OROP: Rajeev Chandrasekhar writes to PM

Honour the Commitment and Implement One Rank, One Pension for Armed Forces Veterans, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar - October 08, 2012

Letter to PM

PM Response
Rajeev Chandrasekhar Speech in Special Parliament Session
Speech by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP, during special session of Parliament on 60th anniversary of Indian Parliament. On the occasion, Rajeev Chandrasekhar urged for introspection and credible action to regain the faith of people in Indian Parliament as an institution.

Rajat Gupta lands two-year jail for insider trading

Former Goldman Sachs chief Rajat Gupta lands two-year jail for insider trading
Published: Thursday, Oct 25, 2012, 2:37 IST
Place: Manhattan | Agency: PTI
Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta was today sentenced to two years in prison and fined $5 million by a US judge, months after the Indian-American Wall Street titan was found guilty of leaking boardroom secrets to a hedge fund manager in the largest insider trading case in the country's history.
Gupta, 63, was handed down a two-year prison term by US district court judge Jed Rakoff, who also ordered him to pay a $5 million fine. Gupta, reading from a statement, said: "The last 18 months have been the most challenging period of my life since I lost my parents as a teenager."
"I regret terribly the impact of this matter on my family, my friends and the institutions that are dear to me. I've lost my reputation I built for a lifetime. The verdict was devastating," he said.
"His conduct has forever tarnished a once-sterling reputation that took years to cultivate," Manhattan's top federal attorney India-born Preet Bharara said.
Gupta was found guilty by a federal court in Manhattan on four counts, out of six on June 15 after a three-week trial for passing boardroom secrets to the now imprisoned billionaire hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam at the height of the global financial crisis. The prosecution had sought a prison term of 8-10 years for Gupta who was convicted in a closely followed trial on three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy.
The sentencing of India Inc's Wall Street poster boy by US district judge Jed Rakoff comes exactly a year after Bharara filed insider trading charges against the former McKinsey head.
Gupta, the most high profile Wall Street executive to be convicted in the government's crackdown on insider trading, had sought leniency from the judge, citing his otherwise unblemished career and philanthropic works. In a memorandum filed in federal court last week, Gupta's lawyer Gary Naftalis had sought probation for his Harvard educated client, saying Gupta is willing to live in Rwanda and work with the local government on health care and agricultural initiatives.
The second offer of community service made by Naftalis was that Gupta could work with Covenant House's New York site, which provides emergency shelter and other services for homeless, runaway and at risk youth. Bharara had sought a prison term of 8-10 years for Gupta, arguing that his "shocking" crimes were not an "isolated occurrence or a momentary lapse in judgement and a "significant term of imprisonment is necessary to reflect the seriousness of Gupta's crimes and to deter other corporate insiders in similar positions of trust from stealing corporate secrets and engaging in a crime that has become far too common".
The Diwali of 2011 saw Gupta surrender himself before the FBI after charges of insider trading were filed against him. The rise and fall of Gupta, who went from being one of the most successful India-born businessmen in the US to being called "deceptive and dishonest" after his conviction, has been the stuff of legends.
Gupta's rise through the ranks of Corporate America was stellar with enviable posts like board seats at Goldman Sachs and Procter and Gamble, co-founder of the prestigious Indian School of Business, adviser to the executive leadership of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as also the United Nations dotting his resume.
Gupta was also a director of the AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines. The Rockefeller Foundation appointed him a trustee; he was named special adviser on management reform to then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and additionally served on the UN Commission on the Private Sector and Development and was co-chairman of the United Nations Association of America.
Gupta had also been getting support from family members, prominent business leaders and global philanthropic figures including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who are among the 400 people who have written letters to Rakoff detailing Gupta's charitable work.
Gupta had pleaded not guilty to the charges and argued during his trial that he personally did not trade nor made any profits from the insider information he was accused of passing on to Rajaratnam, who is currently serving an 11 year prison term after being convicted last year.
After the guilty verdict was announced in June against Gupta, Bharara had said Gupta achieved remarkable success and stature, but he threw it all away. "Rajat Gupta once stood at the apex of the international business community. He stands convicted of securities fraud. Having fallen from respected insider to convicted inside trader, Gupta has now exchanged the lofty board room for the prospect of a lowly jail cell," Bharara had said.
Rajat Gupta lands two-year jail for insider trading
Lessons for India: Justice should be swift for high profile scamsters in India. Hundreds of cases in the courts languishing for decades. Trials delayed by Political Criminals.

Adarsh Housing scam: Will the truth ever come out?

Tuesday 23 October 2012
News updated at 3:51 PM IST by Prabhat Sharan
A thick jungle of intertwined vines with only blinking fire-flies casting light on facts is what now makes up the Adarsh Housing Society scandal -- which made sensational headlines last year for the alleged involvement of Army top brass, politicians and bureaucrats, but quietly faded into the background since. While other high-profile scams like 2G spectrum, cash-for-vote and illegal mining continue to be in the news with several ‘dignitaries’ scurrying between jail and bail, the Adarsh scam has almost been banished from public memory, as investigators struggle to wade through the thick foliage of information and arrive at appropriate conclusions.
It is through this forest where vines of corruption and chicanery are indistinguishably twined into a Gordian knot, the two-member judicial commission is trying to hack its way slowly picking up clues, which later turn up as red herrings.
Unlike other commissions set up elsewhere in country as well as in Maharashtra earlier, Justice (retd) J A Patil and former state chief secretary P Subramanian, the two-member commission set up last year to look into the Adarsh Housing scam, has no simple task before it; the commission has to sift out truth and elusive facts from various agencies, bodies and groups of interests to come to a conclusion.
The involvement of multifarious agencies all inextricably linked with each other coupled with political personalities from ruling party juggling with facts has made any kind of breakthrough into establishing even the primary ownership of the contentious land ‘deed,’ a Herculean task.
Last week Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was forced to admit that the progress into the Adarsh Housing scam “is extremely slow and there are no two opinions about it.”
And the result of the slow progress is that the commission which has already received two extensions since it’s inception has been forced to postpone the submission of its interim report. The interim report was expected this month but it came as no surprise when the news trickled out that it would be delayed.
The depth of involvement and the reach of the politician-builder-bureaucratic trinity in the scam which has innumerable questions buried in its past has managed to widen the chasm between the truth and justice. There are hardly any doubts regarding the veracity of the belief that violations had taken place through deceit; but the establishing of these facts, pointing to the manipulation of various governmental institutions by the powers be, is a different matter altogether. For this, the commission is wading through 379 files containing 1.50 lakh documents. There are over 100 affidavits filed by different persons, besides there is also the problem of ‘disappearance’ of several relevant and important documents.
No guiding light
Till date with varied and contradictory statements gleaned from officials and people summoned, the commission is yet to decide as to the identity of the ownership of the plot even though it is not supposed to outside its scope. But since CBI is also expected now to report to the quasi-judicial body, the investigation results have so far not provided any guiding light to the committee.
The Army, soon after the scam broke proclaimed that the land belonged to the defence, but later could only come up with maps dating back to 1950s and were unable to furnish any latest proofs to their claim. The state government on its part came up with another set of documents showing that it had taken the Colaba plot on which Adarsh building was erected from the Army by giving the latter a plot located in Malad-Kandivli belt in far-flung north-western suburbs.
To compound the matter worse, the initial allegation that ignited the scam of the land being reserved for Kargil war martyrs widow continues to be in limbo and so do other allegations flying around: reservation of flats; allotment of extra floor space index (FSI); widening of Prakash Pethe Road; reservation of the BEST (civic) plot; violation of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms and the role of bureaucrats in the manipulation of records and allotment of flats in the controversial 31-storey Adarsh building.
The presence of in-fighting and political rivalry continues to throw up sensational facts with an alarming regularity; but the headlines grabbing facts except adding to the confused state of affairs till date has contributed nothing to the investigations that could lead to the booking of the guilty parties.
The ruling Congress-led Democratic Front alliance government after instituting a CBI inquiry into the matter conveniently allowed the setting up of a judicial commission with quasi-judicial powers. Higher-ups in bureaucratic echelons while accepting that in the final lap the commission may manage to come out with the truth of the matter; but it would be a long, long run.
Till then the ruling DF, political personages, bureaucrats, relatives of people in power and retired high-ranking defence officials can take respite in the fact that the truth buried in the murky inception of the Adarsh Housing Society will continue to erupt as questions and nothing more.
History of all commissions be it the Lentin Commission, Srikrishna Commission, Liberhan Commission or any other quasi-judicial commission is that they take ample time to ascertain and establish the guilt of the parties concerned. And Adarsh Housing Commission will also have to trudge the same long winding path. Till the commission reaches to a conclusion, neither the Opposition political parties nor any civil rights groups can point a finger at the ruling political alliance for not taking action.
Adarsh Housing scam: Will the truth ever come out?

Good Governance: MP's and Gandhi Jayanthi

The worst thing about indian Judiciary and politicians is that corrupt MP's are never ever convicted and their cases never end. Shame on Indian Parliamentarians who try to sabotage honest uprising against their corrupt deeds.
The criminalization of politics continues to be a very big concern, with an increase in the number of MPs with criminal records from 128 to 150. Even the number of MPs with serious criminal cases has gone up. The biggest reason for this seems to be the undemocratic and autocratic selection and nomination of candidates by political parties. In order to ensure the winnability of candidates, parties ignored honesty to give preference to muscle power and money power. As media reports seem to indicate, the misuse of monetary incentives to buy votes has increased sharply since last elections and continues to be a source of threat to real democracy. While voter awareness on this issue is very high, the problem is that those who win after spending huge amounts are unlikely to focus on good governance. They are more likely to focus on recovering the funds they spent and on giving favours to those who supported their campaigns.
For more details: Indian MP's with Criminal Offences - A list

Fighting Insurgency and Terrorists Reducing Army to Policemen and Indiscipline

Take turbulence in the ranks seriously
Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi | Agency: DNA | Thursday, August 23, 2012
Three incidents of collective indiscipline by jawans in the last few months, reflecting a breakdown in the traditionally close officer-man relationship, are a cause for concern, especially as all three of them are related to combat units, where a stable and healthy officer-man relationship is an article of faith.
The Indian Army, with a justifiably proud record of service to the nation, has always placed officers-men bonding at the highest level.
In the past, the army has handled such incidents with compassion and firmness. Such incidents will no doubt happen again. However, there is need for comprehensive remedial actions. We must not succumb to a tendency of being simplistic, like attributing such incidents to recent cases of corruption amongst a few senior officers. Such attributions are obviously absurd, as these are two vastly different issues. The need is actually to focus on command and control, discipline and officer-man relationships.
In combat units, a thorough knowledge of jawans by their officers is a must. Included in this are the jawans’ capabilities and limitations; what enthuses or dampens their spirits; their backgrounds as well as of their families; and whether they are team persons or loners. Earlier, senior unit officers acted as guides and mentors in this respect. Unfortunately, on account of the huge shortage of officers in combat units today, as well as the large number of tasks assigned to the few available officers, it is virtually impossible for them to spare time to do so now.
The main reason for this state of affairs is the prolonged employment in fighting insurgents and terrorists over decades now, which have taken stress and fatigue to extremely high levels. These operations are extremely difficult and full of tension, especially on account of scrupulously adhering to human rights norms.
A major caveat of the army’s secondary role of assisting the civil administration is that it must be released as soon as the task is over, but in counter-insurgency operations there appears to be no end state! There has been no insurgency in the north eastern states for many years now, but neither the states concerned nor the central government want to release the army. In J&K, the situation has improved vastly, but the police forces are not in a position to assume control. The army’s reasoning that the situation will deteriorate rapidly if the army is de-inducted is sound, but why are the police forces not being made capable?
While the government must squarely take the blame for this state of affairs, the army hierarchy also needs to be blamed for not pursuing it relentlessly.
There are also three other issues that need to be tackled by the government. The first is deliberately downgrading the esteem and importance of the military by successive governments. This has resulted in our soldiers becoming greatly disillusioned not only with the government officials but, what is worse, also with their own officers, who are being viewed as devoid of any power, as civil and police officials studiously ignore requests from commanding officers relating to various problems of soldiers projected by them. This is in stark contrast to earlier times when the civil officials responded with alacrity when a commanding officer wrote to them about the personal or collective problems of his jawans. This aspect needs immediate improvement by good governance and by educating the officials.
Soldiers’ lay their lives on the line, not because of the pay or allowances that they get (which in any case are less than what the equivalent civil officials receive) but because of their self-esteem and military élan. These need to be nurtured by the civil administration.
The second and related issue is the military intake. Although recruitment rallies draw large numbers, the reason is no longer pride in joining the military but massive unemployment, resulting in inferior manpower joining the military. In the case of officers, young men from traditional military families are no longer enthused with the forces. The main reason is the decline of respect for the military.
The last point is the treatment of the veterans. The government needs to understand that the policy of ignoring those who have served the nation sacrificing their all will be a disaster in the long run. Future generations will not heed the call of the bugle when they see neither respect nor adequate financial benefits being given to the veterans. The present indifference and callousness must end.
Will Delhi wake up?
The writer is a former Vice Chief of Army Staff.
Take turbulence in the ranks seriously

Greetings: Report My Signal

REPORT MY SIGNAL

Chander Kamboj
For my NRI Friends
Link to Door Darshan News Live on Web.
http://webcast.gov.in/live/
Watch and listen to the PM of India giving the 15 Aug speech from the ramparts of The Red Fort At 0700 hours IST

WISHING YOU ALL AND YOUR FAMILIES
A VERY HAPPY
AND ENJOYABLE INDEPENDENCE DAY

Tatra Scam:CBI registers cases against unknown persons:- Imminent Cover up!

Ministry of Defence 13 Aug 2012
Bribery in Tatra Trucks Deal
Whenever any irregularities in defence deals come to the notice of the Government, appropriate action is always initiated expeditiously. Recently, one such case has been ordered to enquire into alleged irregularities in purchase of Tatra trucks. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been requested to investigate comprehensively into the charge of bribe to the Chief of Army Staff. A Preliminary Enquiry (PE) has been registered by CBI on 11.4.2012. Further, CBI has also registered a case under Section 120 B read with 420 IPC and Sections 12(2) read with 13 (I)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against one of the owners and other unknown persons of a UK Based company, unknown officials of a Defence Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), Ministry of Defence and Indian Army.
This information was given by Minister of Defence Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Adv.Ganeshrao Dudhgaonkarand others in Lok Sabha today. DM/HS/NN (Release ID :85997)
Bribery in Tatra Trucks Deal

Reality Check: President Pratiba Patil Foreign Visits Deflates Economy

Industry chambers — Assocham, CII and Ficci sing praises
‘Pratibha’s foreign trips boosted trade ties’
PTI The Hindu New Delhi, June 18, 2012
Facing criticism over her numerous foreign visits costing the exchequer Rs. 205 crore, President Pratibha Patil got some reprieve from industry chambers, which claimed that her trips had helped opened new vistas for bolstering trade ties.
Ms. Patil’s foreign trips had raised eyebrows when a query made under RTI revealed that Rs. 205 crore had been spent on her travel expenses since she assumed office in July 2007, surpassing the record of all her predecessors.
During her tenure, President Patil has undertaken 12 foreign trips, covering 22 countries across four continents and spending 79 days abroad.
Industry chambers — Assocham, CII and Ficci on Monday presented a booklet titled ‘Engaging the World’ to Ms. Patil on Monday. The booklet said that during her visits, issues of concern to Indian industry were raised, MoUs were signed and trade and investment prospects of Indian industry were addressed.
“The impact of these state visits has been multi-pronged. New vistas have been opened for Indian businesses...,” Ficci secretary-general Rajiv Kumar said in a message in the booklet.
Mr. Kumar said that as an active participant in the President’s visits, Ficci was able to expand its reach to new regions, cultivate institutional cooperation and develop business synergies.
CII director-general Chandrajit Banerjee said the President’s visits provided good exposure and much-needed access and networking opportunities for the business delegates.
Echoing similar views, Assocham secretary-general D.S. Rawat said the visits to various countries have given a major fillip to the business houses in terms of enhancing their stature and credibility, which in turn has provided them the right platform for meeting their economic engagements in the countries visit.
Pratibha’s foreign trips boosted trade ties’

AHQ CSD Liquor Smuggling: MOD, Civil Staff and Politicians

Who else is the beneficiary of CSD Liquor?
By Maj Gen Chander Nandwani
Issue: IDR Net Edition | Date: 11 May, 2012
Way back in 1995, I was posted as Additional Director General of Supplies & Transport in Army Headquarters. Apart from my routine responsibilities, I was also given additional charge of managing Army Headquarters (AHQ) canteen, as its Chairman. It wasn’t much of a prized post, since a retired Colonel appointed as the Canteen Manager with around 50 to 60 civilian employees working under him, was essentially accountable, for the day-to-day functioning of the canteen.
Therefore, my area of focus would be to strictly monitor the indenting and sale of such items. For this purpose, computers would be installed in the canteen and sale of liquor strictly regulated through issue of new cards after due verification of the cardholders. Soon after taking over the additional responsibility, I decided to pay a visit to the AHQ canteen during the lunch hour break to get a ‘Feedback’ from the employees with regard to their working conditions as also motivate them to provide better service to the customers. After patiently listening to their woes and giving ‘on-the-spot’ decisions to improve their working conditions, I made a remark that while being posted at Delhi on three earlier occasions, I had never patronized AHQ canteen, as more often than not, all the attractive consumer items including popular brands of liquor were seldom accessible to the customers. Therefore, my area of focus would be to strictly monitor the indenting and sale of such items. For this purpose, computers would be installed in the canteen and sale of liquor strictly regulated through issue of new cards after due verification of the cardholders. Further, the existing liquor cards in use would be discontinued straightaway and destroyed.
The next day, all hell was let loose against me. Big posters were pasted at every nook and corner of Sena Bhawan and South Block, making serious allegations against me. Radhe Shyam (name changed), a labourer and the union leader of AHQ Canteen civilian employees, having three buses and two flats in Delhi, threatened that there would be ‘Mass Joint Self Immolation’ by all employees at Jantar Mantar on the Republic Day (due after 10 days or so), if Maj Gen Chander Nandwani was not immediately removed from the post of Chairman of the canteen. News items on similar lines were also published in the reputed national dailies. The allegations made against me included taking of a big bribe for purchase new computers, favouring purchase of specific liquor brands, coercing women employees for sexual favours and so on. I was particularly tickled by the allegation of sexual favours and cheekily informed my wife that surely my standing in this regard was now far better than what she had imagined during past several years of our married life!!!
I was immediately summoned by the Quarter Master General (QMG), under whom the canteen functioned, and was asked to brief him on this sudden turn of events when everything was going on so smoothly before I took over the charge of the AHQ canteen. I requested for a couple of days time to make discreet enquiries. Before I could say ’Jack Robinson’, there was a note from the MOD signed by a Director level officer asking the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to comment on the allegations made against me and take all possible measures, including removing me from the post of Chairman, to avoid any embarrassment to the Govt., should the threat of ‘Mass Self-Immolation’ materialize, just prior to the Republic Day. What a joke! The matter did not end there. This note from MOD was followed by another note through which, a memorandum signed by 13 MPs and addressed to the Defence Minister, was also forwarded to the COAS, urging him to remove me from the post. This raised the hackles of the then COAS, late General BC Joshi. He called the QMG to his office and asked him to take the matter very seriously and put up a draft reply to both the notes of the MOD, for his approval. In the meanwhile an interim reply was sent to the MOD that the matter was being investigated.
My preliminary investigations revealed that a perfect nexus existed between the canteen civilian staff union leader Radhe Shyam, a few officials of MOD and a large number of politicians, to whom liquor was being supplied from AHQ canteen, on a regular basis. Of course the demand increased manifold during the time of elections. What intrigued me the most was the ‘modus operandi’ of smuggling out of such large quantities of liquor, with the Military Police and several other security agencies working in the highly sensitive areas of Army Headquarters and MOD. The actuality came to light when a disgruntled ex civilian employee of the canteen spilled the beans to me on promise of strict anonymity. I was shaken out of my bones when the truth came to light and immediately ran to the office of QMG to give him the details. He dis-believed me and decided to get the facts verified through a field security agency of the army and learnt to his horror that what I had disclosed to him was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The court of Inquiry proved these allegations to be false, baseless and malicious with the sole aim of having me removed from the post due to ulterior motives.
Well this is how the system worked. The union leader had in his custody hundreds of old liquor cards of servicemen and/or ex-servicemen who had either left the station or had died. He drew choicest brands of liquor from the canteen in the names of these personnel and had simultaneously perfected a distribution system through which the liquor was delivered right at the doorsteps of the selected MOD officials and several politicians apart from other influential clients in the ministry. Surprisingly, right next to the AHQ canteen was the parking lot of VIP staff cars and some of these staff car drivers had been bought over by Radhe Shyam by giving them free bottles of rum and other lucrative canteen items such as expensive watches etc. During the lunch break when security was lax, these drivers would reverse their cars next to the canteen bulk store, wherefrom crates of liquor were loaded into the dickey of these staff cars. Radhe Shyam instructed these drivers to deliver the liquor crates at various locations after dropping the VIPs at their respective residences. Wow what an ingenuous idea! The irony of the matter is that the staff cars with the flags & star plates of Generals, Admirals and Air Marshals (including the QMG), without the knowledge of the occupants, were being illegitimately used by unscrupulous individuals for their unholy deeds. Sadly these very senior officers had unknowingly become couriers of liquor for the politicians. No wonder there was such a sharp reaction from all quarters, when I had only hinted at introducing computers to check the sale of liquor from the AHQ canteen!
The Chief on being informed of the facts of the case directed the QMG to give me full protection and total support to cleanse the system. I obtained legal advice from a leading civilian lawyer. He advised me to request for an enquiry against myself since I had taken over the post barely 10 days earlier and had nothing to hide. Thereafter, on my specific request on file, a court of inquiry was ordered by the QMG to investigate into the allegations made by Radhe Shyam, which were supported by the MOD and the MPs. The court of Inquiry proved these allegations to be false, baseless and malicious with the sole aim of having me removed from the post due to ulterior motives. To avoid several heads from rolling, the MOD and the MPs were politely told by the then COAS verbally that the matter had been thoroughly investigated by a high-powered court of Inquiry, which had opined that there was no truth in the allegations made by the union leader. Hence the matter was not being pursued further to save all concerned from grave embarrassment.
On directions of the QMG, the services of the union leader were terminated under my signatures and the whole system revamped with the introduction of computers, thus bringing to an end the sordid drama of “The Canteen Liquor Connection of MOD!”
My only regret still remains that the allegation of my so-called sexual exploits with women employees was also quashed in the bargain, thus proving the obvious!!!
Who else is the beneficiary of CSD Liquor?
Comment: We need officers with courage and guts like Maj Gen Chander Nandwani to take on the growing corruption in CSD. Even officers in staff college use liquor for bartering with servants and for other services. The malaise is much more deep routed than in 1995...

Army chief Gen VK Singh trashes Adarsh report

03 May 2012, 7:23PM IST| Duration: 03:14

Adarsh Housing Society Enforcement Directorate finds involvement of former Maharashtra CM Kanhaiyalal Gidwani in Adarsh scam Mail Today Bureau Mumbai, Saturday, May 5, 2012 | 08:45 IST
If the Centre wants information about black money, they need not go far. They could well start with Adarsh, feel investigators probing the multi-crore housing society scam. They claim to have unearthed unaccounted transactions worth crores that have been paid in order to purchase flats in the 31-storey housing society.
For starters, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had registered a case of money laundering against 13 people on March 5, has found the involvement of another former Maharashtra chief minister, who has two benami flats in Adarsh.
The politician in question was a chief minister prior to 1990. Investigators claim this politician has two flats, one of which is on the 26th floor of Adarsh. The flats have been brought through a third party. These two were part of the four mystery flats whose real ownership the investigators were trying to ascertain for some time now.
The other two flats in question are located on the 15th floor and were meant for another former chief minister as a favour for clearing the Adarsh file. The flats are in the name of Amol Kharbhari and Kiran Bhadange and money for these flats came from Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, who gave loans of Rs 55 lakh to each of them. But before the flats could be handed over to the former CM, the Adarsh scam broke out and the transaction could not take place.
What's interesting is that Kharbhari managed to get a loan from Gidwani even though he didn't have a PAN card nor did he manage to furnish income-tax proof for the past three years. They are also probing how a former collector and MP managed to buy a flat despite claiming his income to be Rs 12,000. Incidentally, as an MP, his allowances would be more than Rs 25,000 per month. They also claim to have found evidence that a part of the payment for a flat that was in the name of a relative of former chief minister Ashok Chavan, was not made by the Congress leader, but by another member of Adarsh society, as a favour for him being allotted a flat. Chavan was also Chavan was also alleged to have received Rs 65 lakh from former joint commissioner of traffic, Sanjay Barve, towards payment of a flat which is in the name of the former's motherin-law. Barve, in return, got a flat for his father.
It's not just politicians. Investigators claim a number of bureaucrats are also under the scanner. They are astounded as to the number of bureaucrats' children, who despite claiming their salary to be Rs 12,000, still managed to purchase flats worth Rs 65 lakh and above in Adarsh. The ED is now issuing summons to the owners, asking them to provide payment details while buying the flats and also give supporting documents.
"There are several owners, who by their financial standing, could not have managed to purchase the flats. These are the people who are under suspicion," an officer said.
Enforcement Directorate finds involvement of former Maharashtra CM Kanhaiyalal Gidwani in Adarsh scam

Corrupt babus want protection from law enforcing agencies

Adarsh scam: Maharashtra bureaucrats seek protection
The writer has posted comments on this article Prafulla Marapakwar, TNN | Apr 20, 2012, 02.57AM IST
MUMBAI: Left anxious by the Adarsh housing society scam and the course of the investigation into it, top bureaucrats have urged the chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to introduce a mechanism whereby law enforcement agencies have to first seek the permission of higher authorities before taking action against a civil servant.
Last week, chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad along with senior office bearers of the IAS association-including finance secretary Sudhir Shrivastav, forest secretary Pravinsinh Pardesi, revenue secretary Swadhin Kshatriya and CM's principal secretary A K Jain-called on the chief minister. During the meeting, Chavan was asked to take steps to restore the confidence of the bureaucracy, which has ebbed in the wake of the Adarsh scam.
"Our contention in the meeting was that those bureaucrats who took decisions in the interest of the state should be protected. At the same time, we made it clear that we are not asking for errant babus, who took decisions with mala fide decisions, to be protected," said a senior bureaucrat who was part of the delegation. The officer added that the meeting was not to defend the "accused in the Adarsh scam since our view is that law should take its course".
The bureaucrat asserted that there is a real need for a mechanism that prohibits law enforcement agencies to take action against senior civil servants until they have first received the permission of higher authorities. He said such a safeguard is necessary because, many times, officials take decisions while discharging duties with honest intentions. But investigators do not first verify the facts. As soon as an FIR is lodged, law enforcers arrest the babus under the scanner.
Also, the senior bureaucrat maintained, officials at the level of principal and additional chief secretary have to sign a large number of files every day. It is therefore not possible for them to thoroughly read all the files. Under such circumstances, unwitting mistakes are possible. "We feel that the investigating agency should verify the intention of the bureaucrat and then decide the course of action," he said.
"We told the chief minister that if there is a criminal complaint against an official for taking a decision, such a complaint should be brought to the notice of the appointing authority. Action should be taken on the basis of the appointing authority's recommendations," the bureaucrat said.
Meanwhile, a senior bureaucrat said that after the ongoing budget session is over on Friday, Chavan will meet the chief secretary, law secretary and advocate general to decide the course of action following the Adarsh commission report.
Chavan has said that his government will not ask the CBI to abandon its investigation nor will it submit a report of the Adarsh commission to defence minister A K Antony. "The judicial commission has submitted a report on limited issues, while the CBI is probing wider issues. As such, there is no question of asking the CBI to stop the probe," Chavan said.
Maharashtra bureaucrats seek protection
Comment: Only an effective Lokpal as suggested by Anna Hazare will deter babus from money laundering, benami and black money transanctions. Governance in India is reduced to Ground Zero.

CBI's diversionary raids on BEML Chief: CBI could pull a few more rabbits?

Tatra punch packed with raid heat on BEML chief By Mail Today Reporter
PUBLISHED: 19:28 GMT, 19 April 2012 | UPDATED: 19:28 GMT, 19 April 2012
The CBI on Thursday opened another front to pin down the tainted chief of the state-run Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) who has already been neck deep in trouble for the multi-crore military truck scandal.
The sleuths registered a case of corruption against BEML chairman and managing director VRS Natarajan for irregularities in engaging the services of a consultancy firm to implement an enterprises resource planning project.
It's a parallel case that the CBI was probing apart from the primary inquiry into the BEML-Tatra trucks deal. Agency sleuths said after exhaustive raids at Natarajan's houses and offices that they were probing the new case.
A BEML spokesperson also made it clear the raids were not connected with the truck deal. 'A case against the BEML CMD and a director of a Coimbatore based company has been registered under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Searches are being carried out in the offices and residential premises of the accused,' a CBI statement said. The agency said the company in question was Astral Consulting Ltd in Coimbatore.
CBI officials added that Natarajan and the promoters of Astral connived to defraud the public sector undertaking through irregularities in the tendering process for hiring a consultancy to implement the enterprises resource planning project. 'It was alleged that the accused persons were party to a criminal conspiracy in Bangalore and other places during 2004-2009 to cheat BEML through work relating to the implementation of the enterprises resource planning project. This caused wrongful loss to the PSU (BEML) and wrongful gain to others,' the CBI said. The investigating agency, which interrogated Natarajan throughout the day, said the raids were based on credible information.
The CBI booked Natarajan and Astral director C.S. Srivatsan under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, besides Sections 13(2) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sources said the CBI could pull a few more rabbits as it goes through the load of complaints against Natarajan. However, the officials refused to divulge details. Apart from the BEML chief, the CBI on Thursday questioned Brig. (retd) P.C. Das, Col (retd) Anil Datta and Anil Mansharamani for their role in the Tatra scam. Their homes were raided the day before.
Mansharamani, a Tatra employee, was said to be regularly in touch with the two former army officers who were suspected to have lobbied for Tatra using their clout in the army. Sources said they were questioned for their links with the UKbased Tatra Sipox and its owner Ravi Rishi. The Tatra controversy erupted in full force after the army chief, Gen. V. K. Singh, said last month that a retired Lt-Gen. had offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore to clear the purchase of 600 substandard Tatra trucks.
It was suspected later that the officer in question was Lt-Gen. (retd) Tejinder Singh. Since then, the BEML-Tatra deal has come under intense scrutiny.
Read more: CBI could pull a few more rabbits

Indian Airforce bereft of basic trainers

Pressure mounts for air force basic trainer aircraft
rustom said...
What a bunch of Jokers we Indians are. We kill and maim young people who want to defend our country by not giving them trainers and trainers. Then we use fighters to train, it doesnt work gets more pilots killed, and also malign an aircraft. This is going over 15 years now!!! 15 years of sheer murder. Then we Indians have indegenisation programes which actually is laughable, cause indegenisation has proved to be buying foreign stuff by indegenisation offices.. BEML,DRDO,HAL.. NAL..stop procurements directly cause the same indegenisation offices claim they will make the product..again over 15 years and thus leaving the armed forces to be a killing machine..of its own....INSAS is a toy now..but on blogs is a fantastic weapon!!!!!!just as the LCA is comparable to the worlds finest planes....or the LCH rotors RPM going hay wire.

Dinesh said...
So much for our great NAL, HAL, DRDO jokers. They can't even make a propeller driven plane. A technology from almost 100 years ago. Saint Antony gets pressure only when his mama St. Sonia from Vatican tolls the bell.
15 April 2012 14:15
Pressure mounts for air force basic trainer aircraft
Comment: We need to look East and buy from Koreans, Japanese and Chinese. Indians loathe Swiss, Italians, French and Israel Munitions they do business only through bribes and secret bank accounts... taking bribes is a National weakness.

Is the President telling the truth? Her travels abroad leave much to be desired!

President Denies Grabbing Pune Land For Post-Retirement House
[ Updated 12 Apr 2012, 22:57:26 ]

New Delhi, Apr 12: The President Ms Pratibha Patil has denied media reports that prime Pune cantonment land was "grabbed" to build a post-retirement house for her.

A press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said, a section of the media has been reporting that the President l has "grabbed" land much in excess of her entitlement to build her post retirement home in Pune.

The press release said, these news items were facturally incorrect and malicious.

Giving details about the issue, the release said:

"To say that a house is being constructed for occupation by the President on demission of office by "snatching" or "grabbing" land meant for soldiers is factually incorrect and malicious. The land belongs to the Ministry of Defence and will continue to remain with the Ministry of Defence.

"The title of the land is not being alienated in any manner whatsoever. The ownership of both the land and the house she will be occupying will continue to remain vested in the government and therefore there is no substance in the allegation of personal gains.

"The President is entitled to accommodation after demission of office as provided for under the President's Emoluments and Pensions Act, 1951.

"It is therefore the legitimate entitlement of the President to occupy an accommodation provided by the government and all former Presidents have availed this benefit.

"The only variance in the present case is that the President will be occupying a government accommodation outside Delhi.

"The said rules provide that the size of the residence to be provided to the President on demission of office shall be comparable to a residence allotted to a Minister in the Union Council of Ministers.

"It is common knowledge that houses of Union Ministers in the Lutyens' Zone area, though belong to Type VIII category, are not of any uniform size. Quite logically, therefore, the President's Emoluments and Pensions Act does not specify a fixed living area for former President's when they occupy a government accommodation.

" The mention of living area not exceeding 2000 sq. ft. is only indicative and applicable where a suitable government residence is not available and a residence is to be taken on lease/rent basis, which does not apply in the present case, since the President will be occupying a government accommodation.

"The present residence occupied in Pune is a house which was earlier occupied by an officer at the level of a Lt. Colonel.

"The house being old, needed renovation to make it suitable for residential purposes and accordingly certain additions/modifications have been taken up to suit the requirements of the President on demission of office.

"The President is not coming in the way of residential accommodation being provided to Territorial Army cadets. That only that plot of land which is to be used for accommodating the President must only be used for providing residential accommodation for soldiers lacks rationale.

"Merely because the President has chosen to reside in the Cantonment area cannot be viewed as being apathetic or indifferent to the welfare of the soldiers. Surely, the city of Pune and surrounding areas have enough alternative land available for their accommodation. "

An organisation of ex-servicemen in Pune had alleged that over fives acres of land had been alloted for purpose of her residence after she demits office later in July this year when her five-year term ends.

Suresh Patil, a retired Lt Col of the Pune-based 'Justice for Jawan', part of NGO 'Green Thumb' group, who has accessed details about the Government's measures for providing her housing in Pune, claims that a large extent of land measuring over 2.60 lakh square feet has been alloted to her in Khadki cantonment in Pune.

He claims that a house with a plinth area of 4,500 square feet is being built for her by bringing down two British-era county bungalows.

The former Army official questioned why such a large extent of land was being fenced to protect this house for Pratibha Patil, who recently made news when an RTI application brought out the fact that over Rs 205 crore were spent on her foreign travels.

Col Patil said that he had sent several RTI applications to the Army's Southern Command seeking reasons for fencing the entire five acre land with a wall but failed to get any response.
President Denies Grabbing Pune Land For Post-Retirement House
Click here for the Truth Ministry's clarification
Comment: The President will continue to be thorn for the tax payers. Her lavish family life style does nothing to reduce poverty in India. She is edifice of the false face of India! MOD dancing to her tunes. She has done nothing as Supreme Commander for the Serving Soldiers or Veterans. She goes down in history as a lady who lives in Royal Style! RTI should expose her hollowness and double speak....

Troop movement report is irresponsible journalism: Ex-deputy Army chief

Troop movement report is irresponsible journalism: Ex-deputy Army chief
Source: Anupriya Kumar, Dailybhaskar.com | Last Updated 22:14(04/04/12)
New Delhi: The front-page Indian Express report on the late night January 16 military movement is an exaggerated account of a routine military exercise, and is an example of irresponsible journalism, Lieutenant General (Retired) Raj Kadyan said today.
In an exclusive interview to Dailybhaskar.com, the former Former deputy Army chief said that before publishing the report, the newspaper should have carried a preliminary check with the army to confirm what the purpose of the movement was.
"The military exercise did occur late at night on January 16, but it was a routine movement. A movement that involves a couple of units from an Army as extensive as ours must not be treated as anything abnormal," Lt Gen Kadyan said.

"It did not deserve to be blown out of proportion," he added.

Responding to the failure of the Army to inform the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Jan 16 exercise, he said the Army might have made a procedural lapse and can now be asked to provide an explanation of the same.

Lt General Kadyan also dismissed the contention that there could be a link between the age row between General VK Singh and the government of India, and the Jan 16-17 military movement."

"It must have been simply a coincidence. The order for the movement of the units must have been given by someone who I am sure did not even know that any petition has been filed by the current Army chief."

He also rejected the rumours of a military coup in a country that has a stable political system, which makes a military takeover impossible.

"Such things occur in countries beleaguered with political unstability and widespread unrest. Such a situation does not exist in India since our system is working fine."

Lt General Kadyan added, "It is unfortunate that a report carried by what is believed to be a credible publication ended with a statement that casts aspersions on the loyalty of the army in general, and General VK Singh in particular, toward the nation."
click here for the original post

Armchair Home Secretary encounters Mao's Ghost in North Block

Tuesday 03 April, 2012.
No ready solution to Maoist problem: Home Secy
There was no ready solution to the country's Maoist problem, Union Home Secretary R K Singh said and stressed on developing intelligence to effectively counter the threat posed by it and jehadi terrorists.
"We have a fight with the enemy (Maoists) who have faith in violence and we do not have a ready solution .... There are some people who talk about finding a solution through talks. But I think no there is nothing for holding talks," he said inaugurating Indo-Tibet Border Police Force sector headquarter in Patna on Monday.
"The Maoists want to end the country's present democratic arrangement by force. At the same time they carry out propaganda that they are fighting for the poor and the tribals, which is nothing but a pretension.... Most of those killed by the Maoists were poor people and tribals and their fight is a war of attrition," he said.
The country, he said, was also facing 'jihadi terrorism' and terrorists are sneaking into the country from Nepal.
They then try to inspire others to take to terrorism and travel from one place to another to execute the terror activities.
Exuding confidence that the people and the government would effectively thwart the twin challenges and keep the country secure, he said, "We have strengthened para-military forces and different institutions for internal security during the past few years."
The setting up of the ITBP sector headquarter in Patna was a step to creating the infrastructure for the security of the country, he said. (DD-2.4)
No ready solution to Maoist problem: Home Secy

Army Chief and the Arms Lobby

An Outlook Cover Story
Officer, Gentleman And The Army Mess
One too honest to back off, the other honest to a fault. And the army suffers.
10 Unanswered Questions In V.K. Singh Affair
1. Have Gen V.K. Singh and defence minister A.K. Antony squandered their Mr Clean image through their recent actions and inactions?
2. Is somebody out to get Gen V.K. Singh? Could the powerful arms lobby and their agents and middlemen be behind leaks and plants?
3. Would Gen Singh have revealed the Rs 14 crore bribe had his version of DoB been accepted?
4. Was V.K. Singh’s letter to the PM leaked to protect A.K. Antony, who was on the mat? Or to deflect attention from the offer of bribe?
5. Does the flurry of charges have something to do with PM’s absence, the BRICS summit and defence expo in Delhi?
6. Are defence dealers who lost out on the £11.6 billion Rafale deal at work?
7. Could Gen Singh’s predecessors— Deepak Kapoor and J.J. Singh— get embroiled in the crosshairs?
8. What impact will V.K. Singh’s campaign have on successors Bikram Singh and Daljit Singh?
9. Could the V.K. Singh saga end up exposing top politicians across parties mired in arms deals, a la Bofors?
10. Will the armed forces retain the same glint in the eye of civilians henceforth? How does all this affect army rank and file?
Officer, Gentleman And The Army Mess: click here for the full cover story

Criminals as rulers!

The Tribune Chandigarh March 12, 2012
It is a matter of grave concern that all leading parties give preference to criminals during allotment of tickets. In the UP Assembly elections, over 337 candidates having criminal charges pending against them were given tickets by the SP, BSP, BJP and Congress. All party leaders announced time and again that people having clean records would be given tickets. Justice Rajinder Sachar (retd) in his article “Whither Indian polity?” (February 24) clearly mentioned that no party is talking of the real problems. Minorities are being treated as the football of politics.

The leaders are talking of giving laptops to students of weaker sections whereas a large numbers of schools have no blackboards or toilets for girls. Our leaders should promise what they can provide in reality and what is required and not show false dreams which cannot be fulfilled.
SUBHASH C TANEJA, Rohtak
Criminals as rulers!

Indian Corruption Choreographed

India will not get its anti-corruption Lokpal Bill tonight. The debate in the Rajya Sabha disintegrated into chaos an hour before the midnight deadline. The BJP alleged that the disruption was choreographed by the government which knew it would lose a vote on the Lokpal Bill.

Lokpal Bill needs Teeth
A strong Lokpal Bill is not likely to see the light of its day in the near future. The Politicians and Bureaucrats aim will be to ensure that there is no citizen safety but subject them to corruption and crimnalisation. On the pretext that Parliament is supreme the spirit of our Constitution will always be thwarted by the corrupt who are embedded at the helm of affairs!

Will Lokpal Bill continue to be a 'jinxed' affair: click here to read why corruption cannot be curbed

The Curent Lokpal Bill
It will become an appendage to the system analogous to the Central Vigilance Commission”
“The failure to make it legally obligatory for every State to have a Lokayukta is much more painful. We saw what an empowered Lokayukta could do in Karnataka. Perhaps it is precisely because of this fear that most of the States do not want a Lokayukta. This is a tragedy if one considers the fact that corruption in high places is endemic in the States much more than at the Centre.”
The former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, R.K. Raghavan voices his candid observation: click here to read about “A toothless wonder”

Indian Justice System moves at snails pace if not standstill

Khurshid admits justice delivery slow- DD News 14 Dec 2011
Admitting that the justice delivery system in the country was slow, Government on Tuesday said efforts were on to ensure matters are decided in courts within three to five years.
"I cannot comment on legal system procedures and rule of law," Law Minister Salman Khurshid said when asked about the delay in Afzal Guru case.
However, he said, "we are not entirely happy with the pace at which the rule of law is implemented in our country and that is a reason why we have a mission for justice delivery".
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament House, he said, "The Chief Justice has spoken of this and my predecessor has spoken of it and we are moving ahead with the mission and an enormous amount of effort has to be put in to ensure that matters are decided in courts within three to five years and nothing should go beyond five years".
"However," he said, "there are still some cases which go beyond five years. We want quick justice in all matters. This (Parliament attack) is of course a symbolic and significant event that we cannot easily forget but nevertheless even for such an event there is not much one can do except to hope that our entire system learns to respond in a much faster manner," he added.
On the question of inclusion of citizen's grievances Bill in the Lokpal Bill, Khurshid said "Cabinet will consider it."
Asked about the government's views on keeping lower bureaucracy and the Prime Minister under Lokpal, he said "wait for the Bill you will know."
Whether government still wants to go ahead with the food security Bill in the backdrop of falling rupee rate and slide in industrial output, he said government is committed to do it.
"Can government afford to go people hungry. Therefore, whatever else we have to do we have to ensure that people of the country particularly marginalised people get the protection they need and dignity they need, we will do whatever in our capacity to do that," he said. (SP-13/12)
Khurshid admits justice delivery slow