NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed on Wednesday to stay in office to press ahead with reforms, denying a series of massive corruption scandals had made him a lame duck leader. Allegations the government may have lost up to $39 billion in revenues after firms were awarded telecoms deals at rock-bottom prices in return for kickbacks have caused months of parliamentary paralysis, rocked the ruling coalition, and rattled India’’s markets. “Whatever some people may say, that we are a lame duck government, that I am a lame duck prime minister, we take our job very seriously,” an often frail-looking Singh, 78, said in a rare media roundtable with TV editors to improve his worsening image. “We are here to govern, and to govern effectively. Tackle the problems as they arise and get this country moving forward.” That Singh was forced to deny talk of resignation underscored both the gravity of the scandals and how Singh’’s decision-making has been paralyzed in his second term despite winning re-election in 2009 with an increased majority. The last parliamentary session was halted by opposition protests demanding a probe into the telecoms scam, effectively stopping any reform bills such as one to make land acquisition easier for both industry and farmers. “I never felt like resigning because I have a job to do … I will stay the course,” Singh said in comments broadcast live. Foreign investors have pulled hundreds of millions of dollars from the Indian stock market since the start of the year, while foreign direct investment (FDI) has fallen for three consecutive years, from 2.9 percent of GDP in 2008/09 to around 1.8 percent of GDP in 2010/11. Some of this is connected with the global economic slowdown, but regulatory uncertainty may also be a factor. “This sort of atmosphere is not good. It saps our own self-confidence. It also spoils the image of India,” Singh said over the corruption scams, but he denied they had impacted FDI. For more than an hour, editors peppered Singh with questions about why he had failed to act on corruption cases and why probes had taken so long. On each question, Singh, looking defensive and rattled, denied wrongdoing, and often referred to a prepared written statement. The next general election is still three years away and Singh has opportunities to regain the initiative, whether through spending on social welfare programs or doing better than expected in state elections. In Wednesday’’s broadcast, Singh at times gave the impression of indecision, such when he replied when asked why he did not act quickly over problems in the allocation of telecom licenses between 2007 and 2008. “Although complaints were coming in, although complaints were coming from all sides, some from companies not benefiting (from the telecoms spectrum allocation) … I was not in a position to make up my mind that anything seriously was wrong,” Singh said.
Written on February 16, 2011 | Posted in
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Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, who has been banned for 10 years for his involvement in a spot-fixing scam, was also investigated by the International Cricket Council (ICC)'s anti-corruption …
Written on February 10, 2011 | Posted in
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Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, who was banned for 10 years for his involvement in a spot-fixing scam, has been signed up by Pakistan's Channel 5 to be their expert commentator during the …
LAHORE: Leader of Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and MPA Moonis Elahi has been declared proclaimed offender in NICL scam, Geo News reported Tuesday. According to FIA sources, Moonis Elahi had to appear before FIA investigation team for investigation into NICL scandal but he fails to appear, resulting FIA filed a plea before Judicial Magistrate Irfan Basra. The judicial magistrate declared him proclaimed offender and ordered him to appear before the court on March 11. The sources added that FIA would contact Interpol for the arrest of Moonis Elahi.
Written on February 8, 2011 | Posted in
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DOHA: The International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat on Sunday said three Pakistan players — Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer — were banned on solid proof of corruption. “We are satisfied at the decision of tribunal, which was taken on solid evidence and we hope with this decision the image of the game will improve,” Lorgat told a press conference in Doha. Lorgat, who was accompanied by the head of the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, Ronnie Flanagan, was speaking a day after Butt, Aamer and Asif were handed lengthy bans for spot-fixing. Butt was banned for 10 years, with five years suspended, while Asif and Aamer were handed bans of seven years with two suspended and five years respectively. The charges relate to alleged incidents during the Test against England at Lords last year, when The News of the World newspaper claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls. The newspaper alleged the three had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed. In a separate development on Friday, British prosecutors charged the three players as well as Majeed with corruption offences and summoned them to appear in a London court on March 17. The trio have repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Lorgat rejected the suggestion that the punishments were lenient. “I don”t believe the sentences are lenient by any stretch of the imagination,” said Lorgat. “I think they are balanced with an expert and experienced jury dealing with the case.” The three-man tribunal was headed by Michael Beloff QC and also contained Albie Sachs of South Africa and Sharad Rao of Kenya. “In legal terms you have to be proportionate when you are giving punishment and we must distinguish between match-fixing and spot-fixing, and the jury was independent and they decided on proportionate punishments,” said Lorgat. Butt and Aamer have expressed disappointment at the bans, with Butt hoping to get the ban reduced once the ICC code of conduct — which carries a mimimum five-year punishment — is amended.
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DOHA: Former captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were banned for at least five years on Saturday after they were found guilty of corruption by an International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal. A statement read out at the tribunal said: “The tribunal heard the charges as Aamer agreed to bowl no-balls, and did bowl no-balls and Butt was party to the bowling of those deliberate balls, and the tribunal impose the following sanctions. “On Butt ten years ineligibility, five years of which are suspended on the condition that he doesn”t commit further breaches of the code, and that he participates under the auspices Pakistan Cricket Board in a programme of anti-corruption education. “On Asif, a sanction of seven years of ineligibility, two years of which are suspended on the condition that he commits no further breach of the code and also participates in an anti-corruption programme. “On Aamer a sanction of five years ineligibility. No further sanctions are imposed on any player.” The decisions came after a lengthy nine-hour hearing at the Qatar Financial Center, and following much argument after the players” lawyers requested the verdict be adjourned as it could affect the criminal case against the players in London. The charges relate to alleged incidents during a Test match against England at Lord’’s last year, when Britain’’s News of the World newspaper claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls. The newspaper alleged the players, who are currently provisionally suspended from international cricket, had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed. The members of the tribunal, headed by Michael Beloff, heard the case for six days last month before deferring the announcement on the request of players” lawyers. Last month Beloff revealed that while Asif and Aamer were absolved of the charges relating to another match, the third Test at The Oval (played before the Lord’’s match) one charge against Butt remained under investigation. In a separate development on Friday, British prosecutors charged the three players as well as their agent with corruption offences and summoned them in court on March 17. The Pakistan trio have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and had shown confidence of resuming their careers. The bans on Pakistan players have come just a fortnight before the tenth World Cup starts in the sub-continent, highlighting the difficult times the game of cricket is facing against corruption. Butt, Aamer and Asif became the first players banned in spot-fixing, the latest innovation in which players obey specific orders during the game pre-arranged with bookmakers. The players have 21 days to appeal against the sanctions in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Switzerland.
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DOHA: Timeline of the spot-fixing controversy ahead of the anti-corruption tribunal’’s decision here on Saturday in the case against Pakistan’’s Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif: August 29, 2010 – The News of the World says it paid 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars) to a middleman in return for details about the timing of three no-balls in Pakistan’’s fourth Test against England at Lord’’s. – The report says Pakistan bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif delivered the blatant no-balls at exact points in the match agreed with the alleged fixer. – The bowlers and Test captain Salman Butt are interviewed by Scotland Yard detectives. – News of the World publishes photograph of the alleged middle man, Mazhar Majeed, counting wads of banknotes given to him by a reporter posing as a front man for a betting syndicate. Majeed is later bailed. August 30 – There are suggestions that Butt, Aamer and Asif could be withdrawn from the Pakistan team to ensure that two Twenty20 internationals in Cardiff go ahead. August 31 – Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) says it will not suspend its players while investigations continue. – Butt, Aamer and Asif summoned to meet the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt, and the Pakistan high commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, in London. September 2 – Salman Butt, Aamer and Asif dropped from the Twenty20 games. – The three vow to clear their names, according to Hasan, who adds that they are pulling out of the tour because of the “mental torture” of the scandal. – ICC charges Butt, Aamer and Asif with various offences under its anti-corruption code. All three are provisionally suspended. September 3 – Ronnie Flanagan, chairman of the ICC’’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, tells reporters: “The conclusion that we have come to is that there is a really arguable case to answer.” September 4 – Pakistan one-day skipper Shahid Afridi apologises for the “spot-fixing” row, saying: “On behalf of these boys — I know they are not in this series — I want to say sorry to all cricket lovers and all the cricketing nations.” – News of the World claims a fourth Pakistan player is being probed over the claims, but declines to name him for “legal reasons”. September 5 – News of the World releases footage of Pakistan Test player Yasir Hameed in which he claims team-mates “were doing it (fixing) in every match”. September 17 – Police pass the “spot-fixing” file to the Crown Prosecution Service. September 18 – ICC launches investigation into the third one-dayer at The Oval — won by Pakistan — after receiving information from the Sun tabloid on allegedly pre-arranged scoring patterns. It later emerges that the ICC tried to persuade the ECB to call off the Oval match shortly before the start. September 19 – PCB chairman Ijaz Butt alleges England were paid “enormous amounts of money” to lose deliberately at The Oval. September 20 – England team threaten to sue Ijaz Butt. September 22 – England, having been pulled back from 2-0 up to 2-2, beat Pakistan by 121 runs at the Rose Bowl to take the five-match series 3-2 in the final fixture of the English season. September 29 – Ijaz Butt withdraws allegations that England players had “thrown” the third one-day international. October 4 – Chairman of non-league English football club Croydon Athletic David Le Cluse, 44, found dead from gunshot wounds in a garage near his home in Sutton, south of London. The owner of the club is Mazhar Majeed. October 13 – The ICC says there is no evidence of corruption in the third one-day international between Pakistan and England. October 22 – Asif withdraws challenge to his provisional suspension. November 4 – Pakistan suspends the contracts of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer. December 13 – Salman Butt denies allegations he was involved in a spot-fixing scam, saying: “I have not done anything such as this in all my life or cricketing career”. January 11 – After six days of evidence, a three-man independent anti-corruption tribunal, meeting in Qatar, decides to delay an announcement of its findings until February 5. February 3 – The British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says it will announce on Friday (February 4) whether the trio of cricketers face legal action in England following a separate investigation by London’’s Metropolitan Police.
Written on February 4, 2011 | Posted in
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ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan will hold today hearing of petitions filed in connection with National Insurance Corporation Limited (NICL) scam case and leasing out of the Reco Diq gold and copper mines to a foreign company case, Geo News Tuesday reported. Earlier on Monday, the SC was told that leasing out of the Reko Diq gold and copper mines in Balochistan to a foreign company was the biggest case of bad governance and irresponsibility. A four-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and comprising Justice Muhammad Sair Ali, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, will continue hearing a case against the leasing of Reko Diq gold and copper mines in Balochistan worth over $260 billion to a foreign exploration and mining company by the federal government in violation of law. Raza Kazim, the counsel for one of the petitioners, while concluding his arguments, told the court that Reko Diq case was bigger than the Pakistan Steel Mills and eight times bigger than the Indian Telecom case, wherein the Indian Supreme Court had stayed the licence in the case. Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday recalled that even the Indian IT minister quit after the court gave its judgment. At one point, Justice Ramday observed that as per the initial agreement made with the foreign company, it was held that the company will give instructions to the Balochistan government. “It is very painful how the provincial government surrendered in such a manner,” he said, adding: “The fault is on our side, if we do not honour ourselves then the foreign company is right in ruling us. We have given this right to the foreign company, and it is shameful to read the privileges that we have given in it (agreement).”
Written on February 1, 2011 | Posted in
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ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency has issued summon to Moonis Elahi, son of former chief minister Punjab Parvez Elahi, for investigation in National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) case, Geo News reported. Moonis was allegedly involved in facilitating one of the land deals of the NICL scam. Sources said the name of Moonis Elahi came to light during an investigation into the NICL scam and some members of Warraich family informed the FIA investigators that Moonis had facilitated the purchase of 20-kanal land near the airport.
Written on January 26, 2011 | Posted in
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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered to arrest the Director General Federal Investigation Agency, Geo News reported. The order to arrest DG FIA Wasim Ahmed came during hearing into NICL scam. A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, was hearing a suo motu case against the alleged corruption of over Rs5 billion in the NICL affairs. The order was issued on the statement of an FIA official that the DG FIA was protecting an accused, Amin Qaim Dada. The official told the court that they could not arrest Amin Dada because when they raided, Wasim Ahmed was with him. The apex court was informed on Monday that an arrested accused of Rs5 billion corruption scam in the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) had told the investigators that he had given Rs220 million to Moonis Elahi, the son of former Punjab chief minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi, from the plundered money. Appearing on notice, Deputy Director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Zafar Qureshi, told the court that Muhammad Malick, an arrested accused of the NICL scam, had admitted that he had given Rs220 million from the plundered amount to Moonis Elahi. He said the accused was the Manager of Al-Tahoor International, a company owned by Moonis Elahi. Secretary Interior Qamar Zaman told the court that Zafar Iqbal Qureshi has been assigned to investigate the scam. The chief justice had expressed annoyance over the transfer of Zafar Iqbal Qureshi, who has been supervising the NICL scam since the last year, but has now been posted at the Police Foundation, Islamabad.
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