CAG: Shashi Tharoor got $30k in Dubai account for CWG services

NEW DELHI: The Commonwealth Games (CWG) Organising Committee paid $30,000 (Rs 13.5 lakh) to former minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor for attending the OC office for 12 days.

A review by the government's official auditor -- Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) -- revealed that OC hired Tharoor for his international exposure and planned to use his services to influence national and international communities to help ensure successful staging of the Games.

However, the audit found Tharoor attended OC deliberations for four days each in the months of September and October 2008 and, again, four days in January 2009. His fee during this period has been calculated at $2,500 per day.

Tharoor received the payments in a Dubai branch of HSBC in 2009 by when he had been appointed minister of state for external affairs.

When asked for his response, Tharoor said, "My association with CWG as a consultant relates to a different phase of my life, when I was a private citizen with no relationship to the government. It seems the CWG was inefficient enough to make the payments late, but the activities paid for are for a period well before I entered public life."

On why he received the money in a Dubai account, the ex-minister said, "I legally retain my foreign bank accounts as all former NRIs are entitled to do under RBI rules, and there is no impropriety in doing so."

He added, "I did not approach the CWG but they sought me out in order to have me lend my stature to the promotion of the event; the consultancy fee charged was a token sum, and the total sum paid ($30,000) was far below the fee that I used to command even just to make a single speech."

Sources in the CAG said, OC is yet to provide details of Tharoor's contribution. They also pointed out that many Games-related contracts had not been finalised till January 2009, which was the last month of Tharoor's engagement with CWG. Many Games-related activities began only in 2010.

As per his contract with the OC, Tharoor was to be paid additional allowances for foreign visits and his hotel and other expenses reimbursed. The OC has said that no other payments were made to the ex-minister.

"I donated a considerable portion of my time and effort, including on occasion using my personal travel, for this purpose and attended preparatory meetings and addressed various audiences in support of these games, (also at Youth Games in Pune) including the assembled athletes from around the world," the former minister said.

The hosting of CWG 2010 led to a major controversy with the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate probing serious allegations of corruption against the organisers.

Earlier, based on the CAG audit, the Intelligence Bureau had unearthed an immigration fraud where a number of foreign consultants hired by OC allegedly never turned up while their attendance was certified by the committee's top bosses. These foreign consultants were paid remuneration. Payments were also made for their hotel stay.

The foreign consultants issue is with the CBI, which is likely to question senior OC officials, who had certified the presence of some of the absentee foreign consultants. Investigators suspect the money was pocketted by some OC officials on their behalf.

The Day 3 of the Commonwealth Games 2010

2010 Commonwealth Games Medal Tally

On day 3 at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

India is at 2nd spot in the Day 3 Medal Tally, while Australia is still at the top spot. India has secured 10 Golds, 7 Silvers and 3 Bronze Medals while Australia has secured 17 Golds, 14 Silvers and 9 Bronze Medals.

Day 3 Medal Tally.

Rank	Country	Medals
		Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia	20	15	10	45
2	India	11	8	5	24
3	England	6	11	8	25
4	Malaysia	3	2	4	9
5	South Africa	3	2	4	9
6	Singapore	2	1	1	4
7	Canada	2	1	8	11
8	Scotland	1	2	2	5
9	Nigeria	2	2	1	5
10	Kenya	1	0	0	1
11	New Zealand	0	4	2	6
12	Wales	0	1	1	2
13	Bangladesh	0	0	1	1
13	Isle of Man	0	0	1	1
13	Sri Lanka	0	0	1	1
13	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	1	1

UPDATES DAY BY DAY....(click now)

2010 Commonwealth Games Medal Tally:Day-2

2010 Commonwealth Games Medal Tally

On day 2 at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

• The Australian team have managed to secure 4 silver and one bronze medal so far. Their total medal count is now 10.

• At the same time in the medals tally list, host Indians have secured total two medals, all gold. Today Indian shooters Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang created havoc in the games winning 2 golds.

• Singapore is in third position, winning two gold medals. At the same time, Malaysia, Canada, South Africa and Nigeria have secured one golds medal each so far.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia	5	4	1	10
2	India	2	3	2	7
3	Canada	1	0	3	4
4	South Africa	1	0	1	2
5	Malaysia	1	0	0	1
5	Nigeria	1	0	0	1
5	Singapore	1	0	0	1
8	England	0	4	2	6
9	Wales	0	1	1	2
10	Bangladesh	0	0	1	1
10	Scotland	0	0	1	1
10	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	1	1
-	Anguilla	0	0	0	0
-	Antigua and Barbuda	0	0	0	0
-	Bahamas	0	0	0	0
-	Barbados	0	0	0	0
-	Belize	0	0	0	0
-	Bermuda	0	0	0	0
-	Botswana	0	0	0	0
-	British Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0
-	Brunei	0	0	0	0
-	Cameroon	0	0	0	0
-	Cayman Islands	0	0	0	0
-	Cook Islands	0	0	0	0
-	Cyprus	0	0	0	0
-	Dominica	0	0	0	0
-	Falkland Islands	0	0	0	0
-	Gambia	0	0	0	0
-	Ghana	0	0	0	0
-	Gibraltar	0	0	0	0
-	Grenada	0	0	0	0
-	Guernsey	0	0	0	0
-	Guyana	0	0	0	0
-	Isle of Man	0	0	0	0
-	Jamaica	0	0	0	0
-	Jersey	0	0	0	0
-	Kenya	0	0	0	0
-	Kiribati	0	0	0	0
-	Lesotho	0	0	0	0
-	Malawi	0	0	0	0
-	Maldives	0	0	0	0
-	Malta	0	0	0	0
-	Mauritius	0	0	0	0
-	Montserrat	0	0	0	0
-	Mozambique	0	0	0	0
-	Namibia	0	0	0	0
-	Nauru	0	0	0	0
-	New Zealand	0	0	0	0
-	Niue	0	0	0	0
-	Norfolk Island	0	0	0	0
-	Northern Ireland	0	0	0	0
-	Pakistan	0	0	0	0
-	Papua New Guinea	0	0	0	0
-	Rwanda	0	0	0	0
-	Saint Helena	0	0	0	0
-	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0	0	0	0
-	Saint Lucia	0	0	0	0
-	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0	0	0	0
-	Samoa	0	0	0	0
-	Seychelles	0	0	0	0
-	Sierra Leone	0	0	0	0
-	Solomon Islands	0	0	0	0
-	Sri Lanka	0	0	0	0
-	Swaziland	0	0	0	0
-	Tanzania	0	0	0	0
-	Tonga	0	0	0	0
-	Turks and Caicos Islands	0	0	0	0
-	Tuvalu	0	0	0	0
-	Uganda	0	0	0	0
-	Vanuatu	0	0	0	0
-	Zambia	0	0	0	0
Total		12	12	12	36

UPDATES DAY BY DAY....(click now)

Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang shot a record tally of 1,193 points to bag India’s first gold medal in the 10m air rifle pairs event before Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Sarnobat combined together to break another record by shooting 1,158 points at the 25 metres pistol event for the second.

Omkar Singh and Deepak Sharma narrowly missed out on a gold medal in the 50 metres pistol pair event, shooting seven points behind Singapore’s Gai Bin and Lim Swee Hon to collect a silver medal.

The three medals take India’s tally to seven in the even so far with weight lifters Sonia Chanu and Suken Dey winning silver medals while Sandhya Rani and V Srinivas Rao won bronze. The hosts are level with Australia in the medals table but the later has bagged four gold medals compared to India’s two.

There are 18 gold medals up for grabs on Day 2 of the CWG with five in swimming, four in shooting, three each in cycling and wrestling, two in weightlifting and one in artistic gymnastics. India has a busy schedule throughout the day with the most glamorous contest being in Tennis when Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes come together to take on Sri Lankan pair of Dineshkanthan and Jayawickreme in the first round of doubles.