Marans got Rs 550cr bribe in Aircel-Maxis deal: CBI

July 27, 2012

CBI

New Delhi, July 27: The Central Bureau of Investigation is poised to file a charge-sheet against DMK leader and former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi for allegedly receiving Rs 549 crore for their role in the acquisition of Aircel by Malaysia-based firm Maxis.

CBI sources on Thursday said the agency had questioned Dayanidhi recently, adding that other high-profile connections were also under investigation.

CBI has almost concluded investigations in the Aircel-Maxis case and has claimed illegal gratification was accepted by Dayanidhi through Kalanithi in the garb of premium share investment in family-controlled Sun Direct. The agency also claimed that as telecom minister, he blocked the legitimate requests of Dishnet DSL, paving the way for the Maxis takeover.

In a status report to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on telecom on Tuesday, CBI said mala fide considerations and an "illegal gratification" of Rs 549 crore were behind the "active intervention" of Dayanidhi and Kalanithi in curbing the business interests of Aircel's former owner C Sivasankaran.

When contacted, Dayanidhi told TOI that he did not want to offer any comment on the CBI report to JPC. He said he would not comment on a report said to have been presented to a parliamentary committee. "Only when a report is presented to Parliament can I comment on it," he said.

Alleging a Maran-Maxis nexus, CBI said, "It is prima facie revealed that the active intervention of Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran in restricting business environment of Siva Group, change of ownership to M/s Maxis Communications and undue favours post this change was for mala fide considerations."

In its report, CBI said "undue favours" were offered to Maxis even after it took over Aircel and these were part of a plan involving Dayanidhi when he was telecom minister in UPA-1.

"An illegal gratification of Rs 549,96,01,793 was accepted as quid pro quo through his brother Kalanithi Maran in the garb of share premium invested in Sun Direct by M/s South Asia Entertainment Holdings which was a fully owned subsidiary of M/s Astro All Asia Networks," the CBI said.

The agency said Dayanidhi delayed grant of licences in seven telecom circles to Aircel and other approvals pending before DoT on "frivolous grounds" with the intention of forcing its exit from the telecom business.

Backing Sivasankaran's allegations that he was arm-twisted into selling Aircel to Maxis, CBI said Dayanidhi "rendered disservice to Dishnet (Aircel) paving the way for Maxis to acquire Aircel from Sivasankaran".

CBI said one Ralph Marshall of Maxis, on behalf of the firm's owner Ananda Krishnan, was in touch with Dayanidhi and Kalanithi prior to Aircel changing hands.

Pointing to how the attitude of DoT changed once Maxis took over Aircel, CBI said application for issuance of licences and other requests pending for long were acceded to and "undue favour was given to these companies for which alleged illegal gratification was paid by M/s Astro All Asia Networks to M/s Sun Direct of Kalanithi in the garb of purchase of its shares at a premium of Rs 69.57 a share".

The CBI probe showed directions were issued that show-cause notices be linked with issuance of licences, halting grant of licences to Dishnet. "Delays in allocation of licences to Dishnet and allocation of spectrum to it for various circles resulted in loss of revenue to Department of Telecom (DoT) which could have accrued by way of entry fee, licence fee and spectrum charges," agency sources said.


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News Network
March 2,2020

Mathura, Mar 2: Union Minister of state Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Sunday said after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the Centre might bring a population control law.

Jyoti claimed that she has already spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.

She said she believes that this issue is under the prime minister's consideration and he himself has discussed the importance of bringing this law.

Jyoti arrived here on Sunday to attend a tribute meeting held at Swami Vamdev Jyotirmath in Chaitanya Vihar. Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj was also present at the event.

"There was a time when abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was impossible. It was feared that if such thing happens, there will be bloodbath. No one will be hold the national flag in Kashmir. But this government can bring any law in favour of the nation," Jyoti said.

"Now, everyone believes that if Article 370 can be removed...Prime Minister Narendra Modi can bring any law which is important for the country," she added.

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expat
 - 
Monday, 2 Mar 2020

already people are childless. struggling for IVF treatment. no need of population control. it is automatically getting control byu nature.

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Agencies
July 20,2020

New Delhi, Jul 20: Reiterating that China has still occupied India's territory, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he has fabricated a fake strongman image to come to power which has now become India's biggest weakness as he has to protect the idea of 'Chhapan Inch'.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader posted a video message and wrote, "PM fabricated a fake strongman image to come to power. It was his biggest strength. It is now India's biggest weakness."

In the video message, speaking on "China's Strategic Game Plan" the Congress leader said: "What is China's strategic and tactical game plan? It is simply not a border issue. The worry I have is that the Chinese are sitting in our territory today. Chinese don't do anything without thinking about it strategically."

"In their mind, they have mapped out the world and they are trying to shape the world. That's the scale of what they are doing. That's what Gwadar is, that is what belt and road is. It is a restructuring of the planet. So when you are thinking about the Chinese you have to understand that that is the level at which they are thinking," he added.

Now at the tactical level, they're trying to improve their position. Whether it is Galwan, whether it's Demchok or whether it is Pangong Lake. The idea is to position themselves, he said.

"They are disturbed by our highway they want to make our highway redundant and if they are thinking larger scale, they want to do something with Pakistan in Kashmir. So it is not simply a border issue. It is a border issue designed to put pressure on the Prime Minister of India," the Congress leader said.

"And they are thinking of putting pressure in a very particular way. And what they are doing, is that they are attacking his image. They understand that it in order for Mr Narendra Modi to be an effective politician; in order for Mr Narendra Modi to survive as a politician, he has to protect the idea of--Chhapan Inch. And this the real idea the Chinese are attacking. They are basically telling Mr Narendra Modi that if you do not do what we say, we will destroy the idea of Mr Narendra Modi as a strong leader," he added.

Gandhi continued saying, now the question is, how will PM Narendra Modi react. Will he take them on? Will he take on the challenge and say absolutely not, I'm the Prime Minister of India. I do not care about my image I'm going to take you on. Or will he succumb to them?

"The worry I have so far is that the Prime Minister has succumbed. The worry I have is, the Chinese are sitting in our territory today and the Prime Minister has said publicly they are not, which to me tells me that is worried about his image and defending his image," said Gandhi.

"And if he allows the Chinese to understand that they can manipulate him because of his image, the Indian Prime Minister will no longer be worth anything for India," he added.

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News Network
April 19,2020

New Delhi, Apr 19: With 1,334 fresh cases of coronavirus reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India has reached 15,712 including 507 deaths, said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, here on Sunday.

As many as 2,231 people have recovered from the disease so far, said Aggarwal during the daily media briefing on the coronavirus. "This equals 14.1 per cent of the total cases," he added.

"A total of 15,712 confirmed cases have been reported in India including 507 deaths and 2,231 people, who were COVID-19 positive, have recovered. Out of the total deaths, 27 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours," said Aggarwal.

The Joint Secretary said that no new case was reported in Mahe in Puducherry and Karnataka's Kodagu in the last 28 days.

"A total of 54 other districts beside these two in 23 States/Union Territories did not report any cases in the last 14 days," he said.

He informed that there are 755 dedicated COVID-19 hospitals and 1,389 dedicated health care centres in the country, which takes the total dedicated facilities where severe or critical patients can be treated to 2,144.

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