Antrix-Devas deal

5 Feb Former ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair and three senior scientists, have been indicted by the country’s top space body-appointed committee for acts of commission in the Antrix-Devas deal.
The report prepared by a committee headed by Pratyush Sinha, former Chief Vigilance Commissioner, said Antrix-Devas deal lacked transparency.It recommended that action needs to be taken against Nair, A Bhaskaranarayana, K R Sridhara Murthi and K N Shankara all of whom have retired.The Antrix is the commercial arm of ISRO.
The five-member high level team which was set up to examine the deal and identify the acts of omission and commission by government officials made its report public last night.
The team said that there have not only been serious administrative and procedural lapses but also suggestion of collusive behaviour on the part of certain individuals. It said, accordingly, responsibilities have to be fixed for taking action.
The Pratyush Sinha committee, set up on May 31 last year also proposes action against four other scientists S S Meenakshisundaram, Veena Rao, G Balachadran and R G Nadadur.
They have been found responsible for the acts of omissions by not paying enough attention to details and not ensuring that the various notes that were put up for decision to the competent authorities included all necessary details and had undergone various necessary consultative processes.