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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Govt firm on decision to ban ex-Isro chief Madahavan Nair by Rajeev Deshpande

Govt firm on decision to ban ex-Isro chief Madahavan Nair by Rajeev Deshpande

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published Published on Jan 27, 2012   modified Modified on Jan 27, 2012

Government has decided to blacklist India's moon mission man Madhavan Nair and three other scientists after the former Isro head was held culpable for his role in spectrum worth Rs 15,000 crore being given for Rs 1,000 crore to private firm Devas.

Two inquiries ordered by the government concluded that Nair had seriously erred in withholding details of the agreement between Isro's commercial arm Antrix and Devas for use of S-band airwaves by leasing transponder capacity on two Indian satellites from the Union Cabinet.

The inquiry carried out by former cabinet secretary and Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi in 2010 into procedural lapses said that Nair as secretary space and chairman of Antrix should have fully informed the Cabinet about the proposal to lease GSAT satellites 6 and 6A to Devas for commercial operations.

Nair has sought to differentiate between spectrum and leasing of transponders but the government does not buy into the argument as it is felt the deal was intended to access the airwaves.

While concluding the loss to government is not near the Rs 2 lakh crore figure touted by initial audit reports, the airwaves were valued at Rs 15,000 crore. The deal signed with Devas in 2005 gave it use of 90% transponder capacity for use of 70Mhz scarce S-band spectrum for 20 years. The firm was to pay $300 million over 12 years. This would amount to around Rs 1,700 crore at current rates.

Sources said the irregularity in giving costly spectrum for around one-fifteenth its value could not be glossed over and the inquiry that followed the Chaturvedi report headed by former central vigilance commissioner Pratyush Sinha recommended action against Nair and three of his former Isro colleagues. "They were held responsible for the flawed deal," sources said.

The Sinha inquiry did not name any official other than the scientists although Nair has repeatedly claimed that members of the Space Commission were informed about the agreement, who included senior figures in the prime minister's office and the cabinet secretary. Devas has also indicated meetings were held with the government to try and rescue the deal.

But the view in government is that the former Isro chief and other scientists who have been blacklisted could have faced harsher action if allegations of impropriety in contracts, lack of transparency in concluding an agreement with Devas without seeking alternate bids and loss of revenue were to be investigated by a police agency.

The government decided to go by the recommendation that the scientists be banned from future official employment was relatively mild as the Centre was conscious of the morale of the scientific community being affected by the controversy. It was a deliberate decision not to consider penal action although not doing so has attracted opposition criticism.

Nair has said the Devas offer was unique as the technology it had developed was available only with Japan and US and could not be accessed for "love or money". Devas intended to provide an integrated satellite system that could be accessed by a match box sized device even in a moving platform like a vehicle to deliver internet and TV signals.

Devas has claimed that the agreement complied with Satcom policy and Isro also stood to gain by way of enhanced technology that would have helped rural delivering applications for rural development, e-governance, emergency communications, remote connectivity, secure and strategic services and consumer applications.


The Times of India, 27 January, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Govt-firm-on-decision-to-ban-ex-Isro-chief-Madahavan-Nair/articleshow/11643478.cms


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