Telecom tangle

The Supreme Court has rejected the pleas of seven telecom companies asking it to reconsider its judgment cancelling 122 2G licenses in 22 telecom circles. However, it agreed to hear in open court the Union government’s petition seeking review of its direction to auction these annulled licences. A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and K S Radhakrishnan heard the review petitions of Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecom, S Tel, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, Unitech Wireless (TN) Pvt Ltd, Etisalat DB Telecom and Idea Cellular in chamber on Tuesday. “We have carefully perused the record of the case and are satisfied that the judgment of which review has been sought does not suffer from any error apparent. In the garb of seeking review, the petitioner wants re-hearing of the case and we do not find any valid ground much less justification to entertain its prayer. The review petition is accordingly dismissed,” said the court for each petition. The court, in its February 2 judgment, had imposed a hefty fine of Rs 5 crore on Swan, Unitech Wireless and Tata Teleservices for offloading their shares to MNCs at high prices after getting the licences at throwaway prices. Fines of Rs 50 lakh each were imposed on Loop Telecom, S Tel, Allianz Infra (later merged with Swan Telecom) and Sistema Shyam for becoming beneficiaries of the dubious deal. The bench passed an identical order on the review petition titled Manmohan Singh Vs Subramnian Swamy. In this review petition, the PMO had sought review of the three-month period for grant of sanction for prosecution of government officials. It had also sought deletion of certain observations against PMO officials who had dealt with a representation of Swamy. The court had in its judgment blamed these officials for not briefing the PM properly on the representation. But, a major reprieve for the Centre came when the court agreed to hear the Union government’s review petition in open court on April 13. The government had questioned the court’s direction on auction of the cancelled telecom licences. The Centre had said that the manner of allocation of spectrum was an exclusive policy domain of the Executive and the separation of power under the Constitution barred the judiciary from foraying into it.

Somewhere in Uttar Pradesh....

Within days of Chief Minsiter Akhilesh Yadav taking over the reins in Uttar Pradesh, the Anil Ambani promoted Reliance Power announced commissioning of the fourth unit of 300 MW capacity at Rosa thermal plant in Shahjahanpur district. The unit, which got commissioned on March 31, was running on a full load capacity, company officials said. “With this, the power plant achieved its full capacity of 1,200 MW. The plant has four units of 300 MW capacity each. The project was scheduled to be completed in July this year,” Reliance Power said in a statement on Monday. The final 300 MW unit of Rosa Project was synchronized and achieved full load on March 28. Immediately after the successful completion of 72 hours full load test, the COD (Date of Commercial Operation) of Unit-4 of Rosa Project was declared on March 31. Earlier, Unit-3 of the project was also brought online in December 2011, three months in advance, compared to scheduled implementation in March 2012. With the completion of entire 1,200 MW, Rosa Power Project has achieved the distinction of becoming the first new thermal power project to be set up in the state during the last 20 years. The company claimed that the project was also the first independent thermal power project in North India to be brought online and represents the largest-ever private sector investment in Uttar Pradesh, with an investment outlay of over Rs 6,000 crore. The 1,200 MW Rosa power project will supply its full capacity to Uttar Pradesh. The project will contribute for over 15% of UP’s total energy requirement and will light up about 30 lakh households of the power starved state. Completion of Rosa Project will help reduce UP’s power deficit significantly. The project has also played a vital role in socio-economic development of the area by creating 5,000 direct and indirect jobs and instituting vocational and skill enhancement programmes to enhance the employability of locals.

A K Antony goes on overdrive

Stung by General V K Singh highlighting “critical” operational gaps in the Army’s war-fighting capabilities, defence minister A K Antony went on an overdrive to clear five- and 15-year perspective plans of the armed forces hanging fire for long and also tweaked the offsets policy to include technology transfer. But Antony also directed the 1.13-million strong Army to put its own house in order by “streamlining its acquisition process in such a manner that accountability can be fixed for slippages” as well as “compress the time taken for technical evaluations and trials”. The trigger, said MoD sources, was that almost 50% of global tenders or RFPs (request for proposals) floated to procure military hardware and software have been “recalled at an advanced stage” because of “faulty GSQRs (general staff qualitative requirements)” or technical specifications drawn up by the Army. The minister also favoured delegation of “more financial powers” to Service HQs, which stands at a paltry Rs 50 crore, “if it can lead to speedier acquisition” of weapon systems and platforms during his meeting with Gen Singh, defence secretary Shashikant Sharma and director-general (acquisitions) Vivek Rae, among others. There are indications that Antony and Gen Singh have decided to get down to the task of fast-tracking the acquisition process. But Gen Singh’s quest for a one-on-one meeting with the PM to ensure “suitable directions are passed to enhance Army’s preparedness’’ may not materialize soon. The meetings summoned by Antony came in the backdrop of widespread criticism after Gen Singh’s confidential letter to the PM that blamed the long-winded arms procurement process and the recalcitrant bureaucracy for the “critical hollowness’’ in the Army’s capabilities, leaked to the media. They included a Defence Acquisitions Council’s (DAC) meeting, which was also attended by the other two chiefs Admiral Nirmal Verma and Air Chief Marshal N AK Browne.

Hafiz Saeed

India’s tormentor-in-chief Hafiz Saeed, head of Pakistan’s deadliest terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, now carries a $10-million bounty on his head. The US announced this reward for the capture or information leading to the capture of Saeed, making him one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. US undersecretary of state Wendy Sherman said Saeed’s brother-in-law and co-founder of LeT Abdul Rehman Makki carries a bounty of $3 million. LeT, and mainly Saeed, are accused of planning and executing the Mumbai 26/11 attacks with the ISI’s help. Under Saeed’s watch, the LeT has grown to become a terror group that rivals al-Qaida in its reach and lethality. Although primarily focused against India, LeT, which has links with the Pakistani spy agency ISI (some claim that it has been nurtured by it) the ISI, has reached European and Australian shores. Unlike other people who have a US bounty on their heads, Saeed is out in the open: he moves around freely in Pakistan, addresses meetings, often spewing venomous hatred against India and other democracies. Despite his alleged involvement in 26/11, Islamabad has refused to act against him. The reward on him would put Pakistan in an awkward position. The US decision means that Saeed now becomes a legitimate target for a US drone attack, like the ones that killed Baitullah Mehsud, head of Pakistan Taliban, and Ilyas Kashmiri, head of Qaida’s Brigade 313. In recent months, Saeed has entertained political ambitions and established a new umbrella group of 40 Pakistani terror groups called the Difa-e-Pakistan (Pakistan Defence Council).

Sneek peak

Chennai's new airport terminal in the making

Somewhere in Mumbai....

The decayed body of a 35-foot-long humpback whale washed onto the beach around 1 pm on Saturday. Hundreds of people looked on as the BMC struggled to clear the carcass. This is the second such instance of a whale being washed ashore in as many days. On Friday, another humpback whale washed onto the Uran beach with gashes on its body. This has left marine biologists wondering whether some whales have been injured while migrating through Mumbai waters. Head of Bombay Natural History Society’s maritime conservation programme, Deepak Apte, said that since the whale was dead and its carcass decaying, it had to be removed immediately and disposed of. “It’s possible that the whale had a natural death, but there is also a good chance that it was hit by propellers of a ship while it was probably migrating.”

A different view

Press Council Chief Justice Markandey Katju urged the Parliament to refer the Lokpal Bill to a standing committee for further consideration so that a workable corruption investigation machinery can be created. In its present state, the Lokpal Bill can create a parallel bureaucracy that could turn into a “Frankenstein’s monster” and double or triple corruption, he said in a statement. Katju, a retired SC judge, said that whether it was the Jan Lokpal Bill or the sarkari Lokpal Bill, the legislation envisaged overseeing the work of some 55 lakh government employees in the country (of which 13 lakh are in the Railways alone), from the PM to a mere peon. “Surely, one person cannot enquire into the lakhs of complaints which are bound to pour in. It will require thousands of Lokpals, may be 50,000 of them to do this,” he said. He also added that all these officers will have to be given salaries and amenities like housing, offices and staff. “And then where is the guarantee that these will not themselves become corrupt? Considering the low level of morality prevailing in India, we can be certain a large number of them will become blackmailers,” Katju said. He added that the implications of creating a Lokpal have not been rationally thought out and “some think that all problems of corruption will be solved by shouting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ at Jantar Mantar or Ram Lila Grounds. He said while Anna was an honest person, his ideas were not scientific.