Jaitley: Bofors, a serious reflection of probe agencies

April 27, 2012

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New Delhi, April 27: Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that the fact that culprits could not be brought to book in the Bofors gun deal was a serious reflection on the health of the investigating agencies.

“Somebody swung the deal, somebody got kickbacks. Money was traced, accounts were traced, you don't need further evidence and the man was allowed to leave the country. How was the man [Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi] so powerful that the Indian State looks helpless?” he said.

‘Pakistan better'

In his Zero Hour intervention following two adjournments during the Question Hour, Mr. Jaitley questioned the helplessness of the investigating agencies and said: “See what is happening in our neighbouring country [Pakistan] in pursuit of truth and how helpless we look.”

He emphasised that middlemen must be eliminated and probity ensured in public life.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury said the Bofors issue that had “plagued” the country for 25 years was a “serious matter.” “If there is anything new, it must be investigated and government must make it public,” he said.

As several leader members sought permission to intervene, presiding officer P.J. Kurien disallowed them saying it was not a debate.

Samajwadi Party leader Mohan Singh said this was an important matter and the economic offender must be extradited and punished.

As Mani Shankar Aiyar rose to speak on behalf of the Treasury Benches, Opposition members questioned why he was being allowed when only leaders of parties in the House had been permitted to raise the matter. Naresh Agrawal (SP) said this amounted to partiality and demanded that everybody be given the opportunity to speak.

Noting that Mr. Jaitley had bemoaned the fact that unsuccessful efforts were being made to unearth the truth, Mr. Aiyar said: “We could not unearth the truth because of distortions and historic inaccuracies.”

Mr. Aiyar pointed out that no progress was made in the case from December 1989 to November 1990 (during V.P. Singh government as well as the National Democratic Alliance rule later). Mr. Jaitley intervened to counter this.

Though Mr. Jaitley had not named anyone, Mr. Aiyar said he had made serious allegations that needed to be replied to. On being asked by Bharatiya Janata Party members to name the individual, Mr. Aiyar said he had no problem in saying that Bofors incident took place during the period when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister.

This was followed by heated exchanges between the treasury and Opposition members, including the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Nothing could be heard in the din and after several minutes of persuading Mr Aiyar to stay brief in his observations, Mr. Kurien adjourned the House.

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News Network
May 21,2020

United Nations, May 21: At least 19 million children in parts of Bangladesh and India are at "imminent risk" from flash flooding and heavy rain as Cyclone Amphan makes landfall and the state of West Bengal is expected to take a direct hit from the powerful storm, the UN's children agency has warned.

The extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphan made a landfall at Digha in West Bengal and Bangladesh on Wednesday, leaving a trail of destruction. At least three persons were killed in India and seven in Bangladesh.

The UNICEF said that at least 19 million children in parts of Bangladesh and India are at “imminent risk from flash flooding, storm surges and heavy rain as Cyclone Amphan makes landfall.”

West Bengal, “home to more than 50 million people, including over 16 million children, is expected to take a direct hit from the powerful storm,” the UN agency said in a statement on Wednesday.

The UNICEF said it is also very concerned that the COVID-19 could deepen the humanitarian consequences of Cyclone Amphan in both the countries. Evacuees who have moved to crowded temporary shelters would be especially vulnerable to the spread of respiratory diseases like COVID-19, as well as other infections.

“We continue to monitor the situation closely,” said UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia Jean Gough.

“The safety of children and their families in the areas that will be impacted is a priority and it is good to see that the authorities have planned their urgent response factoring in the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.”

Across the region, the UNICEF is “working closely with the governments of Bangladesh and India and stands ready to support humanitarian operations to reach children and families affected by Cyclone Amphan.”

Based on the storm’s current trajectory, Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh – now sheltering over 850,000 Rohingya refugees – is likely to experience high winds and heavy rains which may cause damage to homes and shelters in the refugee camps and Bangladeshi communities. This population is already highly vulnerable and cases of COVID-19 have recently been confirmed in the camps and host communities.

The UNICEF said it is working with the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Cox’s Bazar, the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, and humanitarian partners to help ensure Bangladeshi and Rohingya children and families remain protected.

These efforts include raising awareness among Rohingya and Bangladeshi communities on cyclone preparedness and prepositioning emergency life-saving water, sanitation, hygiene and medical supplies to meet immediate humanitarian needs.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at the daily press briefing that UN teams on the ground continue to work with the Government of Bangladesh to prepare and support those in need in the wake of the cyclone.

“Given the current pandemic, this support includes distributing personal protective equipment, disinfectants and other materials to evacuation shelters. To reduce the person-to-person contact during the delivery of aid, e-cash distributions will be used,” he said adding that the UN along with its partners is mobilising more than 1,700 mobile health teams and preparing for emergency food deliveries.

“The Super Cyclone is taking a westerly trajectory towards India, but nearly 8 million people in Bangladesh remain at risk,” he said adding that the Bangladesh government has evacuated more than 2 million people in high-risk areas. 

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News Network
July 14,2020

Kathmandu, Jul 14: After staking claim to Indian territories of Lipulekh-Kalapani in  a new controversial map,  Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Monday claimed that Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama, is in Nepal and Lord Rama was Nepali.

“Although real Ayodhya lies at Thori, city in the west of Birgunj, India has claimed that Lord Rama was born there. Due to these continuous claims, even we have believed that deity Sita got married to Prince Rama of India. However, in reality, Ayodhya is a village lying west of Birgunj,” Oli claimed at an event organised at Prime Minister's residence in Kathmandu.

The Prime Minister also blamed India of cultural encroachment by “creating a fake Ayodhya.”

“Balmiki Ashram is in Nepal and the holy place where King Dashrath had executed the rites to get the son is in Ridi. Dashrath’s son Ram was not an Indian and Ayodhya is also in Nepal,” he claimed.

In an attempt to save self from criticism, Oli questioned how Lord Rama could come to Janakpur to marry Sita when there were "no means" of communication. He further said that it to be impossible for Lord Rama to come to Janakpur from present Ayodhya that lies in India.

“Janakpur lies here and Ayodhya there and there is talk of marriage. There was neither telephone nor mobile then how could he know about Janakpur,” Oli said.

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Ahmed Ali Kulai
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020

New controversy

 
BJP got next election Muddah

Farhan
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020

Ab Ram Mandir Kaha Banega???

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Agencies
June 22,2020

Mumbai, Jun 22: After downgrading India's outlook to negative from stable, Fitch Ratings on Monday revised the outlook on nine Indian banks to negative.

The outlook on the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) was revised to negative from stable due to the banks' high dependence on the Centre to re-capitalise them.

Accordingly, the IDR outlook of the Export-Import Bank of India, the State Bank of India, the Bank of Baroda, the Bank of Baroda (New Zealand), the Bank of India, the Canara Bank, the Punjab National Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank Ltd have been downgraded to negative.

"At the same time, Fitch has affirmed IDBI Bank Limited's (IDBI) IDR while maintaining the outlook at negative," Fitch said in a statement.

The rating actions follow Fitch's revision of the outlook on the 'BBB-' rating on India to negative from stable on June 18, due to the impact of the escalating coronavirus pandemic on India's economy.

"The IDRs for all the above Indian banks are support-driven and anchored to their respective SRFs," the statement said.

"They are based on Fitch's assessment of high to moderate probability of extraordinary state support for these banks, which takes into account our assessment of the sovereign's ability and propensity to provide extraordinary support."

According to the statement, the negative outlook on India's sovereign rating reflects an increasing strain on the state's ability to provide extraordinary support, due to the sovereign's limited fiscal space and the significant deterioration in fiscal metrics due to challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The rating action does not affect the banks' Viability Rating (VR). EXIM does not have a VR as its role as a policy bank makes an assessment of its standalone credit profile less meaningful."

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