Chopper deal middleman was in Delhi to erase trail

February 25, 2013

Chopper_deal

New Delhi, Feb 25: About three months after the Italian prosecutors initiated a probe into the Rs 360-crore payoff in the VVIP helicopter deal in November 2011, Augustawestland key defence agent Guido Ralph Haschke came and stayed in India for a week without raising any eyebrows of the security agencies or the Centre.

Investigative agencies are now digging the immigration records to ascertain how many times Haschke and his associate Gerosa Carlo – both allegedly swung the deal in favour of Augustawestland – flew to India. Also under the scanner are their Indian contacts apart from the ones figured in Italian probe, including the Tyagi family and lawyer Gautam Khaitan.

Haschke had landed in Delhi and stayed in a prominent hotel from February 11 to 19, 2012, to cover up the paper trail as Borgogni Lorenzo, senior employee of Finmecanica that has stakes in Agustawestland, had spilled beans to Italian investigators during his questioning on November 15, 2011. Finmecanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi was recently arrested but charges have not been pressed against him.

Sources said the details of his lodging, food expenses, telephone calls made and received and visitors to the hotel are being scanned to find out the exact purpose of Haschke’s long visit at a time when the probe was on but not exposed by the Italian media.

The February 2011 visit was, perhaps, Haschke’s last landing in India as the Swiss businessman refused to come to fix an agenda for the board meeting of Chandigarh-based Aeromatrix – in which he along with Carlo Gerosa, Arihant Jain and Gautam Khaitan were partners but resigned after the expose took place – supposed to have taken place in June, 2012.

The agencies are sifting through the available records of communication between the Italians and Indian figures of the scam to identify leads to strengthen the investigation which is at a very preliminary stage. Sources said that since the Italian investigators were chasing him, Haschke had emailed to Gautam Khaitan asking for documents relating to Aeromatrix to convince prying eyes back home that his Indian deals were not hunky dory. He was also questioned by the Italians some time late last October.

The Italian prosecution has got statements to reveal that Haschke and his partner Gerosa Carlo had dubiously managed to rig the procurement process through their defence establishment contacts and ensure that the contract for supply of 12 copters is bagged by Agustawestland, despite the fact that the machine they were offering did not suite the requirement of the Air Force.

Though an integrity pact was signed to bar middle men in the deal, the Italian military hardware manufacturer had employed, other than Haschke, English middleman Chirstian Michel.

A team of officials from the defence ministry and CBI had recently come from Italy without much vital information though the investigating agency is claiming that they have got some documents from the Italian prosecutors.

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News Network
March 9,2020

Mumbai, Mar 9: India's Yes Bank will not be merged with State Bank of India, which is set to infuse funds in the beleaguered lender, the newly appointed administrator leading the rescue plan said in a television interview on Monday.

"There is absolutely no question of a merger," Prashant Kumar, the administrator, told the CNBC TV18 channel.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday took control of Yes Bank, after the lender - which is laden with bad debts - failed to raise the capital it needs to stay above mandated regulatory requirements.

Placing Yes Bank under a 30-day moratorium, the central bank imposed limits on withdrawals to protect depositors and said it would work on a revival plan. The move spooked depositors, who rushed to withdraw funds from the bank.

Kumar, a former finance chief at SBI, assured depositors their money was safe and that the moratorium on Yes Bank might be lifted much before the deadline on April 3 and normal banking operations might resume as early as Friday.

He also mentioned that the withdrawal limit of Yes Bank may be removed by March 15, 2020.

SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said on Saturday the state-run bank would need to invest up to 24.5 billion rupees ($331 million) to buy a 49% stake in Yes Bank as part of the initial phase of the rescue deal, adding that the survival of troubled lender was a "must".

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Agencies
June 6,2020

Ahmedabad, June 6: Rattled by resignations of three MLAs ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls, the Congress in Gujarat on Saturday shifted several of its legislators to resorts and bungalows near their constituencies to thwart any "poaching" bid, a party leader said.

With the resignations of Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary on June 3 and that of Brijesh Merja on June 5, the Congress' strength in the 182-member House has been reduced to 65.

The effective strength of the House, however, stands at 172 as of now as ten seats are currently vacant - two due to court cases and the rest because of resignations.

While several MLAs from north Gujarat were shifted to a resort near Ambaji in Banaskantha district, those from south and Central Gujarat were moved to private bungalows in Anand, Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, adding that legislators from Saurashtra region were shifted to a resort in Rajkot.
 

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Agencies
June 6,2020

Mumbai, Jun 6: Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami faces a new complaint, this time under the Cable Televisions Network (Regulation) Act, 1995, for allegedly running the television channel "to create communal hatred, religious polarisation and threatening national integrity".

Social activist Nilesh Navlakha last month lodged a criminal complaint with the Commissioner of Police, Pune, through his lawyer Asim Sarode, under Section 2 of the Act.

"We have narrated six prominent, recent debate shows conducted by Goswami in which his arguments and words used were communal in nature which he kept repeating in his shows. The words and tonality are intended to promote communal attitudes and news is based on religious innuendos and half-truths," Sarode contended.

This leads to propaganda based on hatred, religious polarization and communal divide, said Navlakha in a statement.

He further said that the misuse of freedom of expression by Goswami and his channel posed a serious threat before the independent media as it violates the freedom of expression of the viewers, as it is the viewers' right to get correct, complete and true information.

Elaborating about Goswami's behaviour, Navlakha said that he has created what is termed 'Impulse Control Disorder' in psychiatry.
Sarode said: "Intermittent Explosive Disorder is a kind of 'impulse control disorder' which involves sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behaviour or angry verbal outbursts in which you react grossly out of proportion to the situation."

They said that there are some more media persons displaying such tendencies in Hindi and English journalism, showing whatever is convenient and blow it out of proportion to give meanings which are out-of-context and disrupts the fabric of democracy while not fitting into journalism's ethics.

The complaint also alleged that Goswami and his channel are actually into "brainwashing" the viewers in a way that they will get converted into haters of some communities and terror for some religions.

"This is not less than running an organised crime syndicate of making the human minds to follow a fanatic terrorist thought process. When WhatsApp group admins are being booked under the law, then why the CTNRA provisions are not being invoked against such tendencies," Sarode asked.

In the complaint, it is pointed out how eminent persons have walked out of Goswami's shows because of his name-calling tactics, like labelling cricketer Sachin Tendulkar "anti-national" in one of his shows.

Navlakha and Sarode claimed that Goswami has violated the Programme Code under the CTNRA, the channel has indicated it is against sovereignty, integrity and security as also against public order, decency and morality, making it a serious issue and a cognizable offence.

It urged the Pune police chief to take suitable action against the wrongs committed to disturb the peace, law and order in society and book Goswami under the CTNRA Section's 16, which attracts a jail term of two years plus fine.

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