Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

ravar · Post by **ravar** » 30 Nov 2010 00:39

On WSJ-

Barkha Dutt Reacts on Lobbyist Tapes

Check out on the poll where in 80% of the readers (out of the ~3K votes polled as of now) still doubt her statement on her integrity.
And I say, BRfites...poll away!

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 30 Nov 2010 01:38

SwamyG, as a test case can you muckety the Outlook article?

Thanks, ramana

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 30 Nov 2010 01:44

ravar wrote:On WSJ-

Barkha Dutt Reacts on Lobbyist Tapes

Check out on the poll where in 80% of the readers (out of the ~3K votes polled as of now) still doubt her statement on her integrity.
And I say, BRfites...poll away!

Why does a WSJ newspaper a foreign newspaper interested inside another country.
This should be done in an Indian newspaper.

there are 25000 daily newspaper inside India

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 30 Nov 2010 05:31

Telcos may use 3G spectrum to decongest 2G networks: Study

On using 3G spectrum to decongest voice traffic on 2G networks, Gulati said, "The 2G network of Tata Teleservices is not fully used, so our 3G network will be used only for 3G services." The chief operating officer of Aircel Ltd, Gurdeep Singh also said that the company's 2G networks remain underutilised. However, larger telecom players such as Bharti Airtel Ltd, Reliance Communications Ltd, Vodafone Essar Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd refused to comment on the survey findings.

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 30 Nov 2010 07:06

Okay - The first real wicket is falling off. CVC P J Thomas is going to resign. He was forced to take up CVC in spite of stiff opposition.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/effor ... wn/717924/

Lot of tweets are saying that he resigned. The reason is he is not just deep in palmolive oil scandal. He is in a tango dance with A.Raja along with 2G

Raghavendra · Post by **Raghavendra** » 30 Nov 2010 10:01

Wrong connections
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/wrong ... ns/717874/
The Indian Express

We know that the home secretary gave permission to tap Niira Radia’s telephone on the basis of “specific information received” by the Central Board of Direct Taxes. We do not as yet know what and why, though as the judiciary gets involved, those questions will slowly be answered. Yet, in this age of ever-freer information and WikiLeaks, we cannot be surprised that those conversations, once recorded, were somehow leaked. And, in a simple telling of the story, that leak revealed exchanges between the media, the private sector, and political parties, causing many to throw their hands up in the air, and declare the profession hopelessly compromised. That simple story, however, conceals as much as it reveals.

The transcripts have laid bare specific cases in which professional boundaries have been blurred. A cynical and pessimistic reading would be that India’s pugnacious, free, fast-growing media is universally complicit, that closeness to corrupt centres of power has corrupted it in turn. Such a reading, however, would be as mistaken as would be completely ignoring the danger signals evident in a few individuals’ behaviour. The media in India is an institution with thousands and thousands of people doing an honest, competent, professional job. Half a dozen journalists, with apparently varying degrees of indiscretion, do not an institution make. For this reason, The Indian Express has a stringent code of ethics that is incorporated in the contract signed by all journalists the group employs.

This is a particularly unfortunate time for this storm, when so many of our institutions are under a cloud, even the most hallowed — such as the army and the judiciary, partly as a result of media and civil society scrutiny. If the media that enabled this questioning is also seen as compromised, hoist by its own petard, then what are we left with? Those involved owe it to this great instititution to offer themselves up to the highest level of scrutiny. It is up to us in the media to show that we are clean: that is a sacred institutional responsibility. And part of the journalist’s job is to ask questions. Were promises made that were carried out? Was there any quid pro quo? At the same time, who leaked these transcripts with cherrypicked conversations, and why? Ratan Tata has now asked the Supreme Court to consider the mechanics of the leak. We will all watch carefully how the court handles this balance: of our right to know how public figures, politicians and mediapersons conduct their business, versus their right to privacy. The takeaway for us in the media, specifically, should be the reminder that journalism in a modern economy, with its interlocking special interests is about one thing above all: disclosure. Transparency is essential for integrity. And not just to calm public outrage; we in the media should be able to look at ourselves in the mirror with pride.

amit · Post by **amit** » 30 Nov 2010 11:39

X-posting:

amit wrote:Folks with access to NDTV please tune in.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010 ... -on-tapes/

Would be grateful if someone posts some excerpts on what Barkha says in her defence. I'm glad Swapan and Manu will be on the panel.

jiteshn · Post by **jiteshn** » 30 Nov 2010 19:22

This used to be a part of niira radia's biography section in the wikipedia article until someone removed it citing lack of references. It doesn't appear to be made up. Anyone here knows something?

Radias parents who are Kashmiri Pandits had moved to Britain after they fled Lagos, Nigeria, in the aftermath of the Idi Amin-led upheaval in Uganda in the 1970s, and she, the youngest sibling of four sisters and a brother, grew up in Londons suburbia.

Nira Radia's father, who converted to Islam and was rechristened Iqbal Memon, was an agent for Westland Helicopters in East Africa, and soon started an aircraft charter business in the UK.[citation needed]

A British citizen, Radia moved from England to Surajkund, India with her three sons after her marriage to a Kutchi businessman, Janak Radia failed.[12] In 2003, Dheeraj Singh, a business partner, was arrested with an accomplice for allegedly kidnapping her 18-year-old son.[13]

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 30 Nov 2010 19:32

In the picture posted by Mauli is the seer on the extreme left corner, the current head of Pejawar Math, Karnataka?

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 30 Nov 2010 20:22

Sachin wrote:In the picture posted by Mauli is the seer on the extreme left corner, the current head of Pejawar Math, Karnataka?

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?268199

It was Ananth Kumar who introduced her to Pejawar Swami (read Swami Visvesh Teertha), a godman from Karnataka and also Uma Bharati’s guru. In fact, the Kannada weekly tabloid Lankesh Patrike, printed from Bangalore, had even published a picture of Radia with Pejawar Swami and A.B. Vajpayee.

The picture and the caption are from the above Outlook article...

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 30 Nov 2010 20:59

Dear Admins,

BR-law prohibit BRites from wishing early death of PM. In fact, I got one warning for that.

What about

1. wishing early death for corrupt Minister other that PM?
2. wishing early death for corrupt MP who is not Minister
3. wishing early death for ex-PM, ex-Minister, ex-MP?
4. wishing early death for ex-Minister, who is not ex-PM
5. wishing early death for ex-MP, who is not ex-Minister?

If permitted, please specify. If unpermitted, you need not bother to reply, I will assume so. Thanks

====

sanjeevpunj wrote:One by one, corrupt people have to be eliminated from this country,mercilessly, .... If anyone asks for a bribe, give him a silver bullet ...nay a normal bullet should do. Shoot in the leg once. He will remember never to ask again for a bribe.

Thanks SP, you made my day. More of such posts please. But let me flatly accept --- I am too coward to shoot them. Or even slap them. I will for now confine to legal ways - trying to get them legally executed/imprisoned. And as much as I want to legally execute a whole lot of corrupt neta-babu-judges-IPS, I believe that we should focus on executing fat cats like corrupt/nepotic Supreme Court judges, corrupt PM, corrupt Ministers, corrupt Dept Secretaries etc and let the small guys like PI, Constables go. There are some 50,00,000 Nbjpr in India including constables, clerks. Over 99% of them are corrupt. But should we legally execute all? IMO, no. All in all, we should aim to legally execute 1000 most corrupt Nbjpr in India. Next 100,000 should be legally imprisoned for 20 to 10 years. Next 200,000 should be imprisoned for 10 years to 1 year. And give one time last warning amnesty to rest. Then onwards, minimum 1 years for Re 1 of corruption, and more years there after.

This will take time. May be life time. May be 10 life times. Meanwhile, least we should/can do is throw whole lot of comments within legal limits on every young (below 35 years) Nbjpr who comes in the way. Tell him that "99% of you are deemed corrupt - whyTH should I give you an iota of benefit of doubt?" And tell him that over 99% young men join GoI services (except Military) to collect bribes only. Within legal limits, throw comments on every policemen, every Minister, every judge, every babu, ... just throw loads of comments. Most Nbjpri are shameless creatures who want money and dont care about such comments. But lets make sure that no one in society has any respect left for these corrupt creatures.

A lot depends on the individual will to oppose and fight corruption.

True. Lets hope that we all develop this will.

mnag · Post by **mnag** » 30 Nov 2010 21:13

all channels - timesnow, ndtv and ibn are reporting here in the 9 PM program that PJ Thomas - the CVC may resign soon although their websites seem to suggest otherwise in some cases.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 30 Nov 2010 21:42

Raghavendra wrote:Wrong connections
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/wrong ... ns/717874/
The Indian Express

The transcripts have laid bare specific cases in which professional boundaries have been blurred. A cynical and pessimistic reading would be that India’s pugnacious, free, fast-growing media is universally complicit, that closeness to corrupt centres of power has corrupted it in turn. Such a reading, however, would be as mistaken as would be completely ignoring the danger signals evident in a few individuals’ behaviour. The media in India is an institution with thousands and thousands of people doing an honest, competent, professional job. Half a dozen journalists, with apparently varying degrees of indiscretion, do not an institution make. For this reason, The Indian Express has a stringent code of ethics that is incorporated in the contract signed by all journalists the group employs.

Why is IE washing DDM's dirty cloths in public? Even Army and other institutions, including politics can say that. Each institution has millions of people working and only few hundreds are caught with their pants or gowns down

sanjeevpunj · Post by **sanjeevpunj** » 30 Nov 2010 22:20

Rahul Mehta wrote: ....Thanks SP, you made my day......................

Rahul, I am glad you liked my post. Its a long road uphill. Do you remember the song from Rambo (It's a Long Road...) it kind of sums up one's fight against injustice and corruption.Let me see what more I can come up with, sooner or later. Cheers.

sanjeevpunj · Post by **sanjeevpunj** » 30 Nov 2010 22:25

If one can, face to face, tell a journalist to shut up, they usually back off.They are good with words that's how they become journalists, and they believe in "PEN is MIGHTIER than the SWORD"

rotfl don't look for the hidden double meaning

:) Another good way to plug these blabbermouths is to ignore them completely.A third way is to spend more time playing outdoors, and not watching the telly.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 30 Nov 2010 22:31

RamaY wrote:
Why is IE washing DDM's dirty cloths in public? Even Army and other institutions, including politics can say that. Each institution has millions of people working and only few hundreds are caught with their pants or gowns down

RamaY, no need to get angry, they are merely running away from the taint as fast as they can. "Wasnt me", at this moment we can give them that.

Its specifically Vir Sanghvi and Burka Dutt who were the dalal's for the congress, and Rajdeep doing scripted interviews.

Lets just stick to these names.

AdityaM · Post by **AdityaM** » 01 Dec 2010 00:08

Rahul Mehta wrote:BR-law prohibit BRites from wishing early death of PM. In fact, I got one warning for that.What about
1. wishing early death for corrupt Minister other that PM?
2. wishing early death for corrupt MP who is not Minister
3. wishing early death for ex-PM, ex-Minister, ex-MP?
4. wishing early death for ex-Minister, who is not ex-PM
5. wishing early death for ex-MP, who is not ex-Minister?

What good has early death of the above brought to the country?
first of all it is already too late if you have to start wishing for it!
second, everytime they die, their kids/wife/brother replace them, and get tagged as the "youth face"

Mauli · Post by **Mauli** » 01 Dec 2010 01:07

2G scam sideshow: Netizens lambast high-profile journalists

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 984715.cms

Rampy · Post by **Rampy** » 01 Dec 2010 01:16

Mauli wrote:2G scam sideshow: Netizens lambast high-profile journalists

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 984715.cms

ToIlLet is twisting the stories now and lobbying for kangress and as usual DDM It was maran in UPA 1

Raja's dealings as telecom minister had begun to emerge in the months leading up to the controversial award of 2G spectrum in January 2008. So much so that when the second UPA government was being formed after the May 2009 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were said to have been opposed to the DMK-nominated minister retaining telecom

tapes clearly say that MMS was happy with Raja to be telecom minister "You are cleared"

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 01 Dec 2010 04:36

amit wrote:X-posting:

amit wrote:Folks with access to NDTV please tune in.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010 ... -on-tapes/

Would be grateful if someone posts some excerpts on what Barkha says in her defence. I'm glad Swapan and Manu will be on the panel.

Here is the full program...

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/b ... rsy/178964

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 01 Dec 2010 06:12

http://flonnet.com/stories/20101217272502700.htm

Interview with N. Santosh Hegde, Lokayukta for Karnataka.

Do you think the Central government is doing enough to check corruption?

No, I do not think so. We have had a Prevention of Corruption Act since 1947. A special law is enacted only when a particular crime cannot be handled by a regular law. Obviously, corruption was recognised as a crime serious enough to merit a special law. But what happened in December 2008 when the government tried to denude this law of some of its important sections that were helpful to the investigating agencies? Corruption has become an all-India phenomenon and is all-pervasive. I am reminded of a judgment of the Allahabad High Court by Justice A.N. Mulla, who said, “In a basket full of stinking fish, I can't pick one and say this one stinks when the whole lot stinks.”

The bolded part in the caption succintly and sadly summarizes the state of corrupt affairs in the country

http://flonnet.com/stories/20101217272501200.htm

Interview with N. Vittal, former Chief Vigilance Commissioner and head of the Telecom Commission

The third important aspect is that the system of governance decides the level of corruption. In Chennai, one can throw rubbish anywhere one wants. But when the same people go to Singapore, they will not throw rubbish on the roads because they know that the system there will punish them. What we have done in our country is to design a system that encourages corruption. Having done that, to say that today's corruption is an accumulation is wrong.

Mahatma Gandhi collected money for every signature he gave. Sardar [Vallabhbhai] Patel was in charge of the Congress' organisation. He handled lakhs of rupees. Can anybody point a finger at Sardar Patel that he took a penny away from the party? The Dewan of Mysore, Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, used personal ink and pen for his personal work, and government ink and pen for doing government work. Such was the level of integrity we had seen in politics and the bureaucracy.

...and the way it used to be... Makes one nostalgic.

What is the way out?

There are institutions to fight corruption. The first is the judiciary. However slow it may be, it has taken a number of measures to fight corruption. Even now it is the Supreme Court that is highlighting corruption in many areas and doing something. Secondly, the Supreme Court, through public interest litigation [PIL], has been able to strike a blow for citizens' rights. In 2004, a Supreme Court judgment that every candidate [contesting an election] has to declare the number of criminal cases filed against him, his educational qualification and his wealth brought about a great element of transparency in the electoral system.

The entire political class shows that it is afraid to face transparency. Why has the Lok Pal Bill been pending for 30 years? It was introduced in the Lok Sabha eight times. Politicians have lost their credibility. They cannot fight corruption because they thrive on it. The way out is to create a system like the one in Singapore.

The second agency [that can fight corruption] is the Election Commission. T.N. Seshan made a great contribution to better governance by educating the people about the powers of the Election Commission. He cleaned up elections and brought about some discipline by insisting on a code of conduct for candidates. The Election Commission's power to derecognise political parties and cancel elections is working on politicians.

The third is the CAG [Comptroller and Auditor General]. But it has a very limited role. Unfortunately, a great weakness of the CAG is that it is mostly post-audit. The fourth agency is the CVC. But it does not have direct powers. It has to fight with a wooden sword. That is what I did for four years.

A great mystery of our democracy is that in spite of so much of wealth declared by politicians in their election affidavits, agencies such as the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate watch silently. Has any head of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Customs, Excise or the Enforcement Directorate asked how a politician in one election declares his/her wealth at Rs.4 crore and in the next as Rs.8 crore? Only when they are directed by political leaders in power to act against opposition parties they move.

Do you think the 2G spectrum scam also took place because of the policy change?

Because corruption-minded people were there. After all, in the 3G spectrum allocation, corruption did not take place. The enormous money realised from the 3G auction highlighted in sharp contrast the extent of the 2G scam.

amit · Post by **amit** » 01 Dec 2010 07:06

Pranay wrote:Here is the full program...

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/b ... rsy/178964

Thanks Pranay.

So Barkha tried to out shout everyone. I think she should review the programme and assess her performance.

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 01 Dec 2010 08:30

Wrong connections
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/wrong ... ns/717874/

The Indian Express

The media in India is an institution with thousands and thousands of people doing an honest, competent, professional job. Half a dozen journalists, with apparently varying degrees of indiscretion, do not an institution make. For this reason, The Indian Express has a stringent code of ethics that is incorporated in the contract signed by all journalists the group employs.

Lies, lies and lies. Journalists are second biggest crooks in India, the biggest crooks being SCjs, HCjs and LCjs. The journalists are bigger crooks than neta -- they have all powers without iota of responsibility. And IE/Hindu journalists are worst scumbags. IE's Goyenka was a known CIA agent and tried to destabilize Indira Amma only because Indira Amma was making Indian Military Industrial Complex strong, a step US/Russia did not like. Hindu has been a China puppy. Only super-crooks are employed in IE/Hindu.

===

[/b]Rahul Mehta[/b]: BR-law prohibit BRites from wishing early death of PM. In fact, I got one warning for that.What about
1. wishing early death for corrupt Minister other that PM?
2. wishing early death for corrupt MP who is not Minister
3. wishing early death for ex-PM, ex-Minister, ex-MP?
4. wishing early death for ex-Minister, who is not ex-PM
5. wishing early death for ex-MP, who is not ex-Minister?

AdityaM: What good has early death of the above brought to the country? first of all it is already too late if you have to start wishing for it! ....

Throwing extreme insults on Nbjpr is important. It will create extreme hatred in the minds of Bhagat Singh type people in India, and they will be motivated to take "actions" against Nbjpr. Dont worry about honest and dishonest Nbjr. The so called honest ones have shamelessly supported the corrupt Nbjpr against us commons.

Anyway, admins havent answered YES. So I will assume that wishing death to ex-PM, ex-MPs etc is illegal on BR, and so I will have to use diplomatic language to wish death to them.

negi · Post by **negi** » 01 Dec 2010 08:34

RM maharaj serious question how many people in political sphere agree with your views (the ones you air here) ? Seriously some of your ideas are too hot to handle even for a energizer bunny like me.

amit · Post by **amit** » 01 Dec 2010 09:28

^^^^^^

You know Negi, if we take RM's reasoning one step further we can say all Commons are forced into honesty as they do not have the opportunity to become crooks, scumbags or Judges, politicians or journalists!

In this type of reasoning, the question to ask is how different is honesty by force of circumstances to dishonesty due to opportunities to be dishonest?

These kinds of questions will always crop up when you deal with extremes and absolutes like RM. You need to know each and everyone of the thousands of journalists, judges etc that are in the country before you can say all of them are corrupt.

If you don't do that then someone can do like I just did and say all "honest" Commons (now you, or more precisely RM will have to decide who are Commons on BRF

) are honest because they do not get an opportunity to be dishonest!

PS: And if we can prove "honest" Commons are those who have no opportunity to be "dishonest" then hey why all this hue and cry? Either give the opportunity to be "dishonest" to every one, or shut down the economy (which allows money making) so that all "dishonest" judges, journalist etc are pushed back in the "honest" Common category because they no longer have the opportunity to be "dishonest".

negi · Post by **negi** » 01 Dec 2010 09:41

Boss I was asking a serious question I have no exposure to folks from politics just wanted to know what they think of RM's ideas.

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 01 Dec 2010 10:01

Negi,

My agenda of Right to Recall and "throw legally valid comments in ALL Nbjprie" is too hot to to even stand close to, forget touch it. Most intellectuals, activists have nexuses with some Nbjprie and they dont want to lose those nexuses, and so insist on respecting Nbjprie. And most intellectuals insist that all non-dalit judges must be respected regardless of how much corrupt they are, as non-dalit judges are best agents of non-dalit rich, with whom most activists/intellectuals have nexuses. Likewise, my "Impose wealth tax on all trusts" is another proposal that makes intellectuals run for their lives. Because all wealthy individuals have religious, charitable trusts to evade taxes. And intellectuals feed on these rich, and so oppose wealth tax on trusts. But all the nexusless activists love RTR etc. eg RTR etc are immensely popular in Bharat Swabhiman Trust activists. They are also popular in many grassroot RSS, CPM, Congress activists. But late Dixitjee supported RTR, and so RTR has become popular in BST but not so popular in RSS, Congress, CPM where all leaders have opposed RTR.

amit wrote:You know Negi, if we take RM's reasoning one step further we can say all Commons are forced into honesty as they do not have the opportunity to become crooks, scumbags or Judges, politicians or journalists!

I would replace "all" by "98%" and agree with the statement. I have said this 100s of times, that if 10000 commons are chosen at random and replaced by randomly chosen existing 10000 Nbjprie, some 98% of newcomers will be as corrupt ex-Nbjprie. Replacement will bring no difference unless procedures like RTR etc comes.

.... You need to know each and everyone of the thousands of journalists, judges etc that are in the country before you can say all of them are corrupt.

I did not say execute all Nbjprie (i = intellectuals, included professors, journalists). All I said is that take Narco test in public of all criminals - that will reveal names of corrupt Nbjprie. eg if Telgi's Narco test in public is taken, names like S M Krishna, MMS and Pawar will roll along with concrete information. Take narco tests of all dawood aides in public and names of Pawar, many corrupt judges, corrupt IPS will pop out along with concrete information. Following this, take Narco test (by majority approval) of most chosen neta-babu-judges etc and more names and information will come. Some of the information will be verifiable and can be used as proof. Using these provable information, execute about 1000 of the most corrupt Nbjprie using majority approval. (see chap-27 of http://rahulmehta.com/301.pdf for details on these procedures).

As per throwing comments within legal limits, the so called honest ones have chosen to support corrupt ones left, right and center for promotions, fame etc. They are lesser criminals at best, and so wont appear in the list of top 1000 and so I dont want to waste my time on them. But there is no point in removing word "all" while comment-throwing just because these lesser criminals. War against corruption is a war, and war will have some collateral damage.

===

negi wrote:Boss I was asking a serious question I have no exposure to folks from politics just wanted to know what they think of RM's ideas.

Grassroot nexusesless political activists across all parties like RTI2, RTR, MRCM etc proposals.

The middle managers in ALL parties , small or big, new or old, hater RTR etc.

At top level, only BST-top supports RTR ; top elsewhere like RSS, BJP, CPM, Congress bitterly opposes RTI2, RTR etc.

amit · Post by **amit** » 01 Dec 2010 10:15

negi wrote:Boss I was asking a serious question I have no exposure to folks from politics just wanted to know what they think of RM's ideas.

I understand.

amit · Post by **amit** » 01 Dec 2010 10:20

RM before you can take the Narco test you'd first have to identify this 2 per cent (BTW you haven't explained how you arrived at this 2 per cent figure, for example why not 2.5 per cent or 1.75 per cent or 10 per cent?) and then take the test.

If you don't do that then you could have the situation where someone from the 98 per cent would be conducting the Narco test and they could manipulate the results.

So you see while I'm sure your intentions are noble, there has to be some practicality in them. You need to think that point through IMO.

Raghavendra · Post by **Raghavendra** » 01 Dec 2010 10:24

Home ministry blocks Etisalat DB’s 2G ambitions
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed ... 32925.aspx

Despite being allowed to bring in an investment of $900 million (Rs 4,000 crore), why hasn’t telecom firm Etisalat DB been allowed to bring in an additional foreign investment of Rs 380 crore — less than 10% of its total foreign investment? According to sources, who did not wish to be identified, the reason is four objections by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

In a note to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on September 29, 2010, the MHA had pointed out these four issues that needed to be resolved before allowing this investment to come into Etisalat DB, a company that got scarce 2G spectrum at allegedly throwaway prices, according to a Comptroller and Auditor General report.

First, current vice-chairman Shahid Balwa should not be involved in the operations of the company in any capacity.

Second, the MHA raised objections about the commercial relationship between the Dubai-based Etisalat Group and China’s Huawei. The MHA suspects, Huawei has links with China’s People’s Liberation Army — the country’s military organisation of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces — and has the capacity to manipulate equipment supply.

Third, it raised objections about Etisalat’s presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Etisalat owns a 26% stake in Pakistan Telecom and has a subscriber base of 3 million in Afghanistan.

Fourth, the MHA has also expressed concerns about the telecom surveillance software Etisalat had used in a Blackberry service it had introduced in the UAE and recommended that the company should not be allowed to offer Blackberry services in India.

Despite repeated attempts, an Etisalat DB spokesperson did not respond to emails, phone calls or text messages sent by HT.

In December 2009, Etisalat DB had applied to the FIPB seeking permission to buy a 5.27% stake of the Chennai-based Genex Exim Ventures for Rs 380 crore --- exactly the same price at which Genex had initially bought the stake.

FIPB had then rejected the proposal on grounds of possibility of “round tripping”. Round tripping refers to routing of investments by a resident of one country through another country back to its own country to evade taxes.

In September 2010, Etisalat DB submitted a fresh proposal to for buying out Genex’s stake in the company, over which the MHA responded with the four objections.

ShivaS · Post by **ShivaS** » 01 Dec 2010 10:26

Everyman works to his level of corruption.
(An extension of everyman works to his level of incompetency)
I limit my self to pencil, pen, a xerox copy or few faxes and little surfing at work.
I am honestly corrupt.

I think 100 crores should be the limit for corruption for each state and central minister (one term only)
Babus should be allowed to make 1000 crores for such hard work they put in for IAS IAAS IFS IPS IRS notice they all have "I " built into them hence the (at) traction

Like

One Babu one Neta waiting for Bakara

partha · Post by **partha** » 01 Dec 2010 11:26

http://ramanstrategicanalysis.blogspot. ... -dutt.html

Barkha has been asked by her critics as to why in that case she did not write about the use of Radia by the DMK to influence the Cabinet formation. This is an unkind question---- as unkind as asking N.Ram, the Editor-in-Chief of "The Hindu", as to why he allegedly let himself be used by the Tamil elements from Sri Lanka as an intermediary with Rajiv Gandhi when he was the Prime Minister in the 1980s? As unkind as asking N.Ram as to why he played down the stories of the mass anti-Chinese uprising in Tibet in 2008? As unkind as asking N.Ram as to why for many years till recently he blacked out references to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the columns of his paper. As unkind as asking him as to why he used to give publicity in his paper to the despatches of the Xinhua, the news agency owned by the Chinese Government. Ram should be the last person to throw stones at Barkha.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 01 Dec 2010 12:15

It is best for us if these low lifes keep throwing stones at each other, will keep the nationalists free to focus on real things.

All good, and B Raman has come out openly for the quarter he bats for.

Good at least he can be asked some questions himself (on why does HE feel the need to defend a Congress dalal) next time he does muck racking on others.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 01 Dec 2010 12:26

Long ago I belived Raman like the aging powererful of the country had lost his marbles

If our oldies can only get themselves to quietly retire and leave it to younger lot.

Raja Ram · Post by **Raja Ram** » 01 Dec 2010 14:01

Watched Barkha show. It was clear from the outset that she was uncomfortable and tried every trick to deflect and out shout others. She stands exposed for what she is. An agent for a political party and a mercenary news merchant with low integrity and competence.

Raman's attempted defence by rhetoric is unexpected and unbecoming. I did mention that in my comments to his blog.

It is good to see where the chips fall. Slowly but surely people will understand that Rahul Mehta's list must include Press and Media elite too. He may not agree, but for me the most vile amongst the lot is the media. The politicos are way behind.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 01 Dec 2010 14:27

partha wrote:http://ramanstrategicanalysis.blogspot. ... -dutt.html

WTF............

Sanku

+ 1 to you.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 01 Dec 2010 14:34

Somehow I don't think Raman is supporting Burqa. He is saying that her critics from the media are equal bench odds - especially N.Ram. Pot calling kettle black. Surely it should give us some joy to see that name as being shown up for being the traitorous oiseaule he has been recognized to be?

http://ramanstrategicanalysis.blogspot. ... -dutt.html

asking N.Ram, the Editor-in-Chief of "The Hindu", as to why he allegedly let himself be used by the Tamil elements from Sri Lanka as an intermediary with Rajiv Gandhi when he was the Prime Minister in the 1980s? As unkind as asking N.Ram as to why he played down the stories of the mass anti-Chinese uprising in Tibet in 2008? As unkind as asking N.Ram as to why for many years till recently he blacked out references to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the columns of his paper. As unkind as asking him as to why he used to give publicity in his paper to the despatches of the Xinhua, the news agency owned by the Chinese Government.

Raja Ram · Post by **Raja Ram** » 01 Dec 2010 14:39

yeah shiv... I am mighty pleased that he called Ram for what he is. An even more nauseating specimen who is also a traitor.

But still he could have done that without resorting a rhetorical defence of Barkha, and if he indeed wanted to defend this lot he could have mentioned Vir Sanghvi and the other assorted bunch by name too.

Sri · Post by **Sri** » 01 Dec 2010 15:13

Barkha was clearly defensive. Swapan's question was was psy ops plant. Exposed her clearly and she was clearly taken aback. forced to defend her congress tilt and leftist ideology.

amit · Post by **amit** » 01 Dec 2010 15:23

After watching Barkha on the programme, it's pretty obvious that this move backfired and she's going to lose even more credibility as she came across as an ill mannered loud mouth. Till now only folks with regular access to the cyber news channels knew about what was on the tapes. Now with this ill advised (from Barkha and NDTV's POV) programme, every viewer of NDTV has now got to know what's happening. The domino effect of this would be that self imposed censorship that the media has been exercising will go now and this will come into mainstream. And given the nature of dog eats dog in the media things can be expected to spiral downhill.

Even though other journos are also involved, Barkha, willy nilly has allowed herself to become the face of this scam - that is journalists getting in bed with fixers.

Vir Singhvi has been far more smart than Barkha, who's, it's apparent now is just a loud mouth bully with pretty low level of intelligence but lots of cunning.