It is a story from success to success. The story of Shahid Usman Balwa, the billionaire who has now been arrested by the CBI in the 2G scam will be one connected with politicians, big business, corruption, bribes and what not? But neither the government nor those other powerful people would  like those stories to come out.

All those who were near and dear to Balwa will now try to distance themselves to avoid exposure. But truth will certainly come out, if not today, by tomorrow.

The land of the pyramids is happy that the autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak is over. The people all over Egypt are celebrating the pro-democracy victory for which they have been fighting peacefully for the last few weeks.

President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years of autocratic rule supported by the US imperialism has vacated his seat and vanished from Cairo. The Military has declared that the demands of the people will be agreed. The victory in Egypt is a message to all the West Asian Countries, who are under the spell of US domination. This is the time to make a change, that is the message of Egypt.

I congratulate those pro-democracy protesters and supporters who have won the battle and created a new path for the people of Egypt.

Despite the denial by the Government that the ISRO Antrix Corporation agreement with private  company Devas Multimedia was not known to the Government, the latter issued a statement today that the agreement has been signed with the approval from the highest levels of government including from the Union Cabinet. It means the Prime Minister is also aware of the same. Devas also stated that they are not aware of any move to cancel the agreement till a week back,

There are a lot of questions to be answered by the Government. There seems to be a lot of skeletons in the cupboard. New exposures are coming every day. The UPA government is in real trouble.

Today I met Shri S.C.Misra, Member (Services ), Telecom Commission and discussed about issue of orders on Pension Revision of pre-2007 BSNL retirees. He stated that the case is being vetted by the Finance and most probably, the order may be issued by next week.

More than 60,000 BSNL retirees are eagarly waiting for the orders. Don’t disappoint them by delaying orders.

Considering the magnitude of the 2G scam and the high ups involved, the Supreme Court has asked the government to consider setting up of a Special Court to try the case expeditiously.

Already four arrests have been made including that of A.Raja, former Communications Minister. Many more are expected to be arrested. The Supreme Court observed while hearing the arguments: ” We have a large number of persons who consider themselves above the law. The law must catch them. It should be done with greater expedition. Merely because they are in the Forbes list of millionaires, it does not make any difference”.

Well said!  Those who are guilty should be exemplarily punished.

It is now clear that Hosni Mubarak will have to vacate the President’s seat. The continuous struggle of the people for an end to the autocratic, US supported rule of  Mubarak is very near. The army has announced that the demands of the people will be met meaning that a new government will come. But how is it is not known. It is reported that Mubarak has left Cairo.

Our congratulations to the people of Egypt for the grand victory!

One more skeleton in the cup board of the Government has come to light. As per the report published in The Economic Times of 10th February (Page 12), it is reported that the spacious Centaur Hotel in Srinagar, owned by the Air India has been leased for long 30 years to DB Realty owned by Shahid Balwa, an accused in the 2 G Scam, for a pittance of Rs. one crore per year. The grand hotel has 251 spacious rooms and has a perfect scenery of Dal lake, which can be seen from each of the rooms. When the deal has been exposed Air India states that it was decided by the Aviation Ministry, when Praful Patel was the Minister. The former Minister has stated that it was the decision of the Air India. present aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi is reported to have stated that ” some problems ” are there.

More news of the lease contract are expected to come. All will be remembering how the Mumbai Centaur Hotel was gifted to a private company for 1/10th of the price.

Read the full column Editorial in Hindu dated 10th February 2010 titled ” Behind the S-Band Spectrum Scandal ” for the full details of the newly exposed scam. As per the reported comments of the CAG, it may be about Rs. 2 lakh crore, bigger than the 2-G scam.

It was a show of strength and unity of the non-NDA and Non-UPA parties at New Delhi yesterday against the spiraling price rise and demanding the government to take immediate action to arrest the same. Workers belonging to CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB  TDP, AIADMK, JD(S), and RLD  joined together and marched on the Parliament Street. After the police stopped them, a massive rally was held which was addressed by Coms. Prakash Karat, A.B.Bardhan, N.Chandrabhanu Naidu, H.D.Deve Gowda, Ajit Singh , Thambi Durai and other leaders.

The struggle against price rise will continue, the leaders stated. They severely criticised the Central Government for its inability to control the prices which results more and more misery on the people.

BSNL is being squeezed by the government again and again. It has collected about Rs. 40,000 crore through dividend, licence fee, taxes etc. during the last 10 years. It has further collected Rs. 18,500 crore towards 3G and BWA Spectrum charges without giving a chance to participate in the auction process. The Government further collected another Rs. 7,500 crore in the name of a non-existing loan and 14% interest on it. Now it is again going to collect about Rs. 6,000 crore on the plea that extra spectrum has been allotted to BSNL earlier. While the approximate estimated charges for the same are Rs. 4,000 crore and Rs. 1,700 crore for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone respectively, much more is proposed to be collected from BSNL.  It will one of the last nail on the coffin of the BSNL, which is even now starved of funds.

Instead of  fleecing the BSNLEU,  its own company, the Government should support it with liberal grant or aid at this crucial moment. Strong pressure should come from the management, the workers and the people.