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

dinesha · Post by **dinesha** » 08 Dec 2010 08:47

2G scam: CBI starts raids on A Raja & aides
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/12/08/2g-s ... aides.html

rkirankr · Post by **rkirankr** » 08 Dec 2010 17:35

I posted this on Nov 19

Well MMS is truly in a fix. He was expected to go after the May 2009 elections . Probably make way for prince. He wouldn't. Was growing a bit too big. So now expect the Prince riding on a white stallion to save matha er Bharat ...

Now Subramanyam Swamy says Sonia is planning to get rid of MMS and install munna

Raghavendra · Post by **Raghavendra** » 08 Dec 2010 18:50

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 064923.cms

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Swamy said Congress president Sonia Gandhi was "Gangotri" (fountainhead) of corruption in the country.

Maruti scam as revealed by Hon'ble Justice A C Gupta
Bofors scam in which CBI has neglected to question her in spite of she being the prime beneficiary
Iraqi oil scam as revealed by Paul Volcker where sonia received money from Saddam

Sonia is neck deep in corruption
Time for Indians to stand on her head and drown the looter in her own scum

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 08 Dec 2010 19:15

yeah and Swamy has really improved his credentials by asking the aging Tiger to lead the charge on corruption

kasthuri · Post by **kasthuri** » 08 Dec 2010 19:19

2G scam: CBI recovers incriminating documents

Raghavendra · Post by **Raghavendra** » 08 Dec 2010 20:12

Surya wrote:yeah and Swamy has really improved his credentials by asking the aging Tiger to lead the charge on corruption

Even a tiny scratch from the claws of aging puppet tiger can be deadly to the puppeteer

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 08 Dec 2010 22:34

Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai
Is he the same person whose statement about GOP blew Paki Qureshi's Musharraf when our beloved foreign minister was there talking lovey -dovey?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 08 Dec 2010 22:41

Yes. Same person.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 08 Dec 2010 23:48

Pillai sir seems to be son of soil on a holy mission. Hope he or some one else is watching his back .

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 09 Dec 2010 08:57

Prem wrote:Pillai sir seems to be son of soil on a holy mission. Hope he or some one else is watching his back .

Airavat wrote: 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.

This fellow has alway done something that has major alterations to the planned execution. It either created major loss or complete U turn.
(1) Telangana - no solution in sight and AP in turmoil with an INC exit threat looming on the horizon.
(2) JK - a lot stuff on the faces of FM and PM. The talks are not going anywhere as planned
(3) Raja's exit and the non-stop leaks to Subra Swamy are some pointers

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 09 Dec 2010 12:02

Pillai, is not the guy who will be authorising such leaks. He is too exposed for some think like this. Also a GOI babu will not brief the media unless his political masters clear it before hand.

Him acting like a rambo in the MHA is therefore out of question.

Please keep in mind that the appointments at such a higher level is made only for people who are relaible and will not upset the apple cart. If you pay attention, most of his public actions / statements have. That being the case, they have to be cleared at the highest levels of the GOI. Perhaps by the PMO it self.

ShivaS · Post by **ShivaS** » 09 Dec 2010 12:08

who are relaible

inappropirate vocabulary

it should read "who are loyal and will toe".

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 09 Dec 2010 12:21

Spinro madam

Relaible in the GOI dictionary means, "who are loyal and will toe".

So it is appropriate usage.

amit · Post by **amit** » 09 Dec 2010 13:53

Muppalla wrote:
Prem wrote:Pillai sir seems to be son of soil on a holy mission. Hope he or some one else is watching his back .

Airavat wrote: 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.
This fellow has alway done something that has major alterations to the planned execution. It either created major loss or complete U turn.
(1) Telangana - no solution in sight and AP in turmoil with an INC exit threat looming on the horizon.
(2) JK - a lot stuff on the faces of FM and PM. The talks are not going anywhere as planned
(3) Raja's exit and the non-stop leaks to Subra Swamy are some pointers

Pillai said this in his WSJ interview:

The remaining 5,000-plus recordings contained the details that will actually assist investigators as they draw up formal charges against wrongdoers.
“The investigation part is much more, which has not yet come out,” said Mr. Pillai, the top bureaucrat in the Home Ministry, which oversees domestic security issues and approves wiretap requests by central government agencies. “The parts that have come out aren’t really connected to the investigation.”

In another report he said this:

Pillai said he was concerned over the Radia tapes having been leaked and was awaiting the results of a government inquiry into how the disclosure happened. But he said all the tapes would likely become public at some point anyway, since the Supreme Court has asked for a full set of copies and it could be petitioned to release them eventually. "You can’t do pick and choose (then),” he said.

To assume that Pillai is doing/saying all this as a lone ranger in the gobermind needs, to put it mildly, a large dollop of imagination. More so when the conventional wisdom here is (ever since his comments on the Porkis) that he doing this against the wishes of the present political dispensation in Naya Dilli.

I get a feeling there's a whole host of high and mighty who are quivering in their dhotis waiting to see what comes out from the 5,000 tapes.

Which may explain Nira ji's smiling and confident face after she leaves after a seven hour grilling.

Kanson · Post by **Kanson** » 09 Dec 2010 14:40

^ Good to see the linkages. You mean this is all done with the most highest command of INC or It means the GoI ministers are not taking orders from INC high command and functioning independently.

amit · Post by **amit** » 09 Dec 2010 15:06

Kanson wrote:^ Good to see the linkages. You mean this is all done with the most highest command of INC or It means the GoI ministers are not taking orders from INC high command and functioning independently.

Kanson,

Honestly I dunno. It could be a move by the High Command to keep the coalition partners in line by making an example of Raja - with the indirect benefit of showing that INC, specifically the family, is determined to clean up corruption. Or it could be a section of the INC high command functioning independently which would suggest that the family's hold on the INC is not as absolute as it may seem. Or it could be MMS poison pill to keep the family in check. Or it could be none of the above. There's a lot different possibilities.

However, what seems pretty obvious to me is that Pillai is not working as a lone ranger and also that the leak of the tapes was not a maverick incident done by a disgruntled element. If so I don't see how the point about more tapes in the offing comes up. IMO there are greater forces in play than seems apparent. Pillai's statement which I bolded in my last post seems to indicate that.

The problem as I see it is that we tend to look at politics in black and white and thus miss the large dollops of gray in between. Subramaniam Swamy is a crafty player. You never really know whose side he's really on.

JMT

ShivaS · Post by **ShivaS** » 09 Dec 2010 15:22

I like her Jholi type bag must have taken some sterling stuff in that
Is she is inverted to Islam or reverted to yinduism? Cool Cat Woman
I would aquit her If the jholi doesn't fit aquit I say

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 09 Dec 2010 15:59

"Raja used his power to allot spectrum to two companies that were in the construction business," he said. "These companies in turn sold it to two foreign companies, which is something you will never see in any other nation because telecommunication is a matter of national security."

He alleged both the foreign companies have a Pakistan connection.

http://www.rediff.com/news/special/spec ... 101209.htm

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 09 Dec 2010 16:18

has Ratan Tata lost his mind?

Tata slams Rajeev Chandrasekhar and GSM operators

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Dec 2010 17:11

Pratyush, Ratan Tata hasn't lost his mind. He is acting cleverly to divert the whole issue to a higher political level than is currently the case and also divide the Opposition. He may not be even doing it at the behest of the INC, rather than for the sake of his own company. The TATA image is clearly taking a beating, rightly or wrongly.

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 09 Dec 2010 17:13

^^^^

Tata never had an image, except for paid media's fabrication.

=====

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bjp-g ... ss/722490/

BJP gave away free spectrum under Vajpayee: Congress

By THOMAS SAMUELChinese

Congress today alleged that the BJP was shying away from a debate on the 2G issue because its top leadership was involved in taking "wrong" decisions on spectrum allocation when NDA was in power which led to huge revenue losses to the country. "Is it not a fact that in July 1999, immediately after the Kargil war, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took the Communication portfolio from Jagmohan and helped the Telecom companies which resulted in a loss of Rs 60,000 crore to the country?" Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari alleged. The attack on the principal Opposition came as Parliament proceedings were stalled for the 20th consecutive day today over the Opposition's demand for a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum scam.

Demanding the BJP clarify its position on the spectrum allocation issue, Tewari said the saffron party should answer on the issue of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan distributing "free of cost spectrum” to the Telecom operators on January 31, 2001. "In 2004, when elections were on and the model code of conduct was applicable, the then NDA government reduced the revenue share of the Telecom operators and caused a loss to the exchequer," he told reporters outside Parliament. Accusing the BJP of unnecessarily politicising the issue, Tewari said the top BJP leadership didn't want to hold a debate on the issue in Parliament as "all of them have been involved in taking wrong decisions in the spectrum allocation". Asked if the CBI raids against former Telecom Minister A Raja would affect Congress' alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu, he said, "We have an alliance with them. We have contested the Lok Sabha elections with them and even today we are running the government together in Tamil Nadu."

=================

Tata benefited most, says Chandrasekhar

Rajya Sabha member and former telecom entrepreneur Rajeev Chandrasekhar has pointed out to top industrialist Ratan Tata that his group company benefited the most following the government’s dual technology policy. The company received out-of-turn spectrum causing losses of Rs 19,074.8 crore to the exchequer as estimated by the Comptroller and Auditor General, he said.

In an open letter to the Tata Group Chairman, Chandrasekhar said the government had received 575 applications for 2G spectrum by October 1, 2007. By specifying an arbitrary cut-off date of September 25, former telecom minister A Raja processed only 122 applications received till that date. Further, 110 were rejected and 343 applications were put in abeyance. The dual technology policy was announced 19 days later and the Tatas put in their applications around October 22. According to Chandrasekhar, Tatas’ application went three weeks after the 575 2G applications were received. “Today, Tatas already have GSM spectrum allocated and GSM service launched in most of the circles. But the 343 applications submitted three weeks before the Tata Group have neither been processed nor have any chance of ever being processed – so much for First-Come, First-Serve,” he wrote in his letter. In a recent Walk-the-Talk programme on NDTV with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta, Ratan Tata asserted that old GSM operators were holding excess spectrum free of cost and had demanded a full-fledged probe into the allotment process from 1999 onwards when the new telecom policy came into effect. “In fact the whole thing in so doing - there has been a smoke screen behind what is really the so-called scam - which really is out-of-turn allocation of spectrum, hoarding of spectrum by important players for free... and things of this nature. So I *think it’s a bad time,” Tata had said.

===================

My comments :

These people walk away to their Swiss banks with hundreds of crores of rupees and nothing happens to them. And people like me are asked by Income Tax dept to explain EVERY bank entry from 1-apr-2005 till now just because I contested election !! And it can go back to 1-apr-2003 !! As if I have stolen hundred of crore of rupees or evaded taxes of hundred of crores of rupees.

I am sure many of them were taking non-financial favors as well. Its time we mercilessly take narco test in public of EACH of the Nbjprie involved in the murky deals. Lots of information will come about financial and private lives as well. Without large scale narco test, no real information will ever come out.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 09 Dec 2010 17:19

SS,

My question was made in the POV that the Tatas will be better served if they keep quite. This kind of mudslinging hoping that some will stick may back fire on the group. Causing even more harm then the taps themselves. Moreover, all this seem to be the actions of a guilty mind. (at least to me)

The best course of action would have been to simply issue a press statement saying that Tata is ending all business relations with Radia firms & Let the matter rest. But no. Not only has Tata not treminated the relationship with Radia. But also he has gone on the offensive. An offensive which may hurt the Tatas more.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 09 Dec 2010 17:54

The Himalayan heights of corruption that Dr.Singh has presided over has turned into an avalanche that is sweeping the reputation of the Congress and co. into the sewers.Scam after scam erupts without cessation and all roots of these cancerous scams lead directly to the PMO.The pathetic attempts of Congress spokesmen in TV channels only highlight the party's desperation in trying to close the lid on Pandora's,sorry....Sonia's box of demons. Dr.Singh stands exposed as the emperor of corruption of India and threatens the reputation of the party pres. Mrs.G-2,as the "godmother" of corruption.With revolt in Andhra,defeat in Bihar and even the family's bastion in UP a worrying thought,it is now clear that emperor has no clothes and his usefulness is in terminal decline.He has clearly has passed his "sell-by" date.

It is very likely that in the first half of 2011,we shall see a changing of the guard,with the good Dr.Singh stepping down due to "poor health" and sailing off into the sunset clutching his N-deal as his medal of (dis) honour which he had hoped would be his footnote to history,now totally eclipsed by multiple scams and him to forever be remembered as "Scandal Singh".His departure will also help divert attention as the scam investigations go on ,as a new untainted,"Reichs Fuhrer" will lead the CPP.It is most likely that octagenarian Pranab will get the nod finally,decades after malicious rivals sabotaged his chances in the aftermath of Mrs.G.s assassination,insinuating that like Caesar,"he was ambitious".This will allow him to also gracefully retire around the date of the next election,when the Crown Prince is expected to be anointed as our nation's "Future Fuhrer".

Events in Tamil Nadu are vital for the Congress.The Crown Prince is to make a long visit to the state and the doddering Kalaignar,is reeling from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with the sacking of his man,the "rajah of corruption" and the skeletons tumbling out of his cupboard.The Maharani of Madras (MM) is salivating at the misfortunes of the hated Kalaignar and will surely be sounding out the Future Fuhrer (FF) on terms for an alliance.One might even see the dumping of the govt. on the basis of corruption before the state elections next year,which would definitely aid the Maharani in her return to power.This might explain why the raids on the rajah are being carried out with such gusto for the public's benefit so that FF and MM can do a duet at the hustings.

PS:What was hilarious was seeing the raiders accompanied by sniffer dogs too! Did they expect to find some hallucinatory substances at the rajah's palace too?

PPS:Many moons ago,I was told thus:a well known scribe during the days of JRD,when he was a star of one of our national dailies,had been exposing some of the Tata group's off-putting practices.JRD wanted to meet him and at an informal meeting at which were present many heads from the galaxy of Tata companies (some of whom were allegedly quietly bitching about the others to "Jeh"),JRD greeted him warmly,spoke warm words about his family whom he knew well,etc.,etc.,and then gently asked him "young man,why are you treating us like this?" When he explained what had been actually happening,JRD smiled and told him,"young man,you have a lot to learn"! What nobody knew was that the scribe's legendary boss had allegdly "wired " him so that the boss could enjoy the details!

Ratan Tata would be best advised to say nothing like the sphinx of India,Dr.Singh.That stone "lion" has well learnt that age-old dictum that "into a closed mouth,entereth no fly".

arjunm · Post by **arjunm** » 09 Dec 2010 22:03

Another scam in the name of investigation is in the offing, Congress rented a retired Judge to do the job-

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/gover ... udge-71606

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 09 Dec 2010 22:30

BJP has pre-empted all the "hawa bazi" by proactively agreeing that whoever so want (including JPC) can investigate all telecom deals in their tenure.

Ouch.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 09 Dec 2010 22:35

as yes minister and Yes prime minister shows us - retired judges and bureaucrats are usually the way to bury a scam

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 09 Dec 2010 23:22

Pratuysh, Tatas were part of the "License, Quota, Permit Raj". What I find interesting is that many old time business houses accused of being most beneficiaries of the LQPR, are not in this round. Its all new money, new palyers.

Another thing its not the new economy IT types. BTW it was the IT guys(Narayanamurthy and Premji) who showed it was possible to make money in one decade, what took many generations of LPQR type activity. The neo-LPQR are bringing disrepute to making wealth again.

Again its an IT guy (Chandrasekhar) who is ripping the mask of hypocrisy from House of TATA.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 10 Dec 2010 04:41

Pioneer reports:

FRONT PAGE | Friday, December 10, 2010 |

Raja's diaries reveal explosive 2G detailsDecember 10, 2010 5:05:01 AM

PNS | New Delhi

Four logbooks, parallel files part of CBI's seizure

The CBI’s scrutiny of the “incriminating” documents it had seized on Wednesday has yielded major disclosures that could lead to many more skeletons tumbling out of the 2G scam cupboard. The seizures were made during raids on the residences and establishments of former Telecom Minister A Raja, his aides and the bureaucrats of his erstwhile Ministry.

Sources said four diaries belonging to Raja, parallel files pertaining to the spectrum allocation and the Prime Minister’s original letter to Raja — advising him for transparent auction of the spectrum — have been found.

While CBI officials remained tightlipped on the recovery, sources in the agency said the diaries are written mostly in Tamil and mention payments to politicians and journalists.

In his letter of November 2, 2007, the PM was responding to Raja’s observations against then Law Minister HR Bhardwaj, who had directed for the constitution of an EGoM for 2G spectrum allocation. The PM had advised against the controversial proposal to allocate spectrum on the first-come-first-served basis and instead opt for transparency by auctioning it.

Sources said that while the PM’s letter was recovered from a shelf in Raja’s office-cum-residence, the parallel files were seized from the garage of the beleaguered former Minister. The seizures, sources said, also included offers on spectrum by telecom companies like STel.

“The annual diaries in glossy covers are from 2007 to 2010 and written mostly in Tamil…contain details of payments to politicians, including two Cabinet Ministers and a Minister of State, besides telecom correspondents from print, television and agencies,” a source said.

Investigations have also revealed significant investments by Raja’s close associate and then his PS RK Chandolia in the share market. Chandolia is a regular share trader and the agency is probing if he had any role in parking of funds with his brother-in-law and one-time sharebroker who has since shifted to London.

The agency has also gathered documents related to Chandolia’s investments in properties in Rajasthan, three residential properties in Gurgaon and Noida and a guest house in Safdarjung Enclave, sources said.

The Enforcement Directorate had earlier quizzed Chandolia for alleged receipt of payments from safe havens like Mauritius.

The Andimuthu Chinnapillai Charitable Trust, searched by the CBI on Wednesday, is believed to have indirect financial stakes in three engineering colleges, four polytechnics, six arts colleges and some medical colleges in Tamil Nadu, the sources said, adding that the Trust was controlled by Raja’s close relatives.

The agency is also learnt to have gathered evidence of direct banking transactions between one of the companies allotted the 2G spectrum with Green House Promoters.

The sources also said questioning of Raja’s associates and the then bureaucrats in the Telecom Ministry continued on Thursday. The officials whose premises were searched by the CBI on Wednesday include Chandolia, then Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behuria, then Member (Telecom Commission, DoT) K Sridhar, then DDG (Access Service Wing of DoT) AK Srivastava and Greenhouse Exports MD Sadiqui Batcha.

CBI spokesperson Vineeta Thakur was unavailable for comments.

So most likely the scam will die away as so many names were found from politicians and media!

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 10 Dec 2010 09:06

ramana wrote:So most likely the scam will die away as so many names were found from politicians and media!

Depends on what actions you, me, other BRites and non-BRites take.

.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 10 Dec 2010 09:24

And the 2g Scam gets buried

Fresh telecom probe to start from 2001

The government on Thursday appointed a one-man committee comprising retired Supreme Court justice Shivaraj V Patil to probe the 2G spectrum scam.

The probe will cover the 2001-09 period. The BJP-led NDA was in power from 1998 to 2004.

“We’re looking at the internal departmental procedures adopted by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) in 2001-09 with the issuance of telecom access service licences and allocation of spectrum to all telecom access service licencees,” said communications and IT minister Kapil Sibal.

The panel will also examine if there was any violation of the policies laid down by the DoT.

The Opposition, which has stalled Parliament for 20 days demanding a joint parliamentary committee to look into the alleged irregularities, called it an eyewash. “The committee proposed is not even a court of inquiry. Our demand for a JPC remains,” said Arun Jaitley.

The CPI(M) too called it a “diversionary and dilatory step”.

Can we hope to find the truth in this mess now. Or we are going to have a commission which will sit for 20 years and get umpteen extentions. Produce a report no one can fathom.

Jai Ho and all that................

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 10 Dec 2010 09:27

You can wake up a person who is sleeping but you cant wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 10 Dec 2010 09:59

This scam is bordering on farce.The "rented" Hon.judge,on telly said that while he would look into the matter,he was not permitted to collect "evidence" ...!So what is the entire point of this one-man monkey show? I am now convinced that the Congress want NO genuine investigation under any circumstances and this "rented" judge is being roped in to deflect any strictures and demands that the Supreme Court may make!

AjayKK · Post by **AjayKK** » 10 Dec 2010 12:59

Rajeev Chandrashekhar accuses Tata of amnesia

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/rajeev-chand ... ml?from=tn

In another news item, Rajeev Chandrashekhar accused Ratan Tata of batting for the PM, in response to which Shri Tata called the independent RS MP as a"BJP man".

First the Radia tapes and then the spat, a well orchestrated campaign to deflect attention from Raja sahab and his fellow scamsters. Maybe Shri Rajeev Chandrashekhar is playing the role of Shri K.Chandra Shekhar, president TRS, as an effective "internal opposition" to the Party.

Inder Sharma · Post by **Inder Sharma** » 10 Dec 2010 20:24

English News channels flashing news that Radia may have links with foreign Intel Agencies.

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 10 Dec 2010 20:59

what scam? There is no scam....

shaardula · Post by **shaardula** » 10 Dec 2010 22:29

something curious on outlook website....
it reads

Outlook Breaking News: 800 New Radia Tapes
http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?704588

~~but so far no other content.~~

shaardula · Post by **shaardula** » 11 Dec 2010 00:53

two new tapes.

47-188819-0-26-20090522-161405
"Please tell the congress for me". Says Karunanidhi is under too much of pressure with "one daughter threatening to commit suicide". Also asking this person to talk to Sunil Mittal and seek his support.

40-188819-0-23-20090523-113743
"Congress ne to statement Thank God issue kar diya. Barkha ne kar waaliya us se. Ki its not about individuals. "' The guy says "Haan woh to maine dekh liya. aa gya na Manish Tewari ka". " I spoke to minister 2 o' clock in the night last night. because he said, Congress had to call the chief minister directly in the morning and tell them about Baalu."

partha · Post by **partha** » 11 Dec 2010 00:57

^^
798 more to come in a matter of few hours!

Tamang · Post by **Tamang** » 11 Dec 2010 01:39

Posted?

The Radia Tapes - All the 140 available audios -- a work in progress with transcripts getting added on an on-going basis and names being identified, added and corrected

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 11 Dec 2010 01:49

well well - Saikat has been let loose