The 2G ruling may deliver an even bigger loss of credibility because it shows everyone, from the ministry down to the auditor and investigator, in poor light.
मोदी के लिए 2019 के लोकसभा में आए मतों का महत्व है, राज्य के चुनावों का नहीं. इसलिए प्रधानमंत्री का सारा ध्यान योजनाओं के कार्यान्वयन पर केंद्रित होगा.
The PM has the whole of 2018 to work on his governance delivery indicators, which he wants to package in 2019 as his ‘reform-perform-transform’ scorecard.
An extraordinary push to to appoint officers with a ‘Gujarat connect’ has turned the country’s premier investigative agency into a messy, divided house.
For all their colonial underpinnings, postcards from Hyderabad also inadvertently preserve a trace of local memory: a glimpse of a street, a face, a forgotten name.
Indian toymakers are now exploring new markets, but they want govt to negotiate a trade deal with US soon, introduce incentives and subsidies to make the industry more competitive.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
Sometimes feel having so many regulators – although TRAI is needed – is a cop out. It outsources decisions competent bureaucrats and principled ministers – A Raja does not fall in that category – are equipped to take. Does Indian Railways really require an external entity to fix the price of tickets or freight charges, normal commercial decisions it should be taking, day in and day out. I think in 2 G, Raja became an unstoppable force. If the PM and FM could not resteain him, he was hardly likely to listen to Secretary, DoT or Chairman, TRAI. Coalition compulsions have been a fact of political life in several governments, but some red lines should be enforced.
Now the “cover up”of what is a motivated and incredibly poor judgement starts as does the cover-up of Raja and the politicians – and if anything this article represents poor journalism at best, and motivated false analysis at worst. Some basic points
1. Are we denying that the process by which the allocations were made were wrong ie. sudden change of conditions, suddenly people with foresight that would rival the best soothsayers having drafts in hundreds of crores all prepared, even the camera evidence of assorted lalas pushing their way through. Answer – CANNOT BE DENIED
2. Is the circumstantial evidence of the money flows (much of which was “reversed” rather extraordinarily again with foresight of soothsayers), the trail of organisations, the “flips”of ownership all to be denied. Answer – ONLY IF ONE WANTS TO PRETEND NOTHING HAPPENED
3. Instead of casting blame where it really lies ie. at Mr. Raja, Mdm Kanimozhi and Mr. Behura along with their crony industrialists, we are blaming the people who may have been imperfect at worst but atleast highlighted the daylight robbery. Trying to cast the regulator’s objections as a predecessor-successor tiff is juvenile, and frankly a lie. Trying to cast Mr. Binod Rai’s efforts in poor light is motivated. Even if the number is wrong – and the number for the sake of argument is the lower one the CBI talked of ie. 20 or 30000 crores, we are talking of the BMC budget here. Answer – questioning the scale of a crime does not make a crime a non-crime
4. The “red herring”of hurt investors – guess what Mr. Dhal Samanta – if investors are coming into the country (take for the sake of example a Telenor who have pretty much failed in every market they entered barring the home market as a monopoly) do not perform the necessary due diligence and count on what are “questionable means” involving regulatory “arbitrage” (for the lack of a more polite word for what has been done here) and infact choose a cash strapped partner with NO telecom experience only for their ability to influence sweet deals out of the government – they have NO BUSINESS ENTERING THE COUNTRY. We need real investors, smart investors adn dedicated players – NOT FLY BY NIGHT CARPETBAGGER MNCs. Answer – Get real. If investors are upset that we actually enforce laws and stop crime, then you are perhaps canvassing the wrong investors.
My humble suggestion – dont’write for the sake of writing (or again worse motivations). Read up, and at the very least TRY to be objective and truthful
Sometimes feel having so many regulators – although TRAI is needed – is a cop out. It outsources decisions competent bureaucrats and principled ministers – A Raja does not fall in that category – are equipped to take. Does Indian Railways really require an external entity to fix the price of tickets or freight charges, normal commercial decisions it should be taking, day in and day out. I think in 2 G, Raja became an unstoppable force. If the PM and FM could not resteain him, he was hardly likely to listen to Secretary, DoT or Chairman, TRAI. Coalition compulsions have been a fact of political life in several governments, but some red lines should be enforced.
Now the “cover up”of what is a motivated and incredibly poor judgement starts as does the cover-up of Raja and the politicians – and if anything this article represents poor journalism at best, and motivated false analysis at worst. Some basic points
1. Are we denying that the process by which the allocations were made were wrong ie. sudden change of conditions, suddenly people with foresight that would rival the best soothsayers having drafts in hundreds of crores all prepared, even the camera evidence of assorted lalas pushing their way through. Answer – CANNOT BE DENIED
2. Is the circumstantial evidence of the money flows (much of which was “reversed” rather extraordinarily again with foresight of soothsayers), the trail of organisations, the “flips”of ownership all to be denied. Answer – ONLY IF ONE WANTS TO PRETEND NOTHING HAPPENED
3. Instead of casting blame where it really lies ie. at Mr. Raja, Mdm Kanimozhi and Mr. Behura along with their crony industrialists, we are blaming the people who may have been imperfect at worst but atleast highlighted the daylight robbery. Trying to cast the regulator’s objections as a predecessor-successor tiff is juvenile, and frankly a lie. Trying to cast Mr. Binod Rai’s efforts in poor light is motivated. Even if the number is wrong – and the number for the sake of argument is the lower one the CBI talked of ie. 20 or 30000 crores, we are talking of the BMC budget here. Answer – questioning the scale of a crime does not make a crime a non-crime
4. The “red herring”of hurt investors – guess what Mr. Dhal Samanta – if investors are coming into the country (take for the sake of example a Telenor who have pretty much failed in every market they entered barring the home market as a monopoly) do not perform the necessary due diligence and count on what are “questionable means” involving regulatory “arbitrage” (for the lack of a more polite word for what has been done here) and infact choose a cash strapped partner with NO telecom experience only for their ability to influence sweet deals out of the government – they have NO BUSINESS ENTERING THE COUNTRY. We need real investors, smart investors adn dedicated players – NOT FLY BY NIGHT CARPETBAGGER MNCs. Answer – Get real. If investors are upset that we actually enforce laws and stop crime, then you are perhaps canvassing the wrong investors.
My humble suggestion – dont’write for the sake of writing (or again worse motivations). Read up, and at the very least TRY to be objective and truthful