Sainath eviscerates Sidd V (indirectly of course)

There were a couple of blog posts by HF and yours truly recently about how Siddharth Varadarajan panders to the UPA government while vaguely placing the blame of corruption on corporate India.
Sainath in what is a blistering editorial on the culture of corruption and inaction of the UPA literally lamblasts Sidd V's theories to atoms.

That is, electronic media chiefs and editors who have mostly adored Dr. Singh for nearly two decades. If even the largely free ride they gave him left him unnerved and defensive, it's a measure of how much things have changed. Not that the editors emerged looking better. If asking the right questions is at the heart of journalism, then somebody had a bypass. At no point did it occur to them that the corruption they questioned him on with some passion, flowed entirely out of policies and from a policy altar at which they have worshipped for years.

He raises the issue of subsidies in the last budget being given a free pass by the Government.

The dominant media have never once raised a peep of protest against the corporate plunder of public money, thanks to the government Dr. Singh presides over. Nor did they in this conference with the Prime Minister. So Dr. Singh is understandably peeved when asked about the petty cash transfers of the 2G scam to a handful of hucksters.

This the same PM who has been claimed by LiC and Sidd V as a paragon of virtue of integrity.

Celebrating MMS the new-era Dhritharashtra

There are certain figures in mythology who are tragic figures due to circumstances and some due to their own creations. Dhritharashtra of the Kurus showed a blind eye (literally and figuratively) to the rampant corrupt and vengeful behaviors of his sons and paid for it with the loss of their lives and his kingdom. As a ruler of a nation maintain Raj-Dharma is of paramount importance and is one of the valuable lessons Indian history has tried to teach its rulers. Its something MMS has done poorly in 2 terms as the PM of India.
After numerous scams and feeble efforts to defend the government's inaction and bringing the perpetrators to justice, the new "vigilance" is being swallowed by the MSM especially cHindu hook, line and sinker.

The same Prime Minister whose silence and ambivalence on 2G was seen by the Opposition and the public at large as weakness and even complicity has pushed the Central Bureau of Investigation into summoning and questioning top industrialists like Anil Ambani, raiding Kalaingar TV, the business arm of a key political ally, the DMK, and sending A. Raja, who was Telecom Minister till some time ago, to the unwholesome confines of Tihar Jail.

Call me a sceptic but sending a minster to prison temporarily and raiding KTV is not vigilant action. The corruption is endemic and across the nation and token actions are simply not enough. Sidd V asks a potent question when says,

The question, of course, is whether or not the CBI will persist in its endeavours. Are we being treated to an elaborate dog-and-pony show? Or does the agency's current activism represent a fundamental course correction for a system which has tolerated and thrived on corruption? If yes, does the Prime Minister have the political clout to see things through?

However where Sidd Varadarajan fails to hit the nail on the head is his sympathetic portrayal of MMS as being a decisive leader misled by his ministers.

As an economist and a man of unquestionable integrity, Dr. Singh knew full well the revenue consequences of forgoing an auction for the allocation of 2G spectrum and recorded his unhappiness with the decision. If the Prime Minister were anyone other than Dr. Singh, one might be justified in treating his belated intervention in the 2G matter as an indication of his own involvement. In reality, the delay was the product of both his individual political weakness and his party's failure to understand the political implications of the scam.

Its as though cHindu wants to treat MMS and the UPA with kid gloves and come hard against the BJP for similar failings. Final words from Sidd V.

Corrupt politicians come and go. But unless the crony capitalists who use them are punished, Indian democracy will continue to corrode.

What about corrupt journalists Mr. Siddharth Varadarajan?

Descent of India into Oligarchy

For all his failings in the 2G Radia scandal, Vir Sanghvi hit the nail on the head when he said:

how the public will not stand for resources being cornered, how we're creating a new list of oligarchs

India descends into Oligarchy
Let us look at all our media barons, mining giants etc. A small fraction of industrialists with the help of politicians, a blind eye from the judiciary and not tacit assistance from the media have cornered the nations resources and ergo its wealth for their own personal piggy banks.
What is the difference between India and Russia then?
Probably the fact that a small fraction of the population is enabled in India to work on the technology, banking and automobile sectors. But its much closer than we think.

Senile monkey Mu Ka blathers on Raja

If there's any doubt about Mu Ka (CM of TN) senility, it was removed with his statement Action against Raja if charges are proved .

The DMK believes that he has not committed any mistake. We are not prepared to abandon him until the charges against him are proved

Guess he wants an iron clad written document viewed and notarized and video taped with proof of blood sample witnessed by 3 reputable people (none from AIADMK). Where's LiC to make a statement on this ridiculous BS from Mu Ka?

Chellaney names corruption as security threat no.1

This is really a thought provoking article by Brahma Chellaney - Perils of becoming a republic of scandals

Corruption, No. 1 national security threat, is eating into the vitals of the state, enfeebling internal security and crimping foreign policy. India confronts several pressing national security threats. But only one of them — political corruption — poses an existential threat to the state, which in reality has degenerated into a republic of mega-scandals.

We will analyze and post our thoughts, in the meanwhile we will look to your thoughts on this.

Sidd V blasts corporate India - editorial on Radia scam

This blog has not been kind on Sidd V and we don't plan on being so anytime soon. However we do tip our hat every time there is a hard hitting post on the cHindu and it is our hope that they become the norm than the exception. So when Sidd Varadarajan hammers corporate India's ability to spin yarns on the Indian population by buying ministerships,spectrums etc. that is exactly the hard hitting article we wanted cHindu to publish a week back when the issue was hot.

In one of the tapes, an unidentified interlocutor asks Ms Radia, whose clients include both Mr. Tata and Mukesh Ambani, why “you people [i.e. the Mukesh Ambani group] are supporting [Raja] like anything ... when the younger brother [Anil Ambani] is the biggest beneficiary of the so called spectrum allocation”. “Issue bahut complex hai,” Ms Radia replies. “Mere client Tatas bhi beneficiary rahein hain (my client, the Tatas, have also been a beneficiary).”
Apart from telecom, the tapes also provide valuable insight into the gas dispute between the two Ambani brothers. This was a dispute in which Mukesh Ambani made skillful use of the “gas is a national resource” argument with a pliant media even as he used his influence with individual MPs to try and orchestrate a massive tax concession for his company from the same national resource, Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin natural gas.

The entire article strikes hard at the nexus between the various parties and companies involved to keep key players involved (or in the case of Marans excluded) to ensure certain benefits were accrued.
The key gripe here on this article is that it does not focus on the DMK infighting and involvement in the entire affair given A. Raja was the other key focal point. Lets see if there's going to be some follow up in the near future.

Rasheeda Bhagat of The Business Line exposes media hypocrisy

During the whole #barkhagate or 2G scandal or Nira Radia imbroglio the Indian media has played it incredibly safe. Not wanting to move an inch against the key media members involved, most of the journalists perhaps held by some 'Omerta' or honor code or intimidation by higher powers have stone walled.
However in what is really a landmark initiative shown by vigilant citizens leveraging the power of social networking tools - Blogs, Tweets etc. have forced the media to cover this issue.
Props have to go to cHindu's Rasheeda Bhagat who writes for the the Business Line exposes the media hypocrisy in this article - Those living in glass houses….

Our TV channel debates are infamous for their high decibel levels and, on some channels, the anchors out-shout everybody else on the show. But all these channels, their anchors and expert commentators have gone into silent mode since the Radia tapes have aired in public the participation of some top-notch media personalities in animated conversations pertaining to the formation of the UPA-II government. The main hitch then, it may be recalled, pertained to the DMK demanding more than what the Congress was willing to offer. There were also issues pertaining to internal wrangles within the first family of the Dravidian party.

The entire article is written with a brutal honesty one looks for cHindu to provide. By giving more credit to Rasheeda here we would be praising someone for sticking up to their journalistic ethics which is wrong.
But it deserves to be recognized when her peers have chosen silence to exposing the truth.

cHindu-NDTV silence on barkhagate- Friends with benefits

Hat tip to KVSarma for identifying this unholy alliance and appropriately coining the phrase FWB.
The rooted silence on the barkhagate scandal, stoic defense of A.Raja, denial of any existence of Nira Radia, all leads to one question why? Simple answer the cHindu NDTV alliance. Its akin to 'Honor among thieves'. NDTV is the media "Godfather" and has collected many chips and its collecting them by means of total blackout (barring few non-consequential discussions) into this issue. In all likelihood it will provide some information to the JPC or whatever committee and in return be promised some minor slap in the wrist (no impacts to Government advertising).

Alternative Theory by Pilid (Which I have shamelessly copied from the comments)

The alternative explanation for cHindu's silence is the involvement of senior DMK figures. Perhaps it is some of both. Also senior folks in The Hindu have themselves acted as "conduits of information"; in fact Malini Parthasarathy defended accused journos on twitter on this ground. So the sympathy is understandable not to mention accusations would have amounted to the pot calling the kettle black. Also, the censorship is not unusual for The Hindu; most other major media outlets have not carried the item either. So the explanation for silence may lie in their loyalty to the broader fraternity of powerbroker/journalists.

Blame the process not Raja - LiC

Hat tip to reader Balaji for pointing this out.
If you read any cHindu article or editorial you will find some editorializing going on. Even if say a dog bit a old woman Bangalore, cHindu would probably tie it to the BJP government's lack of social responsibility. However in the case of what appears to be one of the biggest scandals in Indian Parliament history cHindu has staunchly supported the DMK and A.Raja ('A' standing for acidic, acerbic?)
Now LiC from his perch in Anna Salai comes out and blames the process of allotting the spectrum as the culprit and not any one individual. Its a bit like blaming the German judicial system for the Holocaust and not Hitler. Or Indian Army for losing the Indo-Chinese war of 1962 and not Nehru. It sets a wrong precedent
of future allotment of blame in such scandals.

The integrity of the process always determines the quality of the product that comes out of it. If a process is wrong, the product seldom turns out right. It is now a common conclusion that the procedure for the allocation of spectrum in 2007-08 for the second generation (2G) telecom services was flawed, and grossly so. When there were many more aspirants for the licences than there was frequency spectrum, and an auction should have been the obvious method to decide on the winners, the licences were handed out instead in a non-transparent, first-come-first-served basis and at a low price set seven years earlier.

Hindsight is indeed 20-20. Where is the issue of incompetence of A.Raja and his steadfast refusal to resign?
Or for that matter the kickbacks he received?

The Manmohan Singh government has no option but to take serious note of the glaring non-performance by these companies. Perhaps it was inevitable they would fail, because as the CAG discovered, many of these companies did not have any experience in telecommunications. Revoking their licences would therefore be a rational and appropriate response.

If this is a cover-up article aimed at fooling the reading public of cHindu, then LiC better start packing his desk.

CAG report on 2G scam lacks rationality

When was the last time a politician confessed to a crime? Why is N.Ram so keen to mention that A.Raja has denied any wrongdoing? If it is not obvious enough, N.Ram states that A.Raja has only followed a well-established policy. N.Ram has effectively passed the not-guilty verdict on A.Raja.
The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : Heed the call

While denying any wrongdoing, he has insisted that he was persisting with a well-established policy in handing out 2G spectrum on a first-come first-served basis, instead of taking the auction route. This is no doubt true but serious questions relating to procedural irregularities and revenue losses remain.

As if this wasn't enough, N.Ram now resorts to veiled attacks. The letters question CAG's intentions and some others conclude  that if A.Raja is wrong, then we are all wrong.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India's observation of presumptive loss allegedly caused by the irregularities in the allocation of 2G Spectrum in 2008 lacks rationality. It has resulted only in sensationalism. One wonders whether the CAG can review government policies.
The CAG report is based on perception and forecast with a lot of ‘if's and ‘but's.

Can we take action against the Food Minister for foodgrains rotting in government warehouses?
If A. Raja is to be punished for causing a great loss to the exchequer, the Finance Minister, the Petroleum Minister, and all other Ministers should take responsibility for the policies that cause losses to the exchequer and resign.
They give rise to doubts that some sections of the media, controlled by the upper class, are bent on maligning even Cabinet Ministers on the basis of their caste.

I would have thought the reference to caste prejudices was uncalled for.

As Kanchan Gupta said, most scams are in the order of crores but A.Raja's scam is in percentage of GDP. A. Surya Prakash said that 1.76 lakh crores is the price Manmohan Singh has made us pay just so that he may remain in office. And what do we hear?: "Dr. Singh comes across as a leader whose integrity cannot be suspected."