SCAMS- TELECOM SCAM

In 2008, the country issued 122 new telecom licences and the second- generation radio spectrum bundled with it to several domestic companies that had little or no experience in the telecom sector, at a price set in 2001.The CAG said that the allocation process did not reflect the correct value of radio spectrum as there was no auction and the entire process was flawed, benefiting selected companies. Also said that the telecoms ministry did not do the requisite due diligence, granting 85 out of the 122 licences to ineligible applicants.It was also noted that the ministry did not follow its own guidelines, changed the cut- off date for applications, which gave "unfair advantage" to some companies over others. It said that the entire process "lacked transparency and was undertaken in an arbitrary, unfair and inequitable manner".The auditor said that several companies deliberately suppressed facts, disclosed incomplete information, submitted fictitious documents and used fraudulent means to get licences and thereby access to spectrum. 1)What is Spectrum? Spectrum is airwaves. Each operator is assigned a set of frequencies. In normal basic telephone service, a pair of wires is used for communication. But in case of mobile/wireless communications, airwaves are used instead of wires. These spectrum/airwaves are licensed by the Government. It is allocated in Mega Hertz (MHz) in telecom licenses. 4.2 MHz is given as start-up spectrum, which is topped up by 1.8 MHz to make it 6 MHz (4.2 + 1.8 MHz), and so on. Worldwide different frequencies are used for different purposes depending on the characteristics of each frequency. For enabling seamless communication throughout the world, the international telecom organizations (operators, manufacturers, government of each country) have specified certain frequency bands for mobile services. These frequencies have been standardised. Every second, there are thousands of simultaneous calls. Every call has to be assigned a different frequency so that they do not cause interference. The frequencies are limited. This is why it is called scarce resource. 2) What is 2G? 2G means 2nd Generation wireless technology for mobile phone services.2G introduced data services for mobile phones with SMS text messages. 3)How licensing is done? The entire country is divided into 22 Telecom Circles and Metros. Each state is one circle, like Bihar, Kerala, UP (E), UP (W), Tamil Nadu, etc. All the seven sisterly states in the North East except Assam, comes under a single circle called North East Circle. There are now three Metros (Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata), the fourth Metro (Chennai) was combined in Tamil Nadu circle. For every Circle or a Metro, a separate telecom license is issued. For each license, separate applications are to be submitted. When a company has telecom licenses for all the 22 Telecom Circles and Metros that company is said to have a Pan India license. A Pan-India license (in fact 22 licenses) was issued for an Entry Fee of Rs 1,658 crore during an open bidding in the year 2001. In February 2007, Hutch sold its 67% equity to Vodafone at Rs 75,000 cr signalling substantial increase in spectrum value. Even if 15% of this is considered to be spectrum value, then it is Rs 11,250 crore per pan-India licenses. Government decided to 1. Give license by “First come first serve basis”. 2. Keeping last date 1st October 2007 and pay money (Entry Fees) for license. 3. And whoever gets the license, will automatically get spectrum for free. So no need to pay separate money for accessing highway(spectrum). This is known as “Spectrum linked with License”. 4. License holder will have to cover 10 per cent district headquarters within the first year of the allotment (i.e. you start serving customers in that area). This is known as “Roll out Obligation. After obtaining licenses at cheap rates, the private companies sold (diluted) their

equities to foreign telecom companies at a very high price. Every company that had pan-India licenses was valued at about Rs 10,000 cr in which it had assets of 2G spectrum (Rs 1,659 cr.) Thus, the difference in these figures (Rs 10,000 cr and Rs 1,659 cr) is per pan-India license loss to the Government and gain to private companies. - Shyam Telecom: Sold 74% to Sistema of Russia (MTS brand) - Unitech: Sold 67% to Telenor of Norway (Uninor brand) - Swan Telecom: Sold DB Group about 45% to Etisalat, UAE (Cheers brand) and 5% to Genex, Chennai - Tata Teleservice: Sold 26% to NTT of Japan (DoCoMo brand) CAG says Government lost Rs.1.76 lakh crores, They has come to this figure, using extrapolations from 1. Licenses were sold in 2008, @the MRP of 2001 2. The money received from 3G auction vs the money recieved from 2G license. 3. 2G Spectrum was allotted for free. ( Government only demanded for entry-fees for licenses. Spectrum was linked with License). 2G-Spectrum should have been auctioned. 4. Profit made by Swan , Unitech etc. through dilution.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCANDAL

Introduction

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multisport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states that were mostly territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 and has taken place every four years. It is described as the third largest multi-sport event in the world, after the Olympic Games and the Asian Games.

The games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities. A host city is selected for each edition and in November 2003, India won its first successful bid for the Commonwealth Games at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly held at Montego Bay, Jamaica. New Delhi, India won the bid to host the Commonwealth Games 2010, by a margin of 46 votes to 22 of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Commonwealth Games 2010

There were 71 teams participating in the XIXth Commonwealth Games 2010 in which there were 272 events in 21 disciplines. Opening ceremony was held on 3 October 2010. Main Stadium was Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. Closing ceremony was on 14 October 2010. The 2010 Commonwealth Games are reportedly the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever.

Commonwealth Games Scandal

The Commonwealth games scandal as it is known involved large scale misappropriation of money during the preparatory phase and conduct of the 2010 Commonwealth games. The total value of the scam is estimated to be 70,000 crore.

Scam in Village Real estate developer EMAAR-MGF may have to forfeit Rs.183 crores it deposited with the government of India as a bank guarantee for the Commonwealth Games Village that it built. EMAAR is being penalised for structural defects, and inadequate amenities

including insufficient power and water supply for the apartments that housed the delegates from 71 countries that participated in the Games. From poor plumbing to water leaks and concerns about structural safety, the catalogue of grievances is extensive and indicting. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was asked to get the Village in shape just days before the Games began.

Scam in Ticket

Another controversy dogging the CWG since the start is the issue of ticket sales. While the general public is unable to buy tickets, with all outlets reporting that all the venues have been sold out, one witnesses nearly half the venues empty for every event.

Infrastructure Failure - Collapse of Foot over-bridge

With just 12 days to go for the Games, a new foot over-bridge near the main venue of the Games, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, collapsed, injuring 23 labourers, five of them critically. The location couldn't have been more inappropriate for the Games, as the over-bridge collapsed at the doorstep of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies are to be held.

Financial corruption

The Central Vigilance Commission, involved in probing the alleged corruption in various Commonwealth Games-related projects, has found discrepancies in tenders and alleged misappropriation amounting to about Rs 8,000 crore. Complaints regarding alleged embezzlement of Rs 1.5 crore in the purchase of HOVA Courts for Badminton stadium, malpractices in the tender for kitchen equipment installation, misappropriation in video board tenders for remodelling and upgradation of Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium were received by the CVC and in all cases.

Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) case

This case relates to allegations of corruption in awarding Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) system contract to a Swiss firm.

Queen's Baton Relay (QBR) case

The QBR event was held on 29 October 2009. The allegation was that, the Organising Committee (OC) awarded the work of transportation in QBR event to AM Car and Van Hire Ltd at excessively high rates without following a standard tender process.

Venue Development Support case

A Swiss company was awarded a contract of over Rs700 million (US$12 million) for providing venue development support services to the Organising Committee (OC).

Poor Management On the first night of swimming, debris landed in the swimming pool, causing delays ahead of a race. It is believed that part of the ceiling or its paint had fallen off.

Before the last night of swimming finals, the filtration system broke down and the pool was turbid and murky during the warmup session and the finals, and the pool has been described as the least clear ever seen for a swimming competition. A disproportionate number of swimmers fell ill with intestinal complaints, leading to concerns over the cleanliness and sanitation of the pool.

No Proper Organization

Another important reason why there was a big loss was poor support staff to look after the CWG Games 2010 schedule and places where there needs to be very proper attendance and has to be paid on a regular basis. The selling of the tickets were totally much to disappointed concerns since it looked like as if there were of no need to comply with the regulations that broke into CWG. While the general public is unable to buy tickets, with all outlets reporting that all the venues have been sold out, one witnesses nearly half the venues empty for every event.

Sociology-Economic Impact

Since there was a huge expenditure that was being spend into such a big Commonwealth Games, so there was a complete serenity over the fact that though being spending so much money, yet things were not utilized for the proper ways. There were huge volumes of children and people being hired on day night prospects which enamored the worst part of using them up in CWG Games Project aspect.

Social Impact

Common Wealth Games (CWG) in October 2010 was came under severe criticism from social workers, civil society and intellectuals. The charge was that to create a glittery image of Delhi for CWG, poor and marginalized sections of the society were thrown out of Delhi. In the name of beautifying Delhi, the government threw street vendors, beggars, rickshaw pullers, and poor out of the city.

International media criticism

INDIA’S poor management of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) was continuing to bring it a bad name. Corruption scandals marred the CWG even before they commenced. Leaky roofs, collapsing walkways, clogged latrines, snakes and spiders in the athlete quarters, lack of food for the broadcast journalists. However, international media took notice of the poor moral standards and became the harshest critics of the CWG organizers.

The fact is that the CWG organizers, who were trying their level best to get rich quick in every way they can because they think organizing the CWG was a one time opportunity which may not present itself again. Indian aspirations to outmatch arch rival China in organizing an spectacular event, like the Beijing Olympics has been sacrificed.

Parties Accused in the scandal

Suresh kalmadi, the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Delhi Commonwealth games. Lalit Bhanot, Secretary General of the Organising Committee, VK Verma, Director General of the Organising Committee, OC members, T S Darbari, Sanjay Mohindroo, Jayachandran and London-based businessman Ashish Patel and his two companies AM Car n Van Hire and AM Films.

Response to scam

The day after the conclusion of the Games, the Indian Government announced formation of a special committee to probe the allegations of corruption and mismanagement against the Organizing Committee (OC). The probe committee was led by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India VK Shunglu. The committee was given three months time to submit its report.

The VK Shunglu Committee found serious cases of forgery and irregularity with the Venue Development contract. The committee said that, "Undue pressure was brought within the OC for engaging the company for the contract" and recommended that CBI or ED should take up the case for appropriate action.

Based on Shunglu Committee's findings, CBI registered an FIR against Suresh Kalmadi, Lalit Bhanot and were sacked from the Organising Committee by the Sports ministry on Jan 2011. On 25 April 2011, CBI arrested former CWG Organising Committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi in the Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) case. On 20 May 2011, CBI filed the first chargesheet in a special CBI court against Kalmadi. In addition to Kalmadi, the CBI named two companies and eight persons including OC former Secretary General Lalit Bhanot and former Director General VK Verma as accused. According to the charge sheet, the accused allegedly awarded the lucrative contract to the Swiss firm to install a TSR system for the Commonwealth Games at an excessive cost, causing a loss of over Rs 900 million (US$15 million) to the exchequer. The other accused were the members of CWG Organizing Commitee, T S Darbari, Sanjay Mohindroo, Jeychandran and London-based businessman Ashish Patel and his two companies AM Car n Van Hire and AM Films. The chargesheet alleged that OC members conspired to award contracts of local transportation and others to Patel's companies at excessive rates during the event held in London in 2009.

Present Status

CBI sources revealed in July 2012 that the probe against alleged corruption in construction of Barapullah Flyover and grant of Bail-out Package to EMAAR MGF is likely to be closed in the absence of substantiating evidence. On 23 March 2014, the Hindustan Times reported that "...the investigation into the alleged irregularities committed is stumbling with the CBI having closed its FIR related to grant of two contracts to a Swiss firm for lack of evidence."

Recommendations For Avoiding Recurrence Of The Issue The loser’s after the Scam were the Tax-Payers. The extravagance of the Organising Committee of the Games was coupled with a

reckless lack of budgetary control on the part of government authorities. A proper planning committee should be formed to avoid such circumstances in future.

Making a decision with the societal approval Understanding the issue properly and act accordingly Defining the exact accounts and bills of the procurement Maintenance of quality and records for the procured products Requirement assessment in order to eliminate the waste or lacking of equipment.

India still has to sort out many differences before holding another world stage event.

Summary Commonwealth games 2010 in spite of its success will be known for all the wrong reasons in history. The Commonwealth games scandal involved large scale misappropriation of money during the preparatory phase and conduct of the games.

The Games spawned a maze of corrupt deals, most of them involving inflated contracts. Instead of selecting companies who offered the best prices, equipment and services were hired from firms who over-quoted. Often, companies who offered better deals were disqualified for inexplicable reasons. The scam caused the Government a Staggering 70,000 crores.

A committee headed by former CAG VK Shunglu was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to investigate into the irregularities in the conduct of the Games. Based on this Committee's findings, CBI arrested former CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi and several other officials who were in the CWG Organising Committee.

The loser’s after the Scam were the Tax-Payers. India still has to sort out many differences before holding another world stage event. A proper planning committee should be formed to avoid such circumstances in future.

The Government must think of growth and progress of the country in the long run and should work for securing the future of coming generations.

THE HAWALA SCANDAL

The Hawala scandal was an Indian political scandal involving payments allegedly received by politicians through four Hawala brokers, the Jain brothers. It was a US$ 18 million bribery scandal that implicated some of the country’s leading politicians.Hawala is an in formal value transfer system based on the performance and honour of a huge network of money brokers ,operating outside of, or parallel to, traditional banking ,financial channels ,and remittance systems.In 1991, an arrest linked to militants in Kashmir led to a raid on Hawala brokers, revealing evidence of large scale payments to national politicians. Those accused included L .K.Avdvani, V.C.Shukla , P.Shiv Shankar , Sharad Yadav, Balram Jakhar and Madan Lal Khurana. The prosecution that followed was partly prompted by a public interest petition and yet the court cases of the Hawala scandal eventually all collapsed without convictions .Many were acquitted in 1997 and 1998 , partly because the hawala records were judged in court to be inadequate as the main evidence .The Central Bureau of investigation’s role was criticized . In concluding the

Vineet Narain case, the Supreme Court of India directed that the Central Vigilance Commission should be given a supervisory role over the CBI.

Jain hawala case; Acquittals of Advani ,Shukla bring cheer to charge sheeted politicians. The sensational Jain hawala case ,which roped in the country’s top politicians, blew up in a lot of smoke and virtually died in the din of crackers burst outside the BJP office on April 8, the day Delhi High Court Judge Mohammad Shamim acquitted L.K. Advani and V.C. Shukla.

The same day, the great political coup which had threatened the careers of politicians lay spent and scattered much in the same fashion as the crakers that lay strewn at the doors of Advani and Shukla.These two were not the only ones celebrating. Also jubilant were the remaining 25 politicians whose cases are still under scrutiny in the special hawala court, set up under a directive from the Supreme Court on January 16, 1996 .Presided over by Sessions Judge V.B.Gupta, Advani and Shukla were among the first against whom charges were framed after Gupta found “prima facie evidence”.

The High court, however, dismissed Gupta’s orders and in a landmark judgments, decreed that the CBI had not brought on record any material which could be converted into legally admissible evidence . Rejecting the prosecution’s claim that the entries in the diary maintained by the Jain brothers were admissible under the Indian evidence Act, Shamim also acquitted the jains and went further to say that there was no evidence to show that the money had been disbursed.

Shamims ruling that “a bundle of sheets ,detachable, and replaceable at a moment’s notice, can hardly be characterized as a book of account “ brought a lot of political cheer .Advani’s wife Kamla and BJP leader Uma Bharati danced on the lawns : the BJP chief himself ,unable to contain his glee, likened his acquitted to the resurrection of Christ . Shukla distributed sweets while S.K.Jain elated at being let off , sent bouquets to Arun Jaitley and R.K.Anand ,counsels for Advani and Shukla.

The Rs.64 crore hawala case ,which had shaken the political foundations and raised hopes of the judiciary taking action against corruption in high places ,is now likely to go into limbo for ,as Anand says ,”80 percent of the politician will benefit from this judgment,”. As it is, most of the cases were virtually on hold ,with both the CBI and the politicians advocates finding excuses to delay the arguments ,awaiting the high court judgment .The ruling suggests that the CBI ,in a hurry to ensnare Rao”s rivals ,failed to rustle up solid evidence .

In what Advani terms a “politically motivated case’’, the hawala charge sheets were clearly part of a political strategy evolved by former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao , who then hoped to fix opponents both within and outside the congress.

While Advani resigned from the lok sabha , vowing not to return till he was cleared,Rao kept congressmen out , denying tickets to the hawala tainted . In a move that has clearly

boomeranged , Rao , as BJP spokesperson Sushama Swaraj says ,”is paying a political price for the witchhunt”. In a rather ironical coincidence, Shailendra Mahato turned approver in the JMM bribery case, almost at the same time as Advani was acquitted.

Not just Rao, the CBI too is hard-pressed for explanations. Its plan to appeal in the Supreme Court is the only option available to it at the moment.Aat a meeting of CBI officers and legal experts chaired by Director Joginder Singh the agency decided to contest the judgment ,but unless it does some more homework ,the cases ,says Anand ,will probably again be found to be “tenuous”.

The CBI which had on several occasions been pulled up by the apex court on petitions filed by amicus curiae Anil Divan and petitioner Vineet Narain ,contending that the agency was shielding its political masters and providing escape routes to them had filed charge sheets in a hurry . There was a section in the CBI, it is now known, which had warned about the unsustainable ability of the charge sheets in a court of law.

Highly placed sources reveal that as far back in September 1994, a technical expert of the CBI had, in a confidential report, exposed the lacunae in the hawala diary entries, stating categorically that they did not conform to regular account ledgers. The report by V.K Sharma,CBI technical officer says, “The contents of the diary can at the most be analogous to rough notes to serve as material for writing regular account books later”.

The report also point out as shamim too observed in his judgment ,that the diary notings do not serve as evidence of any trade or transaction “ the narration of money transaction, illegibly shown receipts of money from inconspicuous persons/entities, coded letters of alphabets or unexplained names. The purpose and nature and its subsequent payment is not revealed from these entries

The Jain diary entries now having been rejected by the high court, the CBI and special judge Gupta are both in a bind for the judgment will naturally be used by other politicians whose charge sheets are still under scrutiny. There is hope. without the diary entries what ground does CBI have to stand on. The hawala issue is dead, says A.K Bajpai,counsel for Sharad yadav,who has been charged with having received Rs.5lakh from the jains.

Unless the Supreme Court differs with shamim’s order, a majority of the charge sheets will meet the same fate as those of Advani and Shukla since most of them are based on the same tenuous grounds.

A close aide of Gupta says that each case is different from the other and that each will be examined according to merit , but a perusal of the charge sheets shows that most of them are similar to Advani’s and Shukla’s .

In most of the charge sheets, the CBI has gone on the basis of the diary entries and, at best, attached photographs of politician with the jains at social functions .The charge sheets lack

critical details that could hold in a court of law. For instance, they lack details of both the time and the place of the alleged transactions.

In most cases , no recoveries have been made from the “accused “ and the CBI has little to show in terms of new investments ,acquisition of property or any change in spending patterns . Again, in most cases there are no specific instances that point to misuse of official position to grant favours.

Most of the witnesses drawn either from Jain’s personal staff or from the private secretarial staff of the politicians named in the charge sheets speak of contact between the two. Statements which establish friendly links but do not shed any light on the crucial issue of money having changed hands or favours shown. shamim has already dismissed this , for even in Shukla’s case ,the CBI had argued that he was very friendly with the Jains.

Also that a senior executive working for the Jains used to visit Shukla at a hospital run by him in Madhya Pradesh .Says Shukla ;”Yes, I have known the Jain brothers for the past many years but I had not received a penny either for myself or the party .” That the case was politically motivated is evident from Advani’s charge sheet, for there was neither any evidence of association nor any supporting evidence in the form of statements by witnesses.

V.C.Shukla’s Jain connections are unlikely to prove politically damaging and nobody is preparing to exploit the judgment more than the BJP. Advani is back to attending the party’s parliamentary affairs meetings and the party is now planning to organize yatras for Advani and make corruption an issue at a time when the country seems to be heading for midterm polls.

In last year’s election, all parties were forced to push the issue on the back burner and now the BJP is trying to use the judgment to boosts its image and get one up on the congress which can’t do the same as long as Rao is caught in the St Kitts and JMM cases.

Armed with the high court judgment, the politician’s counsels quite unlike the lackadaisical approach they had adopted earlier are now asking Gupta for speedy disposals of their cases. A day after the judgment, N.D. Tiwari’s lawyer pleaded that his client be discharged on the basis of Shamim’s orders.

The CBI, on the other hand, is asking for time stuck as it is on what arguments to use, now that the diary has been thrown out of the window. For only in a very few cases, like those of Arif Mohammed Khan and Jaffer Sharief, has the CBI been able to show direct favours. The others are likely to die a tame death unless the CBI reopens its investigations and comes up with fresh evidence against the charge-sheeted persons.

Narain, who is now demanding that a special team of independent investigators be assigned to the case, is planning to file another petition and is hoping to get the sympathetic ear of chief Justice J. S. Verma , but unless Shamim’s order is reversed the hawala scam threatens to end in

a whimper . And that’s when more politicians will do what Shukla and Advani did. Rejoise and burst crakers. Signaling an end to the political bombshell.

Indian Premier League (IPL) is a twenty-20 cricket league, with players from across the world, participating in franchise teams. The idea of IPL originated after India won the 20-20 world cup. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and supervised by the BCCI Vice President, who serves as the league’s chairman and commissioner. It started in 2008, and from then on it is held every year. The seventh season started in April 2014, and the final match of 7th season is planned for June 2014.! ! IPL is one of the most popular tournaments now, and is known for its commercial success. The revenue model of IPL is depicted in Figure 1. In 2008, the very first season of IPL, BCCI made US $ 1.26 billion by selling media rights, US $ 725 million from team sale, US $ 50 million from web media rights and US $ 220 million from sponsorships. During the last season, i.e.; in 2013, the brand value of IPL was estimated to be US $3.03 billion. ! ! Figure 1: The business model of IPL !! ! ! Series of IPL Scandals ! Even while IPL brand has grown, there were several allegations and fraud relating to its conduct. Among the allegations are bribery, match fixing, insider trading, tax evasion, money laundering, offshore tax scams and violations of foreign exchange regulations. Behind all these manoeuvres lies a tangle of conflicts of interest, with IPL and BCCI officials and their relatives financially involved in the private franchises and the broadcasting-rights holders. It's a web that involves government ministers, the CEOs of some of India biggest corporations, media powers and Bollywood stars.! ! The main scams included broadcasting scam, Kochi Tuskers scam, Spot fixing in 2012 and 2013 and Lalit Modi’s issues are summarised below. ! ! Broadcasting Scam! ! BCCI initially had a media rights agreement with Multi Screen Media (MSM. Later Lalit Modi, the Chairman of IPL, initiated a contract with World Sports Group (WSG-Mauritius Limited), (WSG-India Pvt. Ltd), granting them media rights. In order to secure the rights, because of commercial interests, MSM worked out an arrangement with WSG, Mauritius, guaranteeing a facilitation fee of $80 million (approximately Rs. 435 crore). However , later in 2009, BCCI cancelled this agreement, stating that they were not aware of the facilitation fee, and Lalit Modi had no rights to enter into this contract, without the knowledge of BCCI. ! ! Kochi Tuskers Scam! The formation of Kochi Tuskers team led to another controversy in the IPL world. Tharoor, helped a consortium based in his home state of Kerala to bid for one of the two new IPL franchises on offer this year, and a woman friend, Sunanda Pushkar, was promised a $15m sweat equity stake on account of future consultancy work. The consortium put in the highest bid of $333m, which apparently upset Lalit Modi’s plans for who should win. The consequential row went public on Twitter and exploded into a scandal that has led to a stream of media leaks, presumably from the government and political parties and mostly directed against Modi. There have been rows in parliament, tax and other raids, and calls for an official inquiry. Tharoor has been forced to resign from his minister’s post, and Pushkar has given up her $15m.! ! Lalit Modi’s Issue! Mr.Lalit Modi, the chairman of IPL, played a pivotal role in increasing the brand value of IPL. Strategies implemented by Mr.Modi reaped success. Lalit Modi was listed among the most powerful people by India Today magazine, and has won several awards for his vision and leadership skills. He successfully ran IPL for 3 years, but was suspended in 2010, for alleged acts of individual misdemeanours including the the bidding process for IPL franchises, mid-over ad breaks, and the sale of theatrical rights. ! ! Lalit

Modi's decline started after the 2010 IPL bidding which saw the creation of two new teams -- Pune and Kochi. Modi revealed the ownership details of the Kochi franchise on twitter. Modi's act allegedly breached the confidentiality agreements between the Board and the IPL franchises. Later it was known that Tharoor’s friend Sunanda Pushkar was given a sweat equity of Rs70 crore. Tharoor resigned as a result and the nationwide I-T raids on IPL and its franchisees' offices revealed murky details of financial dealings and kickbacks that allegedly Modi got.! ! Money laundering ! Politicians and others are said to be laundering black money via Mauritius and other tax havens which, though officially recognised, hide investors’ identities through shell companies and benami (false) names. There are suggestions that matches and bids for team franchises have been fixed, and that there have been bribes, tax evasion, illegal betting, and breaches of foreign investment rules. The money flow from these countries were clearly against FEMA rules.! ! Spot Fixing 2012! In 2012, a sting operation done by India TV revealed that many players were involved in spot fixing. T.Sudhindra, Deccan Charges, was offered Rs 60L for bowling a no-ball and for changing his team in next season. Mohnish Mishra , Pune Warriors , confessed that their franchise owners, was paying black money to them, which is much more than the actual allowable pay for uncapped players. 5 players were suspended following the report. ! ! Spot Fixing 2013! In 2013, 3 players of Rajasathan Royals, including Sreeshanth from Kerala, were arrested by Delhi Police on charges of spot fixing and betting. Later, Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested on charges of fraud,forgery and fraud. Several bookmakers, including former IPL players and filmstars were also arrested. Upto Rs60L were offered to the Royal’s player for bowling a crooked over. ! ! ! Governance Failure! ! The mega cricket event in India has led to financial fiasco. Starting from the sourcing of funds to finance the teams, and auctioning of the broadcasting rights, everywhere the lack of corporate governance and transparency is noticed. The role of Lalit Modi in taking IPL to its glory cannot be ignored, however his actions created issues, and he was later suspended. Though, BCCI was in control, corporate governance was not put in place. Proper auditing and monitoring of the conduct of IPL led to several issues, including those of Kochi Tuskers formation and withdrawal and the resignation of Mr.Tharoor. Some teams were also found to be tax defaulters. Violation of FEMA regulations in sourcing funds for teams were also under the scanner. Several investigations had been initiated following these issues in relation with IPL. Every season witnessed some scam or controversy amidst the glory and entertainment IPL has created. ! ! ! Conclusion! ! As the economy has been liberalised over the past 20 years, brilliant entrepreneurship has been generated, but unparalleled greed has grown at all levels of society. People from the top of the government down to a village headman use cronyism, patronage, bribery, coercion and generally low ethics to build status and wealth. That looks like continuing for generations because there are still some 700m or more people clambering to enter the economy and reap the benefits of new riches. Corporate governance and strict adherence to policies and regulations could help in controlling the financial scams to a certain level. Individual ethics also plays a critical role in curtailing scams.

BOFORS SCAM

Introduction -one of the biggest scandals in Indian politics.

It all started when India decided to purchase 400 155mm Howitzers (fancy word for really-big-kickass-gun) from Swedish company Bofors AB for $1.4 billion in 1986.

In 1987 the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks for this deal.

Ottavio Quattrochi was a businessman close to the Gandhi family and a prominent man in the hallowed passages of Indian government. His name came up as the middleman in this deal.

The Bofors scandal was huge. Rajiv Gandhi lost the 1989 elections due to the backlash of these allegations.

Other accused included the Hinduja brothers and Win Chaddha, an agent of the Bofors company. (Hi! My name is win. I am here to win your contract!)

Chaddha died in 2001. Gandhi was assassinated in 1991, and was cleared of the corruption charges against him in 2004. In 2005, the charges against the Hinduja brothers were dismissed by the Delhi High court.

From roughly 1980 to 1987 – Indira Gandhi’s final years and Rajiv Gandhi’s honeymoon years – Quattrocchi had the Midas touch. No deal was refused to him. “It was understood,” remembers a Congressman from the original Mrs G’s days, “that a fertiliser contract meant Snamprogetti. That was considered the favour to Sonia and Rajiv.”

It is alleged Quattrocchi was so influential with the office of the prime minister — Rajiv Gandhi — that bureaucrats used to stand up when Quattrocchi visited them.

In 2002 a Malaysian court refused extraditing Quattrochi to India, observing that the offenses alleged against him were.

Dismissing India’s review petition for his extradition, Justice Augustine Paul of Kuala Lumpur High Court upheld the Sessions Court verdict earlier this month throwing out the extradition case on the ground that the descriptions of the offenses in the requisition papers were “insufficient, vague and ambiguous.” While discharging Quattrocchi unconditionally, the Sessions Court on December 2 had also ordered return of his passport and the bail.

The CBI chief PC Sharma attributed the failure to the fact that they were in a foreign country and had to present the case through a foreign lawyer. Maybe they should start training multi-lingual Indian lawyers? Malaysian ones are apparently no good.

In December 2005 the Indian government de-froze Quattrochi’s bank accounts on grounds of insufficient evidence to link those accounts to the Bofors payoff. A month later the Supreme court directed the government to ensure that money was not withdrawn from those accounts. It was too late by then. Rs 21 crore ($4.6 mn) had already been withdrawn from the accounts.

Quattrochi was arrested in Argentina in February 2007. The CBI tried to get him extradited to India, but their plea was rejected by the Argentinian courts. The CBI had the option of appealing to a higher court, but it failed to get a clearance from the center. We wonder why that would be.

The judge noted that the CBI did not even present proper legal documents for Quattrochi’s extradition, which led to their request getting rejected. Besides, the Indian government’s decision to de-freeze Quattrochi’s bank accounts did not really add credence to their request.

Over more than two decades the case has dragged on like an Energizer bunny, with no end in sight. For some involved parties the case ended with death, some were cleared of charges, but the scandal lives on.

Strangely enough, you can’t attribute it all to the Congress. The Congress may have had an interest in this case, but we have had some non-Congress governments too during these past twenty years that have allowed this drama to carry on, culminating with Manmohan Singh’s government’s farewell gift to Mr Quattrochi.

BACKGROUND

The Bofors scandal happened in 1980, where many were accused of receiving kickbacks from a company called Bofors AB. Large sums of money was given by Bofors AB to win a bid to supply India’s 155mm field howitzer for the armed forces. The scam was estimated to be Rs. 400 million and it rocked India as the value of the scam was large, the scam was concerned with national security and allegations were levelled even against the Prime Minister. The scam was brought out during Viswanath Pratap Singh’s tenure as defense minister. It was brought to light through investigative journalism by N Ram and Chitra Subramaniam in The Hindu and The Indian Express.

How BOFORS Happened

The Indian Army required Howitzer guns. A tender was floated in 1984. The French Sofma gun was evaluated and was found to be superior to the Bofors gun. The army needed a gun that could shoot at a range of 30km. The army chief Krishnaswamy Sundarji opted for the Sofma guns since the field trials showed that the Sofma could shoot at a range of 29.2 km as compared to the Bofors gun at a range of 21.5km. It was later on revealed that Bofors was illegally allowed to alter its bid without submitting a tender again. The Bofors scandal came to the forefront after an announcement in the Swedish radio in the year 1987. The firm AE Services was used in the scam. This company had a paid up capital of lira 100 and no employees.

Chitra Subramaniam of The Hindu newspaper got hold of the private diary in which it was mentioned that “Q’s” involvement may be a problem due to the closeness with “R”. Q’s identity became clear when Chitra identified the Swiss Bank where the money from AE Services went into. It was later determined that the account was operated by Ottavio Quattrocchi. The CBI

had also obtained documents but was ruled out since it was a photo copy. It was also proved that Ottavio Quattrocchi was paid 3% of the sale amount (USD 7 m) as commission through AE Services.

The key accused was Ottavio Quattrocchi. Ottavio Quattrocchi was wanted in India for criminal charges. He was a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal. Ottavio Quattrocchi was seen as the middleman by the CBI’s probe of the Bofors scandal, who was an Italian businessman, owned the petrochemicals firm Snamprogetti.

Ottavio Quattrocchi was also close to Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. This may have led to the downfall of the Congress in the 1989 elections. The case against Ottavio Quattrocchi was strengthened when the Interpol had revealed two bank accounts with the BSI Bank AG in the name of Ottavio Quattrocchi and his wife Maria. The bank accounts had funds of EUR 3m ad USD 1m. This seemed to be a substantial amount of money for a salaried person. In 1993, when the CBI attempted to interrogate Ottavio Quattrocchi, he was allowed to leave the country since Sonia Gandhi had a deal with the late ex-Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.

Ottavio Quattrocchi was detained in Argentina in 2007, by orders from the Interpol. He was later released but his passport was impounded. Since India did not have an extradition treaty with Argentina, India lost the case in the Argentine Supreme Court due to the fact that the Indian government did not provide a key court order, a basis to arrest Ottavio Quattrocchi. Currently, the Italian businessman does not feature in the list of CBI’s wanted people and the red corner notice by the Interpol.

WHAT HAPPENED TO BOFORS SCAM ACCUSED:

Ottavio Quattrocchi, the prime accussed now lives a good life as CBI has withdrawn the red-corner notice against him. India's law ministry under the Congress regime also unfroze his bank accounts in 2006.

Late Ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB. In 2004, he was posthumously cleared of the allegation.

SK Bhatnagar: Former defense secretary was accused of abusing his official authority. No actions taken. Died in 2001.

Win Chadha was the arms agent. He was accused of receiving part of the 64 crore kickback by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1986. Died in 2001.

The Hinduja Brothers were also probed in the Bofors scam. The prosecution failed to prove their involvement in the Bofors scam. In 2005, the Delhi High Court also acquitted the Hinduja brothers Shrichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja of all charges.

After almost 30 years when the Bofors scam was committed, no one has been punished yet. Despite glaring proofs of Quattrocchi's involvement, Congress Govt decided to unfreeze his bank accounts and remove the red-croner notice against him. Three other major accused, Rajiv Gandhi, S K Bhatnagar and Win Chadha, are already dead. Hinduja Brothers have been acquitted of all charges. All in all, no major accused are left to be caught in the scam. Despite glaring evidences of the scam being committed, CBI has failed to nail anyone. In all probability no one will ever be held guilty for one of the biggest Defense scams in Indian history.

WikiLeaks

1.0 What is WikiLeaks ?

WikiLeaks is an international, online, non-profit, journalistic organisation which publishes secret information and news leaks from anonymous sources. Its website, initiated in 2006 in Iceland by the organization Sunshine Press, claimed a database of more than 1.2 million documents within a year of its launch. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder, editor-in-chief, and director. Its goal is to bring important news and information to the public. It provides an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to its journalists (the electronic drop box).The logo of WikiLeaks, an hourglass with one globe leaking to the second.One of its most important activities is to publish original source material alongside its news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth. It is a young organisation that has grown very quickly, relying on a network of dedicated volunteers around the globe. Since 2007, when the organisation was officially launched, WikiLeaks has worked to report on and publish important information. It also develops and adapts technologies to support these activities

The group has released a number of significant documents which have become front-page news items. Early releases included documentation of equipment expenditures and holdings in the Afghanistan war and corruption in Kenya. In April 2010, WikiLeaks published gunsight footage from the 12 July 2007 Baghdad airstrike in which Iraqi journalists were among those killed by an AH-64 Apache helicopter, known as the Collateral Murder video.In November 2010, WikiLeaks collaborated with major global media organisations to release U.S. State department diplomatic "cables". The broader principles on which their work is based are the defence of freedom of speech and media publishing, the improvement of their common historical record and the support of the rights of all people to create new history. They derive these principles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In particular, Article 19 inspires the work of their journalists and other volunteers. It states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Wikileaks agree, and seek to uphold this and the other Articles of the Declaration.

1.1 How WikiLeaks works

WikiLeaks has combined high-end security technologies with journalism and ethical principles. Like other media outlets conducting investigative journalism, they accept (but do not solicit)

anonymous sources of information. Unlike other outlets, they provide a high security anonymous drop box fortified by cutting-edge cryptographic information technologies. This provides maximum protection to their sources. They are fearless in their efforts to get the unvarnished truth out to the public. When information comes in, their journalists analyse the material, verify it and write a news piece about it describing its significance to society. They then publish both the news story and the original material in order to enable readers to analyse the story in the context of the original source material themselves. Their news stories are in the comfortable presentation style of Wikipedia, although the two organisations are not otherwise related. Unlike Wikipedia, random readers can not edit their source documents.

They accept leaked material in person and via postal drops as alternative methods, although they recommend the anonymous electronic drop box as the preferred method of submitting any material. They do not ask for material, but they make sure that if material is going to be submitted it is done securely and that the source is well protected. Because they receive so much information, and they have limited resources, it may take time to review a source’s submission.

They also have a network of talented lawyers around the globe who are personally committed to the principles that WikiLeaks is based on, and who defend their media organisation.

1.2 Why the media (and particularly Wiki leaks) is important

Publishing improves transparency, and this transparency creates a better society for all people. Better scrutiny leads to reduced corruption and stronger democracies in all society’s institutions, including government, corporations and other organisations. A healthy, vibrant and inquisitive journalistic media plays a vital role in achieving these goals. Wikileaks is a part of that media.

Scrutiny requires information. Historically, information has been costly in terms of human life, human rights and economics. As a result of technical advances particularly the internet and cryptography - the risks of conveying important information can be lowered. In its landmark ruling on the Pentagon Papers, the US Supreme Court ruled that "only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government."

Wikileaks believe that it is not only the people of one country that keep their own government honest, but also the people of other countries who are watching that government through the media.

In the years leading up to the founding of WikiLeaks, it is observed the world’s publishing media becoming less independent and far less willing to ask the hard questions of government, corporations and other institutions. This needed to change.

WikiLeaks has provided a new model of journalism. Because they are not motivated by making a profit, they work cooperatively with other publishing and media organisations around the

globe, instead of following the traditional model of competing with other media. They don’t hoard their information; they make the original documents available with their news stories. Readers can verify the truth of what they have reported themselves. Like a wire service, WikiLeaks reports stories that are often picked up by other media outlets. Wikileaks believe the world’s media should work together as much as possible to bring stories to a broad international readership.

1.3 How WikiLeaks verifies its news stories

Wikileaks assess all news stories and test their veracity. They send a submitted document through a very detailed examination a procedure.

Is it real?

What elements prove it is real?

Who would have the motive to fake such a document and why?

They use traditional investigative journalism techniques as well as more modern technology-based methods. Typically they will do a forensic analysis of the document, determine the cost of forgery, means, motive, opportunity, the claims of the apparent authoring organisation, and answer a set of other detailed questions about the document. They may also seek external verification of the document For example, for their release of the Collateral Murder video, they sent a team of journalists to Iraq to interview the victims and observers of the helicopter attack. The team obtained copies of hospital records, death certificates, eye witness statements and other corroborating evidence supporting the truth of the story.

Publishing the original source material behind each of their stories is the way in which they show the public that their story is authentic. Readers don’t have to take their word for it; they can see for themselves. In this way, they also support the work of other journalism organisations, for they can view and use the original documents freely as well. Other journalists may well see an angle or detail in the document that they were not aware of in the first instance. By making the documents freely available, they hope to expand analysis and comment by all the media. Most of all, they want readers know the truth so they can make up their own minds

The people behind WikiLeaks-WikiLeaks is a project of the Sunshine Press. WikiLeaks is an independent global group of people with a long standing dedication to the idea of a free press and the improved transparency in society that comes from this. The group includes accredited journalists, software programmers, network engineers, mathematicians and others.

To determine the truth of their statements on this, simply look at the evidence. By definition, intelligence agencies want to hoard information. By contrast, WikiLeaks has shown that it wants

to do just the opposite. Their track record shows they go to great lengths to bring the truth to the world without fear or favour.

1.5 Anonymity for sources

As far as we can ascertain, WikiLeaks has never revealed any of its sources. We can not provide details about the security of their media organisation or its anonymous drop box for sources because to do so would help those who would like to compromise the security of their organisation and its sources. What we can say is that we operate a number of servers across multiple international jurisdictions and we we do not keep logs. Hence these logs can not be seized. Anonymization occurs early in the WikiLeaks network, long before information passes to their web servers. Without specialized global internet traffic analysis, multiple parts of their organisation must conspire with each other to strip submitters of their anonymity.

However, we also provide instructions on how to submit material to us, via net cafes, wireless hot spots and even the post so that even if WikiLeaks is infiltrated by an external agency, sources can still not be traced. Because sources who are of substantial political or intelligence interest may have their computers bugged or their homes fitted with hidden video cameras, we suggest that if sources are going to send WikiLeaks something very sensitive, they do so away from the home and work.

3.0 The importance of principled leaking to journalism, good government and a healthy society

Principled leaking has changed the course of history for the better. It can alter the course of history in the present, and it can lead us to a better future.

With its anonymous drop box, WikiLeaks provides an avenue for every government official, every bureaucrat, and every corporate worker, who becomes privy to damning information that their institution wants to hide but the public needs to know. What conscience cannot contain, and institutional secrecy unjustly conceals, WikiLeaks can broadcast to the world. It is telling that a number of government agencies in different countries (and indeed some entire countries) have tried to ban access to WikiLeaks. This is of course a silly response, akin to the ostrich burying its head in the sand. A far better response would be to behave in more ethical ways.

Authoritarian governments, oppressive institutions and corrupt corporations should be subject to the pressure, not merely of international diplomacy, freedom of information laws or even periodic elections, but of something far stronger - the consciences of the people within them.