deal.
After that they will say it’s mahatma gandhi, who signed the ISRO
Deal.
2 people liked this.
#
Poor-Indian 22 minutes ago
And tomorrow they will say it was Lal Bahadur shastri who has
initiated the ISRO deal.
After that they will say it’s mahatma gandhi, who signed the ISRO
Deal.
2 people liked this.
#
Ramesh_dukani12 23 minutes ago
okay talks were initioated in 2003..but man you actually signed the
deal….and now manumohan say tht he didn’t know anything…
1 person liked this.
#
veekay 39 minutes ago
Dear prof Kriplani
You could not be more correct than this. BJP and it’s members,
especially Jetley, Sushma, Advani and that childish Gadkari are past
masters in the art od spreading disinformation and raise non-issues in
a shril voice to attract attention. The national issues are serious
business and must be discussed appropriately at the right forums such
as the Parliament. Man Mohan Singh is a great economist, nationalist,
honest and a very competent person. Whole world listens to him, but
for these rogue elements in India their own petty and selfish
interests are more important.
1 person liked this.
#
Ayukt 31 minutes ago in reply to veekay
Now go and beg in the church and sell your self for a rice bowl.
1 person liked this.
#
Prof. B. Kriplani 53 minutes ago
Dr. Manmohan Singh is a honest, descent, intelligent and a nationalist
leader. There is thus a foreign effort to remove him so that foreign
powers could take control of India and also install and encourage
corrupt people.
Most people in the BJP are corrupt including Gadhkari. Congress Party
iis also full of corrupt guys and Dr. Singh is slowly and surely
getting rid of corrupt people all over without creating chaos in the
process. Dr. Singh only cares of India and her people and not the
chair. Give him 10 more years and see the results.
3 people liked this.
#
Dr. Bhilalvarma 40 minutes ago in reply to Prof. B. Kriplani
The most dishonest and crooked PM working just for Vatican agents.
1 person liked this.
#
Xyz 41 minutes ago in reply to Prof. B. Kriplani
I believe this could be considered as SARDAR joke of the year
#
Yogesh 57 minutes ago
It is 2011 now and there is no NDA at central government since 2004.
Since 2004 it is UPA which is ruling at center. PM is talking rubbish.
4 people liked this.
#
Chief Guest 1 hour ago
What a fantastic statement “Manmohan Singh turned the tables on the
leader of opposition “, it should be “Manmohan Singh justify corrupt
practices right under his nose”. Manmohan Singh has turned out to be
the most corrupt and crooked person in Congress yet. It seems his
failure is intentional to justify every scam under the garb of “I
didn’t know” or just say nothing.
7 people liked this.
#
aryan 1 hour ago
dont believe this lier Prime Minister any more. He is dishonest,
mischievious and a habitual lier. He is not suited for even a chaprasi
job !! Kick this man from every angle so that he understands the
gravity of the situation !!
5 people liked this.
o
Chief Guest 1 hour ago
What a fantastic statement “Manmohan Singh turned the tables on the
leader of opposition “, it should be “Manmohan Singh justify corrupt
practices right under his nose”. Manmohan Singh has turned out to be
the most corrupt and crooked person in Congress yet. It seems his
failure is intentional to justify every scam under the garb of “I
didn’t know” or just say nothing.
7 people liked this.
o
aryan 1 hour ago
dont believe this lier Prime Minister any more. He is dishonest,
mischievious and a habitual lier. He is not suited for even a chaprasi
job !! Kick this man from every angle so that he understands the
gravity of the situation !!
5 people liked this.
o
Xyz 1 hour ago
sardar pagal ho gaya
6 people liked this.
o
Irnbru16 1 hour ago
Frustrated cat scratches the pole…
Mr PM, if NDA had started the deal and it was dodgy, so why in this
world u hadn’t scrapped it?
5 people liked this.
House on fire: Sushma, Pranab exchange barbs
TNN, Feb 25, 2011, 02.24am IST
Tags:Sushma Swaraj|Pranab Mukherjee|2G spectrum case
NEW DELHI: The government’s disregard for the indictment of its
policies in the 2G spectrum case by its own auditor and its weak alibi
in offering coalition politics as the reason for not being able to
crack down on corruption had placed it in the dock, leader of
opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.
In a discussion on a motion moved in Lok Sabha to set up a joint
parliamentary committee that saw Swaraj being repeatedly challenged by
finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and parliamentary affairs minister
Pawan Bansal, the BJP leader said political compulsions did not mean
having to tolerate corruption.
She said the BJP had to put away issues like abolition of Article 370
granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir but did so as its
coalition partners did not agree. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in
his press conference last week suggested that arrested DMK leader A
Raja had to be tolerated as the telecom ministry was not with
Congress.
“It is not the opposition but the CAG that had brought out the scam
and you are running down the institution,” she said.
Bansal hit back saying the BJP-led NDA was forced to accept a tainted
defence minister as George Fernandes was convenor of the coalition.
Mukherjee reminded Swaraj that it was the BJP that set a precedent by
disrupting the introduction of the council of ministers in Lok Sabha
when UPA-1 took office in May 2004.
Mukherjee also said BJP did not think twice before interrupting the
rail budget either, to which Swaraj replied that Congress had already
done so when NDA was in power. The sharp exchanges did enliven
proceedings as leaders tested one another’s wits, but it also
indicated that the bitterness in Congress-BJP ties is likely to
linger.
Swaraj said the BJP could not be blamed for the standoff that resulted
in the winter session of Parliament last year being reduced to a near-
zero in terms of business transacted. She said it was the government’s
obduracy in not agreeing to a JPC that attracted the intervention of
the Supreme Court that is now monitoring the 2G probe.
The vacuum in the government’s decision-making resulted in the apex
court demanding an affidavit from the PM on the 2G allocations,
something that had not happened earlier, Swaraj reminded Singh. “If
you had accepted out demand, the judiciary would have no ground for
over activism,” she said.
Taking up the appointment of P J Thomas as CVC, Swaraj said the
government had chosen to err in insisting on an officer who is facing
a chargesheet. “Once again, you chose to ignore constitutional norms
and that resulted in the SC questioning your decision,” she said.
‘PMO, Cabinet not aware of Devas deal’
TNN, Feb 25, 2011, 02.27am IST
Tags:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh|ISRO-Devas deal
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the PMO and
the Cabinet were not aware of the Isro-Devas deal, but failed to
convince the Opposition which alleged that key officials of the
government and PMO were aware of allocation of spectrum for a paltry
amount.
Addressing the issue during question hour in Rajya Sabha, the PM stuck
to the line he took at his recent interaction with TV editors,
maintaining that Isro did not inform either the Cabinet or the PMO
that the deal involved allocation of valuable S-band spectrum to the
private firm.
The denial was prompted by a query from BJP’s Prakash Javadekar
whether PMO was aware of the deal. “There was no question of Prime
Minister’s Office being asked to approve this deal. It never came to
that level,” Singh said. Antrix Corporation, the PM said, was a
commercial arm of Isro and in normal course, its deals like the one
with Devas did not come to the government for approval. “These things
do not come to the government for approval,” he said.
Only the launch of two satellites “came to the Cabinet,” the PM said.
“It did come to the Space Commission. But it (Devas-Antrix deal) was
not mentioned even in the Cabinet note, that there was a specific
commitment under this agreement,” he clarified.
Unimpressed by the clarification, leader of opposition Arun Jaitley
spoke of the involvement of former minister of state in the PMO, the
cabinet secretary as well as officials there in the deal. Referring to
the PM’s claim about Isro not keeping the Cabinet informed about the
deal with Devas, Jaitley said several steps ought to have been taken
before the matter was brought to the PM and his Cabinet colleagues.
“The Space Commission is involved. We are given to understand that the
minister of state in the PMO, the principal secretary to the PM, the
NSA and the cabinet secretary were all privy to that decison,” he
said.
Jaitley also said the agreement provided that the private company was
entitled to use 90% of 70 MHz S-band spectrum for a quantum of money
that was “completely inadequate”.
PC was on board vis-a-vis 2G pricing: Manmohan
TNN, Feb 25, 2011, 02.43am IST
Tags:TV editors|Manmohan Singh|2G pricing
NEW DELHI: Manmohan Singh put up a robust defence of his government
against opposition charges on Thursday in Parliament, striking a very
different note from his mien during a recent interaction with TV
editors. It was unfortunate that there was an attempt to create
“appearances of differences” between different ministries on pricing
of airwaves, the PM said.
While Singh dealt with the opinions of the finance and telecom
ministries briefly in Lok Sabha, he elaborated in the upper House.
Saying he wanted to set the record straight, the PM robustly rejected
claims — not denied by Chidambaram — that finance ministry was
uncomfortable with 2G pricing and allocation.
“The leader of the opposition alleged that I have distanced myself
from key policy decisions and also that spectrum pricing was decided
against the explicit dissent of the then finance minister… the record
clearly shows that the then finance minister, while he initially had a
different view, which he communicated to me on January 15,
subsequently consulted with the minister, telecommunications, and the
two ministers worked out an agreed formula on spectrum charges, which
was reported to me in a meeting on July 4, 2008,” Singh said.
With this, the PM sought to check murmurs within his Cabinet about
differences over the wider culpability for jailed telecom minister A
Raja’s actions in implementing the first-come first-served policy. The
PM’s assertion could be open to further questions as by July 2008, the
licences and spectrum had already been allocated.
The PM added, “Furthermore, this decision that was put to me by the
two ministers was in line with the recommendations of TRAI in its
report of August 2007. In that report, TRAI had clearly stated that
only 3G spectrum should be auctioned and the policy for 2G spectrum
should continue on the same basis as before… The two ministers had
agreed on this, because of legacy considerations, and I accepted their
recommendation.”
Singh also elaborated on his role in the controversy kicked up by a
spectrum and transponder deal India’s space agency Isro entered into
with private firm Devas. As telecom minister Kapil Sibal did in the 2G
case, the PM told Jaitley that he should ask the BJP leadership about
the credentials of an entity called Forge Advisers involved with
Devas.
Telecom minister’s taunt leaves BJP fuming
TNN, Feb 25, 2011, 02.33am IST
Tags:Telecom minister Kapil Sibal|NDA regime|BJP
NEW DELHI: Telecom minister Kapil Sibal got under BJP’s skin when he
stuck to his guns that the government auditor’s estimated loss in 2G
allocations — the higher limit being Rs 1.76 lakh crore — was premised
on auctioning of spectrum which had never happened, including during
the NDA regime.
He asked who should be sent to jail for not auctioning spectrum during
the NDA regime, seeking to draw a parallel between Congress and BJP on
telecom policy. It sparked vociferous protests from saffron heads who
accused Sibal of digressing from the motion on the JPC to preempt its
findings.
The telecom minister’s speech on the much-awaited government move to
form a parliamentary panel on the 2G scam provoked Congress’s main
rival no end and gave the ruling benches hope that the Opposition
could be tarred by the same brush.
In a related development, there was some suspense on who would head
the JPC as no announcement was made. It is expected that the Speaker
will name Congress veteran P C Chacko on Friday.
In Lok Sabha, Sibal’s combative charge would have passed unchallenged
but for the intervention of former finance ministers Jaswant Singh and
Yashwant Sinha who dubbed Sibal’s disgressing into details on CAG
report pending before the Public Accounts Committee as unacceptable.
An angry Sinha at one point shouted “we do not want it (JPC)” and
asked leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee to withdraw the motion.
Taking the floor after leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, who slammed
the government for wasting the winter session by resisting JPC, Sibal
focussed on the point that NDA set out the “first-come first-served”
policy in telecom sector.
At the same time, Sibal said losses given by CAG were presumptive
premised on auction as policy which never existed. He clarified his
“zero loss” statement was misrepresented, saying he had said “the loss
is nil”.
The minister said the same CAG report quoted by the BJP had accused
the NDA government of causing a loss of Rs 12,214 crore, and asked who
should be jailed for it.
Sibal tried to score another political point when he attacked Swaraj
for saying that the PM had told the press last week that he had
compromised on corruption. “He only talked about the compulsions in
coalition politics like you had,” Sibal said, adding the PM’s remark
referred to coalition partners cornering select ministries.
Telecom policy sound, scam if any will be dealt with: PM
2011-02-24 18:50:00
New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) In a very significant speech, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh Thursday asserted that there was nothing wrong with the
current telecom policy that has paid rich dividend in improving tele-
density and bringing down tariffs and ‘if there is a scam’ in its
implementation it will be dealt with.
‘My own view has been as far as the telecom policy that was sought to
be implemented by the United Progressive Alliance government, in the
basic policy, there was nothing with that,’ the prime minister told
the Lok Sabha Friday.
‘People talk of scams. If there is a scam, it must be dealt with. The
law of the land must punish wrong doers but we must not overlook the
fact of this tremendous growth of telecom sector which has taken place
as a result of sound policies of our government.’
His reference was to the corruption scandal alleged in the award of
radio spectrum, or airwaves – a scarce national resource – to mobile
phone service providers in 2008 which the country’s official auditor
felt had resulted in a loss of between $12.8 billion and $40 billion.
This had even resulted in DMK senior DMK leader A. Raja resigning as
communicastions and IT minister Nov 14 last year and his subsequent
detention for questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
along with at least three of his key aides.
The prime said tele-density in India had witnessed tremendous growth
over the years and that was made possible only through the National
Telecom Policy — of not auctioning radio frequency spectrum.
‘If you look at the figures, in March 2004 the tele-density in rural
areas was 1.55 percent and in urban areas it was 20.5 percent. Total
tele-density in India in March 2004 was 7.7 percent,’ he said.
He said the figures in December 2010 show that the rural tele-density
had increased to 31.18 percent and in urban areas it was 47 percent.
‘The total tele-density has gone to 66 percent,’ he said.
‘There is nothing wrong in the telecom policy. Our government has
continued the same path and that policy has paid rich dividends,’ he
said.
This was the first time that the prime minister has spoken at length
on this issue after it was alleged that the nation had lost huge sums
of money because of favouritism in the allotment of spectrum.
In the backdrop of the award of second generation telecom spectrum,
the prime minister said he was being asked about the concerns and
problems in the sector as a whole and that his replies were based on
one simple factor.
‘My respectful answer to that is that when I look at the telecom
policy the ministry had decided not to go for auction for level
playing field — and we should continue this path. Telecom must become
accessible,’ he said.
At the same time, he added, he was aware of the way the policy was
implemented.
‘These problems are now being looked into by the joint parliamentary
committee, public accounts committee and the Central Bureau of
Investigation. Our government will fully cooperate with all these
agencies to ensure truth comes out.’
JPC meetings to mirror stormy House sessions?
TNN, Feb 25, 2011, 02.30am IST
Tags:Parliament session|JPC hearings
NEW DELHI: The sharp exchanges in Lok Sabha during the debate over
Joint Parliamentary Committee on spectrum scam has raised the
possibility of JPC hearings turning into a confrontation between the
government and the opposition.
Speakers from the opposition, particularly leader of opposition Sushma
Swaraj, chose tough rhetoric, discarding the moderation she displayed
on Tuesday when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh struck a confrontational
note while announcing the probe. Members of the government were
equally combative. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee questioned Swaraj
several times during her speech, while telecom minister Kapil Sibal’s
aggressive remarks caused the BJP benches to erupt.
Sibal withdrew his remarks that were deemed as provocation by BJP and
even apologised. But the truce was temporary and Sibal soon resumed
fire, leading former finance minister Yashwant Sinha to say that the
government might as well take back the resolution to set up the JPC.
He also objected to the telecom minister getting into the details of
the report of the CAG when it was before Parliament’s PAC.
If the fact that the scope of the probe — from 1998 to 2009 — covers
the NDA’s tenures will see the two sparring, the parties’ choice of
representatives on the JPC also suggests that the confrontation may be
carried into the committee.
Kalmadi attacks Sheila, says she should be summoned by CBI
PTI, Feb 24, 2011, 09.51pm IST
Comments (26)
Tags:Suresh Kalmadi|Sheila Dikshit|CWG
Now, Kalmadi targets Sheila Dikshit
After demanding a JPC to probe the CWG scam, Suresh Kalmadi has now
targeted Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit. (PTI photo)
NEW DELHI: Sacked CWG organising committee chief Suresh Kalmadi has
said Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, along with two other Union
ministers, should be summoned by the CBI which is probing the
allegations of corruption relating to the mega event.
“All those who were involved in organising the Games must be summoned.
Why just go after the organising committee”? he said when asked if he
wanted the Delhi CM as well as former sports minister M S Gill and
urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy to be summoned by the
investigating agencies.
Attacking the Delhi CM for her statements against the organising
committee, Kalmadi said “she said that even before the investigations
started that all scams are in OC. Does that mean she predetermined all
this?”
The former OC chief said Dikshit must “see her departments and her
budget. Let her talk of what happened in her departments and don’t
blame us. She targeted the OC and I objected. They should look at
their own house. Let her talk after the probe and not presuppose.”
Asked if he was scared of being arrested as some reports have
suggested, he said “I have not done anything wrong. Why should I be
worried? I am not scared at all.”
On M S Gill, Kalmadi said “I don’t know what happens to people when
they occupy the sports minister’s chair. I felt hurt when I wasn’t
invited for any of the felicitations for the athletes, post-Games.”
To a question who all he thought were responsible for the mess
surrounding the CWG, he said “all government officers who were
associated with the organizing of the Games must be questioned.”
Comments (26)
Recommended (19)
Dr.Nanjundan (coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)
1 hr ago (01:40 AM)
Mr..Suresh Kalmadi and his deputies are really the scapegoats and are
a very small fry. Appreciate Kalmadi who has the temerity to say he is
not alone in this scam. And the attitude of Delhi chief Minister and
the ex-sports minister when confronted by the media persons show utter
disregard for Kalmadi’s comments and a devil may care posture. It is
really sad and we feel hopeless.
Agree (2)Disagree (1)
Dr .Nanjundan (coimbatore, Tamil nadu.)
1 hr ago (01:20 AM)
Mr . Suresh Kalmadi knows pretty well there are permanent friends in
politics and the small fry will always be sacrificed to save the big
ones. Though he perhaps had muddled himself ,he can very well stand up
to the onslaught by his own bosses and come out clean.. This way he
can become a forerunner for all those hapless people who are entangled
in the mire to spill all the beans. This way they will be doing a
greater service to the nation from some of the high and mighty and
totally corrupt from ruining the nation any further.
Agree (3)Recommend (1)
idiot (usa)
1 hr ago (01:00 AM)
why only kalmadi? what about DDA, MCD, NDMC AND DELHI GOVT? Indian
politicians have two point agenda: 1. loot the country and 2. punish
the people for their growth. Moreover, who will take the action? –
MERA QATIL HI MERA MUNSIB HAI KYA MERE HAQ ME FAISLA DEGA ?
Agree (7)Recommend (1)
sachinbengluru (Bangalore)
2 hrs ago (12:38 AM)
This is utter tamaasha of our fellow indians. These rascal politicians
joined hands with the govt officials and looted the country’s wealth
along with the invaluable dignity of our people. These rascals have
tried to show that we Indians are theifs, corrupt and trustless
people. The CWG scam, 2G scam, Adarsh scam…. the congress proved that
it is a bunch of looters and trying to show the people of this great
country as fools. These rascals should be punished. Such indignified
people that these bunch of politicians is, if left out without any
punishment will not only cheat their own mother but their own
countrymen. Corruption should be dealt with an iron hand and the
corrupt should not be shown any mercy. Everyone will surely agree with
my view that a person who cheats his mother will cheat his country and
vice versa. For doing this cowardly act of looting the country
exchequer and its people’s dignity the guilty rascals should be
hanged. But i doubt any guilty will be brought to book by this govt.
run by a weak PM. JAI HIND. JAI BHARAT
Agree (12)Recommend (3)
Natesan Narayanan (Sydney)
2 hrs ago (12:21 AM)
Now we all see Kalmadi vomiting soon Raja will vomit and more names
will come.
Agree (10)Disagree (1)Recommend (6)
Aditya (San Jose, CA)
2 hrs ago (12:15 AM)
Each person – Madam Sheila Dikshit (Delhi CM), M.S. Gill (Sports
Minister of India) and Suresh Kalmadi (OC Chairman) is guilty to an
equal extent, lets assume x%. In that case the x% for Sheila is 20
times Kalmadi and M.S. Gill is 13 times Kalmadi. This implies –
Kalmadi x 20 = 1 Sheila and Kalmadi x 13 = 1 M.S. Gill. All I can say
is that it is a ‘major Congress coverup and Kalmadi is the sacrificial
lamb. If the skeletons fall out of the Sheila cupboard, Congress knows
it will lose Delhi for certain. Also, Sheila and M.S.Gill must have
sent much heavier suitcases to 10, Janpath, and therefore, have the
blessings of supreme Mataji. But, not anymore, we all want the entire
truth to come out and it will come out. God bless my India.
Agree (10)Recommend (5)
Syed Hashmi (Delhi)
2 hrs ago (12:10 AM)
Kalmadi and his clan (Bhanot et al) are all corrupt and have looted
the country’s wealth. In desperation they want to implicate Sheila
Dikshit in their crime.
Agree (3)Disagree (12)
mn (Delhi)
3 hrs ago (11:55 PM)
Sheela to CBI: Oh, ho, ho Sheela, Sheela ka budhaapa. I’m too corrupt
for you, main tere haath na aaoon.
Agree (17)Recommend (10)
vilas ravat (kollhapur)
3 hrs ago (11:45 PM)
Now reality is coming out, before this they are trying to save to each
other. Suresh kalamadi knows now at any time CBI can arrest him. Why
kalamadi was not arrested, this is reality because all truth will come
out Lot lot of congress politicians are involved in this corruption
including sport ministry, CM sheila and delhi based great gandhi
family close peoples in 10 janapat house.
Agree (13)Recommend (8)
Hemans (Bangalore)
3 hrs ago (11:36 PM)
Yes Kalmadi you are right. Finally you came to know that your time is
UP and you mustered the courage to drag the fish fishes into this
scam, hope even they will join you later in Tihar jail. But fret not
you have Raja for company. Though late, you are doing a Good Job.
Agree (9)Recommend (5)
Rahul (Pune)
3 hrs ago (11:04 PM)
It is high time and everyone from TOP to BOTTOM must be punished…I
think the whole Judiciary system needs a radical change so that no one
gets away…. Laws are like Cobwebs, where the small files are caught
and the greaktbreak away…….
Agree (10)Recommend (4)
adv. manish kumar khanna (delhi)
3 hrs ago (11:03 PM)
kalmadi, shiela and govt is accepting that something wrong happened.
however no one is accepting that they were atleast at some fault even
if not criminal and still sticking to the chairs. nothing will happen
to anyone in long run. all will be forgotten. hail indian democracy
Agree (12)Recommend (4)
Dharam (USA)
3 hrs ago (11:02 PM)
Shiela Dixit is a Brahmin – how can Nehru Dynasty (a Brahmin Dynasty)
can get their own caste person in trouble.
Agree (7)Disagree (14)Recommend (3)
Garam (India) replies to Dharam
3 hrs ago (11:54 PM)
Dharam, If you are in the US, then can you find out for me to which
caste Obama belongs to? Also, what is the caste composition of his
party?
Agree (1)Recommend (1)
Aaditya (Delhi) replies to Garam
2 hrs ago (12:07 AM)
Hahahhahahhahha. I cant get over this. The best one on TOI since ages.
Agree (3)
Kurian (Qatar) replies to Dharam
3 hrs ago (11:32 PM)
She is a christian married to a brahmin. Sonia is also a christian
Agree (6)Recommend (1)
Adarsh (Calicut)
4 hrs ago (10:54 PM)
Bring it on!! another JPC on CWG. we want to know the truth.
Agree (11)Recommend (7)
Tulsa (USA)
4 hrs ago (10:49 PM)
It is all damage control on the part of Congress. Kalmadi is already
in the eye of storm. Why should Congress sacrifice Jaipal Reddy and
Shiela Dixit when they can get away by giving away Kalamadi
Agree (18)Recommend (13)
Anitha Pillay (Mumbai)
4 hrs ago (10:30 PM)
Does the CBI have enough personnel? At this rate, we might have to
outsource the scam investigations!!
Agree (21)Disagree (1)Recommend (12)
sudhanshu (Pune)
4 hrs ago (10:28 PM)
haha how long cat can hide:P
Agree (13)Disagree (2)Recommend (7)
mahinder (dubai)
4 hrs ago (10:26 PM)
firstly hon mms should reply, why did he give somuch time to handover
the matter to the investigation agency? frankly the top level people
are to be blamed. let alone hon.mms, be answerable firstly to this
matter, then blame others. this clearly shows how effective they are.
if this matter was taken immediately, the wrong doing people today
would have been brought to justice.
Agree (15)Disagree (1)Recommend (6)
venkz joy (Visakhapatnam)
4 hrs ago (10:20 PM)
Kalmadi is becoming desperate day by day and this can be seen from his
day to day statements. He is losing patience and definetely he is
going to be booked by CBI sooner or later. After the outburst against
Delhi CM , Congress will be cornered and they may not be able to take
any action immedietely as Elections are there in few states.If they
take action , kalmadi may expose other congress men and party may lose
heavily. Later he will say i was misquoted and i never said anything
against congress party or Delhi CM .
Agree (20)Disagree (1)Recommend (9)
umesh (delhi)
4 hrs ago (10:18 PM)
I agree with Kalmadi. Why is government not targetting Delhi
Government, Sports Ministry and Urban development ministry?
Agree (21)Disagree (3)Recommend (14)
asitava Bhowmik (Bahrain)
4 hrs ago (10:17 PM)
Let him spill the bin…
Agree (16)Recommend (8)
Munni (Delhiwali)
4 hrs ago (10:12 PM)
Ab Shiela ki jawani se lekar Sheila ki budhape tak ki saari kahani
bahar aayegi..
Agree (21)Recommend (16)
sunil Raj (Kochi)
4 hrs ago (10:11 PM)
Kalmadi is right. CWG organised was collectively by Delhi Government,
Urban Ministry Government of India. So when an inquiry is happening
all of these departments should be called by CBI alongwith OC CWG.
Kalmadi believes in “Hum to doobenge sanam, tumhe bee ley
doobenge” :-)
Agree (21)Recommend (15)
2G scam: CBI questions Tata, S Tel, Spice officials
PTI, Feb 24, 2011, 09.27pm IST
Tags:Krishna Kumar|2G scam
NEW DELHI: Seven top executives of major organisations including the
Tata group were today questioned by CBI in connection with its probe
in the 2G spectrum scam.
CBI officials said R Krishna Kumar and Sanjay B Ugale, Chairman and
Managing Director respectively of Tata Realty and Infrastructure,
Dilip Modi, Managing Director, Spice Telecom, S Sarvana, Director and
V Srinivasan, Group Chief Executive Officer of Siva Group of
Companies, Shamik Das, CEO, S Tel and Sandip Basu, CEO of Loop Telecom
were quizzed for over four hours at the agency’s office here.
They were asked to clarify the roles played by their respective
organisations and possible stakes in other telecom companies that may
have acted as a front for getting second generation technology
licenses from Telecom ministry.
Loop had got licenses for 21 circles when the spectrum was allocated
during the first stint of jailed former telecom minister A Raja
between September 2007-January 2008.
The two officials of Tata Realty and Infrastructure were asked about
the purported Rs 1,600 crore loan extended to Unitech to procure the
spectrum.
This is the second time that Ubale and Basu have been quizzed by the
CBI in connection with the firm’s alleged linkages with Unitech, one
of the two companies which have been mentioned in the FIR filed by the
agency on October 21, 2009, they said.
The CBI had earlier questioned Sanjay Chandra of Unitech on issues
relating to offloading of majority stake to Norway based company
Telenor after getting 2G spectrum license.
CBI is probing whether Tata Real Estate had paid Rs 1,600 crore to
Unitech for a land deal at a time when the the real estate company was
applying for 2G license in 2007.
Unitech has claimed that it has been cooperating with all
investigating agencies from the very beginning as it has nothing to
hide.
The charges against Unitech, according to CBI’s FIR, was that it
offloaded over 60 per cent of its stake to Telenor and earned a profit
of 267 per cent even before the service roll-out.
“M/s Unitech was alloted UAS licences for 22 circles for Rs 1658
crore. It offloaded its 60 per cent of shares in the licences to
Telenor of Norway for Rs 6100 crore even before the roll-out,” the FIR
said.
According to the FIR, “estimated loss to the government by grant of
licences to these two companies (Swan and Unitech) alone comes to Rs
7,105 crore. On pro-rata basis, the estimated loss for all the 122
circles is more than Rs 22,000 crore.”
End of an aura?
ARATI R JERATH, TNN, Feb 20, 2011, 12.17am IST
Comments (6)
Tags:UPA 2|Sonia Gandhi|P V Narasimha Rao|Manmohan Singh
On Wednesday, the ghosts of Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao seemed
to hover in the background as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh protested
his innocence in front of television cameras. It seemed an
extraordinary throwback to the past. It was the third time a Congress
prime minister was in the dock on the issue of corruption; it was the
third time he was being forced to clear the air.
It must have been galling for a man who has always prized his
reputation for personal integrity. “I’m not that big a culprit as is
being made out,” Singh insisted as he sought to distance himself from
the muck by spreading the blame. Yet, even as he defended his image as
an honest man, it was evident that Manmohan Singh’s famous aura was
fading, and fading fast. The man who just last year was on ‘Time’
magazine’s power list, seemed to be losing his halo.
No one expected the sudden slide. Less than two years ago, he was
hailed as the face that helped Congress sweep back to power for a
surprising second term with more MPs. Today, questions are being
raised about his leadership skills and his administrative abilities.
Is he simply a good man stuck in a den of thieves, as he suggested in
his televised media interaction? Or is he the wrong man for the job
entrusted to him by a defensive Sonia Gandhi in 2004?
Singh was quick to blame the perils of managing a coalition government
even as he defended himself against unspoken criticism of his record
of governance. “You have to put up with a lot if you are running a
coalition. Otherwise you will have to hold elections every six
months,” he said.
It was an ingenious argument but it didn’t answer every-louder
questions about the controversies buffeting Singh, other than the 2G
scam. Take the multi-crore scandals associated with the Commonwealth
Games, for instance. Or the controversial choice of a man
chargesheeted by the CBI to head the country’s top vigilance body. Or
the suspect Antrix-Devas deal that nearly saw valuable S-band Spectrum
slip out of government hands for free. It is difficult for Singh to
point a finger at any coalition partner for these. They happened on
his watch and that of his PMO.
In the Indian system, the pillars of the PM’s establishment are his
principal secretary and cabinet secretary. They are not only his eyes
and ears but also the filters for every major government decision. The
CWG, the background checks for CVC nominees and the activities of ISRO
and its commercial arm, Antrix, were part of their job chart. It’s a
telling comment on the current team’s vigilance and efficiency that
Singh finds himself battling charges of poor governance.
The PM is believed to have confessed privately to a cabinet colleague
that he had no clue about the CBI case against P J Thomas when the
government appointed him chief vigilance commissioner. Going by that,
it would seem nobody bothered to brief him. The slip-up — deliberate
or unwitting — by his gatekeepers has cost Singh heavily with the
Supreme Court expressing open displeasure about the appointment.
The weaknesses were there from the beginning. The Office of Profit
storm that erupted around Sonia Gandhi in the early days of UPA-1 was
a blunder by the PMO, which did not realize the legal implications of
giving the Congress president the rank and pay of a cabinet minister
as head of the National Advisory Council. Sonia was forced to resign
from her Lok Sabha seat and seek re-election.
The irony is that throughout his first term as Prime Minister, Singh
was, for the most part was protected by the very alliance partner he
disliked the most: the Left. Not only did regular wrangles with the
Marxists over policy issues keep the government on its toes and the
Congress united in combat, it also hid the inherent flaws in the
dyarchial system that was evolved after Sonia refused to become PM in
2004.
It is obvious now that the separation of powers envisaged at that
time, with Sonia as the political head and Singh as CEO of the
government, is not a workable arrangement. In a parliamentary system,
the executive head must also manage the politics of the government if
he is to be effective.
With the Left gone from the UPA equation, the inherent problems of the
system have surfaced, whether in internal power battles in the
government or in its visibly poor coalition management skills. Today,
Congress leaders privately admit that they owe a huge debt of
gratitude to the Left for helping it manage the first real coalition
experiment by the party.
But the crisis for Singh today is not just the erosion of credibility
in his role as prime minister. The 2G scam and the attendant Radia
tape revelations about the nexus between big business and politics
threaten to tarnish his legacy as the man who scripted the India
growth story. The reforms process that Singh ushered in as finance
minister in Narasimha Rao’s government in 1991 was supposed to have
dismantled the government’s discretionary powers and freed the Indian
economy from the shackles of the licence-permit raj.
While Singh’s reforms did enable a period of high growth, the Radia
tapes showed the weakness of the promised liberalized economy. In the
absence of established and independent regulatory systems, crony
capitalism has flourished. It has benefitted a clutch of business
houses. Meanwhile, the links between the corporate world and
politicians have deepened to allow corruption of unimaginable
magnitude.
Today, as renowned economist Amartya Sen raises searching questions
about growing inequities and the Manmohanomics ideology of pursuing a
high growth rate as an end in itself, Singh must surely worry about
his place in
history.
His plaintive plea to the media to protect the India story by playing
down corruption scandals seemed to be an acknowledgement that the
scams around him may cost him something much more precious than his
chair.
Comments (6)
Recommended (5)
Prasad Gadkari (Pune)
21 Feb, 2011 12:39 AM
The senior rung of editorial class,(including Ms. Jerath in her Indian
Express avatar) has played the major role in selling concept of
“personal integrity of Mr. Singh” and “Role division Between Mr.
Gandhi and Mr. Singh” to Indian voters. Mr. Advani was pounced upon by
the same group of editors for candidly calling him the weakest PM
during last elections. They conveniently forgot that Mr. Singh’s
appointment by Ms. Gandhi was done to warm the seat for so called hair-
apparent. In principle, Mr. Singh’s appointment was as good or as bad
as Ms. Patil’s nomination for the first citizen’s post. Up to this
extent, a time tested Congress strategy, earlier adopted by Indira
Gandhi was repeated. (Please remember Zail Singhs, Buta Singhs and
even before that F. A. Ahemad etc.) However, Ms. Sonia Gandhi and the
bunch of her advisors lack the shrewdness and ruthlessness of Indira
Gandhi to give such people, a necessary political cover. They also
forget that such strategies have passed their shelf -life long back.
The current batch of Indian Leadership is light weight, laughing stock
for the world. The Indian voter is seething with humiliation both in
physical world of bad governance and in psychological space of
national pride. Such half-hearted confessions by the editorial class
are also subject of suspicion in public eye. Why ‘Times’ is turning
hostile now? DAL MEIN KUCH KALA HAI!!
Agree (28)Disagree (3)Recommend (6)
Sandeep (Mumbai)
20 Feb, 2011 05:40 PM
I do not think Manmohan singh is a failure. He was born BABU.. During
90s Narsihn Rao was prepare to take blame.Babu was ask to implement
the Cut ,copy , Paste type of policy for opening the economy. He
Honestly carried out the policy. If any Boomrang Mr. Rao was there to
handle.Mr Rao was borne leader Now Ms Sonia is not even 10% of
Mr.Rao..Babu Manmohan is exposed now because He can not take Quick
decesions. He will appoint group Of Minister to take decision. That is
passing of Bugs. Even today’s Press conferance is passing of Bug.
Unfortunately Mr. Rao’s Greatness is not considered . Press gave Babu
credit then.
Agree (22)Disagree (8)Recommend (9)
Vaibhav (India)
20 Feb, 2011 04:33 PM
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do
nothing.” (Edmund Burke). When good men do nothing, they are no longer
good and become partakers of evil. Those who fail or refuse to do good
in the face of evil are sowing some dangerous seeds. And what you sow
is what you reap. It took Manmohan Singh the whole lifetime to build
this reputation and it’s a shame that he is doing nothing but pleading
his innocence. If for nothing else, it’s the time he should put his
foot down and root out all the scum, at least for the sake of his own
reputation. Maybe he would not serve another term as a prime minister
or most probably be thrown out of politics. But he would have a clear
conscience. He should look up to Dr. Abdul Kalam who at least raised
his voice by sending the bills back to lower house, perfectly knowing
how limited were his powers. He was not re-elected as president, we
all know because of what and whom. But when he goes back to meet his
maker, he would hold his head high.
Agree (29)Recommend (10)
abhibaljekar (Kuala Lumpur)
20 Feb, 2011 08:45 AM
All these scams have only confirmed that Manmohan Singh is not as
honest and upright as it is made out to be. Turning a blind eye to
corruption happening under his nose makes him a bigger culprit than
the scamsters themselves. If he has some conscience left in him he
must quit.
Agree (32)Disagree (5)Recommend (10)
Ramesh Talwani (delhi)
20 Feb, 2011 04:12 AM
SIMILAR CHARGES WERE THERE ABOUT OTHER CONGRESS PM ALSO INCLUDING
NEHRU AND INDIRA EXCEPT MR SHASTRI. CONGRESS HAS A CHEQUERED
HISTORY.AUTHOR IS SUGGESTED TO READ A BOOK WRITTEN BY S.N.DIWEDI A
SOCIALIST M.P.THE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED IN 1965.THE BOOK WAS TITLED
“POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN INDIA”.IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE AUTHOR WAS NOT
BORN THEN. I WILL SUGGEST AT LEAST HEADING AND ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN
TOI SHOULD BE WELL RESEARCHED. FINALLY LEADERS ARE NOT HIRED. THEY
APPEAR.
Agree (14)Disagree (1)Recommend (5)
K (USa)
20 Feb, 2011 04:02 AM
When PV expressed his displeasure at the way the reforms were
implemented, the wise man was dubbed as apologetic about reforms. Any
policy shall endeavor to help large sections of society. Even if we
can not fault with the change in policy direction in 1991, one should
realize the importance of the words of the wise man of Indian
politics.
Agree (3)
Hawala: the fine print
Pradeep Thakur, TNN, Feb 19, 2011, 11.55pm IST
Comments (6)
Tags:Rahat Fateh Ali Khan|hawala money|Directorate of Revenue
Intelligence|Central Board of Direct Taxes
When the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) detained Pakistani
singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for allegedly carrying a huge amount of
undeclared foreign exchange, it created “disorder” in India’s well-
ordered hawala world.
For years, hawala has been the preferred choice of traders,
industrialists, criminals, drug lords and politicians. This is how
they stash unaccounted currency in safe havens or conceal a tainted
money trail. Deals are sealed cutting across continents, in cash, and
no financial records are maintained. The operation is based on trust
and is considered foolproof.
Khan’s detention has now put the spotlight on the hawala trail. In the
last week, at least half-a-dozen Mumbai dealers were raided by revenue
intelligence sleuths; more than Rs 60 lakh has been confiscated. Many
traders have changed their phone numbers and gone underground.
According to informal Enforcement Directorate estimates “at least 500
hawala dealers are operating in Delhi alone with a similar number in
Mumbai, followed by Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad — which are
significant among cities emerging as major business centres in the
country.”
In fact, many believe that with its large transaction values and
ability to transfer money rapidly, the hawala network is more
widespread than India’s formal financial system. The magnitude of
transactions could put some of the world’s biggest banks to shame. The
monthly transactions executed by Delhi’s roughly 500 hawala operators
is believed to be somewhere around Rs 30,000 crore or Rs 3,60,000
crore per annum. That’s almost as much as the government’s total
direct tax collection in 2009-10 or nearly 6% of the country’s GDP
that year. And that hypothetical calculation is only for Delhi!
Till a few years ago, New Delhi was the major centre for political
hawala deals. But the presence of a multitude of enforcement agencies,
forced them to move base to Kolkata. The quantum of money transferred
from political bribes can be gauged from the fact that two of every 10
hawala operators are busy helping politicians stash away their ill-
gotten wealth.
Whilst on the trail of two such major kickbacks, income tax officials
recently discovered Savage Island in New Zealand. On the tiny island,
they found that Indians had opened banks with relatively small amounts
of capital — sometimes, just Rs 4.5 lakh. The purpose of these banks
appeared to be clear — entering into legitimate transactions with
other financial institutions across the world. One of the many trails
led to a political kickback of more than Rs 7,500 crore, which arrived
at one of these Indian-owned banks from a tax haven. The money was
moved to another bank on Savage Island; eventually both banks were
shut down, ending the trail.
Another trail had a major Indian airline receiving money from a clutch
of companies in Mauritius. Followed back, the trail led to a bank on
Savage Island. The bank in question apparently received its last
cheque from another bank on the same island. Before the bank
authorities could be tracked down, both banks had ceased to exist.
It was a classic case of the vanished hawala trail. Unsurprisingly,
hawala traders are enormously rich. In February 2006, an income tax
investigation found that Rs 1,540 crore of unaccounted money had been
stashed at the Fatehpuri branch of the Federal Bank in Delhi. Three
people, sans business antecedents, were responsible for the entire
transaction. These agents were estimated to earn anywhere between Rs 5
and 10 crore each, every year. A similar drive in Maharashtra and
Gujarat that year unearthed more than Rs 1,000 crore without any
identifiable source. The modus operandi of these hawala dealers was
identical. For domestic deals, they created bogus bills and discounted
bank drafts on behalf of traders who dealt in cash. Or, they gave
loans to industrialists in return for cash, charging them a commission
of 1% of the total transaction. In offshore deals, money was delivered
to people named by the beneficiary at any location in the world. The
commission was a maximum of 2%.
Domestic hawala is small change compared to the big sums that
politicians put away offshore. A big chunk of this money is received
in tax havens such as the Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands,
Switzerland, Dubai etc. The Central Board of Direct Taxes recently
concluded a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with at least four
offshore jurisdictions famous as tax havens — the Virgin Islands, Isle
of Man, Bermuda and the Bahamas. It is trying to sign a similar
agreement with 20 others.
Readers’ opinions (6)
Recommended (5)
richard dias (Chembur, Bombay)
23 Feb, 2011 08:20 AM
Hawala dealings are ruling the financing of building industry in
Mumbai. The builders finance their projects through hawala deals.
Check the builders and ask them from where do they get money to
finance their dealings. This financing has even flourishing on
footpath trade. the vendors on the streets are financed by unknown
faces and the citizens pay to the BMC to stop them from trading there.
So far, the citizens keep on paying and no vendor has stopped trading
on footpaths.
Agree (1)Recommend (1)
pradeep gupta (Kurukshetra)
22 Feb, 2011 12:42 PM
Our govt is aware of hawala operators and most of investigative
agencies are aware of these activities,without political shelter these
people can not work and two out of 10 are helping politicians and 8
are helping buisness people and real estate mafia.education
mafia ,satta operators, all are in same game of greed . our coalition
dharma politics is also showing helplessness in derooting
corruption .our judicial system is also becoming slow and
ineffective.Need is to act fast and unearth scams still hidden and
give severiest of all punishment to corrupt.
Agree (6)Recommend (3)
Daisy Boy (Bangalore)
21 Feb, 2011 08:24 PM
There’s a story on this page with the caption – Kashmera Shah Goes
Topless – So, what’s new? Our society has been doing Vastra Haran
since time immemorial as well as denuding the country of its riches
any which way. Hundi / Hawala are relatively new terms.
Agree (4)Recommend (3)
Rajinikanth (India)
20 Feb, 2011 08:19 PM
There is “productive” money and “unproductive” money. Productive money
is good whether it is White or Black. Black money plays a big role in
the construction of Malls, theaters and real estate development. These
in turn create lots of employment. Our government wastes money and is
inefficient. A pragmatic policy would be for the government to allow
productive use of Black money.
Agree (7)Disagree (15)Recommend (2)
K S (Indore) replies to Rajinikanth
21 Feb, 2011 03:50 PM
A beg to disagree. When black money comes to real estate, it increases
the rates of real estate. For hardworking aam aadmi that means
committing to 15-20 years of heavy loan just to get a decent enough
flat. How come this is helpful for common people ? This only makes the
promoters of real estate richer.
Agree (18)Recommend (2)
dildesar (delhi)
20 Feb, 2011 08:19 AM
It is not far off When India will be desgnated as an Hawala Heaven.
Look in Indian and Foreign Web Pages .One will be surprised by the
sheer number of advertisements and publicity Material for Learning
andTraining in Foreign exchange dealership business. Now we understand
why it so.Unless Central Govt acts now, Hawala will spread its
tentacles further and will will be out of control of enforcing
agencies.
Agree (8)Disagree (1)Recommend (3)
Lord of the rings: Why aam aadmi is sitting pretty
Bhaskar Roy, TNN, Feb 20, 2011, 12.03am IST
Comments (2)
Tags:Nandigram|Lord of the Rings|cellphone
Nasir belongs to a village in Bihar but has moved some distance from
his physical and mental origins — he works in an office canteen and
recently, had to contact a mobile phone helpline. He says he was
gobsmacked when a polite female voice answered the phone and all his
queries. “I never thought they would bother to talk to me,” says
Nasir.
Clearly, the canteen boy had underestimated his importance as a mobile
phone subscriber. Across India, there are many like him and they are
part of a radical change in mindset, expectations, worldview and
aspiration. But the revolution underway is not the result of a
political doctrine — it is the product of new technology.
It would be no overstatement to say nothing like this has happened
before. Never before in its history has India experienced such
widespread technological change, which is affecting the lives of
millions. A record 128 million people became new cellphone subscribers
in the year beginning April 2008. The corresponding figure for China
was 89 million. Although China still boasts the largest mobile phone
subscriber base, India’s growth rate is the fastest. About 70% of
India’s one-billion people use cellphones.
More change is expected soon. Very soon, the handset is going to
double as a platform for informal banking. A migrant worker will be
able to transfer money to his family just by sending a text message.
The Reserve Bank of India has already given permission to 40 banks to
enter the mobile money market. “Mobile banking is a way of empowerment
for the underprivileged,” says minister of state for
telecommunications Sachin Pilot. Pointing to the social significance
of the technology, he says, “Mobile banking could be a great leveler
in our kind of society.”
He is right. India’s technology-driven transformation is already
apparent to the naked eye. It extends from physical participation in a
change-making act to virtual attendance. The importance of this last
should not be underestimated. The violence perpetrated by West
Bengal’s ruling Marxists on the villagers in Nandigram would not have
made international headlines but for mobile phones and 24X7
television.
A decade earlier, such brutalities would not have stirred the nation,
simply because the news would not have reached the outside world along
with their moving freight of troubling television pictures.
Once it was thought that the biggest agent of change in the world was
the automobile. But mobile telephony, satellite television and the
internet have arguably had deeper impact than automobiles. They have
affected social mores profoundly because they are more invasive than
the automobile. “It’s a fact that social silos are breaking down
because of the new freedom coming along with informal economy of power
that mobile telephony has given,” says social scientist Shiv
Visvanathan. “The little instrument eliminates social structures and
obliterates the role of intermediaries,” he adds.
For Indian society particularly, technology is a way of leapfrogging
over entrenched biases. Psychologist Asis Nandy says that new avenues
of communication can create an impersonal reality that does away with
biases. Social commentator Santosh Desai concurs. “The mobile-phone
and DTH technologies provide non-linear avenues of change and create a
sequential kind of distancing, which removes many forms of inequality,
institutionalized in society over the centuries.”
For India, the harvest of technological change has not come a moment
too soon. But there is still some distance to go. Countries like Kenya
are already reaping the benefits of technology. For instance, one-
fifth of Kenya’s population uses the M-PESA mobile-money scheme to
transfer cash and pay bills. Surveys show that incomes of those using
M-PESA have gone up. “Cheaper, faster and essentially plebeian in
character, such technology breaks social stagnation injecting a new
mobility into the life of the masses,” says an analyst.
Clearly, the mobile money market’s potential in India is enormous —
and exciting. Listen out for the change.
Readers’ opinions (2)
Recommended (1)
asharan (gurgaon)
14 hrs ago (12:28 PM)
The starting lines sound somewhat out of place because in the villages
of Bihar, people even a vendor is using a cell phone. So
underestimating the importance just being talked polite is one point
of view. Rest about advancement. Looks good but not a great article
though.
kamal (India)
20 Feb, 2011 01:10 PM
India’s technical advancement is worth seeing in villages where it is
a common sight now to see a person seating on the road side to relieve
himself at the same time talking on his mobile phone!
Agree (14)Disagree (1)Recommend (3)
…and I am Sid Harth