Chopper scam: CBI team to visit Italy to probe charges

As it braces for an opposition onslaught in Parliament next week, the government today cracked the whip by moving to scrap the 12 helicopter deal with AgustaWestland and decided to send a CBI team to Italy to probe the charges that kickbacks to the tune of Rs 362 crore were paid to bag it.

The Defence Ministry also threatened to take other actions as per terms of the contract, an apparent reference to invoking a clause in the contract for recovery of money already paid in the Rs 3,600 crore deal. India has paid more than 30 per cent of the sum.

“The Defence Ministry issued a formal show cause notice to AgustaWestland seeking cancellation of the contract and taking other actions as per terms of the contract,” Ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said.

The company was asked to explain the bribery allegations within seven days and reply why the contract of 2010 should not be cancelled.

The action came after the ministry received “some report” from Italy, sources said.

The External Affairs Ministry has also written to the Italian government, seeking information on the issue. A CBI team is also being sent to Italy where the CEOs of AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica have been arrested on charges of bribery.

The Defence Ministry’s notice comes a day after the ministry warned of legal action, including invoking integrity pact which provides for cancellation of the contract if bribes are paid and recovery of the money already paid.

After the arrest of Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi in Milan on Tuesday, India had put on hold the receipt of the remaining helicopters as well as rest of the payment. India has already received three and three more were to be delivered next month.

The government action came as it prepares for an onslaught in Parliament beginning on 21 February, with parties like BJP and Samajwadi Party saying they would raise the issue and seek answers on the alleged scam.

The government yesterday asked Finmeccanica to state whether any money was illegally paid to any Indian entity or individual “which would be violative of the Integrity Pact or any other terms and conditions of the contract”.

The Defence Ministry had said yesterday that the government is determined to take all possible legal and
administrative action against the guilty parties and accordingly has ordered a thorough probe by CBI.

It noted that the contract with AgustaWestland carried an integrity pact that bars paying of bribes or involvement of middlemen, the Ministry warned of “strict action including cancellation of contract, recovery of payment, blacklisting and penal action can be taken against the vendors.”

The Ministry said the contract signed with AgustaWestland includes “specific contractual provisions against bribery and the use of undue influence. Article 22 of the contract deals with penalty for use of undue influence. This clause entitles the ‘Buyer’ to cancel the contract with the ‘Seller’ and recover from him the amount of any loss arising from such cancellation.”

“Article 23 of the contract entitles the ‘Buyer’ to consider cancellation of the contract without any entitlement or compensation to the ‘Seller’ who shall be liable to refund all payments made by the ‘Buyer’ in terms of the contract along with interest,” it said.

PTI

Rajya Sabha passes SC/ST quota bill

A Constitution amendment bill providing for quota for SCs and STs in government job promotions was today passed by Rajya Sabha with an overwhelming vote of 206 in the 245-member House.

10 votes were polled against the proposed legislation, which was strongly opposed by UPA ally Samajwadi Party but pushed by another supporter BSP creating a difficult situation for the government.

Those who voted against the contentious Constitution (117th Amendment) Bill, 2012, were nine members of Samajwadi Party and an independent Md Adeeb.

Being a Constitution amendment bill, there was a requirement of the two-third majority, which was easily surpassed as 206 voted in favour in the House, where 216 members were present.

All four members of Shiv Sena, which was also opposed to the Bill, were not present in the House.

The bill, which provides for reservation proportionate to population of SCs and STs, was approved by the Union Cabinet on September 5 against the backdrop of Supreme Court quashing such a decision of the Uttar Pradesh government earlier this year.

Replying to the two-day debate, Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said the bill seeks to correct the “inadequacy” in representation of SCs/STs in higher positions in government jobs.

To garner maximum support, government incorporated some crucial elements like 22 per cent cap on promotions for which consideration of Annual Confidential Report (ACR) will be crucial.

Reeling out figures, Narayanasamy pointed out that discrimination against the SCs/STs/OBCs continue and they are inadequately represented in the top bureaucracy.

He said quota in promotion existed since 1995 but the decision in Indira Sawhney case put spokes in it.

Arguing that all parties including Samajwadi Party are convinced about social justice, Narayanasamy asked the UPA ally as to why they are opposing reservation in promotion when they accept reservation at the entry level.

Noting that the Supreme Court has asked for quantifiable data on it, he said, “From our side we are convinced that they are backward per se. Government is committed to provide reservation in promotion. This is commitment of our government and the party. We are for SCs/STs and OBCs.”

Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley sought an assurance from the government that the amendments will not affect people who have already been promoted since 1995 to which Narayanasamy said the government will write in this regard to state governments so that people who have been promoted are “not adversely affected”.

The Bill provides for amendments to Article 16(4) of the Constitution that will allow states to reserve seats in promotion for SCs and STs without collecting data to show the backwardness of class and inadequacy of that class in public appointments.

Samajwadi Party, which is strongly opposed to a bill asked the government to rethink on it, warning that it can have very serious fall-out and may be challenged in court.

Contending that his party is not against quota, Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) said as far as reservation in jobs at the entry level is concerned, it is justifiable but after that people should be treated equally.

His party colleague Naresh Agrawal demanded that the Bill should be referred to Parliamentary Standing Committee to avoid a possible widespread uproar in the country.

Earlier, when the Bill was taken up for consideration last Thursday, high drama was witnessed in the House with SP members creating uproar forcing the Chair to ask two of them to leave.

Agrawal, whose party was a clear minority in opposing the Bill in the Upper House, requested members belonging to other parties to vote not on party lines, but as per inner voice.

Earlier, SP demanded proportionate reservation for Muslims through a Constitutional amendment.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Ram Gopal Yadav said the Rajinder Sachar Committee in its report pointed out that the condition of Muslims was worse than Dalits.

“When quota in promotion (for SC/ST) can be given by amending Constitution, then why Muslims should not be given reservation in proportion to their population through a Constitution Amendment Bill,” Yadav asked.

The debate also saw demands for reservation of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. Ali Anwar Ansari from JD-U while supporting bill said that change of religion does not change the social condition of people and urged parties supporting the bill to expand their heart and include Dalits from among Christians and Muslims as well.

“We are first Dalits, then we became Muslims or Christians,” Ansari said. Supporting the demand, Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) wanted to know whether Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims can be accommodated.

The CPI-M leader also asked the government to consider the creation of supernumerary post when the rules are drafted for the bill as there are already vacancies in government jobs so that others do not lose their promotion chances due.

BJP member Rama Jois had moved an amendment, which he withdrew later after an assurance by the government.

Shivanand Tiwari (JD-U) said that the data reeled out by the government also shows that the condition of OBCs is quite pathetic in government jobs and wanted to know whether it will launch any special drive to correct the anomaly. RJD also supported his contentions.

Prashnata Chatterjee wanted to know how long reservation will be confined to government sector and when will it be brought in private sector.

Supporting the bill, he said that when reservation is looked at it should be done from a “mother’s heart and not from an eagle’s eye” and that reservation is not giving favour but equality.

The issue triggered an uproar in the House in the morning with SP members rushing into the Well leading to its adjournment for 30 minutes during Question Hour.

After the bill was passed, BSP chief Mayawati walked up to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to say thanks. She was also seen in an animated chat with her party colleagues.

Bharat Bandh: Most Affected Places

In the protest against the hiked petrol prices in the country, the left and the right aligned against the government. Since it is a major issue concerning the people, many non aligned UPA parties and some UPA allies too, came up with their support to the nationwide agitation declared by BJP.  There were mixed responses to the protest since it remained calm in some places while some alienated incidents of violence were also reported. Here is the list of most affected places during the Bharat bandh based on NDTV reports.

Maharashtra:

Maharashtra faced the most number of attacks in the current Bharat bandh. The impact of the bandh was mostly on the major city of this state, Mumbai. The city has reported many stone-pelting incidents. Minimum around 68 buses were damaged and many buses were set on fire. The impact of the bandh was clearly visible from the decreased number of passengers in the local trains. The number of Autos and taxis on the road was also very less comparing to the normal working days. Good number minimum 48,000 police personnel were positioned in the sensitive areas of the city

Buses were forcefully stopped from service mainly in Satara and Nagpur. Many business establishments too were forcefully shut down. The protesters even tried to stop Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan‘s convoy.

Delhi:

There were very much inconveniences caused by the protesters in the capital city. BJP activists blocked many crucial junctions and staged demonstrations in the city. This had a major impact on the city traffic. Many of the office-goers literally suffered when the protesters blocked an arterial road that connects Ghaziabad to Delhi. The Bandh was also joined by auto rickshaw and taxi unions causing more difficulty to the passengers. The traffic issues on the roads made crowding and delays in the metro station in the city.

Besides these many BJP leaders including Ananth Kumar and Vijay Goel have courted arrest in Delhi. Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury and D Raja were other prominent leaders who were taken in to custody during the protest.

Uttar Pradesh:

Besides being a UPA ally, the Utter Pradesh ruling Samajwadi Party had also registered its opposition to the petrol price hike by calling for a statewide bandh. The impact of the bandh was quite strong in Allahabad since SP activists blocked railway tracks and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Akhilesh Yadav-led government has also expressed its inability to take away the value added tax of the increased petrol price of the State. The Congress-ruled states like Delhi, Kerala and Uttarakhand had taken away the additional tax on petrol caused by the increase to reduce the impact of the hike.

Karnataka:

The Bandh has disturbed the normal life of Karnataka very much. In the BJP ruled state three buses were set on fire and a dozen of buses were stoned. The authorities were forced to withdraw the bus services in Bangalore. The inconvenience caused by the bus service caused many to stay back at home. Most of the business establishments and shops remained closed in the several parts of the state.

West Bengal:

Bengal, ruled by the Trinamool Congress was impacted from the bandh. People were very less in number on the streets. The supporters of bandh blocked many roads including Howrah Bridge, a major bridge which connects the metropolis to the Howrah district. There are no incidences of violence reported in the city. Some taxis and autos were also running on the streets.

Other Major Impacts

The bandh also affected train services in Bihar and Jharkhand. Three Rajdhani trains – Delhi-Howrah, Delhi-Sealdah and Delhi-Bhubneshwar – were stopped near Koderma. Rail roko in Patna staged by JD(U) workers also affected local train services.

While protesting in Bihar, the president of the ruling anata Dal (United) and the Convenor of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was arrested in Saharsa while BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain was arrested in Bhagalpur.

Related articles

• Bharat bandh halts normal life, rail traffic hit (ibnlive.in.com)
• Mixed response to bandh against petrol price hike (thehindu.com)
• Bandh a success in NDA states, tepid in others (ibnlive.in.com)

India’s Never Ending Quota Politics

With the upcoming Assembly Elections, the vote bank politics is seen coming to the fore once again. Congress has been on terms to offer a Muslim quota (4.5 percent Sub-quota) within the 27 percent reservation for OBCs in central government jobs in the five election-bound states, particularly UP. All the political parties seem to have positioned themselves to reap electoral dividends.

On Tuesday the Election Commission (EC) issued a show-cause notice to Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid and his wife, Louise Khurshid, the Congress candidate from Farrukhabad in UP. The show cause notice was served as the law minister was campaigning for Louise and promised a 9 percent sub-quota for backward Muslims if Congress got voted to power in Uttar Pradesh. Khurshid retaliated to this by saying that he was merely repeating a pledge in his party’s election manifesto for the 2009 general election. He also said that his statement was not a poll violation of any sorts.
SP Chief Mulayam Singh who had initially refused to back the sub-quota apparently fearing the backlash from OBCs, later said that he would back 18 percent quota for Muslims. But it was noted that this would not be possible as experts said the quota cannot exceed 50 percent of the total OBC Muslim population and hence is currently 9 percent.

The BJP who has nothing to lose is seeking to use the quota politics to create a drift among OBC voters in the state who are inclined to support the SP and the Congress.

The potential of the quota promise with a view to sway Muslim opinion has forced Mulayam and other political leaders to promise a higher quantum of quota for Muslims. Looking for an opportunity to re-embrace a portion of OBC votes, BJP fielded one of the most prominent backward leaders in its fold, Uma Bharati, in order to launch an offensive against Congress quota promise. In a press conference Uma was quoted saying “Congress party’s decision to give 9% reservation to the minority community is a purely politically move, which has been announced in view of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh”, as reported by ZeeNews.com.

Uma also added that “Congress’ divisive policies were responsible for the partition of the country some 60 years back and the ruling party (BSP) is once again trying to divide the country on the basis of religion. This is a bad politics that Congress is indulging in for increasing its vote banks.” Based on this the EC on Wednesday put the implementation of the new quota regime on a virtual hold till the process of elections in these states is completed (till March 9).

Meanwhile the BSP, the SP and the Congress are noted to have increased the number of Muslim candidates for the assembly elections. The BSP and the SP have named 75-80 candidates, while Congress leaders said the party will field Muslim candidates in around 70 constituencies in the final list, as reported by livemint.com.

Will Maya Come Back To Unveil Her Statues?

January 11 is set as the deadline by the Election Commission to drape the statues of Mayawati and the elephants (the BSP’s election symbol) in Uttar Pradesh and it raises many eye brows on the issue whether Mayawati and her elephants would come back to power and continue their reign in the state?

As per Opinion Poll by Star News-Nielsen for Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party will be the front runner in the 2012 while BSP will suffer a major setback. Congress was seen to be improving a lot in several areas despite spate of scam and corruption cases against its ministers. The report also suggests that Mayawati’s plan of dividing UP in 4 different states found a lot of support in public, especially in the areas of Purvanchal, but according to Star News, it is not going to translate into votes for the party. The poll predicts that BSP will get 120 seats (-86), SP 135 seats (+38), Congress 68 (+46) and BJP 65 (+14).

After addressing massive election rallies in U.P, Congress claimed that AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi with his ongoing campaign would secure majority in the upcoming assembly elections. On Mayawati’s recent sacking of ministers, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said “She thought of removing them only days before elections. Such gimmicks do not work. It is clear that like her council of ministers has crumbled, her five-year rule is also crumbling and she is not going to come back to power.”

Much drama was seen when the exercise of draping the massive statues began as the officials ran out of sheets to cover the giant statues and as they also ran out of ideas on how to effectively go about the task.

As per reports a confusion prevailed between two agencies — the UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN), which has constructed the parks and erected the statues and the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), which has been entrusted with the upkeep of the memorials, parks and statues. The statues which UPRNN had covered on Sunday were unveiled again by the LDA staff by evening. Similar confusion delayed the work in Noida as well.

When the statues were not draped even after the orders from the EC, UP Congress President Rita Bahuguna Joshi said, “The officials are deliberately not covering the statues to give as much political mileage as possible to the BSP.” Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan said, “Even two days after the EC’s orders, the state administration is hesitating to cover the statues. Obviously, these officials either fear Mayawati or are delaying the work deliberately,” reported DNA.

The Election Commission says the decision to cover up the statues is to ensure free and fair elections, but many have expressed skepticism over whether it will achieve its purpose. Actor Anupam Kher tweeted, “A covered Mayawati statue will get more attention than an uncovered one. People will say – Oh that is Mayawati’s statue covered.” Author Chetan Bhagat was quoted saying in NDTV, “Either you don’t let them erect statues first place, or let them be. Poor people need blankets more than the statues need drapes. Doesn’t draping the elephant statues in Lucknow bring even more attention to them?”

The question really is, if Mayawati rises back to power then the statues could be unveiled as a mark to her re-entry as the ruling power but what happens if BSP doesn’t see the sunlight and fails to come to power? Would the statues never be unveiled until she rises back to power again?

Related articles

• BSP heeds EC order, Maya’s statues covered (ibnlive.in.com)
• Politics in India, a Safe Haven for Criminals (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)
• War of Words (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)

Celebs, Who Kept Away From Parliament

The Kingdom of Bollywoodis actively involved in almost everything like social work, fashion shows, product launches, restaurants or spas and above all politics. Coming to politics, some of the stars may be great achievers in their respective fields, but were singularly unimpressive as members of India’s two houses of parliament. Based on the statistics of Social Watch India, we take you through some of the great names who were conspicuous by their absence.

 1.Hema Malini

The beautiful yesteryear actress Hema Malini became a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2004. She was soon elected to the Rajya Sabha on BJP ticket. The actress-dancer fared better compared to others, with 10 percent attendance. She asked 179 questions and participated in the upper house debates 15 times, but her questions formed only 0.78 percent of totally raised.

2.Govinda

Next in our list is famous Actor Govinda, who joined the Congress party in 2004. Govinda was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mumbai with a thumping majority, beating the five time sitting MP by over 50000 votes. In the run up to the polls, Govinda had announced that his agenda was prawaas (transportation), swasthya (health) and gyaan (education). The Bollywood star Govinda did not even once attend the house proceedings during his MP stint, leave alone raising questions on these issues.

3.Dharmendra

Dharmendra was elected as a Member of the Parliament (MP) in the 2004 general elections, from Bikaner in Rajasthan, on a BJP ticket. Dharmendra rarely attended the Parliament when the house was in session, preferring to spend the time shooting movies and doing farm-work at his farm house. He also did not participate in any debates or raise any queries. Along with actor Govinda, Dharmendra has been criticized for ignoring his duties as a MP.

 4.Vinod Khanna

In 1997, Vinod Khanna joined the BJP and in the 1998 general elections was elected from Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab. In 1999, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the same constituency. He became the union minister for culture and tourism in July 2002. Vinod Khanna has essayed a variety of Bollywood roles with style, but had just four questions to ask the government, and spoke only twice in the discussions, while his average attendance was 5.5 percent during his tenure as a MP.

5. Jaya Prada

Samajwadi Party‘s Lok Sabha MP Jaya Prada was initiated into the Telugu Desam Party by her former co-star N.T.Rama Rao in 1994. She later broke away from him and joined the Chandrababu Naidu faction of the party. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha representing Andhra Pradesh in 1996.Following differences with party Supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, she left TDP to join Samajwadi Party and contested from Rampur parliamentary Constituency in UP, during the 2004 general elections. In her campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, she was issued a notice by the Election Commission for violating the code of conduct by distributing bindis to women in Rampur’s Swar locality. Throughout her political career Jaya Prada rarely attended the parliament and asked only 178 questions.

6.Jaya Bachchan

Jaya Bachchan was elected as a Samajwadi Party MP, representing the Rajya Sabha in 2009. Although being quite active in the parliamentary debates, Jaya Bachchan’s lack of attendance in the Rajya Sabha meetings has indicated her least interest towards politics. The yesteryear diva has raised only 159 questions in the house.

7.Shyam Benegal

Eminent filmmaker Shyam Benegal, another Rajya Sabha member whose films have essayed contemporary social issues with great intensity, had no question to ask the government and only spoke twice in the debates of the house.

8.Navjyot Sindhu

Former cricketer and BJP’s Amritsar MP Navjot Sidhu may have impressed everyone with his banter and smart repartee, but as an MP the cricketer gets thumbs down as he remained uncharacteristically quiet during Lok Sabha debates. He asked only 0.38 percent of the questions and attended the house only six percent of the time.

Corruption Takes Politicians On Quota Path

Bangalore: The quota politics has set its foot in Uttar Pradesh again. With UP elections not far away, Chief Minister Mayavati has shot off three letters in three days to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking job reservation for Muslims, weaker upper class and Jats. The latest caste ploy of the UP CM has revived debates on whether caste based reservations have become a mere vote bank for our politicians. Is this an effort to renew caste and communal equations as a primary vote wagon to drive the vested interests of our underperforming corrupt leaders?

Caste Politics

Politicians are left with nothing to show on the development front, and the recent corruption scandals have stung all the parties. The Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are in the dock over corruption charges against the centre and state respectively. The BJP finds itself in trouble over corruption in Uttarkhand and Karnataka. All the political parties are now employing ultra ‘innovative’ tactics to woo the voters.

The Congress-led UPA Government is already planning a bill for Muslim quota. While Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is aggressively wooing Muslims, another Congress MP P L Punia from Barabanki is trying to win over dalits. The UP Congress President Bahugana Joshi has been given the task of pleasing the upper caste. Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to hold frequent meetings with various castes and community leaders. Rajnath Singh is supposed to be wooing the Thakurs, as Vinay Katiyar is consolidating the OBC base. BSP has formed different bhaichara committees to woo Muslims, upper castes, OBCs and most backward classes. The Samajwadi Party (SP) is struggling to regain the Muslim base in UP.

Divide and Rule in disguise

The most potent weapon of all parties is the quota system, to exploit the diverse caste and communal colours of our country. The parties are trying to bring anyone and everyone under the quota system, based on vague facts. It is here that regional parties like BSP and DMK seek to pit the lower caste against the higher caste and national parties like BJP and Congress create disunity between Majority and Minorities. Is this not divide and rule in disguise? The country struggling to go beyond the caste system and the disunity it has brought is seeing a caste revival through the dirty agendas of its politicians. How many more Pakistans and Bangladeshs are to be created out of India!

 

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• India set to unveil new quotas for government jobs and university places (telegraph.co.uk)
• Narendra Modi Versus Rahul Gandhi – Who Will Win The Elections? (socyberty.com)
• A Case for Fractured Solidarities and Skepticism – Guest Post by Ghazala Jamil in response to Nivedita Menon on Anna Hazare (kafila.org)