<b>Ex-colonel caught taking bribe</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A former lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army, S P Singh was arrested on Wednesday after being caught on tape accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the brother of late squadron leader Ajay Ahuja, whose fighter aircraft was hit by a Pakistani missile in May 1999.
Singh, who worked as the district sainik (defence) welfare officer here, had allegedly threatened the martyr's brother Vijay Ahuja that he would get the government grant cancelled if he was not paid 20 percent of the amount.
The Punjab government had sanctioned a grant of Rs 2,00,000 to Ajay Ahuja's aged parents, who were to receive two drafts of Rs 1,00,000 each.
Singh had delayed release of the drafts
Vijay Ahuja had already paid 50 percent of the demanded bribe of Rs 40,000 to Singh, but only after involving the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front chief and Congress leader Maninderjit Singh Bitta and Hindi news channel Aaj Tak<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This makes me sick. <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Sq Ldr Ajay Ahuja was a true hero. It's a shame another Indian tried to expolit his family <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Congress, master of all corruption now politicizing and criminalizing CBI.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>CBI to tell SC about Satish case closure </b>
Staff Reporter/ New Delhi
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the agency investigating the cases of irregularities in the allotment of petrol pumps, will soon apprise the Supreme Court about its request to close 15 cases against former Union Minister and Congress leader Satish Sharma.
As the Apex court was hearing the matter earlier, a city court had on April 4 asked the investigating agency to inform SC regarding the closure reports.
"We will inform the SC about the closure report and the matter is being examined," CBI's Special Public prosecutor told the court of designated Judge Pratibha Rani on Saturday. He said the agency was preparing an affidavit in this regard and it will be submitted before the Apex court which had dealt the cases earlier.
The Home Ministry had refused sanction for his prosecution. After the refusal the agency had filed a closure report in the cases against Mr Sharma, who was Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas between 1993 and 1996.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A good attempt by getting the bill passed, let's see if it works in reality.
LS passes right to information bill
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->UNI New Delhi May 11: The Lok Sabha today passed the landmark âRight to Information Bill 2004â after Prime Minister, <b>Dr Manmohan Singh asserted that the legislation would root out corruption, empower the common man and ensure an effective, efficient and accountable governance</b>.
<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>(Seems like a obese fool preaching the virtues of dieting and exercises)</span>
âThe bill will see the dawn of a new era in our governance, an era of performance and efficiency, an era which will ensure that benefits of growth flow to all sections of society, an era which will eliminate the scourge of corruption, an era which will bring the common manâs concerns to the heart of all processes of governance, an era which will truly fulfil the hopes of our founding fathers, he said while intervening in the debate on the bill, which seeks to replace the Freedom of Information Act.
The opposition National Democratic Alliance did not participate in the discussion on the bill as part of their decision to boycott the entire sitting of the ongoing session in protest against the refusal to remove the Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad for having been chargesheeted in the multi-crore fodder scam.
Winding up the debate on the bill, the Minister of State for Personnel and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Suresh Pachauri said the legislation, in effect, gave the key of democracy to the common man. <span style='color:blue'>(key given to common man after the thief has already stolen the car <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rolleyes.gif' /><!--endemo--> )</span>
The bill provides for right to information for people to secure access to information under the control of public authority with an object to promote transparency and accountability in the working of all public authority.
It also provides for constitution of a central information commission and state-level information commission to act as an independent appeal mechanism.
<b>However, the bill imposes certain restrictions for giving information to public, if it prejudicially affects the sovereignty and integrity of the country. Cabinet papers, including deliberations of the ministers, secretaries and other officers, cannot be given to the public.</b>
The government moved as many as 149 amendments to the bill. All amendments were adopted by the House.
Before the bill was introduced in the House, it was considered in detail by the National Advisory Council, the highest policy making body of the ruling UPA, and a group of ministers.
The Prime Minister said the bill would strengthen the citizenâs role as arbiter of âour destinyâ.
Saying that efficient and effective institutions are the key to rapid economic development, he said for this they must function in a transparent, responsible and accountable manner. âThis is dependent not only on processes internal to the institutions but also on the ability of citizens and external agents to enforce their rights vis-a-vis these institutions.â
He said, âThe bill would bring into force another right which would empower the citizen in this regard and ensure that our institutions and their functionaries discharged their duties in the desired manner.â It would bring into effect a critical right for enforcing other rights and fill a vital gap in a citizenâs framework of rights.
Dr Singh said the bill had the widest possible reach, covering central and state governments, Panchayati Raj institutions, local bodies and recipients of government grants. âAccess to information under it is extensive with minimum exemptions, which too can be over-ridden on the basis of a public benefit test, when the benefit of release of information outweighs the harm caused by disclosure.â
âThe bill lays down an architecture for accessing information which is simple, easy, time-bound and inexpensive. It has stringent penalties for failing to provide information or affecting information flow in any way. In fact, it imposes obligations on agencies to disclose information suo motu, thus reducing cost of access,â the Prime Minister said.
Calling upon the civil servants to see the bill in a positive spirit and not to view it as a draconian law for paralysing the government, he said its provisions were aimed at improving government-citizen interface resulting in a friendly, caring and effective government.
âI appeal to all civil servants to see this bill in the right spirit and hope they will only be spurred towards better performance. After all, we, the elected representatives, bow to the wishes of people and have come to no harm. So will it be with honest, hard working civil servants,â Dr Singh said.
Pointing out that the key to the successful functioning of any democratic polity is the ability of a citizen to observe and evaluate the functioning of elected representatives and make an informed judgment of their performance, he said this was possible only if there was easy availability of the necessary information for a citizen to arrive at an assessment.
In this context, Dr Singh said, âCommon man is the fulcrum of our democratic system, as an observer, as the seeker of information, as the one who asks questions, as the analyst and as the final judge of performance.â
Mr Pachauri said the bill had a special provision assuring free information to those falling below the poverty line.
This, he said, was not there in the Freedom of Information Act passed by the NDA government.
<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>(is this the only difference? someone below poverty line being able to access info - I'm lost <!--emo&:unsure:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' /><!--endemo--> )</span>
âThe bill fulfills the dream of Rajiv Gandhi to bring a radical transformation in the lives of the poor,â he said. <span style='color:red'>(I'm devasated that Nehru and Indira didn't have this vision and only Rajiv did <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo--> )</span>
Mr Pachauri said the bill contained strict penal provisions which even 55 other countries did not have in their right to information acts.
âWe have also given less exemptions than those given by the advanced countries such as the US, the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada,â he said.
The exemption limit, which was 25 years in the Freedom of Information Act, had been reduced to 20 years.
On the other provisions of the bills, he said the third party seeking information can put in his viewpoint within ten days before the public information officer, who has to give his decision within 40 days.
Mr Pachauri said the government had checked up with the Attorney General that state bills would also coexist once the right to information bill became a central act. Rejecting the inclusion of the Chief Justice of India in the committee for the selection of central information commissioner, he said the selection committees for the CVC, CAG and Election Commission members also did not have the Chief Justice of India.
âSuch committees carry out executive functions, so it has the Prime Minister, Opposition members, and ministers chosen by the PM.â
He said the bill, unlike the Freedom of Information Act, provides information to the public on corruption and violation of human rights.
Some provisions would be immediately enacted and the remaining within 120 days.
âThe bill is a revolutionary change which will bring in transparency and accountability in administration,â he said.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Right to Information Bill passed today by the Lok Sabha
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->It marks a victory for the National Advisory Council and NGOs who have been campaigning for the right to information to be available across the country at all levels.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Does this Right to Information Bill give rights to individuals to look into books of NGOs?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The brutal face of corruption </b>
Bulbul Roy Mishra
Quoting from Vedanta, <b>Swami Vivekanand once said that it was weakness that was the cause of all the misery in the world. "We lie, steal, kill, and commit other crimes because we are weak," said he. "We suffer because we are weak." His message for humanity was: "Don't be afraid to face the brute."</b> When we do so in real life, we find mafia dons like Dawood Ibrahim turn into meek seekers of mercy.
Â
It is indeed a strange paradox that a feared gangster like Dawood, who throughout his gory criminal career has never been known to show mercy, wants good behaviour to be extended to him. The man who engineered the 1993 blasts in Mumbai, who has blood on his hands of innocents, who has had a number of his opponents killed, expects clemency should he choose to surrender. It proves that the mafia don is a coward. About 19 years ago, the same Dawood had said in an interview that he would rather be an assistant to an honest Customs officer like Dayashankar than the Prime Minister of India. It seemed then that he had a shred of principle in him. If that little shred is still there, he should surrender unconditionally.
Be that as it may, the fact remains that our reluctance born of weakness to face the brute has accounted for the rise of criminals like Dawood and Veerappan. If we had the courage to confront them, the extraordinary energy of these people could have been channellised to the benefit of the nation. That people with talent and extraordinary energy adopt the negative path is symptomatic of our collective weakness or failure.
In this context, I am tempted to refer to an anecdote from Yogis in Silence (RK Gupta, pp 218-219). A king wanted to evaluate a diamond and announced suitable reward to anyone who could apprise him of its true value. All tried and failed, but one old man in tatters told the king that the diamond was worth millions as it had two special characteristics. First, that its possessor would never be discontented; and, second, the diamond would emit light in darkness. The king found him correct and called his senior minister to determine the appropriate reward for the evaluator. The minister suggested hundred lashes. Asked why, he answered, if instead of stone-evaluation the old man had used his extraordinary intellect to attain self-realisation, then the wealth of the whole world would have been inadequate as his reward.
Politicians like Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav ought to draw a lesson from this. Possessing extraordinary energy and leadership qualities, he could have turned Bihar into a progressive and prosperous State. Unfortunately, Bihar has turned into a haven for crooks and criminals and a hell for its common people. Mr Yadav himself is charged in seven cases of embezzlement and fraud. If convicted, he can be jailed for up to seven years. His continuance as Union Minister during the trial in the fodder scam case shows the failings of Indian democracy. There is no way India can improve its ranking in the corruption index of Transparency International so long as tainted ministers like him continue in the Cabinet.
The strength of Mr Yadav lies in his 24 RJD MPs whose support may be crucial for the survival of the UPA Government. Both Mr Manmohan Singh and Ms Sonia Gandhi have chosen to be realistic, not idealistic. But they must realise that their failure to sack him will encourage others like Ms Mayawati to blackmail the Government with the threat of withdrawal of support unless the cases against her are closed. On the other hand, if the Government sacks the tainted ministers, its credibility will increase. In the unlikely event of fresh polls, this is bound to pay dividends.
Corruption breeds corruption. It is under the patronage of corrupt administrations that officers like the former chief secretary of UP, Mr Akhand Pratap Singh, has been exposed for keeping hidden within his premises unaccounted wealth to the tune of Rs 120 crore. Then, there is Mr Gautam Goswami, former district magistrate of Patna, who, early in his career, learnt the art of networking for money.
Engaging in one's duty truthfully - and not abstinence - is the message handed down to posterity by our spiritual tradition. Whether in power or in the opposition, if our political leaders follow this maxim, Indian democracy will never derail. If they don't, its future is doomed.
The UPA Government has shown courage in supporting the ban on dance bars by the Maharashtra Government, duly appreciating that these places had become dens of criminals, drug peddlers, sex-adventurists and HIV carriers with hordes of slave-girls, mostly from outside. Some respected journalists have held the brief for dance bars without delving deep into the subject. When they do, I am sure they will appreciate the logic behind the Government's action.
<b>Tagore urged his countrymen to awake into that heaven of freedom "where the mind is without fear and the head is held high". Vivekanand said, "We are miserable through delusion." Shall we give up the delusion, so that the whole of our weakness vanishes? India's future depends on our response. </b>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Fodder scam: Charges framed against Lalu </b>
Agencies/ Ranchi
A special CBI court Tuesday framed charges against Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in yet another fodder scam case in connection with fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from a government treasury after rejecting his discharge plea.
This is the second fodder scam case in over a fortnight in which charges have been framed against Prasad. The charges were read out in the court of CBI special judge Sanjay Prasad in the presence of Minister, former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and 37 others in connection with the case pertaining to the illegal withdrawal of funds from Dumka treasury between December, 1995 and January, 1996.
Fortynine people were accused in the case. While six have died, three have turned approvers. On April 25, a special CBI court of Umashankar Prasad had framed charges against Prasad, Mishra and 68 others in case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37 crore in 1996 from Chaibasa treasury, now in Jharkhand.
The CBI has filed chargesheets in 60 cases, out of which 53 are being tried in the courts at Ranchi and seven in the courts at Patna. The 950 crore fodder scam was unearthed in Bihar in 1996 when Lalu Prasad was the chief minister. He had resigned from the post in 1997 after a court issued a warrant in one of the cases. After the creation of Jharkhand in 2000, 39 of the 61 cases were transferred to the new state
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Time had honoured the I. A. S. officer, Gautam Goswami as the "Asian
Hero". What was his achievement? He had stopped the speech of the then Dy
PM Advani by showing the regulations. The prescribed time limit was 10
p.m. In Advani's watch there were 2 minutes left to strike 10 p.m.
while Goswami's watch showed it was 1 minute past 10 p.m. Goswami showed
his watch to Advani and asked him to end the speech. 'Time' made him a
hero for this great deed. Now that Goswami has been charged with serious
corruption charges, what Time will call him? A villain or hero?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Missing original papers a breather to Hindujas </b>
Staff Reporter/ New Delhi
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conceded before the Delhi High Court its inability to produce the original or authenticated copies of the documents on basis of which the Centre had proceeded its case against the Hinduja brothers in the multi-crore Bofors gun scandal.
Appearing before Justice RS Sodhi on Friday, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) B Dutta while responding to a specific query put by the court, stated it was impossible for CBI to produce either the authenticated copies of documents or their originals from the keepers of the documents at Berne, Switzer-land at this stage or when the court so desires.
The submission came forth during the hearing of a petition filed by the Hinduja brothers Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand who sought the High Court's intervention to recall a lower court verdict that sought to proceed trial against them under IPC Sections 120 B read with 420 amounting to criminal conspiracy and cheating.
Following this submission by the ASG, the court reserved its order in this matter. The lower court on February 4, 2004 had proceeded against the Hinduja brothers for having entered into criminal conspiracy and dishonestly representing that there were no agents involved in the Rs 1437 crore gun deal.
The CBI claimed that it obtained no response from the concerned quarters regarding the authentication of documents and production of the originals. "We do not have any information in whose custody the original documents are at present," the ASG said.
Hindujas' counsel Ram Jethmalani had argued that the charges were framed against his clients on the presumption that the CBI had the original documents. He stated that the trial will be complete waste of time as it is clear that CBI do not have the originals. In this regard, the court was asked to recall the lower court order and discharge them in the case. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Now congress is back in power, suddenly original paper will disappear.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> AP minister quits after corruption charges
HYDERABAD: In what could have serious implications for the Congress govt in Andhra Pradesh, a senior minister resigned on Monday owning moral responsibility for a corruption scandal related to the sale of temple lands.
M Satyanarayana Rao, who holds the endowments portfolio, also dragged state Congress chief K Keshava Rao along with him. He has reportedly told Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy that he acted on Keshava Rao's behest.
The minister sent his resignation letter to the chief minister while he was holding a press conference here.
Reddy abruptly ended the press conference and went into a huddle with his close aides to take a decision on the resignation.
The resignation could mean trouble for the ruling Congress as it implicates not one but two senior leaders of the party.
An angry Keshava Rao has threatened to take up the issue with the party's central leadership.
It was on Saturday during a cabinet meeting that Satyanarayana Rao offered to resign.
The chief minister, who had already ordered an inquiry by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and cancelled the sale of the lands, tried to pacify Rao saying his resignation would serve no purpose.
Rao, however, insisted on stepping down and went ahead with the move on Monday.
The resignation is the fallout of a scam involving sale of temple lands in and around Hyderabad at throwaway prices. The endowments department had cleared the sale of nearly 246 acres of land worth Rs 1 billion for just Rs 115.2 million.
The outgoing commissioner of the endowments department I Venkateswarlu and secretary JP Murthy, both Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials, had cleared the sale despite a ban on sale of temple lands.
They claimed to have acted with the approval from the minister, who reportedly lifted the ban in one case. In two other cases, the commissioner is said to have sold the land on his own.
Venkateswarlu retired on May 31 while Murthy has taken over as home secretary.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Screw tightens around former Patna DM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Former Patna District Magistrate Gautam Goswami, who has been evading arrest in the multi-crore flood relief scam, on Monday suffered a jolt with a special court turning down his anticipatory bail appplication.
Designated Vigilance Judge Jitendra Mohan Prasad, who earlier reserved his order on conclusion of arguments by Goswami's lawyer Tuhin Shankar and senior public prosecutor of Vigilance P P Singh, dismissed Goswami's anticipatory bail petition.
Soon after rejection of Goswami's petition, Shankar said his client would either surrender or move the superior court against the lower court's order.
Referring to the argument of the defence counsel Shankar that several other officials were involved in the relief work carried out with the help of army helicopters and boats, Singh showed a copy of the payment of Rs Two lakh made by Goswami to a fake firm 'Amibika Coffee house' for coffee from the funds alloted to him as Patna District Magistrate-cum-nodal officer for carrying out relief for flood-hit victims in North Bihar.
"The fund for relief was spent on purchasing coffee and that too from a firm which the Vigilance bureau was yet to locate", he remarked.
Singh said besides over Rs one lakh was also spent on using swimming pools. "it implies that the officials were not not carrying out relief but having pleasure swimming," he said.
He said cheques of several crores of rupees were also issued to a fake firm, Baba Satya Sai Industries (BSSI) instead of the Bihar Small Scale Industries Corporation (BSSIC), towards payment for managing relief.
Singh said when Goswami was ready to cooperate with the Vigilance bureau probing the scam, he should have surrendered by now and "we would have taken him on remand for interrogation". He urged the court not to allow Goswami's plea for bail and claimed that the former Patna DM was deeply involved in the scam.
The Vigilance judge had on May 31 issued non-bailable warrants against Goswami and eight others, including Santosh Jha, the alleged kingpin of the scam.
Jha had already surrendered before the designated judge Prasad who had remanded him to judicial custody till June 10.
Vigilance sleuths have arrested five of the 28 accused.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
HC dismisses Lalu-Rabri petition in DA case
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Patna High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi challenging moves to prosecute them for alleged misappropriation of public funds.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi had challenged their prosecution in a disproportionate assets case, an offshoot of the multimillion-rupee fodder scam.
The court unanimously dismissed the petition, court officials said. The court had completed the hearing May 18 but had reserved its order.
Last month Nagendra Rai, the acting chief justice of the Patna High Court, constituted a three-member bench to hear the case - an offshoot of the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam in which Lalu Prasad has been accused of embezzling Government money meant to purchase animal fodder for poor farmers.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the high court to constitute a bench comprising judges Aftab Alam and Chandramauli Kumar Prasad for hearing the petition of Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi.
But Lalu Prasad had objected to it and Nagendra Rai passed an order contending it was the duty of the high court chief justice to constitute a bench for hearing the petition filed before it.
The Supreme Court then asked the Patna High Court to constitute the bench.
A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) hearing the corruption case against Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi had been awaiting the high court's verdict to go ahead.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Goswami 'wanted' for another scam</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Bihar government is likely to initiate another criminal case against former Patna district magistrate Gautam Goswami - a key accused in the multimillion rupee flood relief scam - for allegedly sanctioning money to NGOs that didn't exist.
Official sources said the government would file another complaint against Goswami for alleged misappropriation of Rs 15.2 million meant for the Swarana Jayanti Swa Rojgar Yojna (SJSRY) and the National Slum Development Programme (NSDP) during his tenure as district magistrate.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo--> <b>Enough evidence to prosecute Mayawati: CVC</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The opinion of CVC is diametrically opposite to that of attorney general and director of CBI, both of whom had favoured the closure of the case against her. The CVC has also recommended launching of prosecution against Environment Secretary R.K. Sharma in the case.</b>
The CVC, however, recommended closure of the case against former UP Chief Secretary D.S. Bagga, Mayawati's former secreatary P.L. Punia and top bureaucrats--V.K. Gupta, K.C. Mishra, S.C. Vali and A.K. Bose.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Misuse of power by Congress/UPA. They know how to coverup corruption.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianCivili...n/message/79664
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Here are some bare facts on how Rahul Gandhi continues to amass wealth. His
affidavit at the Amethi elections declare that he owns 83% of the stake in a
company called Back-ops Engineering (his capital investment in this, as per his
affidavit, is Rs2.5 lakhs and the bank balance of the company is Rs 3 lakhs).
http://www.back-ops.com/
This company has landed prestigeous projects:
http://deccanherald.com/deccanherald/may292004/i8.asp
Which is the company that is behind the construction of International Airport
Terminal Building at Mumbai, container freight station for Maersk Sealand,
Training Centres for RBI, headquarters of Wochhardt Ltd and Wockhardt Hospital
in Mumbai, IPCL township at Nagothane, meditation hall at Osho Commune of Pune
and other high value projects?
These projects include, besides airport terminal and container freight station,
Belapur railway station/commercial complex at Navi Mumbai, Logistics facility
for United Liner Agencies at Nhava Sheva, commercial complex at Phoenix Mills,
Mumbai, Taj Flight Kitchen, Mumbai and New Delhi, Coromandel Fertilizers at
Cuddapah (AP), The Oberoi Amar Vilas at Agra, Hyatt Regency at Kathmandu and so
on.
Mid-Day carried two scathing articles and after that "mysteriously" dropped the
issue:
Rahul Gandhi's Mumbai Millions:
http://mid-day.com/news/city/2004/may/84207.htm
and
Rahul Gandhi's firm changes its website:
http://mid-day.com/news/city/2004/may/84304.htm
Following are the projects this obscure company got:
Projects that Backops has got
1. International Airport building, Mumbai
2. Belapur railway station
3. Container Freight Station for Maersk Sealand
4. Logistics Facility, United Liner Agencies, Nhava Sheva
5. Commerical Complex at Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel
6. Ashoka Shopping Centre, Mumbai
7. Training Centres for Reserve Bank of India
8. Headquarters for Wockhardt
9. Wockhardt Hospital, Mulund, Mumbai
10. ONCB/PNCB plant at Tarapur
11. Industrial complex for NRB Bearings, Aurangabad
12. Coromandel Fertilisers, Cuddapah
13. Township for IPCL, Nagothane
14. Institutional facilities for Ministry of Education, Oman
15. Industrial Training Institute, Mazagaon
16. The Oberoi Amar Vilas, Agra
17. Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu, Nepal
18. Meditation Hall and Guest House for Osho Commune, Pune
********************************************************************************\
*************************************************
Compiled by S.V.Badri
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Something doesn't add up. I remember seeing elsewhere (Rahul's own affidavit) which had listed about 185,000 Brit pounds in Back-Ops UK office - listed as Rahul's assests (he holds over 80% share in Back-Ops). Yet there's no UK based projects listed in the Rajesh's (Badri's) post!
I'll try to dig up that affidavit.
Oily Mani Shankar Aiyar in pickle over rejecting DPE names for board directors
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Petroleum minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Thursday that his ministry had not rejected any names proposed by the department of public enterprises (DPE) for selection of non-official directors on the boards of navratana and mini-navratana PSUs under the ministry.
In a press statement, Mr Aiyar also said that the list of names forwarded by his ministry is a âsupplementary listâ of 33 names for the consideration of the search committee. While agreeing that the names included in the list comprises of majority of Congressmen and women, Mr Aiyar said, âAny consideration of additional list of names will, of course, be in accordance with the standard procedures prescribed. Moreover the search committee will, of course, be guided by the prescribed criteria while considering these names.â
Interestingly, petroleum secretary, SC Tripathiâs letter to DPE does mention that the names in the list being forwarded are that of persons ârecommendedâ as non-official directors in the corporations indicated against their names. DPE was also asked to convene a fresh meeting of the search committee to consider the names forwarded at the behest of the petroleum minister.
As per the statement, âIt is they (Congressmen and women) who have asked to be considered for appointment as directors of oil PSU boards.â Whether the search committee eventually recommends their names or not depends on whether their bio-datas match the prescribed criteria. If it does not, then they would not be recommended for appointment, the minister said.
He also clarified that the list forwarded to DPE also includes names of ex-bureaucrats like the former deputy governor, RK Gupta; ex-finance secretary, PG Mankad; Teri DG RK Pachauri; ex-secretary, fertilisers ministry, Arvind Varma; former secretary, Planning Commission, NC Saxena; ex-secretary, MP Bezbaruah; ex-DG, Avinash Chandra; former chief secretary, Assam, PK Bora; and professionals like Vineet Nayar (Mahindra BT CEO); and Rajiv Chandrashekhar (ex-MD, BPL).
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Leak makes mockery of CBI crackdown </b>
Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
The CBI's countrywide raid against corrupt government officials on Friday made news for wrong reasons - information about the raid was leaked out in advance and even reported in Friday's edition of a Delhi newspaper.
<b>As CBI sleuths arrived, they found offices of several government officials locked and officers missing. The subsequent seizure of cash and asset, which were much lower than expected from a raid spread across 58 cities and at 198 locations, made it obvious that the surprise element was completely missing in the entire operation.</b>
That the country's premier investigating agencies was left in a highly embarrassing situation was evident from the fact that it seized only Rs 80 lakh in cash during the raids.
CBI Director US Misra later said that they are trying to identify the officials responsible for the leak and punitive action will be initiated against those found guilty.
During the drive the CBI registered cases under various sections of the Prevention of the Corruption Act, demanding and accepting bribes, disproportionate assets and abuse of the official position to cause monetary gain to private persons and firms and wrongful loss to the government.
The operation was massive. Over 2,000 men and officers of CBI began the nationwide exercise in the wee hours of the day and searched premises of several Government officials, including four officers of the joint secretary level and above. In all, the agency registered 58 cases against 70 public servants. These officials belong to the departments of Customs, Income Tax and BSNL.
The searches were continuing and details were being collected, Mr Misra said. The most interesting case was registered in Visakhapatnam, where the CBI booked a <b>senior railway official for allegedly selling off 12 railway wagons</b>.. According to a CBI FIR, K Ramakrishna Rao, a senior section engineer at Vizag was handed over 12 railway wagons, which were declared as 'sick' (unfit).
The CBI claimed that Rao did not make any entry of these in official books and sold them "secretly" to some private party. He has been booked for misappropriation of government funds and forging documents.
<b>CBI sleuths also raided the premises of Dr SPS Bakshi who as an official of the National Institute of Homeopathy accepted huge amounts for granting seats in homeopathic colleges from candidates.</b> CBI also booked owners of Central Council of Homeopathy in the National capital for allegedly giving recognition to some of the homeopathy institutes in the country in an arbitrary manner.
It also raided the office and the residential premises of the i<b>nspector Ishwar Singh, SHO, Tughlak Road, on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.</b> Interestingly, Ishwar Singh was the man responsible for unmasking the match-fixing scandal involving former South African captain Hansie Cronje.<b> A President's Gallantry Medal winner Ishwar Singh is considered as one of the better investigators of Delhi Police </b>who solved many sensational cases.
NS Kahlon, a minister in Parkash Singh Badal government, a former Secretary in the government of Punjab, his private secretary and deputy commissioner of Moga were also raided by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the CBI. They had entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the government by taking Rs 2 lakh as illegal gratification from 700 candidates for offering them job as panchayat secretary.
An official of the rank of additional secretary in Government of India and CBI for <b>booked some officials of Modi Xerox allegedly causing loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 50 lakh.</b>
In Mumbai, CBI sleuths claimed to have recovered Rs 8 lakh cash from commissioner of Income Tax Tribunal BR Meena, an IRS official of 1977 batch, besides documents showing property worth crores of rupees. CBI sleuths recovered Rs 26 lakh cash from the premises of a Superintendent of Narcotics Control Bureau in Kolkata, Gorachand Chaterjee.
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