Defence lab wasted money on bridge Army couldn’t use: CAG
Pranav Kulkarni : Pune, Sun Dec 25 2011, 02:47 hrs
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has now targeted city-based Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) lab Research and Development Engineers (R&DE). A CAG report has revealed that the non-execution of a project to build a modular bridge by the R&DE resulted in wastage of assets created at a cost of Rs 21.46 crore as the users, in this case, the Army, found the bridge unusable. The report, however, mentions that the DRDO and the Army were aware of the project limitations but no attempt was made by either of them to resolve the matter beforehand.
The report says the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had, in October 2002, sanctioned a project to build a 46-metre single-span bridge of Military Load Class 70 (MLC 70). R&DE was supposed to complete the work by October 2006 at a cost of Rs 24.25 crore. In May 2006, it sought an extension of the Probable Date of Completion (PDC) up to October 2008. In October 2007, the R&DE, against specifications, submitted a trial report to the DRDO headquarters for a 20-metre bridge and MLC 40 standard, which was not acceptable to the Army. Also, the PDC of the project was again extended to December 2009.
During this time, the R&DE developed a 40-metre, MLC 70 bridge, which was usable after trials but was not what the users had specified (46 m). The report said in March 2010, the R&DE closed the project after having spending Rs 21.46 crore and proposed to develop a new project worth Rs 13.25 crore with original specifications, which was to be completed by July 2012.
“Thus instead of adhering to specifications, R&DE, Pune, developed a bridge which was not required by the users. The end result was — after an expenditure of Rs 17.89 crore, excluding the cost of five carrier vehicles being used in next project, the requirements of the user could not be served,” the report says.
“The details of the case, MoD’s reply and the clarification given by the users reveal that both the user and DRDO were aware that the bridge being built was 40 metres and MLC 70. Further, the DRDO had its limitations for construction of the bridge with original specifications. Though both the user and the designer were aware of the limitations of the project, neither of them took the initiative to foreclose the project,” it says.
Manish Bharadwaj, scientist and spokesperson, DRDO said, “We will have to speak to DRDO authorities before commenting.”
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked for a copy of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report pointing out alleged irregularities in the purchase of intelligence equipment byNational Technical Research Organisation(NTRO), which was set up in 2004 to provide critical data relating to threats to the nation.
Solicitor general R F Nariman assured a bench of Justices H L Dattu and C K Prasad that the government had already initiated action against erring officials on the basis of the CAG report but petitioner V K Mittal’s counsel Jayant Bhushan wondered why the Centre was shy of bringing the alleged irregularities into the open by placing the report in Parliament.
The bench asked Nariman to produce the CAG report on NTRO scam in a sealed cover by March 19. This is the second time within a year that the apex court has asked for a CAG report, the first being on the irregularities in the allotment of 2G spectrum and licences during A Raja’s tenure as telecom minister.
Nariman was belligerent in trashing Mittal’s PIL, not only accusing the latter of attempting to serve a personal interest but also alleging that his correspondence with the authorities revealing top secret projects with their location could help countries inimical to India.
Bhushan countered Nariman by alleging that the government was deliberately keeping the matter under wraps in the name of security to shield the culprits. But the bench said, “It is not a case where the government has put the issue in cold storage but promised that it was being looked into. We will not pass an order but request the SG to produce the CAG report in a sealed cover on March 19.”
Mittal had alleged that a major portion of the Rs 450 crore NTRO scam pertained to purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from an Israeli firm allegedly at a very high price without the mandatory approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
NTRO, which functions under the Prime Minister’s Office, has been entrusted with the task of missile monitoring, satellite and airborne imagery, cyber patrolling and security, cyber offensive operations and communication support systems including cryptology.
It was on the complaint of Mittal, a former joint director in the government of India who had also served in NTRO, that the PMO had ordered a probe into the scam and later, CAG was asked to look into the organisation’s accounts. Nariman alleged that Mittal wanted to head the NTRO and filed the PIL when he did not succeed.
During the last hearing, Bhushan had alleged that Delhi High Court had dismissed Mittal’s writ petition on April 6, 2011 after the Centre filed a probe status report in sealed cover assuring prompt action against the guilty officials. However, no action was taken till date, he claimed.
Mittal’s petition stated that the independent body answerable only to the national security adviser was allotted approximately Rs 8,000 crore since 2005, but there was no accounting of the spending.
To
The Defence Minister
Room No -104, South Block
New Delhi – 110011
Reference: a) Your letter No 1409-VIP/RM/2011 dated 21st March 2011 b) Your letter No 1409-VIP/RM/2236 dated 20th May 2011
Honorable Sir,
The following news was published on Friday, 13th January 2012 Times of India, New Delhi.
‘AMU VC committed financial impropriety’: CBI is believed to have found that AMU VC P K Abdul Azis had committed financial impropriety and knowingly claimed allowances for which he was not entitled.
Sir, Dr Prahlada, VC, DIAT, DRDO has also did same corruption and the RTI reply from JCDA and DRDO Hqrs proved the same then why the similar action is not taken by Ministry of Defence ?
Dr. Prahlada is not only case in DRDO there are so many other senior officials who have committed similar corruption until my RTI was raised. Like Sh S Ravi, Scientist ‘G’, Sh Neeraj Kumar, Scientist ‘D’ etc.
Please find enclosed documentary evidences of above corrupt practices done by DRDO officials for your needful action.
RTI Reply of DRDO Hqrs in respect of Dr Prahlada, Sh S Ravi, Scietist’ G’ etc
RTI Reply of DRDO Hqrs in respect of Sh. Neeraj Kumar Scientist ‘ D’
DOP,DRDO Hqrs letter for HRA recovery dated 17thAugust 2011
JCDA RTI ReplyDRDO Hqrs ReplyDRDO Qrs RTI Reply 2DRDO Hqrs RTI reply in respect of Sh Neeraj KumarNeeraj Kumar HRA Amount
The Government of India in its pursue to provide leader ship to an organisation like DRDO/ISRO/BARC etc always selects the chief through a selection process whose search committee examine the whereabouts of the individual whom the responsibility is to be given.
Unfortunately due to over confidence or may be the political interference a leader who do not deserves the post is selected to lead the organisation. And the ultimate looser is the poor tax payers. The KARGIL WAR proved the biggest failure of DRDO and its leadership.
As former Army chief V P Malik, who led the army during the 1999 Kargil war, has said casualties in the conflict could have been reduced had DRDO “not come in the way” in the acquisition of weapon-locating radars.
“We had one or two incidents particularly on the weapon locating radar. If the DRDO had not come in the way we would have got them before the Kargil war and that would have definitely reduced our casualties,” he told Karan Thapar during a show.
Asked whether DRDO was “slight boastful” in claims over developing weapons, Malik said “well that has been our (armed forces’) experience over the development of weapons and equipment the DRDO has delivered or not delivered.“
Following is the example Vision/Working/commitment/Long Term Planning/Communication with fellow workers – Dr V K Atre then SA to RM commented about DRDO is following.
Today there is lot of hue & cry about the Chinese presence along with border from NEFA to POK, every Indian hearing through news channels and it is talk of the common people about our preparations vis-a-vis the Chinese capability.
Some of the activity which were suppose to be taken early was ignored by DRDO as then SA to RM due to his poor fore slightness ignored the real requirements of our Defence Services.
(Total pages —9) Page 1 of 1
Record of Discussions
Venue Room : Room No -137 South Block. New Delhi Office of Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri
Dr V.K. Aatre
Time :12.30 Hrs
Date : 10 April 2001
Visitor Slip No. : 83097 10th April 2001
The following were present
Dr.V.K.Aatre Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri Secretary (R&D), DRDO, Director General (R&D), Ministry of Defence, Government of India
Dr. A K Dutta Chief Controller, DRDO Hqrs
P D Dandriyal Charge man – II/ Technical Assistant/ Sr. Technical Assistant
Background of the Meeting
P.D.Dandriyal brought on to notice or Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri, Defence Minister, Prime Minister and Honorable President of India, the immoral character of Dr. Amarjeet Singh Bains, Director DEAL, DRDO, Dehradun. Ministry of Defence, Government of India
The representation highlights the sabotage of national interest, misappropriation of Government funds, misinterpretation of Government rules, regionalism, castism by Dr. A.S Bains. In support of this statement P.D. Dandriyal submitted two cheques of his take home salary to Prime Minister’s National relief fund as Dr Bains stopped giving him any work in retaliation. The cheqees were returned by PMO letter No 365/11/C/2/2000IPOL dated 05.06.2000 and R&D Hqr letter No DOP/P/2/20027/MISC/M/0 I dated 0202/2001 with the assurance of appropriate action.
An official confirmation for meeting with SA to RM on 10/04/2001 at 1230 hrs was given to PD Dandriyal at 1300 Hrs on 09/04/2001. The individual submitted and earn Leave for three days to attend scheduled meeting as he was denied Ty. Duty
Page 1 of 2
P D DANDRIYAL May I come in Sir
SA: Please come in
PD: May I sit
SA: Yes, please.
SA: So, you are the only honest person in lndia( laugh)
PD : No. Sir,I am one of them
(SA feels that. 99% oIl Indians are dishonest, but I strongly feel that the 97% Indian people are honeM)
SA: So, where you want to go?
(till date in any controversy the DRDO Hq transfer the employee without giving scrious thought over tie problem posed)
PD: Sir, I donot understand what is your motive?
SA: So you are writing that in DEAL 80% people have no work so I want to give you some work elsewhere..
PD: Sir, if you want to put me in any mission of national interest then you can send me right from Leh to Cochin. As I already liwe showh in capabilities by staying at Antarctica and also provided critical communications as well as witnessed the Agini-II hitting the target near Andman Sea.
SA: No no. you just tell me where :you want to go,
PD: Sir just listen to rme I have already performed a very useful project work in mountaineous terrain of Himachal for solving, night time communication problem faced by army during Kargil war we have solved the communication problem by using NVIS techniques.
SA: What is NVlS?
PD: Sir, Near Vertical Insidenanc Sky wave mode of radio cornniunicauon
(during mid Kargil war the army faced a serious problem of night time communication where no communication equipment whether HF/VHF/UHF were able to communicate. The matter was taken by army Hq and then the Defence Minister imported HF communication sets from M/s Tadiran, Israel. Unforutently these sets did not worked, however army conducted some trails along with Israeli engineers near Delhi and the
Page 1 0f 3
system was functional. He was not able to through light on the problem erupted at KARGIL. Then he Defence Minister handed over the problem to SA to RM who in turn asked Director, DEAL for quick solution. The solution was obtained immediately after carrying NVIS communication trials in Himachal Pradesh having Kargil like uneven mountain terrain. Unfortunately the report has been buried by Dr Bains/DRDO Hqrs.
SA: OK, I will stop NVIS studies further.
PD: Then Sir, you can give me work in the JEMCAB requirement of hardening of advance air base against nuclear EMP. As the JEMCAB secretariat has asked to assess the feasibility of above from DEAL, but our Director has flatly refused to take up to this activity and written to JEMCAB that give this to LRDE as we are preoccupied.
SA: No EMP project whether projects are from army, navy or air force this my privilege what to take and what not to take.
(This show to what extant SA has attachment with national security and for keeps his ego up to what extant he can compromise with national security)
PD: But Sir, we have infrastructure and expertise on EMP and our people are interested to take this challenging task.
(the team has developed a nuclear hardened shelter for JEMCAB a mini lab for nuclear simulation has also setup at DEAL and waiting for such assignment. SA forgotten the parliament (Loksabha) question D No.11042 dated 18th March 1999 and his comment to honorable Parliament for protecting our communication network against threat of Nuclear EMP and this is clear case of contempt honorable Parliament.)
SA: No, I will stop this activity this is my previlage. Before you one senior scientist of DEAL reported that I have not enough work and he has been transferred do you know?
(SA trying teach me that he can go to any extent and he is ready to stop any activity which are working in real national interest.)
PD: Yes Sir, Shri R C Chakarborty was transferred as Director, DTRL
(Sh R C Chakarborty was project Director “ SARVADRISTA” which was supposed to give real time image of enemy territory by using remote sensing data collected by earth station at DEAL he was on his job but to drive maximum advantage from the success of this project Dr.Bains removed him from the project director right in the middle of KARGIL WAR and takeover the command himself, the result was no further image was useful for army. People suspect that Dr Bains has been planted by some foreign agencies to sabotage the national program.)
Page 1 0f 4
SA: So, you would you like to join Chakorborty
PD: No Sir not at all. Because my background propagation and communication and he is engaged with image processing bun Sir DEAL is a propagation and communication,
SA: You know we already stopped propagation work there. So then Balasore, are you interested?
(NASA and NOAA in US have been carrying out the propagation studies right from VLF to Sub millimeter wave to enhance their defence preparation till date.)
PD: Sir, whenever and wherever DRDO needed my services I did l it honestly. In Balasore initiated the remote control of HF sets in Long Wheeler Island for Agni-ll. Why don’t you put me CNR because of communication background?
SA: No, I can’t
PD: Sir, you can send me in any mission mode project activity anywhere in country but if you will transfer me without justifying the points raised by me I have no option other then handover these Documents to public in front of parliament and to draw attention of the countrymen against the siphoning of pretty FE in the name of US sanction. I will go for self-immolation in front of Parliament
SA: (Stunned for a while) pause No, I am not transferring you but I warn to know where you want to go. Everyone parsing your work, we want to utilize your enthusiasm.
PD: Now it is up to you Sir, but without justification I will not leave Dehradun. Since, I have worked devotedly whenever any critical assignment was given to me. As an example then SA to RM Dr.Kalam gave a problem of Landmine detector to DEAL.As you know the casualties due to landmine can upset the total movement of army personals in battlefield. SA wanted to a most modern microprocessor based landmine detector to be developed by DEAL. To carry out the feasibility Director DEAL made a small committee and Sh Kundu, Sc ‘D’ was asked to explore internet for explore relevant information available elsewhere, for two days Mr. Kundu tried his best but failed to get useful information. Later my boss asked me to explore as he knows my capabilities, used PC at home and spent my own time and brought 125 pages with full of useful information pertaining history, design and development parameters etc. report was prepared and submitted to R&D Hqrs and a presentation on this
minutes of SA's meeting5minutes of SA's meeting6minutes of SA's meeting7minutes of SA's meeting18minutes of SA's meeting9
By Aakriti Vasudeva Posted:Sat Jan 07 2012, 01:33 hrs Mumbai: Indian Express
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has sought the intervention of Defence Minister A K Antony in the issue of disposing toxic waste from the erstwhile Union Carbide factory in Bhopal at the incinerator facility of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in Nagpur. Nearly 346 tonnes of toxic waste has been lying at the plant since the 1984 gas tragedy.
Chavan said in his letter to Antony that the DRDO filed an affidavit in the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court that the toxic waste could be processed at its Nagpur facility “without addressing any of the environmental concerns or taking into account the technical capacity of the plant.” He said, “It is a matter of grave concern that neither the state government nor the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, both important stakeholders, had been consulted in this matter.”
The state government has also represented against the DRDO’s submission. The court had, on December 21, taken cognisance of the pollution control board’s objections of a non-functional incinerator and non-compliance of inter-state hazardous waste transport rules and turned down the Centre’s plea to conduct a trial run of burning waste at the DRDO facility. However, it is only a temporary relief as the Centre can file pleas on behalf of the DRDO against the board’s objections. The next court hearing is on January 17.
“I seek your personal intervention in the matter to ensure that the DRDO does not take any steps in contravention of the existing laws and regulations. I also seek your assistance to review this decision as it was taken without following the process of consultation with important stakeholders in the state and is in violation of the existing environmental laws and regulations,” Chavan wrote to Antony.
The Chief Minister took up the issue following a request from Vilas Muttemwar, the Congress MP from Nagpur.
It was on July 12, 2011, that the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed disposal of the toxic waste from the Union Carbide factory at the Nagpur facility on a 2004 public interest litigation seeking a directive to make Dow Chemicals clean up the toxic waste.
A very happy new year and I pray to almighty that you get well soon.
I was exclaimed along with the common people of India when Honorable Prime Minister was talking for a fundamental change in scientific development to match the development of science at least equivalent to China.
Our CC R&D Dr W Selvamurthy sang the coras and announced that DRDO has supplied items costing 1200 crores for defence applications.
Sir, nobody can digest and appreciate because DRDO with 28000 strong professional manpower, annual budget of 7000 t0 9000 Crores and with a infrastructure of One Lakh Twenty Thousand Crores Rupees, only delivers 1200 Crores worth products. What is this R&D. The bank interest for total asset and annual expenditure comes ten thousand crores, please rethink.
DRDO needs total restructuring of charter of duties of individual Labs and the mission mode activities to address the defence requirements and needs.
With the achievement of SATCOM microwave communication link lost the attraction as SATCOM was cheaper than microwave communication network. If DRDO have microwave activity on its charter of duty a sensible effort was needed for transform the microwave activity for other than communication as the developed nations preferred to use microwave from kitchen to battlefield.
As you very well are aware about the complaint lodge against the website by Dr Arun Kumar, DOP who is working in DRDO in service extension which is only meant for those who are real scientists and involved in international level research work. As per Government of India order it is clearly stated that this extension provisions are not for those who are working in administrative jobs.
Despite various complaints/ court cases pending against him, it is really surprising that how DRDO top management is co-operating his unlawful acts.
Sir, in my 8th August 2011 letter to you I have informed you about DOP’s undue support to Sh Dharmendra Kumar, Scientist ‘B’, SPIC for unknown reasons.
DRDO RTI cell refuse to give me RTI reply related to Sh Dharmendra Kumar, Scientist ‘B’, SPIC, DRDO funny quote that we will not give you information because you will publish that on your website.
Sir, DRDO’s RTI cell forgot that they are public servant and govern by Indian constitutional law but unfortunately some scientist are thinking that they are from the MARS and nobody from common public can raise any voice against their illegal acts.
Recently I have received my RTI reply from Delhi University regarding the qualification information of Sh Dharmendra Kumar, Scientist ‘B’, SPIC, DRDO.
Please see that Sh Dharmendra Kumar, Scientist ‘B’, SPIC had hide is post-graduation degree that is MSc (Operational Research) which he obtained from Delhi University in 2001, when he joined as STA ‘A’ in 20th October 2003.
Please see the following gazette notification of SRO 147 dated 28th June 2oo2 where it is clearly mentioned that “Candidates possessing the higher qualifications viz M Sc, Ph D, B.Tech, B E degree etc. shall not be considered for the recruitment”
Hope you will finally take appropriate action in time so the employees of DRDO start thinking that now there is a no need to send inputs to www.corruptionindrdo.com and their grievances and undue harassment will be properly taken care. It can only be possible to put honest, god-fearing, who believe in justice will post on key posts like CC (R&D), HR, DOP, RAC, CEPTEM etc. These posts are the origin of injustice, corruption, favouritism and nepotism.
Hope you will listen to my prayer and will do needful to clean the DRDO from evil of injustice, corruption, favouritism and nepotism.
To Date 28th December 2011 The Prime MinisterRoom No -152, PMO, South BlockNew Delhi- 110011
The Defence MinisterRoom No – 104, South BlockNew Delhi- 110011
The Home MinisterRoom No – 104, North BlockNew Delhi- 110011
Honorable Sir,
Before taking over as President of India Dr Kalam was renowned scientific figure in international arena. He received for his valuable contribution “Bharat Ratna” by government of India.
Prior to this Dr Kalam was Scientific Adviser to RM and leading single handedly the missile program under the banner of IGMDP
To accomplish this mission he explored man, machine, components etc from across the globe. Unfortunately he picked up Dr Amarjeet Singh Bains a salesman of Marconi, UK and was given an opportunity as scientist ‘E’ in DRDL, Hyderbad. However, within a short span of time he joined DEAL, Dehradun as scientist ‘F’ in 1987 and became director, DEAL in 1996.
The misadventures of Dr A S Bains began and he started taking advantage of the close proximity of Dr Kalam. The items were ordered to his friend’s firm under single tender basis. The tender was approved by then scientific adviser to RM, further showing utter disregard to constitutional provision Dr A S Bains changed the nomenclature without the consent of the scientific adviser to RM.
RTI reply shows the truth, CBI, Dehradun investigation finds that Dr K D Nayak, present CC (R&D), distinguished scientist was key person who manipulated the file. This promotion to DS is the reward given to him for befooling the then scientific adviser to RM.
Page 15 para 3 line 6 “The deal for the purchase was approved by the then scientific adviser to RM Dr A P J Kalam. However, the only bone of contention is the fact that when the firm had asked for change of nomenclature and replacing the word down convertors with integrated circuit Dr A S Bains, Director of the laboratory had approved of the TPC recommendation and have not referred this matter of change of nomenclature to SA to RM, as deal was approved by him………….. The Act of Dr A S Bains in approving the change of nomenclature and not referring to DRDO Hqrs is not justified.”
The information received from Business Registration Div Fullerton, CA 92832, USA is following
Thank you for contacting the City of Fullerton with your business inquiry.
Unfortunately there is no current record of a registered business with the information you have provided however there is some previous history. Our records show the following:
Account #129185, Expired July 1, 1999
Status: Inactive/Closed
Name: Wave Components & Systems Assoc.
Address 1409 W. Woodcrest Avenue
Ownership: Sole Proprietor
Owner: Mani K. Thakur
Activity: Mail Order
Applied: July 17, 1998
Account #129184, Expired July 1, 1999
Status: Inactive/Closed
Name: RLC Tech
Address: 1409 W. Woodcrest Avenue
Ownership: Sole Proprietor
Owner: Shail Kumari Thakur
Activity: Mail Order
Applied: July 17, 1998
A cross reference search by address, last name and Orange County Fictitious Business Name Statements did not confirm any other records associated to this entity or individual.
Inspite of US sanction after Pokhran-II and the firm was officially closed on July 1, 1999 as per US official records, the firm participated in tenders afterwards also, as per DEAL procurement records in a TPC held on 18th Dec 1999 & subsequently 3rd March 2000 the firm bid was considered and the comment by TPC member “the tenders were invited from the 5 known firms in this field based on the records of DEAL and informations as available.”
Wave Components & Systems Associates, 1409 W. Woodcrest Avenue, Fullertone, CA- 92833 –mail order firm – Residence of Mr.ManiKant Thakur as per US municipal records
M/s SK Components 4804,W Asteria Street TORRANCE, California –90503 – not existed no record found by Business Registration TORRANCE ,California –90503 – Residence of Moti Kapur /Indra Kapur as per municipal records of Torrance
M/s Ruby Electronics, 145 – Woodland Dr, Salem, IL – 62881 not existed no record found by Business Registration Salem, IL – 62881 Residence of Dr. Gautam Jha, MD and well known medical practitioner at Salem, USA
M/s D & M Ferrite, Quasar, Russia – quoted only ferrite components and bagged the order
M/S Bit & Bytes, Bangalore – not quoted
Above mail order firm Wave Components & Systems Associates was created for supply the items to DEAL, DRDO only by friend of Dr A S Bains and supplied worth crores of rupees. It can be verify from DEAL’s procurement records during the period of Dr A S Bains’s directorship.
The firm bagged the order and transfers the order to M/S Wave Components System Associates (India) Ph – / fax -26225293, M-39 (LGF), Chitranjan Park, New Delhi – 110019 and again it is a flat of Dr A S Bains’ friend.
IB report revealed the facts reference letter no DVS/02/2020/M/1/20-A dated 05 September 2001 letter written by K V Shanker, Joint Director( Vigilance), MOD to Director (L&I), DRDO Hqrs
“ The other firm, M/s Wave Components and Systems associates, which is alleged to be a California based company, is not registered here. This firm is also not functioning from the address M-39, Chittaranjan Park, New Deihi. However, enquiries revealed that the house M-39, Chittaranjan Park New Delhi as well as the firm M/s Wave Components are also owned y Col Deepak Badhvar from Dehradun. It is true that DEAL has been placing orders with this company also.
It also transpired during enquiries that Col Badhwar and Dr AS are neighbors in Dehradun and have a good relation with each other. It is possible that both these firms have been floated with the ulterior object of meeting the government requirement of securing tenders while effecting purchase.”
Further the RTI reply from customs department has been revealed that the M/S Wave Components System Associates (India) Ph – / fax -26225293, M-39 (LGF), Chitranjan Park, New Delhi – 110019 never import any material. (Copy enclosed RTI request and RTI Reply)
Now the question arises from where the item arranged and supplied to DEAL and who were the beneficiaries.
The scientist of DEAL, DRDO who supported Dr A S Bains for his all illegal acts are rewarded by fast promotions as in DRDO the promotion is solely/ wholly depended upon Directors of labs. The reason of growing incompetency, frustrations resulted un-productivity of DRDO. This is the ground reality of increasing numbers of CAT cases/ court cases / representations / complaints to President / Prime Minister / Defence Minister in this premier defence organisation.
The above money making example is tip of the ice-berg of prevailing corruption, the authorities / agencies receiving lot of complaints but in the shadow of secrecy DRDO somehow managing the show.
But the question is up to how long people of India will wait for government about setting accountability on DRDO?
Thanking you
Regards
Prabhu Dayal Dandriyal21-Sunderwala, Raipur, Dehradun-248008Phone – 2787750, Mobile- 9411114879,E-mail id prabhudoon@gmail.com, prabhu@dandriyal.com Website – www.corruptionindrdo.comEnclosed – 1. RTI Request to Custom Department2. RTI reply from Custom Department
To 14th May 2010
The CPIO, US (Custom-III)
R.No.227B, North Block,
New Delhi- 110 001
011-2309 4282 uscusiiivi@nic.in
Hello,
Kindly provide me with the following information requested under the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
The copy of Import/Export license of following firms.
The copies of custom duty exemption certificate issued by DRDO (Defence Research Development Organization) for supplies of items to DEAL (Defence Electronics Application Laboratory), Dehradun were used between April 2000 to March 2004 by following firms.
I. M/S Wave Components System Associates (India), M-39 (LGF), Chitranjan Park, New Delhi -19
II. M/S Celestia Impex Pvt. Ltd , 557, Tower-III , Kailash Apartment New Delhi- 110065
Find the application fee for the request attached with this application. If you feel that above requested information does not pertain to your department then please follow the provisions of Section 6(3) of the RTI Act, 2005/Also as per the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005 please provide the details (Name and Designation) of the first appellate authority w.r.t to your department with the reply to the above request., where I may if required file my first appeal.
I do hereby declare that I am a citizen of India. Kindly provide me with the information at the address mentioned with the application. I request you to ensure that the information is provided before the expiry of the 30 day period after you have received the application.
In their various pronouncements since the censorship controversy broke, Mr Kapil Sibal and Mr Sachin Pilot, the minister and minister of state respectively in the ministry of communications and information technology, have been vocally insisting that the government does not want to resort to censorship and believes in the constitutional right of free speech.
These pieties were once again repeated today by the two ministers after meeting representatives of social media companies, including Google, Facebook and Twitter, for what is now being spun as an “open dialogue to empower individuals and citizens” while reliable sources also reveal that their ministry “is mulling forming an inter-ministerial group to work out a mechanism to monitor and avoid uploading of any defamatory material on Internet.”
At the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) blog, Pranesh Prakash points to the government’s patent insincerity because this sudden talk of ‘transparency’ and ‘dialogue’ came only after it was exposed in the press that the Department of Information Technology was holding secret talks with Internet companies.
He also underlines the clandestine manner in which the government wants Internet companies to ‘self-regulate’ user-uploaded content. One of the reasons for this arm-twisting is to prevent the sort of embarrassment caused by the Google Transparency Report which had demolished the government claims of wanting to curb “hate speech” or that affecting “religious sensitivities” as it tabulated that out that as many as 255 (71%) of the 358 complaints made to Google in the last six months, were about ‘government criticism’ and only 8, or 2.23% were about “hate speech”.
With self-censorship, there would be no need for these requests for removal in the first place, nor will sites have to be blocked officially using the IT Act.
In the article we carried yesterday, Who Plays Judge, Nikhil Pahwa of Medianama provided a reasonable hypothesis about Mr Kapil Sibal’s recent actions:
one of my fears is that something as draconian as pre-censorship may actually be used to make the IT Rules look justifiable, like something of a rollback. People will be furious about suggestions to pre-censor the web, but in comparison, perhaps be willing to accept arbitrary and opaque post-censorship, which is what the the IT Rules allow. The IT Rules need to be amended as well.
These rules, which were made by the Department of Information Technology and not by the Parliament, require that all intermediaries remove content that is ‘disparaging’, ‘relating to… gambling’, ‘harm minors in any way’, to which the user ‘does not have rights’. When was the last time you checked wither you had ‘rights’ to a joke before forwarding it? Did you share a Twitter message containing the term “#IdiotKapilSibal”, as thousands of people did a few days ago? Well, that is ‘disparaging’, and Twitter is required by the new law to block all such content. The government of Sikkim can run advertisements for its PlayWin lottery in newspapers, but under the new law it cannot do so online. As you can see, through these ridiculous examples, the Intermediary Guidelines are very badly thought-out and their drafting is even worse. Worst of all, they are unconstitutional, as they put limits on freedom of speech that contravene Article 19(1)(a) and 19(2) of the Constitution, and do so in a manner that lacks any semblance of due process and fairness.
CIs’s draft report on the Intermediary Liability in India: Chilling Effects on Free Expression on the Internet 2011 looks at these rules critically. For the purposes of this study, takedown notices were sent to a sample comprising of 7 intermediaries and their response to the notices was documented.
The results of the paper clearly demonstrate that the Rules indeed have a chilling effect on free expression. Specifically, the Rules create uncertainty in the criteria and procedure for administering the takedown thereby inducing the intermediary to err on the side of caution and over-comply with takedown notices to suppress legitimate expressions. Additionally, the Rules do not establish sufficient safeguards to prevent misuse and abuse of the takedown process to suppress legitimate expressions.
Of the 7 intermediaries to which takedown notices were sent, 6 intermediaries over-complied with the notices, despite the apparent flaws in them. From the responses to the takedown notices, it can be reasonably presumed that not all intermediaries have sufficient legal competence or resources to deliberate on the legality of an expression. Even if such intermediary has sufficient legal competence, it has a tendency to prioritise the allocation of legal resources according to its perceived importance of the expressions.
Further, if such subjective determination is required to be done in a limited timeframe and in the absence of adequate facts and circumstances, the intermediary mechanically complies (without application of mind) with the takedown notice.
The results also demonstrate that the Rules are procedurally flawed as they ignore all elements of natural justice. The third party provider of information whose expression is censored is not informed about the takedown, let alone given an opportunity to be heard before or after the takedown. There is no recourse for the third party provider of information to have the removed information restored or put back if it does come to his knowledge. The intermediary is under no obligation to provide a reasoned decision for rejecting or accepting a takedown notice. There is also no requirement for disclosure or transparency in the takedown process.
These Rules and all this recent talk of ‘self-regulation’ are of a piece with the government’s overall paranoia of the power of the internet and various whistleblower websites that are coming up (eg, consider the recent case involvingcorruptionindrdo.com). Because there are constitutional safe-guards against censorship, surreptitious measures are being adopted in a number of ways. As Prakash points out:
Mr. Sibal’s latest proposed amendment to the Copyright Act, which is before the Rajya Sabha right now, has a provision called section 52(1)(c) by which anyone can send a notice complaining about infringement of his copyright. The Internet company will have to remove the content immediately without question, even if the notice is false or malicious. The sender of false or malicious notices is not penalized. But the Internet company will be penalized if it doesn’t remove the content that has been complained about. The complaint need not even be shown to be true before the content is removed. Indeed, anyone can complain about any content, without even having to show that they own the rights to that content. The government seems to be keen to have the power to remove content from the Internet without following any ‘due process’ or fair procedure. Indeed, it not only wants to give itself this power, but it is keen on giving all individuals this power.
