Pawar and Patel pitching for peak profile portfolios after present 'Killing' performance

Harish Gupta / DNA Wednesday, July 7, 2010 1:19 IST Email
New Delhi: After Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, it is the turn of minister for civil aviation Praful Patel to request change.

Before flying off to Johannesburg, South Africa, Patel is learnt to have conveyed to the prime minister (PM) that he be shifted to some other ministry. Though no reasons are known for Patel’s desire to be relieved of the civil aviation portfolio, he is said to have conveyed to Manmohan Singh that it has been over six years that he has been in the ministry and he feels it is time to move on.

“Please do not ask me what transpired between me and the PM. Let me come back on July 10,” Patel told DNA.

Patel is the second Union minister — that too belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — to express desire for a change in profile. Patel had met the PM thrice, the last time being the inauguration of the new airport in New Delhi.

It is learnt that Pawar had raised the matter of Patel’s desire to be shifted to another ministry when he (Pawar) called on the PM at his residence on Monday morning. Apparently, when Pawar requested the PM to lighten his workload, he politely demanded that Patel be upgraded to full cabinet minister considering his seniority. “If Pawar sheds the crucial department of food and consumer affairs, he wants a cabinet rank post in return for his party. There is no free lunch,” said a senior Congress leader.

Pawar’s decision to go public soon after meeting the PM took the Congress by surprise. The party may have been eager to tame Pawar by blaming him for high food prices, but it is also fully aware that starting the process of reshuffling the cabinet before Parliament’s monsoon session will cause more pain.

If the nine-member NCP in the Lok Sabha gets two cabinet posts in the new scheme of things, why shall the 20-member DMK bandwagon compromise with three cabinet berths (A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran and M K Alagiri)? A couple of senior Congress leaders may have been indicating an impending reshuffle and gunning for the portfolios of telecom minister A Raja and environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh (the opposition has been baying for Raja’s blood over the 2G spectrum scam).

Also, minister of new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah probably desires to be shifted to tourism or some other ministry.
But the Congress high command and the PM are disinclined to undertake such an exercise as there are no “compelling reasons” to reshuffle the council of ministers. The Congress has 27 Cabinet posts out of 33, leaving only six for its allies; it has most of the plum portfolios as well.

However, the Congress is fully aware that the Monsoon session will be stormy, with the NDA and the Left joining hands on fuel price and the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill. So why buckle under them and sacrifice Raja, for which the DMK supremo is not ready?

The final call will be taken at the Congress core committee meeting on Friday at the PM’s residence.
After Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel seeks profile change

Indian Cricket: BCCI echoes IPL scam pitch

Lalit Modi spills the beans: Amin part of bidding for Pune
New Delhi: Giving a new twist to the bidding controversy, suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi on Friday claimed that the Twenty20 league's interim chairman Chirayu Amin was part of the consortium that made an unsuccessful bid for the Pune franchise in March this year.

Modi said Aniruddha Deshpande, Managing Director of City Corporation in which Sharad Pawar and his family had 16 per cent shares, made the bid in March for a new consortium which included Amin.

"There were three members in the consortium that was part of the bid. They were Aniruddha, Akruti and Chirayu Amin," said Modi, whose suspension saw Amin being appointed as the interim IPL chairman.

"It's a fact of life and I cannot change or distort facts. They were the bidders, one can't change that," Modi said.

Amin was not available for comments. Amin, a Vadodara-based industrialist who heads the Baroda Cricket Association, was named the interim chairman in April after Modi was suspended on charges of financial irregularities, including bid-rigging.

Modi had earlier defended Pawar, saying no one from the Agriculture Minister's family had anything to do with Deshpande's bid.
Source: PTI
Amin was part of bidding for Pune: Modi

Can of worms exposed!
Manohar also claimed that contrary to Modi's assertions, the IPL Governing Council did not know that City Corporation's Managing Director Aniruddha Deshpande bid for the Pune team in his "individual capacity".
Convoluting the Cricket Controversy: Manohar lashes out at Modi

Moderator Comment
Is Cricket in India churning into a Money Laundering Business under the so called apex body of BCCI? Is there no one who can set the goals of sporting and games in order in India. Till today a billion plus citizens hardly produce world class sportsmen. The reasons are obvious from the scams that are erupting in the sports arena. It is here the Armed Forces can set an example to produce world class players and sportsman for the Nation to be proud of.

DRDO slippages are they frustrating Modernisation of the Armed Forces?

The following steps have been taken to strengthen the organisation:

Consortium approach has been used for design, development and fabrication of critical components.

Three-tier project monitoring approach is being followed in the major projects / programmes.

Project Monitoring Review Committee (PMRC); and Project Appraisal and Review Committee (PARC) meetings are held regularly to monitor the progress of the ongoing projects.

Concurrent engineering approach has been adopted in technology intensive projects to minimize time-lag between development and productionisation of the systems, and Information Technology and modern management techniques have been applied.

Participation of Services in all major programmes right from the beginning of the projects, etc.

Large number of R&D projects and research initiatives taken up with nearly 100 academic and other scientific establishments.

There are also international collaboration to fortify DRDO’s strength.
This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Mangani Lal Mandal and others in Lok Sabha today. Samir / RAJ
Restructuring Of DRDO: Major DRDO Projects / Programmes which are yet to be completed
Related reading
Aerospace, defence face hurdles in globalising

IPL Cricket sports show of shady sleaze

IPL misusing Indian passion for cricket, says Yechury by Staff Reporter The Hindu

It has nothing to do with the game; actually being used as a backdrop for shady ventures. Seeks probe into source of IPL funds and where they were going. Actual role of media as the Fourth Estate relegated to the backseat.

ALAPPUZHA: Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said the Indian Premier League (IPL) had nothing to do with cricket and that it was misusing the Indian passion for cricket.

Inaugurating a symposium on ‘EMS and the Media,' held in connection with the birth centenary of the former Chief Minister, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, here on Sunday, Mr. Yechury said the IPL was actually being used as a backdrop for shady ventures that ran into thousands of crores of rupees. The source of IPL funds and where they were going had to be probed thoroughly, he said.

Crucial role
With the media too playing a crucial role in the mounting of the IPL spectacle, it was essential to find the source of such money, particularly at a time when the common man was finding it tough to find food and to tackle rising prices.

On Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor's alleged involvement in the controversy, Mr. Yechury said Mr. Tharoor, if he genuinely had Kerala's interests at heart, should have fought for the Kochi Metro Rail project or for rectifying the below poverty line (BPL)-above poverty line (APL) categorisation imbroglio in the State.

Earlier, terming EMS a master communicator who was never afraid of controversies and even generated them to mobilise people on various issues, Mr. Yechury said there was no person like him in contemporary Indian politics.

Power of media
EMS believed in the power of the media to mould people's consciousness and to elevate people's thoughts. He was the staunchest defender of freedom of expression and the media. However, the post-EMS era was witnessing a distortion of responsibility of the media to make the judiciary, executive and legislature accountable and to raise issues that they ignored. This was mainly happening through globalisation-fuelled trends for maximisation of profits, he said.

Lucrative institution
With the media turning into a lucrative institution and trends like commercialisation and paid news setting in, the actual role of being the Fourth Estate was relegated to the backseat. Cautioning against agenda-driven media attempts to manufacture people's consent, Mr. Yechury said this was dangerous because people were deprived of their right to know the truth. Parliamentary democracy would be undermined and democracy itself would be restricted to the rich.

Calling for the media too to be part of the solution, which had to be evolved through discussions with the people and the political process, he said the right form of regulation of media too had to be evolved through debate.
IPL misusing Indian passion for cricket, says Yechury

Tehelka Scoop of the Money Spinners
Mr Big Deal: Financial whiz, cut-throat tycoon, or failed scion with a point to prove? Lalit Modi is making the cricket world both rave and rant. Rahul Bhatia digs out his turf

BJP scores a sixer
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters in Kolkata, "The Centre should investigate the entire IPL issue but before that, Tharoor should resign. If he does not resign, he should be sacked."

The BJP leader said the IPL scam had demonstrated how political leaders and businessmen were manipulating the bids by cricket teams.

"This is a serious issue which involves ministers and officials. At a time when the country was facing price rise, Maoist problem and terror threat, they are busy converting IPL into an agency for looting public money. Tharoor is a small fry. There are many other players. A correct picture should be presented before the people," Joshi said.

Indians among most corrupt while doing business abroad: TII

23 Sep 2009, 2200 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: At least 30 per cent of 2,742 business executives surveyed across the world regard Indians among the most corrupt when doing business abroad to "speed things up", according to a report by an NGO Transparency International India (TII) here.

"The Global Corruption Report 2009: Corruption and the Private Sector (GCR)" which was released today worldwide claims that Indian and Chinese companies play an active role in global business but engage in "bribery" when doing business abroad.

The Competition Act enacted in 2002 which promotes and sustains competition in markets and protects the interest of consumers has remained a non-starter in India, as per the report.

"A minimum of 100 senior executives each in 26 countries were questioned regarding the practices used by business persons from various nations," it says.

"TII has had some measure of success with public sector firms with the use of Integrity Pact, a tool to check corruption in procurement and tendering. We have not been able to generate similar interest among the private sector yet," says TII chairman RH Tahiliani in a statement.

Another concern the report addresses is how the sheer economic power of some firms and business sectors translates into disproportionate and undue leverage on political-decision making.

"Companies have no clear cut guideline on regulating and making transparent political contributions. Corporates report high-level strategic commitments to anti-corruption but they do not always report on the necessary support systems required to meet these commitments," says Anupama Jha, executive director of TII.

The report also points out that half of international business executives polled estimated that corruption raised project costs by at least 10 per cent.

"Ultimately it is citizens who pay: consumers around the world were overcharged around US $300 billion through almost 300 private international cartels discovered from 1990 to 2005," she adds.
Indians among most corrupt while doing business abroad: TII

Rapidly changing military sociology

By RSN Singh
Current Issue: Vol 24.3 Jul-Sep 2009 Indian Defence Review

The Post-Independence Indian Army continues to struggle with the British colonial model, ways and traditions, which served us well to a point. In fact, we were so enamored by the British ethos that we ceased to introspect about any adaptations that the uniqueness of this land and its changing values demanded. More so, because, at least for four decades and may be even more, the changes in the country were slow, therefore imperceptible.

Lack of Governance and the Growing Tendency to Challenge the Authority
The State’s failure to deliver on governance, the thriving corruption with money being demanded in some cases in the very first phase of an army career, i.e. recruitment, makes army personnel cynical towards established authority. This is rather being witnessed in other areas and organizations as well. The political culture and its by product mob culture have also demeaned the executive organs of the state.

The impact of the above has resulted in growing aspirations in the civil society and consequently the armed forces as well. In this regard, two examples are apposite:

at some places there have been demands for membership by personnel below officers’ rank for ‘golf clubs’.

the increasing number of ORs and JCOs buying flats through the AWHO.

This change in cultural hierarchy has been engendered by the growing corporate culture, awareness and relatively easy access to means and resources. The cumulative impact of the changing socio-economic conditions has been that like their countrymen the army personnel are not contend with just ‘pay and perks’, but also want certain privileges- the most important privilege being the avenue for growth. For them quantitative welfare measures are not enough, the emphasis being increasingly on quality. The leadership therefore has to be more imaginative and of much higher order than in the past. It is not that the army is not adapting to the imperatives of the fast changing times, but the process is slow. The army has been, and needs to continue as the bedrock of national integration and progenitor of some very effective and enduring institutional ethos, traditions, and practices.

RSN Singh, Associate Editor IDR and author of the book Asian Strategic and Military Perspective. His latest book is The Military Factor in Pakistan.
The above are extracts only. Click link below for the thought provoking and a "must" read article:
Rapidly changing military sociology

Tamilnadu Ex Servicemen Corporation Not DGR Empanelled

Extract of Madras High Court Judgement
TEXCO Vs DGR Empanelled Security Agencies

27. I have carefully considered the above submissions and I am not convinced by the argument of the learned Additional Advocate General in this regard. Admittedly, the petitioner TEXCO has not been sponsored by the DGR. A plain reading of Instruction 20 (l) of the DGR Instructions, as it is contended by the learned counsel appearing for some of the respondents, would go to show that it speaks of the seniority of the agencies sponsored by the DGR. If this Instruction is read along with the other DGR Instructions, the same would go to show that the term "seniority" only refers to the age of the Proprietor / Director of an agency. Therefore, the seniority as referred to in Instruction 20 (i) of the DGR Instructions cannot have any application to a State Government Owned Corporation. For these two reasons viz., (1) this Instruction applies only to agencies sponsored by the DGR and (2) the term "Seniority" refers only to the agencies other than the State Government run Corporations, I am of the view that the State Government Owned Corporation cannot have any preferential right over the other agencies, who were sponsored by the DGR.

28. It is the contention of the Additional Advocate General that the State Government Owned Corporation has been established for the welfare and resettlement of Ex-servicemen and their dependants and the members of the Corporation or share-holders of the Corporation and therefore, the petitioner TEXCO should have been given preference by BSNL over the Private Security Agencies. This argument may appear to be attractive, but it does not persuade the Court for the reasons which follow.

29. As I have already recorded in the earlier paragraphs of this order, the DGR has formulated the Scheme available to the Ex-commissioned Officers of the three services to provide security service to various establishments. It is not as though the private agencies are run outside the scope of the Scheme formulated by the DGR. The aim of the Scheme is not only to provide employment to Ex-servicemen , but also to provide opportunity for Ex-commissioned Officers of Armed Forces to run security service agencies. Thus, this Scheme provides benefits to the Ex-commissioned Officers as well as the Ex-servicemen and it serves duel purpose. Only with a view to keep a complete control over these agencies which are run by the Ex-Commissioned Officers, several measures have been taken by way of instructions to empanel the agencies to sponsor the same. At the time of empanelling the agencies run by the Ex-Commissioned Officers, there are various formalities, which are to be followed and there are various legal requirements, which are to be satisfied by the said Ex-commissioned Officers of Armed Forces. If once, the said agency is empanelled by the DGR, it becomes fully eligible to appoint Ex-servicemen as its members and then to enter into contracts with PSUs for providing security services by employing Ex-servicemen.

30. There may be several such agencies run by Ex-Commissioned Officers and if all are allowed to directly participate in the tenders and enter into contract with PSUs, some may get opportunity very frequently and some may not get opportunity for ever. That is one of the reasons, why, there is a requirement that such agency should be sponsored by the DGR. To provide equal opportunity for all and to distribute the work to various agencies in a fair manner, further instructions have been issued by the DGR to sponsor the agencies on the basis of rotation and on the basis of seniority. Thus, it is ensured that every agency, which is run by the Ex-Commissioned Officers get some opportunity to provide security service to PSUs. Thus the interest of the empanelled agency run by the Ex-Commissioned Officers is also protected.
TEXCO not an DGR Empanelled Corporation
High Court Judgement: TEXCO vs DGR Empanelled Security Agencies in Chennai
High Court of Madras: JUDGMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM


Ref link above: WP 21788 of 2009- High Court of Madras order dated 22-4-2009
ESM Corporations like TEXCO, (which also applies to PESCO, MESCO, HESCO, etc) having Chairman, Directors from IAS category is illegal. The 5th Respondent in WP No 21788 of 2009 in this order is me. I argued the case in person and other advocates were silent spectators. All the orders passed are based on my arguments and counter affidavits.
With best wishes and regards,
Col K Malaiappan (Retd)

Satyam: Ramalinga Raju’s experiments with truth

The truth behind Satyam fraud
The Tribune, Chandiagrh
The fall of the IT czar by Aditi Roy Ghatak

There may be no confessional to explain why Ramalinga Raju confessed. Accountancy corridors are rife with stories of others getting away with more serious fraud. In fact, there is some derision with which the lurid acknowledgements of the Satyam supremo – a first generation cheat – are treated in those exalted circles. Elsewhere, the averments are regarded as sheer stupidity that will force the investigative searchlights into the universe of crooked corporate accounting practices.

Clearly, the problem was with Raju being a novice at the complex game of manipulative mathematics. He may have mastered the art of concealing the numbers but not how to manage the business environment. He did not know whom to please and how much.

India is a country where corporate fraud is a matter to be brushed under the carpet. Tax evasion is not a crime whether it be on a medical prescription or electronics goods; one is happy to refuse a receipt and evade the tax. That much is a matter of public knowledge. When it comes to bigger fraud, the first problem is to have the fraud seriously investigated and the second is to get a conviction.

The more than 50,000 cases under the Companies Act pending in the country’s courts with a conviction rate of 5 per cent or less is adequate testimony to this. The corresponding conviction rate in the UK is reportedly around 61 per cent.
The fall of the IT czar

Question: Maytas is Satyam if it is spelled backwards. What do you infer from it?
Prabu Chawla: Why are you surprised? It was meant to ensure reverse flow of money from Satyam to Maytas.

Comment: We may never get to the bottom pit of Corporate Corruption. The Politicians have made it a black hole, like investment in real estate inflating like a balloon and collaping. Or like smuggling, money laundering, hawala, and generating black money and invested in foreign banks, which comes back in the "FDI" route. The parallel unaccounted money is almost as vast as the GDP of the nation. This is the main reason why poverty and slums are prevalent in spite of 60 years progress, we have 70% population left poor. No reason to see why the motion picture Slumdog Millionaire is reaping the harvest. Satyam Raju is one in a million....sadly he spoke the truth to save the perpetrators.

Satyam Scam: Now, hit Raju with rotten eggs, virtually!

Nail The Thief
After making Ramalinga Raju and the iconic IT firm he founded the butt of jokes, a bunch of trigger-happy IT whiz-kids have created a game "Nail The Thief" where players are asked to hit the tainted Satyam founder with rotten eggs and win an iPod!

Within days of its launch, the game has already been played more than 100,000 times, with a few playing it over and over again, as per the information on the website of the game.

In the game, available on the website, NailTheThief.Com, a player is given a chance to hit Raju's face with rotten eggs as many times possible within 30 seconds.
Now, hit Raju with rotten eggs, virtually!
Nail The Thief

Making National Investigating Agency Work

On January 1, the National Investigation Agency Act as well as the Unlawful Acrtivities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Bill became law. Ironically, on the same day, seven years after it was set up for coordinating intelligence intelligence sharing, the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) also became functional through an executive order. It has the charter of transferring intelligence received by central agency automatically to the State Police and visa versa.
Full article click: Making NIA Work

Satyam Scam: Corrupt Corporate Code: Political- Bureaucrat Nexus?

Satyam Scandal Rocks Outsourcing...
Shocker from Satyam
Ramalinga Raju’s letter of admission came as a shocker to corporate India on Wednesday morning. Outgoing CEO of the IT major admitted fraud to the tune of Rs 40 billion and said that the balance sheets had been inflated for years. He admitted that Maytas deal was the last ditch effort to get value for the fictitious assets. The development is expected to have wide ranging impact and has sent ripples across Bombay Stock Exchange. The accounts of Satyam are expected to be sealed as the day progresses….

India Inc goes into 'deep shock'
CII President K. V. Kamath said there was a ‘need to immediately examine the loopholes in regulation, accounting, audit and governance that allowed such lapses to occur and address them with urgency’. He said corporate India must ‘reflect on ways to demonstrate its quality of governance and enhance the confidence of stakeholders.’
Satyam scam: Mega corporate fraud
India Inc goes into ‘deep shock’