suchithkc
Rawalpindi, Mar 26(ANI): The assassins of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto have been arrested and the facts of the case will be made public soon, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said.
Benazir was targeted in a gun and bomb attack as she was leaving Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi after addressing a public rally on December 27, 2007.
"We have all the information about the assassins of Benazir Bhutto regarding where they came from, the car they used, where they stayed and where the plot was hatched," The Nation quoted Malik, as saying while talking to media persons after the inauguration ceremony of a passport office in Gujjar Khan, Rawalpindi.
The Benazir assassination investigation report would be first presented before the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which would decide whether the report should be made public or not.
Malik said that the government had fulfilled its promise made to the masses to arrest Benazir's killers.
It is noteworthy that former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has also been implicated in the Benazir murder case, and has been served a non-bailable arrest warrant thrice in this regard, but has failed to appear before the court so far.
Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a "broad conspiracy" to have his political rival Benazir killed before elections, though the exact nature of the charges against him is not clear.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
BlackBerry to offer 'super phone', as shares slip
suchithkc
Toronto, March 25 : Shares of Research In Motion (RIM) sank as much as 12 percent during after-hour trading Thursday as the BlackBerry maker hinted at less-than-expected results in the current quarter while releasing its fourth quarter earnings. The gloomy forecast came amid mounting excitement about the company's PlayBook tablet due for release April 19.
According to Thursday's results, RIM netted a $934-million profit on total revenue of $5.6 billion during the last quarter of 2010.
During this period, the BlackBerry maker shipped 14.9 million smart phones, taking its total shipment to 52.3 million units in fiscal 2010 - a jump of 43 percent over 2009.
Analysts ascribed the gloomy outlook to the transition period at RIM which is switching to a new operating system for its phones and tablets.
However, RIM co-CEIO Jim Balsillie said that by discarding its old BlackBerry operating system in favour of the QNX software, RIM would now offer a new class of 'super phone' to its clients.
The PlayBook tablet will be the first RIM device to run on the new operating system developed by QNX Software Systems.
RIM acquired this Ottawa-based software company for $200 million in April last year to have exclusive access to its software technology for its tablet.
RIM had announced to run its tablet on the powerful QNX operating system rather than the BlackBerry 6 operating system, which was unveiled along with the BlackBerry Torch 9800 in July.
'We are pleased to report record shipments and financial performance in fiscal 2011,' RIM co-CEIO Jim Balsillie said, after the fourth quarter results.
'As we enter fiscal 2012, RIM is in an excellent position to benefit from the continuing convergence of the mobile communications and mobile computing markets. We are laying a strong foundation for RIM's expanding market opportunity through focused investments and we are extremely excited about our smartphone, tablet and platform roadmaps,' the co-CEO said.
Interestingly, the Canadian wireless giant also announced that its PlayBook tablet will also run Android applications, currently available only on tablets and smart phones that are run by Google's Android operating system.
Since RIM is way behind Apple in offering apps, its decision to run Android applications will give PlayBook users access to 200,000 more apps.
'We feel very good about the PlayBook,' said Balsillie.
Toronto, March 25 : Shares of Research In Motion (RIM) sank as much as 12 percent during after-hour trading Thursday as the BlackBerry maker hinted at less-than-expected results in the current quarter while releasing its fourth quarter earnings. The gloomy forecast came amid mounting excitement about the company's PlayBook tablet due for release April 19.
According to Thursday's results, RIM netted a $934-million profit on total revenue of $5.6 billion during the last quarter of 2010.
During this period, the BlackBerry maker shipped 14.9 million smart phones, taking its total shipment to 52.3 million units in fiscal 2010 - a jump of 43 percent over 2009.
Analysts ascribed the gloomy outlook to the transition period at RIM which is switching to a new operating system for its phones and tablets.
However, RIM co-CEIO Jim Balsillie said that by discarding its old BlackBerry operating system in favour of the QNX software, RIM would now offer a new class of 'super phone' to its clients.
The PlayBook tablet will be the first RIM device to run on the new operating system developed by QNX Software Systems.
RIM acquired this Ottawa-based software company for $200 million in April last year to have exclusive access to its software technology for its tablet.
RIM had announced to run its tablet on the powerful QNX operating system rather than the BlackBerry 6 operating system, which was unveiled along with the BlackBerry Torch 9800 in July.
'We are pleased to report record shipments and financial performance in fiscal 2011,' RIM co-CEIO Jim Balsillie said, after the fourth quarter results.
'As we enter fiscal 2012, RIM is in an excellent position to benefit from the continuing convergence of the mobile communications and mobile computing markets. We are laying a strong foundation for RIM's expanding market opportunity through focused investments and we are extremely excited about our smartphone, tablet and platform roadmaps,' the co-CEO said.
Interestingly, the Canadian wireless giant also announced that its PlayBook tablet will also run Android applications, currently available only on tablets and smart phones that are run by Google's Android operating system.
Since RIM is way behind Apple in offering apps, its decision to run Android applications will give PlayBook users access to 200,000 more apps.
'We feel very good about the PlayBook,' said Balsillie.
B-Schools: Quality check is must!
suchithkc
THE world is going through a tectonic shift in a century that should be categorised as the Indian century because of the huge demographic dividend that India would present to the world.
This understanding that India would be a talent supplier to the world is growing and has fuelled significant growth of the business school education industry.
The growth was such that we saw the onslaught of new institutions in the last few years. India today has close to 2,500 business schools spread across the length and breadth of the country. It is certainly heartening to see that management education has done well in the country. Yet, it still hasn’t come of age.
It’s fairly obvious that with the advent of business school education, and our fondness for it in general, we would see an emergence of an opportunity related to ranking of business schools. We have close to two dozen rankings present in the country, which rank B-Schools based on various parameters, using different methodologies. This incidentally gave rise to a debate as to whether rankings are a true reflection of quality of business schools.
Incidentally I believe that the debate itself is not required because rankings are important as they help in fundamentally differentiating the schools as per criteria used by various rankings. We can all debate on the efficacy of the methodologies and the criteria used by various rankings.
This debate could be important though at this juncture it is fundamentally useless and not required, for the simple reason that it diverts our attention from that larger problem that we have at hand, that is, the efficacy, the quality, the impact and contribution of the business school fraternity.
We are all missing a fairly critical point in case we move on to debating the efficacy of the ranking without having a clear understanding about the problems of business school education. We in this country do boast of great institutions but do not at any point in time try to discover or question as to the real impact the great institutions are having.
What is the real business of business schools, especially the critical stakeholders in the school, that is, students and faculty? The tragedy is that B-Schools have got relegated to the role of placement agencies and all students and faculty are partners in the demise of the larger reason for the existence of a B-School - to create entrepreneurs.
The problem does not stop here as faculty also need to make contributions to knowledge, consulting, teaching and training. As of today it seems that B-Schools are in the business of chasing training opportunities that are easy to capture rather than creating knowledge that is meaningful and a reflection of our existing context. The real business of B-Schools is not to just churn out students, boast of great rankings but create entrepreneurs and knowledge. The business schools in the country have fared miserably in both these parameters and are merrily participating in rankings that blissfully move the debate away from the real issue at hand and that is of impact that would really put our country firmly on a map as a knowledge capital of the world and an entrepreneurial hub that makes the world go around.
THE world is going through a tectonic shift in a century that should be categorised as the Indian century because of the huge demographic dividend that India would present to the world.
This understanding that India would be a talent supplier to the world is growing and has fuelled significant growth of the business school education industry.
The growth was such that we saw the onslaught of new institutions in the last few years. India today has close to 2,500 business schools spread across the length and breadth of the country. It is certainly heartening to see that management education has done well in the country. Yet, it still hasn’t come of age.
It’s fairly obvious that with the advent of business school education, and our fondness for it in general, we would see an emergence of an opportunity related to ranking of business schools. We have close to two dozen rankings present in the country, which rank B-Schools based on various parameters, using different methodologies. This incidentally gave rise to a debate as to whether rankings are a true reflection of quality of business schools.
Incidentally I believe that the debate itself is not required because rankings are important as they help in fundamentally differentiating the schools as per criteria used by various rankings. We can all debate on the efficacy of the methodologies and the criteria used by various rankings.
This debate could be important though at this juncture it is fundamentally useless and not required, for the simple reason that it diverts our attention from that larger problem that we have at hand, that is, the efficacy, the quality, the impact and contribution of the business school fraternity.
We are all missing a fairly critical point in case we move on to debating the efficacy of the ranking without having a clear understanding about the problems of business school education. We in this country do boast of great institutions but do not at any point in time try to discover or question as to the real impact the great institutions are having.
What is the real business of business schools, especially the critical stakeholders in the school, that is, students and faculty? The tragedy is that B-Schools have got relegated to the role of placement agencies and all students and faculty are partners in the demise of the larger reason for the existence of a B-School - to create entrepreneurs.
The problem does not stop here as faculty also need to make contributions to knowledge, consulting, teaching and training. As of today it seems that B-Schools are in the business of chasing training opportunities that are easy to capture rather than creating knowledge that is meaningful and a reflection of our existing context. The real business of B-Schools is not to just churn out students, boast of great rankings but create entrepreneurs and knowledge. The business schools in the country have fared miserably in both these parameters and are merrily participating in rankings that blissfully move the debate away from the real issue at hand and that is of impact that would really put our country firmly on a map as a knowledge capital of the world and an entrepreneurial hub that makes the world go around.
Before Buying a Home: Dos and Don’ts
suchithkc
For most middle and upper-middle class families, a house is the most expensive asset owned by them. The asset also has emotional value and therefore families should perform meticulous research before buying the same. The following is a set of must-dos before buying a house.
Due diligence of a property:
To ensure credibility of the builder, two must-have documents for a home buyer are the approved drawings of the project and the Intimation of Disapproval (IOD) which is an instruction set pertaining to construction from an authority to the builder.
Buyers looking to buy space in under-construction buildings should obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the lender, if the property is mortgaged, and a commencement certificate which is a proof that the builder has obtained all licenses and permissions from the appropriate statutory authorities. In case the buyer doesn't hold the NOC and the builder defaults on his mortgage payments, the buyer may be evicted from the property. The builder should provide a clear land title, which implies that the property is free of litigation and associated debt. A source of risk for under-construction projects is the uncertainty on completion time.
Banks and housing finance companies (HFCs) are pre-approving residential projects by carrying out property due diligence themselves. This provides credibility to the project from the buyer's perspective. Hence before opting for a loan one can check if the particular project they are interested in is pre-approved.
The buyer should ensure that the property he is evaluating has adequate water supply and there is no problem of voltage fluctuation which can damage electrical appliances.
Evaluation of hidden costs:
Buyers ought to be wary about per square feet price quoted by builders, as there are myriad hidden costs not captured in the quote. Stamp duty and registration fees are mandatory fees and amount to approximately 5% of the value of the property. Majority of urban property purchases are financed by home loans and therefore there is the cost of an insurance policy to cover the loan. Customizing the property to the buyer's tastes and preferences entails a substantial expenditure on purchase of, interior furnishing, furniture and white goods. Liabilities like unpaid telephone and electricity bills may be present in case of a second hand property.
Accessing your home loan:
It is advisable for buyers to approach a bank or housing finance company only after selecting the property to buy. Some banks are averse to financing purchases of more than 15 years old property which has been resold more than twice. Financing purchases of under construction properties, which are not listed with any of the banks for pre-approved loans, is difficult. Large builders may have tie ups with banks or HFCs which offer lower rates and lend up to 85% of the property value. It is always advisable for borrowers to lower their loan exposure.
Interest rate on home loan:
As per the prevailing economic situation, floating rate loans score over fixed rate loans. Transparent floating rate home loans are at least 2% cheaper than a loan of identical tenure. There is the risk of rate charged on a floating rate loan being revised upwards when market rates rise. 90% of home loan consumers opt for floating rate loans making it difficult for policymakers to raise interest rates dramatically. The buyer should check whether a bank passes on the benefit of reduced rates to the consumer by going through its past record of benchmark rates say in 2002-03.
Other charges associated with a home loan:
These should be looked into to understand the exact amount of expenses the buyer would incur towards the home loan. Processing fees, amounting to 0.5-1% of loan amount is charged by most lenders, in addition to administrative fees and legal charges during loan disbursement. The buyer has to pay stamp duty which depends on the amount of the loan and the state in which the property is purchased. Prepayment charges are levied on loan repayments made over and above the amount stipulated by the repayment schedule. Making EMI payments after the due date attracts delayed payment charges. Hence, it makes sense for the buyer to take into consideration the total loan cost or money outgo throughout the loan tenure when comparing loan offers. This will provide a clear picture of which loan is the most affordable for the buyer.
For most middle and upper-middle class families, a house is the most expensive asset owned by them. The asset also has emotional value and therefore families should perform meticulous research before buying the same. The following is a set of must-dos before buying a house.
Due diligence of a property:
To ensure credibility of the builder, two must-have documents for a home buyer are the approved drawings of the project and the Intimation of Disapproval (IOD) which is an instruction set pertaining to construction from an authority to the builder.
Buyers looking to buy space in under-construction buildings should obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the lender, if the property is mortgaged, and a commencement certificate which is a proof that the builder has obtained all licenses and permissions from the appropriate statutory authorities. In case the buyer doesn't hold the NOC and the builder defaults on his mortgage payments, the buyer may be evicted from the property. The builder should provide a clear land title, which implies that the property is free of litigation and associated debt. A source of risk for under-construction projects is the uncertainty on completion time.
Banks and housing finance companies (HFCs) are pre-approving residential projects by carrying out property due diligence themselves. This provides credibility to the project from the buyer's perspective. Hence before opting for a loan one can check if the particular project they are interested in is pre-approved.
The buyer should ensure that the property he is evaluating has adequate water supply and there is no problem of voltage fluctuation which can damage electrical appliances.
Evaluation of hidden costs:
Buyers ought to be wary about per square feet price quoted by builders, as there are myriad hidden costs not captured in the quote. Stamp duty and registration fees are mandatory fees and amount to approximately 5% of the value of the property. Majority of urban property purchases are financed by home loans and therefore there is the cost of an insurance policy to cover the loan. Customizing the property to the buyer's tastes and preferences entails a substantial expenditure on purchase of, interior furnishing, furniture and white goods. Liabilities like unpaid telephone and electricity bills may be present in case of a second hand property.
Accessing your home loan:
It is advisable for buyers to approach a bank or housing finance company only after selecting the property to buy. Some banks are averse to financing purchases of more than 15 years old property which has been resold more than twice. Financing purchases of under construction properties, which are not listed with any of the banks for pre-approved loans, is difficult. Large builders may have tie ups with banks or HFCs which offer lower rates and lend up to 85% of the property value. It is always advisable for borrowers to lower their loan exposure.
Interest rate on home loan:
As per the prevailing economic situation, floating rate loans score over fixed rate loans. Transparent floating rate home loans are at least 2% cheaper than a loan of identical tenure. There is the risk of rate charged on a floating rate loan being revised upwards when market rates rise. 90% of home loan consumers opt for floating rate loans making it difficult for policymakers to raise interest rates dramatically. The buyer should check whether a bank passes on the benefit of reduced rates to the consumer by going through its past record of benchmark rates say in 2002-03.
Other charges associated with a home loan:
These should be looked into to understand the exact amount of expenses the buyer would incur towards the home loan. Processing fees, amounting to 0.5-1% of loan amount is charged by most lenders, in addition to administrative fees and legal charges during loan disbursement. The buyer has to pay stamp duty which depends on the amount of the loan and the state in which the property is purchased. Prepayment charges are levied on loan repayments made over and above the amount stipulated by the repayment schedule. Making EMI payments after the due date attracts delayed payment charges. Hence, it makes sense for the buyer to take into consideration the total loan cost or money outgo throughout the loan tenure when comparing loan offers. This will provide a clear picture of which loan is the most affordable for the buyer.
Radiation spikes in seawater off stricken Japan plant
suchithkc
TOKYO - Radiation levels have soared in seawater near Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, officials said on Saturday, as engineers struggled to stabilise the power station two weeks after it was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.
Tests on Friday showed iodine 131 levels in seawater 30 km (19 miles) from the coastal nuclear complex had spiked 1,250 times higher than normal, but it was not considered a threat to marine life or food safety, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
"Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it gets consumed by fish and seaweed," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a senior agency official.
Despite that reassurance, the disclosure may well heighten international concern over Japanese seafood exports. Several countries have already banned milk and produce from areas around the Fukushima Daiichi plant, while others have been monitoring Japanese seafood.
The prolonged efforts to prevent a catastrophic meltdown at the plant have also intensified concern around the world about nuclear power. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it was time to reassess the international atomic safety regime.
Engineers were trying to pump radioactive water out of the power plant 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, after it was found in buildings housing three of the six reactors. On Thursday, three workers sustained burns at reactor No. 3 after being exposed to radiation levels 10,000 times higher than usually found in a reactor.
The crisis at the nuclear plant has overshadowed a big relief and recovery effort from the magnitude 9.0 quake and the huge tsunami it triggered on March 11 that left more than 27,500 people dead or missing in northeast Japan.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co <9501.T> said it was using fresh water instead of seawater to cool down at least some of the reactors after concern arose that salt deposits might hamper the cooling process.
Two of the plant's reactors are now seen as safe but the other four are volatile, occasionally emitting steam and smoke. However, the nuclear safety agency said on Saturday that temperature and pressure in all reactors had stabilised.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Friday the situation at Fukushima was "nowhere near" being resolved. His chief cabinet secretary said the following day that at least it was not deteriorating.
"We are preventing the situation from worsening -- we've restored power and pumped in fresh water -- and making basic steps towards improvement but there is still no room for complacency," Yukio Edano told a news briefing on Saturday.
More than 700 engineers have been working in shifts to stabilise the plant with no end in sight.
At Three Mile Island, the worst nuclear power accident in the United States, workers took just four days to stabilise the reactor, which suffered a partial meltdown. No one was injured and there was no radiation release above the legal limit.
At Chernobyl in Ukraine, the worst nuclear accident in the world, it took weeks to "stabilise" what remained of the plant and months to clean up radioactive materials and cover the site with a concrete and steel sarcophagus.
So far, no significant levels of radiation have been detected beyond the vicinity of the plant in Fukushima.
The U.S. Department of Energy said on its website (http://blog.energy.gov/content/situation-japan/)
no significant quantities of radiological material had been deposited in the area around the plant since March 19, according to tests on Friday.
In Tokyo, a metropolis of 13 million people, a Reuters reading on Saturday morning showed ambient radiation of 0.22 microsieverts per hour, about six times normal for the city. That was well within the global average of naturally occurring background radiation of 0.17-0.39 microsieverts per hour, a range given by the World Nuclear Association.
The Japanese government has prodded tens of thousands of people living in a 20 km-30 km (12-18 mile) zone beyond the stricken complex to leave. Edano said the residents should move because it was difficult to get supplies to the area, and not because of elevated radiation.
Kazuo Suzuki, 56, who has moved from his house near the nuclear plant to an evacuation centre, said neighbours he had talked to by telephone said delivery trucks were not going to the exclusion zone because of radiation worries.
"So goods are running out, meaning people have to drive to the next town to buy things. But there is a fuel shortage there too, so they have to wait in long queues for gasoline to use the car."
Radiation levels at the evacuation centre were within a normal range of about 0.16 microsievert, according to a Reuters geiger counter reading.
In Japan's northeast, more than a quarter of a million people remain in shelters, and the impact on livelihoods is becoming clearer. The quake and tsunami not only wiped out homes and businesses but also a fishing industry that was the lifeblood of coastal communities.
"Fishermen lost their gear, ships and just about everything. About half will probably get out of the business," said Yuko Sasaki, a fishmonger in the tsunami-hit city of Kamaishi.
The double disaster probably destroyed aqua farms for abalone, sea urchins, oysters, scallops and seaweed that authorities say account for 80 percent of the revenue of the region's fisheries.
The tsunami obliterated centuries-old fishing ports along the northeast coast, sending ships adrift in the Pacific Ocean, to the bottom of the sea, or depositing them on land, where they now lie among the splintered remains of homes.
TOKYO - Radiation levels have soared in seawater near Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, officials said on Saturday, as engineers struggled to stabilise the power station two weeks after it was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.
Tests on Friday showed iodine 131 levels in seawater 30 km (19 miles) from the coastal nuclear complex had spiked 1,250 times higher than normal, but it was not considered a threat to marine life or food safety, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
"Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it gets consumed by fish and seaweed," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a senior agency official.
Despite that reassurance, the disclosure may well heighten international concern over Japanese seafood exports. Several countries have already banned milk and produce from areas around the Fukushima Daiichi plant, while others have been monitoring Japanese seafood.
The prolonged efforts to prevent a catastrophic meltdown at the plant have also intensified concern around the world about nuclear power. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it was time to reassess the international atomic safety regime.
Engineers were trying to pump radioactive water out of the power plant 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, after it was found in buildings housing three of the six reactors. On Thursday, three workers sustained burns at reactor No. 3 after being exposed to radiation levels 10,000 times higher than usually found in a reactor.
The crisis at the nuclear plant has overshadowed a big relief and recovery effort from the magnitude 9.0 quake and the huge tsunami it triggered on March 11 that left more than 27,500 people dead or missing in northeast Japan.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co <9501.T> said it was using fresh water instead of seawater to cool down at least some of the reactors after concern arose that salt deposits might hamper the cooling process.
Two of the plant's reactors are now seen as safe but the other four are volatile, occasionally emitting steam and smoke. However, the nuclear safety agency said on Saturday that temperature and pressure in all reactors had stabilised.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Friday the situation at Fukushima was "nowhere near" being resolved. His chief cabinet secretary said the following day that at least it was not deteriorating.
"We are preventing the situation from worsening -- we've restored power and pumped in fresh water -- and making basic steps towards improvement but there is still no room for complacency," Yukio Edano told a news briefing on Saturday.
More than 700 engineers have been working in shifts to stabilise the plant with no end in sight.
At Three Mile Island, the worst nuclear power accident in the United States, workers took just four days to stabilise the reactor, which suffered a partial meltdown. No one was injured and there was no radiation release above the legal limit.
At Chernobyl in Ukraine, the worst nuclear accident in the world, it took weeks to "stabilise" what remained of the plant and months to clean up radioactive materials and cover the site with a concrete and steel sarcophagus.
So far, no significant levels of radiation have been detected beyond the vicinity of the plant in Fukushima.
The U.S. Department of Energy said on its website (http://blog.energy.gov/content/situation-japan/)
no significant quantities of radiological material had been deposited in the area around the plant since March 19, according to tests on Friday.
In Tokyo, a metropolis of 13 million people, a Reuters reading on Saturday morning showed ambient radiation of 0.22 microsieverts per hour, about six times normal for the city. That was well within the global average of naturally occurring background radiation of 0.17-0.39 microsieverts per hour, a range given by the World Nuclear Association.
The Japanese government has prodded tens of thousands of people living in a 20 km-30 km (12-18 mile) zone beyond the stricken complex to leave. Edano said the residents should move because it was difficult to get supplies to the area, and not because of elevated radiation.
Kazuo Suzuki, 56, who has moved from his house near the nuclear plant to an evacuation centre, said neighbours he had talked to by telephone said delivery trucks were not going to the exclusion zone because of radiation worries.
"So goods are running out, meaning people have to drive to the next town to buy things. But there is a fuel shortage there too, so they have to wait in long queues for gasoline to use the car."
Radiation levels at the evacuation centre were within a normal range of about 0.16 microsievert, according to a Reuters geiger counter reading.
In Japan's northeast, more than a quarter of a million people remain in shelters, and the impact on livelihoods is becoming clearer. The quake and tsunami not only wiped out homes and businesses but also a fishing industry that was the lifeblood of coastal communities.
"Fishermen lost their gear, ships and just about everything. About half will probably get out of the business," said Yuko Sasaki, a fishmonger in the tsunami-hit city of Kamaishi.
The double disaster probably destroyed aqua farms for abalone, sea urchins, oysters, scallops and seaweed that authorities say account for 80 percent of the revenue of the region's fisheries.
The tsunami obliterated centuries-old fishing ports along the northeast coast, sending ships adrift in the Pacific Ocean, to the bottom of the sea, or depositing them on land, where they now lie among the splintered remains of homes.
'RA.One' will change the genre of films: SRK
suchithkc
Mumbai, March 26 : Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan says his upcoming sci-fi superhero film 'RA.One' is an attempt to create something that will change the genre of Indian films.
'It's an indigenously made film and it's made in VFX studios in India and is trying to create something which will change the genre of films. If Indian filmmakers would like to make something alike, they have the access to the technology,' King Khan told reporters at FICCI-Frames Friday.
He also said that the film would be his first step in paying back to the audiences the love and honour he has received in the last 20 years of his career.
'I have made one promise to every one in India. I have been working for 20 years and I have been given too much; much more than I deserve as an actor, as a star, and I think it's time to give back some,' the superstar said.
'RA.One' is scheduled to release at Diwali time but the star has already started its marketing so that the superhero character sinks into the psyche of his audience.
'I just thought that we don't have any background of a superhero in terms of comics like 'Spiderman'. We have superheroes like 'Krrish' and 'Drona' but they are film superheroes.
'I tell people this is the one who's gonna do... he is going to fly, he has these powers and once this becomes known, then people would like to come and see the film... I just thought to market a year before, hope it pays off,' Shah Rukh said
Mumbai, March 26 : Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan says his upcoming sci-fi superhero film 'RA.One' is an attempt to create something that will change the genre of Indian films.
'It's an indigenously made film and it's made in VFX studios in India and is trying to create something which will change the genre of films. If Indian filmmakers would like to make something alike, they have the access to the technology,' King Khan told reporters at FICCI-Frames Friday.
He also said that the film would be his first step in paying back to the audiences the love and honour he has received in the last 20 years of his career.
'I have made one promise to every one in India. I have been working for 20 years and I have been given too much; much more than I deserve as an actor, as a star, and I think it's time to give back some,' the superstar said.
'RA.One' is scheduled to release at Diwali time but the star has already started its marketing so that the superhero character sinks into the psyche of his audience.
'I just thought that we don't have any background of a superhero in terms of comics like 'Spiderman'. We have superheroes like 'Krrish' and 'Drona' but they are film superheroes.
'I tell people this is the one who's gonna do... he is going to fly, he has these powers and once this becomes known, then people would like to come and see the film... I just thought to market a year before, hope it pays off,' Shah Rukh said
Jaya shedding ''crocodile tears'' for Muslims, says Karuna
suchithkc
Chennai, Mar 26 : DMK patriach and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today charged AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa with shedding ''crocodile tears'' for Muslims and said her election promise to increase reservation quota for them if voted to power was only an attempt to deceive them.
Asserting that it was his government which provided 3.5 per cent reservation for Muslims, he said in the DMK''s official organ ''Murasoli'' that the minority community could not be deceived by her statement.
He said the ''bondage'' between Muslims and DMK had begun from the days of IUML founder late Mohammed Ismail and DMK founder late C N Annadurai and it continued even now.
When IUML on its own gave up one seat to accomodate the Congress demand of 63 seats for the April 13 polls, he himself had initiated steps for merger of IUML and Tamil Nadu National League and restored three seats to IUML.
"What did Jayalalithaa, who now speaks of increasing the quota do when she was Chief Minister for two terms?" he asked.
Recalling her speech in the National Integration Council meeting in 1991 supporting Kar Seva during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Karunanidhi said she went on record to say that if Muslims were given reservation, it would open up a Pandora''s box as other minorities would also raise such a demand.
Karunanidhi said she had even asked if there was no place for a Ram temple at Ayodhya, where else would it then be?
Would Muslims forget all these remarks and believe her speech for increasing the quota for them, he asked.
Chennai, Mar 26 : DMK patriach and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today charged AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa with shedding ''crocodile tears'' for Muslims and said her election promise to increase reservation quota for them if voted to power was only an attempt to deceive them.
Asserting that it was his government which provided 3.5 per cent reservation for Muslims, he said in the DMK''s official organ ''Murasoli'' that the minority community could not be deceived by her statement.
He said the ''bondage'' between Muslims and DMK had begun from the days of IUML founder late Mohammed Ismail and DMK founder late C N Annadurai and it continued even now.
When IUML on its own gave up one seat to accomodate the Congress demand of 63 seats for the April 13 polls, he himself had initiated steps for merger of IUML and Tamil Nadu National League and restored three seats to IUML.
"What did Jayalalithaa, who now speaks of increasing the quota do when she was Chief Minister for two terms?" he asked.
Recalling her speech in the National Integration Council meeting in 1991 supporting Kar Seva during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Karunanidhi said she went on record to say that if Muslims were given reservation, it would open up a Pandora''s box as other minorities would also raise such a demand.
Karunanidhi said she had even asked if there was no place for a Ram temple at Ayodhya, where else would it then be?
Would Muslims forget all these remarks and believe her speech for increasing the quota for them, he asked.
Modi meets PM; protests IT notice to Gujarat govt over VGS
suchithkc
Ahmedabad, Mar 26 : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today protested to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the Income Tax notice to his government over MoUs for large investments in his state and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
According to state government officials, Modi told the prime minister during a meeting here that the IT move indicated "negative mindset" of the Centre towards development of Gujarat.
The IT department has sought details from the state government over the MoUs signed with top investors during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit early this year. Investments assured were to the tune of lakhs of crores.
Modi also submitted a memorandum to the prime minister listing many issues of the state government pending with the Centre.
The I-T notice had sought details of MoUs signed during the Summit in January, where companies had pledged to make investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more.
Modi urged the prime minister for immediate withdrawal of the notice, officials of the Chief Minister''s office said.
Modi said that some other states had also participated in the summit but none of them have been issued such notices.
"The move indicates negative mindset of the Centre toward development of Gujarat and it is also an attempt to restrict the investment flowing into the state," he told the Prime Minister.
"The Prime Minister said that this should not have happened and promised to look into the issue," the sources claimed. The meeting with Modi was not scheduled in the Prime Minister''s programme. It lasted for about 15 minutes, an official said.
Modi in his representation also alleged that the Centre was having an indifferent attitude toward the state.
Modi urged the prime minister "to ensure that Gujarat, a state contributing significantly to India''s economy, gets all its rights and also the Centre play a constructive role in its development". .
Ahmedabad, Mar 26 : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today protested to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the Income Tax notice to his government over MoUs for large investments in his state and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
According to state government officials, Modi told the prime minister during a meeting here that the IT move indicated "negative mindset" of the Centre towards development of Gujarat.
The IT department has sought details from the state government over the MoUs signed with top investors during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit early this year. Investments assured were to the tune of lakhs of crores.
Modi also submitted a memorandum to the prime minister listing many issues of the state government pending with the Centre.
The I-T notice had sought details of MoUs signed during the Summit in January, where companies had pledged to make investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more.
Modi urged the prime minister for immediate withdrawal of the notice, officials of the Chief Minister''s office said.
Modi said that some other states had also participated in the summit but none of them have been issued such notices.
"The move indicates negative mindset of the Centre toward development of Gujarat and it is also an attempt to restrict the investment flowing into the state," he told the Prime Minister.
"The Prime Minister said that this should not have happened and promised to look into the issue," the sources claimed. The meeting with Modi was not scheduled in the Prime Minister''s programme. It lasted for about 15 minutes, an official said.
Modi in his representation also alleged that the Centre was having an indifferent attitude toward the state.
Modi urged the prime minister "to ensure that Gujarat, a state contributing significantly to India''s economy, gets all its rights and also the Centre play a constructive role in its development". .
Tell the nation exactly how much guilty you are: Gadkari to PM
suchithkc
Ranchi, Mar 26 : Taking on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his statement in the wake of scams that he was not as guilty as made out to be, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today asked him to tell the nation exactly "how much guilty" he was.
"The Prime Minister has been saying he does not know about any scam or appointment of P J Thomas as CVC. Even at a media conference he said he was not as much guilty as made out to be by the Opposition. I ask him to tell the nation how much is his guilt amid a number of corruption cases?" he said at a party convention here.
Noting that the country had the right to know the extent of the PM''s involvement in the scams, he said, "People should know how much is his guilt in scams like CAG and 2G Spectrum."
Terming Congress party as a "family fiefdom", Gadkari said, "Congress leaders like P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee can dream of becoming Prime Minister but they can never dare to dream of becoming the party president as the post is reserved for a Gandhi only."
But in BJP, he claimed, any activist can aspire to become its president. "I am an example. I remember the days when as a party worker, I used to paste bills during Atal Bihari Vajpayee''s meeting in Maharashtra. Now the same party has made me the president. Can any Congress leader think of it?" he asked.
The BJP president attributed corruption in Congress-led UPA government to the cause for price rise.
"Corruption is the root cause of skyrocketing of prices ...A Raja is just a symbol of corruption...several corrupt leaders of Congress have become rich," Gadkari alleged.
Ranchi, Mar 26 : Taking on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his statement in the wake of scams that he was not as guilty as made out to be, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today asked him to tell the nation exactly "how much guilty" he was.
"The Prime Minister has been saying he does not know about any scam or appointment of P J Thomas as CVC. Even at a media conference he said he was not as much guilty as made out to be by the Opposition. I ask him to tell the nation how much is his guilt amid a number of corruption cases?" he said at a party convention here.
Noting that the country had the right to know the extent of the PM''s involvement in the scams, he said, "People should know how much is his guilt in scams like CAG and 2G Spectrum."
Terming Congress party as a "family fiefdom", Gadkari said, "Congress leaders like P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee can dream of becoming Prime Minister but they can never dare to dream of becoming the party president as the post is reserved for a Gandhi only."
But in BJP, he claimed, any activist can aspire to become its president. "I am an example. I remember the days when as a party worker, I used to paste bills during Atal Bihari Vajpayee''s meeting in Maharashtra. Now the same party has made me the president. Can any Congress leader think of it?" he asked.
The BJP president attributed corruption in Congress-led UPA government to the cause for price rise.
"Corruption is the root cause of skyrocketing of prices ...A Raja is just a symbol of corruption...several corrupt leaders of Congress have become rich," Gadkari alleged.
Balwa subsidiary paid Rs 4.5 crore to Cong leader's son: PIL
suchithkc
Mumbai: Dynamix Realty, a subsidiary of D B Realty, which has come under the probe agencies' scanner in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, had deposited Rs 4.5 crore in the bank account of the son of Congress MLA Kripashankar Singh, facing a court case for allegedly amassing huge illegal wealth.
According to bank documents annexed to a PIL filed in Bombay High Court against the MLA, the statement of Samata Sahakari Bank account in the names of his son Narendra Mohan Singh and daughter-in-law Ankita, showed four deposits made by Dynamix Reality, totalling Rs 4.5 crore during 2008-2009.
The first deposit of Rs 50 lakh was made on August 23, 2008, in the joint bank account of Narendra and Ankita. The second entry of Rs 2 crore was made on January 1, 2009 in Narendra''s account, while the third and the fourth deposits of Rs one crore each (also in account of Narendra) were made on February 10 and 27, 2009 respectively.
A statement by the depositor, meanwhile, said, "Dynamix Realty had given a loan to Mr Narendra Mohan Singh which has been repaid to the company on March 12, 2010".
The Bombay High Court had on March 3 come down heavily on state Anti-corruption Bureau, Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate for not sharing information among themselves and asked the agencies to probe the source of transactions reflected in the bank accounts of Kripashankar Singh and his relatives.
Mumbai: Dynamix Realty, a subsidiary of D B Realty, which has come under the probe agencies' scanner in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, had deposited Rs 4.5 crore in the bank account of the son of Congress MLA Kripashankar Singh, facing a court case for allegedly amassing huge illegal wealth.
According to bank documents annexed to a PIL filed in Bombay High Court against the MLA, the statement of Samata Sahakari Bank account in the names of his son Narendra Mohan Singh and daughter-in-law Ankita, showed four deposits made by Dynamix Reality, totalling Rs 4.5 crore during 2008-2009.
The first deposit of Rs 50 lakh was made on August 23, 2008, in the joint bank account of Narendra and Ankita. The second entry of Rs 2 crore was made on January 1, 2009 in Narendra''s account, while the third and the fourth deposits of Rs one crore each (also in account of Narendra) were made on February 10 and 27, 2009 respectively.
A statement by the depositor, meanwhile, said, "Dynamix Realty had given a loan to Mr Narendra Mohan Singh which has been repaid to the company on March 12, 2010".
The Bombay High Court had on March 3 come down heavily on state Anti-corruption Bureau, Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate for not sharing information among themselves and asked the agencies to probe the source of transactions reflected in the bank accounts of Kripashankar Singh and his relatives.
Kamal's trilingual titled 'Viswaroopam'
suchithkc
Kamal Haasan who stunned the audience with his versatile roles is all set to impress us again. His upcoming film which will be directed by Selvaraghavan and stars Sonakshi Sinha has been reportedly titled 'Viswaroopam'. The film will be released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi.
This flick will go on floors next month and the shoot will take place in Hyderabad, Chennai and London. Apparently, Kamal wants to do a better movie than Rajinikanth's 'Robot' interms of versatality and is leaving no stone unturned.
Sonakshi too has pinned high hopes on this film. She can't stop raving about it and said, "I am blessed to have got a superhit in Hindi through Dabbangg. I am entering South Indian film industry with a lot of enthusiasm. I am excited about this project" she said.
Selvaraghavan will direct a movie with Rana that stars Richa Gangopadhyay after this project which will be a bilingual.
Kamal Haasan who stunned the audience with his versatile roles is all set to impress us again. His upcoming film which will be directed by Selvaraghavan and stars Sonakshi Sinha has been reportedly titled 'Viswaroopam'. The film will be released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi.
This flick will go on floors next month and the shoot will take place in Hyderabad, Chennai and London. Apparently, Kamal wants to do a better movie than Rajinikanth's 'Robot' interms of versatality and is leaving no stone unturned.
Sonakshi too has pinned high hopes on this film. She can't stop raving about it and said, "I am blessed to have got a superhit in Hindi through Dabbangg. I am entering South Indian film industry with a lot of enthusiasm. I am excited about this project" she said.
Selvaraghavan will direct a movie with Rana that stars Richa Gangopadhyay after this project which will be a bilingual.
Manju Warrier, Samyuktha, back in a Mammotty film
suchithkc
This has been the question that had been aired in most of the interviews with the filmy celebrities.Dileep and Biju menon would have answered it for at least a hundred times in the last five years.Yes, This is also a news that Malayalees, all around the world, had been awaiting for a long time.
You have picked it right.The favourite ever green heroines of Mollywod, Manju Warrier and Samyuktha varma who were resting in their roles of housewives, away from filmdom,will be back on screen in a short while. They will be playing the heroines in their comeback movie to none other than Megastar Mammootty. What to hear more? This will be a project to be directed by Laljose.And Dileep will be the producer of the project under the banner of his own Grand productions.Add to that , Dileep and Biju Menon will also appear in other important roles in the movie.....Altogether this project of surprises is going to be a family affair, that will take off in a short while.
Mamootty had never appeared with these two talented heroines in any of their films and the megastar has shared this feeling with Dileep and Bijumenon ,many times.Both these actors were recently seen together endorsing the Kavya Madhavan movie 'Ghaddhama'. It seems that it was all these talks which finally ended up in a movie project. It is heard that laljose will use the time that he has got after the wrapping of the movie 'Cousins' with Mohanlal and Prithviraj, for the preproduction works of this new project. We were in a hurry to keep you updated with those wonderful developments and so watch this space for details about the cast and crew, that will be out soon.
Also pray to Almighty for making this project a reality, than becoming another one on paper that may get shelved after some reports.And if it happens, this is sure to be one movie that will be eagerly watched out for its great performances for all lead stars, which may make the stars and the Mollywood proud like never before.
This has been the question that had been aired in most of the interviews with the filmy celebrities.Dileep and Biju menon would have answered it for at least a hundred times in the last five years.Yes, This is also a news that Malayalees, all around the world, had been awaiting for a long time.
You have picked it right.The favourite ever green heroines of Mollywod, Manju Warrier and Samyuktha varma who were resting in their roles of housewives, away from filmdom,will be back on screen in a short while. They will be playing the heroines in their comeback movie to none other than Megastar Mammootty. What to hear more? This will be a project to be directed by Laljose.And Dileep will be the producer of the project under the banner of his own Grand productions.Add to that , Dileep and Biju Menon will also appear in other important roles in the movie.....Altogether this project of surprises is going to be a family affair, that will take off in a short while.
Mamootty had never appeared with these two talented heroines in any of their films and the megastar has shared this feeling with Dileep and Bijumenon ,many times.Both these actors were recently seen together endorsing the Kavya Madhavan movie 'Ghaddhama'. It seems that it was all these talks which finally ended up in a movie project. It is heard that laljose will use the time that he has got after the wrapping of the movie 'Cousins' with Mohanlal and Prithviraj, for the preproduction works of this new project. We were in a hurry to keep you updated with those wonderful developments and so watch this space for details about the cast and crew, that will be out soon.
Also pray to Almighty for making this project a reality, than becoming another one on paper that may get shelved after some reports.And if it happens, this is sure to be one movie that will be eagerly watched out for its great performances for all lead stars, which may make the stars and the Mollywood proud like never before.
Newsmaker: The Reddy brothers
suchithkc
The case over the legality of their mining operations has proved the first check to the rise of the brothers’ ore empire.
Last week, the Supreme Court asked Gali Janardhana and Gali Karunakara Reddy, brothers, ministers of tourism and infrastructure and revenue respectively in the Karnataka government and owners of the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), to stop iron ore mining on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border.
April 6 is the day the Survey of India is supposed to tell the Supreme Court whether OMC’s owners encroached on a reserve forest to gouge out vast reserves of iron ore.
The matter reached the Supreme Court after the Andhra Pradesh High Court gave OMC conditional clearance to continue mining in response to a complaint that they had not just encroached on land that was not legally theirs, but had also altered the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border to extend their jurisdiction to the neighbouring state.
The complainant’s contention was that the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh — the Congress led by former Chief Minister, the late Y S Rajashekhar Reddy — was in cahoots with the Reddy brothers in Karnataka to allow illegal mines to flourish.
This is a long way from the Reddy brothers’ first steps in business. Till some years ago, the Reddy brothers’ preferred form of transport was the scooter, on which they used to roam villages and towns of Bellary to raise money for their non-banking financial company which ultimately had to be liquidated.
Today, a Union minister told Business Standard some months ago, the Reddy brothers use a helicopter from their place of work to go home to have lunch so that they can avoid the dust from the mines.
And in 2009, Janardhana Reddy was reported as having said to Telugu newspapers, quite frankly, “The net worth of myself and my wife is Rs 115 crores. I own a helicopter that I bought for Rs 15 crore, a deluxe bus for Rs 4 crore and cars worth Rs 5 crore. My group’s turnover in 2006-07 was Rs 2,008 crore for which I have filed IT returns. Out of this, OMC, which is in the iron ore business, had a turnover of Rs 1,200 crore.”
He is 44. His brother, Karunakara Reddy is 46. In the declaration before the Election Commission they have reported assets that add up to much less, around Rs 200 crore.
How did the Reddy family make so much money? Families that owned land in Bellary would mine iron ore and earn a modest profit. But engineering in the west soon created machines that modernised mining operations, making available with relative ease better quality iron ore that could be found deeper down. This, and the demand from China coinciding with the Olympics, sent demand for ore spiralling and the Reddy family’s cash tills ringing non-stop.
Much of this money was invested in Brahmani Steels, a company that was floated without any credit from banks to process ore from the mines. Although opposition politicians in Andhra Pradesh, including Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), charge that Rajashekhar Reddy and his son Jaganmohan had a stake in Brahmani Steels, the Reddy brothers say this is untrue.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government, in the parallel, is wondering what to do about complaints that Brahmani Steels diverted water from the Gandikota reservoir illegally to Brahmani steel.
For the Supreme Court the issue is simple: Did the Reddy brothers dig mines on land where this is prohibited? Or are they, as they allege, victims of political vendetta?
Hard to say, but if it is indeed political vendetta, it has little to do with party politics. In Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by B S Yeddyurappa is defending the Reddy brothers for now.
Their association with the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh when it was led by Rajashekhar Reddy (whom they describe as a “father to us”) was fruitful for both and neither saw any contradiction in their association.
When they became ministers after having bankrolled substantially the BJP’s Assembly election campaign in 2009, they were irritated to find BS Yeddyurappa not sufficiently deferential to them. They had a powerful patron in Sushma Swaraj, who contested the Bellary Lok Sabha seat against Sonia Gandhi. But they wanted their power acknowledged in Karnataka.
So, they launched a Rs 25-crore drinking water supply project in their mother’s name. A Rs 500-crore private project was launched to build 54,000 houses for flood-hit villages in six districts, bypassing the state government, which of course, was having none of it. During a heated exchange in the Karnataka Assembly, Janardhana Reddy said: “People say we are worth Rs 100 crore. I want to correct it — we are worth Rs 1,000 crore,”
The dénouement came with their bid to topple the BJP government in Karnatka last year, a venture that was prevented by the chief minister who sacrificed one of his most trusted civil servants to save his government.
With that abortive coup, the brothers have established that they can do that and more next time. Right now they appear to be in the rest and recreation mode. Telugu and Kannada film magazines report that Janardhana Reddy has now embraced another profession — the film industry. His first venture was Buddhimanthudu, a Telugu version of the Kannada film that was launched last year on Telugu new year.
The case over the legality of their mining operations has proved the first check to the rise of the brothers’ ore empire.
Last week, the Supreme Court asked Gali Janardhana and Gali Karunakara Reddy, brothers, ministers of tourism and infrastructure and revenue respectively in the Karnataka government and owners of the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), to stop iron ore mining on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border.
April 6 is the day the Survey of India is supposed to tell the Supreme Court whether OMC’s owners encroached on a reserve forest to gouge out vast reserves of iron ore.
The matter reached the Supreme Court after the Andhra Pradesh High Court gave OMC conditional clearance to continue mining in response to a complaint that they had not just encroached on land that was not legally theirs, but had also altered the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border to extend their jurisdiction to the neighbouring state.
The complainant’s contention was that the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh — the Congress led by former Chief Minister, the late Y S Rajashekhar Reddy — was in cahoots with the Reddy brothers in Karnataka to allow illegal mines to flourish.
This is a long way from the Reddy brothers’ first steps in business. Till some years ago, the Reddy brothers’ preferred form of transport was the scooter, on which they used to roam villages and towns of Bellary to raise money for their non-banking financial company which ultimately had to be liquidated.
Today, a Union minister told Business Standard some months ago, the Reddy brothers use a helicopter from their place of work to go home to have lunch so that they can avoid the dust from the mines.
And in 2009, Janardhana Reddy was reported as having said to Telugu newspapers, quite frankly, “The net worth of myself and my wife is Rs 115 crores. I own a helicopter that I bought for Rs 15 crore, a deluxe bus for Rs 4 crore and cars worth Rs 5 crore. My group’s turnover in 2006-07 was Rs 2,008 crore for which I have filed IT returns. Out of this, OMC, which is in the iron ore business, had a turnover of Rs 1,200 crore.”
He is 44. His brother, Karunakara Reddy is 46. In the declaration before the Election Commission they have reported assets that add up to much less, around Rs 200 crore.
How did the Reddy family make so much money? Families that owned land in Bellary would mine iron ore and earn a modest profit. But engineering in the west soon created machines that modernised mining operations, making available with relative ease better quality iron ore that could be found deeper down. This, and the demand from China coinciding with the Olympics, sent demand for ore spiralling and the Reddy family’s cash tills ringing non-stop.
Much of this money was invested in Brahmani Steels, a company that was floated without any credit from banks to process ore from the mines. Although opposition politicians in Andhra Pradesh, including Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), charge that Rajashekhar Reddy and his son Jaganmohan had a stake in Brahmani Steels, the Reddy brothers say this is untrue.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government, in the parallel, is wondering what to do about complaints that Brahmani Steels diverted water from the Gandikota reservoir illegally to Brahmani steel.
For the Supreme Court the issue is simple: Did the Reddy brothers dig mines on land where this is prohibited? Or are they, as they allege, victims of political vendetta?
Hard to say, but if it is indeed political vendetta, it has little to do with party politics. In Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by B S Yeddyurappa is defending the Reddy brothers for now.
Their association with the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh when it was led by Rajashekhar Reddy (whom they describe as a “father to us”) was fruitful for both and neither saw any contradiction in their association.
When they became ministers after having bankrolled substantially the BJP’s Assembly election campaign in 2009, they were irritated to find BS Yeddyurappa not sufficiently deferential to them. They had a powerful patron in Sushma Swaraj, who contested the Bellary Lok Sabha seat against Sonia Gandhi. But they wanted their power acknowledged in Karnataka.
So, they launched a Rs 25-crore drinking water supply project in their mother’s name. A Rs 500-crore private project was launched to build 54,000 houses for flood-hit villages in six districts, bypassing the state government, which of course, was having none of it. During a heated exchange in the Karnataka Assembly, Janardhana Reddy said: “People say we are worth Rs 100 crore. I want to correct it — we are worth Rs 1,000 crore,”
The dénouement came with their bid to topple the BJP government in Karnatka last year, a venture that was prevented by the chief minister who sacrificed one of his most trusted civil servants to save his government.
With that abortive coup, the brothers have established that they can do that and more next time. Right now they appear to be in the rest and recreation mode. Telugu and Kannada film magazines report that Janardhana Reddy has now embraced another profession — the film industry. His first venture was Buddhimanthudu, a Telugu version of the Kannada film that was launched last year on Telugu new year.
The Reddy Flag Over Bangalore
suchithkc
WHEN BS YEDDYURAPPA was sworn in as Karnataka’s 19th chief minister on May 30, he took the oath in the name of farmers and God. A third presence, that he should have publicly acknowledged, but didn’t, were the Reddy brothers.
Karunakara, Somashekhar and Janardhan Reddy along with B. Sriramulu (a close associate and virtually a part of the family) played a crucial role in first helping the BJP garner 110 seats, and later by playing a key role in securing the support of the six independents to help Yeddyurappa realise his dream of heading the first BJP government in Karnataka. It is reported that the Reddy brothers, who made their millions mining iron ore, paid the independent candidates Rs 25 crore each in return for their support to the BJP government. Not that Yeddyurappa is unaware of the Reddy brothers’ financial contribution to the party coffers or their presence in Bellary and its neighbouring districts. Three of the four kingmakers have been granted ministerial berths — Harapanahalli MLA Gali Karunakara Reddy, Bellary MLA B. Sriramulu and MLC Gali Janardhan Reddy.
Even weeks before the election began, Janardhan Reddy had laughed away the idea of any preparations to win the elections. Reddy, on being asked by TEHELKA about campaign readiness, had said, “What preparations? Where is the need for us to prepare? We are sure that we will add nearly 30 seats to the BJP tally.” If the number had seemed like a casual boast at that time, post-results, Reddy’s figure is not way off the mark. Besides Bellary district, the Reddy brothers’ concentrated on the neighbouring districts of Davangere, Gadag and Haveri.
Of 27 seats in these four districts, the BJP won 23 seats. Five of these seats were won by the Reddy family itself, including the extended family members, B. Nagendra (Kudligi MLA) and TH Suresh Babu (Kampli MLA). The clout that the Reddy brothers have enjoyed over the years extended to the 2008 Assembly elections as well. A political clout that is held in place by the Reddy brothers muscle power as well, say observers in the district.
During the campaign, Sriramulu, who finally won the Bellary seat, was twice arrested by the police before being released on bail. The first incident that he was implicated in was the burning of Congress candidate Anil Lad’s cars on April 18. A month later, on May 15, a day before Bellary went to the polls, Sriramulu was charged with assaulting a Congress worker on the outskirts of the city. Nani, the Congress worker, was found unconscious following the assault and had to be hospitalised.
In both instances, the Reddy brothers stood firm in their assertion that the Congress was in fact “creating” these incidents to bring about a sympathy wave.
Whatever the final outcome in these two cases, the fact is that Sriramulu in his nomi - nation affidavit has already admitted to having criminal charges pending against him, including an attempt to murder charge. Ultimately, none of this mattered as Sriramulu waits to be assigned a portfolio in the Yeddyurappa cabinet.
Who are the Reddy brothers and how did they come to dominate Karnataka’s political scene? Sons of a police constable, stories abound of the time when the Reddy brothers criss-crossed dusty Bellary roads on a twowheeler as they attempted to establish (and later save) a non-banking financial institution,Ennoble Savings and Investment India Pvt. Ltd. The company wound up in 1998, with complaints of fraud and cheating to the tune of Rs 200 crore. Meanwhile, Sriramulu had surfaced on the local political scene as a disciple of the then Congressman Diwakar Babu. The 1999 Lok Sabha elections saw the real emergence of the Reddy brothers. As Congress chief Sonia Gandhi battled it out against the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj for the Bellary seat, the brothers emerged as Sushma Swaraj’s trusted local aides. Though Swaraj and Sriramulu (who contested the 1999 Assembly elections) lost, for the Reddy brothers, both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections that year proved to be a crucial stepping stone. Under Swaraj’s aegis, Sriramulu, who is often called her adopted son, and the Reddy brothers worked tirelessly to establish BJP’s hold in what was once a Congress bastion.
In the Bellary City Municipal Council elections in 2001, the Reddy brothers’ efforts yielded results as the BJP swept the Congress aside. The winning streak continued in the 2004 Assembly elections as the BJP won three seats. Later, in the Lok Sabha elections, G. Karunakara Reddy won the Bellary Lok Sabha seat, wresting it from the Congress who had held the seat since 1952.
The subsequent zilla panchayat, taluk and town level elections proved to be a cakewalk for the Reddy brothers and the BJP. Of the four, Janardhan Reddy is seen largely as the ‘brain’ behind the rapid expansion of the party in the district.
Their rise in political circles mirrored their rise as mining magnets, cashing in on the international iron-ore export boom that hit the region. As managing directors of the Obalapuram Mining Company, the Reddy brothers oversee mining operations in Anantapur (in Andhra Pradesh), a district bordering Bellary. Sriramulu is managing director of the same company. When China started to import iron ore for its rapidly growing infrastructure needs, the Reddy brothers catapulted to the big league. Their assets are known to run into thousands of crores of rupees; in an Income Tax department raid in October 2007, the Reddy brothers reportedly paid a few crore rupees as dues. A much talked about asset is the fleet of helicopters that the brothers use frequently, often lending them to the BJP as well.
FOR MANY, the rise of the Reddy brothers signifies a tale beyond the pauper to a king story. Says Gauri Lankesh, editor of Lankesh, a leading independent weekly in Karnataka, “It is ridiculous to reduce it to that or to bemoan the entry of unscrupulous elements into politics. Let’s not forget that the political influence that the Reddy brothers wield today is a consequence of the opening of the export licences in the mining sector. Nobody draws the link between the stench in politics thanks to mining and real estate magnates and the economic policies of liberalisation that the country is following. Bellary and the Reddy brothers are merely a microcosm of the meshing together of the political and economic elite.”
Indeed, in a region that still reflects characteristics of feudalism thanks to an unsurmountable gap between the mine owners and the mineworkers, the rise of the Reddy brothers is a significant tale to tell. Says Shivasundar, a senior political analyst, “The values that the neo-rich espouse is in direct conflict with the supposed welfare State that we are a part of. In the Indian Constitution, socialism is still a value to be upheld. How can we expect any state regulation when it comprises legislators and ministers like the Reddy brothers?”
BS Yeddyurappa and the BJP government are unlikely to have any answers. •
WHEN BS YEDDYURAPPA was sworn in as Karnataka’s 19th chief minister on May 30, he took the oath in the name of farmers and God. A third presence, that he should have publicly acknowledged, but didn’t, were the Reddy brothers.
Karunakara, Somashekhar and Janardhan Reddy along with B. Sriramulu (a close associate and virtually a part of the family) played a crucial role in first helping the BJP garner 110 seats, and later by playing a key role in securing the support of the six independents to help Yeddyurappa realise his dream of heading the first BJP government in Karnataka. It is reported that the Reddy brothers, who made their millions mining iron ore, paid the independent candidates Rs 25 crore each in return for their support to the BJP government. Not that Yeddyurappa is unaware of the Reddy brothers’ financial contribution to the party coffers or their presence in Bellary and its neighbouring districts. Three of the four kingmakers have been granted ministerial berths — Harapanahalli MLA Gali Karunakara Reddy, Bellary MLA B. Sriramulu and MLC Gali Janardhan Reddy.
Even weeks before the election began, Janardhan Reddy had laughed away the idea of any preparations to win the elections. Reddy, on being asked by TEHELKA about campaign readiness, had said, “What preparations? Where is the need for us to prepare? We are sure that we will add nearly 30 seats to the BJP tally.” If the number had seemed like a casual boast at that time, post-results, Reddy’s figure is not way off the mark. Besides Bellary district, the Reddy brothers’ concentrated on the neighbouring districts of Davangere, Gadag and Haveri.
Of 27 seats in these four districts, the BJP won 23 seats. Five of these seats were won by the Reddy family itself, including the extended family members, B. Nagendra (Kudligi MLA) and TH Suresh Babu (Kampli MLA). The clout that the Reddy brothers have enjoyed over the years extended to the 2008 Assembly elections as well. A political clout that is held in place by the Reddy brothers muscle power as well, say observers in the district.
During the campaign, Sriramulu, who finally won the Bellary seat, was twice arrested by the police before being released on bail. The first incident that he was implicated in was the burning of Congress candidate Anil Lad’s cars on April 18. A month later, on May 15, a day before Bellary went to the polls, Sriramulu was charged with assaulting a Congress worker on the outskirts of the city. Nani, the Congress worker, was found unconscious following the assault and had to be hospitalised.
In both instances, the Reddy brothers stood firm in their assertion that the Congress was in fact “creating” these incidents to bring about a sympathy wave.
Whatever the final outcome in these two cases, the fact is that Sriramulu in his nomi - nation affidavit has already admitted to having criminal charges pending against him, including an attempt to murder charge. Ultimately, none of this mattered as Sriramulu waits to be assigned a portfolio in the Yeddyurappa cabinet.
Who are the Reddy brothers and how did they come to dominate Karnataka’s political scene? Sons of a police constable, stories abound of the time when the Reddy brothers criss-crossed dusty Bellary roads on a twowheeler as they attempted to establish (and later save) a non-banking financial institution,Ennoble Savings and Investment India Pvt. Ltd. The company wound up in 1998, with complaints of fraud and cheating to the tune of Rs 200 crore. Meanwhile, Sriramulu had surfaced on the local political scene as a disciple of the then Congressman Diwakar Babu. The 1999 Lok Sabha elections saw the real emergence of the Reddy brothers. As Congress chief Sonia Gandhi battled it out against the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj for the Bellary seat, the brothers emerged as Sushma Swaraj’s trusted local aides. Though Swaraj and Sriramulu (who contested the 1999 Assembly elections) lost, for the Reddy brothers, both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections that year proved to be a crucial stepping stone. Under Swaraj’s aegis, Sriramulu, who is often called her adopted son, and the Reddy brothers worked tirelessly to establish BJP’s hold in what was once a Congress bastion.
In the Bellary City Municipal Council elections in 2001, the Reddy brothers’ efforts yielded results as the BJP swept the Congress aside. The winning streak continued in the 2004 Assembly elections as the BJP won three seats. Later, in the Lok Sabha elections, G. Karunakara Reddy won the Bellary Lok Sabha seat, wresting it from the Congress who had held the seat since 1952.
The subsequent zilla panchayat, taluk and town level elections proved to be a cakewalk for the Reddy brothers and the BJP. Of the four, Janardhan Reddy is seen largely as the ‘brain’ behind the rapid expansion of the party in the district.
Their rise in political circles mirrored their rise as mining magnets, cashing in on the international iron-ore export boom that hit the region. As managing directors of the Obalapuram Mining Company, the Reddy brothers oversee mining operations in Anantapur (in Andhra Pradesh), a district bordering Bellary. Sriramulu is managing director of the same company. When China started to import iron ore for its rapidly growing infrastructure needs, the Reddy brothers catapulted to the big league. Their assets are known to run into thousands of crores of rupees; in an Income Tax department raid in October 2007, the Reddy brothers reportedly paid a few crore rupees as dues. A much talked about asset is the fleet of helicopters that the brothers use frequently, often lending them to the BJP as well.
FOR MANY, the rise of the Reddy brothers signifies a tale beyond the pauper to a king story. Says Gauri Lankesh, editor of Lankesh, a leading independent weekly in Karnataka, “It is ridiculous to reduce it to that or to bemoan the entry of unscrupulous elements into politics. Let’s not forget that the political influence that the Reddy brothers wield today is a consequence of the opening of the export licences in the mining sector. Nobody draws the link between the stench in politics thanks to mining and real estate magnates and the economic policies of liberalisation that the country is following. Bellary and the Reddy brothers are merely a microcosm of the meshing together of the political and economic elite.”
Indeed, in a region that still reflects characteristics of feudalism thanks to an unsurmountable gap between the mine owners and the mineworkers, the rise of the Reddy brothers is a significant tale to tell. Says Shivasundar, a senior political analyst, “The values that the neo-rich espouse is in direct conflict with the supposed welfare State that we are a part of. In the Indian Constitution, socialism is still a value to be upheld. How can we expect any state regulation when it comprises legislators and ministers like the Reddy brothers?”
BS Yeddyurappa and the BJP government are unlikely to have any answers. •
Probe reveals Rs 65 cr amassed by Jaya
suchithkc
CHENNAI, May 3: The probe into the disproportionate assets case against former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha came to an end on Friday with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) claiming that the face value of the assets allegedly amassed by her was about Rs 65.86 crore. The charge-sheet against the former chief minister is likely to be filed by mid-May.
When the DVAC filed the FIR in the case last December, the wealth acquired by Jayalalitha, allegedly disproportionate to her known sources of income, was estimated at Rs 15.52 crore. Then the figures swelled to Rs 46 crore and finally the DVAC estimated her assets to be worth Rs 65.86 crore. ``This final figure arrived at is the minimum provable amount,'' says a top official.
According to the final report submitted by the DVAC to the government, apart from Jayalalitha, her confidante Sasikala Natarajan, her former foster son V.N. Sudhagaran and his cousin Ilavarasi are the other key accused. Three hundred witnesses were interrogated in the case.
The investigations by the DVAC encompassed a five year period beginning on July 1, 1991 from when the accumulation of wealth ``gathered momentum'' according to the investigating agency. From July 1, 1991 to April 30, 1996, Jayalalitha and Sasikala allegedly floated 14 companies which included Signora Business Enterprises, Anjaneya Printers Lex Properties, Riverway Agro Products and Indo Doha Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company in the names of Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhagaran.
The report also states that the 14 companies filed no tax returns and were only involved in the purchase of real estate and other assets. The DVAC has concluded that Jayalalitha had acquired assets worth Rs 9.2 crore through known sources of income and the remaining, allegedly worth Rs 65.86 crore, were accumulated through ``unexplained'' sources.
Till 1987, the face value of Jayalalitha's assets was only Rs 437,817 and till the end of 1990 she had no substantial balance in her bank account.
When she was a Member of Parliament between May 13, 1988 and January 27, 1989, she bought four cars at a cost of Rs 9.12 lakh. Then on February 13, 1989 she bought a jeep for Rs 1.04 lakh, says the DVAC report. However, during her chief ministership, her assets had allegedly gone up 600 times, said an official.
Meanwhile, in the same case, the DVAC is also preparing charge-sheets against three former AIADMK ministers of the erstwhile Jayalalitha cabinet and two former AIADMK MLAs. The AIADMK general secretary, Jayalalitha demanded on Saturday that the CBI reopen its case against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi, on the `wheat scandal' as suggested by the Sarkaria commission.
In a statement here, she said the Commission had found Karunanidhi guilty of misuse of power in allowing a trader to sell wheat to the flour mills in the state on a higher rate after taking commission from the dealer. The commission had recommended the filing of a case against Karunanidhi.
CHENNAI, May 3: The probe into the disproportionate assets case against former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha came to an end on Friday with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) claiming that the face value of the assets allegedly amassed by her was about Rs 65.86 crore. The charge-sheet against the former chief minister is likely to be filed by mid-May.
When the DVAC filed the FIR in the case last December, the wealth acquired by Jayalalitha, allegedly disproportionate to her known sources of income, was estimated at Rs 15.52 crore. Then the figures swelled to Rs 46 crore and finally the DVAC estimated her assets to be worth Rs 65.86 crore. ``This final figure arrived at is the minimum provable amount,'' says a top official.
According to the final report submitted by the DVAC to the government, apart from Jayalalitha, her confidante Sasikala Natarajan, her former foster son V.N. Sudhagaran and his cousin Ilavarasi are the other key accused. Three hundred witnesses were interrogated in the case.
The investigations by the DVAC encompassed a five year period beginning on July 1, 1991 from when the accumulation of wealth ``gathered momentum'' according to the investigating agency. From July 1, 1991 to April 30, 1996, Jayalalitha and Sasikala allegedly floated 14 companies which included Signora Business Enterprises, Anjaneya Printers Lex Properties, Riverway Agro Products and Indo Doha Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company in the names of Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhagaran.
The report also states that the 14 companies filed no tax returns and were only involved in the purchase of real estate and other assets. The DVAC has concluded that Jayalalitha had acquired assets worth Rs 9.2 crore through known sources of income and the remaining, allegedly worth Rs 65.86 crore, were accumulated through ``unexplained'' sources.
Till 1987, the face value of Jayalalitha's assets was only Rs 437,817 and till the end of 1990 she had no substantial balance in her bank account.
When she was a Member of Parliament between May 13, 1988 and January 27, 1989, she bought four cars at a cost of Rs 9.12 lakh. Then on February 13, 1989 she bought a jeep for Rs 1.04 lakh, says the DVAC report. However, during her chief ministership, her assets had allegedly gone up 600 times, said an official.
Meanwhile, in the same case, the DVAC is also preparing charge-sheets against three former AIADMK ministers of the erstwhile Jayalalitha cabinet and two former AIADMK MLAs. The AIADMK general secretary, Jayalalitha demanded on Saturday that the CBI reopen its case against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi, on the `wheat scandal' as suggested by the Sarkaria commission.
In a statement here, she said the Commission had found Karunanidhi guilty of misuse of power in allowing a trader to sell wheat to the flour mills in the state on a higher rate after taking commission from the dealer. The commission had recommended the filing of a case against Karunanidhi.
At Rs 51cr, Jaya assets double in 5 years
suchithkc
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s two chief ministerial candidates – DMK president M Karunanidhi and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, are together worth more than Rs 92 crore. While Karunanidhi has declared assets worth Rs 41 crore, his bete noire Jayalalithaa is worth Rs 51 crore, as per the affidavit filed along with her nomination papers for Srirangam assembly segment on Thursday. Jayalalithaa had declared assets worth Rs 24.7 crore in 2006. She has no dependents.
While Karunanidhi himself has assets worth Rs 4.92 crore, his two wives, Dayalu and Rajathi, are worth Rs 17.34 crore and Rs 18.68 crore respectively.
Actor Vijayakanth, contesting from Rishivandiyam segment, has declared assets worth Rs 46.5 crore.
Jayalalithaa has shown an annual income of Rs 15 lakh. Though she has a fleet of five vehicles worth Rs 8.35 lakh, all are old. They include a 1980 model Ambassador car worth Rs 10,000.
Her affidavit gives an overview of the 10 cases registered against her and the valuables seized by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption from her custody after her party’s defeat in the 1996 assembly elections . Since her jewellery is still stuck in court cases, she has not mentioned its value.
Jayalalithaa’s major assets include her Poes Garden residence worth Rs 20.16 crore, four commercial buildings – three in Chennai and one in Hyderabad – worth Rs 6.91 crore, Kodanad tea estate worth Rs one crore, investments in Jaya Publications worth Rs 8.5 crore, in Sasi Enterprises worth Rs 75 lakh and Royalvalley Floritech worth Rs 65 lakh.
She has Rs 11.25 crore worth agricultural lands and cash deposits to the tune of Rs 41 lakh.
Though she has mentioned another cash deposit of roughly Rs two crore in the affidavit, she said details are available only with the DVAC.
Vijayakanth’s assets range from a marriage hall to agricultural lands and investments in various firms. He has agricultural farms worth Rs 12.46 crore at Maduranthakam , Karadiputhur and Irugur in Kancheepuram district. He has nonagricultural lands worth Rs 1.1 crore. His house in south Chennai is worth Rs 1.6 crore. He has three vehicles worth Rs 50 lakh, which includes a Ford Endeavour.
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s two chief ministerial candidates – DMK president M Karunanidhi and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, are together worth more than Rs 92 crore. While Karunanidhi has declared assets worth Rs 41 crore, his bete noire Jayalalithaa is worth Rs 51 crore, as per the affidavit filed along with her nomination papers for Srirangam assembly segment on Thursday. Jayalalithaa had declared assets worth Rs 24.7 crore in 2006. She has no dependents.
While Karunanidhi himself has assets worth Rs 4.92 crore, his two wives, Dayalu and Rajathi, are worth Rs 17.34 crore and Rs 18.68 crore respectively.
Actor Vijayakanth, contesting from Rishivandiyam segment, has declared assets worth Rs 46.5 crore.
Jayalalithaa has shown an annual income of Rs 15 lakh. Though she has a fleet of five vehicles worth Rs 8.35 lakh, all are old. They include a 1980 model Ambassador car worth Rs 10,000.
Her affidavit gives an overview of the 10 cases registered against her and the valuables seized by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption from her custody after her party’s defeat in the 1996 assembly elections . Since her jewellery is still stuck in court cases, she has not mentioned its value.
Jayalalithaa’s major assets include her Poes Garden residence worth Rs 20.16 crore, four commercial buildings – three in Chennai and one in Hyderabad – worth Rs 6.91 crore, Kodanad tea estate worth Rs one crore, investments in Jaya Publications worth Rs 8.5 crore, in Sasi Enterprises worth Rs 75 lakh and Royalvalley Floritech worth Rs 65 lakh.
She has Rs 11.25 crore worth agricultural lands and cash deposits to the tune of Rs 41 lakh.
Though she has mentioned another cash deposit of roughly Rs two crore in the affidavit, she said details are available only with the DVAC.
Vijayakanth’s assets range from a marriage hall to agricultural lands and investments in various firms. He has agricultural farms worth Rs 12.46 crore at Maduranthakam , Karadiputhur and Irugur in Kancheepuram district. He has nonagricultural lands worth Rs 1.1 crore. His house in south Chennai is worth Rs 1.6 crore. He has three vehicles worth Rs 50 lakh, which includes a Ford Endeavour.
The Jayalalitha baggage
suchithkc
If it was the ghost of Bofors that haunted the Congress regimes, it was the trail of corruption charges faced by J. Jayalalitha for the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government.
Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani now says that he had submitted his resignation due to the move to, yet again, alter the judicial course of the 46 corruption cases faced by Jayalalitha and some of her former ministers and bureaucrats even as the Supreme Court was seized of the matter.
Jethmalani now says that the Union Cabinet had been kept in the dark about the two notifications (on Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Corruption Act) issued to facilitate Jayalalitha's cases and indignantly, he had offered to resign.
At the same time, the line taken by the Union Government is defended by Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, who is arguing the case in the Supreme Court. ``The Attorney General has to project the Government's viewpoint in the apex court and the arguments given were almost identical to the ones made by the AdditionalSolicitor General in the Chennai High Court,'' he told The Indian Express.
Jayalalitha had challenged the transfer of her cases to a Special Court, first in the High Court and having lost that, in the Supreme Court. She had also made her displeasure with Sorabjee known to the BJP leadership and reportedly included the appointment of a new Attorney General in her charter of demands shortly before withdrawing support.
Jayalalitha's trouble with the law enforcement agencies began soon after she relinquished charge as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in May 1996. Soon, the state's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) launched a six-day search operation at her Poes Garden residence and business establishments, which led the agency to a virtual treasure trove. Courts were told that the raids resulted in seizure of some 28 kg of jewellery (worth Rs 51 crore), 91 wrist-watches, 41 air-conditioners, 10,500 sarees, 750 pairs of footwear and so on...The raids also led DVAC to sheaves of documentspertaining Jayalalitha's properties and business transactions in which she had allegedly intervened as Chief Minister.
The investigations led the DVAC to some startling revelations. For instance, while before she was Chief Minister, Jayalalitha's assets were worth Rs 2.01 crore, after five years in power, her assets were calculated to be disproportionate by Rs 66.65 crore. The probe into the assets began in June 1996, on the basis of a complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy. After 1,053 witnesses and 15,000 pages of evidence were examined, a formal case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered.
The case of the prosecution is that while Jayalalitha along with her confidant, N. Sasikala and V.N. Sudhagaran, Sasikala's nephew, went on an acquisition binge between 1991 and 1996. They, the prosecution said, floated 32 business partnerships together, but there was very little activity that took place in these companies. And no Income Tax or Commercial tax was paid. In all, Jayalalitha and Sasikalaowned 11 properties (worth Rs 15.93 crore) and Jayalalitha's associates (held by them on her behalf) owned 109 properties (worth Rs 30.45 crore).
Among the business scams, courts have framed charges in three, including the case of disproportionate assets and colour TV case and chargesheets have been filed in the TANSI case and the coal scam. Briefly, the charges faced by the AIADMK supremo are as follows:
Land sold for half price by Chief Minister Jaya to citizen Jaya: A foundry unit owned by the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation (TANSI) was sold to Jaya Publications in 1992, at almost half the price quoted in guidelines. Bureaucrats who had opposed the sale of the property were transferred. Jayalalitha signed both the sale agreements and her company got pecuniary advantage to the tune of Rs 3.5 crore. Several complaints were filed on the deal and in 1995, it was the Tamil Nadu Governor, M. Channa Reddy who gave sanction for prosecution.
Rural Tamil Nadu got the most expensive TVs: AsChief Minister, Jayalalitha approved purchase of 45,145 TV sets for rural habitations with a population of more than fifty families. Quotations from 197 firms were called and six of them finally participated in the negotiations. Jayalalitha, as Chief Minister, had personally intervened in the purchase and approved it at the highest rate. The estimated loss in the deal was Rs 10.16 crore.
Spare-part dealer imports coal: Here, Jayalalitha is alleged to have ordered imports of poor quality, over-priced coal from Indonesia, overruling objections of the Public Works Department. As Chief Minister, she allowed forging of tender documents and personally asked the Prime Minister to give customs exemption for the consignments. One of the importers was known to Sasikala and was discovered to be dealing in automobile spares. The loss, in the first coal contract being investigated, was of Rs 6.57 crore and a chargesheet, with 63 documents attached, has been filed.
Quarry licences renewed, rules violated: Inwhat is known as the granite case, Jayalalitha, who was also Industries Minister, faces allegations of illegally renewing licences of nine quarries, causing a loss of Rs 12.05 crore to the State. The licences had been granted overruling protects of the Law Department and bypassing the Finance Department. Instead of tenders being called, nominations were issued. The scam surfaced when Dhyaneswaran, an alleged associate of Jayalalitha, was raided by Income Tax officers. He later gave a statement listing all the bribes given by the lessees. Witnesses have confirmed the payments and the case is under investigation.
Besides these, there are a spate of corruption cases faced by Sasikala, Jayalalitha's closest associate and Chairperson of JJ TV. In one case, she is alleged to have paid $ 880,000 to two companies without seeking the RBI's permission and made a third payment to Intersputnik Moscow. In another, she is alleged to have deposited $342,000 in an NRI account in Malaysia.
A number of Jayalalitha's formercabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats who worked with her are also facing the flak from the investigating agencies.
Among the prominent persons to have their names clubbed along with the Jaya scams are former revenue minister S.D. Somasundaram, former speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly Sedapatti R. Muthiah, former health minister S. Muthuswamy, former agriculture minister K.P. Krishnan and former education minister K. Ponnuswamy.
If it was the ghost of Bofors that haunted the Congress regimes, it was the trail of corruption charges faced by J. Jayalalitha for the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government.
Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani now says that he had submitted his resignation due to the move to, yet again, alter the judicial course of the 46 corruption cases faced by Jayalalitha and some of her former ministers and bureaucrats even as the Supreme Court was seized of the matter.
Jethmalani now says that the Union Cabinet had been kept in the dark about the two notifications (on Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Corruption Act) issued to facilitate Jayalalitha's cases and indignantly, he had offered to resign.
At the same time, the line taken by the Union Government is defended by Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, who is arguing the case in the Supreme Court. ``The Attorney General has to project the Government's viewpoint in the apex court and the arguments given were almost identical to the ones made by the AdditionalSolicitor General in the Chennai High Court,'' he told The Indian Express.
Jayalalitha had challenged the transfer of her cases to a Special Court, first in the High Court and having lost that, in the Supreme Court. She had also made her displeasure with Sorabjee known to the BJP leadership and reportedly included the appointment of a new Attorney General in her charter of demands shortly before withdrawing support.
Jayalalitha's trouble with the law enforcement agencies began soon after she relinquished charge as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in May 1996. Soon, the state's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) launched a six-day search operation at her Poes Garden residence and business establishments, which led the agency to a virtual treasure trove. Courts were told that the raids resulted in seizure of some 28 kg of jewellery (worth Rs 51 crore), 91 wrist-watches, 41 air-conditioners, 10,500 sarees, 750 pairs of footwear and so on...The raids also led DVAC to sheaves of documentspertaining Jayalalitha's properties and business transactions in which she had allegedly intervened as Chief Minister.
The investigations led the DVAC to some startling revelations. For instance, while before she was Chief Minister, Jayalalitha's assets were worth Rs 2.01 crore, after five years in power, her assets were calculated to be disproportionate by Rs 66.65 crore. The probe into the assets began in June 1996, on the basis of a complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy. After 1,053 witnesses and 15,000 pages of evidence were examined, a formal case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered.
The case of the prosecution is that while Jayalalitha along with her confidant, N. Sasikala and V.N. Sudhagaran, Sasikala's nephew, went on an acquisition binge between 1991 and 1996. They, the prosecution said, floated 32 business partnerships together, but there was very little activity that took place in these companies. And no Income Tax or Commercial tax was paid. In all, Jayalalitha and Sasikalaowned 11 properties (worth Rs 15.93 crore) and Jayalalitha's associates (held by them on her behalf) owned 109 properties (worth Rs 30.45 crore).
Among the business scams, courts have framed charges in three, including the case of disproportionate assets and colour TV case and chargesheets have been filed in the TANSI case and the coal scam. Briefly, the charges faced by the AIADMK supremo are as follows:
Land sold for half price by Chief Minister Jaya to citizen Jaya: A foundry unit owned by the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation (TANSI) was sold to Jaya Publications in 1992, at almost half the price quoted in guidelines. Bureaucrats who had opposed the sale of the property were transferred. Jayalalitha signed both the sale agreements and her company got pecuniary advantage to the tune of Rs 3.5 crore. Several complaints were filed on the deal and in 1995, it was the Tamil Nadu Governor, M. Channa Reddy who gave sanction for prosecution.
Rural Tamil Nadu got the most expensive TVs: AsChief Minister, Jayalalitha approved purchase of 45,145 TV sets for rural habitations with a population of more than fifty families. Quotations from 197 firms were called and six of them finally participated in the negotiations. Jayalalitha, as Chief Minister, had personally intervened in the purchase and approved it at the highest rate. The estimated loss in the deal was Rs 10.16 crore.
Spare-part dealer imports coal: Here, Jayalalitha is alleged to have ordered imports of poor quality, over-priced coal from Indonesia, overruling objections of the Public Works Department. As Chief Minister, she allowed forging of tender documents and personally asked the Prime Minister to give customs exemption for the consignments. One of the importers was known to Sasikala and was discovered to be dealing in automobile spares. The loss, in the first coal contract being investigated, was of Rs 6.57 crore and a chargesheet, with 63 documents attached, has been filed.
Quarry licences renewed, rules violated: Inwhat is known as the granite case, Jayalalitha, who was also Industries Minister, faces allegations of illegally renewing licences of nine quarries, causing a loss of Rs 12.05 crore to the State. The licences had been granted overruling protects of the Law Department and bypassing the Finance Department. Instead of tenders being called, nominations were issued. The scam surfaced when Dhyaneswaran, an alleged associate of Jayalalitha, was raided by Income Tax officers. He later gave a statement listing all the bribes given by the lessees. Witnesses have confirmed the payments and the case is under investigation.
Besides these, there are a spate of corruption cases faced by Sasikala, Jayalalitha's closest associate and Chairperson of JJ TV. In one case, she is alleged to have paid $ 880,000 to two companies without seeking the RBI's permission and made a third payment to Intersputnik Moscow. In another, she is alleged to have deposited $342,000 in an NRI account in Malaysia.
A number of Jayalalitha's formercabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats who worked with her are also facing the flak from the investigating agencies.
Among the prominent persons to have their names clubbed along with the Jaya scams are former revenue minister S.D. Somasundaram, former speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly Sedapatti R. Muthiah, former health minister S. Muthuswamy, former agriculture minister K.P. Krishnan and former education minister K. Ponnuswamy.
New Delhi sends elite CoBRA unit to Assam
suchithkc
The elite CoBRA (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been pressed into action in Assam to deal with the threat from the anti-peace talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), led by Commander-in-Chief Paresh Baruah.
Baruah had threatened to target Congress leaders and also hit electioneering in the run-up to the 4 April and 11 April assembly election in Assam.
Following the threat, the Congress office in Guwahati was hit by a bomb attack, which injured a few people and destroyed furniture.
The CoBRA force is the same that was used in Maoist-dominated areas and which suffered major blows in Maoist attacks. They have now been asked to stop the men of ULFA in Baruah’s strongholds of Upper Assam.
The highly trained guerrillas of the CoBRA battalion will hunt for special modules of ULFA that are active in Upper Assam. The battalion comprising of around 800 men are said to be given a detailed brief on how Baruah’s men operate, sources said.
The Centre had sent the CoBRA unit to Assam earlier, but it kept it a low profile fearing that the news of its use against the ULFA might upset the peace process with the pro-talks faction of the outfit, led by Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa.
The CoBRA troopers have begun area domination operations in certain pockets of Upper Assam.
The elite CoBRA (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been pressed into action in Assam to deal with the threat from the anti-peace talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), led by Commander-in-Chief Paresh Baruah.
Baruah had threatened to target Congress leaders and also hit electioneering in the run-up to the 4 April and 11 April assembly election in Assam.
Following the threat, the Congress office in Guwahati was hit by a bomb attack, which injured a few people and destroyed furniture.
The CoBRA force is the same that was used in Maoist-dominated areas and which suffered major blows in Maoist attacks. They have now been asked to stop the men of ULFA in Baruah’s strongholds of Upper Assam.
The highly trained guerrillas of the CoBRA battalion will hunt for special modules of ULFA that are active in Upper Assam. The battalion comprising of around 800 men are said to be given a detailed brief on how Baruah’s men operate, sources said.
The Centre had sent the CoBRA unit to Assam earlier, but it kept it a low profile fearing that the news of its use against the ULFA might upset the peace process with the pro-talks faction of the outfit, led by Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa.
The CoBRA troopers have begun area domination operations in certain pockets of Upper Assam.
Will Wit’s Warhorse Win ?
suchithkc
It’s not like Vaiko to be defensive. Opportunistic alliance with Jaya? So what? He’s busy catching the DMK napping with his aggressive rhetoric. But will that translate into votes?????
Vaiko’s strategy to attack Karunanidhi rather than defend his alliance with Jayalalithaa has effectively eclipsed all debate. The slew of charges he is hurling at the Karunanidhi family has rattled the DMK
There was an air of curiosity when Vaiko joined hands with his archrival Jayalalithaa, as to how he will justify his decision. But the leader of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) seems to have decided to overcome this by his aggressive campaigning espousing the adage ‘attack is the best form of defence’. Having hit the campaign trail, he has picked on the DMK triumvirate of M. Karunanidhi, MK Stalin, and Dayanidhi Maran, with such ferocity that Jayalalithaa has dropped anchor. In her election speeches, Jayalalithaa is not talking of her opponents, but seeking votes based on the performance of her government. Free textbooks and bicycles for school children, free power to the poor, efficient distribution of relief during tsunami and floods, no hike in bus fare despite the hike in diesel prices, end of Veerappan, promotion of women’s self-help groups, the list goes on and on.
Vaiko’s supporters are pleased with the way he has handled his party’s alliance with the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIAMDMK). Critics had dubbed the alliance as opportunistic. Vaiko’s bitter rivalry with Jayalalithaa was well-known. The AIAMDMK government had detained him under pota in July 2002 for an alleged pro-ltte speech. Jayalalithaa had even said her government would take steps to get the MDMK banned. Vaiko had then vowed to bring down the ‘fascist rule’ of Jayalalithaa with the support of people of the state. The party still proudly proclaims on its website, “This MDMK leader (Vaiko) was the first political leader, to declare that if voted to power, his government would seize the properties and assets of the AIAMDMK Chief Minister (Jayalalithaa) and other ministers.”
Vaiko had to come up with a convincing argument to justify his volte-face. He attacked Karunanidhi, whom he till recently described as thalaivar (leader), and annan (elder brother), accusing him to be the mascot of ‘family politics’ in the state and ‘dynastic politics’, which figures in the party’s election manifesto as well. Vaiko’s strategy to attack Karunanidhi rather than defend his alliance with Jayalalithaa has effectively eclipsed all debate and discussion over his party’s alliance with the AIAMDMK.
The slew of charges he is hurling against the Karunanidhi family has rattled the DMK. At election rallies Vaiko tells people that the choice before them in the forthcoming elections is either dominance of a family or welfare of the state. “Karunanidhi works for the welfare of his family. We are concerned about the progress of the state,” Vaiko states repeatedly.
The Maran family’s Sun TV comes under fire. “The Sun Network has amassed wealth to the tune of over Rs 10,000 crore,” Vaiko tells people that even the DMK’s promise to provide a colour TV to every family if voted to power is linked to expand the viewership-base of Sun Network so that “Karunanidhi’s family can steeply revise their advertisement tariff.” He accuses the DMK of having bagged more representation in the Union Cabinet using the strength of the four mps from MDMK, who have not joined the government. He said in an interview that the DMK had got “so many ministerial berths counting the MDMK seats as well. When I met Sonia Gandhi, she also said that the impression she got from the DMK was that MDMK was within the DMK — that is, an alliance within an alliance.”
Vaiko compares his expulsion from the DMK with that of MGR in 1972. While MGR was expelled for the sake of MK Muthu, the elder son of Karunanidhi, who was promoted as a rival to MGR in films, he was shown the door to make way for Stalin’s political coronation. Vaiko cites the appointment of Dayanidhi Maran, Karunanidhi’s grandnephew, as Union minister, as an example of how the DMK chief promotes his family at the expense of senior party members. Maran, son of Karunanidhi’s nephew the late Murasoli Maran, joined the party ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, and was elected from the Central Chennai constituency.
For Vaiko and MDMK, the party he founded, this will be a crucial election. The party is contesting 35 seats and hopes to win a sizeable number. Vaiko, contrary to expectations, has chosen not to contest
Vaiko’s strategy to raise a debate on the ‘domination’ of Karunanidhi’s family appears to be working. The harried DMK thinktank and Sun TV has been forced to respond to his allegations. A recent Sun TV news bulletin issued a point-to-point counter to Vaiko’s allegations against the monopoly of Sun Network in the media. Karunanidhi at a meeting advised his party’s election spokesmen not to target Vaiko, but to go after Jayalalithaa and urge people to put an end to her ‘autocratic rule’.
Karunanidhi backtracked on that when he reacted to Vaiko’s charge that he was furthering his family interests. “Those who have a family will naturally nurture it,” he responded. Then came Maran’s legal notice to Vaiko for the allegations he had levelled against the Sun Network. Vaiko was asked to apologise within 24 hours for his remarks or face legal action. It only fuelled Vaiko’s rhetoric.
Addressing an election meeting at Usilampatti, Vaiko challenged Maran to file the case against him, stating that he would fight the case himself without a lawyer. Vaiko reportedly said, “This Vaiko will even offer his head to the hangman but will never bow down in apology.” He also said he would examine Maran in the witness box and “at that time a thousand secrets will come out tearing through an iron curtain.”
For Vaiko and the party he founded, this will be a crucial election. The party is contesting 35 seats and hopes to win a sizeable number. Vaiko, contrary to expectations, has chosen not to contest. The MDMK had failed in its previous two attempts to enter the state Assembly in the 1996 and 2001 elections, though its members have been elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999, and 2004. The MDMK was formed in 1994 after Vaiko was expelled from the DMK in 1993. It fought the 1996 general elections along with CPM and Janata Dal, but lost badly.
In that election, the DMK—Tamil Maanila Congress alliance swept the polls, defeating the AIAMDMK alliance. Vaiko contested from both Vilathikulam assembly seat and Sivakasi parliamentary constituency, but could win neither.
The defeat in the 1996 elections shook the party’s confidence that it could offer itself as an alternative to the DMK and AIAMDMK in the state. In the 1998 parliamentary elections, it aligned with the BJP and the AIAMDMK. After Jayalalithaa pulled down the Vajpayee government, circumstances forced Vaiko to shake hands with Karunanidhi. The DMK had become part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance following the exit of the AIAMDMK. In the 2001 Assembly elections, MDMK left the DMK-led alliance not satisfied with the seats allotted to it and contested alone polling over 13.4 lakh votes — about 4.65 percent votes.
The party was pushed to the point of despondency when it bit the dust in the May 2002 by-elections to the Saidapet and Vaniyambadi Assembly seats. MDMK got a meagre 2,200 votes in Saidapet and about 3,500 votes in Vaniyambadi. Analysts were writing Vaiko’s political epitaph, when pota was invoked against him in July that year. Though Vaiko’s arrest enraged the rank and file of the party, many saw it as a blessing in disguise.
Vaiko, a postgraduate in Economics, studied law at the Madras Law College. As a student, he took part in anti-Hindi agitation, and got the best orator award in 1969 at Law College.
As a Rajya Sabha member between 1978-96, and a two-term Lok Sabha member between 1998-2004, he has served as a member of various parliamentary committees. He encounters the struggles in life deriving inspiration from Shakespeare’s immortal line: ‘Sweet are the uses of adversity.’ “Keeping this saying in mind, I meet the countless struggles of life,” he writes in his book From the portals of a prison.
Vaiko is a voracious reader. His political speeches are spiced with anecdotes from the lives of world leaders. He can speak on any topic, if he is intimated in advance. He is at his fiery best when he talks about the Tamils in Sri Lanka. With all his inconsistencies, he has not wavered on the issue of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
He believes that a solution to the ethnic problem lies in the formation of Tamil Eelam. This is also a part of his party’s manifesto too.
It’s not like Vaiko to be defensive. Opportunistic alliance with Jaya? So what? He’s busy catching the DMK napping with his aggressive rhetoric. But will that translate into votes?????
Vaiko’s strategy to attack Karunanidhi rather than defend his alliance with Jayalalithaa has effectively eclipsed all debate. The slew of charges he is hurling at the Karunanidhi family has rattled the DMK
There was an air of curiosity when Vaiko joined hands with his archrival Jayalalithaa, as to how he will justify his decision. But the leader of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) seems to have decided to overcome this by his aggressive campaigning espousing the adage ‘attack is the best form of defence’. Having hit the campaign trail, he has picked on the DMK triumvirate of M. Karunanidhi, MK Stalin, and Dayanidhi Maran, with such ferocity that Jayalalithaa has dropped anchor. In her election speeches, Jayalalithaa is not talking of her opponents, but seeking votes based on the performance of her government. Free textbooks and bicycles for school children, free power to the poor, efficient distribution of relief during tsunami and floods, no hike in bus fare despite the hike in diesel prices, end of Veerappan, promotion of women’s self-help groups, the list goes on and on.
Vaiko’s supporters are pleased with the way he has handled his party’s alliance with the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIAMDMK). Critics had dubbed the alliance as opportunistic. Vaiko’s bitter rivalry with Jayalalithaa was well-known. The AIAMDMK government had detained him under pota in July 2002 for an alleged pro-ltte speech. Jayalalithaa had even said her government would take steps to get the MDMK banned. Vaiko had then vowed to bring down the ‘fascist rule’ of Jayalalithaa with the support of people of the state. The party still proudly proclaims on its website, “This MDMK leader (Vaiko) was the first political leader, to declare that if voted to power, his government would seize the properties and assets of the AIAMDMK Chief Minister (Jayalalithaa) and other ministers.”
Vaiko had to come up with a convincing argument to justify his volte-face. He attacked Karunanidhi, whom he till recently described as thalaivar (leader), and annan (elder brother), accusing him to be the mascot of ‘family politics’ in the state and ‘dynastic politics’, which figures in the party’s election manifesto as well. Vaiko’s strategy to attack Karunanidhi rather than defend his alliance with Jayalalithaa has effectively eclipsed all debate and discussion over his party’s alliance with the AIAMDMK.
The slew of charges he is hurling against the Karunanidhi family has rattled the DMK. At election rallies Vaiko tells people that the choice before them in the forthcoming elections is either dominance of a family or welfare of the state. “Karunanidhi works for the welfare of his family. We are concerned about the progress of the state,” Vaiko states repeatedly.
The Maran family’s Sun TV comes under fire. “The Sun Network has amassed wealth to the tune of over Rs 10,000 crore,” Vaiko tells people that even the DMK’s promise to provide a colour TV to every family if voted to power is linked to expand the viewership-base of Sun Network so that “Karunanidhi’s family can steeply revise their advertisement tariff.” He accuses the DMK of having bagged more representation in the Union Cabinet using the strength of the four mps from MDMK, who have not joined the government. He said in an interview that the DMK had got “so many ministerial berths counting the MDMK seats as well. When I met Sonia Gandhi, she also said that the impression she got from the DMK was that MDMK was within the DMK — that is, an alliance within an alliance.”
Vaiko compares his expulsion from the DMK with that of MGR in 1972. While MGR was expelled for the sake of MK Muthu, the elder son of Karunanidhi, who was promoted as a rival to MGR in films, he was shown the door to make way for Stalin’s political coronation. Vaiko cites the appointment of Dayanidhi Maran, Karunanidhi’s grandnephew, as Union minister, as an example of how the DMK chief promotes his family at the expense of senior party members. Maran, son of Karunanidhi’s nephew the late Murasoli Maran, joined the party ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, and was elected from the Central Chennai constituency.
For Vaiko and MDMK, the party he founded, this will be a crucial election. The party is contesting 35 seats and hopes to win a sizeable number. Vaiko, contrary to expectations, has chosen not to contest
Vaiko’s strategy to raise a debate on the ‘domination’ of Karunanidhi’s family appears to be working. The harried DMK thinktank and Sun TV has been forced to respond to his allegations. A recent Sun TV news bulletin issued a point-to-point counter to Vaiko’s allegations against the monopoly of Sun Network in the media. Karunanidhi at a meeting advised his party’s election spokesmen not to target Vaiko, but to go after Jayalalithaa and urge people to put an end to her ‘autocratic rule’.
Karunanidhi backtracked on that when he reacted to Vaiko’s charge that he was furthering his family interests. “Those who have a family will naturally nurture it,” he responded. Then came Maran’s legal notice to Vaiko for the allegations he had levelled against the Sun Network. Vaiko was asked to apologise within 24 hours for his remarks or face legal action. It only fuelled Vaiko’s rhetoric.
Addressing an election meeting at Usilampatti, Vaiko challenged Maran to file the case against him, stating that he would fight the case himself without a lawyer. Vaiko reportedly said, “This Vaiko will even offer his head to the hangman but will never bow down in apology.” He also said he would examine Maran in the witness box and “at that time a thousand secrets will come out tearing through an iron curtain.”
For Vaiko and the party he founded, this will be a crucial election. The party is contesting 35 seats and hopes to win a sizeable number. Vaiko, contrary to expectations, has chosen not to contest. The MDMK had failed in its previous two attempts to enter the state Assembly in the 1996 and 2001 elections, though its members have been elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999, and 2004. The MDMK was formed in 1994 after Vaiko was expelled from the DMK in 1993. It fought the 1996 general elections along with CPM and Janata Dal, but lost badly.
In that election, the DMK—Tamil Maanila Congress alliance swept the polls, defeating the AIAMDMK alliance. Vaiko contested from both Vilathikulam assembly seat and Sivakasi parliamentary constituency, but could win neither.
The defeat in the 1996 elections shook the party’s confidence that it could offer itself as an alternative to the DMK and AIAMDMK in the state. In the 1998 parliamentary elections, it aligned with the BJP and the AIAMDMK. After Jayalalithaa pulled down the Vajpayee government, circumstances forced Vaiko to shake hands with Karunanidhi. The DMK had become part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance following the exit of the AIAMDMK. In the 2001 Assembly elections, MDMK left the DMK-led alliance not satisfied with the seats allotted to it and contested alone polling over 13.4 lakh votes — about 4.65 percent votes.
The party was pushed to the point of despondency when it bit the dust in the May 2002 by-elections to the Saidapet and Vaniyambadi Assembly seats. MDMK got a meagre 2,200 votes in Saidapet and about 3,500 votes in Vaniyambadi. Analysts were writing Vaiko’s political epitaph, when pota was invoked against him in July that year. Though Vaiko’s arrest enraged the rank and file of the party, many saw it as a blessing in disguise.
Vaiko, a postgraduate in Economics, studied law at the Madras Law College. As a student, he took part in anti-Hindi agitation, and got the best orator award in 1969 at Law College.
As a Rajya Sabha member between 1978-96, and a two-term Lok Sabha member between 1998-2004, he has served as a member of various parliamentary committees. He encounters the struggles in life deriving inspiration from Shakespeare’s immortal line: ‘Sweet are the uses of adversity.’ “Keeping this saying in mind, I meet the countless struggles of life,” he writes in his book From the portals of a prison.
Vaiko is a voracious reader. His political speeches are spiced with anecdotes from the lives of world leaders. He can speak on any topic, if he is intimated in advance. He is at his fiery best when he talks about the Tamils in Sri Lanka. With all his inconsistencies, he has not wavered on the issue of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
He believes that a solution to the ethnic problem lies in the formation of Tamil Eelam. This is also a part of his party’s manifesto too.
Truth Unveiled Part 2.............
suchithkc
"
The suspension of Mr C Umashankar, a 1990 batch IAS officer belonging to the Dalit community, on the pretext that he had entered the Civil Services using a bogus community certificate, smacks of victimization by the minority DMK government.
"
All civil service appointments for the whole of India are done by the Union Public Service Commission. It is the responsibility of the UPSC to vet the antecedents of every recruit and verify all their certificates. When this is so, the Karunanidhi government suddenly claiming that Mr Umashankar had entered the service using a forged community certificate gives room for speculation on the reasons behind this.
It is a well known fact that in May, 2007, there was a rift in the Karunanidhi family. Karunanidhi’s son Azhagiri was pitted against his grand nephews, Kalanithi and Dayanithi Maran. On May 9, 2007, the office of the Dinakaran newspaper office in Madurai, belonging to the Maran brothers was attacked by hoodlums close to Azhagiri. In the attack, the building was set on fire and three innocent employees were killed. That this attack had the blessings of Karunanidhi became apparent when Dayanithi Maran, who was then Union Minister for telecommunications, was removed from the post on Karunanidhi’s request. Further, in a bid to curb the growing financial and political clout of the Maran brothers, on August 11, 2007, Karunanidhi announced the launch of Arasu Cable Corporation, ostensibly to provide cable TV connections to the people at reasonable rates, but in reality to pose
a challenge to the Maran brothers’ Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV).
Mr Umashankar was appointed Managing Director of Arasu Cable Corporation with a specific mandate from Karunanidhi to eliminate SCV.
More than Rs 400 crores were invested in Arasu Cable Corporation, for sophisticated electronic receivers and fibre-optic cable networking. According to complaints filed with the police, SCV disrupted Arasu Cable Corporation’s operations by cutting its cable networking in several places. Mr Umashankar,in his capacity as MD of Arasu Cable Corporation, recommended invoking the National Security Act against those involved in destroying state property, including the Maran brothers. But then, an agreement was suddenly reached between the warring cousins of the Karunanidhi family. The IAS officer, who had been entrusted by Karunanidhi with the task of taking on the Maran brothers, was made the scapegoat and shunted out of Arasu Cable Corporation. Arasu Cable Corporation itself became dysfunctional. The crores of public money invested in the venture went down the drain. This was the price the people of Tamil Nadu had to shoulder as a fallout of the split and
re-union in the Karunanidhi family!
The Maran brothers were not the only enemies whose enimty Mr Uma Shankar had earned. Earlier, in 2006, he had been appointed Managing Director of the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT). ELCOT had floated a joint venture company with New Era Technologies Ltd called ELNET. ELNET, in turn, launched a subsidiary company called ETL Infrastructure Ltd. This company was credited with assets worth Rs 700 crores. It purchased 25 acres of land at Pallikaranai near Chennai and constructed an IT park of 17 lakh square feet. It also got IT Special Economic Zone status from the Government of India by projecting itself as a subsidiary of the State owned ELCOT. But later, ETL became a wholly privately owned company with one Thiagaraja Chettiar as Chairman and his wife Unnamalai Thiagarajan as its MD, who have also garnered the Rs 700 Crores assets of ETL.
Mr Umashankar had raised questions about the disappearance of a subsidiary of ELCOT from its records altogether along with Rs 700 Crore assets and hinted that because of the closeness of the beneficiaries to one of the scions of the Karunanidhi family, he had been shunted out from ELCOT.
Mr. Karunanidhi has a lot of explaining to do.
What happened to ETL? What happened to the Rs 700 Crore assets of ETL? Who is Thiagaraja Chettiar and what are his links with the Karunanidhi family? What is the status of Arasu Cable Corporation? How many people are serviced by this dysfunctional cable TV network? What is the fate of the
Rs 400 crores invested in this venture? What has happened to all the equipment purchased? Who will shoulder these losses – the Karunanidhi family or the hapless people of Tamil Nadu? Why is a Dalit officer in government service being victimized for exposing or questioning the atrocities of the Karunanidhi family? How much longer will the people of Tamil Nadu have to put up with this carnage of democracy?
"
The suspension of Mr C Umashankar, a 1990 batch IAS officer belonging to the Dalit community, on the pretext that he had entered the Civil Services using a bogus community certificate, smacks of victimization by the minority DMK government.
"
All civil service appointments for the whole of India are done by the Union Public Service Commission. It is the responsibility of the UPSC to vet the antecedents of every recruit and verify all their certificates. When this is so, the Karunanidhi government suddenly claiming that Mr Umashankar had entered the service using a forged community certificate gives room for speculation on the reasons behind this.
It is a well known fact that in May, 2007, there was a rift in the Karunanidhi family. Karunanidhi’s son Azhagiri was pitted against his grand nephews, Kalanithi and Dayanithi Maran. On May 9, 2007, the office of the Dinakaran newspaper office in Madurai, belonging to the Maran brothers was attacked by hoodlums close to Azhagiri. In the attack, the building was set on fire and three innocent employees were killed. That this attack had the blessings of Karunanidhi became apparent when Dayanithi Maran, who was then Union Minister for telecommunications, was removed from the post on Karunanidhi’s request. Further, in a bid to curb the growing financial and political clout of the Maran brothers, on August 11, 2007, Karunanidhi announced the launch of Arasu Cable Corporation, ostensibly to provide cable TV connections to the people at reasonable rates, but in reality to pose
a challenge to the Maran brothers’ Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV).
Mr Umashankar was appointed Managing Director of Arasu Cable Corporation with a specific mandate from Karunanidhi to eliminate SCV.
More than Rs 400 crores were invested in Arasu Cable Corporation, for sophisticated electronic receivers and fibre-optic cable networking. According to complaints filed with the police, SCV disrupted Arasu Cable Corporation’s operations by cutting its cable networking in several places. Mr Umashankar,in his capacity as MD of Arasu Cable Corporation, recommended invoking the National Security Act against those involved in destroying state property, including the Maran brothers. But then, an agreement was suddenly reached between the warring cousins of the Karunanidhi family. The IAS officer, who had been entrusted by Karunanidhi with the task of taking on the Maran brothers, was made the scapegoat and shunted out of Arasu Cable Corporation. Arasu Cable Corporation itself became dysfunctional. The crores of public money invested in the venture went down the drain. This was the price the people of Tamil Nadu had to shoulder as a fallout of the split and
re-union in the Karunanidhi family!
The Maran brothers were not the only enemies whose enimty Mr Uma Shankar had earned. Earlier, in 2006, he had been appointed Managing Director of the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT). ELCOT had floated a joint venture company with New Era Technologies Ltd called ELNET. ELNET, in turn, launched a subsidiary company called ETL Infrastructure Ltd. This company was credited with assets worth Rs 700 crores. It purchased 25 acres of land at Pallikaranai near Chennai and constructed an IT park of 17 lakh square feet. It also got IT Special Economic Zone status from the Government of India by projecting itself as a subsidiary of the State owned ELCOT. But later, ETL became a wholly privately owned company with one Thiagaraja Chettiar as Chairman and his wife Unnamalai Thiagarajan as its MD, who have also garnered the Rs 700 Crores assets of ETL.
Mr Umashankar had raised questions about the disappearance of a subsidiary of ELCOT from its records altogether along with Rs 700 Crore assets and hinted that because of the closeness of the beneficiaries to one of the scions of the Karunanidhi family, he had been shunted out from ELCOT.
Mr. Karunanidhi has a lot of explaining to do.
What happened to ETL? What happened to the Rs 700 Crore assets of ETL? Who is Thiagaraja Chettiar and what are his links with the Karunanidhi family? What is the status of Arasu Cable Corporation? How many people are serviced by this dysfunctional cable TV network? What is the fate of the
Rs 400 crores invested in this venture? What has happened to all the equipment purchased? Who will shoulder these losses – the Karunanidhi family or the hapless people of Tamil Nadu? Why is a Dalit officer in government service being victimized for exposing or questioning the atrocities of the Karunanidhi family? How much longer will the people of Tamil Nadu have to put up with this carnage of democracy?
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