Corruption in the neoliberal era

Image: Niira Radia

In a season for scandal, allegations of large scale corruption have captured political India's attention. The instances to which such allegations relate are many, varying from the sale of 2G spectrum and the mobilisation and/or disposal of land and mining resources to purchases made as part of large and concentrated public expenditures (as in the case of the Commonwealth Games). If even partly true, these allegations that corruption may have increased in scale, overwhelm the evidence of small scale corruption among petty bureaucrats and local government functionaries.

Associated with such instances of the possible misuse of powers held by state functionaries for substantial private gain is huge profit for some of the richest individuals and for leading domestic and foreign business groups. This leads to surplus accumulation among two groups. The first is among those serving the state apparatus in high positions. The suspicion that this could be occurring is strengthened by the growing nexus between politics and business and the huge increases over time in the assets reported by individuals contesting elections to parliament and the legislatures. The second set of potential beneficiaries consists of the business groups which derive gains from the purchase of pecuniary benefits for a small price. If we go by the Comptroller and Auditor General's estimate, the loss of revenues to the state from the mispricing of 2G spectrum alone is Rs. 1.76 lakh crore or close to 10 per cent of Gross Fixed Capital Formation in the economy in 2008-09. If a large share of that loss is being transferred to those acquiring spectrum it points to huge benefits.

more at thehindu 

Seven big Indian corruption scandals

India has been rocked this year by a series of corruption scandals that have embarrassed the ruling Congress party, rattled markets and delayed reform bills as the opposition stalls parliament.

The country, 87th in Transparency International's rankings based on perceived levels of corruption, is no stranger to scandals.

Here are some of the biggest in the last two decades:

2010—Loan bribery case

The case broke after a year of investigation on November 24 when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested eight people, accusing them of bribery for corporate loans.

The arrests included the chief executive of state-run mortgage lender LIC Housing Finance and senior officials at state-run Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of India.

While the size of the scandal is not yet known, local media have reported it could run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

The CBI is probing 21 companies involved in India's booming infrastructure sector for links, but has not named them.

The bribes were allegedly paid by private finance firm Money Matters Financial Services, which acted as a "mediator and facilitator" for the loan beneficiaries, the CBI said.

Companies whose officials have been arrested have all denied any wrongdoing. Individuals arrested have not yet commented.

Government officials, including ministers, have said this is a case of individual wrongdoing and not a widespread scam.

2010—Telecoms licence row

Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja was sacked after a report by India's state auditor said his ministry sold licences and spectrum below market prices, depriving the government of up to USD 39 billion in revenues.

The scandal swept up as high as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had to explain to the Supreme Court why he sat on a request for permission to charge Raja with corruption.

In its report, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) also said rules were flouted when the licences were given in 2007-08 which led to many ineligible firms getting them.

The CBI has launched an investigation into alleged corruption at the ministry. Nobody has been charged yet and Raja has denied any wrongdoing.

The CAG said Unitech units got licences despite having inadequate capital, Swan Telecom got a licence even though there were monopoly issues and Reliance Communications got undue benefits as it sought permission to offer services under the more popular GSM technology.

Revenue authorities have questioned Nira Radia, a top lobbyist, as part of an investigation into whether money laundering and forex laws were broken when the licences were purchased. Radia has denied any wrongdoing and has said she is cooperating with the probe.

 

more at moneycontrol 

A season of corruption

Seldom has the nation been so stricken by corruption. Scandal after scandal has surfaced relating to the Commonwealth Games, the Adarsh housing scheme (ostensibly for Kargil war widows) in Mumbai; the shenanigans in Prasar Bharati and its controversial award of telecast rights for the CWG; the tragedy of the collapse of an illegal and sub-standard multi-storeyed tenement in Delhi that took such a heavy toll of life and limb; the inordinate delay in granting the CBI permission to prosecute a senior official charged in a scam entailing fixing a contract bid called by the National Highways Authority of India and much else. The 2G Spectrum scam crowned them all.

IAS officers have been caught with crores of illicitly-garnered money; the Reddy Brothers, ministers in Karnataka, have defied the law and the Lok Ayukta despite mining and exporting iron ore illegally; Yeddyurappa, Karnataka’s BJP chief minister has been exposed for denotifying land to benefit his sons and family to the extent of an estimated `500 crore; about 750 candidates drawn from across the political spectrum were fielded in the just-concluded Bihar polls despite having criminal records. The list could go on. The stench is overpowering.
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In the News

Kiran Kumar Reddy sworn in as new Andhra Pradesh CM 

In the News: Kiran Kumar Reddy

Somdev wins men's singles gold in Asiad

India's Somdev Devvarman on Tuesday won the men's singles tennis gold medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Somdev dominated his higher ranked opponent from the start, storming to a 4-0 lead in the first set. Istomin managed to win just one game in that set.

In the second set, Istomin put up a better fight as the pair exchanged breaks. But he wasn't good enough to keep Somdev away from his second gold in the Guangzhou Games.

Somdev's feat has given India's its seventh gold at Guangzhou.

more at indiatoday 

Resolution Backing India's UNSC Bid Referred To US Committee

A resolution backing India's quest for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has been referred to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs for necessary action, two weeks after President Barack Obama endorsed its candidature during his visit to New Delhi.

The House Resolution 1729 by Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-Florida) gives the "sense of the House of Representatives that the U.N. should forthwith take the procedural actions necessary to amend Article 23 of the Charter of the United Nations to establish India as a permanent member of the 15-member body."

Lauding New Delhi's commitment to global peace and development of the South Asian region, the resolution noted that India is the largest democratic country in the world in which all political views are freely expressed and respected.

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The rise against corruption

After the exit of A Raja, Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi, the Opposition has tasted blood. It is not relenting in its campaign against corruption, the new demand being the constitution of a JPC to look into the mega 2G Spectrum scam. A JPC would help to keep the issue alive virtually on a daily basis with its members briefing the media regularly. The Supreme Court and the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament are already seized of the matter.Realising that corruption is becoming an issue agitating India’s middle class, as it once did in the mid-1980s, the Congress moved into a damage control mode and sent Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi packing. But it took the Congress a week to show A Raja the door. The time lost was the Opposition’s gain. For, the exit of the controversial telecom minister was seen to be done under pressure from the Opposition and the media, which bayed for his blood afresh, after the CAG report indicted him in the mindboggling Rs 1.76 lakh crore scandal. Had Raja stepped down along with Chavan and Kalmadi — his exit has been on the cards for some time — the Congress might have been on surer footing. The delay meant Advantage Opposition, whetting its appetite for more.

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FACTBOX - PM dragged into huge telecoms scandal

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been forced to explain to the Supreme Court his failure to probe a huge telecoms scam, as the investigation into a $31 billion scandal gathers pace.

 

Here are some details of the scandal, the investigation, and the potential fallout:

 

 

WHAT IS THE SCANDAL ABOUT?

Former Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja is accused of selling 2G telecom licences at deliberately low prices to companies, some of which were ineligible, during the 2007-2008 tendering process. Raja, who was sacked at the weekend, denies the charges.

An audit report into the licence sales, released on Tuesday, estimated a loss to the state of up to $31 billion, and has stoked opposition demands for a full-scale parliamentary investigation.

 

more at reuters

Corruption: India’s Growth Industry

ndia’s biggest growth industry isn’t outsourcing, pharmaceuticals or auto manufacturing – I believe it’s political corruption. In the last week, three top Indian officials have resigned for three different scandals. They all deny wrongdoing but corruption, long an issue in India, has again become topic number one for public debate.

The magnitude is mind-boggling. According to the Indian government’s Comptroller and Auditor General, the Indian exchequer has lost anywhere between $22 billion and $45 billion in the most sizable of the three current scandals: the alleged mishandling of a second-generation spectrum auction that favored a few bidders.

This isn’t the British Members of Parliament expenses scandal, where MPs were accused of overinflating expense reports; the biggest pilferer in that scandal made off with less than $1 million. In the U.S., lobbyist Jack Abramoff took in less than $100 million for his misdeeds

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India's 'season of scams'

There should be zero tolerance for corruption, India's well-meaning law minister Veerapa Moily told a meeting of federal investigators last year. In a forceful pitch to stamp out corruption, the erudite Mr Moily invoked some 15 writers and leaders, including Plato, Gandhi, Lincoln and Gladstone, to drive home the point that endemic corruption destroys societies. "While we all know that the cancer of corruption has seeped into the blood stream of our polity, the million dollar question that stares us in the face is what can be done other than what we have been doing in the name of combating this evil all along," wondered Mr Moily with his characteristic flourish.

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Nava Ratna status to Vizag steel plant

Prestigious Vizag Steel plant conferred with Navaratna status.  There are several benefits with navaratna status including independent decisions.

China Tops India for Most International Students Studying in U.S. Colleges

China Tops India for Most International Students Studying in U.S. Colleges
China Surges Past India as Top Home of Foreign Students
The number of Chinese students studying in the United States surged 30 percent in the 2009-10 academic year, making China, for the first time, the top country of origin for international students, according to “Open Doors,” the Institute of International Education’s annual report.

The report found that a record high of 690,923 international students came to the United States last year — nearly 128,000 of them, or more than 18 percent, from China. Over all, the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased 3 percent for the 2009-10 academic year.

India, which in recent years had been in the top spot, increased its numbers only slightly, to 104,897 last academic year.

“The number of students from China is booming, because of that booming Chinese economy,” said Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the institute. “But India, which also has a booming economy, is only up 1.6 percent. I think one factor is the great number of Chinese families with disposable income, two working parents and only one child, and a determination to invest their money to make sure that child receives the best education possible.”
more at nytimes

Ex-Secy blows whistle on Raja

One of the top officers of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) who resisted Telecom Minister A Raja’s attempts to grant the controversial licences to nine operators has blown the whistle. In an exclusive interview to The Financial Express, his first to any media since retiring from office on December 31, 2007, former DoT secretary D S Mathur has said that he had resisted the Minister’s attempts to grant the licences without first coming out with an “equitable and transparent policy”.

“When the Minister (Raja) did not listen to my counsel, I told the joint secretary concerned that I would not sign any files on licensing matters, therefore no files should be put up before me,” Mathur said over the phone from Bhopal.

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The Richest Counties in America

Median Household Income:  $114, 204
While it has traded the top spot with the neighboring Fairfax before, Loudoun County has had the highest household income average since 2007. Taking the top spot isn’t hard to do when 17% of households in your county make more than $200,000. Conversely, only 16% make less than $50,000, the national average household income.

Of all the communities on the list, Loudoun County also had the lowest unemployment rate, estimated to be around 4.9%.
more at newsweek

Flawed 2G spectrum allocation led to Rs 1.76-lakh cr loss: CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Wednesday submitted its final report on 2G spectrum allocation in which it has stated that the decision by the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology to give spectrum on a first come, first served basis has caused a loss of nearly Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the national exchequer.

 

“The entire process of spectrum allocation was undertaken in an arbitrary manner. The Prime Minister had stressed the need for a fair and transparent allocation of spectrum, and the Ministries of Finance, and Law and Justice had sought that the decision regarding spectrum pricing be considered by an Empowered Group of Ministers. Brushing aside these concerns and advices, the Department of Telecommunications, in 2008, proceeded to issue 122 new licences for 2G spectrum at 2001 prices, flouting all rules and procedures to be followed in a parliamentary democratic set-up,” the CAG said in its report.

 

“The Minister of Communications and IT, for no apparent logical or valid reasons, ignored the advice of Ministry of Law, and Ministry of Finance, avoided the deliberations of the Telecom Commission to allocate 2G spectrum, a scarce finite national asset, at less than its true value on flexible criteria and procedures adopted to benefit a few operators. TRAI, the regulator, also stood by as a helpless spectator when its recommendations were being either ignored or misused,” it added.

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Telangana People’s Movement: the Unfolding Political Culture – Prof. G. Haragopal

 Prof. G. Haragopal

Abstract:The Telangana people’s movement is rooted in a historical context and a developmental model that the Indian rulers have been pursuing. The regional disparities-economic, social, cultural -are a part of this process. After formation of the linguistic State, every economic or developmental mode-be it green revolution or neo-liberal globalization-ended up with sharpening of the differences and widening of the disparities. Added to it is the reckless Urbanization leading to imbalanced and unplanned growth of the city of Hyderabad. This city is geographically in backward Telangana region but attracted a lot of capital investment giving rise to endemic claims and counter claims on the city. This entire direction of development sharpened multi layered contradictions. The ongoing movement is a search for some resolution of the contradictions without the necessary political creativity or capacity in responding to the challenge. This is the dialectic of development one discerns in one of the ongoing movements in a backward region of India.

I feel it a privilege to deliver Prof. B. Janardhan Rao memorial lecture for varied reasons, firstly, I had the privilege of being a teacher of Janardhan; secondly, Janardhan has grown into a scholar in his own right; thirdly, Janardhan combined in his approach of studying the society a conceptual framework and painstaking field based research. Above all he had a passionate involvement in the upliftment of the marginalized sections,                                    tribals being the most neglected segment of the society. Janardhan was also an activist concerned and engaged with politics of transformation. At the time he passed away, he was deeply involved in Telangana statehood movement. He persuasively argued with me and did all that was possible to convince me when I had some reservations about the desirability and the final outcome of such a movement. His life has been cut short and the immense potential and promise he held remained unexpressed. It is not only a personal loss to some of us but a social loss. It is also sad and unusual that a teacher should be delivering the memorial lecture of a younger colleague. The topic chosen for the memorial lecture is the Telangana People’s Movement: The Unfolding Political Culture. This is an area that is close to Janardhan’s heart, an area that I would have liked to discuss with him, if he were alive.
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Google Adds Instant Previews to Search Results | News Unlimited

Google Adds Instant Previews to Search Results

Google on Tuesday unveiled Instant Previews, a feature that will let users get a glimpse of search results pages by hovering over a magnifying glass icon next to the link.

“Instant Previews provides a graphic overview of a search result and highlights the most relevant sections, making finding the right page as quick and easy as flipping through a magazine,” Raj Krishnan, a Google product manager, wrote in a blog post.

After searching for something, Google will return search results as usual, but next to the star icon that lets you favorite a link, there will also be a small magnifying glass. Hover over that icon and Google will pop up a preview of the page in question. Those without a mouse can see the preview by hitting the right arrow key; hit the down arrow key to continue seeing results.

The option will help people navigate results faster and not waste time waiting for pages to load, Krishnan said. Google will also highlight in orange the text that matches your search query to locate relevant content as fast as possible.
more at pcmag

via newsunlimited.in

Obama greeted with grandeur in India

President Barack Obama heralded the relationship between the United States and India as a "defining partnership" of the 21st century Monday during a grand ceremony marking his visit to the world's largest democracy.

Obama's limousine was escorted to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the palatial residence of India's president, by guards on horseback. Obama greeted Indian dignitaries, then stood with his hand on his heart as a military band played the U.S. national anthem.

The president spoke briefly, thanking the Indian people for their hospitality and saying he hoped his trip here would strengthen the friendship between the two nations.

"The partnership between the United States and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," Obama said.

Following the arrival ceremony, Obama and first lady Michelle Obama placed a wreath at Raj Ghat, a memorial to Mohandas Gandhi. As a sign of respect, the Obamas removed their shoes before placing a large white wreath on a flower-covered tablet in front of an eternal flame.

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Will not mediate between India and Pakistan: Obama

In his first comments on Pakistan, on this four-day India trip, US President Barack Obama said, "Pakistan is a strategically important country, not just for America, but for the world." Obama was responding to a question from a student at the St Xavier's College in Mumbai, who asked why United States had refrained from calling Pakistan a terrorist state. "I must admit that I was expecting it," said the US President as he responded to the question
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Obama’s Taj Guest Book Entry

“We will always remember the events of 26/11; not only the sorrow, but also the courage and humanity that was displayed that day. The United States stands in solidarity with all of Mumbai and all of India in working to eradicate the scourge of terrorism, and we affirm our lasting friendship with the Indian people.”

 

Those were the words U.S. President Barack Obama wrote in the guest book at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel in Mumbai Saturday afternoon in his first engagement of his three-day trip to India. He picked up the theme in his first remarks, speaking outside a hotel where dozens died in terrorist attacks two years ago. He linked the attacks of November 2008 to the assault of Sept. 11, 2001, declaring India and the United States to be “two partners who will never waiver in the defense of our people or the democratic values that we share.”

more at wsj 

Human development: India at a dismal 119

The robust economic growth notwithstanding, India has garnered a lowly 119th rank in the United Nation's Human Development Index due to poor social infrastructure, mainly in areas of education and healthcare.

In the 'Human Development Report 2010' by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that covered 169 countries and territories, India's position is way below China (89th spot) and Sri Lanka (91).

 

Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu said that country's goal was to improve overall human development and not merely ensure economic growth.

 

"The ultimate growth is human development, not only economic growth," Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu said.

 

He, however, added that economic growth and rise in income levels were necessary for carrying out human development initiatives like providing access to education and health, gender equality, poverty eradication and so on.

more at rediff 

Facebook eyes mobile domination too!

More than 200 million people are now using Facebook across various mobile platforms, with the company claiming that this is bigger than the iPhone or Android user base.

World's Smallest Frog Packs Poison Punch

The record-holder for the smallest frog in the world apparently makes up for its miniature size by packing a wallop of poison, research reveals.

With a body that's only 10 millimeters long, the Mount Iberia frog (Eleutherodactylus iberia) from Cuba currently holds the Guinness World Record for smallest frog.

Investigating these dwarf frogs is painstaking work, said researcher Miguel Vences, an evolutionary biologist at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany.

"You have to crawl on your knees and move leaf by leaf," Vences told LiveScience. "And when you discover one of these frogs, they usually jump away immediately so that you have to start all over again."

When Vences found his first specimen, he smelled a bitter odor and suspected it might be coated in toxic alkaloids. (Morphine and caffeine are alkaloids.)

"At the time I just mentioned this as a crazy and rampant speculation - I was sure it would prove to be wrong, and was even more surprised when my chemistry colleagues sent me the first results, stating they indeed had found alkaloids in the skins," Vences said.
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Japan looks to ancient village wisdom to save biodiversity

Four decades ago the oriental white stork became extinct in Japan, the victim of rapid industrialisation and modern farm practices and heavy pesticide use that destroyed its habitat.

Today, the graceful migratory bird soars again over restored wetlands around the small town of Toyooka in western Japan, now a showcase for an ambitious conservation effort called the Satoyama Initiative.

As Japan hosts a UN conference on biodiversity this week, the high-tech nation is pushing the initiative to promote some of its ancient village wisdom as a way to heal battered environments worldwide.

The initiative draws lessons from before Japan became studded with megacities and crisscrossed by bullet train lines, when most people lived in villages near rice paddies, bamboo groves and forests.
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World Series Wisdom From Felipe Alou

With all the media available today, baseball wise men can seem a dime a dozen, so it’s a privilege when someone with genuine wisdom appears for 45 minutes of pre-game chatter as Felipe Alou did Saturday night.
Alou, now 75, managed the Giants from 2003-2006 after leading the Montreal Expos for 10 years, including the 1994 team that included Larry Walker, Cliff Floyd and Marquis Grissom and was the best in baseball heading into the strike. He was one of the game’s first Latin stars and managers, and he paved the way for a generation of Dominican talent.

Alou, who played for the Giants from 1958-1963, said it would be special for this current group to bring San Francisco its first World Championship. Alou was a part of the 1962 team that lost to the Yankees 1-0 in Game 7.

“When we went to Spring training this year, there was not a lot of people who were talking about us in the World Series, much less winning the World Series,” he said. “There was a time during this season when we didn’t look very good.”
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Sri Sri Ravishankar enlightens with his thoughts on Diwali

Here are the significant thoughts of Sri Sri Ravishankar on Diwali from his discourse on the topic. According to him, Diwali is Celebration of the light of wisdom.

~The rows of lights are lit on Diwali to remind you that every aspect of life needs your attention and the light of knowledge.

~Lights are lit on this day not just to decorate homes, but also to communicate a profound truth about life. Light dispels darkness and when the darkness within you is dispelled through the light of wisdom, the good wins over the evil in you.

~Bursting crackers is like a psychological exercise created by ancient people to release bottled-up emotions. When you see an explosion outside, you feel similar sensations within you as well. Along with the explosion, there is so much light. So when you let go of the suppressed emotions, you become hollow and empty and the light of knowledge dawns.

~Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.

~Any celebration has to be spiritual as a celebration without spirituality has no depth. Celebration is the nature of the spirit and every excuse to celebrate is good.

~In celebration, you should not only have a party; you must remind yourself of the wisdom. For the one who is not in knowledge, Diwali comes only once a year, but for the wise, Diwali is every moment and every day. Be wise and celebrate Diwali every moment and everyday of your life.

Light the lamp of wisdom in you, acquire knowledge. Awaken all the facets of your being.

HAPPY DIWALI!!
via mynews

'Balloon head' dolphin discovered

A new type of dolphin with a short, spoon-shaped nose and high, bulbous forehead has been identified from a fossil found in the North Sea.

The Platalearostrum hoekmani was named after Albert Hoekman, the Dutch fisherman who in 2008 trawled up a bone from the creature's skull.

Up to six metres in length, the dolphin lived two to three million years ago.

The so-called rostrum bone and a model of the dolphin are on display at the Natural History Museum Rotterdam.

As museum researchers Klaas Post and Erwin Kompanje write in the museum's journal Deinsea, the North Sea has been a rich source of fossils in recent decades as bottom-trawling has become more prevalent.

The practice has yielded tens of thousands of pieces of the fossil record - many of which defy classification.
more at bbc