Top 10 Corruption Scams in India ??

 2G scam probe: Kanimozhi denied bail, Arrested

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday denied bail pleas of DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, named as co-conspirators in the 2G spectrum scam.

The court directed the CBI to take her and Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharath Kumar into judicial custody.  The Rajya Sabha MP will be taken to Tihar jail. The CBI had named Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, and Sharad Kumar as co-conspirators in its April 25 supplementary charge sheet after it traced an illegal money trail of  

Rs.214 crore in the scam.

Top 10 Corruption Scams in India

this is the season of scams and the biggest ever corruption cases in India have been unearthed more recently. So, we decided to dig deep to see which scams were the biggest and most damaging to the country and its citizens alike.

In our daily life, most of us must have been a witness to or a victim of the corruption thriving in some or the other part of the country. It could be in the form of a taxi-driver manipulating the meter to jack-up the reading or a government officer taking bribery to promptly transfer your file to the next department or even yourself offering bribe to a traffic police on breaking a signal.

An average Indian citizen is hard working and diligent, but it is the people in charge of the system (The Babu’s) or with whom the power lays, that act as a cancer spreading the venom, slowing down progress and what all not. But, somewhere down the line, we ourselves are responsible for allowing and being taken for a ride by these people, aren’t we?

However, it is during a multi-thousand crore scam, that a tax-payer actually realizes the heartburn of being cheated from his valued contribution of funds towards the development and well-being of the nation. But, that’s what a scam, be it big or small, means – the act of swindling by some fraudulent scheme or action.

The Top Scams in India ??

1) 2G Spectrum Scam

We have had a number of scams in India; but none bigger than the scam involving the process of allocating unified access service licenses. At the heart of this Rs.1.76-lakh crore worth of scam is the former Telecom minister A Raja – who according to the CAG, has evaded norms at every level as he carried out the dubious 2G license awards in 2008 at a throw-away price which were pegged at 2001 prices.

2) Commonwealth Games Scam

Another feather in the cap of Indian scandal list is Commonwealth Games loot. Yes, literally a loot! Even before the long awaited sporting bonanza could see the day of light, the grand event was soaked in the allegations of corruption. It is estimated that out of Rs. 70000 crore spent on the Games, only half the said amount was spent on Indian sportspersons.

The Central Vigilance Commission, involved in probing the alleged corruption in various Commonwealth Games-related projects, has found discrepancies in tenders – like payment to non-existent parties, will-ful delays in execution of contracts, over-inflated price and bungling in purchase of equipment through tendering – and misappropriation of funds.

 3) Telgi Scam

As they say, every scam must have something unique in it to make money out of it in an unscrupulous manner- and Telgi scam had all the suspense and drama that the scandal needed to thrive and be busted.

Abdul Karim Telgi had mastered the art of forgery in printing duplicate stamp papers and sold them to banks and other institutions. The tentacles of the fake stamp and stamp paper case had penetrated 12 states and was estimated at a whooping Rs. 20000 crore plus. The Telgi clearly had a lot of support from government departments that were responsible for the production and sale of high security stamps.

4) Satyam Scam

The scam at Satyam Computer Services is something that will shatter the peace and tranquillity of Indian investors and shareholder community beyond repair. Satyam is the biggest fraud in the corporate history to the tune of Rs. 14000 crore.

The company’s disgraced former chairman Ramalinga Raju kept everyone in the dark for a decade by fudging the books of accounts for several years and inflating revenues and profit figures of Satyam. Finally, the company was taken over by the Tech Mahindra which has done wonderfully well to revive the brand Satyam.

5) Bofors Scam

The Bofors scandal is known as the hallmark of Indian corruption. The Bofors scam was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; when the then PM Rajiv Gandhi and several others including a powerful NRI family named the Hindujas, were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India’s 155 mm field howitzer.

The Swedish State Radio had broadcast a startling report about an undercover operation carried out by Bofors, Sweden’s biggest arms manufacturer, whereby $16 million were allegedly paid to members of PM Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress.

6) The Fodder Scam

If you haven’t heard of Bihar’s fodder scam of 1996, you might still be able to recognize it by the name of “Chara Ghotala ,” as it is popularly known in the vernacular language.

In this corruption scandal worth Rs.900 crore, an unholy nexus was traced involved in fabrication of “vast herds of fictitious livestock” for which fodder, medicine and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly procured.

7) The Hawala Scandal

The Hawala case to the tune of $18 million bribery scandal, which came in the open in 1996, involved payments allegedly received by country’s leading politicians through hawala brokers. From the list of those accused also included Lal Krishna Advani who was then the Leader of Opposition.

Thus, for the first time in Indian politics, it gave a feeling of open loot all around the public, involving all the major political players being accused of having accepted bribes and also alleged connections about payments being channelled to Hizbul Mujahideen militants in Kashmir.

8) IPL Scam

Well, I am running out of time and space over here. The list of scandals in India is just not ending and becoming grave by every decade. Most of us are aware about the recent scam in IPL and embezzlement with respect to bidding for various franchisees. The scandal already claimed the portfolios of two big-wigs in the form of Shashi Tharoor and former IPL chief Lalit Modi.

9,10) Harshad Mehta & Ketan Parekh Stock Market Scam

Although not corruption scams, these have affected many people. There is no way that the investor community could forget the unfortunate Rs. 4000 crore Harshad Mehta scam and over Rs. 1000 crore Ketan Parekh scam which eroded the shareholders wealth in form of big market jolt.

Corruption In India: A Billion Dollar Industry ?

It is a no brainer that Corruption In India is at its rampant best.There is not one section of the society that is spared from it.Corruption in the form of bribery takes the cake and given that it begins at the grass root level makes it even more difficult to monitor and control.The  Corruption and Bribery Report published at trak.in earlier , gives a detailed breakdown of the scale of the bribes and the reasons why bribes are given.

The striking though well known findings of the report points out that close to half the bribes are requested by the Government Officials both at the state and national level.The same government personnel who are entrusted with the development of the nation are filling their own pockets.No wonder then the nation’s politicians are the most corrupt lot.

However, it it was only for the petty money minded officials filling their own pockets, the enormity of the bribery might be restricted to a certain level.What if corruption takes the shape of a billion dollar behemoth.According to Management Guru C.K.Prahalad , the cost of corruption to the country might as well exceed Rs. 250,000 crores.

The total spending for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is pegged at a whopping Rs. 10,000 crore.The breakup of this spending throws up some interesting insights too.

• Rs 1,300 crore (Rs 13 billion) by the Election Commission
• Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) by the Centre and state governments
• Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) were spent by political parties and individual candidates

8000 crore spent by political parties and individual candidates ? Where do they get hold of this kind of money to spend. Again, it comes as a no brainer that it is hugely attributed to the Private Funding that political parties attract from big pocket industrialists.The reasons why private spending of this scale happens again is rather simple Favourtism.It is a well known fact that government support is crucial for industries small and large.One favourable swing in a huge tender or a favourable policy, and all the benefits can be reaped.

Rage Against The Media

Recently India witnessed two issues where the ethics and integrity of political journalism was called into question.

The first was the Radia tapes affair where a corporate Public Relations Officer (PRO) was witnessed speaking to Barkha Dutt, Vir Sanghvi and many other prominent editors of Indian media. The topic of discussion was DMK’s role in formation of the Congress led government in 2009. The Corporate PRO, representing Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani, seemed to be keen in pushing A Raja as the Telecom Minister of the Union Cabinet. Radia was promoting the prospects of some DMK personalities as well as the gas interests of one Ambani brother and the spectrum interests of the Tatas. What if the 2-G scam is related to it!

The second issue was when WikiLeaks published a series of unedited documents that have brought almost every major authority of this world into question. Much debate has ensued on the issues related to publishing unedited documents without prior permission and followups.

These issues are more than ethical. They are legal. Ethics take a backseat when the law comes into the picture. This is why both these issues are debated in courts. As a freelance writer who claims to be unbiased, I really don’t want to add another obvious comment here. Rather, I would like to take up a larger issue that has gone unnoticed – that of unbiased journalism.

Let us examine the roots of journalism. Consider a situation when a journalist is covering a riot. People are dying around him and he has a dilemma. He can drop his camera, jump in and save a few lives. But a real journalist will just cover the episode, however ironic it may sound. He will report the real situation. That is his job. However, he will strive towards a greater objective – that the masses get to know about what has happened so that such riots may stop altogether.

What I am getting at is, a journalist has to be unbiased in his reporting. He cannot take sides and make emotional choices, not even politically. Well, according to one of my favorite journalists, Swapan Dasgupta (da), a political journalist often has to do a trade off here. Let me elaborate:

Swapan da elaborates the importance of political ‘contacts’. Journalists rely on these ‘contacts’ for stories. Establishing these ‘contacts’ requires the building of long term relationships. The relationships, however, are based on understandings. The ’source’ may tell you everything that has transpired in a crucial, closed-door meeting. But if he tells you that you can’t write a word about it, you are obliged to respect his wishes. The price of violating the understanding is future exclusion. To survive in political journalism you can’t spit and run.

Very often political journalist develop cosy relationships with sources. This is the price journalists often pay for knowing the truth. These sources can end up as friends and these personal attachments potentially jeopardize journalistic independence.

I strongly believe that a journalist’s primary focus should be knowing and bringing out the truth. He should never lose sight of his motives. Personality or ideology driven journalism is still acceptable (and often interesting). But journalism driven by material favours is pure corruption.

Swapan da himself is considered close to the BJP. But I can not think of an incident when he has not criticized BJP when the need arose. However, the case with Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi was different. Vir Sanghvi referred to congress as ‘we’. Barkha Dutt was never far behind in going gaga over everything congress did. She was even accused of sensationalizing the coverage of the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks. Her broadcasts were used by terrorist handlers in Pakistan to relay orders back to their team in Mumbai. The credibility of Ms. Dutt and Mr. Sanghvi was always in question. The day the media had to confront the crisis was long overdue. 

This day in Indian media was inevitable!

I see it as a success of my nation that we read of a controversy which is being driven by the media against the media. As the nation progresses, the rotten eggs will crack. The question of Outlook publishing unedited data is as elementary as that of Wikileaks, and debate will never cease on the matter. But the greater question on the impartiality and objectivity of the media needs to be answered as soon as  possible. The sooner we do that, the better it will be for us.

WikiLeaks cables “inspired” anti-corruption campaign in India

1.  

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said the “tremendous” anti-corruption movement “building up” in India is a result of the publication of “cablegate” revelations by The Hindu in recent weeks.

Citing the campaign, led by Anna Hazare, as an example of the impact of WikiLeaks cables, he said what was happening in India was “something that has not happened since the time of Gandhi.”

Mr. Assange singled out The Hindu‘s coverage of the leaked U.S. diplomatic cables while speaking in a debate organised by the Frontline Club and New Statesman here on Saturday.

Stating that he could “speak for hours” about the reverberations sparked by the cables around the world, he noted: “Just yesterday [on Saturday], the Editor of The Hindu, the most respected paper in India, brought over 21 front pages from the past six weeks that were based on cablegate material. Indian Parliament walked out four times and there’s now a tremendous anti-corruption movement that has been building up in that country — something that has not happened since the time of Gandhi.”

Making a difference

Mr. Assange, making a rare public appearance, said the WikiLeaks cables were making a difference in ways that many Britons wouldn’t have heard about. And, then, he referred to the developments in India following The Hindu‘s reporting of WikiLeaks documents.

A 900-strong audience in the packed Kensington Town Hall in central London listened as Mr. Assange defended the need for anonymous whistle-blowing, arguing that it made the world a safer place. The “bloodbath” in Iraq could have been averted if someone had had the courage to speak up.

Dynamic feedback

Challenged over WikiLeaks’ own transparency, he said: “We are directly supported on a week-to-week basis by you. You vote with your wallets every week if you believe that our work is worthwhile or not. If you believe we have erred, you do not support us. If you believe we need to be protected in our work, you keep us strong. That dynamic feedback, I say, is more responsive than a government that is elected after sourcing money from big business every four years.”

Mr. Assange, who is fighting extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault, said whistle-blowing was essential in a democracy because “the only way we can know whether information is legitimately kept secret is when it is revealed.”

He also referred to the plight of U.S. marine Bradley Manning, now in prison over allegations of leaking thousands of classified American documents.

During the debate, “This house believes whistleblowers make the world a safer place,” Mr. Assange was challenged about his website’s source of funding and style of operation.

GR8 WORK WE NEED YOU AS IT IS MONEY OF POOR PEOPLES OF INDIA LIKE US WHO DIDNT GOT JOBS IN GOVERNMENT DUE TO CASTE AND CREED AND RELIGION BIFERCATION AND THESE ALL POLITICANS HAVE EATEN UP OUR PAID TAXXES INTO SUCH BANKS AND ENJOYING THEIR LIFE AND GIVING US HURTS ONLY EVEN IF THEY KILL ME THEN ALSO DONT LEAVE THESE ALL INDIAN BAD POLITICANS AND OPEN THEM SO ANOTHER ONE WILL COME AND OPEN THEIR EYES AND INDIA AND WORLD WILL BE MORE SAFER PLACE TO LIVE IN AND WE INDIANS ARE READY TO SUPPORT WHOLE WORLD EXCEPT PAKISTAN AND CHINA TO HAVE INDIA AS WORLDS FREE TRADE ZONE TO LET WHOLE WORLD DO BUSINESS HERE AND GIVES JOBS TO WHOLE OF INDIANS INCLUDING INDIAN GOVERNMENT ALSO GIVES JOBS TO OUR INDIANS BEGGERS POORS AND MIDDLE CLASS AND ALSO TO YOUR WORLD COUNTRIES WHOLE BEGGERS AND POORS AND MIDDLE CLASSES AND MASSES AS WE ARE ONE FAMILY ONLY WE HAVE PROBLEM WITH PAKISTAN AND CHINA AS THEY ARE EATING OUR LAND OF KASHMIR AND ASKING FOR ARUNACHAL PARADESH BUT ALL IS OURS CHINA HAS ALREADY TAKEN TIBET WHICH IS ALSO WRONG AND WE ARE NOT INTERESTED TO LOOSE OUR LAND IF THEY DO THEN WE ARE SO BOUYANT THAT UNFORTUNATELY WE HAVE TO CAPTURE PAKISTAN AND CHINA TO MERGE IN INDIA BUT WE DONT WANT TO DO IT BUT THEY ARE COMPLEING US TO DO THAT AS IF WHOLE INDIANS GO TOGETHER TO PAKISTAN AND CHINA AT A TIME THEN THEY WILL BE INTROUBLE TO THROW WHERE NECULAR BOOMBS AND WHERE TO GO AS WE WILL CAPTURE WHOLE BOTH COUNTIRES THEY ARE TESTING OUR PATIENCE AND GOODNESS. WE PRAY TO GOD THAT THAT ULITMATE DAY DONT COME BUT IF THEY COMPLE US THEN WE WILL GET THEM INTO OUR POCKETS THAT FINAL… WE ARE SURE FOR THAT CORERS TIMES…. A MAN… PARISE A LORD JESUS …. A MAN

Change the title Indian Black Money. Put something more Eye catching, that is the only way we could make more people watch this. Truth has to be known. Good Effort I pledge my alligence. " Great men are not those with the greater abilities but those who are ready to do what is right with the little they have at that consecutive moment of time in history.''