'Did you see my pamphlet?' Andimuthu Raja, the 2G scam-tainted DMK MP from Nilgiri, asks Rediff.com's Saisuresh Sivaswamy. 'Two things are very clear. One, that I did not have any disproportionate wealth, as per the CBI's contention before the court. And there has been no loss to the exchequer, which has been admitted by the joint secretary. Under the Prevention of Corruption Act these two things are very important, and that has been ruled out.'
The move gains importance after two new telecom players -- Swan and Unitech -- sold stakes to foreign companies at high premiums after the allocation of spectrum. The Left parties had also accused Telecom Minister A Raja of underselling spectrum that cost the national exchequer around Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion).
A month after releasing the three-digit emergency number for women in Delhi, the government Monday said it will make available the '181' women helpline number to all states of the country.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told a Delhi court that a complaint seeking registration of case against the prime minister and former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran in the 2G spectrum scam does not require registration of any firszt information report.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told a Delhi court that a complaint seeking registration of case against the prime minister and former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran in the 2G spectrum scam does not require registration of any firszt information report.
The government has ruled out banning Blackberry services in India. This was stated by the telecom secretary in New Delhi on Friday.Security agencies had said that they should have access to data that are being encrypted by services like BlackBerry on mobile phones and then decrypted when the phone reaches its destination. The government had cited security concerns as it could not monitor the content on RIM's servers, which were located in Canada and other foreign locations.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh executive head Bhaiyyaji Joshi has expressed confidence that the Ram temple will be constructed in Ayodhya by the time of next 'Kumbh'.
On day when A Raja, jailed former minister of telecommunications, accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former finance minister P Chidambaram in a lower court while trying to drag them 'legally' in the 2G spectrum scam, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal also picked up none else but Raja's lawyer's argument.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said foreign investments and innovations are welcome but at the same time, the government is focussed on promoting Indian innovation as well as keen on the country's safety and security. Speaking at the India Mobile Congress 2020, the IT and Telecom Minister said that IT and communications sectors have registered over 7 per cent growth and received one of the highest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) even during the challenging time of COVID-19.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Monday demanded the resignations of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram in the wake of former telecom minister A Raja's claim that both of them were aware of his decisions about the 2G auction.
In the backdrop of former Telecom Minister A Raja telling the JPC that he took major decisions after consulting the prime minister, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday asked Manmohan Singh to appear before the panel, saying his silence will "confirm" his involvement in the 2G scam.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday rejected Home Minister P Chidambaram's 'self-certified' non-involvement in the 2G spectrum case and maintained that he should resign from the Union cabinet.
Indicted in the draft JPC report, former Telecom Minister A Raja on Monday hit back maintaining that "every major decision", including entry fee and non auction of spectrum, was taken after consulting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee.
Sticking to its demand that A Raja be allowed to depose before the JPC on 2G, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday said the panel's report will be a "waste" if he does not get an opportunity to give an explanation on the allegations.
The senior Congress leader, a Rajya Sabha MP, said "all your friends are greatly relieved that truth has prevailed".
The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday alleged that the taped conversation between former Telecom Minister A Raja and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia shows that the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram played a role in the 2G spectrum scam.
Hitting out at JPC Chairman P C Chacko for not inviting former Telecom Minister A Raja to depose before it, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha alleged that the panel could be used to "conceal the truth" in the 2G scam rather than expose it.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of buckling under the pressure exerted by Narendra Modi by including him in the party's top decision-making Parliamentary Board, and said the Gujarat chief minister will someday pose a challenge to his own party.
Eleven members of Parliament, including one each from Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, on Thursday demanded rejection of the draft Public Accounts Committee report on the 2G scam, which has indicted former Telecom minister A Raja and made critical observations about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance minister P Chidambaram.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Monday told a Delhi court that former finance minister and now Home Minister P Chidambaram, should be summoned and examined as a witness in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy has sought permission from the Central Bureau of Investigation Special Court dealing with 2G scandal cases to file a petition seeking to include Union Home Minister P Chidambaram as a co-accused in the Aircel-Maxis case.
Rediff.com traces the life of Sadiq Batcha, a key aide of former telecom minister Andimuthu Raja who committed suicide on Wednesday
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Thursday said that the Supreme Court order cancelling the 2G spectrum licences is a "strong indictment" of the government and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take a call on its fallout as it has exposed the "bluff" on the UPA-II's claims.
Going forward, the Korean company's real competition could be nimble-footed Indian companies, more than the Nokia-Microsoft combine.
A small-time transporter, who slapped Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar days after assaulting former Telecom Minister Sukhram, was sent to Tihar Jail by a Delhi court on Friday.
The bench in its order noted that the CBI report also dealt with its probe into the alleged violation by FIPB in the Aircel-Maxis deal.
The popular perception is that A Raja will be fighting with his back to the wall, given the enormity of the charges against him in the 2G scam, but all it takes is for one to follow his campaign trail for 12 hours to be disabused of such a notion. Rediff.com's Saisuresh Sivaswamy spends time with the controversial former telecom minister's road show in Ooty on April 19.
The Congress on Friday rebutted former telecom minister Arun Shourie's reported claim that he had apprised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the spectrum scam, claiming it was a 'travesty of truth'.
There was an under reporting of Rs 1000 crore (Rs 10 billion) to Rs 1500 crore (Rs 15 billion) by the telecom firms, to avoid payment of licence fee, and the government may have lost about Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) because of this, telecom minister A Raja said during Question Hour.
Rejecting Finance Minister P Chidambaram's zero-loss theory in coal allocation scam because no mining was done, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said his view was akin to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal's repudiation of CAG's estimation of presumptive loss in allocation of 2G spectrum.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday hit out at Opposition parties for stalling the proceedings of Parliament, after their demand for a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee into the spectrum scandal was not accepted by the government.Reacting to a question on whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would make a statement on the resignation of Telecom Minister A Raja over the 2G spectrum scam, Pranab lost his cool.
The second round of spectrum auction will begin in March after the Cabinet decides on reducing reserve price of 800 MHz band, used for offering CDMA-based mobile services.
In a U-turn, former Telecom Minister A Raja on Tuesday told a Delhi court that he did not seek to implicate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G case.
The basic and cellular industry seems to have agreed to workout a long-term solution to resolve the controversial Wireless in Local Loop issue, and the Group constituted by Communications and IT Minister Arun Shourie
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assets worth Rs 1.26 crore while Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stands out as the richest minister with assets totalling Rs 72.10 crore.
Civil society members of the joint committee on Lokpal will seek a referendum on the points of difference with government representatives including the issue of bringing the prime minister and the higher judiciary under the ambit of the anti-graft ombudsman.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has removed Union Fertiliser Minister M K Alagiri and Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran from two key sub-committees of the Union Cabinet. Both Alagiri and Maran are leaders of the Congress's ally DMK. In the wake of the multi-crore 2G spectrum scam, involving DMK leader and then telecom minister A Raja, the PM has been careful about allocating sensitive positions to the party's leaders.
Coming to the defence of Home Minister P Chidambaram, the government on Friday insisted that the former finance minister had "no role anywhere" in the 2G spectrum allocation controversy and demands for his resignation were a "conspiracy" against him.
The government cleared Department of Post initiative on Wednesday to invest the interest earned by postal life insurance scheme to invest in the equity market, IT and Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran said in New Delhi.
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