ISRO to release reports on Antrix-Devas deal
January 31st, 2012 - 6:02 pm ICT by IANS
Chennai, Jan 31 (IANS) Indian space agency chief K. Radhakrishnan Tuesday indicated he will soon release reports of two committees on the controversial Antrix-Devas deal, which led to the government blacklisting his predecessor G. Madhavan Nair.
In his first comment on the raging controversy Radhakrishnan made no reference to Nair’s charges that he was behind the central government’s act barring him and three other space scientists from government jobs.
In a brief press statement, Radhakrishnan, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said the Department of Space is in the process of getting necessary clearances for releasing the reports of two committees that went into the deal.
In a statement, Radhakrishnan who is also the secretary, Department of Space, said: “The Department is in the process of getting necessary clearances for releasing the Reports of the two Committees viz. (a) the High Powered Review Committee set up by Government on Feb 10, 2011 (with Shri B.K.Chaturvedi and Prof. Roddam Narasimha as Members), and (b) The High Level Team set up by Government on May 31, 2011 (chaired by Shri Pratyush Sinha) to examine various aspects of the Antrix-Devas Agreement of January 2005.”
The two committees had submitted their reports and the government Jan 13 had banned ISRO’s immediate past chairman G. Madhavan Nair, A. Bhaskarnarayana, former scientific secretary in ISRO, K.N. Shankara, former director, ISRO Satellite Centre and K.R. Sridharamurthi, former executive director of Antrix from holding any government jobs or any membership in a government committee.
The Department of Space had written to all the state governments about barring the four former space scientists.
The ban order infuriated Nair, who had been awarded Padma Bhushan in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan in 2009. He charged that Radhakrishnan was behind the government’s move to ban him and three other former space officials from any future government jobs.
As per the deal, ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix was to provide 70 MHz S-Band spectrum to Devas which is into multimedia services. Antrix would provide the spectrum by leasing out transponders of two satellites to be built mainly for Devas.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) estimated the loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs.2 lakh crore because of the deal.
The centre later scrapped the controversial deal and the matter has gone for arbitration.
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- Devas deal: Probe team indicts ex-ISRO chief, three others (Second Lead) - Feb 05, 2012
- I've been barred without probe, former ISRO chief tells PM (Roundup) - Jan 25, 2012
- Nair, three others found responsible for controversial deal - Feb 05, 2012
- Nair, three others found responsible for Antrix-Devas deal (Lead) - Feb 05, 2012
- ISRO mum on Nair's outburst, scientists dismayed - Jan 25, 2012
- Nair slams government, ISRO chief for action against him (Intro Roundup) - Jan 26, 2012
- Scientist resigns over blacklisting of ISRO stalwarts (Lead) - Feb 24, 2012
- Space scientists shocked over ex-ISRO chief's outburst - Jan 26, 2012
- ISRO: A great institution's fall from grace (News Analysis) - Jan 25, 2012
- Antrix case against Devas' arbitration adjourned (Lead) - Feb 09, 2012
- Murmurs of witch-hunt as parts of Devas reports released - Feb 05, 2012
- Space department declined my RTI plea: Ex-ISRO chief Nair - Mar 01, 2012
- PM should probe ISRO blacklisting order: Former chairman (Interview) - Jan 29, 2012
- Panel shows Devas deal was not wrong: Ex-scientist - Feb 05, 2012
Tags: agency chief, bhushan, blacklisting, chaturvedi, government committee, government jobs, indian space research, indian space research organisation, madhavan, nair, narasimha, necessary clearances, padma vibhushan, radhakrishnan, satellite centre, secretary department, sinha, space officials, space scientists, state governments