Thursday, July 28, 2011

Arun Shourie’s rebuttal of A.Raja’s arguments.

 From

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-27/news/29820843_1_2g-telecom-minister-swan-and-unitech

 

2G scam: PM smelled something fishy but stayed away, says Arun Shourie

Sruthijith KK, ET Bureau

 

Former telecom minister A Raja's statements in court has opened a new political battlefront, with BJP demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister and P Chidambaram, who was finance minister when the 2G spectrum allocation was made. The telecom minister during the NDA regime, Arun Shourie , has been tracking developments on the 2G trial. In an interview to ET , Shourie discusses what he believes the PM knew, going by the file notings, Raja's defence that he inherited the policy, and other related issues. Excerpts:

 

Are you inclined to believe Raja's statements that he did everything with FM's and PM's knowledge?

Raja was very clever. He wrote about 18 letters to the PM during the 2G episode. And in each letter, he implicated somebody. For instance in his letter on 7 November, 2008, he says, "kindly recall my meeting with you on 4/11/2008 along with the honourable Finance Minister in connection with 3G spectrum auction and one time spectrum charges for 2G. During the discussion, you advised me to meet the press, to explain the policy and rules.

Accordingly, I addressed the issues in the press conference today and explained the related issues including the dilution of shares as explained by the Finance Minister, of Swan and Unitech." The same day he issues a press release, in which he repeats that this issue has been explained by the Finance Minister. "This matter has been discussed and clarified with the Finance Minister," the press release says, in which this portion is in bold!

Then the FM himself has said, yes, the PM asked me to examine this particular matter. He says I examined it, I said it is dilution of equity and it was consistent with policy and procedure. If that is the case, how is it that now, the Enforcement Directorate, which is under the same ministry, has slapped a 7100 crore penalty on Etisalat? For violation of FEMA!

If everything was done as per policy and procedure, then how? It now transpires, according to ED, that Etisalat was given permission to bring in money from UAE. But it, instead, brought in money from an unknown unit in Mauritius. Secondly, on the same day, Syed Salauddin, a close associate of Mr Karunanidhi, brought in 380 crore. He was allowed to bring it in as a domestic investor and he brought the money from UAE. He has also been slapped with a Fema notice. Both things happened in Swan on the same day.

 

So, is Raja on firm ground?

All these statements these lawyers like Kapil Sibal are making now, saying everything was in order and there was zero gain to the companies, are statements that will be used by these companies to defend themselves in notices. Kapil Sibal is not the lawyer for the PM, he is the lawyer for Raja and the companies.

It is not Raja who is dragging in the PM now. You go back to Sibal's first press conference on this matter. There he said Raja kept the FM and the PM informed at every turn. I had said at that time that this is the sentence that Raja will use. That is exactly what has happened. Now you wait and see. When the Telecom Minister says the companies made no gain, that will be their defence.

The PM had said in Parliament in February that the then FM and Raja had agreed on a formula and this was communicated to him. Raja says the equity dilution in Swan Telecom and Unitech was discussed and cleared with the FM before the PM. FM says the PM wanted to know if it was a case of dilution of equity or divestment. This shows that the matter that has caused the most outrage, that these two companies benefitted from enormous valuation for a license they paid the government very little for, was known to the PM and he did nothing about the policy that allowed these companies to do this.

All this is in the public domain. Priority lists have been changed, the basis of first-come-first-served had been changed, cut off date had been advanced and 500 applicants were reduced for favoured companies. It now turns out from the CBI chargesheet that the license applications of three companies were approved even before the policy was announced.

You mean to say rivals would not have brought it to the attention of TKA Nair (Principal Secretary to the PM) and others in the PMO? Do you mean to say the Intelligence Bureau and CBI and others would not have brought this to their attention? I cannot believe that. Because our system is so structured that the PM and his office gets to know about every sparrow that moves in the government. That I can testify from personal knowledge.

 

This was all in public domain...

The notings on the file indicate that the PM was quite alarmed at what was happening. These licenses were given on 10 January, 2008. On 11 January, the Principal Secretary notes that the PM desires to take into account the developments concerning the issue of licenses. This means perhaps that he wanted to have a meeting about it. The file is submitted back to the PMO on 15 January. Now see what the Principal Secretary notes.

"Prime Minister wants this informally shared with the department. He does not want a formal communication and wants PMO to be at arms length". Why would he give this instruction to his officers unless he knew that there is murky stuff going on and it is better to stay away. I think he had full knowledge and I think he had deep apprehension that something terrible has happened and his only concern was let's stay away from the filth. That is not what a PM is supposed to do.

 

You mean, he knew but shied away from taking any action?

This particular sentence, at arms length, very well describes Dr Manmohan Singh's attitude in regard to CWG, defence acquisitions and every other major decision. Weapons purchases are not happening because Mr Antony (Defence Minister) also wants to stay at arms length on every decision. I think this will be an apt title for a book on Dr Singh's tenure as PM - At Arm's Length.

 

Raja has also said that if the policy was wrong, all former telecom ministers must be jailed.

Raja says that he was following earlier policies but he flouted them. Take first-come-first-served (FCFS): He says I will FCFS. Then he disregards pending applications. If you were following the policy, you should have dealt with them first. Then he says I will have this cut-off date of October 1. After the applications are received, he says no, I will advance deadline to 25 {+t}{+h} September.

Then he changes FCFS. First, it was time and date of application received. And suddenly it becomes time and date of fulfilling the conditions in the letter of intent. Where is LoI? People rushed for it. It says, within 40 minutes, bring a banker's draft of Rs1,650 crore. Companies he favoured already has those drafts from Mumbai and sitting in his office. How could they get it in 40 minutes?

When he could not find adequate spectrum for his favoured companies, he changes the priority list in the Punjab and Maharashtra circles. You show me one single, unique, solitary instance during my period or anybody else's period during NDA when any of this would have happened. So yes, people who do wrong should be in jail and continue to be in jail without bail.

9 comments:

harinee said...

Thanks for the post. What I still don't understand is what does Manmohan Singh gain out of shielding so many corrupt people?
I find your predictions to be very accurate. Have you ever gone through our PM's horoscope?
Is he really a honest man as his peers or Subramaniam Swamy claims?
Which honest man will desire to stay in the company of such goons?

Jayasree Saranathan said...

PM's exact birth details are not known. But recently I got the birth details of him from an astrological article. If that is true, here is how I will predict his fortunes.

Sep 26, 1932,
2 pm,
Jhelum

If you ask me whether he is really an honest man, I would say no.
Mano, vaak, khaayam are important for a man. They are thought, word and action.
The thought is signified by the 5th house, the word by the 2nd house and action by the 10th house. The lords of these houses must be in auspicious connection in kendra or kona to the lagna and lagna lord for one to be an exemplary personality whose thoughts, words and actions are of highest order.

You can check it with Lord Rama's horoscope. His lagna is Cancer with lagna lord posited in Cancer. The 2nd lord Sun is exalted in the 10th. Mars happens to be the 5th and 10th lord and is exalted in the 7th, which happens to be the 10th from the 10th house. These planets are in mutual kendra to each other and the lagna and the moon. Rama is an exemplary personality.

Let us check Mahathma Gandhi's horoscope. His lagna is Libra with lagna lord posited in that. The 2nd lord of words is Mars which is posited in lagna joining the lagna lord. So he will utter words from his Self and remain true to them.

His 5th lord of thought namely Saturn is in the 2nd house of words. So he will speak what he thinks. There is a unity of thought and speech and the self by these indications written here so far.

Now look at his 10th house of action. The 10th lord moon is posited in the 10th showing he is sincere in his actions and there is no faltering.

Now look at the connection between all these lords. They are in kendra or kona to each other are are occupying auspicious houses (excepting 6th, 8th and 12th and upachayas which are beneficial for malefics only)

So there is no doubt that Gandhi was a man of words. His words arose from sincere and honest thoughts which he implemented with sincerity.

For a comparison look at Nehru's horoscope. His lagna was Cancer with the lagna lord moon posited there. His 5th and 10th lords happen to be Mars occupying the 3rd, a upachaya, which is in shashtasktaka to the 10th. That means he is a confused person with reference to his thoughts and action. He will think something but do something else. His actions are not motivated by deep thinking. He is a man of momentary thoughts. The lord of these 2 houses in the 3rd show that he is not at all good thinker nor a good doer.

But his 2nd lord of words, namely the Sun is posited in the 5th and therefore in kona to the lagna and its lord. This shows he is a talker. People think that his words arise from deep thought whereas it is not so, because his lord of thought is in an inauspicious place and in inauspicious connection with other planets under scrutiny.

(cont'd)

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Now let us look at what MMS has.
His lagna is Sagittarius whose lord is in the 9th with Ketu. The 2nd lord for words is Saturn which is situated in its own house in the 2nd but in retrogression!! Always note that retrograde planets add to longevity but their tendency is reversed from what they are on the basis of their placement. A planet is strong in its own house. But if it is in retrogression in its own house, it means it will become weakened.

(Similarly, exalted planet in retro behaves like debilitated planet and vice versa. Retro planet in friendly house behaves like an enemy and vice versa. The rationale is like this. Suppose you own a house and you behave with 'vakram' - antagonism, only your house will suffer because of your vakree attitude. The same rationale is extended to other places of retrogression.)

Now coming to MMS horoscope, the lord of words in vakram in own house does not make him a man of words. He can not be trusted. He brings down his reputation by his own words.

Look at his 5th lord. It is Mars which goes into debility is the 8th. Already his 8th house has asura yoga with benefics such as Moon and Venus. His thoughts will gain asuric proportions and will be detrimental for his own self because this combination not only occurs in the 8th from the lagna but also from the 12th to the lagna lord. But his 5th and 2nd lords are in mutual aspect showing a union in Thought and words. This shows that he is not innocent. He knows what he speaks and thinks and knows what that could mean to others. This is crass cunning nature. If the birth details as given above are true, he is definitely cunning and can not feign ignorance nor honesty in thought.

Now let us come to his 10th lord.It is Mercury posited in the 10th in Dharma karmadhipathi Yoga. This is what has got him the respect. His actions stay where they must be and had earned him a name as an intellect. He is known for his good work as an economist. Only the lord of action is in kendra to lagna but other 2 are not in auspicious relationship with either the lagna or the lagna lord.

But even this lord of action is not in good stead. It is in debility in the 5th house in Navamsa and is a baadak for his lagna. This mercury is combust and therefore lost its bhadak nature in general. With bhaadak nature stripped off by Sun, the 9th lord, he was able to enjoy the fruits of Dharma karmadhilathi yoga by heading the nation in Rahu dasa - Mercury bhukthi.

But the upcoming Moon bhikthi in Rahu dasa from 12th September to 10th March 2013 will be the worst ever phase in his career. I don't expect him to last this term.

harinee said...

Thanks for the wonderful analysis. Once again I am confounded by your profound knowledge and depth in astrology.
Its really sad no leader is emerging out of BJP also to give a direction to the party.

Skandan said...

Arun Shourie was born in Jalandar, British India. His father was Hari Dev Shourie, an Indian civil service officer (ICS), who later became a consumer rights activist. His father was a magistrate at Lahore during partition of India and the family moved to India. Arun studied at Modern School, Barakhamba and St. Stephen's in Delhi. He obtained his doctorate in Economics from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University in the United States.[4] His sister Nalini Singh is a journalist.

In Does He Know a Mother's Heart? Arun Shourie discusses the perennial question that has grappled mankind since eternity:

"If there is a kind,compassionate,all-knowing God,how can there be extreme suffering in this world?".

Shourie analyses various religious scriptures in his quest for the answer to this question.

The book is a also a personal narrative of a father whose son has been suffering from Cerebral Palsy since childhood(Shourie's son Aditya is now 34 years old)and of a husband whose wife is a Parkinson's Disease patient.The personal narrative is particularly heart wrenching.


‘It is one of the questions that assail every parent who has to bring up a handicapped child. Why do such horrible things happen? Why did this happen to this innocent child?’

We were attending the Dalai Lama’s teachings. Time for questions. Arun Shourie got up and asked his question. The Dalai Lama, unaware of the root cause of the question, gave a generic answer — the doctrine of karma, that actions from previous lives determine what happens in your life today — that was disappointing to all who know Arun. Later, I told Arun, “Perhaps there are some questions to which there are no answers.” He smiled. His answer is this book.

http://books.hindustantimes.com/2011/07/review-does-he-know-a-mother%E2%80%99s-heart/

nutwit said...

Brilliant analysis. The last decade saw the fall of Laloo, and we have already seen the fall of commies in Bengal. Hope to see the fall of Congress soon. Just wanted to know if u have the Horoscope of NaMo? Will he be the PM?

Aishu said...

That was an informative analysis of our own MMS. Is he running the country on his own or under pressure?
Just by being silent over all the matters, he is trying to gain a good image. This is where things are fishy because he was a civil servant and a good finance minister. How can he not run a country in a better way?

Jayasree Saranathan said...

@ Skandan,

Please read my interview in this link to get a brief idea of what Hinduism and karma mean.

http://www.hindu-blog.com/2010/01/interview-with-jayasree-saranathan.html#more

Mr Arun Shourie is not right in his views on God and Hinduism. If he expects God to be compassionate to all and sundry, then would you say that DMK men and Karunanidhi who are facing problems also should be shown compassion? We are seeing what MK had done and therefore would say that he is getting what he sowed. But if the effect is experienced in another birth, you can not see the root cause that gave rise to a given situation of suffering. That should not be confused with God and his lack of compassion.

It is better to read original texts such as Gita and Brahma sutra with commentary by Acharyas than to rely on Arun Shouries to know about Hinduism. What he has written is a soul's search through experiences accrued through births. His understanding shows he has a long way to go.

For quick and easy learning, read the works of Stephan Knapp. The link is given in the side bar of this blog. Or read the following article on Hinduism from this blog.

http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2009/06/top-10-questions-about-hinduism-and-10.html

Jayasree Saranathan said...

@nutwit,
The authentic time of birth of NaMo is available with me.