RE: [HumJanenge] Antony takes on Defence Corruption

Great news. God bless. Ram
 

> Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:23:44 +0530
> Subject: Fwd: [HumJanenge] Antony takes on Defence Corruption
> From: tiindia.newdelhi@gmail.com
> To: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
> CC: haridgoyal@hotmail.com; krdharma@yahoo.co.in; krdharma@hotmail.com
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> Further to our previous e-mail, we wish to invite your kind attention
> to a today's TOI following Report (copy attached also) titled
> "Blacklisted Israeli arms firm gives up 224cr guarantee" by Rajat
> Pandit TNN in Times of India April 17, 2012. As mentioned in the very
> first line, it Invoking penal provisions of the "integrity pact'' in
> arms deals for the first time, penal provisions of the "integrity
> pact'' in arms deals have been invoked for the first time, while the
> integrity pact's bank guarantee is inked with any vendor who bags a
> defence deal over Rs 100 crore.
> -----------------------------------------
> "New Delhi: Invoking penal provisions of the "integrity pact'' in arms
> deals for the first time, India on Monday has cashed the Rs 224 crore
> bank guarantee given by Israeli Military Industries (IMI), one of the
> armament companies blacklisted by the defence ministry.
> This is meant to serve as a stern warning to Israel, which is
> India's second largest supplier of military hardware and software
> after Russia, notching up as it does annual sales worth $1 billion, to
> ensure probity in defence deals. IMI, fully-owned by the Israeli
> government, was cornering a major chunk of the business before it was
> banned after its name surfaced in connection with the corruption
> scandal against former Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) chairman Sudipto
> Ghosh.
> Two other major Israeli firms, Israeli Aerospace Industries and
> Rafael, named in the kickbacks case in the Rs 1,160 crore Barak-I
> anti-missile defence system deal signed in 2000, have not been
> blacklisted on the ground that it would be "counter-productive" due to
> several crucial defence projects underway with them. The IMI case is
> linked to the contract inked with OFB in 2009, worth Rs 1,200 crore,
> to set up an ordnance complex of five plants at Nalanda in Bihar. The
> plants, which were to come up in three years, were to manufacture
> 155mm Bi-Modular Charge Systems and other propellant charges for
> heavy-calibre artillery ammunition for Army's Bofors howitzers and
> other guns.
> But everything was put on hold after the OFB scandal, which
> eventually led the defence ministry to blacklist IMI, Singapore
> Technologies Kinetics, Rheinmetall Air Defence (Zurich) and
> Corporation Defence of Russia, along with two Indian companies earlier
> this year. The integrity pact's bank guarantee is inked with any
> vendor who bags a defence deal over Rs 100 crore."
> ---------------------------
> Hence we are sure if IP was implemented in letters & spirit earlier by
> the Defence authorities earlier, such a situation would have not
> arisen.
>
> Thanks & regards,
> S K Agarwal
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> We wish to inform that for the last many years, the attached Defence
> Procurement Procedures for 2009 & 2011 have a provision for a
> pre-contract 'Integrity Pact' to be signed between government
> department and the bidders for all procurement schemes over Rs 100
> Crores as a binding agreement in which the government promises that it
> will not accept bribes during the procurement process and bidders
> promise that they will not offer bribes. This Pact is monitored by the
> Independent External Monitors of undoubted integrity. However, we are
> not aware about its implementation. Our Hon'ble Defence Minister has
> also inaugrated a workshop on the Implementation of the Integrity Pact
> on Jan 23, 2010. The proceedings pf the Workshop mentioning his
> address are also attached.
>
> Realising its role to curb corruption in public procurement and
> contracting, the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission (approved by
> the Union Ministry of Finance vide its Office Memo No.
> 14(12)/2008-E-II(A) dt. July 20, 2011 and the Ministry of Heavy
> Industries & Public Enterprises vide OM No. DPE/13(12)/11-Fin dt.
> September 9, 2011), Central Vigilance Commission by issuing 'Standard
> Operating Procedure' vide circular No. 008/CRD/013 dt. 18.5.2009 and
> the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions vide circular
> No. 372/12/2009-AVD-III dt. 16 June 2009 addressed to all the Chief
> Secretaries of State Governments. So far, it has been adopted by 44
> PSUs and Ministry of Defence, among others. Among the 44 PSUs, there
> are two PSUs of Himachal Pradesh and Odisha. Its adoption has
> resulted in savings in procurement and contracts. Accordingly, the
> Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his address to CBI and State
> Anti-Corruption Bureaux on 26th August 2009 at Vigyan Bhawan commented
> "…….the Central Vigilance Commission has taken many initiatives in
> improving transparency in the procurement process in government and
> public sector undertakings, including introduction of an Integrity
> Pact for high value transactions."
>
> Hence we are sure if IP was implemented in letters & spirit, such a
> situation would have not arisen.
>
> Thanks & regards,
> Dr S K Agarwal
>
> On 4/10/12, Hari Goyal <haridgoyal@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Antony says he would cover the shortages in defence preparedness by next
> > year. This statement came after Gen. Singh
> > wrote to the P.M. on this issue. God save this country. At least after
> > fighting even up to the Supreme Court about his date
> > of birth near his retirement; he could think of the country's preparedness
> > and security.
> >
> >> Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2012 22:26:07 +0530
> >> Subject: [HumJanenge] Antony takes on Defence Corruption
> >> From: rplahiri@gmail.com
> >> To: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
> >>
> >> Against Corruption - Antony takes on arms lobby. Posted by: "G. C.
> >> Mathur" gcmbinty@yahoo.com gcmbinty Sat Apr 7, 2012 9:22 am (PDT)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> In TOI today (07.4.2012) the news titled "Antony in crossairs for
> >> taking on arms lobby?" is inspiring.Last month only, it is reported,
> >> Antony banned 6 top armament companies, including 4 foreign firms
> >> i.e., Israeli Military Industries, Singapore Technologies Kinetics,
> >> Rheinmetall Air Defence(Zurich) and Corporation Defence (Russia), for
> >> 10 years and has persistently been saying that defence purchases must
> >> be taint free with warnings that he would not hesitate to cancel the
> >> deals.This is despite warning to Antony for backlash.He is not naive
> >> in the politics, nor he, the known honest, was not appointed initially
> >> for face saving by the leadership as he has only been waiting for the
> >> right time. He was appointed in the background of volumes of
> >> complaints of corruption in the defence establishment.
> >>
> >> Nation does look at Team Anna for support to Antony, if not his
> >> leaders, for his fight against the established lobby, middlemen,
> >> foreign governments and firms.
> >>
> >> I dare say that no law can checkmate the these in the defence supply
> >> bazaar. The Opposition has to prove its intentions of fighting
> >> corruption by supporting A. K. Antony and his ilks in the Congress
> >> Party. Otherwise, citizens of India will take it that the entire
> >> creation of the situation including false reports on the movement of
> >> mechanized infantry from Hisar and a section of the Agra-based 50 Para
> >> Brigade towards Delhi on the 15th January 2012 is to mislead them.
> >>
> >> G. C. Mathur
> >
>
>
>
> --
> *Transparency International India*
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