The Spectrum Tussle - Cdma V Gsm

[parin 857]

This one good

Bravo Jedi!! Thanks for the much needed relief

[csmart 472]

its show what greed can do.. on funny side, its really good masala for a movie and also to read.. very entertaining, much better than bollywood movies..

Edited December 29, 2010 by csmart

[ravi_patent 28]

^

may be this spectrum thriller becomes a movie now..just as rakta charitra or rann

[ravi_patent 28]

indian film makers are living up to our predictions..

2g RADIA..tion..is being planned

Edited December 30, 2010 by ravi_patent

[kesav 127]

2G spectrum scam: Gadkari meets Joshi to close BJP gap over PAC

New Delhi: The BJP is trying to bandage the fracture that appeared in the last few days in its campaign against the Prime Minister.

Last night, party president Nitin Gadkari met with Murli Manohar Joshi, who is the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Joshi and his party have expressed diametrically opposite views on the offer of the Prime Minister to appear before the PAC to answer questions on the mother of all Indian scams, the 2G scam.

Related to the allocation of mobile license in 2008 by former Telecom Minister A Raja, the scam could be worth upto 1.76 lakh crore, according to the government's auditor.

During their meeting, Joshi reportedly reassured Gadkari that he is not crossing the party line on the issue of a JPC. He also stressed that he is doing nothing more than his job as the Chairman of the PAC in studying the 2G scam.

But Joshi's comments which telegraphed confidence in the PAC, had his party worried that its JPC-only stand was being crippled by one of its own.

Joshi said that the PM's offer- made first in a speech at a Congress conclave and then sent in writing to the PAC earlier this week - would be considered "at an appropriate time." That stopped the BJP in its tracks - the party has said repeatedly that the PAC is not the right forum to investigate the 2G scam. The complexity of the swindle, as well as the issues it raises- of governance and accountability- merits a JPC, the BJP insists.

Joshi in contrast has said that the PAC's scope of inquiry is not limited.

Even as Joshi seemed to back the PAC, party leader Sushma Swaraj tweeted why it was not the right panel to look into the 2G scam.

"The scope of the PAC is totally different from that of the JPC. While the PAC deals with accounts, the JPC deals with accountability and governance," she posted.

source :: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/2g-spectrum-scam-gadkari-meets-joshi-to-close-bjp-gap-over-pac-75840

Let us pray and hope that Joshi has prevailed upon Gadkari on the merits of allowing constitutional bodies like SC,CBI,PAC,ED to do its functions without any interruptions.

Hope Gadkari had come out of the meeting with more sense on the Indian constitution bodies and its functions.

Opposition does not have any merit in demanding the setting up of body which will parallel the activities of other constitutional bodies(SC,PAC,CBI,ED etc.,)

Only overwhelming request to opposition by Indian public is to park their egos and be meaningful in demanding the Govt.

Fundamentally, opposition does not have any mandate to dictate the running Govt in the functioning of parliamentary democracy.

At the max, they can plead for certain things from Govt but if Govt does not budge they can take the issues to people(in streets) if they've guts.

Stalling parliament is absolute mockery of democracy and can never be tolerated by any lover of parliamentary democracy.

Edited December 30, 2010 by kesav

[kesav 127]

Sibal briefs city ministers on 2G

NEW DELHI: In an indication that the Congress is worried about the 2G spectrum scam turning into a big issue with the public, the party is now reaching out to its MPs, MLAs and workers in the states to bolster its dwindling image.

The capital saw one such attempt by Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal in an informal meeting with the Delhi state ministers, MPs and MLAs at the residence of chief minister Sheila Diksht. He had said the party had done no wrong and that there was no need for party workers to be defensive on the 2G spectrum allocation scam issue. It was pointed out that an ongoing probe would settle the matter.

On a cold winter afternoon, the residence of Diksht saw some serious talk by Sibal. All six cabinet ministers and about 30 MLAs were among those present.

The meeting is part of the Congress party's move to reach out to its party workers to bolster the confidence of the party's base workers and instil confidence in them to deal with the situation by arming them with information. A senior party member said the briefing was detailed and helped them understand the nuances.

source:: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Sibal-briefs-city-ministers-on-2G/articleshow/7182045.cms

Really a very good move by Sibal.

Indeed, he has to arrange such meetings with each state's Congress MPs, MLAs and State ministers to disseminate true information.

Information is wealth. Only through real good information we can defeat the the 'paid' media campaign.

When media fails to deliver, its duty of the elected representatives to defeat the sinister motive of money thugs and deliver truth to the people of India.

Edited December 31, 2010 by kesav

[ravi_patent 28]

@ kesav

Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the 2G spectrum scam, would become an excuse for the government to slow down the prosecution process.

He said the scam exposed the fact that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had lost control over the government and the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, over her party. Above all, it showed that the country lost its sense of priority. Dr. Manmohan Singh could not absolve himself of the responsibility as the Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had made presentations to him and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee much earlier. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Members of Parliament also petitioned the Prime Minister about what was going wrong.

The former Telecom Minister, A. Raja, violated the TRAI recommendations in allotment of spectrum. The Prime Minister remained a silent spectator as telecom operators made deals with the Minister. Even the bureaucrats in the Ministry let down the country, Mr. Shourie added.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/12/31/stories/2010123167101600.htm

[kesav 127]

Pranab disagrees with PM on offer to appear before PAC

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee disagreed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer to appear before the Public Accounts Committee in the 2G Spectrum scam, saying that the decision had been taken "without consulting us".

"The Prime Minister's offer to appear before the PAC was a decision taken by him without consulting us. If he had discussed it with me, I would have advised him not to offer to appear before the PAC," the senior Congress leader told a special meeting of the West Bengal PCC.

But at the same time, the Finance Minister denied a rift with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the latter's offer. "It is wrong to state that there have been differences of opinion between me and the PM on his offer to appear before the PAC. I have said though Prime Minister had offered to appear before PAC, I would not have done so," he said. "Constitutionally, the Prime Minister is accountable to Lok Sabha and not to any committee," Mukherjee said on Manmohan Singh's letter to PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi on December 27 offering to appear before it.

The Finance Minister said that he was a "conservative who believed in following rules of the House". "Why does a minister not appear before a parliamentary committee. The reason is simple. A minister is answerable to the House (Lok Sabha) or to the Assembly. to 543 members in the Lok Sabha or in case of West Bengal Assembly, to the 294 members." "A person is a minister because the party he represents has the support of at least 272 Lok Sabha members. and they are all behind the Prime Minister. They (ministers) are only accountable to whole House and not to a part of the House," Mukherjee said. He said there was only one precedence when Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister had appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee in the Harshad Mehta stock market scam of 1992.

source :: http://telecomtiger.com/PolicyNRegulation_fullstory.aspx?storyid=10530&section=S174

[Honest 836]

Swamy moves SC for cancellation of 2G spectrum licences

4 Jan l The Economic Times l New Delhi

Janata Party Chief Subramanian Swamy today moved the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of the 2G spectrum licences alloted during the tenure of former Telecom Minister A Raja allegedly in violation of all norms and procedure causing huge loss to the state exchequer.

The PIL filed by Swamy sought a direction to the government for holding a fresh auction for eligible entities for all the 122 licences in 22 circles across the country.

He alleged the allotment of spectrum, which according to the CAG report has caused a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer, has been sustained despite judgments of the Delhi High Court that struck down the policy of allocating radio waves at the 2001 price on first-come-first-served basis in 2007-08.

Swamy's petiton was second after an NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), filed an identical PIL on December 14, 2010, seeking cancellation of the licences for 2G spectrum after the apex court decided to monitor the probe into the scam by CBI and Enforcement Directorate.

The Janata Party leader in his petition contended the Department of Telecom, then headed by Raja, had arbitrarily and with malafide intention to benefit certain entities advanced the cut-off date for making application for allocation of 2G spectrum from October 1 to September 25, 2007.

[kesav 127]

Sibal says that the logic underlying CAG estimate is "completely flawed"

Following is the text of the Press Statement given by the Union Minister of Communications & IT, Shri Kapil Sibal here today on 2G Spectrum issues:

“The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the 2G Spectrum Issue has criticized certain aspects of the decision making process related to Spectrum allocation. One of the criticisms relates to an alleged large loss to the national exchequer in the allocation of 2G spectrum. Others related to the process of implementing the first come first served policy.

“The criticism of large revenue loss has received a great deal of attention in the Press because of the size of the loss stated by CAG. This estimate is based on the assumption that spectrum should have been auctioned or sold in some other manner which would have fetched the Government the highest possible price. However, the logic underlying this estimate is completely flawed. Government policy is formulated with a view to maximize public welfare, and not merely to maximize Government revenues. The pricing of different natural resources is often done in a manner that meets this objective. For instance, land is given free of cost to infrastructure projects such as construction of highways, coal prices are kept much lower than global prices in order to ensure that the cost of power remains reasonable; fertilizer prices involve significant subsidy as do the prices of wheat, rice, kerosene oil, etc. supplied through the Public Distribution System. In all these cases if the objective of the Government were only to maximize revenues, much higher price would be charged, but there are good reasons why that is not done.

“The rationale of the pricing decision for 2G must be seen in the background of the Telecom Policy as it has evolved over many years.

Background of Telecom Policy

“It is well established in the case of the telecom sector that the objective of the Government has always been to ensure that telecom services are available to citizens across the country at reasonable prices. It is worth recalling that it was in this context that the terms and conditions of licences which were originally awarded on a bidding basis, after the National Telecom Policy 1994 introduced the private sector into telephony, were completely changed by the then Government in 1999 under the New Telecom Policy. The new policy explicitly recognized the need to bring greater competition in the telecom sector in both urban and rural areas and to provide a level playing field for all players. Critics of the change in policy had argued at the time that the change in the contractual terms resulted in a loss to the exchequer of about Rs. 40,000 crore. . Similarly, the reductions in licence fee in January 2001 and again in April 2004 can also be interpreted as benefiting select players at the expense of the national exchequer by the then Government.

“Yet, these measures have helped to increase tele-density and reduce prices of mobile services for the Aam Aadmi. The resultant benefits to the economy as a whole are well known. The provision of telecom services involves large investments. This is particularly so when we wish to cover the entire length and breadth of the country. If at the time of issuing licenses, the Government charges a very high entry fee, it would reduce the resources available to the operators to undertake the necessary creation of infrastructure. It would also eventually impact the prices charged by the operators and thereby limit the services to those who can afford higher services.

“It is in this background that successive Governments have chosen to allocate telecom licences and spectrum on a basis other than revenue maximization. It should also be noted that with the enactment of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 the recommendations of the independent regulator are a very high important factor in deciding these matters. The TRAI has consistently taken the view that revenue generation should not be a major determinant of the policy governing the telecom sector and this is also the view taken when the 10th Plan was finalized in 2002.

Recent Decision Regarding 2G

“In the run up to the recent 2G spectrum allocation, the Prime Minister had received several suggestions to consider change in policy in 2007, including a switch to auctions. The Prime Minister wrote to the Minister of Telecom on 2nd November, 2007 forwarding a summary of the suggestions received and requested the Minister to consider all these aspects carefully. This has been wrongly interpreted in the CAG report as a direction to act in a particular manner on the issue of pricing. The only direction given by the Prime Minister was that the Ministry should act in a fair and transparent manner and keep the PM informed.

“The issues raised in the note forwarded by the Prime Minister were responded to by the Minister of Telecom who pointed out that in the interest of ensuring a level playing field between existing operators, who had obtained licences and spectrum at very reasonable rates, and the new operators, and to ensure that new entrants could provide effective competition for the healthy growth of the sector, it would be appropriate to continue with the extant policy.

“The Prime Minister was also informed that the issue of pricing of spectrum was discussed extensively between the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Telecommunications in line with the earlier decision of the Cabinet in 2003 which left the issue of spectrum pricing to be decided by the two Ministers. The Minister of Telecom also consulted the then External Affairs Minister who was the Chairman of the EGoM on spectrum issues. Based on these consultations PM was informed that the Finance Minister and the DoT after considering all options, had come to an agreement that the 2G pricing should continue as before, which 3G Spectrum would be auctioned. The Prime Minister accepted this outcome regarding spectrum pricing.

“It is important to emphasize that the Government’s decision on spectrum pricing was not merely a mechanical continuation of the policies put in place by previous Governments. It is one that was felt on merits to provide a balance between multiple objectives, namely, increasing tele-density, promoting competition, and ensuring a level playing field. The Prime Minister was informed of the TRAI report of August 2007. In its August 2007 report, TRAI recommended that spectrum in 2G bands (800, 900 and 1800 MHz) should continue to be priced as before for new entrants and that in future, all spectrum, excluding spectrum in the 2G bands should be auctioned. TRAI also recommended ‘no cap’ on new entrants.

“It may be thought that the decision to auction 3G spectrum makes out an automatic case that 2G spectrum should also have been auctioned. This would not be valid conclusion. 3G spectrum is typically used for providing value added services, such as video and large amount of data. These services are primarily availed by companies and individuals who have large paying capacity. Additionally, in the case of 3G there is neither an issue of level playing field nor one of needing to ensure that prices are within the reach of people in the lower income brackets. Just as the Government charges a toll for the use of highways, but the use of rural road is never tolled, similarly, a high price for 3G spectrum services can be accepted but Government needs to ensure that basic telephony remains available to the common citizen at the lower possible rate.

“The fact that Government policy over the years, while abandoning revenue maximization, has yielded benefits is clearly visible. The average tariff came down from almost Rs.17 per minute in 1999 to about Rs. 3 per minute in 2004 and, by March 2010, this became as low as 57 paise per minute while today it has reached a level of 30 paise per minute. This is a direct and tangible benefit. The benefit of this reduction in tariff is estimated at over Rs. 150,000 crore per annum to the consumers.

“For all these reasons the CAG’s criticism that the policy of awarding licences and spectrum at reasonable rates involved a large loss to the exchequer has no merit. However the CAG’s findings regarding procedural irregularities in the implementation of the first-come-first-served policy are in a different category and must be taken very seriously. Indeed, the Government depends upon the CAG to highlight such issues and there is a well laid down procedure for dealing with such findings.

“In this case in view of the nature of the lapses, criminal investigations are also under way. The Government is totally committed to take stringent action against any person found guilty of corruption or misconduct.”

Text of the power point presentation made by Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Shri R. Chandrashekhar is available on the PIB website i.e. pib.nic.in.

source :: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=68943

Presentation:: http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2011/jan/d2011010701.ppt

The press report and the presentation is highly informative and I never expected such a clarity of information from a Govt. department.

I salute Govt. for speaking through meaningful data instead of political statements.

:hi2: :hi2:

Way to go.......

:clap:

The following points has to go deeper into everyone's heart and brain as the case may be.

(1) Even CAG does not say that someone has looted 'hypothetical' amount. It says it as just presumptive loss to Govt.

(2) The calculation of the 'hypothetical' amount by CAG is entirely flawed

(3) One should have larger heart to accept that service afford-ability is more important than revenue generation.

Edited January 8, 2011 by kesav

[Honest 836]

2G scam: Shourie backs Sibal’s stand on loss calculation

8 Jan l The Economic Times l New Delhi

Former telecom minister Arun Shourie on Friday deviated from the BJP’s line to back Kapil Sibal’s stand that the calculation based on presumptive losses in the 2G spectrum sale was erroneous. “But it is an issue for the CAG to answer,” Shourie said.

The former minister, who contested Sibal’s claim that the allocation of spectrum by the NDA led to huge losses to the exchequer, said the current incumbent will be “destroying his own argument” by persisting with such a position.

“The UPA government has been maintaining that it was only following what the NDA did. If the sector grew because of the NDA’s policy, Sibal’s argument will not hold,” Shourie said and added that “high school debating points should be left to lawyers”.

Shourie, who backed Sibal’s “statement of intent” for reforming the telecom sector, said it should not be seen as a milch cow. “Secondly, the minister has said that there have been violations of law in the past. I would say that there have been blatant violations. He has said that the government will nail the guilty. I completely agree with one addition: there should be unwavering pressure to punish the guilty,” he said.

Shourie, who defended the revenue-sharing formula adopted by the NDA, said the whole sector would have collapsed without this shift. “Sibal, who represented Koshika as a lawyer, knows it too well. Besides, where would have tele-density been today if this decision was not taken by the then government,” Shourie asked.

He said the revenue-sharing agreement was adopted for prompting a faster growth of the sector. “I got revenue reduction of 2% in 2003 to stimulate the sector. It was given because the companies agreed to withdraw cases against each other and against the government. The sector was logjammed because they were fighting among themselves instead of fighting in the market space,” he said.

Rejecting the charge that it was done for appeasing major players in the sector, Shourie said “policies are not cast in stone and it should factor in ground realities”. Shourie said he would like to put forward two constructive suggestions to the minister.

“The NDA had begun work on two big initiatives. These were aborted by UPA-1,” he said, adding, “The government should replace 30 types of licences with one universal licence. A service provider should be allowed to provide any service, through any technology, in any circle, to any user. This will make the government a neutral umpire. Unfortunately, Dayanidhi Maran aborted this because he feared that telecom operators would enter the television sector.”

The former minister also said that there was no alternative to auctioning of spectrum. “We had begun work on releasing more spectrum. In fact, the then finance minister Jaswant Singh had agreed to give `18,000 crore to the defence services for vacating spectrum. The money was not just for vacating spectrum, it was for modernising their signalling equipments,” said Shourie.

[faizca 5]

but opposition is not ready to listen anything.......may better sense prevails

Edited January 9, 2011 by faizca

[rajanmehta 4,056]

CBI registers PE to probe role of banks in 2G scam

NEW DELHI: The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) to probe the role of certain public sector banks, including the State Bank of India, for providing loans to certain companies who were allocated the 2G Spectrum in 2007-08 including Uninor and STel.

The PE was registered by the Bank Securities and Fraud Cell of the CBI against unknown bank officials, official sources said here today.

The allegation is that some banks had allegedly violated the laid down norms and provided finance to two real estate companies who made forays into the telecom market by procuring the spectrum auctioned during the said period, the sources said.

This is the second PE registered by the CBI in connection with the 2G spectrum scam besides a regular case against unknown officials of the Department of Telecom and private companies.

According to the PE, the banks provided loans, worth over Rs 11,500 crore, to two real-estate companies by completely ignoring the risk factors, given that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had already registered a case in the 2G scam and the CBI had begun its probe.

The public sector banks allotted Rs 10,000 crore to Unitech and Rs 1,538 crore to STel, based just on the licence papers issued by the Department of Telecom (DoT).

Out of the Rs 10,000-crore loan to Unitech, the major chunk was disbursed by the State Bank of India which provided a loan of Rs 8,050 crore to the Unitech during 2009-2010.

The other banks which gave money to Unitech for its Uninor company were Corporation Bank , Allahabad Bank , South Indian Bank , Canara Bank , Oriental Bank, Central Bank of India , Punjab National Bank , Standard Chartered Bank and Yes Bank .

The other company was STel which got the Rs 1538-crore loan from IDBI and IDBI Trusteeship Services Limited, during the period between July to November 2009.

In December last year, the Supreme Court had come down heavily on public sector banks for their role in the 2G spectrum scam. A two-judge bench of Justices G S Singhvi and AK Ganguly had said that massive amounts were lent by some public sector banks to the 2G licencees and it must be investigated.

The bench had pointed out that about Rs 600-700 crore were lent out as if it was an amount like Rs 60-70.

The court also questioned how did public sector banks continued to disburse loans to telecom companies even after the CBI registered an FIR in connection with the 2G scam and searched the premises of the telecom companies in October 2009.

Source:Economic Times

[rajanmehta 4,056]

SC issues notice to centre, telecom companies on cancellation of 2G licence

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the centre and the telecom ministry on petitions seeking cancellation of 2G spectrum allocation during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja.

The apex court also wondered how telecom minister Kapil Sabil could doubt the CAG finding when on that very basis the CVC had asked the CBI to register a case in the 2G scam.

The court also made TRAI a party after taking exception to its silence on violation of licence agreements by those who got spectrum and recommending cancellation of licence only after A Raja's exit and SC taking up hearing of petitions.

The court asked the companies to respond by February 1.

The telecom companies to whom court issued notice are Etistat, Vodafone, Uninor, Loop Telecom, Videocon, S Tel, Allainz Infra, Idea Cellular, Tata Tele services, Sistema Shyam Teleservices and Dishnet Wireless..

The apex court is hearing two petitions seeking cancellation of all the licenses of 2G spectrum issued by former communications minister A Raja.

Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy and advocate Prashant Bhushan have moved court to cancel all the 122 licenses.

The court had last week upheld the plea of Swamy.

Kapil Sibal had questioned the figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore arrived at by the CAG in calculating the losses in 2G spectrum allocation.

The CAG report had made a severe indictment of A Raja for flouting rules in the allocation of 2G spectrum.

Source:Times of India

[faizca 5]

SC issues notice to centre, telecom companies on cancellation of 2G licence

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the centre and the telecom ministry on petitions seeking cancellation of 2G spectrum allocation during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja.

The apex court also wondered how telecom minister Kapil Sabil could doubt the CAG finding when on that very basis the CVC had asked the CBI to register a case in the 2G scam.

The court also made TRAI a party after taking exception to its silence on violation of licence agreements by those who got spectrum and recommending cancellation of licence only after A Raja's exit and SC taking up hearing of petitions.

The court asked the companies to respond by February 1.

The telecom companies to whom court issued notice are Etistat, Vodafone, Uninor, Loop Telecom, Videocon, S Tel, Allainz Infra, Idea Cellular, Tata Tele services, Sistema Shyam Teleservices and Dishnet Wireless..

The apex court is hearing two petitions seeking cancellation of all the licenses of 2G spectrum issued by former communications minister A Raja.

Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy and advocate Prashant Bhushan have moved court to cancel all the 122 licenses.

The court had last week upheld the plea of Swamy.

Kapil Sibal had questioned the figure of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore arrived at by the CAG in calculating the losses in 2G spectrum allocation.

The CAG report had made a severe indictment of A Raja for flouting rules in the allocation of 2G spectrum.

Source:Times of India

cancellation is not a good option...

[kesav 127]

If this case had been taken up by another bench other than the one which is monitoring CBI investigation then I'll consider this move by SC as unnecessary.

Hope the original bench will order the merger of this case along with the one which its hearing already.

It's not good to confuse public by running too many cases on the same issue like grinding the already ground flour.

What India wants is meaningful Judiciary and not parallel dramas in court rooms with same story but with different screen plays.

Edited January 10, 2011 by kesav

[kesav 127]

DoT wing says CAG did not wait for its response on 2G

In a fresh tact to wriggle out of the 2G spectrum controversy, the Department of Telecom's licensing wing has taken a view that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had tabled the report on 2G spectrum without giving it ample time to respond to all the allegations.

The DoT's wing has taken a position that it could not fully respond to CAG's questions because all the relevant files linked to 2G were with the Central Bureau of Investigation.

“As the related files are in the custody of CBI, it was not possible for this office to respond properly within the stipulated time and hence audit was requested for more time to send a reply after receipt of the concerned files from the CBI. Meanwhile, without waiting for our further response in the matter, the CAG submitted their Performance Audit Report on November 11,” stated an internal note from the Access Services wing of the DoT. The Access Service wing is responsible for licensing and has been told by the DoT to file an Action Taken Report on the CAG findings.

Explaining the sequence of events an internal note of the DoT stated that the CAG had sent its draft report on July 19, 2010 for comments. The DoT sent its detailed reply on July 27 subject to reservation of its rights to modify the responses after the relevant files are received back from the CBI. Thereafter on September 23, the CAG sent further queries pertaining to licences issued to ineligible companies and gave the DoT one month to respond. The DoT is claiming that it could not stick to this deadline as the files were with CBI.

The DoT wing is also taking cover for the delay in sending its action taken report on grounds that it was short staffed with only one director and a section officer.

This is not the first time DoT has taken on the CAG on the 2G issue. Earlier, it had sent a letter to the auditor saying that the CAG did not have powers to question Government policy. Last week, the DoT again rubbished the allegations of losses to the national exchequer made by the CAG.

source :: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2011/01/11/stories/2011011152880700.htm

[Honest 836]

Swami demands Sibal's resignation on moral ground

22 January l The Economic Times l Indore

Accusing Union Minister for Telecom Kapil Sibal of adopting a compromising attitude in the 2G Spectrum scam, Janata Party President, Subramanian Swamy, here today demanded his resignation on moral ground.

Terming the decision to hand over Telecom Ministry to Sibal as 'wrong', Swamy alleged that he was adopting a compromising attitude in the 2G spectrum scam as he had advocated for telecom companies many times over the last 15 years.

The Janata Party President was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 20th annual conference of the Indore Management Association (IMA).

He also alleged that even his two sons were representing these companies in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

Swamy advised Sibal that in view of this background, he should himself leave the Telecom Ministry, otherwise his name would get defamed.

[kesav 127]

MCA gives clean chit to Swan Telecom

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has given a clean chit to Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB) and said Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communication never had more than 9.90 per cent stake in the company.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs' response comes in the wake of Telecom Ministry's request to examine the share- holding pattern of Swan Telecom to ensure the eligibility of the company to get the licence and 2G spectrum in 2008.

In its report, the MCA has said that with effect from January 31, 2006, Reliance Communications had no equity share holding or voting rights in Tiger Trustees Private Limited, Swan Advisory Services Private Limited and Swan Infonet.

The Ministry gave its report to the Department of Telecom (DoT) after getting details from the Registrar of Companies (ROC), Mumbai.

Swan Telecom had bagged the licence in January 2008 for 13 circles and then expanded it equity base by inducting UAE-based Etisalat which now holds over 45 per cent stake in the joint venture.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal had ordered an enquiry in the stake-holding pattern of the company following allegations that it was the front company for RCOM. Government auditor CAG had also alleged violation of substantial equity clause in its report on the issue.

Apart from having 9.90 per cent equity, the MCA said Reliance Telecom also invested Rs 992 crore in preference shares but these shares never carried any voting rights.

The preference shares were also divested on October 17, 2007, it said.

The ROC further clarified that "the Memorandum or Articles of Association or other documents filed with his office by Swan Telecom or Tiger Trustees do not contain any provision which could provice Reliance Communication or Reliance Telecom or any other person with any special rights or privellages entitling them to control Swan Telecom..."

Swan Telecom (Etisalat DB) has been served show cause notice seeking an explanation that why its licence should not be cancelled in view of the allegations leveled against it.

source :: http://telecomtiger.com/PolicyNRegulation_fullstory.aspx?storyid=10600&flag=1&passfrom=topstory&section=S174

[kesav 127]

Montek backs Sibal on 2G scam figure

NEW DELHI: Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Sunday said CAG's estimate of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss in the 2G spectrum scam was a "way out unrealistic number".

Ahluwalia, who backed telecom minister Kapil Sibal's view that the CAG's estimate was "utterly erroneous", said focusing on revenue loss would be an analytical red herring as revenue maximisation was not the target of spectrum sale.

Earlier this month, Sibal had said the actual loss to the exchequer was nil. His comments had stirred a political controversy prompting the CAG to say it stood by its report.

In a TV interview, Ahluwalia said, "The loss of consumer benefit (if spectrum was sold at a higher price) would be ten times the loss of revenue. Higher telecom penetration translated into huge benefits for the rest of the economy."

Referring to the equity sale by Swan and Unitech after the firms bagged 2G spectrum, Ahluwalia said, "Swan and Unitech simply issued new equity which lowered their own equity in the companies substantially."

He said the two companies issued fresh equity to companies that bought into them and the money did not go to the promoters. "It (the money) went into new companies and it is meant to be used to roll out telecom services. They did not sell their equity. They expanded the equity of the company and brought in new people. That's not the same thing," Ahluwalia said.

He said the CAG had rightly criticised implementation of the first-come first-served policy. Ahluwalia said if the first-come first-served policy was perfectly implemented, it would bring in a lot of weak players who didn't have the capacity to utilise the value of the licence and they would then induct others who would utilize the value.

source :: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Montek-backs-Sibal-on-2G-scam-figure/articleshow/7300644.cms

[kesav 127]

2G scam: CPI backs down on JPC demand

Kolkata: While the Budget session of Parliament is all set to start in February, the big worry for the Government is that the Opposition protests could well paralyse Parliament all over again during the forthcoming session.

However, in what could be a major reprieve at least for now, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has decided to withdraw its demand for a JPC saying Parliament must meet and discuss more pressing issues like price rise.

Speaking at an event in Kolkata, senior leader of CPI, Gurudas Dasgupta, said "We are withdrawing our demand for JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee), for only one demand to hold up the Parliament is wrong. Today the most important issue is economic policy and price rise... the Parliament must meet, must discuss, Parliament hold up should not continue."

source :: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/2g-scam-cpi-backs-down-on-jpc-demand-81029

Let us sincerely hope that better sense will prevail upon the rest of opposition.

It's duty of each political party to allow parliament to work which in turn will allow democracy to work.

Already this virus of holding parliament has crept into the state assembly of Karnataka. We don't know how many more state legislatures will get infected by this virus in future.

Let us not forget this virus has potent to paralyze the entire democracy.

We sincerely appeal to the virus breeders like Jaitley, Swaraj & Gadkari to park their egos and come back to make democracy work in a meaningful manner.

Edited January 27, 2011 by kesav

[kesav 127]

Opposition campaign on 2G politially motivated: Karunanidhi

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Tuesday dubbing the Opposition parties' campaign against DMK on the 2G spectrum allocation issue as politically motivated and accused them of trying to deceive people by highlighting the Rs 1.76 lakh crore "presumptive loss".

Writing in party organ "Murasoli", he said the loss arising out of allocation of 2G specturm on priority basis could not be of the amount "as alleged by the opposition."

Even the CAG had said in his report that the amount arrived at was a presumptive loss, which was debatable, Karunanidhi, whose partyman A Raja was forced to resign as Union Telecom Minister over the 2G issue, said.

The opposition had taken that figure and started propagating that the government had incurred a huge loss, he said.

The loss could be arrived through several ways, but in a welfare state, a government could not function on the basis of earning profits as it had to take into account social benefit at large, he said.

Even the policy of first-come-first served was not taken by Raja, he said adding that the former minister simply followed the decision taken by the Group of Ministers during the NDA regime.

He said 2G and 3G could not be compared as 2G was 4.2 Mhz while the 3G was 6.4 Mhz. Nobody should forget the fact that the 3G was superior than 2G and there could not be any comparison in the revenue earned in the allocation of these spectrum, he said.

On the demand for a JPC probe, he said the previous experience had shown that such probe could not find out truth.

He said the PAC was headed by an opposition MP, but a JPC would be normally led by a ruling party member.

Karunanidhi said he had already stated that the DMK would not hesitate to take action against Raja if he was found guilty.

The allegations against the DMK on the issue were only to deceive the people, the DMK chief said.

source :: http://www.sify.com/news/opposition-campaign-on-2g-politially-motivated-karunanidhi-news-national-lbztOgjcifj.html

[kesav 127]

Parliament will not be stalled : Prakash Karat

GUWAHATI: CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said Left parties will not stall parliamentary proceedings in the coming budget session but there will be no compromise on the demand for a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum scam.

"We do not want to stall parliamentary proceedings but there can be no compromise on the demand for the JPC probe. If the UPA government does not allow a probe, people's suspicion on the government's involvement in the scam will go up," he told a rally organised here to protest against communalism and price rise.

"Since Independence this (2G spectrum allocation) is the biggest scam in the country and the Parliament has every right to inquire into it," he said.

Terming Congress as the "master of corruption", Karat said that during the prime ministership of Rajiv Gandhi the Bofors scam amounting to Rs 64 crore came to light and the cases on it are still on even after about two decades.

"The Manmohan Singh government has brought in the looting raj in the country and during its tenure the Rs 1,76,000 crore telecom scam has taken place," he said.

Referring to the Adarsh housing scam, he said while CBI had yesterday registered a case against former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan in it, another Congress leader from that state who was fined Rs 10 lakh by the Supreme Court for covering up corrupt practices has been included in the union cabinet as the rural development minister.

Lambasting BJP for failing to fulfil its role as the main Opposition party of the country, Karat said it is highlighting the corruption of Congress "but when it comes to corruption in its own states, the party is silent."

BJP leaders had not taken any action on the corruption charges against Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and his cabinet ministers and party president Nitin Gadkari's recent statement exonerating him was "not only illegal but also immoral."

"Both the Congress and the BJP are working for the benefit of the capitalists, while CPM and the other Left parties are working for the benefit of the common people," he said.

Karat alleged that probes into the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif blasts as well as Swami Aseemanand's depositions in the court clearly proved that BJP and RSS had links with those involved in 'Hindu terrorism'.

"Our fight against both Hindu terror and Islamic fundamentalism will continue," he added

source :: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Parliament-will-not-be-stalled-but-no-compromise-on-JPC-Prakash-Karat/articleshow/7392015.cms

It's really positive news.

Now, both CPI and CPM have shifted sides regarding the blocking of parliament.

:clap:

BJP stands isolated and hopeless. I feel even its ally JDU will shift side since Nitish Kumar is more a rationalist rather than egoistic.

If any party feels that their demand for JPC is meaningful, let them go to the streets and convince the people.

Don't ever block the functioning of democracy by stalling parliament. It's unjustifiable.

In parliamentary democracy, opposition do not any mandate to dictate the Govt.

At the best, opposition can plead with the Govt. But the Govt.(read as ruling parties) can either reject or consider those demands based on its wisdom.

Edited January 30, 2011 by kesav

[Honest 836]

RBI Governor to appear before PAC on 2G spectrum allocation

The Economic Times l 30th January l New Delhi

Continuing with its examination into the 2G spectrum allocation, Parliament's Public Accounts Committee has called RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao on Thursday to record evidence in connection with the matter.

The Committee, headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi , is expected to ask Subbarao whether any bank regulations were violated while making the financial transactions related to the 2G spectrum allocation.

A Raja had to quit as Telecom Minister following a furore over the alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocations.

Subbarao, who was the Finance Secretary when the 2G spectrum allocations were made in January 2008, is also expected to face questions on the issues, including on changes in the entry fee for telecom operators, he had raised with the Communications Ministry.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the government had said on the issue of 2G allocation the finance secretary had raised certain queries on November 27, 2007, regarding the entry fee. A reply to this was given by the telecom secretary on November 29, 2007.

"Thereafter, no further reference or communication was received and there was no difference of opinion between the two ministries," said the affidavit.

The PAC has already questioned D S Mathur, who retired as Telecom Secretary a few days before the 2G spectrum was allocated in January 2008, Manju Madhavan, former member (Finance) in Telecom Commission.

Mathur, who retired on December 31, 2007, had claimed that Raja was determined to grant a huge number of licences from the day he joined office.

He had alleged that Raja managed to advance the cut-off date for processing the applications for licences in October 2007 itself, even though it was announced only on January 10, 2008, hours before the licences were granted.

Madhavan had sent a note recommending revision of rates at which the licences were being granted arguing that the rates be revised as they did not reflect the then market dynamics.

Former DoT Secretary Siddharth Behura and former TRAI Chairperson Pradip Baijal have already appeared before the Committee.

[Honest 836]

2G scam: India receives replies to LRs

The Economic Times l 30th Janl New Delhi

Investigative agencies probing the 2G spectrum scam have received replies from about five countries to which Letters Rogatory were issued late last year seeking information about source of funding of certain telecom firms who were awarded the radiowaves.

Government sources said more information has been sought based on the replies received. While they did not give the names of the countries that have responded to the Letters Rogatory (LR), as the details will be given to the Supreme Court, sources said they are hopeful of getting more substantial information.

The Supreme Court has asked both Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate to submit status reports on their probe to it by February 10, when the 2G spectrum case will come up for hearing.

The Enforcement Directorate had late last year send out LRs to 10 countries including Russia, UAE, Isle of Man, Cyprus, Mauritius , Norway, Singapore and Libya. A Letter Rogatory is a formal request issued by a competent court to a foreign court and processed by the ministry of external affairs on behalf of the investigative agencies to obtain information about individuals and entities.

Even prior to sending of the LRs, the ED, which is jointly probing the multi-crore-rupee scam with the CBI, had already approached their counterparts in overseas countries having footprints of some telecom companies allotted the spectrum between September 2007 to January 2008 on a semi-formal basis.

Sources said ED feels that some entities operating in those countries were connected with the spectrum allocation besides certain others who later bought stakes in Indian companies that had bagged the spectrum.

Most of the companies that had bagged the spectrum had their subsidiaries and business partners situated in foreign countries. Untangling the financial transactions web spread across various countries is what the ED is focusing on.

Sources said the Directorate has also finished with the second round of questioning of certain telecom firms. Both ED and CBI are working in close cooperation with the case. The CBI had even roped in the Directorate in multi-city raids carried out late last year in connection with the probe.

A source said while the CBI is looking at the possible criminal conspiracy angle in allocation of spectrum, ED is focusing on the money trail.