IBM to pay $10m to settle bribery case

WASHINGTON: IBM has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges it gave cash and gifts to Chinese and South Korean officials to win contracts for mainframe and personal computers and other products.

The agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) calls for the US computer titan to pay disgorgement of $5.3 million, interest of $2.7 million and a civil penalty of $2 million.

Under the agreement, which is subject to court approval and was released by the SEC on Friday, IBM does not admit or deny the allegations it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

In the complaint filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the SEC outlined the accusations against IBM, which is based in Armonk, New York.

The complaint detailed instances of IBM Korea employees allegedly handing over envelopes filled with cash to South Korean officials in parking lots, providing them with free notebook computers, fiddling bid sheets and making payments to the bank account of a "hostess in a drink shop."

It said employees of IBM subsidiaries and a majority-owned joint venture provided cash and improper gifts, travel and entertainment to Chinese and South Korean government officials between 1998 and 2009.

From 1998 to 2003, employees of IBM Korea and joint venture LG IBM PC Co. paid $207,000 in cash bribes and gave improper gifts to South Korean government officials to secure the sale of IBM products, the complaint said.

It said that from 2004 to 2009, employees of IBM China provided overseas trips, entertainment and improper gifts to Chinese government officials.

"The misconduct in China involved several key IBM China employees and more than 100 IBM China employees overall," the complaint said.

IBM China employees "created slush funds at local travel agencies in China that were then used to pay for overseas and other travel expenses incurred by Chinese government officials," it said.

"In addition, IBM China employees created slush funds at its business partners to provide a cash payment and improper gifts, such as cameras and laptop computers, to Chinese government officials," it added.

"Deficient internal controls allowed employees of IBM's subsidiaries and joint venture to use local business partners and travel agencies as conduits for bribes or other improper payments to South Korean and Chinese government officials over long periods of time," the complaint said.

It said improper payments were recorded as "legitimate business expenses."

In a statement acknowledging the settlement, IBM said it "insists on the highest ethical standards in the conduct of its business and requires all employees to follow its policies and procedures for conducting business."

IBM shares were up 0.95 percent at $155.65 shortly before the closing bell on Wall Street.

Voluntary retired SRTC employees hold dharna

All Jammu and Kashmir SRTC Voluntary Retired Employees Association (VREA) held a protest demonstration under the chairmanship of Dev Raj Bali and Surinder Singh in front of Managing Director, SRTC for non-release of CP Fund Interest which amounts to Rs 23,28,494.

After protesting the members of VREA marched towards the office of Additional Commissioner CP Fund, Rail Head complex and held dharna there for couple of hours.

Addressing the gathering, Dev Raj Bali said that non-release of CP fund interest has created hardships for VRS employees who are suffering for the last one year. He said this shows that these officials are bent upon not to solve the problem. He said Additional Commissioner CP Fund is again and again reminding the management of SRTC but the management is not showing any interest and turning deaf ear towards the demands of VRS employees.

He further said that Additional Commissioner CP Fund has the power to recover the same from the SRTC management but he is not using its powers and it seems that these two are in connivance with each other and for this connivance VRS employees have been made to suffer.

VREA warned the concerned authorities to redress the issue at the earliest otherwise they will be forced to intensify agitation.

Others who spoke during the dharna were Balwinder Singh, BV Sharma, Prem Nath, Ahsan Elahi, Surjit Singh and many others.

Point Table for World Cup

Group A
	TEAM	PLAY	WON	LOST	TIE	NR	PTS	NRR
	Sri Lanka	6	4	1	0	1	9	+2.582
	Australia	5	4	0	0	1	9	+1.693
	New Zealand	6	4	2	0	0	8	+1.135
	Pakistan	5	4	1	0	0	8	+0.729
	Zimbabwe	5	1	4	0	0	2	-0.669
	Canada	6	1	5	0	0	2	-1.987
	Kenya	5	0	5	0	0	0	-3.005

Group B
	TEAM	PLAY	WON	LOST	TIE	NR	PTS	NRR
	South Africa	5	4	1	0	0	8	+1.606
	India	5	3	1	1	0	7	+0.768
	England	6	3	2	1	0	7	+0.072
	West Indies	5	3	2	0	0	6	+1.650
	Bangladesh	5	3	2	0	0	6	-0.765
	Ireland	6	2	4	0	0	4	-0.696
	Netherlands	6	0	6	0	0	0	-2.045

SL vs NZ: Trust fielder's word, says Taylor after catch storm

MUMBAI: New Zealand's stand-in skipper Ross Taylor says the fielder's word should be trusted in case of close catches after his side ended up on the receiving end of a controversial umpire decision.

Sri Lanka vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene and Kiwi off-spinner Nathan McCullum clashed during their World Cup match at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.

Jayawardene tried to play a defensive shot in the 24th over against McCullum but ended up chipping the ball back towards the bowler who dived and managed to get his right hand under the ball to cap a stunning effort.

But even as McCullum broke into a celebration, TV umpire Amish Saheba was called in and he ruled it not out.

It was a critical moment in the match since Sri Lanka were struggling at 87 for 2 and Jayawardene was on 26.

"I haven't seen the catch (on TV) I have seen it only live," said Taylor.

"I thought it carried, but the third umpire obviously had other things (in mind). When you generally think that you have taken the catch, it's your natural instinct. It is disappointing."

Taylor said it would make things easier if batsmen were to take the word of the fielder in such situations.

"It depends upon the person. You look at (South Africa batsman) Jacques Kallis, he asks the fielders if they caught it cleanly and he trusts the words of the fielders.

"You put it up to the batsman to make the decision and at the end of the day you just hope the technology is right and if the technology is not right, well then don't use it."

Jayawardene went on to make 66 and shared a vital 145-run stand with captain Kumar Sangakkara (111) to set up Sri Lanka's comprehensive 112-run win in the day-night clash.

Sangakkara, who was batting at the other end at that time, defended the veteran batsman.

"Mahela said he was not sure about Nathan's catch. We saw even in New Zealand innings when Mahela caught McCullum, it went upstairs. It can go either way," he said.

Hotel construction at Mubarak Mandi rocks House

JAMMU, Mar 18: The issue of construction of a 5-Star Hotel at Mubarak Mandi heritage complex by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Mode rocked the Legislative Assembly today with Opposition MLAs from Jammu alleging that a ‘‘non-entity and land grabber', who was ‘‘illegal’’ vice chairman of the NGO had floated tender for the hotel.

All MLAs of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), National Panthers Party (NPP) and Jammu State Morcha (JSM) staged a walk-out in the Assembly to protest the construction of hotel at Dogra heritage in Mubarak Mandi describing it as an attempt to destroy the rich heritage of Dogra culture.

The MLAs alleged that several crores of the Government money have been kept at the disposal of the NGO, whose vice chairman (Gulchain Singh Charak) was neither a MLA nor a MLC. They declared that any attempt to sell Dogra heritage for construction of a 5-Star Hotel would be foiled by the people of Jammu tooth and nail.

Raising the issue in the Assembly after Question Hour, NPP MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia said a tender has recently been floated by a NGO-Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society-in a national newspaper for construction of a 5-Star Hotel at Mubarak Mandi heritage complex in PPP mode.

All MLAs of BJP, NPP and JSM were on their feet over the issue. They pointed out that when Omar Abdullah automatically succeeded Ghulam Nabi Azad as chairman of the Society after change of guard in the State, how the vice chairman (Gulchain Singh Charak), who had got the post by virtue of being a R&B Minister, continued to function on the post.

‘‘It's a Government committee. The vice chairman is not even a MLA or MLC. Tourism Minister (Rigzin Jora) should have been appointed vice chairman of the Committee'', NPP MLA Harshdev Singh said.

Mr Singh described the vice chairman as non-entity while BJP City East MLA Ashok Khajuria said a ‘land grabber’ has been ruling the roost in the Government committee and trying to spoil Dogra culture by floating tender for construction of a 5-Star Hotel at Mubarak Mandi.

‘‘The Dogra culture was required to be protected and not destroyed. We would oppose any attempt for construction of a hotel at Dogra heritage to give benefits to some people and earn money by the NGO'', the members shouted charging the NGO with making an attempt to ‘‘sell Dogra heritage''.

The Opposition legislators demanded a statement from the Government. Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone said the issue has been raised today and the Minister could reply later.

However, this didn't satisfy the protesting MLAs of Jammu Opposition, who wondered how crores of rupees of the Government money could be kept at the disposal of a ‘non-entity and land grabber'. They wanted to know from the Government the criteria adopted for construction of a 5-Star Hotel over 120 kanals of land, all of which was part of Dogra heritage and culture.

Intervening to pacify the agitated Opposition MLAs, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development and Tourism Nasir Aslam Wani admitted that Mubarak Mandi has historical and social importance and the Government has initiated several projects to preserve it.

Mr Wani said if any problem has arisen, the Government would look into it.

Not satisfied with the Minister's reply, the MLAs of BJP, NPP and JSM started shouting slogans `Land Grabbing Naheen Chalegi'. After protesting in the House for a couple of minutes, all Opposition MLAs from Jammu staged a walk-out in the Assembly.

Prior to this, the BJP MLAs walked-out from the Assembly to protest floating of a tender by Katra Municipality, which party MLA from Reasi Baldev Sharma said, has been charging 12 per cent tax from pithoos, poneywallahs, palkiwallahs etc, thus, fleecing them.

The issue was initially raised by Mr Sharma at the start of Question Hour and again after the end of Question Hour.

All BJP MLAs including Legislature Party leader Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, Ashok Khajuria and Jugal Kishore, supported Mr Sharma.

The MLA Reasi claimed that Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) was ready to pay Rs 8 crore worth taxes collected per year from coolies, poneywallahs etc by the Katra Municipality as it was bringing a bad name to Katra country wide.

``The SMVDSB is ready to pay the taxes from its offerings. However, ignoring the offer, the Municipal Committee, Katra has once again floated the tender for auction of pithoos contract'', Mr Sharma lamented.

Prof Gupta said the tax on labourers should be immediately waived off and process of the tenders stopped.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Tara Chand intervened on the issue saying since the Governor happened to be the chairman of the SMVDSB he had to speak to him before commenting on it.

The BJP MLAs demanded that till then the process of tenders should be stopped. Mr Sharma said the Municipal Committee, Katra can go ahead with the tenders if the SMVDSB didn't accept the proposal of paying money for the taxes collected from pithoos.

Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone said the Government couldn't be forced to act upon what the MLAs say.

Baldev Sharma was close to front row while insisting on his point of stopping the tenders immediately. All BJP MLAs then staged a walk-out from the Assembly.

Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly, NPP MLAs-Harshdev Singh and Balwant Singh Mankotia and MLC Rafiq Shah, who raise the issue of Mubarak Mandi complex in the Legislative Council, said the Government of India money has been kept at the disposal of a NGO and private people have taken control of it.

Harshdev said a tender has been floated by the NGO for construction of a 5-Star Hotel in 120 kanal area of Mubarak Mandi.

``It is an abuse of the Government exchequer that the officials funds have been given in the hands of suspicious private persons. Under what consideration and criteria, the Government property has been kept at the disposal of NGO. We want a reply from the Government. The people want an answer. The conspiracy behind misuse of crores of funds by a private person should be exposed'', he added. BJP MLA-Ashok Khajuria joined by his party colleagues--Baldev Sharma, Durga Dass and Bharat Bushan, said when the Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society was formed it was headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad in his capacity as the Chief Minister while the then R&B Minister (Gulchain Singh Charak) became its vice chairman.

‘‘Now with the change of guard, either Tourism Minister Rigjin Jora or MoS Tourism Nasir Aslam Wani should have been appointed as vice chairman of the Society. Instead, he said, a ‘non-entity and private person' was still working as its vice chairman'', Mr Khajuria said.

He described the construction of hotel as ‘‘open land grabbing’’ and declared that the BJP would launch an agitation to protect Dogra heritage and culture.

BJP MLA Baldev Sharma said that 12 per cent tax on pithoos, poneywallahs etc by the Katra Municipality was bringing a bad name to the yatra and should be withdrawn immediately.

He said welfare tax has also been charged by the Municipality Katra from the pithoos but not spent on their welfare.

Source -- Daily Excelsior..

Government ignored intelligence inputs on Shahid Balwa's D-links

NEW DELHI: The security establishment has several specific details to link Shahid Balwa, his father Usman Ebrahim Balwa, Vinod Goenka, his father Krishna Murari and brother Pramod Goenka to the Dawood gang and Chhota Shakeel. Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka are currently in jail in connection with the 2G scam.

Over the past seven-eight years, there has been a stream of inputs on the underworld links of both the families, a senior official said. The official, who looked at the two families as well as companies such as the Jet Airways in the past told TOI, "It's disheartening. We invest so much resource because there are serious issues of national security. But governments just ignore them."

According to documents seen by TOI, as late as 2008, after Swan Telecom was given 2G licence, there were inputs to show that both Shahid Balwa and his father Usman Balwa were in close contact with Chhota Shakeel. Alongside were inputs of the intelligence agencies, cautioning the government against permitting UAE's Etisalat to invest in Swan. Both of these inputs had no impact on the expansion of Swan Telecom.

The first input from Mumbai on the Goenkas came in March 2003 when Tariq Abdul Karim Merchant, a close associate of Chhota Shakeel, was arrested. In his interrogation Merchant, also known as Tariq Bhai, said Vinod Goenka's father Krishna Murari Goenka and brother Pramod Goenka were associated with the D Company. Merchant told them about Pramod Goenka carrying out property deals with Jabir Moti, a Karachi resident and an important member of the D Company.

The most important details are from October 2003, when builder Rajesh Patange was shot dead in Nallasopara by four underworld operatives.

In his dying declaration Patange named Krishna Murari Goenka among those behind his murder. Surprisingly, the Mumbai police did not act against Goenka, sources told TOI. He was neither arrested nor chargesheeted. In September 2004, when Mumbai crime branch arrested Zameeruddin Ghulam Rasool Ansari, an associate of Anees Ibrahim, further details of the Goenka family's links to the underworld spilled out. He spoke in detail about Pramod Goenka's links with Dawood and his brother Anees. He spoke also about the heavy investments of D Company in Pramod Goenka's businesses.

After Abu Salem was brought back to India in November 2005 from Portugal, the investigators got further inputs on the links of the two families. Among other details, Salem told the interrogators that Pramod was a prominent guest at the wedding of Humayun, younger brother of Dawood. The marriage was held in Karachi.

Source -- Times of India

US envoy skips meeting separatists in JK; Praises Omar

Srinagar, Mar 18 (PTI) In a virtual snub to separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer today said he met only Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during his two-day visit to the state as he was the elected representative of the people.

"The purpose of the visit is that he (Chief Minister) is elected leader. The Chief Minister is the person who represents the people here in Jammu and Kashmir," he told reporters when asked about his not meeting separatists.

He said he had a productive and engaging meeting with the Chief Minister but said that he was in the state for only two days and did not have time to meet too many people.

"You are limited in time and I cannot meet everybody as I was here for only two days," he said and left no one in doubt that US sees Jammu and Kashmir as part of India like any other state.

Political observers see the decision of US ambassador to not interact with the separatists as a major snub to the separatist outfits in the valley.

Separatists leaders including Hurriyat Conference were unwilling for comments immediately.

Roemer said he wanted to meet the people of the state and learn more about the people of Jammu and Kashmir as he has been doing in rest of India. "I wanted to meet the people as I have been doing all over India, the students who are the future leaders at a school like this," he said.

Roemer visited the Srinagar branch of Delhi Public School at Athwajan, in the outskirts of the city, and was all praise for the activities undertaken by the school management.

He took out time to interact with the students in the playfield and even tried his hands at basket ball.

The US ambassador said during his ride in the Dal Lake yesterday, he was able to interact with the people in the area and see some of the challenges they face on environmental issues.

"Knowing that India and the US are working closely on environment and education issues, these are two issues that President (Barack) Obama and Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh have outlined as part of our strategic cooperation.

"There are ways to, hopefully in the future, anticipate what we might be doing in education and environment and all other different areas," he added.

Roemer brushed aside a question on action being taken by the US on the issue of Major (retd) Avatar Singh, an accused in the murder case of a human rights activists in Kashmir nearly 20 years ago, and said he will not react to individual cases.

"The US stands firmly and strongly on human rights issues. We are working universally to promote human rights issues," he said.