Why no action on PM's 2G letter to Raja: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court Thursday asked why no action was taken on a letter from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to his then telecom minister A. Raja on award of airwaves and felt that the severity of the case in question otherwise could have been different.

Two corporate executives accused in the second generation (2G) spectrum case, Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice H.L. Dattu also observed that the gravity of the alleged crime could have been different if action had been taken on the letter.

The letter written Nov 3, 2007 had raised several questions on the manner in which Raja was proposing to allocate the precious airwaves to telecom players and had also conveyed the industry's apprehensions in this regard. The letter favoured auction of airwaves.

But a reply the next day from Raja, now in judicial custody as the prime accused in the case, clearly said he will not change the policy of first-come-first-served to allocate the scarce resource but assured full transparency in the process.

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said the apex court's observations were serious and demanded a full explanation on the matter from the government.

Appearing for the prosecution, Additional Solicitor General Haren Rawal sought to draw a line of distinction between the action of Raja and the suggested inaction on the content of the letter written by the prime minister, which had favoured transparent auction.

India’s Agreement with Afghanistan

News Today: New Delhi Oct. 4, 2011: India and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership in Delhi Tuesday, just a few days after Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office accused a Pakistani citizen of carrying out a suicide attack against former president and peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani last month.

The partnership, which was signed an agreement after Mr. Karzai met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, involves India training Afghan security forces. This takes ties between Delhi and Kabul to a new level, beyond the economic reconstruction that India has been very careful to focus on in the last decade since the Americans returned to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. It is the first such agreement Afghanistan has with any country, including the U.S.

“The people of Afghanistan have suffered enough. They deserve to live in peace and decide their future themselves, without outside interference, coercion and intimidation,” Mr. Singh told the media Tuesday evening.

This agreement is aimed at forging a “deeper understanding between the two countries, especially at a time when the region is particularly unstable,” a highly placed Indian government official with responsibility for the matter said.

Politics Journal: Where Did India-Bangladesh Talks Go Wrong?

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh climbed into Air India One at the end of his visit to Dhaka last week, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her entire Cabinet lined up on the tarmac. There they waited not only until the plane began taxiing for take off, but until it had completely disappeared from view.

Only hours before, the Bangladesh National Party, Ms. Hasina’s major political opposition, had blamed her for not adequately preparing for the Indian prime minister’s two-day visit and described it as a “diplomatic failure.”

The accusation hurt, not only because it was partially true–a breakthrough agreement on sharing of river waters between India and Bangladesh had collapsed at the last minute–but also because Ms. Hasina’s special friendship with India goes back to 1971 when her father, Sheikh Mujib-ur Rahman, accepted Indira Gandhi’s help in midwifing the new nation of Bangladesh.

Ms. Hasina’s prolonged presence  at the airport was “a huge relief,” a senior Indian diplomat said on condition of anonymity, adding that it “gave teeth to her statements that despite everything, both countries would always remain firm friends.”