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

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 03 Dec 2010 08:19

Rahul Mehta wrote:
I accused Arun Shourie as crook, because Arun Shourie is a crook. He used to give cash to many newspapers so that newspapers would give good name to him, and money came from his Dept and other Ministers. Some Ministers collect bribes for themselves, he collected bribes for fame. All news/columns projecting him as some devata were nothing but paid news and paid columns. And when BJP leaders refused to give money for his publcity, he now says BJP==Congress. His hypocrisy alone speaks volumes.

And btw, is it illegal to on BR to call Arun Shourie a crook? People have used much worse words on Raja, Dinakaran, Sonia, MMS, Pramod etc. Last time I checked, insulting leaders was fair game on BR. Pls let me all know if rules have changed.

RMji, what is the source of your information. Is he immensely rich that he could pay so many newspapers to make him devata? his original claim to fame was with Bhagalpur blindings and yes, AR Antulay who resigned, though you sources might have the 'real' stores behind those too.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 03 Dec 2010 08:31

Vir Sanghvi’s designation changed, he says no link to controversy

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Vir-S ... rsy/719776

In an apparent fallout of the Niira Radia tapes controversy, Vir Sanghvi, who was Advisory Editorial Director of HT Media Ltd, has been divested of his editorial designation and re-designated as Advisor, HT Media.

HT Media is the publisher of the Hindustan Times newspaper.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 Dec 2010 09:19

Can you guys arrange boycott of HT advertisers and also get a crowd to do dharna at HT offices. Start a facebook and twitter account to get this going.

amit · Post by **amit** » 03 Dec 2010 09:25

ramana wrote:Can you guys arrange boycott of HT advertisers and also get a crowd to do dharna at HT offices. Start a facebook and twitter account to get this going.

Ramana ji,

Of course that would be a good idea but if you see HT at least is appearing to take action against Vir Sanghvi. His column was discontinued and then he's designation has been changed. I know all this may be just eyewash.

However, contrast that with NDTV. Along with Barkha that news channel has decided to brazen it out. First it threatened Open Magazine with legal action and then they had that disgraceful show in which they tried to hijack some high profile journalists and then force them to say that there was no wrong done. (Frankly I'm disappointed with the way Swapan Dasgupta let her go but that's another story).

If any action should be taken by nitezens then IMO NDTV should be first on the list.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 03 Dec 2010 09:31

If HT media has taken action against the lobying activities of Vir Sanghvi. The action if seen to inadequate then the better option will be to bycot the news paper it self.

Amit,

I fully agree that NDTV needs to be bycoted along with every media outlet that has tried to whitewash the involvement of its senior members in this mess.

JMT

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 Dec 2010 09:42

Amit, Both can and should be done. The job change is not enough as they will bring him back without any remorse or contrition.

any way who all want to do some action and start a Facebook page on these political hacks masquerading as journalists?

The Ecuador guy's Facebook page is an example.

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 03 Dec 2010 10:14

Rahul Mehta: I accused Arun Shourie as crook, because Arun Shourie is a crook. He used to give cash to many newspapers so that newspapers would give good name to him, and money came from his Dept and other Ministers. Some Ministers collect bribes for themselves, he collected bribes for fame. All news/columns projecting him as some devata were nothing but paid news and paid columns. And when BJP leaders refused to give money for his publcity, he now says BJP==Congress. His hypocrisy alone speaks volumes. And btw, is it illegal to on BR to call Arun Shourie a crook? People have used much worse words on Raja, Dinakaran, Sonia, MMS, Pramod etc. Last time I checked, insulting leaders was fair game on BR. Pls let me all know if rules have changed.

viv: RMji, what is the source of your information. Is he immensely rich that he could pay so many newspapers to make him devata? his original claim to fame was with Bhagalpur blindings and yes, AR Antulay who resigned, though you sources might have the 'real' stores behind those too.

Pls re-read my post. I did not say AS is rich, nor did I said that AS paid newspapers to project AS as devataa. AS colluded with corrupt BJP Ministers, like Yashwant, ABV, NaMo, Shivraj Chauhan etc and got them to pay media-owners to project AS as devata. Plus, when AS was Minister, he at the cost country made many elitemen rich, and those elitemen paid media-owners to project AS as devata.

I dont know if Arun has money stashed in Mauritius\Swiss banks. But he never supported the demand that ABV-govt should propose a resolution in UN to invoke sanctions against Mauritius\Swiss till they change their banking laws. When a person keeps silence on Swiss money issue, it can be due to only one reason --- he is well connected to these crooks.

What I propose is we take enact law to take narco test in public. Using that law, we take narcro test of Nira Radia in public. Like a canary bird, she will tell many important names along with swiss account numbers of diaries where she may have written swiss account numbers. One name that will pop out is TRAI ex-chairman Pradeep Baijal. Pradeep Baijal delayed number portability to benefit mobile companies. The obvious reason can be bribes he got from cell companies. So we can take narco test in public of Pradeep Baijal. Narco test of Pradeep Bailjal will give information about Arun Shourie. If tangible information comes, we should take AS's narco test in public. All facts will pop out.

But if you are human rights ethusiast, and against taking Radia's Narco test in public, I have no solution you may like.

===

ramana wrote:Can you guys arrange boycott of HT advertisers and also get a crowd to do dharna at HT offices. Start a facebook and twitter account to get this going.

I am supremely is glad that BRites want to move out of virtual world. Three cheers for this. More power to BRites who want to do dharana etc.

But I dont support boycotting advertisers. eg IE is as corrupt as HT. Will you boycott me just because I give ad in IE? I have been boycotting HT, ToI, Hindu, IE for long. But since I need to reach people, I have no option but to give ad in IE. Likewise, many folks perhaps have no option but to give ad in HT. Shall we boycoytt them for no fault of theirs? IOW, I dont agree with boycotting advertisers. Advertisers are not always supporters.

But I would support dharana before HT office, ToI offices, IE office, Hindu Offices etc. And lets insult ALL each and every journalists within legal limits. We call names of each and every journalist and insult them within legal limits. I agree that some 1% journalists could be honest. But war against corruption is war - and there will be some collateral damage we cant avoid. We should not move away from insulting ALL journalists just because some 1% journalists are honest. If they feel bad because of insults, they should change profession and take a job where majority is honest, like engineering. If their relatives feel bad because we are insulting ALL journalists, they should ask journalist to give up that job and take an honest profession. We should not stop throwing insults within legal limits just because they dont want to leave a corrupt and murky profession.

We should ALL also contest elections on the platform of improving DD so that we at least have one honest media. We should also contest elections on platform of taking DD into print media so that we have honest print media. Otherwise, influence of corrupt journalists/columnists such as Bakara Dutt, Shekhar Stinker Gupta, MJ Akbar, Arundhati Suzzane, Arun Shourie, Tarun Vijay, Veer Sanhavi et will never decrease.

Raja Ram · Post by **Raja Ram** » 03 Dec 2010 10:15

ramana,

There are already several facebook profiles viz barkhagate for example to show the true face of this particular hack. Please do the needful by gracing your presence on those profiles. I have already done!

Of course more the merrier!

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 03 Dec 2010 10:18

I know we may not be able to do anything about SuAR here, but can we at least shut RM up from his "murder all Indians who dont agree with me" campaign?

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 03 Dec 2010 10:44

Sanku wrote:I know we may not be able to do anything about SuAR here, but can we at least shut RM up from his "murder all Indians who dont agree with me" campaign?

This is lie. When did I ask to murder even one person, forget "all"?

where does word murder come in my posts?

===

I have sent following complaint to admins.

Admins,

sanku is spreading lies against me. I have not asked anyone to murder anyone. Pls warn him from spreading lies against me

Mauli · Post by **Mauli** » 03 Dec 2010 10:44

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 03 Dec 2010 10:53

I accused Arun Shourie as crook, because Arun Shourie is a crook. He used to give cash to many newspapers so that newspapers would give good name to him, and money came from his DMehtept and other Ministers. Some Ministers collect bribes for themselves, he collected bribes for fame. All news/columns projecting him as some devata were nothing but paid news and paid columns.

I'm not disputing but only asking about your source. I'd be delighted to know.

And when BJP leaders refused to give money for his publcity, he now says BJP==Congress. His hypocrisy alone speaks volumes.

When did this happen and how do you know? I think his name was already made 30 years back.

And btw, is it illegal to on BR to call Arun Shourie a crook? People have used much worse words on Raja, Dinakaran, Sonia, MMS, Pramod etc. Last time I checked, insulting leaders was fair game on BR. Pls let me all know if rules have changed.

afaik, on BR one can insult all leaders - local, national or international. I've no objections. In this regard I'm very curious to know the source for your assertions.

amit · Post by **amit** » 03 Dec 2010 10:53

Mauli wrote:

niran · Post by **niran** » 03 Dec 2010 11:50

Rahul Mehta wrote:
I have sent following complaint to admins.

Admins,

sanku is spreading lies against me. I have not asked anyone to murder anyone. Pls warn him from spreading lies against me

and i thought these juvenile trait ended at primary school

mnag · Post by **mnag** » 03 Dec 2010 12:22

Knowledge@wharton in the recent edition covers the 2G scam and indian corruption in general. Here are the links. It has some examples of how real people were harassed by the corrupt bureaucracy/politicians, but stops short of recommending any steps to mitigate the same. I tried to summarize it, but due to the number of articles I felt its better to paste the links than summarize

What's Hot
Capital Plight: What Drives Corruption in India?
A large number of business and political scandals have recently surfaced in India. While many believe that the country's culture of corruption runs so deep there is no solution, others say the fact that so many scams are being exposed is reason for hope. Experts agree that corruption in India has its roots in history, but complacency and a lack of social penalties encourage its continued growth.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/indi ... cleid=4548

Business Ethics
(Podcast with Transcript)
Wharton's Philip Nichols: 'We Have to Line up Incentives So People Don't Act Corruptly'
Corruption is a global phenomenon -- it afflicts mature economies as well as emerging ones. According to Philip M. Nichols, a professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton who has done research on corruption in Europe as well as Asia, corruption distorts economies as well as people who occupy positions of power. The solution, he suggests, is to take measures that increase the psychic, social and transaction costs of being corrupt. If that can be done, corruption can be controlled, if not eliminated.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/indi ... cleid=4547

Law and Public Policy
India's 2G Telecom Scandal Spans the Spectrum of Abuse
Globally, controversy is not uncommon in the distribution of publicly owned resources to private businesses. But few match India's telecom spectrum licensing scandal that has now come to a head in size (nearly US$40 billion) and brazenness. The controversy is set against the backdrop of other corruption scandals involving state chief ministers and government agencies; it has already cost the telecom minister his job and threatened the prime minister's seat and reputation. Greater transparency in bid selections and more realistic pricing regimes are in order, but they don't always bring the best results, experts tell India Knowledge@Wharton.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/indi ... cleid=4549

Opinion
India's Telecom Scam: How Can a Corrupt System Be Cleaned?
The telecom scam that recently forced the resignation of telecom minister A. Raja defrauded the country to the tune of nearly US$40 billion. Since telecom is an industry that links backward and forward to several others, the total economic cost could well be hundreds of billions of dollars. This scandal shows that corruption has deep roots in Indian society, but informed voters and the democratic process can help eradicate it, argues Rajesh Jain, managing director of Mumbai-based Netcore Solutions, in this opinion piece.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/indi ... cleid=4550

Opinion
Auctions, Governance and Transparency: The Devil Is in the Details
The recent 2G spectrum scam has raised an important question: How can the allocation of scarce public resources to private enterprises be institutionalized? In this opinion piece, Ravi Bapna and Alok Gupta, both professors at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, and Arun Sundararajan of New York University's Stern School of Business maintain that the overarching objective of any institutionalization effort should be to maximize social welfare and that a nuanced analysis of the business environment along with a thoughtful, scientific methodology are critical for the success of such resource allocation.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/indi ... cleid=4551

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 03 Dec 2010 13:20

2G spectrum applicants got 45 minutes to fulfill all requirements:

"Do you call it reasonable that within 45 minutes, bank guarantees and other documents were to be produced? Is this a reasonable way of functioning," the Bench said. "The government has to function predictably. If it is not predictable, then it is not reasonable," it added. "You give them 45 minutes. How do you think they will comply with all the requirements. How does a applicant know about a press release?" it asked.

Corrupt A Raja, gave 45 minute notices.

1. MMS/Sonia may not have come to instantly but must have come to know about this next day of next to next day. Why didnt MMS/Sonia ask Chief Secretary or Telecom Dept to issue a letter to cancel licenses?

2. (corrupt) SCjs may not have come to instantly but must have come to know about this next day of next to next day. Things like this do not remain secret from SCjs. Why didnt SCjs order Telecom Dept to issue a letter to cancel licenses?

3. (corrupt?) Arun Shourie, Arun Jetley, LKA, NaMo etc may not have come to instantly but must have come to know about this next day of next week. Can a Shourie lover explain why dint Shourie filed PIL in SC to order Telecom Dept to issue a letter to cancel licenses?. At the drop of hat, he runs to court to file PILs.

IOW, everyone came to know about murky deal next day or next week, and they all kept quiet till horses ran away from stable, and money changed hands and all trails were removed. Finally, someone (Anil or Chinese?) paid bribes to Outlook, IE etc to run stories.

So while we should thank those (including Shourie) to tell us details of how we commons are getting robbed, lets not forget that they too are all part of the robber gangs. The probable grudge they now have is that they are not getting fair share of loot or not getting enough fame or their ambition to become PM is not getting served. While we print their correct stories, we must not stop raising hell on their murky deals and their paid silences.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 Dec 2010 22:15

Rahul Mehta, You have made your stance quite well known. I request you to stop for now. Please stick to the scam at hand and not go one bringing in non-related items. Thanks, ramana....

X-Post...

Sridhar K wrote:Singha sir. AFAIK Outlook is not owned by The Hindu (Hindu owns Frontline). Outlook is very leftist/maoist in its leanings.

I suspect (perhaps it is a CT) that the Radia gate is to divert attention from PM/Congress's role in the 2G scam, Adarsh scam etc and think they have been successful to an extent. See the careful charade that is being played out

a) Media goes on an attacking spree after CAG reports. Raja becomes the casualty. Obvious questions raised about PM/Congress role
b) Radia tapes leaked - showing PM/Congress was arm-twisted by DMK through corporate lobbyist and how the PM/Congress were victims of corporate lobbying. Role of Kanimozhi etc. to keep the DMK on the back foot. Plus discrediting a few in the media to divert the focus away from congress role, with Vir and Bharka being the collateral damage.
c) Repeated news about PM's concerns on 2G allocations were overlooked by A Raja and it was all DMK's mistake. Yesterday the Apex court reprimanded Raja for a being disrespectful in his reply letter to the PM

Or #b could signal
1) the end of the honeymoon between the media houses and Congress or
2) proxy war between Congress vs the left/maoist in the media i.e Congress(NDTV/HT/Hindustan Times) vs Left/Maoist (Outlook/Hindu) seeing the attacked (Barkha, Vir Sanghvi) and attackers (Outlook, N Ram). N Ram is pretty close to the DMK these days.

DMK could perhaps move away from the Congress and join the left, with TN Amma getting into the Indian Amma's fold.

and

Deccan Herald Summation of Rajdeep Sardaesais's futile efforts to cover up his buddies:

Little support for R Sardesai's defence of his tainted colleagues

Shows the arrogance that these folks have under the rubric of freedom of press.

Mauli · Post by **Mauli** » 03 Dec 2010 22:27

When Rajdeep Sardesai got it left, right & centre

http://wearethebest.wordpress.com/2010/ ... ht-centre/

Mauli · Post by **Mauli** » 03 Dec 2010 22:30

nihar · Post by **nihar** » 04 Dec 2010 01:41

My first post here:

Rajdeep Sardesai got nailed here:

http://wearethebest.wordpress.com/2010/ ... ht-centre/

It's high time NDTV and HT take Barkha and vir off air.

BTW, I posted some comments on barkha with other editors discussion at ndtv.com. But I do not see anything published there. If fact not even a single comment. Can NDTV stoop any lower.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 04 Dec 2010 01:49

You should always post in someother outlet to ensure some visibility.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 04 Dec 2010 01:51

Mauli wrote:When Rajdeep Sardesai got it left, right & centre

http://wearethebest.wordpress.com/2010/ ... ht-centre/

“Did we just hear the president of the editors guild of India, or the editors’ guilt of India?”

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 04 Dec 2010 01:57

http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?703572

Tempers ran high and heated exchanges were witnessed as journalists today debated the issue of media ethics in the background of lobbyist Niira Radia's tapped conversation with leading scribes, published by two weekly magazines.

A suggestion by Editors' Guild President Rajdeep Sardesai that the magazines had violated principles of journalism by publishing raw data and his comment that the journalists concerned were guilty of "professional misjudgement" rather than "professional misconduct" came under attack from media persons gathered in the jam-packed lawns of the Press Club here.

The basic principle of seeking a reaction of the journalists concerned was ignored which is "shock and awe" and "bad" journalism by the magazines in question, said Sardesai, also Editor-in-Chief of a leading TV Channel.

Sardesai's comments evoked sharp reaction from several journalists, one of whom, Poornima Joshi of Mail Today, told him, "I find it absolutely disturbing and disheartening that the President of Editors' Guild is not only condoning but also justifying carrying of messages from a corporate to Congress."

Neena Vyas of The Hindu cited an incident where a senior BJP leader had asked her to be soft on him in her coverage in exchange for information on happenings in the party.

She also said some senior leaders were using their stakes in television channels to settle their political scores.

"I did not ring him up again," she said adding that tapping that source would have made her life easy but she chose the hard way to get news.

The debate was organised by Editors' Guild, The Press Association, Indian Womens' Press Corps and Press Club of India.

Sunil Jain of Financial Express said the best way of curbing such tendencies among journalists is to "name and shame" them than discussing questions of ethics.

"You need to use your sources and not let the sources use you. These are the first lessons one gets in a journalism school," said Mehta towards the end.

Referring to the defence of one of the journalists justifying her conversations with Radia, he said the claim that political journalists have a special mandate and responsibility compared to "travel journalists", was ridiculous.

He said he did not agree with the suggestion that the episode involved complex and delicate issues saying these were simple and even a beginner in journalism will know that these violated basic tenets of the profession.

Thanks for the link above, folks !

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 04 Dec 2010 03:10

A not of caution for Prof Bhagwati. Sounds like HNair!

Hiren Mukerjee Lecture

...Renowned economist Jagdish Bhagwati today told a half-full Central Hall of Parliament that in India, public figures are considered to be corrupt unless proven otherwise and it is easy to exaggerate corruption.

Delivering the Hiren Mukherjee Memorial annual parliamentary lecture, Bhagwati, a professor of economics and law in Columbia University, spoke of how many Indians “seem to surrender much too easily to the notion that we have become hugely corrupt” today when governance is perceived to have deteriorated. There was a feeling that the corruption was “irretrievably so”.

“A blind man will tell you how he saw ‘with his own eyes’ a bribe being given and accepted! A most distinguished bureaucrat once told me that his mother said to him: ‘I believe you are not corrupt only because you are my son’,” said Bhagwati.

His comments, made at a time the country is lurching from one corruption charge to another, appeared to suggest that some snap judgements are predicated on dominant public opinion and not necessarily on facts and reason.
...
Bhagwati tried to kindle a sense of hope in the ambience of despair as he contested the claims of organisations like Transparency International, whose periodic indices on probity are held up as mirrors to a country’s well-being. “Thus, Transparency International’s index of corruption ranks us high on corruption. However, this index is wholly arbitrary, depending on subjective evaluation of the chosen respondents,” he said.

He added that several countries had their skeletons to conceal, some of the size of the 2G spectrum allocation.

“But there is a very important difference. In the US, if you get caught, no God on earth can help you. Even the thousands of Hindu gods will not be able to,” he said, calling for electoral reforms that enable parties to raise funds through legal means.

.....
The economist, who was introduced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a “family friend for 50 years”, referred to two “conflicting narratives” about the reforms.

The “adoringly celebratory” one that was written about recently in The Economist that, he said, discarded its scepticism and acknowledged that the reforms were not a “flash in the pan”.

The “hypocritical and condemning” one reflected in the criticisms of the “naysayers, among them the socialists in the currently ruling Congress party” and writer Pankaj Mishra whose op-eds in The New York Times Bhagwati dubbed “really fiction masquerading as non-fiction”.

Taking the poor as a bellwether, Bhagwati said: “After a considerable debate, it is now generally accepted that the enhanced growth over nearly 25 years was associated with lifting nearly 200 million of the extreme poor above the poverty line. By contrast, consistent with common sense, the preceding quarter century with abysmal growth rate witnessed no perceptible, beneficial impact on poverty.”

He used living experiences to bolster his claim that many reforms helped the poor more than the rich because “the rich can cope with the results of inefficient policies better than the poor”.

“If the public sector generation and distribution of electricity is inefficient, and the electricity goes off in the middle of the night in Delhi’s summer, the rich turn on their private generator, and their air-conditioners continue working. But the poor man on his charpoy swelters….”

AbhishekD · Post by **AbhishekD** » 04 Dec 2010 03:12

This is a fraticidal war between Left wing media such as Open/Outlook/Hindu and the Congress media such as HT/NDTV/CNN-IBN. The defense of Rajdeep Sardesai clearly shows the nature of the conflict. The left wing media wants a share of the media pie that is completely taken over by the electronic/entertainment space and now has got the opportunity to discredit this media. Tehalka has been completely left out of this debate. It will probably jump into this debate sometime later

The non-existent right wing media is nowhere in this debate. They are bystanders watching. The social media such as twitter and facebook is just expressing moral and social rage on this matter

Raja Ram · Post by **Raja Ram** » 04 Dec 2010 13:29

Absolutely right assessment AbhishekD. That is what I am hearing too. But in this war, the masks are slipping from these so called journalists and exposing them for what they are - corrupt, agents and incompetent too.

The social media is changing some of these equations. The disintermediation that they bring can become a game changer. It offers someone like our friend Rahul Mehta to take his point on Right to Recall directly and create a groundswell of support for it. I hope it does. One of these days someone is going to crack this like Michael Dell once did and change the political business model.

Still a long way to go though as there two major barriers - the digital barrier and the language barrier - but not for long - the convergence and mobile may change that too.

So Rahul Mehtaji, keep going, but tone down this broad brushing that you do.

AbhishekD · Post by **AbhishekD** » 04 Dec 2010 14:58

This fratricidal war will probably bring a certain split in this media with the left-liberal media dominating the print and magazine space and the electronic media making some cosmetic changes to survive this onslaught

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 04 Dec 2010 20:36

These tapes have achieved what they are meant for. In the entire media and blogs including this thread - 90% of the discussion is about one of the following in the order of priority:
(1) Media ethics with special emphasis on Bharka and Vir. Bandwith across all sites such as Twitter, facebook is just about this
(2) General corruption in India and how bad it is and how INC corruption and BJP corruption are same. It is all EQUAL so let us bring everything on the plate.
(3) Corruption by the corporates. How bad they and we should not have gone towards capitalism.

The real perpetrators including the frontend that is Raja and the host of backend folks (UPA government including babus and the taller than the tallest) are not give any importance.

The tapes are nothing but a diversion tactics and very succesful too.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 05 Dec 2010 12:06

Kapil Sibal ducks queries about 2G scam:

"The 85 telecom companies haven't received notices though it was reported that you sent it to them. Why haven't you sent it to them so far?" asked a lady journalist, about companies involved in the 2G scam. Sibal's reply? "It will be sent".

When SUNDAY MiD DAY asked Sibal why there were two regulators, namely the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and if he had any plans to unify them, his reply was, "Well maybe I will think about it".

Finally, he was asked the big question -- how would he handle the 2G spectrum mess? "I will handle it. But right now, I have to handle you," he replied, to another lady journalist. How insightful.

Once again, when asked by SMD why there has been no audit of ample radio spectrum lying with various government agencies, which has caused an artificial spectrum shortage in the telecom industry, pat came the 'reply' - "Yes, there is a spectrum shortage" -- a state secret, apparently.

Raja Ram · Post by **Raja Ram** » 05 Dec 2010 12:46

More stories coming out on NDTV. Here is a report on the Sunday Gaurdian on a ICICI Bank facilitated scam that NDTV promoters seem to have done

http://www.sunday-guardian.com/a/1082

Looks like there is a lot more going on in this media house than apparent.

AbhishekD · Post by **AbhishekD** » 05 Dec 2010 12:57

I dont understand this ICICI-NDTV thing. Can somebody simply what scam is being alluded to here. Did Congress government made some regulatory changes just to favour NDTV?

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 05 Dec 2010 22:04

^^^

Worse than that. Some government honcho must have told ICICI Bank to make a largish loan to NDTV, ignoring the fact that NDTV did not have enough collateral. Unless ICICI Bank was charging high rates of interest (to the tune of 30% or more), a bank would not make such a loan without "external" pressure.

NDTV CEO gives reply, Guardian responds

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 06 Dec 2010 02:57

India to look for scam cash trail in 15 nations

India has begun its search for the trail for money stashed away in secret bank accounts in tax havens, in a bid to get to the source of funds of investors in the firms that were granted telecom licences and scarce 2G spectrum at allegedly throwaway prices. The government is finalising tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) with 15 countries, eight of them in West Asia — a move that will enable securing specific information about sources of income of individuals and firms located there. Negotiations are at an advanced stage with the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, China, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, South Korea and Vietnam.

“Once the agreements are signed, we can seek specific information about persons or entities that may have invested in telecom companies in India that secured licences in 2008,” a top government official said.

The income tax (I-T) department and the enforcement directorate (ED) are already probing possible violations of tax and foreign exchange laws by firms that were awarded licences in the 2G spectrum scam.

At present, India has double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAAs) with as many as 79 countries but not all have provisions for exchange of information related to taxation.

The government has written to these countries to amend the existing DTAAs to incorporate Article 26 of the OECD’s Model Tax Convention. This will allow for exchange of information between two countries on “tax of every kind and description.”

“There are specific suspected instances of round tripping from some of these countries to some firms that were granted licence. The amended treaties will help give more information,” the official said.

Round tripping refers to routing of investments by a resident of one country through another country back to his own country to evade taxes.

Wonder if Macau will be included with China. And also please note: No singapore.

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 06 Dec 2010 12:42

Radiagate exposes Karunanidhi wife

R_Kumar · Post by **R_Kumar** » 06 Dec 2010 16:36

Swamy interview for GulfNews. He is saying main culprits in 2g scam are Karunanidhi and Sonia.
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/i- ... y-1.722635
Why can't he give interview to Indian media?

JwalaMukhi · Post by **JwalaMukhi** » 06 Dec 2010 20:16

R_Kumar wrote:Swamy interview for GulfNews. He is saying main culprits in 2g scam are Karunanidhi and Sonia.
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/i- ... y-1.722635
Why can't he give interview to Indian media?

Regardless, we have to look at what he is saying. Some excerpts.

You're quoted as saying that though the PM is honest, others are not. Who are these persons?

Yes, he is honest, but officials around him like his Principal Secretary T.K.A. Nair and Cabinet Secretary Pulok Chatterjee are not with him. They are all Sonia's appointees. Even if you ask for the PM's appointment, her people decide who can and cannot see him.

You've also said that if the PM resigns, it will strengthen those who made money. Could you name them?

Sonia and DMK party chief M Karunanidhi.

You mean Raja is just a face and the real culprits are the biggies of the DMK?

Raja got 10 per cent, Karunanidhi 30 per cent and Sonia's two sisters have got 60 per cent of the loot.

Have you done in-depth research and investigation to make such claims?

Yes, I've enormous access because whatever my enemies may say, one thing is there that I've never betrayed anybody. Today, people in the government are so fed up seeing everything happening in close range and all this material is available with the PM.

Why is the UPA - 2 seeing so many scams?

Earlier, the scams were related to the defence deals, where things were difficult. Now, they have got into things within the country. And since there are lots of players, some of them spill the beans.

So, usually, most of the pie gets handled outside the country with beneficiaries stocking their loot in warehouses such as swizz bank.
A CT alert. :The release of tapes and the limelight this scandal is hogging, probably is because lot of the money got circulated into the country. This probably did not sit well with the beneficiaries of usual route (swizz banks), in such debauchery. Now, the money route has probably altered, with swizz banks getting crumbs, the handlers are not happy.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 Dec 2010 23:56

PTI News Report:

Are our phones being tapped? India Inc asks

Most naive question ever. Its not like all of India Inc are babes in the wood especially when they try to change cabinet ministers and lobby for political parties. Its a wonder that IB hasn't started monitoring them for that is the mandate and doesn't need permission if they mess with Union cabinet.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 07 Dec 2010 22:29

Another scam in the making - toll gate scam

Mauli · Post by **Mauli** » 08 Dec 2010 00:27

http://politicsparty.com/wikileaks_dest ... vvvips.php

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 08 Dec 2010 07:30

several interlinked financial transactions

The Enforcement Directorate has approached the governments of the UAE, UK, Norway, Libya, Singapore, Isle of Man, Jersey , Mauritius, Russia and Cyprus seeking information on transactions between telcos such as Etisalat DB, Sistema Shyam, Unitech, S Tel, Idea Cellular and entities which the agency claims are related to them. ED is investigating whether these companies , through their subsidiaries and business partners situated in different countries, carried out what is described as several interlinked financial transactions to 'camouflage the real beneficiaries of the spectrum scam' .

ED has also asked the foreign governments to help it get balance sheets of companies registered abroad for a three-year period beginning 2007, shareholding structure and details of promoters.

5000 tapes in 2G scam on the way

Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: “The parts that have come out aren’t really connected to the investigation.” The remaining 5,000-plus recordings contained the details that will actually assist investigators as they draw up formal charges against wrongdoers. In the interview Mr. Pillai said he gave the go-ahead to bug Ms. Radia’s phone to further a tax-evasion investigation. The potentially illegal movement of funds in and out of India is being scrutinised closely.

Mr. Pillai said the leaking of the Radia tapes has kick started questions from other big-wigs now calling him to find out if they, too, are being tapped. However, the fears of widespread wire tapping are "much exaggerated" according to Mr Pillai, who has said strict guidelines are followed when it comes to such surveillance. There are "only" 6,000 to 8,000 wiretaps happening at any point. Around five percent are for white collar investigations.