<b>George's letter to Kalam, seeks govt sack on corruption issue</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->On a day when CBI filed an FIR against him in connection with alleged irregularities in a defence deal, former Defence Minister George Fernandes on Tuesday, shot off a letter to President APJ Abdul Kalam demanding dismissal of UPA government on the issue of alleged corruption citing an international anti-graft watchdog report.
<b>Referring to the report by Transparency International which rates India as the worst performer on the Bribe Payer's Index (BPI), Fernandes in his letter said this means that there is violation of the law and the Constitution by those who are holding office in the government.</b>
"There cannot be anything more demeaning for our country than being a nation that has been declared as the number one corrupt nation in the world," he said.
<b>"Please dismiss this government and order elections to relieve the country from the humility that we are presently subjected to by the corrupt establishment of the government,"</b> Fernandes said.
The BPI is based on propensities of companies from the world's 30 leading exporting countries in bribing abroad. India's has been ranked at the 30th position in BPI with a score of 4.62.
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In a significant development in the Tehelka expose on defence scams, the CBI has registered an FIR against former defence minister George Fernandes, his associate Jaya Jaitley, accused of receiving a bribe of Rs 2 crore, and former navy chief Admiral Sushil Kumar for alleged irregularities in purchasing the Barak missile system from Israel in 2000.
The FIR filed in a designated court yesterday alleged that a sum of Rs two crore was paid to Jaitley, who acted as an "agent" to clinch the Rs 1,150-crore deal to buy seven Barak anti-missile defence systems from state-run Israel Aircraft Industries. Jaitley was then president of Fernandes' Samata Party.
RK Jain, who was then treasurer of the Samata Party and was also named in the FIR, received a bribe of several lakhs, the CBI alleged
..............<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Arms scam: George points finger at Prez, Kalam mum<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If anybody bothers to read the article itself..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->He (the then scientific adviser to defence minister) said that the missile system was needed and that was how it came. Otherwise, it would not have come<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
From -> cmon man the missile system was recommended by the scientific adviser.
To -> defense minister says scientific adviser is corrupt.
Bunch of losers !!
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Added later : its worse the headline on the main rediff page is..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Arms scam: Ex-minister accuses President Kalam<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Sonia has got what she wanted out of it:
an accusing finger at Prez i.e. like killing 2 birds w/ 1 stone.
Whether she orchestrated or not, Prez has not come out unscathed from afzal controversy.
She has score settling with Prez for stopping her from becoming PM.
RE: Barak
India and Barak are going to have joint venture in Hyderabad whereby the seed money of 330 million $ is going to be 50-50. I do not have paper cutting of this news but it's in today's news only.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Defence deals back in focus as CBI bares its fangs </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
...raids 35 places across the country, but makes no arrests
Five years after Tehelka sting operation revealed the alleged kicbacks on defence deals, the CBI on Tuesday launched prosecution against former Defence Minister George Fernandes for the purchase of Barak missile system from Israel<b>. The CBI also named the then Samata Party president Jaya Jaitley and former naval chief Admiral Sushil Kumar as accused in the case.</b>
The CBI after registering a First Information Report (FIR) in the case on Monday, conducted country-wide raids at more than 35 places in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore against arms dealers on Tuesday and alleged kickbacks amounting to <b>Rs 2 crore were paid in the Rs 1,500 crore deal in year 2000 to buy seven Barak anti-missile missile system from the State-run Israel Aircraft Industries</b>. The CBI, however, did not arrest any person on Tuesday.
The CBI in its FIR alleged that Rs 2 crore were paid to Jaya Jaitley, who acted as an "agent" to clinch the deal and then naval chief was accused of "colluding with other accused to put up a note" to the then Defence Minister George Fernandes to import the system despite objections from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), CBI officials told reporters on Tuesday.
The CBI also alleged that Fernandes not only approved the proposal but tried to get it approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). The investigating agency also named RK Jain, who was then treasurer of the Samata Party, as a recipient of a bribe of several lakhs in the deal.
The Government gave clearance for the purchase of the seven Barak systems for aircraft carrier INS Viraat and Delhi and Godavari class ships in 2000. The Navy approved the Barak system, a ship-borne, anti-missile-missile system, saying it matched its requirements and first tested the system in 1995 in the presence of DRDO officials.
<b>The deal for acquiring the Barak systems and 200 missiles for fitting on naval warships was signed on October 23, 2000.</b> In 2001, a sting operation by the Tehelka website exposed alleged irregularities in several weapons deals, including the one to purchase the Barak systems. Fernandes quit as Defence Minister after the scandal broke but returned to the post after some months. Jaya Jaitley too resigned from her post in the Samata Party.
The CBI officials said that the raids on Tuesday were conducted after nearly a year's probe and filing preliminary enquiry report against unnamed persons and searches were carried out at nearly four dozen places in five states against arms dealers involved in the purchases made during the tenure of former Defence Minister George Fernandes.
After registering three fresh cases in the designated court on Monday, <b>CBI teams swooped down at nearly 50 locations in the national capital, Gurgaon, Sangroor, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune, including offices and residences of the arms dealers, </b>officials said.
<b>The raids were carried out at the residence and official premises of arms dealers Suresh Nanda, son of former naval chief Admiral SM Nanda, Congress MLA from Sangrur, Punjab Arvind Khanna, Sudhir Chowdhury and MS Sahani and recovered incriminating documents</b>, officials said.
<b>The Khannas including father Vipin and sons Aditya and Arvind had allegedly acted as middlemen in a defence deal with South Africa's Denel, </b>officials said.
Incidentally, <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Aditya Khanna was facing the heat from Enforcement Directorate for his alleged role in Iraq's oil-for-food scam.
</span>
Sudhir Chowdhury, a leading arms dealer of the country, came under the scanner along with Suresh Nanda as they allegedly played an active role in the purchase of the missiles.
The office and residence of another arms dealer, MS Sahani, was also searched by the CBI for his alleged involvement in the deal to purchase the Krasnopol terminally guided munitions after the Tehelka expose. The CBI said they would try and ascertain the role of these persons in relation to other cases being probed by the agency.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>CBI hears master's voice, does it again </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The FIR against former defence minister George Ferandes in defence deals follows the familiar pattern of the CBI acting as the glove puppet of the UPA Government.
Fernandes' trenchant criticism of the Government for manipulating the investigating agency may sound obvious, but the track record of the CBI will only ensure that such allegations do stick.
<b>Since the UPA Government assumed power at the Centre, a series of decisions taken by the CBI has directly and indirectly favoured the political interest of the Congress and come in handy for it to settle political scores with its rivals.</b>
<b>The most glaring case of the Congress-CBI nexus was seen in the way the two conspired to allow defreezing of the London bank accounts of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, an accused in the Bofors scandal.</b>
It is well known that Additional Solicitor General B Dutta went personally to London in connection with the defreezing and the whole exercise was coordinated by the Law Ministry and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). Despite the uproar, Law Minister HR Bhardwaj had defended the decision to defreeze the accounts.
In the backdrop of Quattrocchi's links with the Congress leadership, the favour doled out to him by the CBI was an obvious example of the agency doing the bidding of the Government.
Similarly, Satish Sharma, also known for his links with the top Congress leadership was bailed out by the CBI in the petrol pump allotment case. Soon after the UPA Government came to power, the CBI filed a closure report in the case relating to misuse of the Minister's discretionary quota in allotment. <b>The court was left with little option but to discharge the former Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and others in all 15 criminal cases</b>.
In its closure report filed in November 2004, the CBI had informed the court that it decided to close the cases because the Union Ministry for Home Affairs had refused to give sanction for prosecution of Capt Sharma.
The CBI tried the same trick in the Rs 175 cr Taj Corridor scam to protect BSP leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. The agency, in fact, tried to altogether drop the case against her, but failed in its design when the Supreme Court took up the matter.
Last month, <b>the CBI kicked up another political row when it slapped two corruption cases against BJP leader Maneka Gandhi. An angry Maneka accused the CBI of acting under pressure of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.</b>
<b>The CBI's track record in dealing with the fodder scam cases , where RJD chief Lalu Prasad, is a prime accused, has also been a subject of criticism and litigation. </b>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>CBI fires Barak at George, who trains gun on Sonia </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
POLITICAL VENDETTA, screams Opposition
As the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday went to town announcing the registration of a corruption case against former Defence Minister George Fernandes and his associates in the six-year-old Barak missile deal, a furious and united Opposition dubbed the exercise as "a glaring example of political vendetta" and pledged to defeat the UPA Government's sinister designs.Â
George Fernandes, Jaya Jaitly, Sushil Kumar(From left to right)
Accusing Congress chief Sonia Gandhi of being behind the move, Fernandes flatly denied the allegations against him, adding that<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'> "she was behind the Tehelka sting operation and wanted to implicate me." </span>
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>"This is the handiwork of that lady," </span>he said, shortly after the CBI held a press conference to say it had registered an FIR on Monday in a Delhi Court against the former Defence Minister, then Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitly and then naval chief Admiral Sushil Kumar.
Fernandes said the decision to procure Barak missiles was taken much before he entered the Defence Ministry and he was only fulfilling the procurement needs of the Navy.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>"Thereafter, the Navy insisted that they needed it. I had to take a decision. I took the advise of the present President and the then Advisor to the Prime Minister APJ Abdul Kalam. On his clearance it was done. He said it was needed. He had put his hand into it,"</span> a combative Fernandes told media persons at his residence here.
Jaya Jaitly, who is in Germany, could not be contacted for her comments, but former navy chief Sushil Kumar was equally emphatic in refuting the charges leveled by the CBI.
"I told the Government that we needed the Barak missile system because it was the best in the world and I still stick to my stand," he told media persons.
<b>Standing solidly with the arraigned NDA convenor, the Janata Dal (U) and the BJP launched a counter offensive against the UPA Government and Congress president Sonia Gandhi for political persecution of their opponents.</b>
They alleged that the UPA Government's game plan had become clear when it scrapped the Phukan Commission abruptly after giving it three months extension.
"The commission had cleared the former defence minister in its interim report but the Government demonstrated its malafide by scrapping it before it could submit its final report," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.
Slamming the Congress for misusing the CBI to settle political scores against the leaders with the guts to speak out against its wrongs and corrupt practices, he added, <b>"The CBI charge-sheet against former Defence Minister and NDA convenor is nothing but an act of political vendetta. It is condemnable in all respects." </b>
<b>"The Congress has made a blatant attempt to blemish the checkered political career of Fernandes spanning over 40 years. Such acts could only be expected from the Congress that is known for doing all this,"</b> he added.
Janata Dal(U) president Sharad Yadav endorsed him, saying that the UPA Government was misusing the CBI for political purposes.
"Everyone knows George Fernandes reputation for integrity and no one would believe that he could be involved in a corrupt deal," he said.
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<!--QuoteBegin-rajesh_g+Oct 10 2006, 03:58 PM-->QUOTE(rajesh_g @ Oct 10 2006, 03:58 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->First Rang De Basanti and now this. They are really going after GF.
[right][snapback]58891[/snapback][/right]
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Remember the epsiode where they made a mountain of the mole-hill about his being frisked at US airports.
Muslims have to be frisked, they have demonstrated their hatred to kill infidels. When are the dumbsh*t Hindus going to stop supporting the Islamic Bollywood industry.
<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Oct 11 2006, 03:03 AM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Oct 11 2006, 03:03 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-rajesh_g+Oct 10 2006, 03:58 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rajesh_g @ Oct 10 2006, 03:58 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->First Rang De Basanti and now this. They are really going after GF.
[right][snapback]58891[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Remember the epsiode where they made a mountain of the mole-hill about his being frisked at US airports.
[right][snapback]58900[/snapback][/right]
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<b>BJP will stand by George: Jaitley</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Though Fernandes remains NDA convenor, the BJP believes that, sooner or later, he will join the Samajwadi Party at the invitation of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, "Only this morning I spoke to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. They wanted Fernandes to be strongly defended. The party is convinced of his integrity."
Jaitley said the CBI had failed to make out a case of corruption against Fernandes who was convinced, on the basis of recommendation of the Defence Ministry, that the Navy needed the missile system.
<b>Jaitley and Javadekar reminded that the UPA had ordered seven Barak missile system in January in 2006 from the same suppliers when Fernandes was accused of ordering five systems.</b>
..............
"What is the charge against Fernandes? That he was strongly convinced about Barak? Are men of conviction dishonest?," asked Jaitley. "Till date, the indigenous missile system is not ready. Defence purchases are not decided by one person. A judicial commission of inquiry (Justice Phukan Commission) had failed to show any irregularity."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Personal vendetta </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Meanwhile, India's defence is weakened
Cynical as it may sound, the filing of charges of corruption against former Union Defence Minister George Fernandes, former Navy chief Admiral Sushil Kumar and former president of Janata Dal (U) Jaya Jaitly by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday shows that the dirty tricks department of the Government, which had fallen on bad times during the NDA regime, has been restored to health by the Congress. <b>Whenever the Congress has been in power at the Centre, it has thought nothing of using agencies of the state - the IB and the CBI, for instance - to wage vendetta against its political opponents or for the benefit of powerful individuals close to the party's first family</b>. Till such time she was in power, Indira Gandhi did it brazenly; PV Narasimha Rao tried to be crafty; the power behind the present dispensation does so unabashedly with her factotums in the UPA Government more than eager to do her bidding.<b> If the manner in which the CBI was used to defreeze the Bofors payola stashed in the London bank accounts of Italian wheeler-dealer Ottavio Quattrocchi and drop charges of corruption against Mr Satish Sharma who allotted petrol pumps to only those who met demands that do not require elaboration marked the restoration of Congress raj, the filing of bogus charges against Mr Fernandes and others shows that this regime can go to any extent to malign </b>Opposition leaders and silence voices of dissent by taking recourse to calumny and worse. The consequences, of course, are inconsequential for those who are incapable of thinking beyond themselves, leave alone thinking of the nation and the demoralising impact such skulduggery can have on the defence forces. It is laughable that a politician who has spent an entire life shunning ostentation and a Navy chief whose integrity is unimpeachable should be accused of sullying their hands with bribe money. It requires a certain political gene to compromise national interest for personal pecuniary gain: The Bofors deal exemplifies this assertion.
The reputations of those who have been named by the CBI are unlikely to be tarnished because the days when Government could spit and run are over; this is not the same country over which Mrs Gandhi presided and which she ruled through gross abuse of power. <b>But the impact of this dark deed will be felt where it shall hurt India the most</b>: In the corridors of South Block and in the headquarters of our defence forces. At a time when India urgently needs military hardware ranging from fighter aircraft to field guns, fabricated charges against individuals responsible for earlier purchases cannot but bring the process of fresh acquisitions to a grinding halt. It will be only fair to expect bureaucrats, defence officials and the Defence Minister - who is not really a part of the cabal that now rules the roast - to be reluctant to append their signature to any decision. With acquisitions delayed and the conventional strategic balance between India and Pakistan beginning to tilt in the latter's favour, we may as well forget national security and defending our territory against aggressors. Is that the ultimate aim of those responsible for Tuesday's abuse of state power? The patently false charges may gladden the hearts of those who see no shame in using calumny as a weapon of offence. But what about weakening India's defence preparedness in the process?
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Fernandes seeks BJP brass for advice and strategy </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Determined to fight to the bitter end the CBI's decision to implicate him in the Barak missiles deal, NDA Convenor George Fernandes on Friday held talks with senior BJP leader LK Advani.
Fernandes also had telephonic talks with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Janata Dal (U) president Sharad Yadav.
<b>Sources said that in his meeting with Advani, the former Defence Minister briefed him about the Barak deal and maintained at no stage he was aware of any wrong doings.</b>
The two leaders reportedly discussed the strategy to take on the UPA Government on miscue of the CBI to settle political cores. Fernandes is also expected to meet former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee within couple of days. Vajpayee had spoken to Fernandes on phone after the CBI filed FIR against him.
<b>Sources said that Advani also raised the issue of Fernandes decision to campaign for the Samajwadi Party for the forthcoming UP assembly poll. JD(U) leaders have been pressurising the BJP to resist Fernandes from revising his stand. Emerging from the meeting, Fernandes opposed the JD(U)'s move to forge an alliance with Apna Dal for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and said "if JD(U) does that, I have said I will campaign for Mulayam Singh Yadav"</b>.
To a question how appropriate it would be for him to campaign for Samajwadi Party while being convenor of the BJP-led alliance, Fernandes said NDA is a "platform".Â
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Apna Dal<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
VP.Singh and Raj Babbar group.
They have created this group to divide SP, Mayawati votes so that Congress can win.
<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--emo&:o--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' /><!--endemo--> btw: VP and Babbar's paty is Jan Morcha
George won't seek bail, demands JPC
Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi
In a room at 3, Krishna Menon Marg, two huge pictures of a young man in short trousers and horn-rimmed glasses decorate the walls. The man's hands are chained and he stands surrounded by cops. But the face looks defiant, and a half smile curls his lips.
That was George Fernandes in 1976, victim of Indira Gandhi's tyranny, accused in Vadodara dynamite case, a rabble rouser trade unionists, and died-in-wool socialist. Thirty years down the line, his hair have turned grey and eyes look confused. But the defiance remains the hallmark of the former Defence Minister, who stands accused of corruption in the acquisition of Barak missile from Israel.
"Indira Gandhi fought and lost... her daughter-in-law will meet the same fate," says George, accusing Congress president Sonia Gandhi of being the architect of the CBI case against him.
"The country knows what I stand for....people of the nation will fight my battle," he said in an exclusive interview.
For a man who is not unfamiliar to prisons, Fernandes is ready to go behind the bars again. "I won't even apply for bail. Let them come and arrest me," he said.
But, he demanded a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into all major defence deals of UPA Government. "I don't have any trust in the CBI. They are servants of the Government. A JPC probe could establish fears that middlemen and agents are not only clinching deals during the UPA Government, but also posing a threat to national security."
Fernandes said that the controversy surrounding the Scorpene submarine deal and War room leakage have common players. "I'm afraid the Government will never allow the truth to come out. Today, the country's most secret and strategic information are being sold out to enemies," he said.
Fernandes recalled that the Justice Phukan commission, which went into a spate of defence deals, including Barak, had given him a clean chit. "Let the Government deny that I was given clean chit by Justice Phukan," he said.
He said that the UPA Government wound up the Phukan inquiry commission before it could submit its final report because it wanted to implicate him by hook or by crook. "It is not an afterthought. Even when they wrapped up the Phukan commission, I told the media that I feared the worst."
Fernandes accused the Congress of subverting vitals organs of governance and misusing agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation to settle political scores. "It is sad. But I don't expect anything better from a party which imposed Emergency," he said.
Years and ailment have taken their toll. George is still to recover fully from brain surgery he underwent to drain out fluid accumulation.
Though he is getting back into shape. This correspondent met him twice - once in the evening, and again at 11 pm. He slept late. A half-read novel rests in his hands and a dozen more to be read on his table.
For any comments, queries or feedback, kindly mail us at feedback@dailypioneer.com or pioneerletters@yahoo.co.in
Apna Dal, a political party in India. It is based amongst the <b>Kurmi caste</b>. Its main base is in central Uttar Pradesh.
<b>Apna Dal is led by Sohne Lal Patel</b>.<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Apna Dal merges with Samajwadi Party
October 24, 2003 20:30 IST
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday got a shot in the arm with the state unit of the Apna Dal merged with his party.
The Apna Dal, headed by Atiq Ahmad, has three MLAs. They will take the SP's strength in the 403-member house to 190.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Apna Dal leader killed
VARANASI, JUNE 19. Two motorcycle-borne assailants killed a local Apna Dal leader, <b>Kranti Lal Patel</b>, near the Baragaon police station this evening. The miscreants fled the scene after committing the crime. The incident sparked violent protests by his supporters, who tried to set ablaze the police station prompting the police to open fire in the air. â PTI
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Sonia has got what she wanted out of it:
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->