US firm paid bribes to win water projects in Assam, Goa

A New Jersey-based construction management firm has been charged with bribing Indian officials to win two major water developmental projects in Goa and Guwahati. The bribe, of $976,630 for a Goa project by Louis Berger, included that to a minister, the details of which have not been disclosed by the US Department of Justice.

On Friday, the company agreed to pay a $17.1-million criminal fine to resolve charges that it bribed officials in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Kuwait to secure government construction management contracts. Two of its former executives, Richard Hirsch (61) of the Philippines and James McClung (59) of the UAE, pleaded guilty to the charges.

Previously, McClung had served as senior vice-president, responsible for the firm’s operations in India and Vietnam.

Sentencing hearings for Hirsch and McClung are scheduled for November 5 this year.

The Indian government, assisted by its Japanese counterpart, had initiated the five-year Goa water supply and sewerage project to expand, rehabilitate and build water and sewerage facilities. Louis Berger was part of a consortium responsible for the project in Goa. The consortium included two Japanese firms and an Indian partner.

The team developed a project management information system and plan, evaluated bids, reviewed design and construction plans, and ensured quality work was done on time and within the budget, the company said on its website.

In an 11-page charge sheet, US federal prosecutors alleged Louis Berger maintained a detailed diary and account of bribery to Indian officials. On August 26, 2010, “a consortium partner prepared a payment-tracking schedule, stating the company had paid $976,630 in bribes in connection with the Goa project to date”, federal prosecutors told a court in New Jersey.

“Along with several consortium partners, the company won two water development projects in Goa and Guwahati. The company paid bribes to win both these contracts,” the prosecutors alleged.

On August 17, 2010, a consortium partner sent an e-mail to James McClung, stating, “As discussed, I enclose the details, as provided by (the third-party intermediary). I have also added the details of amounts paid to (the company) as of date by (the consortium partner) in the same sheet.”

The attachment included an entry: “Paid by (an agent of the company) to the minister on behalf of the agent,” the prosecutors said.

According to court documents, the company, through its employees and agents, used terms such as “commitment fee”, “counterpart per diem”, “marketing fee” and “field operations expenses” as codes to conceal the true nature of the payments and utilised cash disbursement forms and invoices that didn’t truthfully describe the services provided or the purpose of the payment.

The documents showed the company, through its employees, agents and consortium partners, kept track of the bribe payments by circulating a spreadsheet among them, which showed the proportionate share of every bribe they had paid the officials overseeing their work on the Goa and Guwahati projects.

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Union Home Minister speaks to Assam CM Gogoi over killing of Hindi-speaking persons

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday spoke to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi about the killing of a Hindi-speaking businessman and his daughter by suspected ULFA militants in Tinsukia.

During their telephonic conversation, Gogoi apprised him of the situation in Tinsukia region following the killing of the two Hindi-speaking persons.

"Gogoi told me that the state had already rushed security forces to Tinsukia to maintain law and order.I assured the Chief Minister of all possible help from the Centre, including additional security forces, if needed," Singh said in New Delhi.

On Tuesday night, Nandalal Shah (65) and his daughter Kajol Shah (21) were killed, while his wife, son and nephew were injured in indiscriminate firing by suspected ULFA(I) militants at his home in Bijuliban village in Tinsukia district.

After the killing of Nandalal Shah and his daughter Kajol, Assam government has shunted out local SP Arnab Deka and posted Karbi Anglong SP Mugdha Jyoti Mahanta in his place.

Protests over the incident have disrupted normal life in the district for the last two days.

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Nearly 2 lakh people hit by Assam floods

Close to two lakh people have been affected by floods in 13 districts of Assam, officials said on Wednesday, as over 200 people took shelter in relief camps in Tinsukia and Sonitpur districts.

Heavy rains have also lashed most parts of the state since Tuesday.

Floods hit many parts of Baksa, Dibrugarh and Kamrup districts on Wednesday, even as many villages in Barpeta, Sonitpur, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur Tinsukia, Darrang, Nalbari, Golapara, Jorhat and Kamrup (Metro) districts continue to remain under water.

A flood bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said 1,95,243 people have been affected as flood waters submerged 533 villages.

The state government has opened toll free phone numbers -- 1070 for the State Emergency Operation Centre, and 1077 for the District Emergency Operation Centre.

Flood waters have also affected over 8,245 hectares of crop land, officials said.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Bhumidhar Barman, and Water Resource Minister Basanta Das on Wednesday reviewed the flood situation, and asked the district administrations to take up flood mitigation measures immediately.

The ministers asked the district administrations to arrange relief and rescue material, and take stock of the infrastructural damage.

According to the water resources department, embankments have been breached in Sonitpur, Nalbari, Dhubri, Darrang and Goalpara districts.

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Bahubali's box office collection scares me: Salman Khan

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan says "Bahubali" is a good film and our (Bollywood) cinema should try to match its success.

"We don't think we can do that much like ('Bahubali' jitna toh nahi kar payegi). Of course it (box office) scares me," Salman said when asked if box office numbers scare him considering the recent business that "Bahubali" did.

"'Bahubali' is a good film but our cinema should make those numbers. Do we need their cinema to that numbers," the "Kick" protagonist said.

"Bahubali", directed by S S Rajamouli, starring Rana Daggubatti, Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Tamaannah Bhatia hit the screens on July 10 and has reportedly earned over Rs 200 crore at the box office.

Filmmaker Karan Johar has presented S S Rajamouli's magnum opus 'Bahubali' in Hindi.

49-year-old Salman has produced two films - "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" in which he plays the lead role.

The next movie is "Hero" remake that marks acting debut of Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty.

 "A good producer is the one who understands a good script. I wanted to make "Hero" remake with Sooraj and Athiya as it is a fabulous script," Salman added.

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Centre to infuse Rs 92,000 cr for development of North East

Funds to the tune of Rs 92,000 crore will be spent by the Centre on development of North East, including construction of highways and developing rail networks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday as he held a meeting of the Chief Ministers of the region here.

Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram did not participate in the meeting which was attended by Chief Ministers of Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura and Finance Minister of Mizoram.

At the meeting, Modi expressed his government's resolve to ensure rapid and sustainable development of the region. "Under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North-East), Rs 35,000 crore is proposed to be invested to develop the Trans-Arunachal Highway and for connecting all district headquarters by a two lane highway (about 6,400 km), he said, according to a PMO statement.

"New rail network is being created in addition to strengthening the existing network at a cost of Rs 57,000 crore," he said at the meeting. The Chief Ministers present were briefed on infrastructure initiatives taken up by the central government in the North Eastern region through a NITI Aayog presentation.

It was agreed that the Empowered Committees-led by the State Chief Secretaries constituted pursuant to the decision of the NITI Governing Council need to be even more proactive in monitoring the implementation of infrastructure projects and remove bottlenecks in order that time and cost overruns can be avoided.

"There has been a significant ramp-up in infrastructure investments by the Government of India in the North East since Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister," the statement said. Similarly investments are being taken up by the telecom, power, civil aviation and shipping ministries in order to improve the connectivity air, road, rail and internet of the region, internally as well as externally under the Act East policy of the central government, the release said. The meeting was attended among others by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Vice Chairman NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya.

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Satya Nadella reveals Microsoft's 'one big mistake'

Microsoft's India-born CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged that "one big mistake" the company made in the past was to think the personal computer will reign supreme forever and failing to anticipate the technological transformation of the mobile phone.

"If anything, one big mistake we made in our past was to think of the PC (personal computer) as the hub for everything for all time to come. And today, of course, the high volume device is the six-inch phone. I acknowledge that.

"But to think that that's what the future is for all time to come would be to make the same mistake we made in the past without even having the share position of the past. So that would be madness," Nadella said in an interview to technology news website ZDNet.

He added that the company has to be on the "hunt for what is the next bend in the curve".

"That's what, quite frankly, anyone has to do to be relevant in the future. In our case, we are doing that. We're doing that with our innovation in Windows. We're doing that with features like Continuum. Even the phone, I just don't want to build another phone, a copycat phone operating system, even," he said.

Nadella recalled that when he had joined the company in 1992, the focus and ambition was to take the personal computer in every home and on every desk.

"Guess what: We achieved that. And a company has to outlast any given technology paradigm and any ambitious goal. And so for me this going back to what is it that drove Bill (Gates) to build even the BASIC compiler or the interpreter to what we did in terms of inventing productivity or democratizing client-server computing," he said.

The Microsoft chief had spelled out personal computing, reinvention of productivity and business process and building an intelligent cloud platform as the company's three "bold ambitions" going forward at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2015 underway here.

Elaborating on his outlook for the Windows phone, Nadella said he does not want the phones to be any other phone operating system or device.

He stressed Microsoft will also not launch a phone a day but focus on few phones that are unique.

"And that's what I want our devices and device innovation to stand for."

The conference was the first major company event following the announcement on July 8 that Microsoft would be cutting 7,800 jobs and write off $7.6 billion, all related to its Nokia business.

Nadella said the announcement about the Nokia business was not about any change to the company's vision and strategy, but for sure it was a "change to its operating approach".

"The way we're going to go about it. I'm not going to launch a phone a day. I'm going to focus on a few phones that actually grab share that, in fact, showcase our uniqueness," he said.

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Books will never be shelved: Big B

“Books...they shall never be shelved away...they shall remain...there is a magical quality about them… yes I could keep them 'kindled' but somehow the charm of holding the pages of a freshly printed book, the writing of our name for its possession, the almost divine manner in which they are kept not too far away from us...ah...such a remarkable habit...such attachment and such wealth...with us,” Big B posted on his official blog.

The 72-year-old went on to add that books are not only valuable assets, but hold the key of their owner's personality.

“A home without the exhibition of valuable books seems so bare and ignorant...they convey the character of those that abide in the home…their nature, habits, conversation, likes and dislikes.. all….If music, as I said yesterday, be the soul of our being, books, are the educators of our soul,” he shared.

The ‘Paa’ star also dispelled the misconception that he is an avid reader.

“There is belief among many that I read a lot…nonsense...I do not...I merely respect those that do and live in their reflected glory...that too is a limitless attribute...so long as knowledge keeps swimming about you in waves, soft and gentle...life is calm and ethereal,” he posted.

On the professional front, the cine icon is gearing up for Wazir this year.

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