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The Voice of Goa — Since 1900 panjim, tuesday, january 11, 2011 postal reg. no. Goa 101 priCe rs. 3.00
Sports: Match-fixing episodes Pg 16 affected my game
Business: India returning to high growth path — Pranab Pg 12
IN BRIEF Shoot-at-sight orders near Assam border
Sting tapes shared with Ravi
Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued on the Assam side of the border with Meghalaya even as a Central team visiting the ethnic violence-hit areas said the clashes seemed to be “well planned”. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the shoot-at-sight orders were issued yesterday in all the border areas where curfew was imposed to prevent further escalation of violence or arson and burning of houses. – (PTI)
HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JAN 10
PM calls for meet on food prices
GoM may dilute ministers’ powers Stung by a series of scams, the Government has asked the Group of Ministers on corruption to consider steps like scrapping of discretionary powers of ministers and the need for a probe agency to seek the nod of Government before starting inquiry against a senior official. – (PTI)
Mumbai’s real estate group raided Income Tax authorities raided several premises of a well known real estate group in the city, a senior official said. At least 20 premises, including offices and the residence of the group head, were raided, the official said. However, he refused to divulge any further details saying that the raids were still going on. – (PTI)
RTI query on Mahatma IQ What is the Intelligent Quotient of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi?. This bizarre question came up by way of a RTI query before the Central Information Commission which promptly dismissed his plea with an observation that seeking such kind of details is surely “stretching the limits” of the Right to Information Act a “bit too far.” – (PTI)
Goa’s Heartbeat: Spears, Hilton reunite at Hollywood party Pg 4
Dudu’s sister reveals all
Error will slip through a crack, while truth will stick in a doorway. —H W Shaw
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting tomorrow on high food prices even as Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the Government has no control over high vegetable prices. The meeting is expected to be attended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, besides Sharad Pawar. – (PTI)
(air surcharge rs 2.00) pages 16+4
Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra perform a routine during performances at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban late on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the arrival of Indians in South Africa 150 years ago.
SC stays Goa SEZ land cancellation Notices issued to Centre, Goa Govt, GIDC
HERALD CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN 10
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre, Goa Government and Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) asking them to maintain status quo, staying the November order of the Bombay High Court (Goa Bench) upholding the cancellation of land allotment to seven Special Economic Zone (SEZ firms). The direction came on a bunch of petitions filed by realty tycoon K Raheja’s group and other companies, aggrieved of the High Court decision. A Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma issued notices on the petitions stating that cancellation of the
The SC Bench issued notices on petitions stating that cancellation of the land allotment by GIDC put the promoters to immense loss from investments already sunk.
land allotment by GIDC put the promoters to immense loss from investments already sunk. The petitions were filed by the aggrieved companies, namely K Raheja & Corporation, Peninsula Pharma Research Centre, Planetview Mercantile Co, Inox Mercantile Company and Paradigm Logistics & Distribution. They contended that the SEZs notified by the Centre under the SEZ Act cannot be cancelled by the State Government that had approved their projects and allotted the land. The HC had dubbed the allotments to all SEZ promoters as arbitrary, “in undue haste and without proper scrutiny of the applications” and directed the State Government to allot land
Cops ordered to register FIR in GHB land scam HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JAN 10
Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Panjim today directed Goa police to register First Information Report (FIR) within 24 hours into the land scam involving Goa Housing Board (GHB) Chairman Nikanth Halarnkar. Magistrate Shabnam Shaikh passed this order after hearing an application filed by Kashinath Shetye and 12 other social activists that the Vigilance Department was not registering the complaint wherein they alleged scam in conversion of GHB land at Colvale. In a letter to Directorate of Vigilance on November 22, 2010, the complainants alleged Halarnkar of being involved in the scam. “The respondent (Vigilance officers) is hereby directed to
The respondent is hereby directed to take action with regard to the complaint…by invoking relevant section of law as per the ingredients that are disclosed in the said complaint and register the FIR within 24 — JMFC order hours. take action with regard to the complaint…by invoking relevant section of law as per the ingredients that are disclosed in the said complaint and register the FIR within 24 hours”, the order reads partly accepting the application by the complainants. They had alleged that Colvale land was acquired at the instance of GHB for the purpose of housing projects of the Board but it has now been allotted to
Nilkanth Halarnkar Trust. “He (Chairman of the GHB) apparently in an effort to channel lands acquired for the projects of the GHB, to his own use, has chosen to abuse his position in power as Minister for Housing and Chairman of the GHB has made a show of allotting Trust which he heads…”, the letter to the Vigilance department and Director General of Police, reads. The complainants said that this has resulted in a loss to the exchequer of more than about Rs 57 lakh. The complainants also pointed out that the Chairman allotted 23,000 m2 at a throwaway price of Rs 1000 per m2 which land is worth about Rs 4,200 m2, to an institute of hotel management and the ownership is not known. They have estimated a loss of Rs 7.36 crore to the exchequer through the (Continued on page 10)
CAG sticks to 2G report PTI NEW DELHI, JAN 10
The CAG today said it stood by its report on 2G spectrum allocation brushing aside the Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal’s contention that the auditor’s projection of Rs 1.76 lakh crore as presumptive loss was “utterly erroneous”. “The CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) stands by its report on 2G spectrum 100 per cent,” the CAG spokesperson told reporters here. In its report tabled in Parliament in November 2010, the Government auditor had pegged a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer on account of allocation of 2G spectrum based on 2001 prices. The 2G scam has become a major political issue with the Opposition demanding a Joint Parliament Committee to probe the alleged scam. The demand, however, was rejected by the Government leading to disruption of almost the entire Winter
Session of Parliament. Sibal’s predecessor A Raja was forced to quit on the issue of alleged scam in 2G spectrum allocation.
Centre, telcos get SC notice PTI NEW DELHI, JAN 10
The Supreme Court decided to examine the alleged illegalities in allocation of 2G spectrum during the tenure of former Telecom Minister A Raja asking the Centre and telecom companies to explain why the licences be not cancelled. “Why won’t the licences be cancelled by this court” a Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said while questioning the role of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India which remained silent when the telecom companies failed to fulfill the roll-out obligation for the 2G spectrum.
The CAG spokesperson referred to rules in Parliamentary procedures and practices that prohibit any official, MP or any member of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) from commenting on any subject which is under consideration of the PAC. “That is why there is no comment from the CAG (on Sibal’s statement)”, he spokesperson said. Last week Sibal had slammed the CAG for its projection of Rs 1.76 lakh crore as presumptive loss terming its methodology as “utterly erroneous” and said there was “no loss at all” to the exchequer due to allocation of licences and 2G spectrum in 2008. “We believe the exercise (by CAG) was fraught with very serious errors which resulted in a kind of sensationalism which has allowed the Opposition to spread utter falsehood to the people of India and we object to it”, Sibal had said.
afresh to the developers for any other purpose except SEZ. In its petition, Raheja group claimed to have already spent Rs 190 crore for setting up a multiproduct and service park and asserted that the Goa Government’s reversal of the SEZ policy and cancellation of SEZ land was “wholly illegal and ultra virus”. The GIDC had acquired private properties and allotted them to the promoters of the SEZs, while the High Court upheld the Goa Government’s decision to cancel the SEZ land to return it to the original owners. Nearly 32 lakh sq metres of GIDC land was allotted to the companies for setting up SEZs, which was also notified by the central Government.
Israeli drug-dealer Dudu’s sister Ayala Driham who went undercover before disclosing certain startling details via a local news channel, exposing the alleged police-drug nexus in Goa, has revealed that she had shared the videos with Home Minister Ravi Naik. With these disclosures, Ayala has created waves in the Goa Police department who have been caught with their pants down. Police sub-inspector Sunil Gudlar was caught on a spycam negotiating with two foreigner women over the sale of drugs, apparently charas. The sting was carried out by Ayala and Dudu’s girlfriend Zarina in collaboration with an Israeli media agency.
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LOC discovery led to Atala’s arrest in Peru
The tapes, which were released in parts to the local news channel, were handed over to the home minister first. “A clipping of this video (Gudlar with a polythene bag containing black substance – drugs) was the first to be handed over to the home minister and which was then released to the media…I was seated to the right of PSI Gudlar just off screen. The item was handed over to me, and I then gave it to Dudu’s girlfriend”, Ayala said in her statement to Crime Branch on January 8. A copy of the statement, available with Herald also states that the second clipping wherein Gudlar speaks of paying bribe to his senior and third footage on how he threatened Dudu’s landlord Sagar of falsely implicating in drugs case, were also handed over to the home minister before releasing the tapes to the (Continued on page 10)
Corrupt Goa police? HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JAN 10
Referring to Gudlar’s dialogue ‘about the corruption in the force’ in the second tape Ayala pointed fingers at the PSI’s superior officer and former ANC Superintendent of Police Veenu Bansal. The girls had asked Gudlar that his senior police officers were against bribe to which, Gudlar had replied that he was paying money to his senior every month and every year.
“He is a very smart guy (referring to his senior)…you show him the money and his mouth will be shut…people are ver y greedy…ver y greedy”, Gudlar had said in the sting video of 30 minutes duration. In the tape, Gudlar made it clear to the girls that the order to arrest Dudu came from his superiors. Whereas in the third clip, PSI Gudlar confessed of having threatened to fix Sagar by planting (Continued on page 10)
Jose Philip, Nilkant skip NCP meet HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JAN 10
State Nationalist Congress Party President Surendra Sirsat on Monday said the non-attendance of Jose Philip D’Souza and Nilkant Halarnkar for the first Executive Committee meeting convened by him amounted to indiscipline and the same would be dealt with strictly. The meeting, which never saw any heated arguments as was expected, went on to pass four resolutions, most of them arising out of the current political turmoil within the party. Benaulim MLA Mickky Pacheco attended the meeting. Sirsat, who addressed media persons after the hour-long meeting, said, the EC had taken strong exception to the State Congress party’s refusal to implement the decision of the NCP high command. “The irresponsible behaviour of the Congress in Goa will only strengthen the communal forces and secular forces will have to take a back seat,” he stated. He said today’s EC meeting had resolved to convey the sentiments of the party rank and file to the high command that if Congress in Goa didn’t honour (Continued on page 10)
Here we identify buses by colour, not by the numbers. Take red with green stripes for Panjim.