Amidst the clamour about the the corrupt people in the 2 G scam, the corrupt companies seem to go unnoticed.
I have indicated in my earlier blogs as to how telecom Companies are involved in fixing the licences for themselves or thwarting competitors with the help of powers that be.
In this case the Government seems to have obliged Essar and Loop to get the Telecom licences.
To cover the tracks the companies have changed the pattern of share holding just two days before the grant of licences and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs seem to have noticed nothing amiss,
Strange indeed.
If closee digging is involved many more Corporate shenanigans will tumble out.
The CBI on Wednesday slammed the ministry of corporate affairs for giving its recent report saying Loop Telecom was not an associate of Essar and told the Supreme Court that the ministry was using different yardsticks to judge the eligibility of companies which got 2G spectrum licences. ….
CBI has said that Loop’s association with Essar, which was already operating in many circles including Mumbai, should have debarred it from getting 21 licences in 2008 during A Raja‘s tenure as telecom minister. ….
Placing its 2G scam probe status report before a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly, the agency through senior advocate K K Venugopal said the shareholding pattern was changed just two days before the allotment of licence. He said the third chargesheet in 2G scam relating to Loop-Essar would be filed by August 31.
Dayanidhi Maran vehemently denied , in the wake of SUNTV-SUN-DTH Aircel scam, that he or his family had never gained any thing during his tenure as Telecom Minister.
Facts seem to be other wise.
Meanwhile a PIL has been filed against Dayanidhi Maran.
“It appears that former telecommunications minister Dayanidhi Maran, Rajathi Ammal and Dayalu Ammal (former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi‘s wives) have not been investigated properly,” Bhushan told DNA. “The affidavit has been filed to bring it to the notice of the court the facts that never saw the light of the day.”
A report aired by Times Now channel alleged that Maran had misused his powers when he was Telecom Minister. According to the IPO prospectus published by Sun TV on Apr 16, 2006, the company intended to enter the telecom sector, which was then controlled by Maran. The report alleged that the Sun TV, which is controlled by Dayanidhi Maran’s brother Kalanidhi Maran, gained several benefits as Dayanidhi Maran’s names appeared in promoters list.
Earlier while denying the allegations of secret BSNL telephone exchange, Maran said that he “have not done any thing wrong and not benefited anyone” during his tenure as a Telecom minister. But the latest reports clearly shows that Sun TV entered to Telecom sector during the period Maran, who held the telecom ministry from 2004 to 2007.
Further contradicting Maran’s claim, the report added that Astro All Asia Networks (owned by Maxis) invested Rs 600 crores and announced joint venture with Sun TV in Apr 2007, when Maran was the Telecom Minister. Maxis gained telecom license for Aircel after investing in Sun TV.
Tata’s have come out with a statement(18 May 2011) ostensibly trying to clear Tata’s name in the donation of a high cost Scanner to hospital in Perambalur,home constituency of A.Raja,wh swindled Rs.1,76,000 Crores and now in jail.
The statement starts with
However, the material fact is that grant was ultimately not given since the Tamil Nadu Government was required to spend Rs. 82 cr initially, which it had not implemented…….
and ends with
A grant of Rs. 8 crores was sanctioned against this request. Of this sanctioned amount, only a sum of Rs. 3.26 crores was released by the Trust and spent by the hospital, towards the cost of a CT Scan machine and allied medical equipment to augment its facilities to treat the rural poor. Additionally, the CT scan and allied equipment are in actual use for the poor patients. As is the practice, the Trust had the progress of the project reviewed by an external expert. The expert reported slow progress on account of lack of infrastructure and trained technical personnel, and hence no further amount was released. In summary, the Trusts have given Rs. 3.26 cr against actual equipment procured and installed.
What more proof is needed that this is nothing more than a quid pro quo for favors from Raja?
Here Radia talks to Chandolia on the ways the Tatas can fund a hospital in Perambalur, A. Raja’s hometown. Later, the Tata Foundation allotted Rs 9 crore to upgrade hospitals in the district.
‘(Tatas) can provide either equipment or some wards.’
NR: I did speak to Krishna Kumar, I did speak to him, he was supposed to tell the…take the…you see, let me tell you where they are coming from…they’re going ahead, they want to do that, they (are) doing the hospital in Perambalur, no problem right? But what they want to do is, and because the charter of the trust allows them to do it only in a particular manner, what they have to do is, they have to provide equipment for the hospital.
RKC: Okay.
NR: Or they provide say, certain wards, they’ll build certain wards or something. So the letter that we have to do, it’s not a cheque-cheque that we give, we actually have to give a letter, and based on that letter, when they start working on the hospital, on certain areas that I decided, between the wards or equipment, then those disbursements start happening.
RKC: Okay, toh aap ek kaam karo na, you just talk…call him, minister…
NR: Hmm.
RKC: And tell him, because he was waiting your call…
NR: He’s waiting my call?
RKC:Haan, haan.
NR: Okay, has he left for Chennai or is he still here?
RKC: Nahin, he is in Chennai.
NR: He is in Chennai, is it?
RKC:Haan, haan.
NR: When will he come back?
RKC: He’ll come on Monday.
NR: He’ll come on Monday. Okay, I’ll have a word…
RKC:Aap baat karke mujhe bata dena aapki baat ho jab.
NR: Okay. I’m sorry maine phir uske baad phone nahin kiya, kyunki kal hi jaake baat hui hai.
RKC:Haan, haan.
NR: So I…I…that’s what he said to me, I just wanted that clarity. Toh maine kaha jo bhi hai, tum (unclear) leke jaake submit kar do na, do a nice photo-op and all that. Maine yahi usko bola tha.
Confirming that he had received a letter from the CBI, Mr. Raja told journalists that he was in Chennai for “personal work and health check-up.” He had immediately sent a reply to the agency that he would appear before the authorities at a date convenient to the CBI. It was up to the CBI to indicate the fresh date.
He maintained that he was neither evading the law nor hiding. Mr. Raja also said that he would not seek anticipatory bail as he was not an accused.
On his recent meetings with Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, he termed them the usual between the leader and a cadre.
Sahara India has released an advertisement that the information linking them to 2G scam is incorrect.
Well….Raja and Kanimozhi denied more vehemently.
Holding that there was prima facie case, the Supreme Court on Friday issued contempt notice to Sahara group chief Subrata Roy for allegedly interfering with the investigation in the 2G spectrum case. The apex court also issued notices to two journalists, Upendra Rai and Subodh Jain, for allegedly threatening and blackmailing Enforcement Directorate‘s Investigating Officer Rajeshwar Singh, who is probing the case.
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