The Spectrum Tussle - Cdma V Gsm

[kesav 127]

I've seen foolish statements were made Prannoy Roy of NDTV against linking non-auction of 2G spectrum vs subsidies in food and fertilizers.

He says food and fertilizer subsidies are given to poor people and by not auctioning 2G subsidy is given to corporates.

What an ill-educated comment is this?

Who is the beneficiary of 'first-come-first-serve'(not auctioning 2G)?

new telecom players.

Who is responsible for competition in telecom sector?

new telecom players

What is the effect of competition?

lowest tariff in the world

What is effect of lowest tariff?

poorest of poor in India is communicating through mobile

What is effect of such afford-ability?

Country is able to withstand one of the greatest depression and still able to keep the GDP at very good level.

In essence, the key and real beneficiaries of 'First-come-First-Serve' is Indians who struggle everyday to keep themselves alive.

so Let us stop this non-sense once for all.

There is absolutely no loss to the country due to 'First-come-First-serve'.

"First-come-First-serve" is the real hero behind our telecom revolution.

Don't kill it just for the sake somebody's ill-thought out calculations. They've realized the truth already(through the TRAI's market price calculation) still clinging on to it for the sake of "EGO".

Journalists, Politicians everyone is affected by EGO-flu. No one is dare to accept that they've made a mistake.

After all, we're talking about a breed(of Bharka Dutt) who refused to apologize in her own television channel when given a chance.

I beg with these journalists to move away from their cosy rooms and visit the people of rural India then they can realize the benefits of "First-come-First-serve"

'Auction' in 2G is utter non-sense and it's promoted through 'paid' media by big wigs only to kill the competition.

The focus should and must only be on the procedural irregularities committed by DoT in following "first-come-first-serve".

There is an suspicion that some companies jumped the queue which must be identified and corrected.

Don't waste media space and political space by clinging on to stupid theory of 'loss to exchequer' only to save your 'egos'.

Edited February 16, 2011 by kesav

[kesav 127]

Finally & Finally,

DoT has published

Information about Detailed Spectrum allotments, Availability of spectrum and Pending applications for allotment of spectrum in respect of 2G, 3G and BWA as on 31/01/2011

http://210.212.79.13/Static/spectrumallotement.html

Let us hope this page will be updated regularly.......

These data clearly shows that about 50% of the total spectrum alloted is hoarded by Cartel (Airtel, Vodafone & Idea).

Airtel in particular has looted our national resource(spectrum) mercilessly.

:angry:

Anybody who has basic knowledge on spectrum sees this page can easily understand how much new operators have been harassed by existing policies(mostly spoon fed by Cartel).

TRAI has strenuously tried to correct those anomalies slowly but due to excess media(managed by Cartel) pressure, TRAI was not able to move an inch for last one year.

Hope TRAI immediately takes back the excess spectrum from greedy Cartel operators for allotting it to the needy new operators.

:help:

Edited February 16, 2011 by kesav

[rajanmehta 4,056]

For a Change...This is Hard Core Investigative Journalism...Don't Miss It...Now You Know...Why Anil Ambani was at CBI HeadQuarters Yesterday!!!

Fresh money trail emerges in 2G spectrum case

This one links the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, a Delhi realty group, Shahid Balwa, and an influential Maharashtra politician

Ashish Khetan. New Delhi. Tehelka.

The 2G spectrum scam is getting murkier by the day. A well-known Maharashtra politician and a Delhi-based real estate group have now come under the probe agencies' scanner for their suspected role in the telecom scam.

This newest revelation takes the investigation to the doorsteps of political parties other than the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Over the past week, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has interrogated at length senior officials of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Amit Sarin, the Delhi-based billionaire and real estate tycoon, asking them to explain a string of suspicious transactions, particularly one where Rs 100 crore was transferred to Shahid Balwa a day after he applied for a telecom licence.

The CBI has unearthed a money trail of Rs 100 crore that starts from the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, goes through the Delhi-based real estate company Anant Raj Group and Mumbai billionaire Shahid Balwa, and finally ends with a company associated with an influential Maharashtra politician.

This lends credence to the belief that 37-year-old Balwa was not the only beneficiary from the windfall gains made by Swan Telecom—one of the nine new companies to which former telecom minister A Raja had allocated precious 2G spectrum at dirt-cheap rates.

It is now alleged that Reliance Telecom and a stalwart in Maharashtra politics who is often touted as a prime ministerial candidate by his supporters have also made stupendous illegal gains from Swan Telecom.

This startling disclosure has come within a week of the Supreme Court instructing the CBI to go after the real beneficiaries of the scam 'even if they are millionaires or feature in the Forbes rich list and find out their role in the conspiracy.'

The CBI has already uncovered a massive fund transfer of Rs 209.25 crore from Balwa to Kalaignar TV—a Chennai-based media house owned by DMK chief M Karunanidhi's family—which the agency now claims was a kickback paid by Balwa to the DMK.

In addition, the CBI has sent a letter rogatory to the government of Mauritius asking for details of a dubious company to which Reliance Telecom had sold the 9.81 percent stake it held in Swan Telecom in December 2008, just two weeks after Raja gave ADAG the dual technology licence.

According to CBI sources, Reliance Telecom had sold its stake to Mauritius-based Delphi Investments for Rs 35 crore, which was a pittance considering that Balwa sold his 44.7 percent stake to Etisalat for a staggering Rs 3,218 crore. The agency suspects that the undervalued Delphi deal was a pay-off.

The two deals—with Sarin and Delphi Investments—together have put Ambani in a tight spot. Besides, the CBI is also looking into over a dozen banking transactions between different ADAG companies on 18 October 2007—the day Reliance Telecom was granted 2G spectrum under the dual technology policy.

TEHELKA sent a detailed questionnaire to ADAG asking specifically, among other things, about its deal with Delphi and the Rs 100 crore transaction with the Anant Raj Group. ADAG chose to not respond to these specific queries.

However, Sarin, Director and CEO of the Anant Raj Group, while speaking to this reporter, admitted to having received Rs 100 crore from ADAG and having transferred it to Sidhartha Consultancy—a company originally owned by ADAG and whose ownership was transferred to Balwa on 25 February 2007.

Sarin had promised to meet this reporter again after checking his books so he could explain the transactions. But, he did not respond to repeated SMSes seeking his formal response in the matter. The CBI in the meantime has interrogated both Sarin and ADAG Company Secretary Hari Nair.

The Rs 100 crore transaction between ADAG and the Anant Raj Group happened on 3 March 2007—the same day when Balwa applied for a telecom licence. Both the timing and the nature of the transaction are extremely suspicious, say CBI sources.

This is only one among hundreds of complex banking transactions that lie at the core of the 2G scam, which both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have been trying to crack to conclusively establish the beneficiaries of the scam, including the kickbacks that were allegedly paid to Raja and senior officials in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

The dizzying multitude of banking transactions stretches across dozens of banks in different cities of India and over half a dozen offshore tax havens and involve not just Swan Telecom but also other big companies, both domestic and international. Like the Unitech Group, ADAG, Datacom Solutions (owned by the Videocon Group), Loop Telecom (owned by the Essar Group), the Tata Group and Dubai-based Etisalat Telecom.

In January 2008, Raja gave away 122 unified access service (UAS) licences and 35 dual technology licences, and with it the precious 2G spectrum at 2001 prices, thus causing a loss of Rs 1,76,645 crore to the national exchequer, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

The 122 new UAS licences went to nine telecom companies including Swan and Unitech, while a majority of the dual technology licences went to Tata Teleservices and Reliance Telecom.

ADAG transfers Rs 100 crore to Shahid Balwa through Anant Raj Agencies for no apparent reason

On 3 March 2007, an ADAG company named Sonata Investments transferred Rs 100 crore to Oriental Buildtech, which is owned and controlled by the Anant Raj Group.

Within a few hours, another Anant Raj Group company—Anant Raj Agencies—transferred Rs 100 crore to Sidhartha Consultancy, which was at the time owned by the Balwa-led DB Realty Group. So, in effect, Rs 100 crore that originated from an ADAG company landed with Balwa.

What is even more intriguing is that ADAG owned Sidhartha Consultancy (earlier called Giraffe Consultancy), the company in which the money was parked, till 24 February 2007. On 25 February, the company was taken over by the Balwa's DB Group. And six days later, on 2 March, Balwa applied for the 2G licence.

The CBI believes that the Balwa Group in turn passed this money on to a company associated with a senior Maharashtra politician.

The big picture that emerges is that Balwa was not the only player behind Swan Telecom, as ADAG has been insisting. It appears that, seizing upon the opportunity to make a killing in the ongoing 2G spectrum loot, many influential politicians and corporate houses made money through proxies.

Swan is just one of the many companies that allegedly acted as proxy for big corporate houses.

On 11 January, Ramesh Rathod, Telugu Desam Party MP from Adilabad, wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh furnishing documentary evidence that the Tata group funded the entire amount of Rs 1,700 crore paid by the Unitech group for acquiring the UAS licence.

The agencies are also trying to lift the veil from companies like Datacom (which was set up by HFCL Group along with Videocon) and Loop Telecom (backed by Essar) and find out who the real beneficiaries were.

Swan, Tiger, Parrot, Zebra, Penguin, Giraffe: A corporate menagerie

The CBI believes that the conspiracy behind the Swan Telecom was hatched in early 2006 when ADAG created a web of newly formed companies named after animals.

The following six companies were incorporated between March and July 2006:

1. Swan Infonet (later renamed Parrot Consultants); incorporated on 17 March 2006

2. Penguin International Ventures Pvt Ltd (later renamed Reliance Utility Engineers) on 26 June 2006

3. Swan Advisory Services Pvt Ltd (later renamed Zebra Consultants Pvt Ltd) on 21 March 2006

4. Giraffe Consultancy Pvt Ltd (later renamed Sidhartha Consultancy) on 27 June 2006

5. Tiger Traders on 20 March 2006, and

6. Swan Capital Pvt Ltd (later renamed as Swan Telecom) on 13 July 2006

All these companies were incorporated with an initial share capital of Rs 1 lakh each. Even these few lakhs allegedly came from the bank accounts of top ADAG officials. Besides, either an ADAG company or directors of ADAG owned equity in these companies. The addresses provided in the incorporation documents were those of the registered office of ADAG.

These companies had no substantial business activity except for changing their shareholding pattern frequently till January 2007.

Of these six companies, Parrot, Zebra and Tiger had inter-collapsible shareholding. That is, Parrot and Tiger owned Zebra, Zebra and Tiger owned Parrot, and Parrot and Zebra owned Tiger.

The shareholding pattern of Swan Capital Pvt Ltd, which was owned by ADAG companies till January 2007, was suddenly changed on 20 January 2007, with Tiger Traders taking over all of Swan Capital's 10,000 shares.

The January-February 2007 period was extremely crucial as Swan Capital was about to apply for the much-coveted telecom licence.

Under DoT rules, an existing telecom player could not have more than 10 percent equity in a new telecom company. Hence, Swan and its holding companies were gradually transferred to Balwa's DB Realty Group so he could successfully procure the UAS licence in his name.

But there was one problem. To be eligible, Swan Capital (later Swan Telecom) had to ratchet up the required paid-up equity and net worth in conformity with DoT guidelines. When Swan Capital and its holding companies were transferred to Balwa, they had paid-up equity of Rs 1 lakh each.

ADAG finances Swan Telecom to the tune of over Rs 1,000 crore

In a bid to pump in massive funds into Swan (which was required to meet the application criterion), Ambani left behind the money trail that connects him to Balwa and the alleged illegal gains he made.

As explained above, ADAG transferred Swan Capital/Telecom to Tiger Traders on 20 January 2007. Two days later, on 22 January, the share capital of Swan was increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 crore. But even this was not sufficient.

Swan wanted to apply for licences across 13 circles (the DoT had divided the country into 22 telecom circles). To become eligible, Swan needed a paid-up equity of Rs 103 crore and a net worth of Rs 1,030 crore (these figures were calculated as per DoT guidelines). Additionally, Swan needed to amend its memorandum and articles of association stating telecom as its core business.

On 15 February, Swan Capital was changed to Swan Telecom. And on 1 March, the company's paid-up equity was increased to Rs 110 crore, divided into 10.9 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each and 99.2 lakh preference shares of Re 1 each.

The 10.9 crore shares of Rs 10 each were divided between Tiger Traders and Reliance Telecom, with the former taking 90.1 percent of the shares and Reliance Telecom taking 9.9 percent, in conformity with the DoT guideline of an existing telecom player not holding more than 10 percent equity in a new telecom company.

So now Swan's paid-up equity was Rs 109 crore, a little more than the required Rs 103 crore. But the net worth was still to be taken up to Rs 1,030 crore. To do that, Reliance Telecom bought the 99,20,000 preference shares of Re 1 at Rs 1,000 each, paying a boggling premium of Rs 999 per preference share, with each share overvalued by 99,900 percent.

All this was done on 1 March and a day later, on 2 March, Swan Telecom moved its application before the DoT for the telecom licence. But in this last-minute scramble, ADAG left its fingerprints behind.

When Swan Telecom applied for the licence, on paper Tiger Traders was the majority stakeholder and Reliance Telecom a minor shareholder. And Tiger Traders in turn was owned by ADAG-owned Parrot and Zebra. It was only a month after the application that Balwa officially took over Tiger Traders.

On 25 February 2007, the DB Reality Group took over ADAG's Giraffe Consultancy. On 26 March 2007, Giraffe was renamed Sidhartha Consultancy. And on 4 April 2007, Sidhartha Consultancy bought the stakes of Parrot and Zebra in Tiger Traders. Thus, Tiger Traders, the majority stake holder in Swan telecom, finally came under Balwa's control.

This bewildering web of cross shareholdings lies at the core of the 2G scam.

The CAG in its report tabled in Parliament in November 2010 had stated that, 'total stake of RTL (Reliance Telecom) in the Swan Telecom was of Rs 1002.79 crore as against equity holding of Rs 98.22 crore by the majority shareholder Tiger Traders Private Ltd. This raises doubts about the intention of the RTL and the control it would exercise in a new company incorporated barely few months ago. Hence the application of such company to enter telecom sector goes against the intent and spirit behind the UAS guidelines.'

Tehelka asked ADAG pointed questions on the specific issues of changing shareholding pattern and the staggering investment done by it in the shape of preference shares as explained above. But ADAG chose to give vague replies without going into the details

In a statement emailed to Tehelka, ADAG stated: "Neither Reliance Telecom, nor RCOM, nor any Reliance ADAG individual, company or affiliate held even a single share in Swan Telecom Ltd., at the time of grant of the 2G license to them in January 2008, or at any time thereafter."

Further, it claimed that "Reliance Communications has not violated any of its license conditions at any stage, on account of cross-holdings of 10 percent or above in any another Licensee, and is in full compliance with all applicable DoT guidelines, rules and regulations."

The CAG report had not minced words while calling Swan a front company of ADAG. It had said: "Swan Telecom did not meet the eligibility criteria on the date of application, its application should have been rejected by the DoT and the company should have been directed to apply afresh. Even if it was to be considered eligible on the basis of its old application, the date of priority based on FCFS [first come, first served] basis should have been revised from March 2007 to December 2007 in order to ensure fairness. Had it been so, the company would have been out of the race as the department processed only those applications which were received up to 25 September 2007."

On 2 March, Reliance routes Rs 100 crore into Sidhartha Consultancy

By 25 February, Sidhartha (erstwhile Giraffe Consultancy) was already taken over by Balwa's DB Realty. The investigators are trying to crack the intent behind the dubious Rs 100 crore that ADAG routed to Sidhartha Consultancy through Delhi-based realtor Sarin.

Around the same time, another Rs 100 crore was transferred from the DB Group to a company associated with the Maharashtra politician. The CBI is now trying to connect the dots.

Sources have told TEHELKA that Sarin is ready to sing. He has already provided the CBI email exchanges between him and ADAG officials.

The CBI has grilled at least five senior ADAG officials over the past month. ADAG Company Secretary Hair Nair was grilled on 13 February. Among other ADAG officials who have been examined so far are Gautam Doshi and Madhu Kela.

Besides, senior executives from half a dozen other companies have also been interrogated. Chief among them are Vinod Goenka, Chairman of Dynamix Balwa Group; Sanjay Chandra, Managing Director of Unitech; Sandeep Basu, Loop Mobile CEO; Arun Mandhana, S Tel's Chief Financial Officer, and Rupendra Kumar Sikka, its Chief Regulatory Officer; Sanjay Ubale, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd CEO, and its CFO Kishore Saletore.

The CBI is trying to crack a maze of complex shareholding patterns and hundreds of banking transactions to identify the kickbacks allegedly paid to Raja.

A month before Swan is granted the UAS licence, Reliance Telecom sells 9.8 percent stake in Swan to a dubious Mauritius company

On 5 December 2007, Reliance Telecom sold 9.8 percent stake to Mauritius-based Delphi Investments for just Rs 35 crore. The same group had paid a phenomenal 99,900 percent premium just a few months ago while buying preference shares in the same company.

Now when the company was all set to get 2G spectrum, he sold his 9.8 percent paid-up equity for a song. The market valuation of the stake was around Rs 800 crore. Thus ADAG sold its stake at an estimated loss of over Rs 750 crore. Investigators believe that the Ambani-Delphi deal was a payoff to Raja.

Ambani knew that Swan was certain to get the precious licence as Raja had already made it clear to the Prime Minister he would go ahead with his first come, first served policy, according to which all those who had applied for a licence till 25 September 2007 were eligible. Swan had applied on 3 March and thus was ahead in the race.

The CBI is now trying to unlock the mystery behind Delphi. In the second week of January this year, the CBI had sent a letter rogatory to Mauritius seeking the identity of the people who control Delphi. According to initial inputs available with the sleuths, Delphi is connected to bank accounts in Switzerland and a few other tax havens in Europe.

The alibi peddled by ADAG officials is that they don't know the real owners of Delphi because they dealt with merchant bankers while cutting the deal.

Balwa and Goenka, his partner in the DB Group, made a stupendous profit of Rs 3,217 crore when they sold their 44.7 per cent stake to Dubai-based Etisalat Telecom.

Intriguingly, when Etisalat paid the money to the DB Group, they also routed it through Mauritius instead of investing it directly through their parent company in Dubai. A separate company in the name of Etisalat Mauritius was floated just for this deal. In its letter rogatory to Mauritius, the CBI has also asked for the bank details of Etisalat Mauritius.

The point is: Will the CBI be able to join the dots and book all those who made illegal gains, disregarding the high positions in the government that they may hold? Can it break the vice-like grip that big corporates like ADAG have over the government?

Source:Tehelka

[kesav 127]

It's emerging that SWAN was front company for RCOM, Unitech was front company for TATA.

I find nothing wrong in it since dual-tech licenses were not visible at that time and it is the only way to protect the future of the companies.

If it was ensured at the time of application, that there were no cross holdings, then everything is fine.

The issues lie only in the money trail from Balwa to Kalaignar TV and Balwa to Maharastra politician.

If we assume it as bribe then what for??? Reason has to be identified......

Another issue lie in ADAG to Delphi Investments.

ADAG-Delphi issue can be taken positively since ADAG is under pressure to quit SWAN, Delphi might have bargained for dirt cheap rate.

[ACS 130]

I've seen foolish statements were made Prannoy Roy of NDTV against linking non-auction of 2G spectrum vs subsidies in food and fertilizers.

He says food and fertilizer subsidies are given to poor people and by not auctioning 2G subsidy is given to corporates.

What an ill-educated comment is this?

Who is the beneficiary of 'first-come-first-serve'(not auctioning 2G)?

new telecom players.

Who is responsible for competition in telecom sector?

new telecom players

What is the effect of competition?

lowest tariff in the world

What is effect of lowest tariff?

poorest of poor in India is communicating through mobile

What is effect of such afford-ability?

Country is able to withstand one of the greatest depression and still able to keep the GDP at very good level.

In essence, the key and real beneficiaries of 'First-come-First-Serve' is Indians who struggle everyday to keep themselves alive.

so Let us stop this non-sense once for all.

There is absolutely no loss to the country due to 'First-come-First-serve'.

"First-come-First-serve" is the real hero behind our telecom revolution.

Don't kill it just for the sake somebody's ill-thought out calculations. They've realized the truth already(through the TRAI's market price calculation) still clinging on to it for the sake of "EGO".

Journalists, Politicians everyone is affected by EGO-flu. No one is dare to accept that they've made a mistake.

After all, we're talking about a breed(of Bharka Dutt) who refused to apologize in her own television channel when given a chance.

I beg with these journalists to move away from their cosy rooms and visit the people of rural India then they can realize the benefits of "First-come-First-serve"

'Auction' in 2G is utter non-sense and it's promoted through 'paid' media by big wigs only to kill the competition.

The focus should and must only be on the procedural irregularities committed by DoT in following "first-come-first-serve".

There is an suspicion that some companies jumped the queue which must be identified and corrected.

Don't waste media space and political space by clinging on to stupid theory of 'loss to exchequer' only to save your 'egos'.

@Kesav

As per your theory, had Unitech not sold stake to Nortel at 6 times the actual license fee, we would be witnessing 1p/10sec instead of the current half paisa per sec by Uninor ?

What extra have few new telcos like Videocon, (who haven't even diluted stake like Swan & Unitech), done for sake of Competition with so-called cheap license? They are interested in first getting back their comparatively tiny Investment & are going with the Tariff flow ..

But you see, now Videocon's new Ad says 0 p/sec - what does that mean anyways ?

Some competition..

Look at all new players, whats their current combined market share ? Less than 5%

Don't know whether we can call this impressive, even after getting licenses more than a year back..

Where are the walk-in stores by Videocon, Uninor etc. for providing better services in cities ? (forget villages who will anyways be forever frustrated with CC helpline)

Truth is, most of the new Telcos wont survive this mad rush & will eventually sell themselves off, despite paying the so-called low license fee.. Then again, they can make huge profits when Foreign Tecos try to enter India, but again, can they compete on price & benefit the poor ?

And regarding serving the poor, Tariffs aren't designed District/Village-wise, its Circle-wise.. so its the same for the Rich & Poor alike..

Had this been done through auctioning, max 2-3 new operators would have emerged & survived along with existing 4-5 operators.. thats enough competition for our Country.. & enough money earned through bidding.. all would've been happy !

Subsidies are designed for the ppl at the bottom of the Pyramid, not Corporate Honchos.

As they're in the business of making profits out of such subsidy..

So that's indeed one disastrous comparison by the PM in his press conference !

[KumaarShah 143]

@rajan / kesav / jayanth,

does the report imply that ADA as also Tatas and others are in very deep ****? If yes, it is indeed sad....

@ Rajan,

Please change yr username to CID Rajan or CBI Rajan.... You are doing a terrific job digging out investigative reports. +1 to you.

[KumaarShah 143]

2G scam probe: CBI examining if Anil Ambani can be chargesheeted here

2G spectrum scam: Former Telecom Minister A Raja sent to Tihar Jail here

2G spectrum scam: CBI questioned Ambani, Raja together here

Looks like ADA is indeed in deep sh*t now, hope he is able to get out safely.... Or maybe he will have to give A Raja some 'chaai' company at Tihar....

2G scam: CBI brings Anil Ambani and Raja face-to-face during questioning

PTI, Feb 17, 2011, 02.28pm IST

Courtesy: ToI

NEW DELHI: It was a face-to-face confrontation between ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani and former Telecom Minister A Raja at CBI headquarters over the issue of Dual Technology permit to RCom and its alleged association with Swan Telecom.

The investigators repeatedly questioned the duo last evening over the equity issues of Swan telecom for nearly an hour but both remained "non-cooperative" and stuck to their stand, sources privy to the investigations said today.

The questions pertained to whether Reliance Communication directly or through its subsidiary held more than 10 per cent equity, a threshold for cross-holding in two services providers in the same circle, the sources said.

Swan Telecom, in which Tiger Traders Private Limited have 90.13% and Reliance Telecom Limited has 9.87% equity share capital, has been under the scanner over alleged diversion of funds to DMK-owned Kalaignar television.

Ambani, 51, was called to the CBI headquarters yesterday for questioning by the agency in connection with the 2G Spectrum scam.

DB Realty group Managing Director Shahid Usman Balwa, promoter of Swan telecom, is already in the CBI custody.

According to the CAG, four Companies including Reliance Communications Ltd were provided CDMA based mobile service under Unified Access Service licence.

Based on the recommendations of TRAI, use of dual technology was permitted on October 17, 2007 and RCom is alleged to have applied for the same even before the announcement of the policy.

Reliance Communication Ltd. had complied with the requirements for permission to use dual technology on October 19, 2007. itself by depositing the non refundable entry fee of Rs 1,645 crore for 20 service areas through Reliance Infocomm Ltd.

The CAG had said that acceptance of bank draft from Reliance Infocomm Ltd (third party) on behalf of Reliance Communications Ltd was not in order and showed the hurry in which the entry fee was deposited.

In a statement here, ADAG had yesterday said, "during the course of his weekly visit to New Delhi, Ambani "met CBI officials to clarify ongoing issues, relating to telecom matters for the years 2001 to 2010".

The ADAG statement said, "neither Reliance Telecom nor RCOM nor any Reliance ADAG individual, company or affiliate held even a single share in Swan Telecom Ltd at the time of grant of the 2G licence to them in January, 2008, or at any time thereafter".

Raja sent to Tihar Jail under judicial custody

PTI, Feb 17, 2011, 03.36pm IST

Courtesy: ToI

NEW DELHI: Former Telecom Minister A Raja, arrested for his alleged role in 2G Spectrum allocation scam, was sent to Tihar Jail by a Delhi court on Thursday under 14-days' judicial custody.

"The accused is remanded in judicial custody till March 3," Special CBI judge O P Saini said.

The judge also directed the Tihar Jail authorities to let the former minister have access to home-made food, besides his medicines.

The court gave this direction to the jail superintendent on a plea made by Raja's counsel Ramesh Gupta.

Raja was arrested on February 2 for his alleged role in 2G spectrum allocation scam, which, as per the CBI, has caused a pecuniary loss of Rs 22,000 crore to the state exchequer.

The former minister is alleged to have manipulated rules to favour some telecom companies including Swan Telecom and Unitech Private Limited in allocation of spectrum at throwaway prices.

[Honest 836]

Raja sharing Tihar ward with former Delhi ACP Rathi

The Economic Times l 17 Feb l New Delhi

Former telecom minister A Raja who was on Thursday sent to Tihar Jail by a Delhi court is sharing the ward with former Delhi ACP S S Rathi, convicted in the 1997 Connaught Place shootout case.

Arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, the minister was brought to the prison around 6 pm and was immediately taken to Jail no 1, sources said.

He did not interact with any prisoner since he entered his ward and kept reading, they said.

Jail No 1 also houses Rathi, serving life term following his conviction by a Delhi trial court on October 24, 2007 in the case of kiiling two businessmen.

According to court orders, Raja will have home made food twice daily, the sources said.

--------------------------------------

Bhai Log khoob jamega rang jab mil baithenge doh yaar.....matlab R & R.....matlab......Raja aur Rathi

Tihar mein yeh sab chalu hoga ab toh.

[kesav 127]

Had this been done through auctioning, max 2-3 new operators would have emerged & survived along with existing 4-5 operators.. thats enough competition for our Country.. & enough money earned through bidding.. all would've been happy !

Subsidies are designed for the ppl at the bottom of the Pyramid, not Corporate Honchos.

As they're in the business of making profits out of such subsidy..

So that's indeed one disastrous comparison by the PM in his press conference !

I plead to say it's totally wrong.....If auction happened not even a single new operator would have entered.

Total ignorance of true facts.......

Just look at the fragmentation in 3G auction. Even the top looter Airtel was not able to get pan-India.

In BWA(4G) auction, most of the existing big operators like TATA,Reliance, Vodafone has backed out.

Don't ever think of auction as route for competition. Auction is route for hoarding.

:locked:

Whether their market share is less or high is a different story. It's operators' efficiency in retaining and pouching.

What it matters for common man is it brings competition and lowers the tariff.

Don't forget one very important point. New operators subscriber additions is mainly in the rural and sub-urban areas.

Survival becomes difficult only when competition is stiff.

Consolidation will happen only when the survival becomes difficult.

The 'actual' survival point in tariff can only be found when competition is at peak.

Competition --> Struggle for survival --> Consolidation is the normal cycle in any industry. Don't worry.......

It's natural selection process called 'survival of the fittest'.

If not for these new operators, Indians might have been fooled by existing operators to think that they've reached survival point in tariff even at the hopeless(speaking in terms of poor's afford-ability) rate of Re. 1/min.

Come on....Let us be very very clear of one fact.

The money which has been transferred to Uninor and Etisalat is not for wallets of SWAN or Unitech.

It's for the operations of the new operators. Telecom is capital intensive industry and needs huge money.

Just consider the state of new licensees other than Uninor, Etisalat & MTS(for whom money has been poured in from outside), the rest were not able to move since they didn't get the money needed for capital hungry telecom operations.

It's utter illogical to say money poured in for capex and opex as the money Govt lost.

Consider the most hypothetical situation in which 2G spectrum were allocated through auction and Telenor and Etisalat had won licences.

Then, they should have poured double the money of which they're operating now. One portion for auction and one portion for expansion.

Automatically and logically they can offer the tariff only at double the rate at which they offer now.

'Auction' or 'No Auction', foreign players have to pair with any of the local business due to FDI limit.

Hypothetically, if Unitech has got through auction then it would have charged triple times the current amount from Telenor.

Even then,these people will be making same noise.

It's pure ignorance on the functioning of telecom industry.

Subsidies need not only be utilized by poor(although targeted for poor). Most of the subsidies are at national level irrespective of poor or rich.

Diesel subsidy is one such. Most of the sports utility vehicles are powered by subsidized diesel.

Education is one such. Even if son of Anil Ambani studies in IIT or IIM, he studies by subsidy.

LPG subsidy is one such......

There are hundreds of such things which I can keep on quoting.....

Govt allows everyone to use the subsidy as long as it becomes very difficult to target it only for poor.

Whatever I've listed above are "revenue draining" points. "2G auction" is after all is just "missed revenue income stream".

"First-come-first-serve" is a pro-poor, pro-neutral and pro-competitive mechanism.

It's very highly appropriate to compare it with other subsidies.

There have been some mistakes in the implementation of the "First-come-First-serve".

That should be the focus and the respective culprits have to be booked.

But saying "First-come-First-serve" as faulty is an outcome of corrupted(either by money or brain-wash) mind.

In nutshell, giving through 'first-come-first-serve' is like 'merit quota'.

Where every one is treated at par irrespective of their current money power.

Giving it by auction is like 'management quota'.

Only money decides....nothing else.................

Management quota can be applied on cosmetic services(although I feel it's basic service) like 3G&4G.

Merit quota must only be applied on basic service like 2G which touches the heart and soul of millions of million Indians hitherto unnoticed........

Don't ever even dream of making money at the cost of poor.

There are thousand and thousand ways to fill the exchequer.

Don't fill it at the cost of Telecom revolution which I feel is functionally equivalent to Industrial revolution of England.

Don't get carried away by foolish propaganda of 'loss to exchequer'.

If you allow telecom to flourish by adapting pro-competitive and anti-oligopoly mechanisms then it can guarantee you in filling exchequer in thousand other ways.

3G tariff is live example of how bad auction can be.

3G tariff is live example of how fast cartel forms if we don't have enough competitors.

[kesav 127]

@rajan / kesav / jayanth,

does the report imply that ADA as also Tatas and others are in very deep ****? If yes, it is indeed sad....

@ Rajan,

Please change yr username to CID Rajan or CBI Rajan.... You are doing a terrific job digging out investigative reports. +1 to you.

It's one thing to bring a public shame but it's other thing to book them on criminal culpability.

First thing can be achieved. Second thing is very difficult.

As per the current emerging trends, ADA can possibly be booked on certain money trails only if some inter-links become approvers.

TATA is totally not possible since Unitech as front company can only be highlighted morally but can never be proved legally.

[kesav 127]

2G scam: CBI to quiz DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi

The CBI is set to question Kanimozhi, daughter of the DMK chief and Tamil Nadu CM M Karunanidhi, in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.

Both CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are examining a Rs214 crore loan made by DB Realty to Kalaingar TV, a channel run by DMK functionaries.

Though the CBI officials have not yet confirmed the place where Kanimozhi would be interrogated, being a woman she is not bound to be present at the CBI headquarters. Besides Kanimozhi, Kalaignar TV’s chairman Sharad Kumar will also be questioned.

“On the basis of the disclosure made by A Raja and DB Realty’s MD Shahid Balwa, we have come to know that a huge amount of money was being pumped into the Kalaignar TV by DB Realty. Kanimozhi will be called in to explain her role in the deal,’’ said a senior CBI official.

source :: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_2g-scam-cbi-to-quiz-dmk-chief-m-karunanidhis-daughter-kanimozhi_1509425

[kesav 127]

Videocon promoters questioned in 2G scam

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday questioned promoters of the Videocon group, Venugopal Dhoot and his brother and Rajya Sabha member Rajkumar Dhoot, over their alleged links with the so-called second-generation (2G) spectrum allocation scam.

India’s top investigating agency, which has also interrogated Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani and Essar Group chief executive Prashant Ruia in the alleged scandal, quizzed the Dhoot brothers until late in the evening at its headquarters in New Delhi, a CBI official said on condition of anonymity.

The brothers were questioned about the shareholding pattern of Datacom Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which was awarded 21 licences during spectrum allocation in 2008, the official said.

Datacom was initially owned by Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL), but was renamed Videocon Telecommunications Ltd after the owners sold an equity stake to the Videocon group. It is now jointly owned by the Dhoots and HFCL promoter Mahendra Nahata. Videocon group owns a 64% stake in Datacom and the rest is held by Nahata.

“We were probing if Datacom was (a) front for Videocon group,” the CBI official said.

Another CBI official, who also did not want to be named, said the Dhoot brothers were confronted with several documents and officials of the department of telecommunication (DoT). “It is part of ongoing investigations in the case.”

A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report said Datacom made a false claim of paid-up capital of Rs150 crore, when documents attached with its applications for the licences showed the company’s authorized share capital was only Rs1 lakh.

“However, on 27 November 2007, the company (Datacom) suo motu submitted fresh MoA (memorandum of association) stating that they had inadvertently submitted the older version of MoA with the application,” the report said.

It added: “The new version of MoA claimed to have increased the authorized share capital from Rs1 lakh to Rs150 crore through an ordinary resolution passed in the extraordinary general meeting on 27 August 2007, the day preceding the date of submission of application by the company.”

The last date for submitting applications was 25 September 2007. DoT allotted the licences on a first-come-first-served basis. Unitech, now Uninor, Swan Telecom Pvt. Ltd and STel Pvt. Ltd were among the companies that benefited from this policy.

Phone calls and an email sent to the Videocon group for comment were not answered.

CAG estimated that irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum and licences caused the government a notional loss of Rs1.76 trillion, while CBI put the loss at Rs22,000 crore.

CBI has arrested former telecom minister A. Raja, his then personal secretary R.K. Chandolia, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura and promoter of DB Realty LtdShahid Balwa. All of them are in jail. The agency has also interrogated the executives of several real estate and telecom companies in the case.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Shourie failed to appear before the agency on Monday.

Shourie, as telecom minister in the BJP-led Central government in 1998-2004, had set the first-come-first-served policy for allotting licences. He was to be questioned about the policy as the Supreme Court has directed CBI to investigate all spectrum allocation from 2001 to 2007.

source :: http://www.livemint.com/2011/02/21193220/Videocon-promoters-questioned.html?h=B

[kesav 127]

CBI seeks TRAI help to value 2G spectrum

The CBI, which is probing the 2G spectrum scam , has sought telecom regulator TRAI''s help to ascertain the loss to the government on allocation of spectrum to all operators between 2001 and 2008.

Highly placed sources in the agency said the decision to approach TRAI was taken in view of the fluctuating estimates of the losses to the exchequer on account of the sale of spectrum in 2008.

"We have requested TRAI to set up an expert team which will go into the entire gamut of spectrum pricing and give us an estimated loss which could be proved in the court of law," a senior official of the agency said.

Confirming the CBI's communication, sources in TRAI said that it has forwarded the request to a team of experts and the report is expected soon.

"As soon as we get the report from experts, the same will be forwarded to the CBI," sources said.

This comes within days of TRAI recommending a pan-India licence fee of Rs 10,972.45 crore for 6.2 Mhz of start-up spectrum with effect from April 1, 2010, as against the Rs 1,658 crore that was being paid by operators till now.

TRAI had also recommended that each Mhz of additional spectrum held by operators should cost a one-time fee of Rs 4,571.87 crore (all-India), though it would vary from circle-to-circle and the operators would only have to pay for those zones where they hold extra spectrum.

The CBI had earlier said the government may have lost over Rs 22,000 crore due to irregularities in the allocation of spectrum in January, 2008, by former Telecom Minister A Raja, who was arrested earlier this month on charges of favouring some private firms.

Later, the investigating agency had estimated the loss at around Rs 50,000 crore, as estimated by the Enforcement Directorate .

An expert panel of Trai has valued the price of 2G spectrum beyond the 6.2 Mhz start-up spectrum given to operators 136 per cent higher than the auction bid for 3G spectrum on a pan-India basis. On the other hand, the value of 2G spectrum within the limit of 6.2 Mhz was 53 per cent of the 3G price.

However, the CBI was unable to discern the price of 2G spectrum allocated to telecom players between 2001 and 2008, when most of the old players like Bharti, Vodafone and Idea were allocated spectrum.

Trai has forwarded the request for assessment of the value of spectrum price to its expert panel, as asked by the CBI.

source :: http://telecomtiger.com/PolicyNRegulation_fullstory.aspx?storyid=10722&flag=1&passfrom=topstory&section=S174

I feel CBI has gone mad.

In what context it can request an estimate from TRAI?

Who gave permission to CBI to request an independent regulator in doing this useless job?

Regulators can't be treated at the level of departments.

They've their own autonomous functioning and it should never be diluted.

TRAI, infact has cup full of tasks pending, why on earth it has accept this meaningless request at this crucial juncture when telecom policy 2011 is on its anvil.

What CBI is investigating is irregularities in adopting 'first-come-first-serve' policy......

Those investigations has nothing to do with these estimates......

CBI absolutely don't have any power to find fault with policies.

Policy review is the work of PAC which is under process.....

Irrespective of whether it's "no loss" or "1.76 lakh crore", CBI has to ensure the people who committed irregularities are booked.

Due to irregularities, if some companies have jumped the queue or if some companies have got prior knowledge on the policy due to their moles in the department or if something has been accepted based on a new policy even before that policy has been officially made public...

Above are the points on which CBI has to build the basement of the case for it to win......

If it tries to build a case around the hypothetical loss(indicated by CAG) then it is absolute sure that the case will evaporate due to heat of truth in the court rooms...

Going further, whether it wants technical value or socio-economic value is another key point.

If socio-economic value is needed it's absolute "no loss".

[kesav 127]

PM announces JPC to save budget session

Yielding to the Opposition's demand, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday announced the government's decision to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scam. “We could not succeed to persuade the Opposition not to insist on a JPC probe despite our best efforts. The country can ill afford disruption of the crucial budget session of Parliament,” Singh said in the Lok Sabha.

“It is in these special circumstances that the government agrees to the setting up of a JPC,” he said.

source :: http://www.hindustantimes.com/PM-announces-JPC-to-save-budget-session/H1-Article1-665352.aspx

It's a disappointing news at the end......

Govt giving up due to the political hooliganism of the opposition.

It's just not democracy.

:angry:

Wish and will of the majority(in parliament) is overpowered by the utter rowdyism of the minority(in parliament).

This is certainly not the way a democracy should function.....

Let us pray and hope this must not set bad precedence for state assemblies where opposition feels it can dictate the running government by blocking assemblies through unruly behaviors.

:confuse:

I salute PM for making it abduntantly clear that Govt(majority in parliament) does not feel the need for JPC and it has been constituted only in order to save the parliament democracy from being destabilized by non-democractic opposition.

:hi2:

It's like a slap on the face of opposition through noble gesture.

[kesav 127]

Raja's aide, HFCL MD questioned in connection with 2G scam

The CBI questioned former telecom minister A Raja's close aide Sadiq Batcha and HFCL Managing Director Mahendra Nahata in connection with its probe in the 2G spectrum case.

Official sources said Nahata of Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) was questioned with regard to Datacom Services, one of the beneficiaries of 2G spectrum allocation which was awarded to it at 2001 rates.

Nahata allegedly sold 64% of equity in Datacom to Videocon owned by Dhoots, according to the sources. The company Datacom later became Videocon Telecommunications.

The Comptroller and Auditor General in its report had alleged that while submitting application for 22 licences, Datacom Solutions had made a false claim of the paid-up capital of Rs 150 crore although documents indicated that the authorised share capital of the company as Rs one lakh only.

The CBI also questioned Sadiq Batcha here in connection with the finances relating to his firms and his alleged proximity to the former telecom minister.

Batcha is the promoter of Green House Promoters, a Chennai-based export house, which has come under the scanner of the CBI and the

Enforcement Directorate in the 2G spectrum case probe.

The probe agency had conducted searches at his official premises late last year.

Sources said the CBI is examining if his firms could have acted as a front for possible kickbacks in the scam. He heads several real estate firms and the agencies are trying to find out any money trail in the scam.

Incidentally, Shahid Balwa, MD of DB Realty, who is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, has told the CBI that he knew Batcha for the past few years.

source:: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/rajas-aide-hfcl-md-questionedconnection2g-scam_525370.html

[confused_follower 12]

http://mobigyaan.com/rs-300-crore-fine-for-idea-cellular

Rs 300 crore fine for Idea Cellular

Idea Cellular may have to pay a fine of Rs. 300 crores for owning double licenses in six circles post the acquisition of Spice in 2008. Apart from this, Additional Solicitor General of India Amarjit Singh Chandhiok in his legal opinion has also suggested that the 12 licences (of Idea Cellular and Spice Telecom) be terminated as the merger has violated the lock-in period clause.

Idea Celluar, which is a part of the Aditya Birla group has denied breach of any licence condition and further added that it has written 20 letters to the Department of Telecom (DoT) over the past 30 months but failed to get any response from the government. The company also claims to have paid Rs 843 crore for overlapping business.

Idea in a statement said, "The court merger was consummated with the full knowledge and support of the DoT, over a year ago. For reasons incomprehensible, the DoT has so far not issued merger letter in consonance with the court-approved merger."

"The Idea-Spice merger, since approved by the courts, happened to involve six overlapping licenses. Despite being issued spectrum for five of these, it is Idea which advised the DoT that it was not using such spectrum, in effect, placing overlapping licences in a de facto escrow, pending receipt of the DoT’s formal letter of merger, including surrender if at all that was attracted," it said.

It’s noteworthy, that Idea Cellular holds 3G licenses in four of these six circles that have come under the scanner and the ASG is of the opinion that DoT should withdraw the 3G spectrum for these circles since the licence itself is being cancelled.

Edited February 23, 2011 by confused_follower

[kesav 127]

It's a terrifying news......

[kesav 127]

Excerpts of PM's Reply in parliament on 2G & Devas

Following is the preliminary uncorrected transcript of PM’s reply in the Rajya Sabha debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address:

“We have had a spirited debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President in which many Members on both sides have spoken. I have listened carefully to the debate and I thank all Members for their comments.

The Leader of the Opposition has raised a number of issues related to inflation, falling investment, problems in infrastructure etc. Many of these were raised by other members also, and I will deal with them in turn.

However, the Hon’ble Leader of the Opposition has also referred to my role in the formulation and implementation of policy in relation to the allocation of 2G spectrum. The 2G issue has occupied the front pages of our newspapers for the past several months following the submission of the CAG report. The Government was keen to have the matter discussed in Parliament, but this could not happen in the winter session.

The issues that most concern the public are whether the Government was responsible for allowing 2G spectrum to be allotted in 2008 at unacceptably low prices which led to a large loss to the exchequer; and whether established procedures for selecting applicants were followed in a fair manner.

The Leader of the Opposition has alleged that I have distanced myself from key policy decisions and also that the spectrum pricing was decided against the explicit dissent of the then Finance Minister. I regret the attempt to create the appearances of differences through innuendo and misrepresentation. The issue will now be examined by a JPC, and I have no doubt the JPC will bring out the full facts. However, I feel it is only appropriate that I should place the facts before the House, and through the House the people. Since the issues involved are complex, I would not like to take up too much time of the House at this time but state only the essentials.

The government’s policy on the pricing of spectrum was taken on the basis of the Cabinet decision of 2003, which specifically left this issue to be determined by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Telecommunications. Contrary to the assertion of the Leader of the Opposition, the record clearly shows that the then Finance Minister, while he initially had a different view, which he communicated to me on January 15, subsequently consulted with the Minister, Telecommunications and the two Ministers worked out an agreed formula on spectrum charges, which was reported to me in a meeting on July 4, 2008. Furthermore, this decision that was put to me by the two Ministers was in line with the recommendations of TRAI in its report of August 2007. In that report TRAI had clearly stated that only 3G spectrum should be auctioned and the policy for 2G spectrum should continue on the same basis as hitherto. This recommendation of TRAI was based on the need to ensure a level playing field between the new entrants and the incumbents. The two Ministers had agreed on this, because of legacy considerations, and I accepted their recommendation.

On the issue of the implementation of the first-come-first served policy, the situation is more complex. I was categorically assured by the Minister, Telecommunications that the policy was being implemented appropriately with one departure which had been cleared by the Solicitor General. Subsequent developments suggest that this was not the case. The matter was taken up for investigation by CBI in 2009. The government at no stage interfered with this investigation.

Given the concern in the public mind of extensive wrong doing, there is often impatience that government should take some action. This is entirely understandable. But I am sure honourable Members will recognize that government must also act with due process of law. I can assure the House that we are making every effort in this regard. No one should have any doubt that those found guilty of manipulating the system unfairly will be severely dealt with under the law.

The Hon’ble Leader of Opposition has made several observations about the Antrix-Devas agreement. He asked about who M/s. Forge Advisers were and what their credentials were. This question is better posed to his own Party leadership who were in the NDA Government and to the then Prime Minister. The fact of the matter is that the first discussions between M/s. Forge Advisers and Antrix and ISRO were initiated in March 2003 and May 2003 respectively and continued throughout 2003 and 2004. The Memorandum of Understanding which M/s. Forge Advisers signed with Antrix was in July 2003. All this happened when the Party to which the Hon’ble Leader of Opposition belongs was in power and led the NDA Government. The then Prime Minister was also the Minister-in-charge of the Department of Space.

The Hon’ble Leader of Opposition has stated that this is the mother of all sweetheart deals and has spoken of figures in the range of lakhs of crores. I think he is confusing s-band space segment capacity with terrestrial spectrum. The prices he is quoting are for terrestrial spectrum. I wish to clarify that no allocation of terrestrial spectrum has been made by the Government to either Antrix or Devas and therefore the figures he has quoted have no basis in fact.

Shri Jaitley asked who determines these prices and how. I would like to inform the Hon’ble Leader of Opposition that the decision to open satellite services to non-governmental parties, Indian and foreign, was taken and approved by the Government in 1997. Thereafter, the norms, guidelines and procedures to operationalise this policy, including the modalities for pricing of lease of transponders were approved in 2000 by the Cabinet of which the Hon’ble Leader of Opposition was himself a member of at that time. The pricing of the lease of the transponders in the agreement was made in accordance with these guidelines.

Shri Jaitley has said that the Cabinet approved this agreement in December 2005. In December 2005, the Union Cabinet approved building of the GSAT-6 satellite following the approval given by the Space Commission in May 2005. The proposal sought approval for launching the satellite to offer a satellite digital multimedia broadcasting service and in addition to use the satellite capacity for strategic and social applications. The proposal stated that ISRO is already in receipt of several firm expressions of interest by service providers for utilization of this satellite capacity on commercial terms. Neither the Space Commission nor the Cabinet was informed of the prior agreement between Antrix and Devas and therefore there was no question of approving it.

The Leader of the Opposition has said that the Prime Minister should not close the issue only by annulling the deal, and that this will not wipe out criminality. I assure him that there is no such intention. A High Powered Review Committee has been set up, and the government will take all requisite action based on its findings and recommendations.

But before I close my remarks on the issue, I wish to say that the country takes great pride in the spectacular achievements of its space scientists. The Government is fully committed to preserving the integrity and excellence of India’s space programme and the honest efforts of our scientists.”

source :: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=70148

[kesav 127]

‘Telecom policy sound, implementation faulty’ :: PM

As the Lok Sabha on Thursday adopted a motion to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum from 1998 to 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the policy (on spectrum allocation) adopted by the UPA regime “was sound, [but] the way it was implemented, I think, gave rise to problems.”

He also attacked the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for its “attempt to create the appearance of differences” between himself and P. Chidambaram, who was Finance Minister at the time, “through innuendo and misrepresentation” of the facts. The Prime Minister said Mr. Chidambaram, who “initially had a different view,” subsequently worked out an “agreed formula on spectrum charges” with the then Telecom Minister, A. Raja, and that this was conveyed to him in a meeting in July 2008.

The JPC report is to be submitted to Parliament by the end of the next session. It will examine telecom policy and implementation related to licence and spectrum allocation, look at irregularities and its consequences and formulate recommendations to ensure proper procedures for allocation and pricing.

Lively exchanges

The debate on the motion setting up a JPC saw lively exchanges between Communications Minister Kapil Sibal and Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj with Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee also having his say. While Dr. Singh did not intervene in the debate on the JPC, he admitted to problematic implementation of the telecom policy earlier in the day while replying in the Lok Sabha to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address.

“People ask me why then all these concerns about the wrongdoings. My respectful answer to that is that when I looked at the telecom situation in 2007-2008, the proposals that came to me was that the Ministry had decided not to go in for auctions [of 2G spectrum]…it had the support of the technical arm of the telecom regulatory system, the TRAI; it had the support of the Ministry concerned; and I felt that for a level playing field, it was entirely appropriate that we should continue on the path which we had followed until 2007,” Dr. Singh said.

“Then subsequently it turned out to be that while the policy was sound, the way it was implemented, I think, gave rise to problems.” Those problems would now be looked into by the JPC, the Public Accounts Committee; and if there are any criminal aspects, by the CBI. “Our government will fully cooperate with all these agencies and with all these entities to ensure that the truth comes out and the guilty are punished,” Dr. Singh stressed.

According to the motion on the JPC, which was unanimously adopted by the Lok Sabha by voice vote, it would have 30 members, 20 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The motion made it clear that the JPC report would cover telecom policy and implementation during the NDA as well as the UPA regimes.

source :: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1486282.ece?homepage=true

[kesav 127]

Recommended cancellation of few licenses of Idea and Spice – TRAI to SC

In two separate affidavits filed in the Supreme Court by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Department of Telecom (DoT), it has been claimed that recommendations were made to take appropriate measures against companies failing to fulfil roll-out obligations under license issued in 2008 under former Telecom Minister A. Raja.

In the affidavit before Supreme Court, TRAI admits to have recommended to DoT to cancel licenses of Idea Cellular and Spice Communications in respect to five service areas.

The affidavit states that in response to a letter from TRAI telecom company Idea Cellular informed that in light of merger of Idea and Spice the roll out of the merged entity has already been completed as per license requirement. Idea had informed that they had complied comprehensively with roll-out requirements in Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi while erstwhile Spice Communications was already in operation in Karnataka and Punjab.

The affidavit states that TRAI on 22nd December, 2010 had written to DoT saying that merger between Idea and Spice is in violation of the Guidelines for the Intra Service area merger of Cellular Mobile Telephone Service / Unified Access Service Licenses (UASL) dated 22.04.2008. TRAI further wrote “hence, the license of Idea in Punjab and Karnataka service areas and Spice in respect of Maharashtra, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh service area may be cancelled”.

TRAI also claims to have written to DoT that 69 of the 130 licenses failed to fulfil the mandatory roll out obligations. Further that the authority recommended immediate necessary actions to be taken by DoT against those in breach of roll out obligations.

Concerned by the delay in allocation of spectrum, TRAI recommended to DoT that “the time for roll out should be reckoned from the effective date of license or date of spectrum allocation, whichever is later.” Following this DoT amended the UASL Agreement incorporating the TRAI’s recommendation.

In a short affidavit by DoT it has mentioned of the steps taken by DoT in respect of licenses identified as ineligible by CAG and also for those who allegedly failed to meet roll-out obligations. The department states that show cause notices have been issued to applicants identified as ineligible as stated in CAG report. DoT states that the notice was issued to 85 such licenses on 14.12.2010. The companies were given a period of 60 days which expired on 12.02.2011. The replies are with DoT and “the entire matter now is being examined in the DoT”.

The affidavit by DoT further states that demand notices levying damages for failure to comply with roll out obligations have also been issued in respect of 103 licences out of the 122 licenses.

source :: http://www.lawetalnews.com/NewsDetail.asp?newsid=3513

[kesav 127]

CBI grills Tata Realty head and MD

he Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday questioned Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited (TRIL) chairman RK Krishna Kumar and managing director Sanjay Ubale, along with five other honchos of other companies in the 2G spectrum scam case. Kumar, also a Director on the Tata Sons’ board,and Ubale were grilled for several hours at the CBI headquarter about why had TRIL allegedly given R1, 600 crore as advance/loan to real estate company Unitech just before the latter applied for a telecom licence. Unitech, identified by the CBI as one of the two major beneficiaries of the scam, had paid R1,658 crore —roughly the same amount that it had received from TRIL — for the Universal Access Services licences for 22 circles.

The CBI suspects that Unitech could have been a dummy for the Tata Teleservices, a Tata group company like that of TRIL, which had already been allocated the telecom licence. The CBI also suspects that former Telecom minister A Raja had allegedly extended favours to several telecom operators including Tata Tele Services and Unitech.

The CBI is also probing whether there was allegedly a quid-pro-quo in the case in the form of a Chennai-based real-estate property.

The CBI also grilled Spice Telecom's managing director Dilip Modi and director Shankaran, Siva Group of Companies' group chief executive officer V Srinivasan, mobile company S Tel's chief executive officer Shamik Das, and mobile company Loop Telecom's chief executive officer Sandip Basu. These officials were asked to clarify the roles played by their respective organisations.

source:: http://www.hindustantimes.com/2G-scam-Tata-Reality-Chairman-MD-quizzed-by-CBI/Article1-666259.aspx

Edited February 25, 2011 by kesav

[kesav 127]

Key 2G investigator quits CBI to join ICC

With the deadline of March 31 to file the first 2G scam chargesheet less than five weeks away, the man supervising the CBI's probe has quit. YP Singh, CBI's supervising joint director (JD) has sought voluntary retirement to join the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) of the Sharad Pawar-led International Cricket Council (ICC). He is most likely to join as its security manager, based in Dubai.

When asked about the move, YP Singh told HT, “It’s a personal matter.”

He declined to elaborate any further in the matter. CBI director Amar Pratap Singh confirmed the development saying, “Singh told us only two days back that he was leaving service and heading to the ICC’s anti-corruption unit. If somebody wants to leave service we can't stop him.”

Asked if this will be a setback for the investigation, the CBI director said that there were many other officers to replace him. The Supreme Court has directed the CBI to file its chargesheet in the 2G scam by end of March.

According to sources, it takes between three and six month for an IAS or IPS officer to get the paperwork done in case of voluntary retirement.

Singh will be the third officer from the team investigating the 2G probe who has left it midway. First one was Vineet Agarwal, a Maharashtra cadre IPS officer, who looked into the matter in its initial days as the DIG. He was repatriated to his parent cadre after completing his tenure. After that, superintendent of police and Tamil Nadu cadre officer Sumit Sharan left the team.

The ICC’s ACSU is mandated to prevent and investigate matters of corruption in international cricket.

Before Singh, Ravi Sawani, a Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer had also left service to join the ACSU. Sawani had also served in the CBI and he was part of the CBI investigating team which probed the match-fixing scandal which rocked Indian cricket in 2000.

source :: http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/NewDelhi/Key-2G-investigator-quits-CBI-to-join-ICC/Article1-666473.aspx

Edited February 24, 2011 by kesav

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

‘Telecom policy sound, implementation faulty’ :: PM

As the Lok Sabha on Thursday adopted a motion to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum from 1998 to 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the policy (on spectrum allocation) adopted by the UPA regime “was sound, [but] the way it was implemented, I think, gave rise to problems.”

He also attacked the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for its “attempt to create the appearance of differences” between himself and P. Chidambaram, who was Finance Minister at the time, “through innuendo and misrepresentation” of the facts. The Prime Minister said Mr. Chidambaram, who “initially had a different view,” subsequently worked out an “agreed formula on spectrum charges” with the then Telecom Minister, A. Raja, and that this was conveyed to him in a meeting in July 2008.

The JPC report is to be submitted to Parliament by the end of the next session. It will examine telecom policy and implementation related to licence and spectrum allocation, look at irregularities and its consequences and formulate recommendations to ensure proper procedures for allocation and pricing.

Lively exchanges

The debate on the motion setting up a JPC saw lively exchanges between Communications Minister Kapil Sibal and Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj with Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee also having his say. While Dr. Singh did not intervene in the debate on the JPC, he admitted to problematic implementation of the telecom policy earlier in the day while replying in the Lok Sabha to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address.

“People ask me why then all these concerns about the wrongdoings. My respectful answer to that is that when I looked at the telecom situation in 2007-2008, the proposals that came to me was that the Ministry had decided not to go in for auctions [of 2G spectrum]…it had the support of the technical arm of the telecom regulatory system, the TRAI; it had the support of the Ministry concerned; and I felt that for a level playing field, it was entirely appropriate that we should continue on the path which we had followed until 2007,” Dr. Singh said.

“Then subsequently it turned out to be that while the policy was sound, the way it was implemented, I think, gave rise to problems.” Those problems would now be looked into by the JPC, the Public Accounts Committee; and if there are any criminal aspects, by the CBI. “Our government will fully cooperate with all these agencies and with all these entities to ensure that the truth comes out and the guilty are punished,” Dr. Singh stressed.

According to the motion on the JPC, which was unanimously adopted by the Lok Sabha by voice vote, it would have 30 members, 20 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The motion made it clear that the JPC report would cover telecom policy and implementation during the NDA as well as the UPA regimes.

source :: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1486282.ece?homepage=true

Seems like PM accepts the fact that "His building is very STRONG, but only the foundation is VERY WEAK"... What is the use, then???

[kesav 127]

Keeping apart the vestigial joke, the point made is exactly true....

"First Come First Serve" is really a sound policy which has created the current telecom revolution.

"First Come First Serve" policy is the only way to go as far as 2G is concerned to avoid hoarding of spectrum and for improving competition and to ensure level playing field.

There were some hiccups in the implementation, It's now duty of SC supported by CBI & ED to get back the spectrum from defaulters and distribute it to the eligible(as on the original date of application) candidates based on "First Come First Serve" policy.

Edited February 25, 2011 by kesav

[kesav 127]

CBI grills Arun Shourie in 2G case

Former telecom minister Arun Shourie was questioned for three hours by the CBI on Friday in connection with the 2G scam probe. Shourie submitted a 53-page document to investigators detailing his account of the case. Vinod Vaish, who was telecom secretary during Shourie's term as the telecom minister , was also questioned.

Shourie was the telecom minister between January 2003 and May 2004. After his questioning, Shourie advised former telecom minister and prime accused in the 2G scam A Raja to turn approver in the case in order to reveal names of real beneficiaries of the scam.

He also alleged that that his successor Dayanidhi Maran had tweaked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) guidelines in 2005 that ultimately benefited some telecom operators. Shourie also claimed that he cited several instances to the investigators of alleged irregularities during Maran's tenure.

He said that during Maran's tenure, one sentence was added into the guidelines that there shall be no cap on the number of operators in a circle. But only TRAI could have recommended this kind of change and TRAI did not recommend it till 2007. How could Maran anticipate this recommendation two years in advance? He also targeted Shivraj Patil committee's report, saying these "signatures for hire" (referring to Patil) did not see the documents themselves.

Shourie also told reporters that he had requested the presence of Vaish and some other officials because of their technical knowledge about the issue.

source :: http://www.hindustantimes.com/CBI-grills-Arun-Shourie-in-2G-case/Article1-666539.aspx

Shourie is clearly trying to act smart by throwing mud against everyone.

First he targeted his colleagues Jaitley & Swaraj for having nexus with telecom corporates and now he has started targeting Maran for the same.

By acting like approver, he wants to encapsulate himself from the grave mistakes which he & Promod Mahajan committed during their tenures.

CBI must not fall prey to this type of preemption tactic.